Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain ~ May

By Michele Ann Young

In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.
William Shakespeare

Must be the rain and the smell of green things making me wax lyrical this morning.

I must say, May always makes me think of dancing around the May pole on the village green. I just could not resist this picture, so antique looking and the little girls dresses are so sweet.

And of course one of the shrubs, bushes or trees most associated with May is the May tree. It's real name is the Hawthorn and it flowers in May at least in the south of England. In ancient times, Beltane or May Day celebrations, were when people and houses were decked with may blossoms ("bringing home the May"). The popular rhyme "Here we go gathering nuts in May" is thought to have been sung by the young men, gathering not "nuts" (which do not grow in May) but "knots" of may blossoms for the May Day Celebrations. These celebrations included a May Queen, representing the Goddess, and a Green May, representing the God and the spirit of the new vegetation. It was known as the "Merry Month" and folk went about "wearing the green", decking themselves in greenery and may blossom.


Some of these traditions, although pagan, continued long into our era, although the church repressed the more sensual erotic side of the celebrations. Hawthorn was everywhere in England, particularly in the hedges so the sight of white blooms would have been beautiful and still is in some areas.

And of course May is a great time for nesting birds. Our Naturists says this:

The spotted fly-catcher (muscicapa grisola), the most mute and familiar of all our summer birds, builds in a vine or sweet-briar, against the walls of a house, or on the end of a beam, and sometimes close to the post of a door.

What our naturists doesn't say, is that this little bird is very clever. It can tell the difference between a cuckoos egg and one of its own, which some other birds, like the dunnock, cannot.

Well much as I would like to continue this ramble, since there would be so many more things to tell you about May in England, chores are calling.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion - May

A real Andalusian dress, formed of a bodice of pink or rose coloured velvet with a puff sleeve of white satin; the rest of the dress being of the same materials and edged at the bottom a la Vandyke, and ornamented with tab fringe; the bodice is terminated in a jacket behind and edged with the same fringe as the dress; the stomacher crossed with white lacing, in braid, fastened at each lacing with a diamond or paste button; ridicule of rose or pink coloured velvet; white gloves and shoes of white with the quarters the colour of the bodice; ear-rings of plain pearl. The Sevigne curl is the most prominent fashion for the head dress.

While the title on the picture says afternoon, the description says evening. My interpretation is a flexible gown, but I must say the jacket concept sounds more like the afternoon. I really like the idea of a stomacher. something we don't often see in the regency.

This is a walking dress from 1817 from La Belle Assemblee

This is a fussy gown, and very blue, but it would be perfect for Spring Weather.

That is all from me today. Until next time,
Happy Rambles

The Rake's Inherited Courtesan

by Ann Lethbridge
It is the writer's day today.




Since today is the last day of April and the last day you will find The Rake's Inherited Courtesan in stores in North America, (if there are any left), I thought I would give you a little reminder. However, don't forget, it can also be found at the following on-line stores:

From The Publisher:
E-Harlequin

In the US:
From :Amazon
From: Barnes and Noble
From Borders



In Canada:
From
Chapter's Indigo


In the UK: (in June, preorder now):
Mills & Boon
Blackwell Books
Foyles for Books

We will continue with London next time. Until then Happy Rambles.

Making Your Debut in the Regency

by Michele Ann Young
A while back I did an article on the peerage and there was a bit of a discussion about whether the debutante thing was popular during the Regency.
The picture is of a Court Dress from 1817.

The London Season started in March/April time and went to sometime in June. It was tied to Parliament. Each year the Queen held Presentation Drawing Rooms two or three times a week during the Season. Wives and daughters of peers, members of parliament, or the landed gentry were allowed to be formally presented at Court. For the daughter, this was called her come-out or her debut. Young men made their bows.

When the young lady in question was about 17 or 18, her mother would send in a request to the Lord Chamberlain indicating she wished her daughter to be presented. Only a lady who had herself been presented could sponsor her at the drawing room. The King and Queen did not recognize anyone who had not been presented to them.

It provided the young woman with an gilt-edged entry into society. However, a young lady who had not been presented could still go to balls, routs and other entertainments, if she was invited.

here we have a lady and gentleman in court dress for 1807.

During the Regency, the presentations took place at St. James's Palace at events called Drawing Rooms. Hoops and white feather plumes, as shown in the picture above, were required dress. After waiting for hours, and only permitted to stand in the presence of the Queen, the young lady would be announced by the Chamberlain and walked to where the Queen sat and made a deep curtsy — which had been practiced and practiced while wearing the hooped skirt. A few pleasantries were exchanged, the young woman answering any question the Queen put to her, but no more. When the Queen indicated she was dismissed, the young woman made one more deep curtsey, and then walked backwards out of the royal presence all the while praying she wouldn't trip over her train.

There were several years in which no Presentation Drawing Rooms were held during the Regency because of the King's illness. Between the King's birth day in 1810, and April 30 1812, no drawing rooms were held. You can imagine the preparations and the requests after that length of time had passed.

So while presentation to the Queen was not required, it was certainly expected for the members of the ton.

Until next time, Happy Rambles

Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain - April

by Michele Ann Young
April always seem like a soft month to me. New grass, soft underfoot, new leaves, soft and moist to the touch, new flowers, soft on the eye, and new fauna who are just ... soft on the heart.

Did you guess]? I like Spring.

I thought I would start with this old friend of mine, the hedgehog because they are cute, and they are the only spiny mammal in Britain.

They live on insects and grubs and they emerge from winter hibernation in early Spring, so around now. They have their four or five babies any time between April and September. They are primarily nocturnal, but can often be seen scurrying around at dusk.

My second choice for this month is Britain's Early Purple Orchid.

Yes we have our orchids too. Flourishing in particular in broadleaved woodland and coppices it is scene here amid the bluebells (which you may recall is a favorite of mine).

It is widespread throughout the British Isles, especially in the southern half of England it flowers in late April hence its appearance today.

Lots more to know, but time has run out too quickly today. So until next time, when Ann is going to talk about debutantes as a follow up to an earlier post, Happy Rambles.

The London of the Ton - Part V

by Ann Lethbridge

Here is our routine reminder. This blog will move to http://www.regencyramble.blogspot.com

The Thames River Police Continued

What kinds of crimes were committed on the River Thames that it required its own police force?


This picture is the entrance to the London docks. A great many people who worked on the river saw it as a right to help themselves to anything they could. Remembering how hard life was for the poorer members of society in this era, one can understand why. Coalheavers, for example, made it a practice to take two or three bushels of coal with them every time they left the collier they were unloading. It was this kind of stealing the magistrates office was set up to defeat.

The Police Establishment had a number of rowing galleys, each manned by a Surveyor (equivalent rank to today's Inspector) and three waterman Constables under the direction of a Superintending Surveyor. He had his own supervision galley with a crew of four. All Surveyors were empowered both by the crown (an oath taken before the magistrates) and also sworn and issued with an excise warrant by Customs and Excise Service.

Additionally during those two years, many ship and quay guards were also employed on a part time basis. They were visited and supervised by the boat patrols, these constables were employed only when the West India fleets were in the river and being discharged when there was no need for them. They were in time to become the first River Police Special Constables.


The same vigilance which had suppressed thieving had also put a considerable stop to smuggling which 'was an organised system and carried to extraordinary heights by the aid and connivance of many of the revenue officers.' Even 'the almost incredible plunder of Naval stores from the King’s Yards at Deptford and Woolwich had been suppressed to some degree' by the attention on land and water of the Thames Police, whose boats sometimes went as far as Sheerness and Chatham.

They also had to deal with foreign sailors who often became desperately short of funds and were known to plunder and engage in knife fights.

The Thames Police Institution was given another seven yeas of life by Act of Parliament in 1814, and in 1821 an Act for the More Effectual Administration of the Office of Justice of the Peace in the Metropolis and for the More Effectual Prevention of Depredations on the River Thames brought the River Court (but not Bow Street) under the same umbrella as the other seven public offices.

In 1839 Metropolitan Police Courts Act brought all the metropolitan police offices, including Bow Street, into one organisation, changed their description from 'Office' to 'Court', authorised the establishment by Order in Council of other courts, and limited the number of magistrates to 27.

As the result of this and of the Metropolitan Police Act, 1839, the Thames Magistrates ceased to be responsible for the control of the Marine Police, which became the Thames Division of the Metropolitan Police.


For much deeper look at this very interesting police force do visit the Museum website at http://www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk

Until next time, happy rambles.

Happy Easter

Posted by Michele Ann Young

Today, Good Friday, my daughter and I are making hot cross buns.


Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
hot cross buns.

If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one ha' penny,
two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns

The first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" is 1733 although it is believed that buns marked with a cross were eaten by Saxons in honour of the goddess Eostre (the cross is thought to have symbolised the four quarters of the moon);
Others claim that the Greeks marked cakes with a cross, much earlier.

James Boswell recorded in his Life of Johnson (1791): 9 Apr. An. 1773 Being Good Friday I breakfasted with him and cross-buns. The fact that they were generally sold hot, however, seems to have led by the early nineteenth century to the incorporation of hot into their name."

As you can see, this was definitely an ongoing tradition and would have been part of an English family breakfast on Good Friday

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

Regency Fashion ~ April

Ooops, sorry I'm late. Down to the wire on edits. Don't forget the Regency Ramble is moving house to http://www.regencyramble.blogspot.com

Fashions for April

Are we expecting snow? Well I doubt that they were in London, but we have it here in Toronto today. And its not April fool's day.

These are from the 1810 La Belle Assemblee

Evening Dress.
A robe of amaranthus figured sarsnet, made to sit high in the neck, with a full cuff of lace; long sleeves with short loose tops trimmed with swansdown. A turban of amaranthus crape and velvet. Gold brooch and earrings. Swansdown muff. White kid gloves and shoes. Hair in light ringlet curls.


Evening Dress.
A round dress of white muslin made high over the bosom, with short sleeves trimmed with lace, and ornamented round the bottom with three rows of small tucks. A spotted ermine tippet. A cap composed of fluted satin and lace, bound in tight to the head, and ornamented with a full bunch of apple blossoms. Earrings and broach of gold. Gloves and shoes of white kid. Hair in light round curls.

Curls come other than round? Who new. I guess they mean what I call kiss curls. Remember those?

And if we were dressing in swansdown and fur in 1810. outside in 1817 we were looking like this:

From La Belle Assemblee April 1817.

Walking Dress

Round dress of fine cambric, under a pelisse of emerald-green reps sarsnet, ornamented and faced with flutings of green and white satin, elegantly finished by British silk trimming; the waist girt by a rich silk cordon of the same manufacture, with full tassels. Spring bonnet of green curled silk, the crown and ornaments of white satin and emerald-green, to correspond with the pelisse. Green satin half boots and Limerick gloves. Berlin ridicule of green and white satin.



The only comment I had about this one was - its very green.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

A Minuet

The regency equivalent of Happy Dancing. Well here it is, my first book with Harlequin Historicals, on the shelves. Which reminds me, we really should do something about dancing here at the Regency Ramble.

I have a similar picture from another store, but really how man pictures of the same book do you need to see to believe that the book is on shelves in Walmart and our local Shoppers Drug Mart.

If anyone else spots one, I'd love to hear about it.

Off to hunt the rest of my local area.

Back to normal programming next week. Promise. We will start with our Fashions for April.

Squeeee. OK I am excited.

This is the new Regency Ramble. You have come to the right place. See as I promised all the archives and the links are here.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

More on Australia

by Michele Ann Young

My we are flying around the world at a rapid rate!

If you are anything like me, you would have found the look of Hyde Park Barracks in the earlier post distinctly depressing on the outside.

On the other hand, some of these people had been sitting in wrecks like the one pictured here for a very long time. Perhaps four square walls didn't look quite so bad after all.

These ships were called prison hulks and they eased the overcrowding in prisons on land. And of course, conveniently located the prisoners off shore or in the Thames estuary for when it was their turn to be transported. sometimes they remained on board for years.

One can imagine that it would be dark and dank with absolutely no privacy.



The men would be shackled during the day in ankle shackles such as these, which would be connected to another chain which encircled waist or throat.

During the day they were put to work on all sorts of projects, depending on where there ship was in relation to shore.

Many of the hulks were located near Woolwich which was expanding rapidly at the time and needed lots of labourers. With the marshes on one side and the naval docks and the Royal Arsenal on the other, escape was difficult.

James Hardy Vaux was a prisoner on the Retribution, an old Spanish vessel, at Woolwich during the early 1800s.

While waiting to be transported for a second time to New South Wales, he recalled:

Every morning, at seven o'clock, all the convicts capable of work, or, in fact, all who are capable of getting into the boats, are taken ashore to the Warren, in which the Royal Arsenal and other public buildings are situated, and there employed at various kinds of labour; some of them very fatiguing; and while so employed, each gang of sixteen or twenty men is watched and directed by a fellow called a guard.

These guards are commonly of the lowest class of human beings; wretches devoid of feeling; ignorant in the extreme, brutal by nature, and rendered tyrannical and cruel by the consciousness of the power they possess….

They invariably carry a large and ponderous stick, with which, without the smallest

provocation, they fell an unfortunate convict to the ground, and frequently repeat their blows long after the poor fellow is insensible.

The prisoners had to live on one deck in group cells that were barely high enough to let a man stand up. The officers lived in cabins in the stern. Disease such as dysentry and typhus were rife caused by the lack of fresh water, overcrowding and vermin. Many died. The men stole from each other, and their guards stole their issued clothing. Punishments were harsh, primarily the cat o' nine tails and solitary confinement.

It was also difficult for relatives to visit and bring them the necessities of life as they often did in the prisons on land.

And they still haven't started on their journey to Bontany Bay.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

The London of the Ton Part V

by Ann Lethbridge

While Michele is in transports over Australia (pun intended though not very good) I am still poking around Regency London.

You may have notice an addition to the side-bar. The link to the Thames River Police. While we are all aware of the existence of Bow Street Runners, established in 1749, an equally significant organized police force came into being in 1798.

The Thames River Police

In 1792 Parliament passed the Justice of the Peace, Metropolis Act (32 Geo.III, c.53), which established seven public offices in various parts of London, with three paid Justices attached to each.

Amongst them were offices at High Street, Shadwell, and Lambeth Street, Whitechapel, with jurisdiction over districts which are now part of the Thames Magistrate's Court area. They also had the jurisdiction over offenses on the River Thames or in connection with goods taken from vessels in the river. Not that they did a very good job on the latter. About £500,000 worth of imports were going missing every year. Never mind what disappeared from the exports.


Several people lobbied for the need for a police force to deal with theft on the River. The Chancellor of the Exchequer agreed to pay part of the expenses of a Marine Police Establishment, the West India merchants invited Magistrate Patrick Colquhoun (pictured here) to be superintend the creation of that establishment.

The Secretary of State arranged for a substitute to take Colquhoun's duties at Queen's Square so that he could devote his time to the new institution.

On June 15th 1798, the merchants' committee nominated John Harriott to the Secretary of State for appointment as resident magistrate.
The West India Docks in London.

More on this fascinating police force next time. Until then, Happy Rambles.

Transportation and Australia during the Regency

by Michele Ann Young
Having just returned from Australia, I thought I would share some of the research, and the pictures I took at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum and in the old part of Sydney. I suppose I need a bit of a disclaimer here. I researched information I thought might be useful for a small part of a book I have in mind.

I have not done and intensive study of Australia or the transportation of convicts. This is more like a thumbnail sketch to get me started. I though you might be interested.

Our first picture is of the Hyde Park Barracks a convict barracks, not military, located on what is now Maccqarie Street in Sydney. It is not far from the famed Sydney Bridge and the opera house. Built in 1817 to 1819, so right at the end of the Regency era. It is one of the few public buildings which survives from that time in New South Wales.

Prior to these barracks convicts were housed in private houses and hotels in areas like The Rocks, an old and less reputable part of town. Apparently, while the convicts were set to work all day, in the evening they had a jolly good old time and got a bit disorderly.

Public outcry led to the building of the barracks for 600 men who formed the labour force Governor Macquarie needed for his public works program.


Francis Greenway, (1777-1837), pictured here was the architect for the Barracks. Born at Mangotsfield, near Bristol, England he was in private practice as an architect when in March 1812 he was found guilty of forging a document. He was sentenced to death, but the penalty was later changed to transportation for fourteen years. He arrived in Sydney in February 1814 in the transport General Hewitt, and was followed in July by his wife Mary, whom he had married about 1804, and three children in the Broxbornebury.

Sentenced to death for forging a document. Good for Mary following him all the way to Australia.

Greenway was responsible for the design of many government buildings during this time, but apparently had few social skills and got on the wrong side of everyone of any importance. I do wonder what he would have thought of the Opera House.

The men who physically built the barracks were also convicts, laborers and tradesmen. The barracks then housed 600 convicts, both government-employed and those loaned out and those waiting assignment. It was not a prison, but it did serve to restrict their freedom and was intended to increase their productivity. While the inmates received basic accommodations and increased rations of food many worked for the government, and thus lost opportunity for private and more profitable and sometimes less onerous work.

So there were two kinds of convicts. Government men employed in docyards, stores, gardens, quarries, mines, waterworks, military barracks and in building, lad clering, street and road making or in sydney's brick field or lumber yard. The others were convict servants, or assigned servants, working for private individuals.

Inside the barracks there were plum jobs, constables, messengers, scourgers (floggers) and gatekeepers. those with good behavior were allowed to spend time out of the Barracks after work. Married men with families could live in privat lodgings and report to the Barracks each morning. Some were also permitted to undertake private jobs on Fridays and Saturdays.

After five or so years, a convict could be eligible for a "Ticket of Leave". It must have been a prized event for it allow them to leave the Barracks and find their own employment, provided they remained within a designated area.

Life for convicts in the Barracks and elsewhere was hard. After all, it was a punishment. We'll get to that next time.

Until then Happy Rambles in our modern world.

The London of the Ton - Part IV

by Ann Lethbridge

Two week until my book, The Rake's Inherited Courtesan is in stores. I must say I am getting quite excited. Expect to see me driving around my neighborhood looking to see if it is on the shelves.

In the meantime, what better way to spend a Spring day than to wander around Regency London.

More specifically St James' Street. We only have a general date - the commencement of the 19th century, but I was delighted to see both a hobby horse and a sedan chair in this picture. I also see a couple of dogs. Does anything in particular strike you about this scene?

There will be on copy of my book sent to whoever makes the most interesting observation(s).

Let us imagine we are members of the Regent's inner circle. This is something we would have seen if invited to Carlton House. It is a corner of the "Golden Drawing Room". It is an example of the Directoire Style which refers to the the post-Revolution French Directory (November 2, 1795 through November 10, 1799). The style is distinct for use of neoclassical architectural forms, minimal carving, planar expanses of highly grained veneers, and applied decorative painting.

This picture was painted in 1817 by C. Wild. I apologize for the tilted effect, but it's the best I could do.
Our last scene reminds us that not all was balls, long gowns and pretty scenes. Men were as much into their sports in those days as they are today. Lots to observe in this scene. It would certainly make an interesting scene in a novel. The Fives Court, pictured here, a centre for prize fighting and boxing in St Martins Street has certainly shown up in several I have read. Boxing gloves were fashionable by 1814, though in use before this time.

Pugilism was a favourite amusement among all classes and few if any magistrates were disposed to take much notice of them.

Other venues for practice were Daffy's Club, held at Tom Belcher's at the Castle Tavern, Holborn, a place recorded in "The London Spy"; and the Pugilistic Society, mentioned by Byron, which held its first meeting at the Thatched House Tavern on May 22nd, 1814, while exponents as Gregson and Gully, Broughton and Slack were wont to foregather at Limmer's Hotel and meet there patrons and pupils there. Gentleman Jackson gave lessons at his rooms at 13 Bond Street.

The fights themselves took place outside of cities and town, but never so far away that spectators could not drive out to them.

Well on that note, we will leave the gentlemen to their pursuits and go for tea. Until next time, happy rambles.

Flora and Fauna of Regency Britain ~ March

A regular feature for your delectation.

March is the time of mad hares and spring bulbs.

Hares are called mad in March because of their breeding behavior. Boxing is just one of their favorite pastimes.

These brown hares actually remind me a bit of the kangaroos we saw recently.


One of the loveliest of the wildflowers which blooms in March in England is the violet.

The Violet
Not from the verdant garden’s cultured bound,
That breathes of Paestum’s aromatic gale,
We sprung; but nurslings of the lonely vale,
‘Midst woods and glooms, whose tangled brakes around
Once Venus sorrowing traced, as all forlorn
She sought Adonis, when a lurking thorn
Deep on her foot impressed and impious wound.
Then prone to earth we bowed our pallid flowers,
And caught the drops divine; the purple dyes
Tinging the lustre of our native hue:
Nor summer gales, nor art-conducted showers,
Have nursed our slender forms, but lovers’ sighs
Have been our gales, and lovers’ tears our dew ~ Lorenzo di Medici

I always find it fascinating the way our Naturists breaks into poetry at the drop of a hat.

March is also a time of high winds, or as our diarist says It is also the time of equinoctial gales both at sea and land.

That's it for now. Until next time. Happy Rambles

Regency Fashion For March

First, many apologies for the typos in that last blog. Jet lag has strange effects. I have done some fixing. Hopefully today will be better as we move into our regular article. Though we put our clocks forward this morning, so yet another time warp.


This evening gown in from the Ackerman's Repository and is dated March 1819. I do not have a description from the time, but I thought it interesting because of the musical instrument and the rather nice view of the cushioned stool on which she is seated. Odd how some things catch one's eye.

We are well past the classical style with this gown. The high waist is there, but the fabric is not the flimsy drapery of earlier in the era, it is some sort of striped satin and the bell, or A line, of the skirt is very pronounced. The heavy trim (Rouleau) around the hem is typical of this period.

La Belle Assemblee, March 1807


Here you see for comparison the style from March 1807. The cloak is described as a Polish Robe, and indeed has a rather eastern European feel to the fur lined edging and of course the hat. The tassles on both the robe and the Evening gown are quite lovely. It also reminds us that Britain can be quite cool still in March, even if the trees are starting to get their leaves and the daffodils are budding.

The Evening Gown is quite lovely and of course shows the classical lines of the earlier period to perfection. I really like the way the dotted shawl crosses over at the front and then drapes off one shoulder.

There is also a row of buttons running down the skirt front, just off to one side which is quite unusual.

Well that's it for fashion for March. Until next time, Happy Rambles.

ARRC '09

Well, we went. And we had a wonderful time. The Australian Readers made us very welcome and on top of that we got to visit a very beautiful country. We also managed to do a little bit of research while were were there too.

But this blog is show and tell about the conference and our visit to Australia.



We arrived in Sydney first to discover that the 45 degree weather had been replaced by rain. And after the first shark attack in 80 years along with a cool rainy day, this was Bondi Beach. Two surfers and empty sand. My daughter couldn't quite believe it as the previous weekend some 40,000 people were cooling off on the beach. But we got to see itau naturelle.

This was our view from our hotel window. Circle Key and a wee bit of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, if we leaned far out and squinted. Actually not true. You can see the start of the bridge against the skyline. And from our hotel it was only a short walk to a wonderful view of the Sydney Opera House and the Bridge.

Needless to say we took that walk and we took a tour of the Opera House too. A wonderful building and surprising inside.

The conference itself was in Melbourne, and so it wasn't long before we wended our way to the Jasper Hotel right next to the Victoria Markets, which turned out to be one of the most amazing markets I have ever seen in my life. You name it, they had it. We bought a Crocodile Dundee hat and Ugg boots. Now we felt like real Australians. And everyone was so friendly. We were very lucky to meet Sue Webb and her husband Graham. Here we are at the market. Ugg boots in hand, Dundee hat on head!

But then it was down to business. The conference was well attended, the rooms well appointed and everyone was determined to have an excellent conference.







These are some of the booksellers attending the conference.






This was our gala dinner where I was lucky to sit with some wonderful readers and other great writers. We talked a blue streak all evening.







The stalwart ladies of the Registration desk. They couldn't do enough to help and were always smiling and helpful.


We visited lots of other places on our trip, and one of them will be an article for this blog, but the rest, well they are happy memories of Koalas, kangaroos and penguins, snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, and driving the Great Ocean Road, meeting old friends and making new ones.

On Monday we will look at fashion for March and next Thursday take a look at Australia in our era.

Until next time, Happy Rambles.

We Are Back

We had a great time in Australia. Lots to share. Posts will begin on a regular basis on Thursday.

Holiday Traditions

On Pancake Day,

Pancake day in England is Shrove Tuesday. Was it celebrated in the Regency? Well...

Pancake races have been held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom for centuries. In 1634 William Fennor wrote in his Palinodia:

"And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne."


But the tradition of pancake racing had started long before that. The most famous pancake race, at Olney in Buckinghamshire, has been held since 1445. The contestants, traditionally women, carry a frying pan and race to the finishing line tossing the pancakes as they go. As the pancakes are thin, skill is required to toss them successfully while running. The winner is the first to cross the line having tossed the pancake a certain number of times.

The recipe is very similar to that for a crepe. It must be tossed to brown the other side in the pan, not turned, my dear, resulting in many sticky messes on the floor and the ceiling. It is then tipped onto a place, fresh lemon juice squeezed over it and sprinkled with sugar. it is then rolled up. And as fast as you can cook them, they will eat them. Guaranteed. Believe me I speak from experience.

The tradition is said to have originated when a housewife from Olney was so busy making pancakes, that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake.

Many towns throughout England also held traditional Shrove Tuesday football ('Mob football') games dating as far back as the 12th century. The practice mostly died out with the passing of the Highway Act 1835, which banned the playing of football on public highways. A number of towns have managed to maintain the tradition to the present day including Alnwick in Northumberland, Ashbourne in Derbyshire (called the Royal Shrovetide Football Match), Atherstone (called the Ball Game) in Warwickshire, Sedgefield (called the Ball Game) in County Durham, and St Columb Major (called Hurling the Silver Ball) in Cornwall.

So dear friends, one can certainly assume that Pancake Day was celebrated in the Regency.

Until next time Happy Rambles

The London of the Ton - Part III

By Ann Lethbridge

A House in Town.

Townhouse were the elegant residences of Regency London and I think you will agree that this one, in Tavistock Square from 1809 pictured here epitomizes it all.

While the columns and other design features, give us a sense of a large home, if you look at the front doors and the areas (those little courtyards with windows below pavement level leading to the kitchens and servants quarters, you can see that each of the town houses in this row are two windows wide.

As always for house of this era, the ground, and the first floor were the public room, and hence the large windows, while the second floor and above would have been private chambers.

Don't forget, ground floor is always counted as floor one.

Above those, in the roof, behind the decorative railing it is likely there were attic rooms for servants.



This is a plan of the inside of a town house, ground and first floors only. This one was on Charles Street in 1820 and has a carriage house attached.


For comparison, here is an image of Buckingham House in the same year, 1809, before it became Buckingham Palace.

By now we will have arrived in Sydney. I wonder what it will be like?

Until next time, Happy Rambles

Folklore - Valentines' Day

By Michele Ann Young

Despite our association with this as a Victorian Celebration the day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished (and possibly before that).

Despite the holiday's mysterious and puzzling roots, it is obvious that people have observed St. Valentine’s Day for centuries. The famed London diarist Samuel Pepys mentioned observances of the day in the mid-1600s, complete with elaborate gift giving among the wealthier members of society.

It seems that the writing of special notes and letters for Valentine’s Day gained widespread popularity in the 1700s. At that time the romantic missives would have been handwritten, on ordinary writing paper.

Papers made especially for Valentine greetings did not appear until the 1820s.