Writing implements and other literacy-related objects
by David Vavreck
Introduction and Bylaws
Interpretive
Clothing
Scottish Culture
History
Music and Dance
Military Life
Language
Bibliography, Sources
and Library Materials
THINGS WITH WHICH TO WRITE
Stylus: a tool generally of bronze, iron, wood, or bone was used to scratch writing upon a wax tablet (see below). Stylii had a sharp end with which to write. Erasing was done by simply rubbing out the writing with the opposite, flattened end. If the stylus was not made of metal, it often had a metal tip in order to get clean lines.
Quill Pens: in use from at least the early 7th century; Saint Isidore of Seville (c. 560 – 636) is the first to mention them. Quills were made from a large feather, preferably goose, swan, or crow (although many other species were used), with - contrary to popular belief - the fletching almost always stripped off. The writing end was cut with a small, very sharp tool called a penknife. Common until the early to mid 19th century, when they were replaced by the fountain pen (invented ca. 1800) (Encyclopædia Britannica - hereafter, EB - “Feather” and “Pen”, mostly). Beth Gilgun has a good article on how to make your own quill her Tidings from the Eighteenth Century (see bibliography).
Pencil: first mentioned in documentary sources in 1565, they did not assume their modern form - but without paint and eraser - until the 19th century (EB “Pencil”). In 1564, a mineral deposit was found in Borrowdale, Cumbria that was so pure it could be sawed into sheets, then sawed again into square rods for use in writing. This substance was named plumbago - “that which acts (writes) like lead”, and London's Guild of Pencilmakers had a world monopoly on this mineral, hand carving wooden cases for the “leads”. It was not until 1779 that plumbago was found to be a form of carbon, not lead, which shortly thereafter resulted in plumbago being renamed graphite, from the Greek for “to write,” but we still refer to leaded pencils. Pencil leads were apparently square until the mid 19th century.
Artists' Pencils: 17th century and earlier artworks called “pencil drawings” were made using metal rods – lead, silver, bronze, etc. on specially prepared paper; this is apparently the only case in our period in which “pencil leads” actually could have been lead, although (as mentioned just above) graphite was believed to be a form of lead until 1779 (EB “Pencil Drawing”).
Inkwell: a container, often ceramic or metal, within which one stores ink. When made from horn or antler, it is called an inkhorn.
Pounce Shaker: a container, usually ceramic, used to sprinkle sand or similar material upon fresh ink in order to soak up the excess and speed up drying time. When dry, the sand was poured back into the shaker (reduce, reuse, recycle).
Blotting Paper: This was a usually gray, coarse, thick paper, first mentioned in 1465. It was carefully placed on the writing surface upon finishing writing in order to absorb excess ink and prevent smearing (EB “Paper”).
THINGS UPON WHICH TO WRITE
Waxed tablets: in use from at least the Old Testament era (see, for example, 4 Kings 21:13) until the mid 17th century, these were thin pieces of wood out of which a shallow depression was hollowed, which was then filled with (usually) black beeswax. They were used to teach children to write, as well as by scholars, clerks, and others to keep notes, write out rough drafts before committing them to ink, etc.
There could be several tablets attached together, called a codex (from which we get “code” as in law code, tax code, etc.) for writing longer texts (EB “Codex”).
Slate: a tablet made of slate, usually placed in a frame of wood, common from the 13th to the early 20th century. Writing was done with a slate pencil and was erased just like a chalkboard. Common figures of speech include “wipe the slate clean” and “start with a clean slate”.
Scotland is so full of slate that it was often used for roofing.
Parchment: skin, generally from sheep or goats - not that yellowish paper so readily available.
Vellum: skin from calf, lamb, or kid. Considerably higher quality (and more expensive) than parchment.
Parchment and vellum have always been expensive. By our period, they were used mostly for official documents such as diplomas, wills, contracts, etc.
Ink does not soak into either parchment or vellum; it dries on the surface, which greatly increases its drying time. Erasures could be made by scratching off the dried ink, then re-smoothing that portion of the skin.
I have found only a single modern source for parchment and vellum - Carbisdale Deerskins and Lambskins, which uses sheep and lamp, respectively. They're even Scottish. http://web.ukonline.co.uk/khamblet/
Paper: only recently (at least as far as 1630 is concerned) becoming common and affordable. This, more so than the invention of the printing press, is what led to a major increase in literacy in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries (EB “Paper”). Often made from rags or old fishing nets (reduce, reuse, recycle – my father remembered the ragman making his weekly rounds in South Minneapolis in the Early 1940s).
THINGS WITH WHICH TO LEARN ONE'S LETTERS
Abecedaria: tablets upon which the alphabet (period term is abece/abc) is printed, engraved, carved, or whatever. Often of lead, wood, or clay. They were in use throughout Europe from at least the Roman period (Tuer p 274)
Hornbook: a usually battledore-shaped (i.e. like a small ping pong paddle, only with square corners) wooden tablet, with a piece of paper upon which are printed the alphabet in upper and lower case (called great and small letters in period), the Lord's Prayer, and occasionally other bits and pieces such as the numerals and vowel-consonant combinations. They are covered with a very thin piece of horn to protect it from grubby little fingers. Except in Scotland, the alphabet is preceded by a cross (see below); the student would pray or at least cross her/himself to request God’s help learning before beginning the lesson. Hornbooks were popular from the mid 15th to the early 19th century, but apparently only in English-speaking areas (England, Scotland, America). The back is sometimes decorated with a picture of Saint George and the Dragon, an equestrian portrait of the reigning monarch (from Charles I onward), a floral pattern, etc. In 16th and 17th century examples, the handle is often pierced for hanging from the child's girdle or from around the neck.
The followers of John Knox apparently thought it a great sin to request divine assistance in learning or to be reminded that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7), so Scots hornbooks are cross-less. Also, there is a case recorded by Thomas Morton, a Puritan, who in 1622 brought a multitude of hornbooks across the pond to teach the “Salvages” [sic] of New England. This individual blotted out all the crosses on these hornbooks “for feare least the people of the land should become Idolaters” (Morton's “New English Canaan, 1622, quoted in Tuer 464 – 466).
Fescue: a hand-held pointer often of bone or wood, although a slender pointed stick also serves nicely. Used to point out individual letters for the young scholar to name (Tuer p 24). Also known as a fetty.
Wooden alphabet blocks from Sir Hugh Plat’s Jewel House of Art and Nature, London 1653 (printed in Tuer p 63)
Wooden Blocks: with one letter per face, they are period for us, provided the letter forms date from our period, and that they are not dayglow. Four blocks, with six letters each, would contain all 24 letters of the alphabet (although k, x, y, and z were already added to our alphabet by the 17th century, j and v are late additions). In 1653, Sir John Plat specifically suggests that they have the “smal [sic] letters” (i.e. lower case) (quoted in Tuer, p 63).
Primer: beginners' grammar and reading books, often with primarily religious material. In use from the early 14th century (Tuer p 306ff).
Bible: often the first book one would read upon having mastered the alphabet and grammar. King James' Anglican Bible was issued in 1611, but there were numerous other English versions available as well, including the Catholic Douay Bible (OT 1609 - 1610, NT 1582), the Calvinist Geneva Bible of 1560, which was also popular amongst Puritans and other related groups, as well as several other Bible versions. All Bibles contained the Apocrypha until the late 19th century when protestants removed 14 books and portions of others from the Old Testament.
As the Presbyterians made no effort to send ministers to the Highlands until the 1690s, and John Knox was fundamentally opposed to the use of any vernacular apart from Queen's English (he was in Queen Elizabeth's employ, after all), there was no effort to publish the Bible in Gàidhlig in our period.
There was apparently no Scots English Bible until 1983, and that was only the New Testament. The translator of “The New Testament in Scots” has only one character speak “proper” English in the whole work – Satan (Christie).
AN ALPHABET SONG
English composer Thomas Morley wrote “Christes crosse be my Speed”, a musical version of the hornbook, in his Plaine and easie Introduction to Practical Musicke, etc. first published in 1597. The title means “God, help me (learn)”.
SOMETHING WITH WHICH TO MAKE LEARNING BOTH FUN AND TASTY
Gingerbread Hornbook: carved wooden molds were used to make, well, I'll bet you can figure that out. It could be a game - as the child names each letter, s/he gets to nibble it off the cookie.
THINGS WITH WHICH TO MAKE ACQUISITION OF LITERACY DECIDEDLY UNFUN
Two forms of educational discipline are well documented in our period for students who are too slow in their learning. The first is the use of the rod. The second is a holdover of the medieval sense of justice; s/he was struck on the head with the hornbook, as if the concussion would impart the knowledge contained on the hornbook.
THINGS WITH WHICH TO PROTECT PRIVATE WRITING FROM PRYING EYES
Sealing Wax and Seal: Melted wax was dripped upon a scroll, envelope, or whatever, and impressed with the seal while still mushy. Although this would not necessarily stop a spy, it would at least demonstrate to the recipient that the document had been read. Seals were very common from the medieval to the modern period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Christie, Bryan. “The Devil Speaks English”. Reprinted in The Highlander magazine, 22.1 p 39 Jan/Feb 1984
Encyclopædia Britannica, 1961 edition. several articles, including “Codex”, “Feather”, “Paper”, “Pen”, “Pencil”, “Pencil Drawing”
Gilgun, Beth. “Quill Pens” pp 238 – 241 in her Tidings from the 18th Century Scurlock Publishing Co.., Texarkana 1993.
Tuer, Andrew W. History of the Horn Book. Reprint of 1897 edition by Blom, Inc. New York 1968