A Memorandum by Charles Lind, Vicar of West Mersea, written on a page of the Register for baptisms and marriages 1738 - 1812 makes for fascinating reading. Amongst other interesting contemporary information he refers to the construction of the West Mersea duck decoy, so dating it to the ten year period of his incumbency between 1738 and 1748.
A Decoy was made in the Parish during the time I was minister, & Six Couple of Ducks were paid to me yearly, as an Acknowledge ment for Tythe. At first as many Ducks were paid me as I wanted for my own usage but at last by the Agreement of Charles Gray Esq[uire] to whom the Farm belong'd, & John Cooper the tenant, the Number was fix'd at Six Couple [ERO D/P 77/1/2]
The Chapman and Andre map of 1777 is probably the first to show the decoy on the south shore of Mersea Island in West Mersea.
So what exactly was a duck decoy pond, how did it work and how long did its use persist in Mersea?
Not to be confused with the wooden, carved, decoy ducks, decoy ponds were man-made structures designed to trap wildfowl on a large scal
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Counterfeit Christs - Mythology
1. Counterfeit Christs A study of false saviors and false salvation "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.‖ - John 8:24
2. Counterfeit Christs The Counterfeit Christ of Mythology ―The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure.‖ – Internet Movie Zeitgeist
3. ―Why should we consider the stories of Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Attis, Mithras, and the other pagan mystery saviors as fables, yet come across essentially the same story told in a Jewish context and believe it to be the biography of a carpenter from Bethlehem?‖ – Timothy Freke/ Peter Gandy ―The Jesus Mysteries‖ was a very important book for me in leaving Christianity…‖ – Skeptic Forum Post
4. ―The reality is, Jesus was the Solar Deity of the Gnostic Christian sect and like all other Pagan gods, he was a mythical figure. It was the political establishment that sought to historize the Jesus figure for social control. •
America and West Indies: January 1686
Jan. 2.
531. Attestation; that James Smailes, of the ship Bachelor's Adventure, voluntarily broke bulk and delivered to Richard Phillips part of the cargo without force or compulsion of any kind. Signed, Richd. Cony, Jno. Bee. Scrap. Endorsed. Recd. 10 May 86. [Col. Papers, Vol. LVII., No. 1.]
Jan. 3. Bermuda.
532. Captain Bartholomew Sharpe to the Earl of Sunderland. I have been driven into this harbour by want of provisions. The Island affords plenty enough, yet I cannot be accommodated for our money, though I have the King's commission, unless we side with the peers of the land, as about twelve of the principal men pretend to call themselves, against the King and Governor. They affront them daily and impudently to such a degree that I should think myself a traitor if I did not seek out means whereby the King may become acquainted, and this most loyal Governor assisted with power suitable to his desire to serve his prince, for which they owe him a mortal hatred. Holograph. 1 p. Signed, Bartholomew Sharpe, comr. of the