At Day's Close: Night in Times Past (75 page)

Burnap, John, 143

burning daylight, 109

Burt, Edward, 92

Burton, Robert, 289, 292

Butler, Peter, 172

Butler, Samuel, 18

Butzbasch, Johannes, 239

Byng, John (Viscount Torrington), 137, 270, 295–96

Byrd, William, II, 109, 298, 317

caban unnos,
238

Calfhill, James, 16

Campbell, Thomas, 18

Campion, Thomas, 97, 213

candle coal, 102–3

candle-lighting, 109, 122, 138

Candlemas, 69

candles, 5, 40, 51, 59, 104–7,
105,
109–11, 142, 192–93, 210, 214, 333

beeswax, 69–70, 104–6

burglars deterred by, 101

at Church festivals, 70

clipping with, 101,
101

cost of, 106

fires caused by, 51–52

in lanterns, 67, 68, 73, 74, 124–25

magical properties of, 100–101

for nocturnal labor, 156, 162, 163

reading by, 207

servants’ use of, 52, 109–10

in shrines, 71–72

in Spanish Holy Week processions, 70

spermaceti, 104–6

as street lighting, 68

tallow, 68, 106, 107, 162, 207, 336

taxation of, 106

wasting, 109–10

windows illuminated by, 63–64, 68–69, 199, 254

candlewood, 104, 108–9, 162, 236

Cannon, John, 205–6, 243, 314

Canterbury Tales, The
(Chaucer), 163, 282, 301

Caraccioli, Marquis de, 314

Caravaggio, 225

Carbonnier, Jean, 84, 85

Cardano, Girolamo, 310, 315

Carlyle, Alexander, 132

Carnival, festival of, 152, 249, 254

carpenters, 157, 161

Carter, Landon, 113, 170, 236–37, 240, 256

Carter, William, 40

Cassiodorous, 75

Castel of Helthe
(Elyot), 265

Catalonia, 66

Catholic Church, 61, 69–72, 206, 330

British recusants of, 229

canonical hours of, 137

of Counter Reformation, 70

dreams as viewed by, 318

early morning prayer encouraged by, 302–3

extramarital sex prohibited by, 191

festivals of, 70–71,
70,
71,
152, 187–88

heretics vs., 151, 228

illuminated shrines of, 71–72

in Ireland, 194

magic banned by, 64

night’s darkness as sacred in, 71, 72, 74, 155, 335

sacraments of, 69–70

Catlin, John, 245

Cats, Jacob, 120, 205

Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle, 214, 220, 316

cave shelters, 278

Ceba, Ansaldo, 191

Cereta, Laura, 202, 208

cesspools, emptying of, 165–67

Chagga people, 303

Chalkers gang, 224

Chamberlayne, William, 62

chamberpots, 27–28, 271, 296–97, 305

Change in the Village
(Sturt), 337

Channel Islands, 242

Chapman, George, 220–21

Charivaris,
253–54

Charke, Charlotte, 95

Charles I, King of England, 265

Charles II, King of England,
29,
226, 253

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 219

Charles VI, King of France, 210, 226

Charlton, Jasper, 171

Chateaubriand, François-René, Vicomte de, 207

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 130, 163, 193, 282, 301, 311

Chevet, Robin, 180–81

children, 109, 278, 308–10

abandoned, 237

fear of darkness in, 3, 5–6, 119–22

illegitimate, 149–50, 200, 237, 281

magic and, 143

night games for, 122

nightmares of, 292

nocturnal excursions of, 118, 119–22, 123–24

parental intimidation of, 120–21

phases of the moon learned by, 128–29

witches’ sabbaths and, 21

see also
infants

chimneys, 51, 99–100, 101–2, 274, 293

Chlotar II, King, 75

Christian II, King of Denmark, 226

Christian IV, King of Denmark, 226

Christianity, xxvi, 15, 20, 65, 119, 191, 228

ghosts in, 18

God’s creation of light in, 4, 69

in magic charms, 99, 142–43

Satan in, 21

see also
Catholic Church; Protestantism

church bells, 69, 90, 133

curfew rung by, 77–78

evil spirits frightened by, 70

as fire alarms, 79

Church Fathers, 59

Churchill, Charles, 217–18, 227–28

Church of England, 70, 229

Church of Scotland, 198

church towers, 138

lookouts in, 77

as solitary retreats, 203

churchyards, 16, 51, 237

ghosts in, 140

mishaps in, 24

sexual activity in, 190

Cibber, Colley, 297

circadian rhythms, 14, 174–75, 334

Clap, Margaret, 230

Clare, John, 129, 227, 255

Clarendon Code, 229

Clay, Samuel, 128

Clayton, Rev. James, 158

Clayton, Rev. John, 60

cleanliness, personal, 135

Cleaver, Robert, 110

Clegg, James, 119

Clifford, Mary, 277

clipping, 101,
101

clocks, 138, 264

close-stools,
275,
297

“Clothier’s Delight, The,” 162

cloth workers, 156, 160, 164, 173, 174

clubs, social, 329

coal, 102–3

Coalbrookdale, iron foundry, 327,
327

coal gas lamps, 331, 332–34,
332,
335, 336–37

Cobbett, William, 107

cock-crow, 138, 140

Cock Lane Ghost, 325

Cocq, Capt. Frans Banning, 82

Coe, William, 24, 185

Cogan, Thomas, 262, 263, 274, 310

Cokburne, Jon, 301

Coke, Sir Edward, 36, 92, 241

Cole, Rev. William, 112

Collier, Mary, 163, 306

collieries, 24

Collinson, Humphrey, 40

colts, 18

Columella, 168, 173

comets, 10,
11,
326

communal sleep, 278–84

advantages of, 280–81

broken sleep in, 308

designated positions of, 278–79

fear of darkness allayed by, 280

guests in, 279, 296

illnesses spread by, 288

intimate conversations in, 280, 281

marital relationship in, 282–84

proper behavior for, 279–80

of servants, 281–82

sleep disturbed by, 296

solitary sleep vs., 281, 297

violence in, 282, 283–84

Compendium Maleficarum
(Guazzo), 307

Complaint, The, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality
(Young), 153, 207

Complaints of Poverty, The
(James), 298

Compleat Gentleman, The
(Peacham), 218

concoction, 263

conduct books, 214, 282

Connolly, Thomas, 106

constables, 65, 77, 79–80, 81, 82, 83

as “midnight magistrates,”
83,
85

consumerism, 326–27

Conti, Alessandro, 230

Cooper, John, 94

Corbaccio, The
(Boccaccio), 220

Coren, Stanley, 261

corn huskings, 177–78

corpses,
see
dead bodies

Cosimo, Duke of Tuscany, 297

cosmology, popular, 12

cotton mills, 327, 330

courts, 21, 59, 84–89

courtship, 190, 194–202

nocturnal excursions in, 196–97

restrictive controls on, 191

serenading in, 198

as spinning bees, 194–96

youth dances in, 196

see also
bundling

Coutumes de Beauvaisis,
87

Coverdale, Miles, 194

Cowper, Countess Mary, 228

Cowper, Dame Sarah, 9, 97, 119, 123, 145, 173, 206, 225–26, 233, 265, 268, 273, 281, 286–87, 288–89, 290

Cowper, Sir William, 287

Cowper, William, 308, 311

crab catching, 176–77,
177

Craft, Margaretha, 284

Cresswell, Nicholas, 248–49

crime, criminals, 31–47, 56, 66, 76, 139

approaching walls at night as, 62

attributed to witches, 21–22

dark nights preferred for, 39–40

daylight as evidence of derangement in, 40

dead, on gibbets, 141–42

demonic beings impersonated by, 40–41

identities concealed in, 40

in interval of wakefulness, 306–7

lights extinguished in, 40

magic used by, 41–42

neighbors and, 68, 88, 115–17

nightwalkers and, 31–32

pedestrian targets of, 39

petty, 237–52

rising incidence of, 329–34

street lighting and, 330–31, 332–34, 336

timetable of, 36

torture in interrogation of, 85

variations in, 32–33

and victims’ cries for help, 40, 115–17

witchcraft in, 21–22

see also
nightwatch; violence;
specific crimes

criminal justice, 12, 84–89

night courts in, 85–86

nocturnal offenses in, 86–88

Crosby, Michael, 144

cross-dressing, 216, 220

crossroads, ghosts of, 19

Crowne, John, 32

crows, 15

Crusius, Jacobus Andreas, 41, 168

Cryters, Canon Arnold, 220

cunning-men, 98, 112, 313

curfews, 63–66, 118, 155, 324

on apprentices, 256

church bells’ tolling of, 77–78

decline of, 72

derivation of term, 63

household, 233

laws on, 64–65

personal, 266

curtained beds, 274,
275,
279, 297

curtained windows, 150, 270

curtain lectures, 283

Cymbalum Mundi
(Des Périers), 117

Cymbeline
(Shakespeare), 106

Cyril of Jerusalem, Saint, 59, 202

Czeisler, Charles A., 304

Dahomey, 4

Damned Crue gang, 224

Dane, John, 158, 178

Dark Cully, 193

dark lanterns, 40, 67

darkness:

antiquity of, 3–5

appeal of for criminals, 39–40, 128, 237–43

celestial phenomena in, 10–13,
11, 13

in children, 3, 5–6, 199–22

communal sleep and, 280

Cowper on, 123

cultural differences in, 4–5

decline in, 326

depression and, 290

fear of, 3–6, 7–30, 75

ghosts in, 18–19

hearing in, 9

insurgencies and, 256–58

intimacy of, 178, 192–93, 281–83, 339

noxious vapors in, xxxi–xxxii, 12–15

personal autonomy and, 152–53, 227–28

poor visibility in, 8–9, 16, 23, 24, 25, 36, 45

prayer during, 59–60, 71

at rest time, 60, 261–62

as sacred time, 59, 74, 179

self reflection during, 310–11

storytelling and, 179–80

wild animals in, 28–30

see also
demonic beings; mishaps, nocturnal

Dark Night of the Soul, The
(St. John of the Cross), 302

Darwin, Erasmus, 329

Davenant, Sir William, 48, 118, 203, 233

Davis, Joseph, 39

day, daylight, 9, 109, 111, 127, 149, 152, 158, 188, 206, 211

burglaries in, 38

clothing in, 135

crimes committed in, as evidence of derangement, 40

drawn curtains in, 150

night as negation of, 60

robberies in, 34, 36

sleep during, 218

day-laborers, 157

day-witches, 4

dead bodies:

disposal of, 167–68

funeral wakes for, 194

on gibbets, 141–42

night vigils for, 64, 114

nocturnal burials of, 213, 229, 237

theft of, 237

dead of night, 138–40, 257, 300

death, 7, 18, 223, 292

crib, 292

darkness equated with, 4

demonic warnings of, 18, 19

in dreams, 317

in early morning hours, 14

from fright, 19, 22

from mishaps, 24, 25–26, 28, 235, 246

from nightmares, 292

from noxious vapors, 14

planetary influence on, 12

in sleep, 268–69,
269,
272

sleep likened to, 286

of suicides, 18, 19

by witchcraft, 21–22

see also
murder, murderers

Deavill, Richard, 322

De Beatis, Antonio, 43

debtors, 237–38, 290

Dee, John, 317

Defoe, Daniel, 27–28, 39, 125, 136, 167, 189, 193, 230, 231, 250

Dekker, Thomas, 13–14, 66, 82, 158, 237–38

demonic beings, 4, 6, 8, 15–23, 28, 120, 183, 325

criminals masquerading as, 40–41

dead of night favored by, 139–40

declining belief in, 325–26

distinct identities of, 17–18

malevolent powers of, 16

in Middle Ages, 20–21

skeptics of, 23

sleep disturbed by, 291–92

whistling in the dark and, 143

see also
evil spirits; Satan; witches

Démonolâtrie, La
(Rémy), 302, 307

“De Natura Rusticorum,” 240

Denmark, 48, 89, 99, 125, 141

arson punishment in, 54

burglaries in, 41

crime victims aided in, 68

fires in, 48, 49, 50

kings of, 226

lookouts in, 77

murders in, 43

night courts of, 85

nightwatch’s verses in, 78

nightwatch weapons in, 77

youth gangs in, 246

De Praestigiis Daemonum
(Weyer), 23

depression, 289, 290

De Republica Anglorum
(Smith), 115

Description of England
(Harrison), 301

Des Périers, Bonaventure, 117

devil,
see
Satan

“Devil’s lontun,” 18

Dialogues on the Passions, Habits, and Affections Peculiar to Children,
122

Diebeskerze,
42

diet, 124, 271

Dietz, Johann, 19, 47, 145

Diggers, 319

Dinka people, 4

Direction for the Health of Magistrates and Studentes, A
(Gratarolo), 265