Brief update (there aren't too many people on Mudcat today, so the going is slow.

1, 2 and 16 aren't really quite there, 7 and 9 are plain wrong so far ... 5, 11, 14 and 18 are 100% though. Here's some notes for them.

5. Gathering Peascods (1651) - Peascods are peapods, but also - in Elizabethan fashion - a mans doublet (or armour) with a very prominent and padded central front seam. "Peascod time" is summer.

11 - Lilli Burlero (1690) - Here ... "Said to have been the words of distinction used by the Irish Papists in their massacres of the Protestants in 1641. A song with the refrain of "Lilli-burlero, bullen-a-la!" was written by Lord Wharton, which had a more powerful effect than the philippics of either Demosthenes or Cicero, and contributed not a little to the great revolution of 1688. Lord Wharton (1640-1715), wrote a set of satirical verses titled Lillibolero regarding the Irish problems and set them to a melody arranged by Henry Purcell in 1678. Purcell's arrangement was based on an older tune under the name Quickstep which appeared in Robert Carr's Delightful Companion (1686). It became popular immediately. After the Stuarts were deposed, Lord Wharton, a strong supporter of William III, boasted that he had "rhymed James out of three kingdoms" with his tune."

14 - Epping Forest (1670) - Epping Forest is an ancient woodland (circa 8000BC) of nearly 6,000 acres and contains areas of grassland, heath, rivers, bogs and ponds. Embankments of two Iron Age camps can be found hidden in the woodland. In Tudor times Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth 1 hunted in the Forest. In 1543 Henry commissioned a building, known as Great Standing, from which to view the chase at Chingford. The building was renovated in 1589 for Queen Elizabeth 1 and can still be seen today in Chingford. Epping Forest lies to the North East of London. The total length is approximately 12 miles and it is only about 10 miles or so from St Paul's. It is the largest public open space in the vicinity of London and Essex - in fact it is said to be the largest open space near any capital city in the world that has never been ploughed or cultivated.

18 - Dick's Maggot (1703) - The use of "maggot" in the name of musical pieces started in the 17th century. The rather unlikely coupling of the name for a grub with a light tune meant for dancing is a little less bizarre when we note that, starting in the early 17th Century, "maggot" was used figuratively to mean "a fanciful whim or silly idea." The logic behind this sense of "maggot" was that strange ideas were jokingly said to be the result of having maggots cavorting in one's cranium, the 17th century equivalent of "bats in the belfry." Thus, a whimsical or "unserious" bit of music was jocularly christened "Dick's Maggot" or whatever.

:-)