Speaking of Puritans, a number of people have written to complain that my recent post referring to the anti-smoking vigilantes of Bowdoin College as ‘Puritans’ was unfair. The original Puritans, I was told, were fun-loving folk, and one reader referred me to this website.
Is this true? I’ve no idea. In 17th Century England the Puritans were a pretty grim crowd. Perhaps they were more cheerful over here.