In the Bleak Midwinter...

Yesterday the wind came in cold gusts down the street, opening everyone's winter coats to the cold and blowing over red cheeks and fly-away hair. It ceased to be autumnal yesterday, but moved directly onto winter without ado. Today it's back to a nice, brisk autumn temperature, but as I walked down Russell Street to find some last minute gifts for friends and family, I wondered if I just should have stayed at home in my bed.

With much vitamin C and echinacea, I've managed to beat down my cold into something manageable. My head is no longer foggy and I'm not afraid to go near manuscripts anymore, which is nice because it would be a shame to spend these last two days away from manuscripts.

I put in a formal application to see a 'Z-safe' manuscript yesterday. The Z-Safe is where we keep our most precious manuscripts; one has to write to the curator in order to see them (Beowulf is kept there, for example). So today I will be looking at the Old Hall Manuscript, with which I'm working for my dissertation. It's important to me because Henry V probably wrote two of the pieces of music that are preserved in the manuscript. It's also one of the earliest English books filled with music. Much medieval music (especially English music) has been lost because of the change in the Church and because music often was written down on sheets or rolls instead of in proper books. This manuscript is also amazing because it's written over a period of 20 years, so one can see corrections that people made to their own compositions. I'm very excited to spend my afternoon with this manuscript!!