Regency Fashion for October

Wow, here we are heading for the Canadian Thanksgiving next week end. After that I will be in Seattle at the Emerald City Writers Conference and my first booksigning for No Regrets with my American Title sister Gerri Russell.

October of course signals that winter is just around the corner. But what did our fashion mavens decide we should wear.

Here we are in the year before the Regency actually begins in October 1811.

Now just look at this outfit from La Belle Assemblee. This is a tunic of sky-blue-silk, the buttons down the front are self covered with the same silk. Over that is loose short dress of plain India Muslin. the long sleeves and the front of the dress is trimmed with a quilling of lace, and tied down with bows of white satin ribbon and deep French lace flounced round the hem. Ribbons blue Persian confine the arms and form the sash. A white lace hood, lined with blue, and double quilling of French net in the front tops of the outfit. It is worn here with pale buff kid slippers.

I must say I am not so keen on the hood, but the gown itself looks comfortable and the high neck would help keep our lady warm in the cooler mornings of October.

This gown is from 1814, and is clearly an evening gown. This one comes from Paris via the Journal des Dames et Des Modes. the triple row of lace at the bottom of the underskirt is stunning as is the embroidered decoration on the overdress. I just can't get with the turban though. Still, if it is all the rage, I am sure we are wearing it.

These two plates seem to really show the progression during this period. The earlier gown is flowing and more classic, the later one the fuller skirt leading into the hoop skirts of the next era. Yet the high waist still lingers, along with the low cut neckline for evening. Remember that at this time, English women had just discovered French fashions again. By 1818, Napoleon was safely ensconced on Saint Helena. Poor man. He caused lots of trouble, but that does seem like a very uncomfortable thing to do to a person.

I have a friend who comes from Saint Helena. His mother still livers there. One of these days I would love to visit that tiny isolated island.

That is all until next time. Until then Happy rambles.

Regency Flora and Fauna - October

October. The nights are drawing in, instead of sunsets at 9:30 pm, they are now at 6:30 pm. A noticeable change. The leaves are turning yellows and reds and various shades of brown. So what are we seeing in gardens and the countryside as we go for a carriage drive or take a stroll through fields and woods.

Well, after you've stopped looking into the eyes of your beloved (romance alert) here are a couple of things of interest in the natural world.

Our naturist tells us that in England in October in the Regency, we will still see geraniums.
Geraniums have a vary interesting history, because they were originally misnamed and have kept the wrong name ever since.

The first plants were brought from South Africa to England by famed plantsman John Tradescant in the early 17th century. African pelargoniums (called geraniums) quickly became popular conservatory plants, although rare enough that only the well-to-do could afford them. By the beginning of the 18th century, both amateur enthusiasts and serious scientists groups were hybridizing species and propagating the new plants from cuttings.

Around the same time the 18th century the Turkish "Secret Language of Flowers" was introduced to Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montague 1869-1762, wife of the British ambassador to Constantinople and interesting lady in her own right, and look at that gown, but before our time.


Flowers had long been a sign of romance but now lovers were able to send secret messages to each other by means of sending a posy of flowers. Each flower had a specific meaning and the order of arrangement had much to do with the intended "message". The French seem to have taken this idea to heart.

In 1819 a French woman writing under the pen name of Madame Charlotte de la Tour (Louise Cortambert), wrote and published "Le Language des Fleurs" which offered seasonal floral and anecdotal advice to those wishing to send "secret" messages to each other.

The geranium was offered as comfort.

Enough with the flora, I can also tell you a little bit about the birds. One bird in particular interested me, the the ring-ouzel which our naturalist tells us "arrives from the Welsh and Scottish Alps to winter in more sheltered situations". And here he is. Interesting bird and not one I recall seeing in England although I did live in the south east which is where they are supposed to winter. They are, apparently a very shy member of the thrush family.
The other bird mentioned is the swallow. Around this time they leave for Africa. This bird I recall fondly. "One swallow does not make a summer." My mother said this English proverb with dates back to the sixteenth century every spring without fail. Just shows how we keep up our traditions in our family. It sure gave one the feeling that summer was just around the corner though!

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Count Down to No Regrets

Well, it is just seven days until my book is on the shelves. Actually, it is a little bit longer than that here in Canada, October 5th, but that is fine, it just means I can celebrate for longer. I am getting quite excited though. I wonder if those butterflies in the stomach ever wear off? Does Nora Roberts feel this way--still? My guess is that she does.

This past weekend provided glorious fall days, clear blue skies, temperatures warm and pleasant enough to spend most of the day outside. I spent as much time as I could in the garden, but I did have some writerly things to get done. I arranged some booksignings and the dates will be posted on my website and on the blog. I started on a brochure and have ordered some bookmarks and some postcards. I also worked on my next newsletter and of course I did a little bit of writing.

I also received two new very very nice reviews. I will be also putting those up on my website over the next couple of days. As you can tell, I have lots of activity to undertake over the next little while. Anyway, in addition to the 4 Star review from Romantic Times, I got five ribbons from Romance Junkies (not posted yet so I guess I have let a cat out of the bag) and five red roses from Red roses for authors reviews.

How about that? I must be doing something right.

I never imagined how busy being a writer would be. Of course, some would say this blog is just adding to the work. But to me, this is fun. I get to meet all kinds of different people and they get to meet me in very informal circumstance as we chat about the Regency and the information I manage to uncover. I know I promised you some Regency interiors, and those are coming, but once in a while I am going to tell you about my books and my writing experiences and I hope that is all right with you.

Next Sunday, I get to meet my editor and my publisher. I am going to go to Chicago for the day. How very posh that sounds, doesn't it. SourceBooks is having its 20th birthday and they invited me to go and help celebrate. I will tell you all about that next week.

Until next time ~~ Happy Rambles.

Regency Style - Part II

I promised information on Regency building materials. But first a reminder. If you would like to win a signed copy of No Regrets, sign up for my news letter which will be coming out in the next two weeks and will announce the winner. Good Luck.

Back to our regular program~~
One reason why buildings in earlier eras had regional style was that the builders used local materials. Transportation was a nightmare if you recall. By the Regency more and more similarities were creeping in and to add to that in 1774 the London Building Act defined what a town house should look like. More on townhouses in a future blog.

Stone was a common building material if it was close by. Bath for example was made almost entirely of stone.

But unless it was close at hand, brick was the medium of choice, particularly in London.

Most building timber was imported, because English oak was no longer readily available. Timber was imported form Norway and the Baltic states or the West Indies, either oak or yellow deal for construction.

Glass is a subject that could deserve a blog on its own. Two kinds were available in the Regency (for building) crown glass and cylinder glass. Crown glass was the best. Made by blowing a bubble of molten glass then poking a hole in the end and flattening it. This is a picture of it being made in the 18th C. Panes were cut from the flattened sheet and were very fragile, hence the need for sturdy support structures, mullions, and glazing bars. The fact that they could rarely make panes larger than 16" x 18" is a reason why we see either small windows, or many paned windows from this period and earlier. They did not use the bull's eye glass of the Tudor era, it was dangerous and considered substandard. It came back as a fad in the Victorian era.

Cylinder glass was a cheaper, but type of glass, often used for upper stories, servants quarters, or in nursery areas, because since it was thicker it was less likely to break.

Wrought Iron is my last topic for today. It often shows up in my stories, because elaborate gates were made of it and they date back to the 16th century. In the 18th century it became a serious vogue to add decoratative railings, balconies, window grills etc and can be seen today all over Europe. It was used inside as well as out. In the Regency it was also used for torch lights and boot-scrapers.

But as I mentioned before. They were never ever painted black. That is Victorian. I gave you a picture of the Apsley House railings in a previous post, so here is a picture of the cast iron baluster at Osterley Park, designed by Adam.



Next time we will look at some more interior stuff. Until then Happy Rambles.

Regency Style

The last post I did, I labeled architecture. But truly, I think the word I was looking for was style. So not just the buildings, but the look of them and what was in them and how they were used.

I talked about Soane. He was the protege of George Dance the younger who was described as "a poet architect". These architects were of the Picturesque school and they aimed to imbue buildings with a mood. While Soane designed and worked during the Regency, Dance had a great influence on what was to come.

Of particular note is Dance's Newgate Prison built between 1770-80 with a forbidding rusticated (meant to look countrified) exterior pierced with a doorway overhung with sinister iron shackles. I don't think there is any doubt about the mood this entrance inspires. And don't forget that public executions were regularly held outside these walls during this period.

Prisons in the 1800's were horrific, not far off medieval dungeons. And it is a topic that I plan to spend some time on in a future post, since at least two of my heros are going to spend some time in prison. But we will come to that another day.

In the Regency era came the Greek Revival, led by Sir Robert Smirk. His best known work is the British Museum and in particular the great South Front shown in the picture. Although this was designed in 1823, during the Reign of George IV, it was not completed until 1852. He also designed Covent Garden Theater begun in 1808 and the Royal Mint started in 1809.

These are of course great public works, but they influenced what people wanted when they renovated existing houses and built new ones.

What about the houses people lived in? Well we will get to some of that another time, of course. I have lots and lots to share, but next time I think I will focus on the materials used for building.

Until next time Happy Rambles.

Regency Architecture

I thought we might focus on architecture and design occasionally over the next few months, mostly because it helps me when describing buildings. However, I will look at buildings that were around during the Regency, not just those designed and built in the period.

I did want to start with a Regency Architect and chose one of the most well known architects of the era is Sir John Soane (1753 to 1837)
Soane was the son of a bricklayer. I really like that bit of information about him. I imagine that he would have not just a feeling for the design of a building but the bones of it, the real structure. Perhaps that is why his buildings were reduced to the essentials. His father would have known the architects of the day, and he trained with Dance and Henry Holland and then studied at the Royal Academy which awarded him a scholarship to Italy.

Architects were considered of little more importance than a master craftsman during and prior to this period. He used his position of professor of architecture to have architects recognized as professionals culminating in the founding of the Institute of British Architects in 1837.


Most of Soane's buildings are gone or have been altered beyond recognition. The Dulwich Picture Gallery as the first public art gallery in England was started in 1811 is a good example of his work.



Soane concentrated on internal spaces and lighting. He avoided dark corners, hallways and stairways. His work in the Bank of England incorporated top lighting because the building had no windows. Here is the exterior of the Bank, followed by the the windows in the roof, to provide daylight from above.





And finally his house/office in Lincoln's Inn Fields, which is now a museum. This picture shows the house around 1802, before the loggia were glazed in.
Don't forget that all of those signed up for my news letter on publication date will be entered in a draw.


Until Next Time ~~ Happy Rambles.

Regency Ramble Events

What is happening in my world over the next two months?


October 1, No Regrets is released. Look for it in your local bookstore, or on Amazon.

October 15, Regency Ramble Quarterly Review. I will be drawing for a prize from my news letter list. To subscribe, see the side panel of my Regency Ramble blog and on my website micheleannyoung.com

October 27, Book signing in Seattle, at the Emerald City Writers Conference. Sleepless in Seattle - I don't think so, but I will be signing and meeting with some of my American Title Sisters

November 5, Book signing at Chapters in Woodbridge. This is a very friendly store. If any of you are in the area drop by, you will also find some other great Toronto writers hanging out.

There will be more, but these are the things that are confirmed.

In my last blog I took a poll about whether you wanted to go around the circle again on Regency Fashions. The overwhelming response was yes. So next month we will again go month by month. I will try to give you new fashions and gowns, but if occasionally I duplicate, I hope you will forgive me.

Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion for September

September is turning out to be a sizzling month as I impatiently count down to the release of "NO REGRETS". Romantic Times gave it a four star review and if you go to my website you will find it there.

Fashion

I looked back to see when I started blogging the fashions by month and do you know I think it was October. So this is either my last month or I have to go around the circle again with new fashions for each month. What do you think?

I think you will spot right away that this is not Regency, even if you didn't look at the 1799 date, but will you look at those gowns? They are almost Victorian. But no. It really is 1799. Here is the description.

Morning Dress.—First Figure. White chip or straw hat tied under the chin; lilac or white muslin crown; muslin or lace frill round the neck. Close muslin robe buttoned down the front, and trimmed round the bottom with blue ribbon, or printed border; pale-green gloves and shoes.
Second Figure.—Round straw bonnet trimmed with white ribbon, and small flowers in front; the hair turned up behind. Jacket and petticoat of spotted muslin; white muslin sleeves and cuffs: the jacket trimmed round the bottom with white lace or muslin: pale blue gloves and yellow shoes.

Interesting that for the second one they call the gown a petticoat.

My second choice today is and evening dress from 1810, right at the start of the Regency. It really is gorgeous.




From La Belle Assemblee: An Evening Full Dress.

A pale blue gossamer silk dress, worn over a white satin slip; made with short train, and frock back; the hind part of the dress made entirely open, and tied down with small bows of white satin ribband; long sleeves formed of pale buff gossamer net, and the same as the gown, fastened down on the outside of the arm with small pearl brooches, the tops of the sleeves and bosom of the dress bound with silver edging, and trimmed with Valenciennes lace; the bottom and train is ornamented with a silver edging, a little above which is laid a rich Valenciennes lace; on the head is worn a bandeau of pearls, fastened in a knot on the right side, with Bird of Paradise plume. The hair is rather short full curls over the forehead, and curled in light ringlets on the right side of the neck. A scarf of pale buff silk (ornamented at the ends with white silk tassels) is worn fancifully over the figure, and confined in a pearl ring. Pearl earrings; shoes of pale buff satin; yellow kid gloves.

I think the Bird of Paradise plume is stunning, but I do feel sorry for the poor bird.

Until next time. Happy Rambles.

Regency Flora and Fauna for September

It feels good to be back in the groove. It has been quite a couple of weeks. I am in the thick of editing a novel that I hope will follow No Regrets. I think I have one more read through and I can send it off.

By the way, check out my count down to the publishing date for No Regrets in the side bar there!! I thought it was a cute little touch. Not sure what happens when it hits the date.

Flora and Fauna for September

Well, I think we all know how we feel about September. It marks the end of summer and is for many either back to school, or send them back to school. What did our Naturist say about September?

He says quite rightly, that the birds more or less stop singing the way they did through the spring and summer but notes the following:

One little bird, however, yet delights us with the sweetest harmony: in the calm mornings of this season of the year the woodlark carols in the air, chiefly in the neighbourhood of thickets and copses, 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.

I expect we are all familiar with the British robin. It is much smaller than the North American bird and shows up on Christmas cards both sides of the Atlantic. Just in case, here he is again.


But what about the wood lark.

He is apparently related to the skylark. I really like this idea of a bird that sings in the quiet mornings of Fall, or Autumn as they woul dhave called it in Regency times.

There are lots of flowers still to be seen, including phlox and marigolds, golden rod and hollyhock, in fact many of the flowers we rely on today to make the shift into winter a colorful one. He waxes a little poetic about Dahlias, which are at their best in September and flower right through until the first frost. Dahlias grow from tubors and I can remember very well our neighbor growing rows and rows of them and entering them in contests. Dahlias were discovered in central america by the Spanish, and it was in the 1800's that they came into their own.

I found the following extract quite interesting.

Herrings pay their annual visit to England in September, and afford a rich harvest to the inhabitants of its eastern and western coasts. At Boulogne-sur-Mer in France, before the herring fishery commences, the priests, accompanied by a host of people, proceed to the sea-side, perform the ceremony of blessing the ocean, and invoke success on the labours of the fishermen, in prayers adapted to the
occasion.

The folks at Boulogne-sur-Mer still celebrate the herring and have their annual herring festival in November. I think I will have to pay that one a visit sometime.

Until next time, happy rambles.

This Week

Dearest reader,

Of you are wondering where to find me this week, I am over at Titlewave chatting about a few of my writing experiences with my friends from the American Title Contest.

Of course, I am hoping you have missed me and can't wait for my next piece of nonsense so Regency Ramble will return to normal programming next week.

Until then, happy rambles.

Colors in the Regency Part II

I guess one reason I decided to research colors was when I took a course on architecture in the Regency. As is often the case, things are just plain lucky. There

I was with one of my characters in No Regrets running his cane along a wrought iron fence. Now why? Well characters have to be something more than talking heads and they nod and they smile and they walk. But if that is all that they do they become pretty boring. Hmm, pretty much like me.

But of course people do more than that. They have nervous ticks, they peel labels off beer bottles, scratch things they should not scratch (ugh baseball players) and so on. So I happily wrote about the sight and sound of this character walking along running his cane along the iron fence. The black iron fence. Wrong. Wrought iron fences in the Regency were not painted black, they were painted green or blue.

Why is that, you may ask? If you are a history geek like me, you will ask it. Otherwise you may be bored out of your tree by now. They were painted green or blue because they liked the patina of old copper and copper turns green when it is old. The picture above is Apsley House and the fence is painted green. And this would have been a common sight in the Regency. Needless to say, my character now runs his cane along a green fence.

They also used some very odd names for colors. Here are a couple.

Coquelicot is the French name for the regular corn or field poppies (Papaver rhoeas) so poppy red it is. In Regency times, Paris was the fashion capital of the civilized world and French fashions the epitome of chic, so French names abounded in all matters of apparel. Coquelicot was at the height of fashion in 1794-99 but was used continuously throughout the Regency. It was such a bold color that for well brought up young ladies it was only permissible for trimmings or accessories

Primrose and Evening Primrose. Yes there are two colors of primrose. The soft, pale yellow of the common primrose, Primula vulgaris suitable for daywear and the biennial Evening Primrose (Cenothera biennis)pictured above, a much deeper and brighter yellow color. When gloves and boots are described to be of primrose color it is this darker, deeper yellow the writer had in mind. Both the primrose colors were popular during the whole Regency period, and the height of fashion 1807-1817.

It wouldn't be a Regency Article without adding puce. Puce is the French word for flea. The color is a brownish-purple or a purplish-pink, the color coagulated blood and was one of the most popular colors in 1805. My readings have always found that the villain, or a less well liked character wears puce. I have continued this tradition in my writings. There are of course many other colors, pomona green which we might described as apple green, and Paris green, made with the poisoness copper arsenic and was a bright emerald green. But that is all from me until next time.

Happy Rambles through your world of color. Aren't you glad you aren't a dog? They see only in black and white, so I'm told. No wonder they need those sensitive noses!!!

Colors in the Regency Part I

More color became available during the period 1704 to 1856, chemical compounds Prussian blue and mauveine were discovered .

Gowns such as those shown here may well have been died with cochineal.


Dyes were extracted from such living organisms =as cochineal and and plants such as madder and brazilwood.

By the late Middle Ages, imported cochineal began to take precedence as the most sought after dye. Combined with a tin salt, cochineal produced a spectacular red on wool and silk, luxury fabrics, by the early fifteen century it was very expensive and thus was reserved for the wealthy it even replaced the clothes of the traditionally blue-clad Virgin in Renaissance paintings.

Until 1704, blue dyes were primarily extracted from woad and indigo plants. Woad grew in Europe and Indigo in the southern part of North America, in Mexico and in Central America.


A Berlin color-maker named Diesbach accidentally stumbled upon Prussian blue while trying to make red for painters.

It became fashionable throughout Europe and was used from at least 1723 as a dye for silk and cotton as well for house paint within the United States.

1805 Walking Dress

Bonnet of Blue Velvet, with White Ostrich Feather. Spencer of Blue Velvet, trimmed with Swansdown. Round Dress of Cambric Muslin, with a Lace Flounce. Boots Blue. Buff Gloves; and Swansdown Muff.

Next time we will take a look at yellow. Until then, Happy Rambles.

Regency Dogs Part II

As a respite from our topic of work, I've had a bit too much of the real thing this past week, I thought we might focus on a couple more of the dogs found in our era. I thought I would start with the Newfoundland, primarily because Lord Byron had one called Boatswain. Byron wrote a poem in the dog's honor when it died.

Looking at the picture of Lord Byron’s “Boatswain,” there appears to be some Husky ancestry in the breed. One of the websites I’ve looked at states that Boatswain was not a purebred, but had Husky blood in him. However, people at the time didn’t have the same concept of keeping a breed pure that we do today, and often mixed the breeds but kept thename.

Whatever their ancestry, Newfoundlands became known for the waterproof nature of their coats, their webbed feet and strong swimming skills, and their equally strong water rescue instincts. Before other retriever breeds were developed, they were used as water retrievers. They were also used in helping fishermen with their nets, carrying lines between ships, and also, in their native country, as carting or pack dogs.

Newfoundlands were imported into England probably by late in the 17th century, where their breed qualities and appearance were further developed. They were popular, no doubt helped along by their romantic image as heroes of countless rescues, of sailors, children, and passengers on shipwrecks.

Here is Byron's tribute etched on the monument he raised to his dog.
Near this spot
Are deposited the Remains
Of one
Who possessed Beauty
Without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferocity,
And all the Virtues of Man
Without his Vices.

The Price, which would be unmeaning flattery
If inscribed over Human Ashes,
Is but a just tribute to the Memory of
“Boatswain,” a Dog
Who was born at Newfoundland,
May, 1803,
And died in Newstead Abbey,
Nov. 18, 1808.

When some proud son of man returns to earth,
Unknown by glory, but upheld by birth,
The sculptor’s art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And stories urns record that rests below.
When all is done, upon the tomb is seen,
Not what he was, but what he should have been.
But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his master’s own,
Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth,
Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth –
While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.

Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,
Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power –
Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust!
Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat,
Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit!
By nature vile, ennoble but by name,
Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.
Ye, who perchance behold this simple urn,
Pass on – it honors none you wish to mourn.
To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one – and here he lies.

And because he is such an interesting man, here is the poet, Lord Byron.




Well looking at that is better than talking about work, though no doubt we'll come back to it in the future. Next week I thought I might take a look at some of the colors that were popular in the Regency and not well known today.

By the way, my 2nd newsletter came out this week, with some news about my forthcoming novels, and a short story. So if you want to sign up, use the form on the sidebar and I will send you a copy.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Work Part III

I found too much stuff today and spent too long finding it. But I am going to post a couple of pictures on the topic of work. I was looking for stuff out of the ordinary, but also I was looking for information on street sweepers or crossing sweepers, since the book I am working on right now has a crossing sweeper.



He really is a rather sad looking individual, but these jobs were not really jobs. They were a bit like buskers, if he could get you to tip him for clearing a path through the horse manure, then he would make some money. Here is another rather naughty one. The main feature of the picture is the gentleman being lured into a brothel, but look at the street sweeper in this one. He is not getting paid.






While we are on the topic of street sweepers, I thought we ought to do that other rather well known employee, the chimney sweep. Often these were children. I should note that during the nineteenth century the population of those under twenty was huge, I am not going to quote an actual percentage, because that means going and looking it up, but it was probably close to half, and those that were working were doing very menial jobs, or were apprentices. Any way here are a couple of chimney sweeps.





And now for one job that we maybe don't think of all the time, this is a seller of bandboxes. Now the job is interesting, but more interesting are the boxes themselves. Here is something every heroine is going to need at some point or the other, and here is a picture of them, as well as the man who sells them.


Until next time, Happy Rambles

Regency Fashions - August

How about some August fashions, just to make sure we don't forget?


These are labeled Afternoon Dress for 1799. Note the very full skirts of the pre-regency, but don't forget our Prinny was 37 at this point, so he is already heading for middle age. It seems to me that the only nod at summer made by these dresses, apart from the light fabrics, is the fan. August is one of the warmest month in England too.




These are taken from the 1805 Lady’s Monthly Museum.Cabinet of Fashion.
The first is a Walking Dress --Straw Hat, turned up in Front with a Lilac Feather. A Morning Dress of Cambric Muslin, with full long Sleeves. Habit Shirt. Spanish Cloak. With a fashionable Paratout.
The second Full Dress is described -- The Hair fashionably Dressed, with a Lace Veil tied to form a Cap with White Flowers. A Short Dress of clear Muslin, richly Embroidered, over a Sarsenet Dress of Lilac. White Gloves.

I just love the sound of "clear muslin richly embroidered over a Sarsanet dress of lilac". These people who did descriptions were almost poetic.

This is an evening gown from 1810 from La Belle Assemblee

Evening Visiting Dress.

A complete lemon-coloured sarsnet dress, trimmed with an embroidery of roses; a white lace drapery with train, fastened down the front with topaz snaps; a rich embroidered scarf is thrown carelessly across the shoulders. Topaz necklace, and earrings. The hair in loose ringlet curls, divided by an ornamental comb. Gloves and shoes of white or lemon-coloured kid. A bouquet of natural flowers.


One last one and then I must stop, though I always have more, but the post gets too long. No month would be complete without its riding dress, at least if I have one to show you.

Lady’s Riding Costume from August 1812 La Belle Assemblee

Made of ladies habit cloth or Moria Louisa Blue, trimmed down each side of the front with Spanish buttons, the waist rather long with three small buttons on the hips; a short jacket full behind, the front habit fashion with small buttons up the neck and a row of small buttons on each side of the breast; a lapel thrown back from the shoulders and trimmed with Spanish buttons, has a most elegant effect and gives a graceful finish to the dress. The collar is made about a quarter inch in depth and fashioned negligently at the throat with a large cord and tassel; it opens sufficiently to display the shirt which is of lace in general but this article admits of considerable variations; some of our elegants wear a collar of lace to fall over, others have a shirt edged round the neck with a rich lace frill and not a few, in despite of the heat of the weather, envelope their necks in a large cravat of India muslin.
A small woodland hat, whose colour corresponds with the dress with two white ostrich feathers fastened behind and falling carelessly over the left side. A cord and tassel is brought round the hat and fastened near the top of the crown on the right side.
Buff gloves and half boots either of buff jean or leather.

Not the comment about the large cravats in spite of the heat. And yes, Prinny is Regent indeed.

Until next time. Happy Rambles.

Regency Flora and Fauna - August

Since the is the first day for blogging after August 1, it is time for our monthly article on the plants and animals one might have noticed in the Regency during this month.

The Naturlists Diary says:

"August has its fields of waving corn, its groups of nut-brown reapers". From this we can gather that the weather is warm and sunny enough to ripen grain (not sweet corn as we discussed before). And you will remember the picture of last time of the people threshing so we won't do that again.
"Young broods of goldfinches are now seen."
Interestingly enough we have been watching a young brood of goldfinches here in our garden in Canada. They are quite bold, sitting on the railing of our deck, even when we are out there. But look how different they are. The first picture is the English Goldfinch, and the second is the one we are seeing in our garden, the North American Goldfinch.





"The Jessamine shows its pretty little flowers, and diffuses its fragrant scent." And what in the world is a Jessamine, I ask myself. Well that of course is no good at all. I have to find out. Mutter, mutter, why haven't I heard of a Jessamine before this. Aha. After some digging, I am now sure that this is Jasmine, not the state flower of Carolina, which is apparently something altogether different. Just like my finches above they have only the same name.



"Broom flowers in this month." I often get gorse and broom confused. They both sport yellow flowers, but gorse if very prickly and flowers earlier in the spring. Broom is a much more gentle plant. It was used in the old days as an emblem or a cockade, worn on a lapel or a hat.

I seem to be running into a yellow theme here. Not intentional at all. And it is not surprising that I get confused by broom and gorse, because apparently they are related.




It seems that during the Regency, wasps were as much a pest then as they are now. Here is a remedy provided by our friendly Naturelist to deal with the sting, should you be so unlucky.

"The following antidote for the sting of wasps and other noxious insects, has also been recommended:--Take a leaf or two of the broad-leaved plantain (Plantago major), and bruise it, and rub it on the affected part for about ten minutes, and all pain and inflammation will cease" The first image is of the broad-leaved plantain. I think the name is much fancier than the plant.



I have never heard of this for wasp stings, though we always used dock leaves for stinging nettles. They always seemed to grow next to each other. Apparently they have alkine which neutralizes the acid in the nettle sting. Not so with the plantain it contains a different ingredient becasue wasp stings are alkaline. Enough with the science already. Here is a picture of a dock leaf. It is quite amazing though, that all those years ago these remedies worked just as well as our fancy chemicals do today.

Well that is it from me tonight. Until next time Happy Rambles.

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.