Wednesday 19 January 2011

The Outlandish Capt Willett

The gentleman above is Capt Thomas Willett (1610-1674); the first Mayor of New York, USA.

Capt Willett attended my old school in England; albeit a few years before my time.

I was recently reading an inventory of his possessions, at the time of his death (don't ask why). Everything was noted meticulously, down to the tiniest detail; socks, shoes, underwear, et al.

Amongst the items listed was '58 oz of outlandish money'.

It doesn't take much to know what was meant by the use of this word 'outlandish', but being a failed student of etymology, I had to look it up..... Yes, it simply means (or did mean) OF FOREIGN ORIGIN.

3 comments:

  1. That's pretty funny considering they were so prim back then. He must have had a good sense of humor!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Down to the socks and underwear... now thats getting down!... Your profile is great.. your lifestyle is what many are looking for; including me! I signed up as a follower on your blog.
    Cheers,
    Tom

    ReplyDelete

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