Gathered in the dressing room of an elderly Queen Elizabeth I, a series of select characters, most of the elderly like her, chat to the love of the fire: Sir Walter Raleigh, the pirate; Francis Bacon, the philosopher; Ben Jonson and his young disciple, Francis Beaumonte; ladies and countesses and duchesses, and the amazing master Shakespeare. What could they be talking about? Of the past glories of the pirate, of the interpretation of the life of the philosopher, of the ingenuity of art ...? Well no, ladies and gentlemen, the conversation is more banal, irreverent, rowdy and "smelly" than might be expected in such an exalted group and in the English Golden Age.

This is a guide to the main developments in the history of British and Irish literature, charting some of the main features of literary language development and highlighting key language topics.

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1601: Conversation as it Was by the Social Fireside in the Time of the Tudors is a book by Mark Twain. A humorous piece delving into the situational comedy of flatulence at dinner guests evening.