Thank you, Natasha Simonova! Not sure they can count as bouts-rimés if the targets aren't rhyme words, which many are not: see pp.116-120 in this ms book (www.digitalcollections.manchester.ac.uk/view/EX-LANC...). And does Mary Hamilton call them 'conglomerations' (p.121), I wonder?

Is there a name for an 18C parlour game in which a participant is given 4 or 5 words and challenged to include them all in an impromptu pair of rhyming couplets? #18thC #langsky

Hamilton reports a horrific lightning strike close to some of the royal children, which (we learn elsewhere) killed a coachman and a footman. So that chestnut of absurd phrasebooks (tracked in Wikipedia) actually happened, if not on a coach journey: 'My postillion has been struck by lightning'!

Mary Hamilton and her networks: Gender, sociability, manuscript. Important (we would think so, wouldn't we?) special issue of JECS, now in copy-editing. Intro + 4 research papers by the team (see www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/further-read...) + 5 outside contributions. #18thC #langsky

_Notable_ adj. once had meanings to do with household management. Mary Hamilton often applies it to her (needle)work, slightly antedating OED, while Lady Dartrey mentions 'a good notable woman', i.e. competent in household matters. News to me, but not (I bet) to some of you. #18thC #langsky

More for the OED: bas bleu, indigo (in humorous reference to Bluestocking views), dissertation 'debate', haut ton. Chaperon and dirty (as verbs), moonshine (adjective), a bundle of nerves, jargonic, lucet, parliamenteering, spa toilet, strongle, tarot. #Linguistics #18thC #c18th

Among 100+ newer/older/unknown words for the OED in the Hamilton Papers are jerry 'hen-pecked husband', jerryism, Benedict 'newly married', hub. Derogatory frump, quiz 'eccentric person'. Playful astoundation, terrificability. Specialised casaquin, clavicello, quipu. #Linguistics #18thC #c18th

We've been revising www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/personography/ . Thanks to Angela Byrne for correcting our info on 'Mrs Morgan' in HAM/2/1. Further corrections to person identification or details would be most welcome; there's still time to incorporate them in this year's refresh.

Christine, Nuria, Sophie and David have all given Hamilton-related talks (www.maryhamiltonpapers.alc.manchester.ac.uk/conference-s...) in the last few months, and revision of the edition continues in the background. September will bring some major developments.

Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers has won a York Open Research Award for 2025! (and uoy.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/... gives 3 good reasons why 😀)