February 9, 1863What a great euphemism for an STD. I'm pretty sure there are any number of relics of old decency floating around the establishments I frequent. Dr. Boyer certainly is an affable chap, sharing his tobacco with all those aunts. Bully for him. His diary manages to make the Civil War sound like a quaint little English drama made for PBS. Though it does help to round out the typical cinematic conception of the war. By the way, all the quirks of spelling and grammar are those of Dr. Boyer and the 19th century.
None to report sick to the captain. I have 3 or 4 "outdoor" patients. One has a slight catarrh, one is affected with hemorrhoids, and two of them are laboring under what they call "relics of old decency," I calling it venereal. Pickle, our Nimrod, returned with 6 deer, 1 bullock, and 1 hog. Well done for two days' hunt. Took a short run on shore. We had some of the beef for tea, and I must admit it was anything else than tasty, being as tough as an old bull of twenty-six years. A coal brig arrived in the sound at 5 p.m. with coal for the fleet. From the captain we ascertained that our steamers off Charleston captured another Rebel steamer, making two prizes in the space of six weeks. Bully for the boats off Charleston.
February 9, 1864
Weather springlike. Thermometer 56 Fahr. Paid a visit to the Waldburg plantation. Supplied Aunts Nabbie and Sallie with some aperient medicine. gave Aunt Sukie, Aunt Maria, Aunt Judy, Aunt Nabbie, and all the other aunts, whose names have slipt my memory, some tobacco, upon the receipt of which they all commenced to thank me etc. to such an extent as to cause me to skedaddle. In short, I made them feel good and happy.
The captain, Mr. Thomas, and Paymaster Murray with a crew of men are busy preparing ground for a garden. The season for planting is near at hand: the trees are commencing to bud, the green grass is shooting forth from the earth, and the very birds are chirping, heralding as it were, the approach of warm weather. Whilst coming from shore in a boat this morning, we saw a large alligator in the water. From all accounts this is a great place for that kind of varmints. None to report sick.
A query: Dr. B here uses nimrod to mean hunter, as derived from the Biblical Nimrod, but when did "nimrod" beomce a derogatory term? Ok, case closed. A quick trip to the OED informs me that a nimrod is also a tyrannical ruler. Though I've heard it used many times as a synonym for idiot or fool, as in "why won't that nimrod stop blathering about his poor vocabulary?"
