Gentlemen's Clubs Part III

There were many more clubs in London During the Regency.

I am going to touch on a couple of other famous ones, and on Thursday a list of some others that you might be interested in and provide a list of Hotels each catering to a different clientele.

Watier’s

During the twelve years of its life, from 1807 to 1819, no club was more notorious than Watier’s, It was located at 81 Piccadilly. While there are at least two different accounts of the origin of this club, the one I like the best is that after members of White’s and Brooks’s complained of the food to Prinny— the Prince Regent, the Prince helped his French chef set up a club where excellent food was paramount.
Watier’s was also known as The Dandy Club. Lord Byron wrote that although he was not a dandy, they were kind to him. He put it down to the fact that he had once been a dandy himself, although during this period he was considered part of the literary set.
Some of the famous dandies were of course Brummell, Mildmay, Alvanley and Pierrepoint.

Above is a picture of Lord Alvanley. He was not a handsome man, but he was extraordinarily good natured.
Byron speaks quite wistfully of the Dandy Balls that Watier’s got up and the famous masquerade at Burlington House and Garden for Wellington in a letter to Lady Blessington in 1823.

The play, mostly Macao, a version of vingt-et-un. was disastrously deep. Thousands passed from one to another with as much facility as marbles.


Four-Horse Club
Originally one of the clubs frequented by the notorious Earl of Barrymore, the Four-Horse club had been a wild group of young men who enjoyed bribing coachmen to give them the reins to the vehicles and then driving them at break-neck speeds along the very poor British Roads.
By the early nineteenth century it was a respectable club for superb drivers. At its peak it only had some 30-40 members.
It was often also called the Four-in-Hand Club, the Whip Club or the Barouche Club - the last from a description in "The Sporting Magazine" of Feburary 1809.
Club rules stated the barouches should be yellow bodied with 'dickies', the horses should be Bays, with rosettes at their heads and the harnesses should be silver-mounted. However Mr Annesley - a club member, drove roans, Sir Henry Peyton drove Greys so the color of the horses wasn't as strictly enforced as the color of the carriage.

The uniform of the club was strictly enforced. A drab coat that reached to the ankles with three tiers of pockets and mother of pearl buttons as large as five shilling pieces. The waistcoat was blue with yellow stripes an inch wide, the breeches of plush with strings and rosettes to each knee. It was fashionable that the hat should be 3 1/2 inches deep in the crown.
The first meeting of the Four-Horse club was held in April 1808 and subsequent days of meeting were the first and third Thursdays in May and June. The members assemble at Mr. Buxton's house in Cavendish Square and drove to Salt Hill to dinner at the Windmill first and then the next time at The Castle alternating between the two.
The procession was always the same. Club rules stated that each member in single file, no overtaking was allowed, and no one to exceed a trot. The procession set out from London to Salt Hill at noon, following along the Bath Road. It was 24 miles to Salt Hill so the club lunched at the Packhorse on Turnham Green and then took further refreshment at the Magpies on Hounslow Heath. They ran to Salt Hill where they remained overnight.
There popularity of the Four-Horse club began to wane around 1815 and it was disbanded in 1820. It was revived briefly in 1822 and finally died out in 1824.
The last post on this subject on Thursday, and then we take a look at the Flora and Fauna of October.
Happy Rambles.

Living the Regency Life

OK, not really, but who doesn't like a bit of fantasy in their lives.

In England we never dressed up for halloween, however the few years I lived in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, although the distance between the houses was a long long tramp in wellies (rubber boots, I loved dressing up as a witch. There, the idea was that unless they guess who you were, you never took off your mask. As a stranger to most of them, they must still be talking about the witch who never said a word and who won all the sweeties because they could not guess.

Anyway, I have been living a bit of a fantasy life this past year. A book out and another one sold. But I have also been dressing up. Did heaps of dressing up at RT and those pictures were posted on the Title Wave Blog, but here is the Regency me at
the Beaumonde Conference.


The Beaumonde soiree was great fun. We had tea of course and cakes and other absolutely delicious food and we also had dancing. Yes, the ladies of the Beaumonde not only write about life in the Regency, but we experience it. We learned several new country dances that would have been danced by our heroines. Not the wicked Waltz, of course, but dancing in sets of eight or ten or twelve. Believe me it is not as easy as it looks.

I rented my costume and if any of you are experts you will recognize this as not Regency, but Rose's dress from the Titanic. But with its empire line, it was close enough for me. But I must say I have a huge hankering to make my own for next year.

By the way, did you get your RWR yet this month? A prize for the first person to post that they found my picture!!

As the evening progressed it got more interesting. I met a pirate. Needless to say, he? was very intent on having his wicked way with all the ladies present.



I might actually have agreed to shiver my timbers and run off with this guy, but unfortunatly he didn't show up.



Next week, back to the gentlemen's clubs.

Gentlemen’s Clubs – Part II.

Boodles

I promised this on Monday, but the excitement of getting the contract for my next book quite took over the rest of my life.

Boodle. Now there is a name to conjure up an image. Portly. Large red-veined nose and definitely bald. And jolly.

Let’s us see what history says about it. But first, here is a picture of how the club looks today. Far more elegant than White’s don’t you think?


Named after its first manager, Boodle’s began in 1762 and is of course located in St. James, number 28 to be precise. It started as a political club, like many of the others, but that didn’t last long. While the Beau and Wellington and Wilberforce held memberships, it was mostly frequented by country gentlemen who came for the excellent menu and for gambling. The last very nearly goes without saying. As you can see quite clearly from the picture, it also had a famous front bow window.

Men dropped unbelievable sums of money wagering on games--- cards and dice.
Hazard was a dice game.
E.O a wheel game E.O. stood for even-odd. It was made illegal in 1745
but that did not stop the clubs.
Faro- also illegal
Whist was the forerunner of modern bridge.

These are only some of the games the gentlemen played. I will have longer article on them another time.

Brookes’s

Brooks’s rose phoenix like upon the ruins of Almack’s Club, and hoisted the Whig colors at number 60 St James Street. No bow window and to me it seems a much more solomn looking building than the other two we've looked at. Don't you just itch to peek inside. I would love to dress up as a man and slip through the hallowed portals as Caro's nemisis did in No Regrets. Now that is not very kind of me, because you will have to wait until November 2007 to find out what I mean.


It was here that Chales James Fox and other great Whigs, won and lost hundreds of thousands, frequently remaining at the table for hours.

Brooks’s, too, boasted of the name of the Prince of Wales on its roll of members, but his Royal Highness withdrew when his friends Tarleton and Payne were blackballed, and founded for himself and his friends a new club, to which his house-steward Weltzie, gave his name. Sheridan, in spite of the opposition of George Selwyn, became a member of Brooks’s, and wrote a rhymed epitaph on the founder:

“Alas! That Brooks, returned to dust,
Should pay at length the debt that we,
Averse to parchment, mortgage, trust,
Shall pay when forced—as well as he.
And die so poor, too! He whose trade
Such profit cleared by draught and deed.
Though pigeons called him murmuring Brooks,
And dipped their bills in him at need,
At length his last conveyance see,
Each witness mournful as a brother,
To think that this world’s mortgagee
Must suffer judgment in another!
Where no appeals to Courts can rest,
Reversing a supreme decree;
But each decision stands confessed
A final precedent in re.”

There are many tales of gambling by the most famous men of the day here at this club, fortunes won and lost, and debts owed to the fashionable moneylenders Howard and Gibbs, sometimes known as cent percenters. When one remembers that ordinary folk could go to debtors prison, the risk for these men was very great indeed.

With your indulgence, I will continue with my tour of the Gentlemen’s clubs, cover some of the famous ones and some of the less known.
Until next time, happy rambles.

The London Club Scene

When you say it that way it sounds rather modern, doesn’t it. But I am talking about the 1800’s.

On a recent visit to England, DH and I traveled up to London from one of the villages in Kent on the train. I must say I was pleasantly surprised at how clean modern and efficient it all was. It was certainly a far cry from the day when I used to travel to the City to work every day. Mind you, we did take advantage of the cheap day ticket, traveling up at back to Victoria in between the rush hours.

We planned our route through the St. James area, the area most frequented by men in the Regency era using “Georgette Heyer’s Regency England” by Teresa Chris, a wonderfully vivid description with references to all Ms. Heyer’s beloved characters and a walking tour of London. I highly recommend this reference work if you can find it. As you can see, it was an overcast day, and we felt the occasional rain drop. This sky is so typical of England in the Spring.

Since no regency novel is complete without a visit to one of the Gentlemen’s Clubs in St James, we started at White’s— for it is there that Simon St. John, the hero of my book “Pistols at Dawn”, first showed that a good and loyal friend lay beneath his hard façade. Finding a very inebriated Lethbridge at White’s one evening Simon helped his friend home and defended him when they were attacked by some very nasty footpads in one of London’s back alleys.

White's began in 1693. It is at 37 St James Street and this is what it looked like the day we visited. I must say I was disappointed to find it wrapped in polythene, like someone’s left over dinner. But look. There is the bow window, where Mr. Brummell, the Beau himself, and Lord Alvenley, founding members of he famous bow window set would pass judgment on lesser mortals passing by in the Street. It gave me chills, I must say. By the way, that bow window was not added until 1811.

White’s was only one of the gentlemen’s clubs in the Regency, but a very important one. Well it had to be if Beau Brummell belonged to it. The picture to the right is a portrait of the Beau. In order to be a member, one had to be nominated “put up for membership” by someone who already belonged. Then the leaders of the club voted. Woe betide you if you were “blackballed” by someone like Brummell.

There were strict rules of conduct in the clubs.
Number one. No women. I wonder if it stemmed back to the English public school system, where boys developed such strong friendships that were separate and apart from any kind of social interaction with women and therefore they felt most comfortable in an all male environment. Of course they also indulged in too much drinking and gambling, although the worst of that went on in the less salubrious hells where pugilists rubbed elbows with the nobs. I think if you read the excerpt from “Pistols at Dawn” on my website, you will see that Simon certainly regretted his visit to one of those hells.

Each club had its own betting book. When a gentleman proposed a wager, it was duly written in the book. When the day of reckoning came, the loser had to pay his debts at once, or consider himself dishonored. He would never be able to show his face in polite society again.

Here are a few of the bets taken from White's betting book:
Mr. Greville bets Lord Clanwilliam ten guineas, that Lord Stewart will be married to Lady F. Vane in six months.—June 18, 1818 [Clanwilliam paid].
Sir Georrge Warrender bets Lord Alvanley five pounds that Colonel Stanhope and Mr. Lucy will be found by a committee of the House of Commons not duly elected.-June 28, 1818. [Alvanley paid.]
Mr. Mills bets Lieutenant General Mackenzie a pony, that Lord Stewart goes to Vienna before he marries Lady Frances Vane. [Mills paid].
Lientenant-General Mackenzie bets Lord Yarmouth sixty guineas to fifty, that the Duke of Cambridge has a child before the Duke of Clarence.
Lord Sefton bets Sir Joseph Copley fifty guineas, that Lisbon and Cadiz will be in Buonaparte’s possession on or before the first of April next.—Jan. 17, 1809 [Copley paid.]

Did you see the reference to a "pony" Not it is not a horse. Send me an e-mail telling me what that means and I will put you in my draw for a free copy of Pistols at Dawn.

Well that’s enough information for one night. Next day — let’s pay a visit to Boodles.

Contest For Regency Readers

Do you love the Regency era. Would you like a copy of my novel "Pistols at Dawn"?


Enter my contest. I have 8 books waiting for eight lucky winners

It's easy and it's fun and you will be bringing a Regency novel to other readers in your area.
Best of all, it's free.

Here is how it works:

• Drop into your local library request a copy for their shelves and then send me email with your mailing address to —- michele.micheleanneyoung.com —- when it arrives on the stacks. Provide me with the name of the library, so I can check it out on line
• Each month I will draw one copy of my book from those who have successfully ordered a copy of my book for their local library.
• Everyone eligible for the draw will be reentered each month, for the next six months.
• Of course, some libraries already have copies on their shelves. For those of you who check and discover my novel already on the stacks, I will hold two draws, one in December and another in March.

Not only will you introduce a new author to your friends and neighbors and the people in your town, and let me tell you, the reviews are great, check out my website to see a sample, but you will have a chance to own your very own copy.

Needless to say I am looking forward to hearing from you very soon. I you have questions, feel free to post a comment or send an e-mail.

I will post the contest reminder once a month, will acknowledge your entries as they come in, and announce the winners of the draw on the blog and on my website.

Good luck.

Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain

Around the beginning of each monthI will give you A naturalists Diary on what the countryside of England might have looked like.

September

Wheat is ripe in the fields and waves in the breeze on rolling hills. I can remember vacations as a child and the wonder of those golden fields often scattered with scarlet poppies. Above is a picture of farm laborers at the threshing. Anyone think that looks like fun?


The common blue passion-flower flowers from June to October. The Harvest-Bug (Acarus ricinus), proves a very troublesome and disagreeable insect, during this month particularly in some of the southern counties of England. According to my sources, the best cure for the bite was spirit of hartshorn.

“August and September constitute the English villeggiatura, and most persons who possess a sufficient portion of the ‘glittering ore,’ the passé-par tout of this chequered scene,--seek health and pleasure in exploring the beauties of our picturesque and fertile
country;--and whether they stroll over its ever-green and flower-enamelled meads, or ramble among its oak-crowned forests,--or linger on the borders of the magnificent ocean which surrounds this happy island.”

In September the nightingale leaves for warmer shores and most of the song birds are silent. I have memories of my mother waking me at night to listen to a nightingale. What a sweet liquid sound it was.

Nightingales are a secretive bird with a wonderful song which likes nothing better than hiding in the middle of an impenetrable bush or thicket. In the UK nightingales breed mostly south of the Severn-Wash line and east from Dorset to Kent. The highest densities are found in the south east: Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent and Sussex.

In the calm mornings of September the woodlark carols in the air, chiefly in the neighbourhood of thickets and copses, (don't you just love those words, they roll off the tongue) with a soft quietness perfectly in unison with the sober, almost melancholy stillness of the hour. The sweet simple note of the robin is again heard, and the skylark delights us with his melody. But too often, however, in our autumnal rambles, in the neighborhood of great towns we encounter the nets of the bird-catcher, which deprive us of great numbers of our favorite bird.

In bloom in September: heart’s-ease, nasturtia, marigolds, sweet peas, mignionette, golden rod, stocks, tangier pea, holly-hock, michaelmas daisy,saffron, and ivy. All Saints Cherry is covered with fruit.

The Phalaena russula and the saffron butterfly appear in this month. The sulphur butterfly also will frequently be seen in the bright mornings of September.

Herrings, (pictured below) sometimes called the silver fish, pay their annual visit to England in September, and afford a rich harvest to the inhabitants of its eastern and western coasts. There are many photographs of herring fishing, but so far I have not found a picture from the Regency.

I hope you enjoyed this view of natural England. I will have information about October when we get to that month.

Next Tuesday I will be announcing a contest.

Until then, dear blogfans, Happy Rambling.

Duels Part III - The Sword

Not to many duels were held with the sword by the time of the Regency but it was a choice that the challenged man could make, if he thought he would have an advantage.I think the best swordfight I ever read, the one in which I as a reader felt I had the most stakes, was the fight between Vidal and Mr. Comyn in Georgette Heyer’s Devil’s Cub. How sexy Vidal was in that scene and so tortured by the thought that Mary had married another. Loved that book. Now I have to go read it again.

Anyway, a sword fight is heroic and even watching fencing today can be fascinating. We had a fencer on the Canadian team attend one of the TRW chapter meetings. What a lovely girl. Here is a photos from that day. I don't expect you will find it possible to recognize anyone you know.

But to get back to the fencing popular in the Regency, we must pay a visit to Angelo’s Fencing Academy, located in the Haymarket. It was here that the men of the ton would hone their skills with a blade. Every gentleman would know how to fence, even if he never challenged anyone to a duel.

Angelo's Fencing Academy

In 1770, Angelo's salle d'armes was at Carlisle House, overlooking Soho-square; then was moved to Opera House-buildings in Haymarket, next to Old Bond-street.

Angelo sent his son Henry Angelo the elder (1760-1839), to Paris for his final polish at the hands of Motet at the Académie d'Armes de Paris. He became head of the fencing academy around 1785. Henry helped to establish his friend the boxer, Gentleman Jackson, in his famous boxing club next door to the Fencing Academy on Bond Street. He turned the running of the business over to his son his son Henry in 1817. Henry the elder authored Reminiscences (1830) and Angelo's Pic-nic (1834).

The Prince of Wales enjoyed a good bout of fencing and is know to have watched a famous bout between two most famous fencers of their time, the enigmatic transvestite Chevaliere D'Eon (1728-1810) and the part West Indian Chevalier de Saint George (1745-1799) at Carleton House (Mrs. Fitzherbert in attendance) and at the Royal Pavillion, Brighton between the master Joseph Roland and the Chevalier de St. George. Afterwards the Prince asked for a set of foils, masks and gloves, for which Roland was handsomely rewarded.

The French were always great duelists and many chose the sword as their weapon of choice. In my research for “No Regrets” the novel which finished in the final four of the American Title 2 Contest (which you will be seeing in print next year) revealed that when the English first went to Paris, while Napoleon was exiled to Elba, the Frenchmen tried to draw them into duels at every opportunity.

As always, I have added some links to my website in case you want to browse further.

Bonus
Some of the more common fencing terms.

Coup de grace - the dagger stroke given to mercifully end the suffering of a wounded duelist (originally used to execute a defeated knight in heavy plate armor)

En guard - to come “on guard” (ready your weapon and self for the fight)

Engagement - contacting or crossing (opposing) the adversary’s blade

First blood - a duel that is fought only to the first sight of drawn blood as opposed to “to the death” or to the opponent “yielding”

Lunge - (Allungo or Distesa) an extension (typically in the course of a thrusting attack) executed by stepping forward with the right foot and leaving the left foot anchored

Disengage - deceptively altering the line of attack by passing the blade under the adversary’s point (said to have been first devised from observing the bobbing motions of fighting cocks)

Parry - to block, defense by the deliberate resistance of an attack by imposing the blade before it.

Contest Musings

I will finish posting on duelling next Tuesday , but just had to chat about this tonight.

I honestly believe that contests are not a bad thing.
Well that was a bit mealy-mouthed. What I mean is, they can be a good thing as long as you approach them properly.

The first contest I entered frightened me to death. I got below average scores and I got comments. I could not read the comments. I was scared s**tl**s when I saw the scores. As it turned out they were right -- but it took me a good while to understand them being a newbie and all.

But the whole thing was a shot in the you know where. That was when I joined RWA and started to go to workshops and to read craft books and so on. Now, I don't think contests are an end in themselves. If you are one of the lucky ones who gets bought from a contest, more power to you -- it doesn't happen often. As can be seen from American Title 2, only one of us sold from that contest, but the rest of us gained new friends and a lot of exposure.

But I also see contests from the other side. As part of my gift back to the cause, I try to judge two or three contests a year, with the hope of helping others as I have been helped. It is sometimes a two edged sword.

Are you to be honest? Or do you try to save the person's ego.? The thing with judges' comments, no one but you has to see them and if the judge really wants to help you, then he or she should be brutally honest. That is what an editor is going to be. Not destructive, of course, or personal, but if you can identify what you see as good or more importantly what you see as a problem, giving the contestant a chance to fix it, surely that is better than an average score and a pat on the head?

I think if you are too constructive, the contestant can miss the point. If you say really nice things and give a low score, that is confusing. Finding a balance in the heat of the urge to be helpful is not always easy.

Why post about this. Well, I received a thank you note, which smacked very much of bad you and poor me and here are all my personal problems. Quite honestly, I had trouble remembering the entry, though I did keep the score, which was probably one of the lowest I have ever given.

Now I'm feeling bad.

Would I have been better to say this is almost publishable, I love your hero and heroine, when they really needed lots of work and I spent quite a bit of time trying to explain why?

Second guessing is bad. Feeling guilty is bad. Is trying to help someone improve, bad? Was I too harsh by being frank? I'm not sure. Will I judge again? Yes. If I can say one thing that will help one other person get published, even if none of the others are helped, then I think the work will have been worth it. Otherwise, why am I taking time out of my writing?

Fortunately I have up to now always recieved very appreciative thank you notes. I have to remember that too. And, I will review the judging I am doing right now to make sure my frankness is as friendly as possible -- but honest. After all, we can all benefit from a critique.

Now I have that off my chest, I am off to find a glass of Chardonnay. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend even if Ernesto does try to drown us.

Duelling - Part II

Many apologies for this late post for all you out there waiting with bated breath.

Got hung up on Prison Break last night and completely missed the boat. God, those men are either total hunks or absolute freaks.


Note: If you want to read Pistols at Dawn - Don't forget you can ask your library to order a copy for you.


Back to Duels
Duels had to be the forerunner of the cowboy shootouts, although there is someone out there saying these are a figment of Hollywood imagination. All I can say to that is, where is the romance in your soul!

Duels had rules. Gentlemen just love their rules, don’t they?
Think boxing, football, basketball. They all involve strict sets of rules and winners and losers. Heavens to Prinny!These are the modern day duels.

Perhaps one of the most important rules of dueling does not involve the mechanics of the duel itself, but rather who is allowed to duel. Dueling was the sport of the nobly born.

Of course, there were all the expected rules about distance and choice of weapons and even what kind of insult required what kind of result – wounding or death. Great choices, my dear, especially when with the state of medicine, any kind of wound could result in death. The French had 84 individual rules and the Irish rules, which were the rules most commonly used in most of Europe had 25 or so. If you check my website you will find a link to all of them.

Apparently the Germans continued a form of dueling long after everyone else had more or less given it up in favor of cricket (at least in England).

Other rules. One was not supposed to challenge a young man who was not of age nor to duel with him , if he challenged you. Also one was not supposed to challenge an aged or crippled person. Point of honor and all that stuff. Everyone else was fair game.

There are documented cases of women engaging in duels, usually with men. There is one famous case of a French opera singer named La Maupin who reportedly dealt singled handedly with a whole tavern full of men. There is a story in their somewhere.

Duels were also fought with swords and I will talk more about the gentlemanly sport of fencing next week. And will have some more pictures too.

Death or Honor - The Art of Duello

There lots more about to know about Regency England than places. Today, we’ll look at a different part of Regency society. My novel Pistols at Dawn has a couple of duels as a key part of the story and I thought you might be interested in some of the History and a couple of tid-bits.

Yes, dueling was indeed still going on in the Regency even though it was illegal and if you were caught, you were tried and so were your seconds..

Peers could be tried in the House of Lords and non-peers in regular courts. Several times the survivor was not charged when everyone testified that it had not been cold blooded murder but a duel and that all the rituals of the duel had been followed. It really depended on the magistrate

Because of the danger of arrest by a passing constable, duels were often taken out into the country, as it was then. Chalk Farm was cited as a favorite spot, as was Primrose Hill and Westbourne, which are now of course within London. However, duels did also take place in Hyde Park and of course always at dawn.

The most famous American duel was Alexander Hamilton dueling with Aaron Burr above, though I gather they were routine in the Missouri Basin for settling political disputes. Hamilton met Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey, on July 11, 1804, and fired pistols at each other simultaneously. Burr's shot hit Hamilton, while Hamilton shot into the air. There is speculation that he fired that way intentionally so as not to hit Burr, though some think his shot was thrown off when he was struck by Burr's bullet. Hamilton died the next day.

Lord Byron, yes that gorgeous wickedly famous poet, was actually tried in the House of Lords for dueling.

The Duke of Wellington (who you met and failed to identify in an earlier post) fought Lord Winchilsea a political opponent against catholic emancipation at Battersea Park in 1829 over heated words in the House of Commons. Neither man was hurt, but honor was deemed satisfied. Wellington and fought a duel in Battersea Park in March 1829. The two deliberately missed each other in firing, and honour was satisfied.

And then there were the rules. I will talk more about them and the weapons of choice next Tuesday.

In the meantime I will post some more links to this topic on my website.

The Pantiles or Where the Duke Slipped........

Q: Why on earth is an oblong shaped stretch of courtyard in Tunbridge Wells called “The Pantiles”?

A: Needless to say I am very glad you asked that, because I looked it up. Apparently, and I had this from the very best of sources, my dear (she says in a low voice behind her fan), in 1698 the Duke of Gloucester fell on the slippery ground near the Springs and Princess Anne – later Queen Anne, gave One Hundred Pounds to pave the Walks with pantiles, which are small clay tiles. These tiles were laid on the Upper and Lower Walks to allow the rich and famous to walk in safety. Sad to say the Walks were repaved with flagstones in 1793. But for those intrepid researches who really need to see a small square tile, you can do so at the Tunbridge Wells Museum.

I should also note that because the weather in England in summer is not always fair and dry, (talk about state the obvious) the Pantiles were lined with covered colonnades, so the ladies and gentlemen could take the waters, promenade and stay dry.

At the corner of the Lower Walk sits the Musick Gallery, from where musicians would have entertained the strolling gentry. It was moved from the edge of the Upper Walk to its present location in th 1850’s. It’s beautiful bowfront lower window and curved balcony are quite charming.

We had a nice lunch at the Duke of York, pictured here. A pint of local brew and fish and chips.

Another fabulous old building to be viewed while walking in the Pantiles. And the name of the little street, Pink Alley, isn't that a wonderful name?










Q: Was that it for entertainment.? Walking back and forth in front of the springs listening to Music?

A: Ah my dear, remember the old days where simple pleasures satisfied all? Royal Tunbridge Wells was much like any watering place in summer in England during the Regency. People went to Assemblies which were by subscription; they entertained each other in their summer homes and they played cricket on the common. There was also a nearby race course – horses that is.

I should mention, that by the time of the Regency, the really fashionable people did not go to Tunbridge Wells. Most of ton went to Brighton or Bath. But the Town still had it’s aficionados and hence my heroine ended up there for one night.


The information in these two is far more than I needed to know for my novel, but I must say that I enjoyed the visit.

There are also a great many interesting places to be found nearby Tunbridge Wells. If you’ve a fancy for castles there are two or three, there’s the ruins of a medieval Abbey, and a multitude of estate homes and picturesque villages.

I hope you will join me in a ramble around some of them over the next few months.

Royal Tunbridge Wells by Michele Ann Young

Royal Tunbridge Wells, or “The Wells” as most locals, of which I was one a few years ago, would call it, appears in my as yet to be published novel— The Courtesan’s Quest. The town makes a brief appearance as a stop on the road to London for my hero and heroine. Since I had enjoyed many visits there when I lived in England, I wanted to represent it accurately, even if I only accorded it one sentence in my book.

In 2004, during my annual research visit I renewed my acquaintance with this ancient town. I hope I have thought of the questions you might feel inclined to ask.

Q: Why is it called Royal Tunbridge Wells?

A. As you may know, our ancestors were very sure that mineral water that tastes nasty has great restorative powers. It often tastes, smells and looks revolting because it contains iron (and sometimes ugh sulpher), and as all you ladies know, iron actually is good for you. I prefer mine in Guinness I must say.

In 1606 Dudley, Lord North discovered the Chalybeate Springs and decided it was health giving. He told his friends. And they told their friends (no telephones or websites) and visitors from London flocked to the village beside the springs. Royalty were regular visitors, starting with Queen Henrietta Maria, mother of King Charles II through to Queeen Victoria.

This picture is a view of the Bathhouse and the Chalybeate Springs which were originally in the middle of a field and gradually became more and more enclosed until it looked like this in 1804.


The Town received its royal prefix from King Edward VII in 1909.

Q: So if it called Royal Tunbridge Wells in a Regency Book, that would be an error?

A: Bows. Indeed, Madame. ——Bit of the old Beau Nash there, ducks.

Q: I thought people went to the City of Bath to drink the waters?

A: Correct, and in time Bath became the more fashionable place. Richard “Beau” Nash, the arbiter of polite society in the 1740’s, also became Master of Ceremonies for Tunbridge Wells. The Town under the auspices of its various patrons continued the tradition into Queen Victoria’s times. So even in the Regency, Tunbridge Wells gave Bath a run for its money and some very famous people continued to visit there because it was so close to London.

Q: Are the original springs still there?

A: Yes. And you can taste the water, if you are brave enough. Been there and done that. Hmm. Must get a teeshirt.
This is a picture down the length of the pantiles, which surround the springs, named after the tiles on the promenade. More about that next time.

Q: Where is Royal Tunbridge Wells?

A: It is a one hour drive from London, in Kent, very close to the Kent Sussex Border. I actually thought it was in Sussex for a while. For more pictures, go to my website and click on My Regency World.

Q: Are there other sites of interest besides the Springs?

A: I am so glad you asked that question, because that will be the topic of my next blog on Tuesday, August 22, 2006

If you have any comments, questions or information to add, don’t be shy. I would love to hear from you.

Pesky Peerages

What do you call the dowager widow of Earl Whatever when her son dies leaving her daughter-in-law as the dowager widow of the Earl Whatever? (The son inherited the Whatever title on his father’s death.)

Confused? Well the question certainly had the regency chapter of RWA (Beaumonde) scratching is virtual head for some weeks. Of course, you call them both Lady Whatever when you introduce them to another person, but it seems to me the jury is out as far as what to call them when they are both in the same room.

Since most of us will not be meeting members of the aristocracy over the next couple of weeks I don’t suppose you really need to know that you address a Duke or a Duchess as "your grace" or that the wife of an earl is a countess not an earless. Umm, sounds more like an earwig.


This is a picture of a very famous Duke. Can you can guess who it is?

He appears in my American Title 2 finalist novel. One day I hope you will meet him there.







However, if you are reading a Regency — or a novel about some other time period if you must — it is helpful to know what the author is talking about and what position the person holds in relation to others.

There are lots of websites who have wonderful details on the ins and outs of the complexities of the British Peerage so there is no sense in my duplicating them here. If you want to wander through the brambles of those terrible titles, trot to my website and under “Favorite Links” under the heading of Pesky Peerages you will find some places to visit for more information.

The next blog in this series will be posted on Thursday, August 17, when I will be describing my rambles around Royal Tunbridge Wells.

Pistols At Dawn

Here is my novel posted on Darlene's blog. Fame at last.
Only the picture is missing and my name is spelled wrong. Ah Darlene, I love ya.
Check out Darlene's novels, those are great great books.
I am in the process of thinking about this blog, its purpose and how I can make it fun.
In the meantime here are some reviews of my novel. Pistols at Dawn.
Romance Reviews Today-----PISTOLS AT DAWN is a multi-layered tale that will take you on a deeply emotional ride. Ms. Young makes her characters come alive and keeps the suspense and sexual tension accelerating throughout. The result is a highly involving story you'll want to read more than once. *****Jane Bowers
No disappointments with “Pistols at Dawn“. Patsy Glans for The Road to Romance - June 5, 2006
Check out my website for more fabulous reviews. To all you reviewers, keep up the good work. We authors love you.
Of special interest is Dearreader.com. They will feature my book in their bookclub during the week of August 14. This is a great initiative. Give it your support.

Best wishes

And the winner is..............

This was a month for winners.

The winner of my ARC at Romantic Times is Delores Fogleman. Delores expect an e-mail from me soon.
RT was a wonderful experience where I met lots of friends. I hope I will be in touch with you all very soon.
This month, I won the Yellow Rose, both the historial category and the overall category my new unpublished novel Heart's Ease. I just learned yesterday that this same book won the Charter Oak contest.
Yippeee. Both editors requested a full.
You can imagine what I am doing during my vacation. That's right, polishing
Yes I am going on vacation to England tonight to see my family.
And as you all know by now, Gerri Russell won the American Title II contest with her great book, Warrior Trainer.
If you still haven't ordered my book, Pistols at Dawn, it's getting wonderful reviews, pop by my websit to see them and to read and excerpt, here is the link again:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search.html/ref=br_ss_hs/002-3693120-0069651?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=Pistols+at+Dawn&Go.x=10&Go.y=5

Romantic Times Conference

Are you going to the Romantic Times Convention in Daytona next week? If so, come and introduce yourself, if you happen to see me. A group of the American Title finallists will will hoping to meet you on Thursday at 4:30 pm at Club RT, we have a table set up and a fabulous contest and a prize.
I will also be drawing for an ARC of Pistols at Dawn at the Bookfair, so vist me and I will enter you in my contest. As a treat I will give you an excerpt of my book to take home!!!!!
PISTOLS AT DAWN
ISBN 1-59414-460-5
will be available at the end of June, and can be ordered from your nearest Amazon or Waldens.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594144605/sr=8-1/qid=1147571689/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-1048278-3517636?%5Fencoding=UTF8

This Month's Featured Authors

Check out a couple of my favorite authors.

Captain Sinister’s Lady
ISBN1-59279-744-XMarch, 2006
Morgan Roberts, AKA Captain Sinister, dreams of leaving the sea and running away to farm, but when the Zephyr comes across a damaged ship wallowing in the Florida Straits, it’s just too good an opportunity for any self-respecting privateer to pass up.
Amanda Stephenson is a widow traveling from Yorkshire to Charleston in the 1820’s to set up her soap-making business. It’s a grand adventure, just as she’s always dreamed—until her ship is boarded by the crew of the Zephyr. Amanda’s plans for her future do not include large, hairy, uncouth pirates.
Morgan Roberts has his work cut out for him, but he’s prepared to try his most piratical tricks if it will convince the luscious widow to become Captain Sinister’s Lady.
On sale now from Amber Quill Press in paper and ebook! Read an excerpt at Darlene’s website.





TEMPT ME by Lucy MonroeISBN 0-4252-0922-9Berkley SensationSexy Historical Mass Market Paperback
Humiliated by his family’s indiscretions, Lucas, Lord Ashton-nicknamed “The Saint” - wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with the prim and proper bride of his choice. And if the innocent young lady in question gives him some decidedly devilish urges, he is determined to control himself-much to her dismay.
Lady Irisa Langley is at her wit’s end. Much as she loves her exasperatingly perfect fiancé, she’s starting to think it would be wrong of her to marry him. For Irisa has a secret that would shock even the world-weary denizens of the Ton, and someone-who doesn’t want her anywhere near Lucas-knows it.
Lucas never knew that he could desire more in a bride than impeccable manners and an unblemished pedigree. But even as scandal looms, a loyal little spitfire with heated kisses and silken skin is making him forget every rule of etiquette he’s ever known…
+ + + + + + + + + + + +
TEMPT ME is a truly a wicked and wonderful temptation for any reader hungry for passion and adventure. Give yourself a treat and read this book. Lucy Monroe will capture your heart. - Susan Wiggs
The story you should buy if you love a romance with heart tugging emotion and the excitement of love found…only not where you thought it would be. - Carolyn Crisher, Romance Reviews Today
If you’re in the mood for an excellent historical romance filled with passion and intrigue, don’t miss TEMPT ME! - Blue Ribbon Reviews

And the Winner is?

The winner on my site is Jennifer. Jennifer, who perservered enough to let me know by e-mail that my blog was not accepting posts, is also the person drawn from all my entrants by my daughter this afternoon and wins a copy of Here Comes the Bride by Laura Drewry. Congratulations.
For the full list of winners go to the main Your Virtual Book Bag Blog. It will be posted once all the results are in.
Jennifer, you will be contacted about providing your address so Laura can send you her book.
Thank you for entering the contest. I hope you had fun, we at Virtual Book Bag, certainly did.
Look for more good stuff here in the future.

Contest Contest Contest

Starting today we are having our first contest at your virtual bookbag! There are eleven great books being given away–and you can have multiple entries by visiting
various Your Virtual Book Bag authors' blogs. For all the details
visit the Contest Page, then come back here and enter your answers in a comment to win a copy of Here Comes the Bride by Laura Drewry.

You can win an Advanced Readers Copy of my new book, Pistols at Dawn by entering the contest through the contest page. For a review, use the link and go to my website. You will find a link there to the Contest.

More About Magic

I would really like to know what makes a good story for you.
Is the heroine? Is that you can identify with her? Do you live the story in her skin.
That is the writer's objective, you know, to tell a story that resonates with you. It doesn't matter if the heroine is contemporary, or born two hundred years ago, or for that matter if she will be born two hundred years into the future, while you are reading, you need to be her.
Of course, some writers are better at it than others and I am sure you have your favorites.
Writing historicals is a special challenge if we want to be true to our era.
We want our heroines to be attractive, but we also want them to be proactive. In times gone by, women were often not considered equals at least not an a legal sense.
And if they flouted convention, they might find themselves ostracized, cut, as they say in Regency times.
They often needed a man to support them, especially if they were "gently-born". On the other hand, if they found the right man, a man who appreciated them for who they were, then they could find equality and be treated as an equal partner.
There are many examples in history of women who pushed the boundaries.
I will write about some of those in a future post.
Next time I want to address the issue of how to get inside your historical heroine. How to make her come alive in her own time period as well as appeal to the modern reader.
Oh yes, and I got the cover for my first novel. I will post that next week.
Good night, and good luck.