Paperslips

Abstract

In 1728, William Moore’s infant great nephew and nieces brought a chancery lawsuit against Martha Daniel, housekeeper, accusing her of forging his will, diminishing the value of the estate, lying, embezzling, and conspiracy to defraud. In the investigation that legally (if not morally) exonerated her, a bundle of manuscript poems from the Revolution of 1688 was found among the estate papers. These verses were handwritten by multiple people, but not produced by a scriptorium; they were loosely kept together, but not preserved in a commonplace book. Today, these slips of paper are lying in a box at the National Archives, bound in linen tape, begging the question: why did the third Earl of Drogheda’s brother keep them?