Dogs in the Regency

I know, I said I would continue talking about work, and I will, but I have this problem. I need one of my characters to have a dog.

So give him a dog, you say, and move on.

But it can't be just any dog. It needs to be a big dog, and it needs to be appropriate to the Regency. Luckily, I took a workshop on regency dogs.

so I have ploughed through my photos and here are some of my choices:

The first is a lurcher, very ancient breed. The Lurcher was bred in Ireland and Great Britain by the Irish Gypsies and travellers in the 17th century. They were used for poaching rabbits, hares and other small creatures. The name Lurcher is a derived name from the Romani language word lur, which means thief. The travellers considered the short-haired Lurcher the most prized. The Lurcher is rarely seen outside of Ireland or Great Britain, and is still common in its native land.


This next one is a greyhound coursing for hares. These were used extensively in the Penisular to feed the officers, and for some relief from the stresses of war. I can't help that it happened. It is part of history. They are still nice dogs. Historically, these sight hounds were used primarily for hunting in the open where their keen eyesight is valuable. It is believed that they (or at least similarly-named dogs) were introduced to England in the 5th and 6th centuries BC from Celtic mainland Europe.

The name "greyhound" is generally believed to come from the Old English grighund. "Hund" is the antecedent of the modern "hound", but the meaning of "grig" is undetermined, other than in reference to dogs in Old English and Norse.

This last one is an English setter. The English Setter was originally bred to set or point upland game birds. From the best available information, it appears that the English Setter was a trained bird dog in England more than 400 years ago. There is evidence that the English Setter originated in crosses of the Spanish Pointer, large Water Spaniel, and Springer Spaniel, which combined to produce an excellent bird dog with a high degree of proficiency in finding and pointing game in open country.


If you had to choose one of these, which one would you pick? Or do you have another favorite from this era.

Oh and just for fun, here is our pound puppy Teaser. He is mostly Maltese. We don't exactly know how old he is because we rescued him from the local dog shelter. He has settled in very well and is now a very important member of our family.

Until next time -- Happy Rambles.

Regency Work Part II

It is hard to imagine a world without computers and planes and automobiles. What were some of the jobs that the ordinary people did? I talked about tin smelting in my last post, but one of the largest employers, even at this early stage of the industrial revolution was the land. And land requires laborers. These laborers, or workers, provide a backdrop to our stories. We can't ignore that they needed people to provide their food or clothing. (Remember that feast I described a while ago?).

Here are a few pictures of happy land workers. Or at least land workers.


It is not exactly clear to me what they are picking. Mushrooms? The grass is very short, and it clearly not full summer, because of the coats. I must admit that the main reason for having this picture was to show that even the poorest of women wore stays. If you look closely you can see them on the outside of the woman's clothes standing in the background. Apparently this was not uncommon, but hearkens back to an earlier era. Also note the various kinds of head gear, and the split rail fence in the distance. All small useful details that might someday bring a scene to life.


These folks are threshing corn (The English called all forms of grain: wheat, barley, oats, by the generic name of corn). The kind that looks like sweet corn, they call maize and it was not sweet and was used for cattle feed, along with mangel wurzels. Always loved the sound of that particular vegetable (It is a variety of beet and definitely used in our time for cattle feed). I can remember visiting a friend and helping wind the handle to chop up the mangel wurzels for her dad's cows. Ooops, off topic. Anyway to my unversed eye, this looks like barley or perhaps wheat, but the long hairy ends look like barley to me.

You can check what those grains look like on google and tell me what you think. Your turn to do some research. What is most interesting to me about this picture is that here we have men, women and children all working together. We don't feel so bad about those children outdoors doing this kind of thing do we? But it was still hard work and the hours long. I like the demonstration of the threshing sticks, see how they are hinged? And look how they carried the corn to the threshers in big blankets. It looks really heavy. Lots and lots to take away from this picture should I ever need a threshing scene.



Now here is something you don't see every day, at least not today. These women and not gathering teasels, they did that already, they are pushing them onto long sticks for easy transportation. What? Are you asking me why? Or, as I suspect, am I just telling you a whole bunch of stuff you know about. Teasel~~used in textile processing, providing a natural comb for cleaning, aligning and raising the nap on fabrics, particularly wool. It differs from the wild type in having stouter, somewhat recurved spines on the seed heads. The dried flower heads were attached to spindles, wheels, or cylinders, sometimes called teasel frames, to raise the nap on fabrics (that is, to tease the fibers).

What a great place to end, because next time I talk about jobs, I am going to talk about cloth making. Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Author's Update

Help, Monday is almost over and here I am and no blog.

Forgive me please.

There are times in every writer's life when time is not his or hers to control. One of those is when your editor asks for a revision. It happened to me this week.
No complaints mind. If she's asking for revisions, it means she cares about the book and an editor caring about your book is a very good thing. Time consuming, but good.

I lieu of research and in view of the reason for not having anything for you, I thought I would give you a quick update on where things are on the writing front.

Well, No Regrets is at the printers. It is coming out in October. You may have seen the ad in Romantic Times right alongside Georgette Heyer's Cotillion.
Here is the cover, just in case you have forgotten what it looks like. I am also posting it on the sidebar with a link to B & N where it is available for pre-order. Or you can wait for it to arrive in your local bookstore.


Now I am going to let you into a little secret.

Coming out around the same time -- I will have a precise date later -- is the Anthology Mail Order Brides, from Highland Press. Inside you will find my short story Snakeskin and Satin, one of four on this interesting theme. This story is a bit of a departure for me, because it is set in the West. Yep, honey, the wild west, in the Victorian era. I had so much fun writing this story, I hope even you Regency addicts will take a little peek when it comes out.

Here is the cover and a little teaser, just for fun.




Snakeskin and Satin are a bad combination.

Even if the snakeskin comes with longs legs, broad shoulders and eyes as blue as the sky. All bristles and twigs, according to her mother, Tess Johnson never expected her mail order husband to be a living, breathing, handsome cowboy who rejects her on sight.

Jake Granger needs a widow to raise his nephews and cook his dinner, not a satin-clad, as-delicate-as-porcelain, city woman. Even if she is the kind of woman to keep him awake at night. He can't take the risk.

With no reason to stay and a brother to track down, Tess prepares to move on, until trouble strikes the Circle Q. Fighting to save his herd and his sanity, Jake learns there's more to satin than a silky whisper against his skin.

Now, back to those edits. I hear the sound of a whip cracking. And it has nothing to do with cowboys.

Until next time -- Happy rambles.

Work in the Regency

One of our visits in Wales was to Aberdullais Falls near Neath in Wales. I had been there before, but since it had given me an idea for a story, I wanted to visit again. This picture is rather lovely, isn't it? It looks like a place for a picnic or perhaps even a place to fish, but in fact while these falls were a beauty spot, they were also the site of industry. Copper and tin smelting.

Tin mining had always been done in Cornwall, I knew that from school, and on my first visit to Aberdullais, I had thought to move this picturesque waterfall to Cornwall for a story I have had in my head for a while. I will have to think again, for while tin was mined in Cornwall, it was shipped to places like Aberdullais where they had water and coal.

As I walked around the exhibition, I was reminded that while the Regency is full of glitz and glamour, it was also the start of the industrial revolution and long before Dickens was writing about child labor, children were working twelve hour days in places like the Aberdullais copper and tin works, as were ordinary men and women. I took some pictures at this site, but of course much of the place is in ruins. The best impressions of how it might have looked were on the displays.



This is the chimney, required of course because of all the heat required to work the metal. The next picture is an artists impression of what it would be like inside the works. You can see men and boys working in this picture and an inset that shows women. By the way, the foreign language you are seeing there is Welsh. I am sure you knew that.... but just in case.



I didn't intend to do much about describing the work that was done in the mine, but one thing does stick in my mind and that is the need for small boys to scrape out the cinders from the furnace. The reason they used children was the narrowness of the passage. A man would not be able to get in there without getting his shoulders scorched.

It is pretty hard to see from this picture, but I think you can get a sense of the narrowness, and of course the steps (at the top of the channel) led into the basement. The next is a picture of the ruins from above, at the top of the Falls (which by the way were diverted by the use of dynamite , thus ruining the true beauty of the spot in a way which meant it could never be recovered. Here is a picture of the site in 1765. You can see that the Falls went around those large rocks. they were blown up, and now all that is left is the narrower channel to the right of them and of course all the industrial buildings and the waterwheel for power which now runs parallel to the river.


Of course there is a great deal to learn about these people and their lives, and as visitors we can only guess at the misery of long hours on little food. The exhibition tells their story.

As we were leaving, we paused on a bridge used to transport the metal onto the River Neath and watched a grey wagtail. He was a reminder that no matter what we do to our surroundings, nature has a way of reclaiming her own. I did take pictures of him. If you can find the bird in this picture you are better than I am, so I have added a picture of what you are looking for. I haven't seen one before, or not that I recall, so it really was a special treat. His long tale bobbed up and down constantly. This bird spends most of its life and breeds by fast running water.





Lots of food for thought. I am going to continue with a bit more on work in the Regency, since it is a backdrop for many of my stories, even if the main characters are lords and ladies. Until next time. Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion For July

Boy have I ever missed all of you. I must say I find it hard to believe that the last time I posted was June 18. Where did that month go and the summer half over too. I had hoped to drop by from time to time during my holiday, but found internet access less than easy, and to spend time with the computer instead of friends and relatives seemed...well ...decidedly unfriendly. Mother was well, and the rest of the family were amazingly welcoming.

Our weather in England was wet, and in Italy, hot, and the whole thing an absolute
delight.

I am looking forward to sharing my holiday forays with you all, but I thought I would start with our old favorite fashion flavors of the month, before July disappears on me altogether.

So fashions for July

What I noticed most about these 1799 riding habits was how warm they looked. After spending two weeks huddled in a light cotton jacket and not being close to warm, I can understand why. Now when the sun was out, it was lovely, but I can imagine needing these warmer outfits on cloudy days on the back of a horse. I do think that my blood is thinner than it used to be, because some folks were walking around in shorts, I should hasten to add.


These more summery outfits are from The Ladies Monthly Museum
for the same year. This is the description:

First Figure. Muslin round dress, trimmed round the neck with lace; loose, full sleeves, with white or coloured satin bands at the bottom; silver band round the waist. The hair drawn close up behind, and large curls or folds on the top, interwoven with silver bandeau, with two large ostrich feathers. Necklace consisting of three rows of pearls, with a topaz in the middle. Shoes and gloves straw colour.

Second Figure. The same dress, of yellow muslin spotted with silver; with the sleeves drawn up on the arm.



These next two, which I really find quite delightful, are from 1806, from the same magazine:

Walking Dress.
Gown of Cambric Muslin, and Straw-coloured Sarsnet; Spanish Cloak, trimmed with White Lace; Straw Hat.

Full Dress.
A short Dress of alternate Stripes of Pink Crape and Silk Net; an Under-dress of White Sarsnet, ornamented with Lace; Head fashionably dressed with Black Velvet and Silver Foil.

Anyone know what they meant by silver foil? I will try to find out.

I thought I would give you one more from later in the period. This is from La Belle Assemblee 1810




The description is as follows.

Morning Walking Dress.

A round dress of thick fine India muslin, made high in the neck, with long sleeves, which are trimmed at the wrists with a narrow edging of lace; a lace let in round the bottom of the dress between four rows of small tucks. A light sky-blue mantle, lined with pale buff, with elastic collar, which is formed with letting-in-lace, and has the appearance of a full collar, but will, if required, by drawing over the head, form a very pretty and becoming bonnet; a cape of the same materials crosses the back, which is confined at the bottom of the waist, on the inside, with a pale-blue or buff ribband, tied with a bow in the front; it is entirely trimmed round with narrow edging of lace. A bonnet of straw, and pale-blue ribband, with plaiting of lace, worn underneath, tied under the chin; with a yellow rose in the front, and hair in ringlet curls, completes the dress. Gloves of pale-buff. Boots of the same colour, calashed and laced with pale-blue.

I have put up some July Ball Gowns on my website

Until Thursday, when we will do some flora and fauna, while it is all fresh in my mind, Happy Rambles.

Michele

Rambling in Wales

Drive by Bloggin'

Because I am away and because I miss you, I thought i would blog here and there where I could.

After an excellent flight we arrived in Wales. Yesterday was a lovely day, and Father's Day here in Britain as well as in North America. It was a pretty afternoon, sunny and cloudy. My sister in law and I went for a long walk, in the countryside which is only steps from her house. I didn't take my camera - but that will be the last time I go anywhere without it. Remember my flora fauna blog, just last week, well I saw honeysuckle and dogroses and foxgloves all growing wild in the hedgerows. So I am feeling pretty good about that blog. I will be taking lots of pictures to share with you when I get back.

In the meantime here is one fashion picture for June as promised.



This is from the Cabinet of Fashion, June 1808

Fig. 1. Short dress of muslin; pelisse of fine cambric, and fashionable straw hat; yellow gloves.
Full Dress.-A round dress of pale pink sarsnet, covered with a stout robe of white crape, or net; a cap of white lace or net, and bows, ornamented with a red rose in front.

My next newsletter will be coming in July - so if you want to be sure to get a copy, you can sign up through the link posted at blogside (like curbside). Off to see the old mum tomorrow.

I will pop in for a visit later in the week and let you know what we have been doing. Until then, Happy Rambles

Regency Flora, Fauna and News

I hope you will forgive me, for running a tiny bit late today. I am off to the Historical Novel Society Conference tomorrow and had a couple of deadlines to meet.

Of course, everyone waxes lyrical about June. It is really the beginning of summer and all the flowers are putting on their best show. Of particular interest was this little extract.
Honeysuckle is an overpowering sweet odour sometimes the air is so heavy one can'tbreath. I can remember honeysuckle like that. These days it just doesn't seem to have that heady perfume. Or is it me?

What other flowers do we find in the gardens and hedgrows?


Here is a list from the



Times Telescope for 1817: Naturalists' Diary

Flowers: Larkspur, white lily, orange lily, everlasting pea, veronica, hyssop, snapdragon, linaria, yellow loosestrife, marigolds, chrysanthemum, nigella, wallfower, sweet william, iris, cranesbill, red valerian, bachelor's button, poppies, columbine, thrift, candytuft, foxglove, periwinkle, camomile, lavatera, lavender, globe
thistle, squill.


Trees, shrubs, vines: Spanish broom, yellow and white jasmine, roses, tamarisk, lime tree, cinquefoil, honeysuckle, Syringa, viburnum, Passion-flower,
Tulip-tree, spirea, Portugal laurel, sweetbriar.

Out of those I picked a couple that for me hold many happy memories of perfumes during childhood.

Wallflowers - not the kind who have to sit out the dancing.
They also have a sweet perfume and grow well in the lose mortar of walls. Hence their name.

The other one is foxglove. Come on now, don't you just love that name. We always used to pick the heads of the flowers off and pop them on the ends of our fingers, like gloves. Didn't do the flowers much good, though I must say.
Do I hear you crying, digitalis - that's poisoness. If I did you are quite correct. So if there is a murder in 1817, we know this is one plant that could be to blame.

Something else the Diarist tells us. June is when the birds stop singing. By the end of June most of them stop their call, including the cuckoo. You have to be very careful about when you have a cuckoo make its appearance - if it is the call you are using.


I am going to do more on this topic for June, because there are a few more plants and wildflowers that I would like to include, even though I cannot inclue them all.


News

I also want to tell you that I will be going on vacation from June 15 to July 10. I will be gathering lots of pictures of places for this blog as well as visiting my mum.

So I hope you will be patient if I miss a day or a week here or there, because I don't always have access to a computer.

I will be here next week and will finish up the flora and fauna and hope to get a little bit of Fashion done for June.

I hope you are enjoying some nice early summer weather. Until next week, Happy Rambles.

Sneak Peek

There is nothing more exciting or as scary to a writer as seeing the cover for your book. Well, perhaps seeing an envelope from a publisher or an agent that has had your manuscript for a while is pretty scary.

Anyway I have to share my new cover. I really love it and I thought you should be among the first to see it.

Isn't that pretty? Come on, you really must agree. I must say I am very happy with it.

You can of course order the book on amazon, but it won't be out until October and it will be in bookstores, so you can wait for a while. In the meantime I am going to sit here and stare at the cover.



Here is another cover. I bet Lori was very pleased with this one. Her book out is this month, and I can't wait to read it. Hellhounds. Yummy. I have added the link and a bit of the blurb to tempt your appetite. You will love this exciting read.

Publisher: Silhouette Nocturne
ISBN: 0373617658
ISBN-13: 978-0373617654
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: June 1, 2007

Order Now from Amazon.com
Read the excerpt listed there, shivery and intriguing. Go check it out. It will make a change from Regencies and they do say variety is the spice of life. So get living ducks.

Risk Leidolf is a hellhound—a legendary, otherworldly creature who is both man and beast. For centuries, he’s been bound to do the bidding of an immortal witch. But after being ordered to destroy novice witch Kara Shane, the man within him rebels. And the beast within him is held at bay—for now.


Fiercely drawn to each other, Risk and Kara soon form a passionate alliance as they set out to find her missing sister—and the key to his salvation. For the power unleashed by the twin witches could free him from the immortal witch’s bondage. But that freedom comes at a steep price. For the fierce battle will put more than one soul at stake
To see more books by my friends go to Your Virtual Book Bag

Thursday, we will take a a peek at some Flora and Fauna, and then I am off the to Historical Novel Society Conference. And the following week I will have some fashion and some news.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

The Peerage

Yes, pesky titles. I know I should have this down pat by now. But I just started a new work, and lo and behold the darn hero is the second son of a duke. Not the heir. Now there are all kinds of pitfalls with Dukes, not just what you call them, but what you call their sons, their wives, their sons wives and so on. I am going to deal with just a couple of them here.

I thought rather than do a dry list, I would use the 5th Duke of Devonshire as a living -- a well a previously living-- example. His first wife was Georgiana, a very interesting woman, but in the matter of titles I have chosen this particular Duke because he was around in the Georgian era.

This is a portrait of the fifth duke. Now how would you address the starchy looking gentleman. Oh and by the way, his family name (like your surname) is Cavendish. That becomes important later.

The form of address partly depends on who is addressing him and in what form, writing or speech (just to give you hiccups). A servant might well address him as "Your Grace", probably with his nose touching his knees. Anyone with the rank of baronet or below, e.g. just plain Mrs, Miss or Mr. would also call him Your Grace.

His wife would probably call him Devonshire or, if they were alone or with intimate family or friends, she might call him, "my lord" or "my love". It sounds very formal, but that in a way is the reason for our enchantment for bygone ages. It was different.



Here is a picture of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Gainsborough, while this is still in the 1780's we can see the classical influence.

The Duke's friends, if they are peers, would most likely call him Devonshsire, although they might say, "How are you today, Duke?" and as the conversation continues would address him as "sir".

A Duke is never addressed as "my lord".

Very rarely were first names used, except possibly between boys who were close friends at school, and then only in private. Last names, or the title name (e.g. Devonshire) were the most common forms of address, if not using the respectful, "your grace".

He would sign his name Devonshire on all correspondence. There is only one Devonshire, and there would be absolutely no mistake as to whom had written. If you are going to write to a Duke, you would begin: "My Lord Duke"


Perhaps one of my favorite fictional dukes is His Grace Duke of Avon, in Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades and Devil's Cub. Oh man, gotta read those books again now I have thought about them. He was also in the Black Moth, but he was an anti hero and so she changed his name, but we guessed. I always felt a teeny bit sorry for him in the first book. I do love a bad boy.

Back to titles, girl, before you lose your audience.
Note that a Duke is always the Duke of "somewhere". That is not true of some of the other titles. Remember the Duke of Wellington? He was the first Duke of Wellington.

A Duke will usually have one or more courtesy titles. These are often titles of progression, titles his family earned over the centuries, gradually climbing the ladder of the peerage. So he might also be Marquess of Malmsbury and Earl Chokingham and some others as well as being "Duke of Somewhere". His eldest son will normally take his highest courtesy title during the Duke's lifetime.

The duchess is also "Your Grace" but rather than "My Lord Duke" she is "Madam", on formal correspondence and "Madam" instead of "Sir" in informal speech. She would sign her name Georgiana Devonshire.

Now in my novel, I have an heir, who is a Marquess, so I have to follow the rules for him, but he only makes a brief appearance so I will talk about his title another time. My hero is the second son. So what do I need to know about him?

Of course the biggest fear of the writer is that by now you have so many names floating on the pages that you have made your reader fall asleep.
To wake you up, here is a picture of the 6th Duke of Devonshire. Very much a Regency gentleman. This picture was painted by Thomas Lawrence in 1811.

Anyway, younger sons of Dukes. Since he is my main character let me get it right.
Announced formally or addressed on formal correspondence as: Lord Malcolm Cavendish
(All right so Devonshire only had one son, but this is fiction so use your imagination.)
What we have above is a title "Lord" his Christian or firstname "Malcolm" and his family name or surname "Cavendish". Neither his father, mother or older brother use the Cavendish. But he isn't really a peer, he is only the second son, poor sod.

The salutation on correspondence would be "My Lord". He would be announced as "The Lord Malcolm Cavendish" He would be addressed by his friends as Lord Malcolm (or Malcolm or Cavendish, if addressed by a very close friend or relative). He would sign himself as Malcolm Cavendish or Cavendish. If he had a younger brother, a third son to the Duke, then that son could not sign just Cavendish. He would have to use his Christian name and then the family name in his signature to avoid confusion with his older brother.

Whew!!!!!

Thank you so much for helping me do my research for this book. Without you I would still have a note in the manuscript that says - must check ducal sons' forms of address.

By the way, if you would like all the detail, check out this website. I think it is very clear. You can also investigate Debrett's or Burke's, you will find them listed in the bibliography on the above website. Until next time, Happy rambles.

Town and Country Dining

Beth, you ask a good question. I think that perhaps the main difference in dining is not going to be where you are living, but who you are.




Here is a picture of the Thames in those times, you can see the tower of London in the background. Just look at all of those masts, ships up and down the river. This was how goods came in from other countries and sometime how it was transported around the country also.







Each type of food had its own market in London, Covent Garden for fruits and veg, most of those coming up for the surrounding countryside. The first picture is of Covent Garden on an election day. But you can get a sense of it.


Billingsgate for fish is the next picture. More ships and you can just imagine the smell.



The last picture is of Smithfield the meat market.




Anyway, most of this produce was home grown and seasonal and just as available in the country as in the town.

So the only thing Londoners might have that the country gentleman might not would be expensive foreign items which might not make it to the country markets. And of course those who were rich would simply have them brought in.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the real difference would be between rich and poor. Meat would be expensive, so it would have to go a lot further and be used in gruels and stews. Things like neats tongues (which were on our last menu) would probably be something the poor would never taste, whereas interestingly enough oysters were a poor man's regular diet.

So I think you are quite safe in the country with any kind of food that did not require a French chef or something not grown in England. One thing you have to remember is that England was at war with France and most of Europe during much of this period, not to mention the odd tiff with America, and therefore imported goods were limited.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Dining

This first picture means nothing. I just like it.




Since food was such a luxury in our era, dining or feasting was always a momentous occasion. I thought I would focus on one meal.

This is a description of "a most sumptuous entertainment" given by The Chief Magistrate of Chester (General Grosvenor) in the Exchange, to his cousin Earl Grosvenor, several gentlemen of the country, the Corporation and his friends in the city. This is the Chester Exchange, before it burnt down in 1865. What a busy bustling market square out front and this building is huge, much bigger than it looks.

"The town hall was most tastefully decorated with variegated lamps. The tables were laid out in the following manner: Two long tables down each side of the room, joined at the top in a semi-circular form; and in the intermediate area smaller tables were laid across; in the center was placed a fine baron of beef, ornamented with appropriate devices, encircled by the motto—"

“O! The roast beef of Old England, O! the Old English roast beef.”

"On its right was a Christmas pie, weighing upwards of 200 pounds, containing four geese, four turkeys, six hares, a leg of veal, a leg of pork, sausages &c.; on its side were the heraldic bearings of the house of Eaton, supported by those of the General, with the family motto; on the left of the baron of beef was a salad, tastefully displayed with the motto" “Prosperity to the trade of Chester.”

"This table was surmounted with two elegant transparencies representing the east and north gates of the city."

"About five o’clock dinner was served up to which two hundred sat down. The following is a copy of the:

Bill of Fare

—16 tureens of turtle; 8 boiled turkeys; 3 ham; 4 dishes of a la mode beef; 5 pigeon pies; 3 saddles of mutton; 13 plum puddings; 6 dishes of muranede pork; 8 French pies; 4 roasted turkeys; 8 dishes of rabbits; 3 legs of mutton; 4 geese; 2 fillets of veal; 10 dishes of chickens; 4 dishes of veal surprise; 3 beefsteak pies; 3 dishes of sweet breads; 6 hares; 6 venison pasties; 8 dishes of ducks; 6 oyster patties; 6 dishes of mutton casserole; 6 dishes of pig; 6 lemon puddings; 8 dishes of haricaed mutton; 4 neats tongues; 3 dishes of collard veal; a round of beef.

Removes—Ten haunches of venison; 10 necks of venison.

Sweets—30 salvers of whips and jelly; 20 moulds of jelly; 40 moulds of blancmange; tarts; cheese cakes; mince pies, puffs, &c."

I don't know about you, but this menu did not make me feel hungry. But why is it important? Why spend the time finding out exactly what they ate? Well, while I think I would not put neats' tongues in a book I might well want to put blancmange, and oyster patties, and jelly and mince pies. And by doing this little bit of research, I can happily put them on the table.



While this is an image of the coronation banquet of George IV (yes our Prinny) I think it gives the flavor of what this Grosvenor feast must have been like. No balconies.

Until next time, Happy rambles.

Today is Queen Victoria's Birthday

At least today is the day Canada celebrates her birthday. Her actual dob is May 24 1819, and this long weekend is always called the May 24 weekend. Queen Victoria was born in the Regency period, so she makes an appropriate topic for my blog. Here she is aged four, so in 1823.


It is one of the things often skipped over about her, that she was much less of the moralistic queen than she is painted. She grew up a Hanover and was not quite as Victorian as she might seem to us looking back at her era. It was the middle classes that set the tone, the conservative middle classes that were coming into their own, led by some notable politicians and thinkers.

Although christened Alexandrina Victoria, from birth she was formally styled Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Kent. She was called Drina within the family. Princess Victoria's father died of pneumonia eight months after she was born. Her grandfather, George III, died six days later.

This is an extract from her diary the day she became Queen.


June 1837 at Kensington Palace
I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me that the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here, and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing-gown), and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham (the Lord Chamberlain) then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen. Lord Conyngham knelt down and kissed my hand, at the same time delivering to me the official announcement of the poor King's demise.

As the longest reigning English monarch (interesting those that rule the longest are women) at 63 years and 7 months, it still amazes me that her influence on what were call the colonies is still evident in the fact that we celebrate her birthday, when the current Queen's birthday is all but ignored here in Canada. I love watching trooping the color on the Queen's birthday and can remember going to watch it with my father on more than one occasion as a child.

Mind you, who cares why we have a day off, so long as we do.

And we celebrate with fireworks. Endlessly. My poor little Teaser (a Maltese terrier) spent the whole evening under the bed, and its all going to happen again tonight. This is a picture of the Royal Fireworks display on the Thames in 1749, so very apt for this blog, don't you think?

What happened in the latter 19th century, was formed by what happened during the Regency. The Regency set the stage for what was to come; the era's painters, poets and enlightened thinkers; the women Hannah More, Mary Wollstonecraft, even the fascinating and shocking Lady Hester Stanhope. Perhaps in future blogs it might be interesting to take a look at some of these very interesting ladies.

And ages ago I promised you Portugal. Oh for more time.
Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion - May Part II

Sorry about that ducks, we seem to get led down the garden path by buttons and such. Anyway, pulling myself out of the ding weed as it were, we will finish fashions for May.
We took a quick peek at 1806 and 1808, so let us see what delights there are for later years of the regency. The next two are from 1810
No. 1-Evening Shawl DressAah now here we have "a rich Paris-brown French silk shawl robe, with short full sleeves, made to sit very much off the shoulders; worn over a white satin body with long sleeves. Persian scarf of green silk; white satin shoes; and white kid gloves." And just look how slender both of these young ladies are. Don't they remind you of models today?

No. 2-Evening Full Dress
A white satin, or fine India muslin, round dress, made short, and scolloped round the bottom, which is finished with a gold twist, made to sit very high over the neck; ornamented with a full ruck of white crape, or lace; long sleeves laced with gold twist, and small gold drop buttons, the sleeves scolloped to correspond with the bottom of the dress, and ornamented with gold cord; a gold net, or Persian silk sash, encircles the waist. White kid gloves; white satin shoes, with gold rosettes; tippet of white swansdown.

Obviously, the first group with the gentleman from 1817, is one of those rarities that we love to find. He is clearly dressed for evening, with the kneebreches and flat black pumps. And look at the shine on those stockings he is wearing. Now they just have to be silk, wouldn't you think? The next evening gown (1816) is just darling, so delicate, and the pretty embroidery really appeals to me.


This last picture is for Beth. It is the peliss that closes at the front. Can't give you a month or a year on this one, so far I haven't found its origins. But it is gorgeous, and I just love that hat.


That is all for this week. See you next Monday. Until then Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion - buttons

Beth asked about buttons down the back of an 1810 gown. Here is the picture I promised. And just to be sure, I found a second one. Neither of these gowns if from 1810, the first is from 1804 and the second from 1807, but as you can imagine, if they were doing it earlier, there is no reason why it could not be so in a later year. I hope that helps, Beth.

This next picture is the back view of a spencer, a little jacket it also buttons down the back which i thought you might also like to take a look at.




While we are on the subject I thought we might take a look at buttons in general. Here are a few different kinds.


The button above is a metal circle covered by cotton threads in a decorative pattern.


This button (above) is a button made of agate.

These buttons (above) are made of bone.


Clearly the above button is metal and probably not worn by a female.
This last picture is of buttons made of wood.
Also, do not forget that many buttons, including the ones in the very first picture above would be covered by the fabric of the gown.

Now to the question of gloves. Beth asked would a woman wear gloves when eating lunch alone at home. I have heard much discussion on this topic and the consensus is that women did not eat in gloves and would not normally wear them around the home. That said, there is still some uncertainty about it. Isn't it amazing what we do not know. I do think you would be safe having her not eat in her gloves when she is alone at home.

I still have some May fashions to post and plan to have the rest of them up for you on Thursday. Until then happy rambles.