Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "noise"
Speaking Tudor - Hannah 1-26-2010
Hannah, a servant at Hampstead Castle and a character in HER HIGHNESS' FIRST MURDER, visiting 2010:
I find it both wondrous and frightening to be in your time. I once thought the London streets noisy, but they are nothing compared to the sounds and sights I have experienced of late. Here there is no silence, and no darkness, either.
In our time, night was a time for rest. Yes, those of grand state could prolong the day with candles and rushlights, but for most of us, sunset was bedtime and sunrise the end of sleep. I think you must be confused by your ability to light the night, and I wonder that your bodies can adapt. In your cities there is no real night, for lights of all kinds burn so brightly that one cannot see the stars. That is a great loss, for they are beautiful, and folk need their rest.
And the noises! My sleep is disturbed by many frightful things, and though Peg assures me it is only the furnace (which I must admit is wonderful) or the self-moving carriages that pass the house night and day, I wake each time. During the day I shrink from the sound of machines that suck their power through long cords. Marvelous things, like the floor cleaner and the drying-hair thing Peg uses, but what a clamor they make!
I do not complain. I merely marvel that you accept without question the disruption of your thoughts, your sleep, your peace.
I find it both wondrous and frightening to be in your time. I once thought the London streets noisy, but they are nothing compared to the sounds and sights I have experienced of late. Here there is no silence, and no darkness, either.
In our time, night was a time for rest. Yes, those of grand state could prolong the day with candles and rushlights, but for most of us, sunset was bedtime and sunrise the end of sleep. I think you must be confused by your ability to light the night, and I wonder that your bodies can adapt. In your cities there is no real night, for lights of all kinds burn so brightly that one cannot see the stars. That is a great loss, for they are beautiful, and folk need their rest.
And the noises! My sleep is disturbed by many frightful things, and though Peg assures me it is only the furnace (which I must admit is wonderful) or the self-moving carriages that pass the house night and day, I wake each time. During the day I shrink from the sound of machines that suck their power through long cords. Marvelous things, like the floor cleaner and the drying-hair thing Peg uses, but what a clamor they make!
I do not complain. I merely marvel that you accept without question the disruption of your thoughts, your sleep, your peace.
