ABSTRACT

On 11 May 1783, Lady Mary Traquair “went to Bed for ye first night, had not been in Bed for 12 nights before,” because she had been nursing her son, Charles, Lord Linton, who was inoculated against smallpox in late April. In this anxious period, Lady Traquair quarrelled with the inoculator; adapted prescribed drug regimens; lost the little trust she had in the nursemaid; and tracked Linton’s sleep meticulously. Lady Traquair paid attention to all of the Galenic six non-naturals, but she became focussed on Linton’s sleep, which was badly disturbed. Her anxiety was heightened by mistrust of some of the attendants hired to care for her son. Even after his recovery, her habit of monitoring his sleep remained as shorthand for Linton’s wellbeing. While Linton’s illness did worry his mother, her record of his overnight care illuminates other facets of women’s experiences of illness and nursing. Examining how Lady Traquair intervened in Linton’s sleep illuminates her relationships with his attendants, her medical judgement, and the role she gave herself as a dutiful, unsentimental, but caring mother.

摘要

1783 年 5 月 11 日，玛丽·特拉奎尔夫人“第一个晚上上床睡觉，之前已经 12 个晚上没有上床睡觉了”，因为她一直在照顾她的儿子查尔斯·林惇勋爵，他在 4 月下旬接种了天花疫苗。在这个焦虑的时期，特拉奎尔夫人与接种者发生了争执；调整处方药方案；失去了对保姆的一点信任；并一丝不苟地追踪林惇的睡眠。特拉奎尔夫人注意到所有盖伦六种非自然人，但她的注意力集中在林惇的睡眠上，而林惇的睡眠受到了严重干扰。由于对一些受雇照顾她儿子的服务员的不信任，她的焦虑加剧了。即使在他康复之后，她监控他睡眠的习惯仍然是林惇健康状况的缩影。虽然林惇的病确实让他妈妈担心，她对他夜间护理的记录阐明了女性疾病和护理经历的其他方面。研究特拉奎尔夫人如何干预林惇的睡眠，可以阐明她与林惇侍从的关系、她的医学判断，以及她赋予自己的角色作为一个尽职尽责、不感情用事但充满爱心的母亲。