Dinefwr Castle Wales



This is the castle in the backyard of Newton House. Dinefwr (pronounced Dinever) near Llandeilo. The view from the park if you like.

Its round tower or keep was crowned with a summerhouse in the 17th and 18th centuries. Later, it became a Romantic element in the landscaped park, which is why it shows up here. You can imagine the footmen slogging up the hill with the picnic and the table cloths so the master of Newton house could entertain his guests in prime style with a view to die for.

The ladies of course would want their drawing implements, and the gentlemen would clamber about over the ruins making erudite comments about the various walls and structures, and no doubt imagine themselves as knights.

It would also be a wonderful place for the children of the house to play.

I am not going to give you very much of its history, suffice it to say it was a Welsh stronghold in the llth and 12th centuries until overrun by King Edward 1 and thence fell into English hands. These second second two pictures are view from the top.

We drove up there through the sheep and up a winding track. Only parking for two cars, so most people walked, but since we had spent a considerable time in the house, we were lucky to find a spot to park.

The views of the surrounding countryside are stunning and I think provide lots of information for settings. I took heaps of pictures inside the castle of winding stairs, and arrow loops. Once of these days I would love to branch out and write a medieval. And this is one location I would love to use.

In the meantime, one of these days, I may well find my regency hero or heroine has a castle in his back yard.

Until next time Happy Rambles.

Newton House, Wales

A small reminder. My new book, The Lady Flees Her Lord will be out in two weeks. Am I excited. Yes.


Okay, Newton house is in Wales with a castle in the back yard.

I am going to start with the house. The first picture is the back of the house. The second overlooks the park.

The house was built in the 17th century, but is now wrapped in a gothic Victorian limestone facade. The landscape however is pretty well unchanged. When Capability Brown visited in 1775, he said "I wish my journey may prove of use to the place, which if it should, it will be very flattering. Nature has been truly bountiful and art has done no harm." In other words, he didn't think there was much he could do to improve it. The park remains more or less unaltered to this day. Some of the trees date by to the thirteenth century.

In this picture, you can see the deer. This is but one of the views across the house from the park and I have to say, it really was lovely. One ancient tradition relates to the white cattle found on the estate. They have been at Dinefwr for a thousand years and are a symbol of the power of the Welsh Princes. The laws of Hywel Dda, a 10th century leader of Deheubarth, refer to fines and payments recovered with white cattle.

While the outside of the walls was changed, and there was remodeling done inside over the years, the basic structure seems to have remained fairly well intact.

The original house was a fortified farmhouse. It had towers in each corner. Domed roofs were added to the towers in around 1750. It was really neat that each of the rooms in the corners had little hexagonal rooms off them (inside the tower) with stairs off them. Of course, visitors aren't allowed, but it gave the rooms a very unique look and feel.

The last thing I am going to show you is the ice house. Now if you have been following this blog you will know I have a fascination for ice houses. One of these days I am going to put them all up on my web site. Newton House also has an ice house. It is set off in the woods, and would have been used to help keep the meat from the deer park fresh. According to the guide, because of the location of the ponds servants would have cut the ice and carry it up to the ice house very early in the morning so as not to disturb their employers. It was a distance of about one mile.


Deer meat would be stored on shelves around the edge of the round house or hung from the roof.

Next time we will take a look at the castle. Not because it was regency, but always because it was there in the regency. And quite honestly what could have been better but your own ruin. People paid a fortune to have them built.

Until next time. Happy Rambles.

Searching for Regency England


I promised one last blog on Margam. I wanted to show pictures of the original house, primarily because it should have been there in the Regency, the house we saw in the earlier blog having been built in the 1830's. The estate belonged to the Mansel family, a landowner and knight raised to a Baronetcy in the early seventeenth century and the peerage in 1711 by Queen Ann.

The title became extinct and the estate went to the Talbot family. The house was demolished around the end of the eighteenth century 1792-93. These bird's-eye view paintings give a wonderful overview of the house.

The house had its origin in the converted domestic buildings of the medieval abbey. The picture above is the north view, or the back of the house, and while the house stretches out to the east, at the centre west can be see the ruins of the monastic chapter house, and the absence of fine windows at the western end suggest this was the service and stores end of the back of the house. Coal was kept in the chapter house during this period.
The front of the house is very different, but clearly shows its expansion over the years. To the right, or the east is the medieval gatehouse, behind which is a walled in courtyard, the the far west Corinthian columns or pilasters rise up in grand style above a door way.

A summer banqueting house was set off to the far right from the main building and overlooked the deer park. While we can regret its loss, it is not hard to see why the owners might have wanted to replace the rambling old seventeenth and eighteenth century buildings with something more up to date. On the other hand, to set a novel in such a house is very appealing.

I hope you enjoyed these two pictures. I have one more house in Wales I want to show you in my search for Regency England next time.

Until then, Happy Rambles

Searching for Regency England



We were talking about Margam, which is located near Neath (Castell-nedd) and Port Talbot. I fell in love with these trees in the park.

One of my biggest disappointments was the fact that we could not enter the house which burned out in 1977.

The park contains the largest herd of fallow deer to be found in south Wales and thought to be descendants of a small herd brought here in the fifteenth century. So there would have been deer here during the Regency.

Another building we would have seen during our era was the remains of the abbey, founded in 1147 by the Earl of Gloucester and given to the Cistercian monks from Clarvaux Abbey in France.

It became the largest and wealthiest abbey in Wales and once held a copy of the Domesday Book, now owned by the British Library.

Pictured here is the remnant of the twelve sided Chapter House.


And from a bit further away, with the end of the Orangery off to the side.


Imagine having that in your back yard.

While not strictly our period, I am going to put up some pictures of the house that was on the property, prior to the current castle. Its loss is to be mourned, but if I can get the pictures to download, I think you will agree it is worth recording it, if for nothing else, a setting for a story and a look at an earlier time on which our Georgian period is based.

Until next time, Happy Rambles

Searching for Regency England

Did you miss me? Or did you take a peak at the other blog? It seems there is a new catch phrase for writers who guest blog and no one turns up, you are No Friends Nigela. I don't know if anyone has seen that cooking show? I like her, but lots of folks don't apparently. Anyway, I wasn't lonely lucy either. So now back to our regular programming.

I got a bit sidetracked over the past few months and there were one or two more places I wanted to bring to you from my last research trip.

Both of them are in Wales. The first one I wanted to chat about is Margam. Margam Park is built on the site of an abbey (closed in 1536).

The house pictured here was designed in 1827 and completed over the next several year. So it is Georgian, but not Regency. It is definitely romantic, with its mock battlements, clusters of tudor twisted chimneys, turrets and pinnacles. A great central pile of the house rises to a majestic octagonal tower. The architect was Thomas Hopper. The view of it here is the back of the house, which overlooks the park. It really is a ruin inside. So sad. But it is also gorgeous and fascinating and could just as easily have been built during the Regency, so I present it here.

These steps, to the west, lead to the orangery, which was finished in 1793, at the same time as the original house was being torn down.


It was built to contain a great collection of orange, lemon and other citrus trees. There were a great many legends about the origin of the trees, which indicate that while they were destined to be delivered to the crown the ship foundered and were claimed by the Mansells. Sounds like there might be a story in there somewhere.

By the mid 18th century there were over one hundred trees in greenhouses all over the park, and while they can stay outside in the summer, they must be taken in for the winter because of low temperatures. This orangery is gorgeous. It is long and narrow with 27 tall south facing windows to admit winter light and the plain black wall has fireplaces from which hot air passes through flues. It is beautifully augmented by fountains along its length, deeply-worked stone, friezes and sculptured urns

We have talked about orangeries before and this one has to be added as one of the most gorgeous ones of our era.

There is lots more to say about Margam, so I will continue next time.

Until next time, Happy Ramble.

Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain - September

One thing that happened in September and throughout the fall, was the sowing of seeds to lie dormant over the winter and be there in the Spring. So it was not all harvest home on the farms.

About the end of August, and during the whole of September, the second and last brood of caterpillars will be found; several species of Gryllus may also be taken in meadowy and marshy lands.”—Samouelle’s Introduction to British Entomology, pp. 316, 317.
 Gryllus, dear reader, is a cricket and in England known as a field cricket. Apparently there are very few left now, indeed it is an endangered species and found only in one square kilometer in West Sussex, but in Regency times you would have heard them chirping away here and there.

Not exactly a pretty picture, but I felt quite sad to know that our crickets are losing ground fast.



The larva of the privet hawk-moth may now be found on the privet shrub, and its elegant appearance affords a contrast to the uninviting form of many of the caterpillar tribe.

Now there is a fine looking specimen for a heroine to find in her hedge. Elegant appearance? Hmm.


The sulphur butterfly also will frequently be seen in the bright mornings of September, flitting about the gay flowers of our gardens.

The whole image is delightful. Our naturist certainly waxes lyrical at times.

Well there is lots more for September, but call in same time next year.lol

In the meantime. Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion for September

One month to The Lady Flees Her Lord. My word, it seems that the intervening months have flown by. I will be having quite a party on the week of the launch, so keep watching this space. And don't forget the chance to win a copy if you enter the contest to be found at the right of this post.

Yesterday was the Labor Day Holiday, and I did not labor. It was a beautiful weekend and we spent it by a lake. It was wonderful to watch osprey, and loons, as well as the usual gulls. We also caught a brief glimpse of a kingfisher. And the stars were wonderful. With no moon, one could almost reach out and touch the milky way. Aah, but now we have fashion.

This plate is from 1805 Ladies Monthly Museum. A little earlier than Regency, but I go by what is known as the long Regency. And three for the price of one. How good is that?

The descriptions are brief, but enough I think to give you the flavor.

Walking Dress
A round Dress of plain Muslin. A Pelisse of pale Blue Muslin, trimmed with White Lace. Mob Cap of worked Muslin. Buff Gloves.

Walking Dress
Dress of Cambric Muslin. A Shawl of worked Lace, with Embroidered Border. White Beaver Hat, and White Ostrich Feather.

Full Dress.
Head fashionably Dressed, ornamented with White Floss Feather, and Silver Leaves. Dress of Primrose Crape, Sleeves embroidered with Silver. White Gloves and Fan.


I found the blue pelisse in the first dress quite interesting, to me it looks more like a dressing gown, but very comfortable compared to the fitted spencers we so often see.



A Walking Dress from La Belle Assemblee for September 1816

Round dress of fine leno worn over either a white or peach-coloured slip; the dress flounced with the same, with a ribband of peach colour placed above the flounce. Loose sleeves, à la Caroline, confined by bands of peach coloured ribband. British Lady's Bonnet, the texture black, over peach color. The hair parted on the forehead. Half-boots, and gloves of peach-coloured kid


The sleeves are a very interesting feature, and I like that we get a good look at the half-boots.

This last is a court gown for the same year. I don't have a description, but the festoons of roses and the train and the headdress are a delight to behold, so I could not resist it.


Next time we will see if there is any flora and fauna of interest. Until then, Happy Rambles.

Regency Footwear

Continuing down the same path-- pun intended. Here is the last post on shoes, for now.

Still waiting for Cassandra to get in touch, so if I don't hear from her by the end of the weekend I think I will draw again.

These are buckles presented to Nelson in 1803. They have their own domed leather case.

Clearly shoes, of the dress variety, were a highly thought of item.

Since Nelson died in 1805 and had been at sea for much of that time, my guess is these buckles never graced a pair of his shoes.

These are English shoes and gloves from 1840, so still not much in the way of heels Melinda.


Shoe making, or cobbling, was a highly thought of trade in this time period, as can be seen from this mug. I must say I thought putting Victory and shoe-making in the same category a little pretentious, but who knows.

The next picture also shows that shoe-aholocism (umm not sure how to spell that) has been a problem for centuries. lol. These are snuff boxes from the 18th and nineteenth centuries, made in the shape of shoes. Aren't they sweet. If you find one in your travels, let me know. I would love to own one of these.

I was fascinated by this last picture, it is French. It shows a man making shoes and whistling to the little bird above his head. This is a political commentary. Apparently in France shoemakers were renowned for making up political rhymes. And of course some of them would have been part of the French Revolutionary movement and perhaps telling the bird the rhyme was not seditious, as telling the person standing in your shop. Look how ragged he is, despite his good business.

Hmm. I feel a story coming on.

Which makes me think it is a good time to stop. Next week we are back at the first of the month, so it will be time for some September fashions and later in the week, a look at nature and gardens.

In the meantime --Happy Rambles.

Regency Footwear


Thanks to all who guessed in my contest. Well, none of you guessed correctly, but to be honest, I am not the slightest bit surprised. Most of you thought of crampons, for walking in ice and snow, which was also my first thought when I saw them.

The boots are, in fact, French. And they are chestnut crushers! If you did not see the picture in the earlier post, it the one below this.

I am sure you can see it quite easily now. lol

Clogs like these were used in 19th century France to remove the shells from acorns and chestnuts. The meat from the nuts could be ground into flour or used as pig feed. France, 1800's-1900's. The brine created in the process was also used in the leather curing process.

And the winner is: Cassandra. Please email me directly with your address and I will send off your prize.

The Bata Museum is currently featuring dancing shoes. As an ex dancer, and a mum whose girls danced their little tootsies off before they found the opposite sex, I was fascinated.


Before the nineteenth century, dancers dance in whatever shoes were fashionable at the time. This is a pair of mid 18th century shoes. They are quite lovely.








As you can see from this picture above, they did indeed dance in this kind of shoe.

Then came the classical era, the Regency, all flowing lines, strait skirts, and empire waists. With them came a soft slipper with low heels. And dancers loved them. By the way, during this period, all shoes were "straights". That is there were no left or rights, the wearer simply wore them in, until they fitted the foot. This is true of dance slippers today, as I am sure you know.

As you can see, this pair of ballet slippers, is is not much different to the shoes our Regency ladies wore in the street, but dancers loved them.

And so when they went out of fashion for everyday where, they remained (with adaptations) on the stage.

Here are some early examples. It is here that I must tell you that dancing "en pointe" did not come into being until 1832. And the first dancer en pointe was a man.

But the ladies did not leave it there for long.

The museum had a wonderful history of ballet shoes, their construction and various improvements over the years, but they are all post Regency, and therefore not really relevant.

I do have one more set of pictures and stories about shoes, so until next time, Happy Rambles (and keep your feet dry).

These Boots are Made for Walking

I didn't tell you I was a shoaholic, did I? Can't ever buy only one pair of shoes. Well my writer friend Mary Sullivan took me out for a special treat and I wanted to share it with you.


I know, I promised more money information, but thought we might take a little side trip. Which is exactly what I did last week when I visited the Bata Shoe Museum here in Toronto.

And no, this boot was not actually made for walking. Any guesses? I wish you could see just how big this sucker is. Anyway, it is called a "postillion's boot" from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. They were made to be worn by a coachman over his regular boots, which accounts for the sheer size of the thing, and they were made of hardened leather to protect him from low hanging branches, or in cases of accidents, from breaking his legs when hit bit the dust. A sort of airbag device for the legs. If you look closely you can see the rowel (spurs) at the back.

Some of them, the display said, had a metal cup set in the toe where the coachman could place hot embers to keep his toes warm on winter nights. Central heating anyone?

I should mention that the museum is very kind about allowing pictures, provided one does not use a flash. I tried really hard to comply, but sometimes my camera had a mind of its own and some of the pictures are a bit on the dark side.

This was the first case we looked at, and I was simply charmed out of my flip flops. These were cinderella shoes from around the world. It seems that each culture has its own version of the Cinderella story and they all involve a prince and a slipper. Who knew Cinders got about that much. In this display case there were Korean and Egyptian slippers.

Throughout the ages, porcelain or glass slippers have been considered an appropriate wedding memento. Could have some connection with the modern tradition of tying an old boot to the honeymoon car. lol



These were French, but as you can see they are of the ornament variety, and one pair is of course glass. So pretty. A bit hard to see, since they are clear, but I thought them quite lovely.



Aha.

Now what the devil are these for?

Well I'm not going to tell you. You are going to have to guess. And if you guess right, I will send you a set of Jane Austen Correspondence Cards that I bought at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath for just such an occasion. However, if no one guesses right, I will draw from those who comment. Similarly if I have more than one correct guess, I will draw from those. I will post the correct answer on Monday along with the name of the winner. Don't be shy. You have to comment, or guess to have a chance at winning.

I can see I am getting close to the limit of my attention span -- I really don't like blogs that go on and on, but since I am a shoeaholic it is very hard for me to stop.

Just one more. What shall I pick?



If you guessed these were Napoleon's socks, you'd be right!

They were worn by him on St Helena. All right, so they aren't shoes. But think of the famous tootsies that once wriggled inside them. Or that stomped around the headland, staring out into all that nothing and wondering if he would ever go home again.

That is it. We will have more shoes on Monday and probably Thursday too. Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Money ~ How Rich is that?


Apparently Mr. Darcy had ten thousand pounds a year. And that was very rich indeed to afford to run a pad like the one pictured above.

It is always hard to do exact money conversions, because the importance of things changed. But Mr. Darcy's income was fabulous when one considers that a gentleman with a family of five could live reasonably well and keep a maid on Two Hundred and Fifty pounds a year. But part of that was because labor was a relatively cheap commodity.

A maid at £16 would be considerably cheaper than keeping a pair of horses costing £65-17s. The maid would be considered a necessity.

An income of a thousand pounds would allow for five servants, a cook, a housemaid, a nursery-maid, a coachman and a footman, whose combined wages are £87 a year.

So an income of the size of Mr. Darcy's is huge. But so is that pile he has to maintain.

An artisan would expect an income of about one hundred pounds a year, no servants, rented property and a reasonable standard of clothing and food.

In normal times a loaf of bread could be purchased for a penny, while one and a half pence could buy you a meal at an Irish ordinary. If you wanted something rather more filling you could try a three penny ordinary, where a meal of meat and broth and beer was available for the advertised price. A quart of beer could be purchased for a penny, and a cup of coffee for the same price. Gin ordered by the quarter and half pint, would set you back a penny and two pence respectively.

A surgeon might expect to make two hundred and seventeen pounds a year, a barrister or solicitor doubled that and a teacher a quarter of that amount.

We know that the Prince Regent paid 900 guineas for Mrs. Robinson's carriage. Enough money for a family of five to live on in very good style for a year.

The Regency was also a time of rising prices for the poor and the start of the industrial revolution that for a time would leave the poor even worse off than before.

That is it for me today. This merely skims the surface of what is a fascinating topic. Until next time Happy Rambles.

Money continued

Before we start, I wanted to mention that tomorrow (Friday) I will be sending out my summer newsletter. So if you want to receive a copy, sign up right away. You will find the link in the side bar.

When I looked back, I realized I had got as far as thruppence in my accounting. Hardly anywhere at all, you might say.

Some of the siliver coins used during the Regency:

Sixpence = six pennies
shillings = 12 pennies make a shilling
half crown = two shillings and six pence - pictured here
crown = five shillings

There were also dollars issued during this period worth five shillings. These were struck from captured Spanish American dollars, and even some French ecus and United States dollars. They were counter-marked and issued as an emergency currency. And so the word dollar meaning five shillings entered English slang in 1804 even though crowns disappeared as a unit of currency.


There were guineas and half guineas, worth Twenty one shillings and ten shillings and six pence respectively. These were coins made in gold as you can see. This picture is of a George III guinea.

- In some fancy shops items were still priced in guineas not so very long ago. You would think the price was in pounds and then when you checked it is a shilling per pound more. Very sneaky. But posh. Oh, and there were no actual guineas to be had at that time.

Then there were the sovereigns and half sovereigns.


In 1816, the basis of English money changed from the value of silver to the value of gold. We adopted the Gold Standard. The Guinea was withdrawn and the basic monetary unit became the pound, which was represented by the Sovereign coin worth twenty shillings and the half sovereign worth ten shillings. Finally.

Sovereigns alas are also no more, first replaced with the pound and the ten bob not (ten shillings) and then we did away with shilling altogether. Sovereigns have been occasionally minted for special occasions. And they are still valued as jewelry, as bangles or pendants and my husband has a half-sovereign set in a signet ring.

Okay, so that is the basics, though there could be much more. Now we can get to the interesting stuff, like how much did things cost and slang terms for sums of money in the Regency.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain - August.

It hardly seems possible that August is almost half over and the summer is two thirds gone. Free books. Enter the fabulous contest offered by the Toronto Romance Writers for a chance to win novels by some famous and not so famous (ahem me for example) authors.

And what might we find if we looked out of the window in Regency England in August.

Well according to our Naturists Diary: The mountain ash, or rowan tree, now displays its bunches of red berries amid its elegant and light foliage

Interestingly enough, the wood of this tree was used to make bows in middle ages.

In the more recent past it was used for tool handles, mallet heads, bowls and platters.

Of especial interest to me, the berries are edible and used to make rowan jelly which is eaten with game I have no trouble imagining it being used this way during the Regency. So I must add it to my information on Food. Always collecting.

About the 11th of August, today please notice, the puffin migrates. I had to include that. Imagine picking one day of the year to migrate and they are such cute birds too. Not that one would have seen too much of them, even during the Regency. Their habitat is very specific.


Also making its appearance in August is: The common flax, with its pretty pale blue flowers.

Whenever something says common, one always finds something exotic. Like the common loon. Of course it doesn't mean common as in "vulgar" but common as in most frequently found. Still, I had to look up this one.

And of course it is not so common after all, a source of linseed oil and one of the earliest sources of fiber for linen, it is in fact hugely important.

That is all from me today, back to writing my next novel. Don't forget to enter the contest.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion for August

First you may have noticed that I changed the picture of my book. Well I just learned before Nationals that my cover had changed. Happily, I love the new one just as much as the old one.

This first image is from 1806 taken from the Ladies Monthly Magazine

Morning Dress.

Round Dress of Pink Muslin, trimmed down the Front with Lace Footing; Cloak of worked Leno, lined with Straw-coloured Sarsnet, and trimmed with White Lace; Head fashionably drest with the Cantab Hat.


Full Dress.

A close Dress of White Sarsnet, bordered with painted Flowers, and Train of Pale Green Crape; Gold Broach; Head-Dress consisting of deep White Veil thrown carelessly over, and falling down the Back, Gold Comb, and Buff Gloves.


Interesting to see that for the pink morning gown that the cloak is much more like a shawl. I do love the color of this dress and the lace footing down the front. Not sure why it is called footing, but it really is elegant. I would not mind making calls in such a pretty gown.

The second gown, for evening is also lovely. I think the painted flowers appeal to me. I do not like the buff gloves, however. They look odd. And how about that veil. How long would it take the maid to get that carelessly thrown over look?


The next outfit is from La Belle Assemblee, 1810. A Walking Gown.

Promenade Walking Dress.

A plain cambric round morning dress, made high in the neck, with short train, let in round the bottom with two rows of worked trimming. A pelisse of green sarsnet, made to fit the shape, trimmed round with a narrow fancy trimming, cut with two scollops on the left side, on the right with one; fastened on the neck with a gold brooch, and confined round the waist with a girdle of the same, with gold clasp. A Lavinia unbleached chip hat, tied down with a broad white sarsnet ribband; a small white satin cap is worn underneath, with an artificial rose in front. The hair dressed in full curls. A plaid parasol; with York tan gloves; green silk sandals.


The gown is very plain and if it were not for that green trim it would seem almost dull, and yet somehow that is its charm. And one would not want too much going on on the dress given the pelisse, which takes up most of the description. Interesting that the scollops are different on each side. Lots of information here for a writer, I must say.

Well that is it for me for August, much as I would like to do more. If I sound rather quiet to day, I am. I have lost my voice completely. Good thing I can still type.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

The Writer Returns


Okay, so a bit dramatic, but as I mentioned I was off at the Romance Writers of America Conference in San Francisco last week. Here is my book signing picture as proof. And yes, I am wearing a Regency gown, made by me, which I later wore to the Beaumonde soiree.

After travelling all day Sunday and somehow picking up a flue bug on the plane, I am only just now getting my head in order. So, apologizing profusely, I missed my Monday post. And today all I am going to do is tell you a bit about the conference. Tomorrow, I promise August fashions and then back to normal programing.

While in San Fransisco, I attended the Beaumonde conference and learned lots and lots, which of course I can't wait to share with you all, after we have finished our money segment. And one little bit about my trip to Wales this year. As a taste, here is a period saddle.

The Beaumonde sesssions covered a huge variety of information from weapons to saddles to riding to costumes. I could only attend a very few, but I took in the areas I felt I needed most.

The booksigning at Literacy was awesome. My first with RWA. I met with my agent, my editor, and my publisher. The authors had a wonderful dinner with Sourcebooks, editor and publisher and publicists. I was also part of a panel with my sisters from the American Title 2 contest. We talked about making a splash before you are published and we had a good number of attendees and very positive feed back. We are hoping to give the workshop again, either at conferences or or line. So that was very exciting.

We were also able to do a little bit of sightseeing, and in particular a trip to Napa Valley, Muir Woods and Sausalito. Here is a glimpse of husband and daughter outside a winery, with a wonderful view behind.

Now there are books to write and proposals to send in, so until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Money Part 2

So we have it perfectly straight from our first post. Twenty shillings in a pound and twelve pennies in a shilling.

The smallest denomination of English money was the farthing. It was worth one quarter of a penny. Nowadays this would seem a ridiculously small amount of money, but in earlier times and even during the Regency a penny was worth something. I can recall buying four sweets for a penny and if you had a farthing, you could buy one.

Originally made of silver, for a while they were made of tin, but more importantly in our era, they were made of copper. I chose this picture because it has the worth farthing on the coin. Not all of them did. They went by the size.

The next highest denomination was the halfpence, commonly know as a ha'penny. You pronounce this haypny. The one struck in 1806 and before looks just like the penny we looked at last time. It was worth half a penny, obviously, or two farthings.

A coin which fascinates me is the twopence, pronounced tuppence. It is a half a groat, originally produced in silver in 1351, it is still used today as Maundy money (something we can look at another time if you wish). In George III's day and during the Regency it was copper and was a "cartwheel" coin. This is by far the largest base metal coin issued in the UK, weighing two ounces (56.7 g) and measuring 41 mm diameter and 5 mm thick. It was only struck the once and found too heavy for everyday use. You can imagine those weighting down your pockets can't you?



Next is my favorite coin, the three pence coin, known as thruppence. Sometimes "Thruppence" is used as a term of endearment for children. My sister-in-law had a cat called Thruppence.

In my childhood they had lots of corners and a portcullis and made of nickle and brass and it was my pocket money!

During the Regency prior to 1800 these coins were silver generally 1.5g and 17mm diameter. They were not in general circulation after 1817 until 1845 again.

Oh dear, once more there is so much to tell and only so much time and patience. Next week I will be in San Fransisco attending the Romance Writers of America conference. I may see if I can send pictures from there. I will resume this topic when I return, and will try to send some thoughts from San Fransisco in the meantime.

Oh, and we will be in August so I will have some fashions and flora and fauna as well.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Counting Down to The Lady Flees Her Lord


I know, it is still three months away. But I am sure it will be here before I know it and I wanted to tell you how you can win a copy of The Lady Flees Her Lord now, while it is still news.

The Toronto Romance Writers have banded together to offer a most amazing collection of book, mine included. You will find some really well-known names and a variety of genres.

To enter, go here. I promise it is not hard to enter, and the reward might well be a whole heap of reading.

We will be back to normal programming on Thursday. Until then Happy Rambles

Regency Money


The money that was second nature to me growing up, is no more. How strange is that? Any one living in Britain prior to 1970 will of course remember pounds shillings and pence, or if you visited prior to that date you may recall the nomenclature and all of the idiosyncracies. But some of you spring chickens or recent Regency addicts may find the monetary system of the Regency Era a mystery. Hence this blog.

Pounds Sterling is still the official currency of Britain. The symbol for a pound is £ from the latin libra meaning pound.
In a bill of fare from an inn during the Regency one might have seen the following accounting for your meal.



Roast beef................. £1 5s. 3d.

The s. does not mean shilling as one might expect but soldas and the d. is dinaro. These terms stem all the way back to the time when Rome ruled Britain. We Brits do like to hang on to our history. lol. As far as I know no one used those terms to refer to the denominations as a general rule.

Well that seems fairly straightforward. Oh, but wait a minute, how many shillings were there in a pound and how many pence.

So what value did the various denominations have. There were twenty shillings in in pound, twelve pennies in a shilling. Not the easy decimal system we have to day. Hang on, this means there were two hundred and forty pennies in a pound. That is a lot of pennies. And they weren't the tiny little things we have in Canada and the US, they were honking cartwheels of pennies - (They even called them cartwheels in those days). A pound's worth in your pockets would have you walking on your knees. Or me anyway.

Pennies were both silver and copper during the Regency, the first copper (actually partly copper) pennies being introduced in 1797. They contained a penny's worth of copper and weighed an ounce. In other words, they were not token currency, they were worth the value printed on them.

So that is pretty straight forward isn't it? Oh, but wait a minute there are all kinds of other coins that we haven't talked bout yet, guineas and groats, ponies and farthings. We will look at those next time and we'll also try to work out some values in future posts.

In the meantime, if you love books, here is a chance to win some, my new one included. The Toronto Romance Writers are having a contest and there are some fabulous authors and their books. Go here to enter. It's easy and fun. I promise.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Bathrooms


A rather intimate topic, you might say, but it is one of those things we occasionally wonder about as writers, particularly if we want to have our romantic couple bath together.

I can remember homes that had outside facilities while I was growing up, indeed there were special government grants to convert them to indoor facilities. I recall one row house we lived in for a time, where we bathed in a tin tub in front of the fire. And no, dear reader, I was not born in the Regency. lol. It also had its own air raid shelter on the other side of the road. I still have the scar on my forehead from falling into the stairwell of that abandoned shelter.

So what facilities could they possibly have had two hundred years ago.

More than you would expect, but less than you might hope if you were time traveling.

This picture shows the types of luxury bathing one might find in the very best homes in the Regency.

Around this time, the shower-bath was invented, bath-tubs replaced the elegant but much more expensive plunge baths of the eighteenth century. A shower bath would be a cistern which emptied over the bather's head into a tub or a plunge bath. My guess is you had to be quick.

and most important of all, really efficient water-closets, fitted with valves that worked, at last became available (often still supplemented by outside earth-closets for the servants)

As early as 1813 the Earl of Moira's Donington Park in Leicestershire had two bathrooms and at least six water-closets, on two floors."

People were more likely to install these new fangled items at their country estates than in London homes where space was at a premium.

There was no such thing as municipal water during the Regency. In London water was delivered by wagon and deposited in a cistern located across the area, under the street, next to the coal cellar. Access to both was via hatches in the street. Water was not delivered every day. Anyone with a flushing toilet required servants to hand-fill a smaller cistern located in the attics.

The first flushing toilet was actually invented back in the 1500s. One was installed at Hampton Court for Elizabeth. However, these were very smelly affairs since the U-trap had not yet been invented.


Not until 1780 did advances make flushing toilets practical. By the Regency, new houses built for the middle or higher classes included water closets that emptied into the waste cistern under the servants' privy, but as you can see from the diagram they were not what we think of as a toilet today.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.