The word JUWES

[lynn cates]

maybe

Hello Simon. IF it's "junior" you can have an authentic Fred Abberline bobble head doll with side whiskers--but not so fast!

Cheers.
LC

[Monty]

Turner.

Monty

[Bridewell]

Turner

Turner.

Monty

Monty wins the (non-existent) prize! The name is indeed Turner.

Regards, Bridewell.

[Monty]

Years of practise reading Police application forms and ledgers Colin.

Monty

[lynn cates]

Shrines R Us

Hello Neil. Congratulations.

Your prize may be to receive a copy of my Hurlbert/Lord Randolph correspondence. If you can read THAT you get your own shrine.

Cheers.
LC

[Robert]

Plus, Neil, you get a year's subscription to "Lechmerana" - the magazine devoted to the mystery of Lechmere/Cross. In fact you get two subs, since the editors will expect you to maintain the spirit of the mag by registering under both Neil Bell and Monty.

[Monty]

I actually enjoy the challenge of transcribing such things Lynn, the joy is in that alone....yep, I know what you are thinking.

Robert - you mean I double the readership in one go?

(I'm joshing Lechmere and Christer)

Monty

[lynn cates]

motive

Hello Neil. Thanks. Am I THAT transparent? (heh-heh)

Cheers.
LC

[curious4]

Dyslectic?

Hello all,

The handwriting was said to have resembled that of the Dear Boss etc letters, all three of which show signs of dyslexia, according to the checklist for dyslexia by swedish expert on dyslexia, Sigrid Madison.

The writer just couldn't spell?

Best wishes,
C4

[RivkahChaya]

Hello all,

The handwriting was said to have resembled that of the Dear Boss etc letters, all three of which show signs of dyslexia, according to the checklist for dyslexia by swedish expert on dyslexia, Sigrid Madison.

The writer just couldn't spell?

Best wishes,
C4

I don't think you can diagnose dyslexia in a Victorian who spoke a non-standard dialect, and probably had just a few years of school, by criteria developed for the 21st century.

[Fisherman]

Monty:

" you mean I double the readership in one go?"

YouŽd treble it - why would I pay to be told something I already know?

The best,
Fisherman

[Michael W Richards]

Hello all,

Another observation about the word "Juwes" being used, where it was used.....it was apparently written by an adult who needed to crouch in order to do so, or it was written by someone closer to the height it was written at.

One wonders which is more plausible. I try to envision a grown adult crouching and writing in a "neat schoolboy" style and yet spelling the word incorrectly...and it doesnt seems feasible. Unless of course it was spelled that way to suggest semi-literacy.

Best regards,
Michael

[Monty]

Where does this myth that the writing was low down come from?

Monty

[Bridewell]

Hello all,

Another observation about the word "Juwes" being used, where it was used.....it was apparently written by an adult who needed to crouch in order to do so, or it was written by someone closer to the height it was written at.

One wonders which is more plausible. I try to envision a grown adult crouching and writing in a "neat schoolboy" style and yet spelling the word incorrectly...and it doesnt seems feasible. Unless of course it was spelled that way to suggest semi-literacy.

Best regards,
Michael

Hi Michael,

It does rather suggest a schoolboy.

An adult who could spell 'nothing' correctly would probably get 'Jews' right as well. A child's spelling vocabulary would be smaller and would include tricky everyday words like 'nothing', but might not include proper nouns like 'Jews' which would then be spelt phonetically.

Regards, Bridewell.

[Supe]

Michael,

I try to envision a grown adult crouching and writing in a "neat schoolboy" style and yet spelling the word incorrectly...and it doesnt seems feasible.

Not picking on you specifically since it is a common error (and as Monty will attest also part of my Wolvers presentation) but when people write today that something is not "logical" or "feasible" and the like, what they really mean is "sitting here in my comfortable home in the 21st C I think I would not do not do thus and so." But not living on the very edge as so many did in the East End in the LVP, being comfortable, well fed and healthy and not being (I surely hope) a nutter like Jack, it is hard to say what is logical and what he might do.

Now, as Monty suggests, why think the writing was so low? But even if it required an adult to bend and stoop . . . well if it had been done by Jack who can explain why he did anything? And had it been done by an ordinary graffito vandal . . . well in that case we have all seen graffiti in all sorts of improbable places (e.g. high up on cliff faces or the middle of seemingly inaccessible bridges), such that a little stooping may seem irksome to us but would hardly deter the determined.

Moreover, why do we so quickly assume LVP schooling was deficient compared to our "enlightened" times? Most assuredly instruction in spelling and grammar was much more intensive -- and effective -- then that today and an average young schoolboy would have had no trouble with nothing or Jews. A less than well-educated adult, however, might spell words phonetically and use a double negative.

Perhaps schools in the Scottish highlands were better than those in London, but my grandfather was working in a quarry at least by age 12, if not earlier, so his schooling had been limited but based on his letters that have come down his grammar and orthography were a lot better than that of most of his living descendants.

My thoughts on the subject, anyway.

Don.