...observations and ramblings from a learner and traveler...

01 June 2016

what is 'a progress'? or, 'a royal progress'?

  As I read a chapter in a book this evening in preparation for a class I am to teach tomorrow, I came across the idea that Queen Elizabeth I would make a 'progress' from time to time.  The first time I read this, I glanced at the explanation in parentheses which commented '(entry).' But as I kept reading it became clear that 'a progress' was something more than that - it was, in fact, some sort of official trip apparently.  Indeed, once I started looking, Merriam-Webster provided the clarity I needed.  It says that a progress can be both a royal and a non-royal journey.



  With a nudge from the book, I made the connection to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and thus made sense of a title that has never made a ton of sense to me. (When I checked to see if my wife knew this tidbit, she promptly guessed it; maybe that's why I am sharing it here.) :) 




No comments:

Post a Comment