Casting Judgment from White's Bow Window

White's famed bow window is on the ground floor.

 

The following poem takes a tongue-in-cheek peek at the arbitrators of fashion who sat in the infamous bow window of White's on St. James. The author is Henry Luttrell (1765-1851) who Byron referred to as "the best sayer of good things, and the most epigrammatic conversationalist I ever met."

Indeed, all the diaries and letters I've read from the era refer to Luttrell as the great wit. The most recent edition of the Englilsh Dictionary of National Biography says that, unfortunately, most of Luttrell's wit does not translate well two centuries later. It's one of those cases where ya had to be there.

Luttrell was the illegitimate son of the 2^nd Lord Carhampton.

The Bow Window at White's

By Henry Luttrell

 Shot from yon Heavenly Bow, at White's,

No critic-arrow now alights

On some unconscious passer-by

Whose cape's an inch too low or high;

Whose doctrines are unsound in hat,

In boots, in trousers, or cravat;

On him who braves the shame and guilt

of gig or Tilbury ill-built;

Sports a barouche with panels darker

Than the last shade turned out by Barker;

Or canters, with an awkward seat

And badly mounted, up the street.

Silenced awhile that dreadful battery

Whence never issued sound of flattery;

That whole artillery of jokes,

Levelled point-blank at hum-drum folks;

Who now, no longer kept in awe

By Fashion's judges, or her law,

Strut by the window, at their ease,

With just what looks and clothes they please!

 Since George "Beau" Brummell was known to occupy a seat in that most well-known of bow windows, I suspect Luttrell is poking fun at him in this poem which first appeared in Luttrell's Advice to Julia, published in 1820, four years after Brummell fled to France to keep from debtor's prison. I found it in my little 1909 gem, The Lure of London.—By Cheryl Bolen, who's delighted to announce the release of a Christmas novella (The Theft Before Christmas) in the Regent Mysteries series on Oct. 7. Preorders are on all sites except Barnes & Noble.

 

                                                     Beau Brummell

 

 

An English Autumn

It's fall to Americans, but Autumn has come again, and in Regency England this was the time of year for country events.

Actually, most anyone who could leave London in the heat of summer would do so. July and August were not great months in a city that still used the Thames for its sewer and refuse.

The harvest began in August and September. In fact, September 24 was a day associated with beginning harvest in much of medieval England.

During harvest time, Corn Dollys would be crafted—by tradition the dolly held the spirit of the corn (and do remember that corn in England means any grain). The dolly would be tied in a design specific to the area, so a Yorkshire dolly would be different from one made in Shropshire.

One Corn Dolly, a countryman's favor, was usually a plait (or braid) of three straws that was tied into a loose knot to represent a heart. If a young man gave this to a girl and she wore it next to her heart he knew his love was reciprocated.

The traditional last day of harvest is still September 29, Michaelmas Day, which is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, who is also the patron saint of the sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatmen, of horses and horsemen. Michaelmas Day is sometimes called Goose Day, and Goose Fairs were held in some English towns, such as Nottingham.

Because it was quarter's end, Michaelmas was the time for Mop Fairs, when servants and laborers would hire themselves out again for the next year’s work. The name comes from maids who, looking for work, would carry a small mop to show her skills (a shepherd had wool, a gardener had flowers, and so on). Gentry folk, or even tenant farmers looking for help, might visit a mop fair (usually the great houses hired their staff through agencies, and from families who had worked for the house for generations).

Autumn was also the time to begin training young hounds for the coming hunt season.

Fox hunting began after the first frost, and after all the harvest had been brought in. Before that, however, the hunt master would take out his young hounds and start to train them with a "drag" (the scent of a fox in a bag, possibly even a dead fox in a bag) so they would learn to hunt properly and obey the master's and the huntsmen's commands. This season of "cub hunting" (the cubs were the young hound, not young foxes) was, and still is, an excellent time to begin training young horses as hunters, and a season to start getting older horse fit for the hunt again. (Most hunters were put out to pasture in the spring and summer so they could have some rest between hunting seasons.)

Shooting season began in mid-August, with grouse. Additional game birds came in season as of September 1, and woodcock and pheasant seasons opened on October 1. Originally, the Forest Laws covered hunting and shooting rights. Put into place by William the Conqueror, these acts carried harsh penalties for poaching or for even using the king's forests. Gradually, the acts relaxed and opened up to allow for nobles, and then for landowners to hunt, shoot, and use the forests--and the forests themselves were reduced over the centuries for building ships, houses, and cities. However, the Black Act of 1723 put into place the death penalty for over 50 crimes, including being found in a forest while disguised (poachers were blackening their faces to hunt for food--a necessity, given the widespread poverty from the bursting of the South Seas Bubble). It was not repealed until the reforms of 1823. 

The Game Act of 1831 further loosened restrictions, and the right was at last given to anyone to kill game on their own land, or on that of another with permission.
 
Autumn months when a time when owners ate pheasant, partridge, duck and grouse. Fish for meals included perch, halibut, carp, gudgeons, and shell fish. Poachers also looked to snared hares for their pot. Beans were still fresh, and the fruits of summer gave way to pears, apples, nuts and the last harvest of grapes.

With the harvest put away, those in the country could settle into winter's hibernation, or look to return to London when Parliament again met in November.

Shannon Donnelly Bio

Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written."

Her Regency romances can be found in print or as ebooks on all formats, and her Regency Historical, The Cardros Ruby is currently on sale this September at Amazon.com.

Wooing,Regency Style

I admit, I've been out of the dating scene for (ahem) a few years now. Okay, over twenty. But from what my single friends tell me, not much has changed since I was in the dating scene. Basically a man asks out a woman, (or if she's braver than I ever was, she asks him out). They might meet online, or be introduced by a friend, but eventually they end up on that first date. It might be dinner or drinks or just coffee. It might involve a movie or miniature golf or a museum. It might even occasionally include another couple but it never involves parents or chaperons, and no one thinks anything of a man and a woman being alone together in a car or a house.  

Dating in Regency England was very different. For one thing, it was called courting or wooing. But most importantly, a young lady of good breeding who wished to keep her reputation pristine so she would be a candidate for marriage never, ever put herself alone with a man. (The double standard is, of course, that the man could have a very sullied reputation and still be considered a good match if he were wealthy and well-connected enough, but that's a matter for a different post.) Therefore, courting was a very public affair. 

First they'd have to be introduced by a mutual friend before they'd be allowed to converse. They often met at balls which were THE places to meet those of similar social backgrounds, but they might also meet at a dinner party, soiree, musicale, or even the opera or the theater. 

If the man wished to get better acquainted with the lady he'd met, he'd send her flowers the next day, and later pay a visit upon the family during their "at home" hours where her mother or aunt or other chaperon would be present. He might take her for a walk in one of the walking parks, or take her riding, either horseback or in an open carriage--open being the operative word since riding in a closed carriage could ruin her reputation as fast as being alone in a house. During these outings, a chaperon may or may not be close at hand. 

Courting could be short or take place over a long period of time. If she refused to dance with any other man but him, she basically announced to the world that she was unofficially engaged. If she danced with him more than twice in one night, everyone assumed she was either engaged to him or was "fast," a terrible label for a proper young lady. If he spent a lot of time with her to the  point where people began to notice how much they were together, public opinion pretty much placed them as engaged. If he failed to make an offer of marriage for her, people said he had failed to come up to scratch and shook their heads and wondered if she were unsuitable or if he were. Either way, the couple's reputations suffered. 

Such courting practices may sound rigid and even sterile to the modern-day woman, but I think it leaves so much open. For one thing, they relied on witty conversation rather than getting physical to get to know each other. And since the courting practices were pretty predictable, a man had to use creativity to impress the lady. 

Once he felt secure she returned his affections, the gentleman would make an appointment with the girl's father and formally ask for her hand in marriage. His income would be scrutinized and they would draw up a prenuptial agreement called a marriage settlement which included her pin money, dress allowance, jointure, and other ways he'd provide for her, as well as what dowry would go to the man. Once all that was settled, the father would break the news to the girl and the wedding preparations would commence.

My job as Regency romance author is to keep in mind these social customs known as 'manners and mores' and yet find unique ways for my hero and heroine to meet and fall in love. It's fun to create a unique twist on acceptable courting, throwing in lots of obstacles in the way of their happily ever after, and revealing the final, happy, triumphant ending.  That doesn't make me a hopeless romantic, it makes me a hopeful romantic. 

Of Time Travel and Cooking

by Donna Hatch

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to time travel back to your favorite era in history? I do, all the time. I'd pick Regency, of course, since that’s the era in which all of my historical romance novels take place. I’ve decided that I’d better travel as a very wealthy lady or I'd be totally helpless. For example, trying to cook would be a disaster all by itself.

Not only are most of the foods I love modern and unavailable in the Regency, but trying to follow a recipe to cook for myself would be impossible. Have you ever seen an old recipe? They are so vague that no one who doesn’t already know how to prepare the dish would ever be able to follow them. They use words such as ‘a handful,’ ‘a dash,’ ‘until the mixture has the right consistency,’ and so forth. The new cook must have learned at the elbow of an experienced cook or suffered many disasters.

In Shannon Donnally's post What's Blanc Mange  she made this quote: Amounts in older cookbooks can also confuse a modern reader, often listing ingredients to be added as handfuls, as in the rue, sage, mint, rosemary, wormwood and lavender for a "recipt against the plague" given by Hanna Glasse.

This got me to thinking, when were measuring spoons and cups standardized? This question sent me on a quest.

According to Answer Bag: Fannie Farmer introduced the concept of using standardized measuring spoons and cups in her book, "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book." Farmer's work was published in 1896 while she was the director of the Boston Cooking School. I discovered this same answer on a cooking post on Etsy.

However, according to Ifood: Measuring cups are invented by David Holcombe in the year 1982. Measuring cups are made with glass, plastic or metal. It has the capacity to hold approximately 0.2 to 1 litre.

I think he means 1892, since I know for a fact measuring cups were around long before 1982 :-)

Amy Balenger’s answer on Cha Cha says: First invented in 1879, measuring cups were created for standardization of measurements in cooking and baking.

Another answer on Ask said Betty Crocker, maybe. I'm not convinced. 

None of these sources cited a reference, so I can't follow them back to their source to find out the truth. However, based on the answers I found (and those were the only answers I found on line—all the other hits were either nonsensical or were listings for the sale of measuring cups and spoons) the general consensus is the standardization of measuring cups and spoons happened somewhere in the late 1800’s, which was the Victorian Era, when the rising middle class created a need for women who were ladies of their own homes and who did the cooking for their own families but didn’t necessarily have training from a skilled cook to teach them.

I suspect cooks used their own cups and spoons and just knew to use a certain cup or spoon for the recipe that they either kept in their heads or wrote for their own use. I doubt anything became standardized until cook books became common. Supposedly the first printed cookbooks were sometime around the 1st or 2nd century, but would not have been a common household item to help domestic servants and housewives with cooking instruction. Books were just too rare and too expensive, and most servants were illiterate. Since the printing press was invented in the early 1800's and not widely used until the middle of the century, the idea of using it to mass produce cookbooks would have taken time. 

So the next time you open a recipe book, stop and allow a moment of gratitude for the standardization of measuring cups and spoons so you can duplicate a prize-winning dish...unless you’re like I am and manage to mess it up even if you use the right measurements, but that’s another problem altogether. Oh, and make sure when you time-travel, you arrive dressed as a noblewoman so you won't be expected to do any menial chores like cooking or cleaning. 

Education & courtship of Mary Lucy

The memoir of Mary Elizabeth Lucy, the mistress of Charlecote Park, a fine old Elizabethan house now in the care of the National Trust, gives the modern-day reader a glimpse into the education and courting of a Welch heiress during the Regency period.

The daughter of Sir John and Lady Margaret Williams of Biddlewyddan, Mary Elizabeth was born in 1803, and in her eighties set down her remembrances for her grandchildren.

 

 Her childhood centered around piety and strict discipline. When she was very young, her grandmother taught her prayers, and after her grandmamma died, her pious mother undertook her religious instruction.

 

The children—there were eight in all—were taken care of by a nurse in their early years. "Whenever we were naughty," Mary Elizabeth writes, "she used to say a witch would come and take us through the window."

The nurse wasn't all frights. She slept in the nursery with the children, and it delighted them to climb in her four-post bed once she vacated it in the mornings, and they would draw the curtains and have a game of romps, where they would knock each other down with pillows. Their old nurse was devoted to the children throughout her life.

Throughout her children, Mary Elizabeth would read Scripture to the illiterate nurse who doted upon her.

 

Long, rough schooldays

 

When Mary Elizabeth's younger brother went off to school, a governess was brought in for the girls. Lessons began at six each morning in summer and seven in winter. If she was late, she had to forfeit a penny. At eight, they broke for breakfast which consisted of a bowl of bread and milk.

Her governess was very strict. If Mary Elizabeth missed even a single word in a page of history memorization or in a poem, she would be locked in the schoolroom closet where the exercise books—and the governess's loaf of bread—were kept. This terrified Mary Elizabeth because mice, attracted to the bread, made their home within the dark closet.

The children had a half-holiday on Saturday and a whole one on their birthdays. Though children's birthday parties were unheard of, on their birthday they were allowed to dine with their parents, and their old nurse would be allowed to come and take desert with them—dressed in her silk gown and lace cap.

The birthday of the firstborn son was an occasion to be celebrated with a dance for all the neighbors to attend.

There was a "schoolroom boy," a servant whose chief duty was to clean the shoes of the children of the house. The lad was eager to learn to read, and Mary Elizabeth would meet him in her play time, armed with her spelling book and a slate. She said it took the patience of Job to teach him because he was "so stupid," he could not remember the alphabet.

From her governess, Mary Elizabeth learned French and Italian as well as needlework.

Every morning Mary Elizabeth would read psalms to her mother, and each evening she read the evening psalms to her governess, who encouraged Mary Elizabeth to give a third of her pocket money to the poor. She also encouraged the children to give up what they liked best for Lent.

Her grandmother had read the children an old-fashioned book, Cobwebs to Catch Flies, and her brother would tell her tales of the Arabian Nights.

As she grew older, she became passionate about the study of music and drawing. Everyone in the family played musical instruments, and Mary Elizabeth played several, including the organ and the harp.

 

                                                             Coming out

At the annual ball to celebrate her eldest brother's birthday when she was sixteen, dancing began at nine o'clock and continued until four in the morning. "The waltz was not yet known outside London Society," she wrote. "We danced only country dances, quadrilles and reels." The end of the ball was signaled by the Sir Roger de Coverly.

In her teens she started studying with a new governess who had her read Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott and the French works by Racine, Corneille, and Moliere, and in Italian, Tasso and Petrach.

Her first introduction to society away from her North Wales neighborhood occurred when she and her three sisters went to Lancashire for the Preston Guild, a fortnight celebration that occurs once every 21 years. Balls were held every night, and there was a Mayor's Reception where everyone wore court dress.

It was here she met and fell in love with Wilson Patten, who also fell in love with her for Mary Elizabeth outshone all her sisters.  When the underage Patten went home to beg permission to marry her, his father sent him abroad and wrote Mary Elizabeth's father a letter to tell her to forget his son.

  The gatehouse to Warwickshire's Charlecote Park Photo by Dr. John Bolen

A year later George Lucy, the 34-yer-old owner of Charlecote Park, which included land that had been in the Lucy family for 600 years, came to Mary Elizabeth's home in Wales at the invitation of one of her brothers. In London, one of her sisters had greatly admired him, and it was thought he was coming to Wales to see her.

However, once he saw Mary Elizabeth, no other Williams daughter would do. He soon asked her father's permission to marry Mary Elizabeth.

When her father told her, she fell to her knees and begged him not to have her marry George Lucy. Such a ploy had worked before when another of her sister's callers had asked Sir John for his Mary Elizabeth's hand.

The difference this time: the wealthy George Lucy came from one of the oldest families in Britain, and his ancestral home, Charlecote Park, was one of the finest old homes in the kingdom. Sir John wasn't about to let his daughter forgo an opportunity like that.

No amount of tears could dissuade him.

Many years later she wrote: "I had been brought up to obey my parents in everything and, though I dearly loved Papa, I had always rather feared him. I felt I dared not disobey him."

After her quick meeting with "Mr. Lucy" who officially proposed to her, Mary Elizabeth flew upstairs to her mother and wept.

"My sweet Mary," he mother said, "love will come when you know all of Mr. Lucy's good qualities."

Being so pious, Mary Elizabeth prayed that she would become of good wife.

Several weeks later they wed at the cathedral near her home, and when she rose from her knees after the ceremony, she fainted away.

Despite the rocky beginning, the marriage was a happy one that produced eight children. In a very short time her mother's prophecy had come true. Mary Elilzabeth fell deeply in love with her husband.

               Cheryl Bolen at Charlecote, Summer 2013

Cries of Old London

Cries of Old London

Today, we associate cities with the sounds of engines, radios, sirens, and the general hum of modern automation. Advertising blares at us with song and noise. It’s easy, therefore, to think that a hundred or two hundred years ago, cities were far more quiet places. In fact, they were still noisy.

London of the Regency era (early 1800’s) had almost as much congestion—but instead of automation’s hum, the sound of carriage wheels, harness, and horses gave the city its bustle. London residents also had the cries of merchants to disturb the day (and sometimes the night, too).

While we are far more accustomed to going to stores today, in the 1800’s it was common for goods to come to the customers. Vendors would ply their trade along well populated (and well off) streets, where their goods would more easily sell.

Joseph Addison, wrote in The Spectator, December 1711, "There is nothing which more astonishes a foreigner, and frights a country squire, than the Cries of London."

“Oranges, Sweet China Oranges” is a cry that dates back to 1793, while the cry of, “Strawberries, Scarlet Strawberries” dates to 1795. Also from the late 1700’s were the cries for “New Mackerel” (as if anyone would want old mackerel), “Turnips & Carrots Ho!” and, “Old chairs to mend.” But London’s cries dated back far before then, to the 1500’s and would linger into the 1900’s.

It was not just London that had its street vendors—any large city acquired hawkers who would sell, “Gingerbread, Hot Spice Gingerbread” as well as roasted nuts of all kinds, including chestnuts. Just about anything that could be provided in a service (mending pans or china, sharpening knives and scissors, repairing furniture, or sweeping chimneys) or carried (with portable foods such as bread, milk, butter, fruits, and vegetables) would be sold door-to-door. Even such perishable stuffs such as oysters might be carted around the streets to cooks and housekeepers, and the calls might well lure them into a quick purchase.

Over 150 cries have been recorded, and they’ve gone on to be used both in song, and used as the basis for prints, pottery, engravings, and paintings.

Francis Wheatley produced a series of illustrations in 1796, highlighting the various vendors in hand-colored prints, which were sold individually and later collected into print editions. Musically, Richard Dering composed Cries of London, which is still performed and can be purchased today, and other composers have also used the cries in various forms.

It is to be hoped that the cries of London were once as harmonious as modern singers can present them, but it is far more likely that the voices were rough and probably hoarse from use, and possibly shrill when women had to call out their wares. Vendors also would try to customize their calls, some would include prices, and some would include rhymes to make their calls all the more memorable.

BIO

Shannon Donnelly’s Regency romances are now available as from Cool Gus Publishing, as well as on Kindle, Nook, from Kobo and other ebook retailers. Her latest book Regency romance, The Cardros Ruby, is now on sale with a special price of .99.

Her writing has won numerous awards, including a RITA nomination for Best Regency, the Grand Prize in the "Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer" contest, judged by Nora Roberts, RWA's Golden Heart, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklist and other reviewers, who note: "simply superb"..."wonderfully uplifting"....and "beautifully written."

Her work has been on the top seller list of Amazon.com and includes Paths of Desire, a Historical Regency romance, of which Romantic Historical Lovers notes: “a story where in an actress meets an adventurer wouldn’t normally be at the top of my TBR pile; but I’ve read and enjoyed other books by this author and so I thought I’d give this one a go. I’m glad I did. I was hooked and pulled right into the world of the story from the very beginning…Highly recommended.”

She has also published young adult horror stories, is the author of several computer games, and now lives in New Mexico with two horses, two donkeys, two dogs, and the one love of her life. Shannon can be found online at sd-writer.com, facebook.com/sdwriter, and twitter/sdwriter.

Happy Birthday, Georgette Heyer

Today is Georgette Heyer's birthday! Since she would be 111 years old today, I guess this makes it her (according to Tolkien) eleventieth birthday.

Georgette Heyer is hailed by scores of fans as being the quintessential Regency Romance novelist. Most people credit her for creating not on the genre called Historical Romance, but its subgenre, Regency Romance. Heyer reportedly had a  brother who was chronically ill, so to amuse him, she wrote a series of stories. Inspired by Jane Austen, Heyer wrote stories that took place in England during the Regency Era.

Since she lived a hundred years later than Austen, Heyer had the disadvantage of having to research the manners and mores of the time. However, according to rumor, her grandmother who lived with her family was raised during the late Regency and became Heyer's model for her Regency speech and customs.

Some critics find Heyer's novels filled with too much detail, others consider her detail to be her greatest asset, with her wit coming in as a close second. She wrote not only Regencies, but other historical novels including one about William the Conqueror hailed as one of the most historically accurate writings about the long ago King of England. She also wrote contemporary novels and thrillers.

I admit I haven't read all of her books, but I plan to. Of those I have read, here are my favorites:

Cotillion, The Corinthian, A Civil Contract, Venetia, and Beauvallet.

This question of who our favorite Heyers books are came up in my Regency historical research group, and here were our group answers as to the number of people who rated their top 5 favorites:

10 -- Venetia

9 -- The Grand Sophy

9 -- Devil’s Cub

8 -- Cotillion

7 -- The Unknown Ajax

7 -- Sylvester

6 -- Frederica

6 -- Arabella

4 -- The Nonesuch

4 -- Faro’s Daughter

3 -- These Old Shades

3 -- The Talisman Ring

3 -- The Reluctant Widow

3 -- Masqueraders

2 -- The Toll Gate

2 -- The Quiet Gentleman

2 -- The Convenient Marriage

2 -- Spanish Bride

2 -- Regency Buck

2 -- Black Sheep

1 -- The Corinthian

1 -- Lady of Quality

1 -- False Colours

1 -- Civil Contract

1 -- An Infamous Army

1 -- Why Shoot a Butler?

Here is more information about Heyer on Wiki.

So, to celebrate, the anniversary of Georgette Heyer's birth, name your five favorite Heyer books.