Four Times of the Day is 29 May, Oak Apple Day, a public holiday which celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy (demonstrated by the oak boughs above the barber's sign and on some of the subjects' hats, which recall the royal oak tree in which Charles II hid after losing the Battle of Worcester in 1651). Alternatively, Sean Shesgreen has suggested that the date is 3 September, commemorating the battle of Worcester itself, a dating that preserves the seasonal progression from winter to spring to summer to autumn. Charing Cross was a central staging post for coaches, but the congested narrow road was a frequent
HMS Dreadnought (1660) HMS Dreadnought (1660) HMS "Dreadnought" was a 52-gun third-rate ship of the line, in service with the Royal Navy from 1660 to 1690. The ship was originally launched in 1654 under the name Torrington for the navy of the Commonwealth of England. Her builder was shipwright Henry Johnson at Blackwall Yard, London. She was named for the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Torrington in 1646. She was renamed "Dreadnought" after the Restoration in 1660. By 1677 her armament had been increased to 62 guns. After an active career in both the Second Dutch War and Third Dutch War, "Dreadnought"