Word Wenches

What We're Looking At In July

Nicola here! It's time for our monthly What We're Reading column, but this month the Wenches have been out and about, travelling, attending conferences, moving house or in some cases disappearing under a huge mound of work and/or laundry! So instead of our monthly round up of books, we thought we would share What We Are Looking At instead. What better way to start than with Sparky, the Wench Godkitten, who provides us with the perfect image for this post.

On the subject of Sparky, Sherrie writes:

As far as “what I’m looking at,” it’s hard to see anything but the kitten. Until today, his crate rested on my desk. He’s moved to the next size crate—large dog size—and I’ve set it up beside my desk, so he’s still in my sightline where he keeps me entertained with his antics. Several times a day he’s let out of the crate and has free run of my desk and kitchen.

Mary Jo is also looking at her gorgeous animal companions:

I'm looking at CATS!  Go away for almost a week, and when you return, they're everywhere.  I have four cats, all adoptees, and I'll wake up in the morning with all three of the toms on the bed, assuring I don't slip away without feeding them breakfast.  (The tabby girl will be in the powder room, yowling to be fed first, away from all those big bossy toms.)  Here's the senior tom, Grady, looking like a space alien on top of a bookcase in my office.

From fur to feathers! Joanna writes:

When Nicola suggested we give everybody a glimpse of what we're doing ... of what we're looking at ... I said to myself something like --

  'What I'm doing is staring out the window and not writing and sorta, y'know, panicking because of the aforementioned.  Oh.  And watching hummingbirds.'

So Andrea said -- 'That's your message right there, Joanna. Just snap a pic and you're done!''

Have you ever tried to photograph hummingbirds?  It makes capturing that word that's just on the tip of your tongue, (and it sounds like serendipity but it's not,) seem easy.

Here are my poor attempts.  Did you know that hummingbirds fight?  They're fierce.  They dive bomb each other and chase each other away from the feeder.  Like jewels quarrelling.  Beautiful.

Joanna, we’re glad you were able to capture such beautiful pictures!

Susan is doing that thing I love - poring over family photos. It always brings with it some lovely feelings of nostalgia:

Today I'm looking at some family photos and rearranging some of them in a new location. It's back to work tomorrow! Here are my three guys when they were young -- and a photo of the middle brother meeting the youngest for the first time. 

Cara/Andrea is looking at the great outdoors:

I’m looking at the wild raspberries in my backyard and smiling. It’s been a tough summer for them. They usually ripen around Fourth of July, but heavy rains, then searing heat delayed the process until this week. For a number of years, I’ve had an annual ritual of picking them at the height of flavor and making a homemade “Framboise” with sugar and vodka to serve throughout the winter as an after dinner cordial at parties—it’s always a huge hit with friends. (Trust me, it’s delicious, and the rich color looks very festive in tiny crystal glasses!) I admit that I also eat handfuls right off the prickly vines, their sun-warmed sweetness the very epitome of summer for me.

This year, the sight is more special than usual because Hurricane Sandy really hammered my property last November. I lost lots of towering 100 ft. pines, which crushed much of the smaller plantings when they came crashing down. Cleaning up the debris—lumberjacks with chainsaws and tractors dragging logs and branches out to be carted away—pretty much destroyed the rest. I had a huge thicket of wild blackberry bushes that right now is a patch of bare dirt since the stump grinder and excavator finished their work earlier this summer. It makes me a little sad to look at it  . . . but raspberry canes grow quickly, and it did my heart good to see them suddenly sprout up this spring in their old location. Rebirth, regeneration—the handful of berries I had this morning tasted extra sweet. 

Jo is also looking at the view outside and in particular the results of her hard work in the garden:

I'm looking with satisfaction at our runner beans. They're already producing delicious beans and I'll be stocking my freezer for the winter!

A crop of the runner beans. No, they didn't fight back and leave me bloody. The red is from picking raspberries!

Nicola here, and I have been out and about too. July has been unusually warm and sunny in the UK, which has made it perfect for butterflies. I’ve been looking out for them on my walks with the dog. Last weekend we visited the ancient hunting ground of Savernake Forest. I love walking in Savernake. It has such an air of timeless history about it. I stand in awe, looking at oak trees that were saplings when King Henry VIII came hunting here.

At Savernake we were looking for the Purple Emperor butterfly. One thing I love about butterflies apart from their delicacy and jewel bright colours is that so many of them have unusual names and a rich and fascinating history. James Petiver named the Purple Emperor "Mr Dale's Purple Eye" in 1704 in honour of a fellow collector. By the middle of the 18th century it was known as the purple high flyer because of its penchant for living in treetops. It became the Purple Emperor in 1766, but in Germany it is" the large shimmer butterfly" and to the French "the greater flashing Mars" after the Roman God of War. Such impressive names for such a fragile creature! We found this one feeding on the ground.

Pat has been moving in and getting sorted out in her new home.  This is what she is up against:

What I'm looking at--unpacked boxes and an empty living room! Can't decide what will fit into my cottage living area or where to hang all those photos!

 Finally Anne has been beachcombing and finding the most delicious things:

I went down to the beach the other day. I was having lunch with two other historical romance authors in Brighton — the Melbourne version, not any of the many other namesakes of the original Brighton Beach. I took my camera, thinking that I'd pop down to the beach afterward and take a photo of the Victorian-era beach huts there. http://bit.ly/13NuYOd They're historically protected, though their exterior colors aren't  exactly historic, and these days they're highly desirable properties.  Recently one sold for half a million dollars.

However, it was easing into peak hour by the time I got there, and I overshot the car park turn off and ended up much further along from the beach huts. Thinking I'd walk off some of my very nice lunch, I took my camera and hit the beach to walk back. I walked on the sand, along the tide mark. Mistake. I'm a beachcomber to the core -- I don't think I've ever come away from the beach without having picked something up. The moment I spotted the first little piece of sea-glass, my pace slowed to a crawl. I love sea-glass, and I use it to make jewellery. I didn't end up making it to the beach huts -- I had to get to the city for a book launch -- but I did end up with a lovely  collection of sea-glass.

We hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into what the Wenches have been looking at this month. Now it’s over to you – what have you been looking at during July? Whether you have been travelling, visiting places, reading or just looking at the view from your window, we’d love to hear about it!

 

What Makes a Hero

Cara/Andrea here,
All of us here at the Wenches are avid readers year round, but summer, with its long days and laid-back pace, always seems a good time to make inroads on the TBR pile. So I’ve been sneaking in a little extra reading time. And though we do a regular “What Are We Reading” feature here, I thought I’d share a particularly wonderful book I just finished.

Every so often, I get together with two college pals for lunch, and as one of them is head of non-fiction at Viking and the other a long-time editor at the New York Times, you can imagine that—surprise, surprise!—we talk a lot about books. Now, I always ask my friend at Viking what the most exciting manuscript is on her desk. (it’s fun to get a heads-up on an upcoming release.) Well, this past winter, her eyes lit up and she said that she had something really special coming out in summer.

So, when The Boys In The Boat hit the shelves in June, I immediately snatched up a copy. As the Wench “jock” I had a natural affinity for the subject matter—it’s the story of the U.S. 8-oar crew team that won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. But wait! Those of you who aren’t particularly interested in sports shouldn’t drift away here. It’s not really about athletes and athletics. It’s about heroes and all the things that really matter in life.

Now, when we Regency authors write heroes, we dress them in elegant breeches and boots, we give them fancy titles and set them in the glittering mansions of Mayfair. But strip away the trappings and what we really do is create men of honor and integrity, men who are steadfast and loyal, who see the bonds of friendship as more important than their own personal desires. In a word, they have heart, and their own inner strength, even in the face of daunting adversity, gives them the courage to believe in themselves. And of course, love is an integral part of the story.

The “boys in the boat” weren’t aristocrats. They were hardscrabble, hardworking, mostly dirt-poor kids from the Pacific Northwest who wanted to better themselves by going to college. Somehow they cobbled together enough money to do so—some of the stories of their childhood will bring tears to your eyes—and in one of those wonderful confluences of fate that usually happens only in fiction, they came together with the legendary rowing coach of the University of Washington and a philosopher/boatbuilder who never finished grade school but could quote Shakespeare and Milton as he build exquisitely beautiful racing shells in the drafty old former WWI airplane hanger that served as the university’s boathouse.

The story that followed is a romance if ever there was one, an epic quest that like all romances has a happily-ever-after. The boys endured brutal workouts, physical pain, and sneering prejudice from the elite eastern universities who thought the yokels from the primitive west couldn’t possibly compete at a gentlemen’s sport. (College crew was far bigger than college football in those days—the big regattas drew huge crowds of spectators, were front page news on all the major newspapers, and the individual races were broadcast nationwide over the radio.)
 
But compete they did. And proved their mettle by winning the national championship and the Olympic trials, which earned them the right to represent the U.S. at the 1936 Games. You learn in the book that rowing is all about teamwork. Every minute motion must be in synch, and no one individual can carry the boat. Rhythm, sweat, willpower, trust in each other—it all must flow perfectly for the boat to fly over the water. And when it does, it’s poetry in motion.

I won’t recount the plot, but it’s a really wonderful read, especially as it interweaves fascinating portraits of America during the Depression and the rise of the Nazis in Germany into the story of the boys becoming a world-class crew team.  The culmination, of course, is the race in Berlin (you can see a vintage film clip of the actual race here) which transcended sport in its subtext. Hitler and his minions were hoping to send a message to the world about Aryan invincibility by winning as many events as possible. The U. S. team, highlighted by the brilliant performances of track star Jesse Owens and the boys from Washington, stood out as a beacon of light for the rest of the world.

So what about you? What qualities are most important for you in a hero? And do you have a personal unsung hero?

Godkitten Report #2

Sherrie, here. Our little orphan continues to grow. He's now 7 1/2 weeks old and weighs 1.2 pounds, up from the 9 ounces he weighed when I first found him as a 3-week-old orphan on the 4th of July. He's weaned off the bottle now, and is eating kitty kibble and canned food with relish.

The most noteworthy thing in his life so far is that my 13-year-old cat, Christopher the Assassin, has become the kitten's surrogate mother. Christopher took to the kitten from the start, and he's schooling him in how to be a proper cat, plus doling out corrections when the little monster gets cheeky. Most of the time, though, they hang out together, play together, and take naps together.

When not napping, our intrepid orphan is getting into trouble. His most recent antic (one that caused much hilarity among the Wenches) was to fall asleep on my lunch--a hamburger patty, to be precise. I'd left to get something from the kitchen, and when I returned I found him curled up on the patty, fast asleep! Alas, my laughter awoke him before I could get a picture. But I have plenty of others, and here are some of them (below). The first 4 pictures show the two buddies sleeping together on the corner of my desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing peek-a-boo is a favorite game for babies, and that includes baby kitties:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We leave you with this final picture of two buddies relaxing together, and a promise to continue posting Sunday updates on the godkitty from time to time.

Of Kilts & Scots & Regencies

Susan here, and Nicola too --

Time zones make a phone call between Maryland and Oxfordshire a bit tricky to manage -- but sometimes Wenches just want to talk to each other! Recently Nicola and I chatted about our shared love of Scotland and Scottish-set fiction -- and about Nicola's new release, The Lady and the Laird, available on July 30.

We compared weather notes (hot and humid here, surprisingly hot and humid over there) -- and we had a fun discussion about researching, writing and visiting Scotland. Nicola is warm and charming, with a classic British accent that I could listen to for hours! Part of our conversation is transcripted below.  

First, about her wonderful new book: 

The Lady and the Laird, Nicola Cornick's first Scottish-set Regency, is every bit as warm, witty, evocative and charming as Nicola's other novels, with the added romance of Scotland. And Nicola knows her Scotland -- she has family ties and visits there often, and her love of Scotland shines in her work.

Yorkshire-born Nicola Cornick studied history at London University and Ruskin College, Oxford. In addition to writing, she is a historian for the National Trust at 17th century Ashdown House. A triple nominee for the RITA Award, Nicola is "a rising star of the Regency genre," declares Publishers Weekly.  

The Lady and the Laird: A bluestocking renowned for her wit and beauty secretly writes love letters for others, letters that become more racy -- until Lucy MacMorland's meddling brings her into conflict with Robert, Marquis of Methven, who has no time to woo another bride--but since Lucy lost him a wife, it seems only right that she should marry him instead, help save his estates and his people from disaster . . .  

"Lively dialogue and sexy cat and mouse games combine with poignancy and tenderness,” says Romantic Times Book Club, and Publishers Weekly calls it "an entertaining Regency-era spin on Cyrano de Bergerac." 

Susan:  Nicola, I so loved this book! Thank you for sending a copy. Have you finished writing the other two books in this new trilogy? 

Nicola:  The first book in the Scottish Brides series, The Lady and the Laird, is just out in July. The second book, One Night with a Laird, is finished and in production to be released in Nov 2013, and Claimed by The Laird, the third in the trilogy, I’m writing now and that will be out in Aug 2014. 

Susan: I love the titles. Why did you decide to set some of your Regency stories in Scotland, after writing Regency England so far?

Nicola on Fair Isle, Scotland

Nicola: For every book I write, I love the history and I think it’s important. I want to create a really vivid structure and background for the romance. And It was very interesting to set a Regency in Scotland. I think in part the stories are a reflection of the Scotland that people want to see and love best. It may sound odd, but Brigadoon was an inspiration in a way, as I always think of that film as magical and it brings out the bits of Scotland that people love. 

Susan:  And yet The Lady and the Laird isn’t really Brigadoony, is it. Not in the sense of being an invented Scottish stereotype. It’s such a romantic story, and I thought what you wrote was very sincerely done, very true to the era –- early 19th century Scotland. 

I’ve written several novels set in 19th century Scotland, as Susan King and as Sarah Gabriel, so I know the challenges you’re up against -- Regency Scotland is a very romantic time in many ways, and yet there are the Clearances and so forth going on at the same time and you want to be true to the history, you don’t want to ignore what’s happening in Scotland then, but you don't want to focus on it either. It doesn’t fit a historical romance, does it.

Nicola:  Thank you, I’m so glad you think The Lady and the Laird is true to the era. I’ve enjoyed your Regency Scottish novels immensely and I think you are exactly right that there are more difficult elements in Scottish history that can’t be ignored. That’s one of the reasons I find the era so fascinating. There is such a mixture of the romantic and the harsh.

Susan:  Oh, well said! But Regency aside, what is it about Scotland for you in particular?

Gorgeous! Fair Isle, Scotland

Nicola:  I like to think I’m a straight-down-the-line historian, but at the same time I’m also such a romantic so there is a real dichotomy there. The picturesque romance of Scotland really draws me. There is that kind of romantic inspiration – and there’s being part of a kinship group that adds to that romantic flavor. Maybe that romantic Scotland is in part a construct, but the idea of the homecoming is strong there, and has a strong pull for others. And it does for me. I’m English, but I have personal ties to Scotland -- MacIntosh relatives on my side, and also my husband’s family is Scottish. So I have lots of connections to the place as well as a feeling of romantic attachment.

Susan:  I know what you mean. My grandmother was born in Scotland and came here with her family when she was young. They were Frasers and Catholic, not uncommon even then for Highland families. She had certain ways, like cooking up a big kettle of porridge every morning before dawn and keeping that on the stove, and other little things she would do and say (and the Fraser dimples and red hair!) that came from her roots. It was nice to see her connection, and I feel that connection, too, partly because of her.

Nicola:  I think these connections are very powerful for people. My mother-in-law still sounds Scottish, still keeps the traditions too, like the cooking and in forms of speech. My husband uses those Scottish words, too, but in a very classic British accent, which at first sounded strange to me! I think heritage helps so much to make you the person you are – and the strong appeal of the Scots being your people in a sense, it’s so important to belong somewhere, to feel that you’re part of something. I’m very interested in this idea of people belonging to something, and belonging somewhere. Like getting DNA samples done – I don’t know about the States, but over here, it’s very big at the moment to find out if you really do have Viking genes in your DNA, that sort of thing. 

Susan:  I’m so interested in that as well, I’d love to get that done! In Scotland, with clan structure developing early on in their history, kinship was such a strong factor that it contributes a great deal to that sense of homecoming, that sense of belonging in Scotland. It was a hugely important aspect for the clans and it meant their ability to survive, in those early centuries. Yet it is so inherent to the Scots that we can still feel that identity today regardless of where we live. I love feeling that i'm welcome somewhere in Scotland just by virtue of being part Fraser.

Nicola:  It’s all part of the bigger picture, isn’t it, you often feel so attracted to where your family comes from. It’s like in the Gaelic, people don’t ask “Where are you from?” but rather “Who are your people?”  I think we feel that in the Scottish romances – if you’re drawn to Scotland and stories set there, it’s a very warm sort of feeling that you have a place in the world, and it’s there.

Susan: Yes, the Gaelic - what a great point! With Lucy and Robert in The Lady and the Laird, this really informed Robert’s character, didn’t it, this sense of belonging. It was so important to him, to his sense of himself, and helped him understand what he wanted and who he was.

Nicola:  Oh very much. Robert had gone abroad and had come home again, and there’s a strong pull that he felt about bringing the people back and preserving their livelihood and their heritage. He has turned his back on that in the past but now he now he feels he owes it to his people to give them his protection. I set this part of the story on Golden Isle in the book, which I very much modeled on Fair Isle in the northeast of Scotland. Robert is trying to reverse the damage done by his grandfather to the clan lands during the Clearances.

Glencoe (Susan's photo)

I had studied the history of the Clearances for my Master’s, and it felt to me when I was reading the history, that so many were milking the land, with the landowners in the south rather than up in the north on the land itself, just milking the land in Scotland for profit. And that doesn’t fit the romantic picture of Scotland. I wanted to reverse that through Robert’s character.

 

Susan:  It’s true, and this touches on what I love most about the Scots and about writing Scottish-set stories – there’s such a sense of honor inherent in the Scots, even when things are not going so well. It's inherent to them.

Nicola:  Absolutely! Scots did live so much on ideals – and it’s not just the ideal and the “creation” of Scotland, it really did exist, you see it all through their history.

Susan:  So true! You see it in the Clearances, the touches of heroism despite tragedy and adversity—like the MacDonald chief who put everything he had, lost his fortune, in a heroic effort to keep his people in that part of the Hebrides rather than send them packing, as happened too often in Scotland during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I based a book on that, one of my Sarah Gabriel stories—that heroism, that nobility is all through Scottish history, and I find it so attractive in heroes, and in the stories themselves. I try to bring that sense of integrity into all my Scottish stories and heroes.

Nicola: Oh I know exactly what you mean. That loyalty and nobility is a hugely attractive characteristic in heroes of Scottish set romance. I was just reading about that recently—MacDonald of Clan Ranald going bankrupt for his people, yes. And though the structure around them might change, the social structures, the strong principle remains. It goes back to the clans. And it’s of course not exclusive to the Scots, but it’s a very powerful force and characteristic in them.

Susan:  It exists very much in the Bruce and Wallace era, too. I’ve written about that in several books -- loving that Scottish ability to thumb their noses at authority, to maintain their sense of humor and their nobility despite awful circumstances. You see it in the whisky smugglers too, and I've written more than one whisky smuggler hero for that reason—I love the creative way they had of expressing their freedom no matter what the circumstances. Many Scottish smugglers were pretty dreadful, let's be real -- but some had a great mischief in the way they went about producing their whisky no matter what English law dictated.

Nicola: Right, my third book in the series (Claimed By the Laird, 2014) has to do with whisky smugglers, and it’s such fun to write. It was a good use of their brains, too, the smuggling, when there were so many left with little to do, and so many regulations to follow. I love that refusal to just lie down and accept authority. It’s so interesting to write these things.

Susan's try at a postcard view of Castle Urquhart

Susan: When Prof. Euan Hague visited the blog to talk about his research into the appeal of Scottish romance, we talked about how Sir Walter Scott had something to do with creating that sort of “conceit” of Romantic Scotland, the picturesque romance of the vast, rugged beauty of the landscape, the noble tartan-clad Highland savage, all that, and it ties in with King George’s visit to Edinburgh, doing it up right for the king.

 

Nicola: Euan Hague’s interview was fascinating! The whole thing about the clan tartans interests me —many people don’t even realize that it was all pretty much invented in about 1815, that if your clan has a specific tartan, it may have come about then and not earlier.

Susan: Right, early on a tartan design and its colors had more to do with the dyes available from the local plants in that area, and less to do with a specific color or pattern identifying a clan group. The local colors were more likely to identify you, and a weaver’s style, and that led eventually to clan tartan identification.  

A bit windy on Fair Isle!

Nicola: That’s fascinating. I’m very conscious when I’m writing Scottish Regency romance that in some sense I’m writing within the illusion, carrying on that construct that was created about Scotland. And yet, so much of it has roots in the Scottish culture, and so much of it evokes the real Scotland. There really is a picturesque romance in the vast rugged beauty of the Scottish landscape, isn’t there! I don’t want it to seem like a construct.

 

Susan: Oh it doesn’t at all! I think what you’re writing is very sincere, very well done. I love what you’re doing with your new Regency Scotland series!

Nicola:  Thank you so much, Susan. And it’s been wonderful to talk about Scotland and the Scottish Brides series with you!

Susan: Thanks, Nicola, great talking with you -- best of luck with the book and the trilogy!

The Lady and the Laird has a UK version too, which will be released in September - click here for Amazon UK!

What attracts YOU to Scottish Regency stories? Is it the Scottish setting, the Scottish heroes -- or is it Regency first and foremost for you, and any old setting will do? Commenters on this blog will be entered for a chance to win a copy of Nicola's The Lady and the Laird!  

Susan 

 

  

 

A Regency Slang Quiz

Anne here, with a fun little quiz for a change of pace.

How good is your knowledge of Regency slang? 
Do this quiz —you'll need a pen and paper — then check your answers and come back and tell us how you went.

1) An ape leader is:
	a) Someone recently returned from Africa
	b) A champion boxer
	c) The leader of a pack of dowagers 
	d) An ageing spinster
	
2) "Doing it much too brown" means:
	a) Overcooking the dinner
	b) Trying too hard to make a false story convincing
	c) Having too much to do with the stables
	d) Failing to balance the colors you're wearing.

3)  Blue Ruin is:	
        a) An alcoholic drink ie. gin
	b) A tragic story
	c) A house that's listed for demolition
	d) A man too far gone and collapsed in drink
	
4)  A rum cull is:
	a) A suspicious man
	b) An alcoholic drink
	c) A drunken rower
	d) A selection process whereby two out of every five are removed.

5) A hum is:
	a) A sound made by bears
	b) A false rumor
	c) A dance step
	d) A fastening for a corset

6) A barque of frailty is:
	a) A bamboo-hulled pleasure boat
	b) A simple-minded person
	c) A ship in a bottle
	d) A woman of easy virtue

7) A nonpareil is:
	a) A leader of fashion (male)
	b) Someone shunned by society
	c) A ban, something forbidden
	d) A fool

8) To be castaway means:
	a) To have eaten too much cheese	
	b) To be lost in the worst part of a city
	c) To hang out frequently at the docks
	d) To be drunk

9) Which one of these is NOT a term for being drunk:
	a) to be shot in the neck
	b) to have eaten Hull cheese
	c) to be jug-bitten
	d) to give a tinker's damn

10) To be in dun territory means:
	a) To be on your enemy's land	
	b) To be lost in the worst part of a city
	c) To be in debt
	d) To be in friendly territory

I hope you had as much fun doing this as I did making it up.

To get the answers and check your score, click here. Don't forget to come back and tell us how you went.

The Well-dressed Maid.

Joanna here:  Most of us have a picture of what a historical housemaid should look like.    

She'll wear black with a crisp white apron pinned to her bodice and a little cap on her head.  A Downton Abbey maid; an Upstairs Downstairs maid; a Victorian or Edwardian maid.  And for Victorian era maids, this is an accurate picture.
The maid would buy her own clothing, with the type and style stipulated by the mistress. 

A housemaid's dress is of some importance. When engaged in her morning work, washable materials are the best; a wide holland apron should always be worn over [an apron] of white material whenever house-cleaning is going on. If the servant be required to appear at the front door, or wait upon the family whilst at dirty work, by casting aside the outer apron she is able to appear at a moment's notice in a presentable manner. For afternoon wear in the winter, very dark or black French twill dresses are suitable, inexpensive, and easily washed. In the summer light cotton materials look best. At all seasons a neat white crochet cap is the best head-gear.
      Cassells Household Guide, c.1880s

Where heavy work was required, the maid would try to get that done in the morning and change to better and cleaner clothing after the worst of it.  This is not just for neatness sake.  The maid is representing the household.

If the parlour-maid answers the door, she should be neatly attired, and ready at a moment's notice to present herself creditably before strangers. A servant of good address at a professional man's door, is as much a matter of personal recommendation of the employer as the situation of his residence. Some amount of forethought on the part of the mistress is necessary to ensure cleanly appearance in a door-servant; but the attempt is worth making, if only for the sake of favourable first impressions on the part of strangers.
      Cassells Household Guide

One purpose of the Victorian maid's clothing is to establish her position in the social hierarchy.  The servant's clothing is this era is a sort of uniform that show she is a servant.   How embarrassing for all concerned if she were unmistaken for a lady of the house or a guest.

Thus the lady's maid, even when she has the perquisite of cast-off dresses, would not wear them going about her duties.  If she wears them on her day off, she'd best nip out of the house smart and not be seen.  "As a general rule, ladies do not like to see their maids dressed in the clothes they themselves have worn - except in wearing a black or a dark-coloured silk - the difference in the social scale of mistress and maid renders this unpleasing." Cassells Household Guide

Taking just a moment to talk about the nanny's clothing.  This is more likely to be light colored and easily washable, with black saved for 'best' when she brought the children out to meet guests and the family after dinner.

The dress of a nurse needs some words of comment. Long skirts should not be worn, tripping little children up, as they are liable to do. Gowns made of washable materials are most suitable. These are easily cleansed if soiled by nursery duties, and cost but little to renew. A waterproof apron worn under the ordinary white apron will be found a great comfort to a nurse, and might be supplied with advantage at the cost of the employer. Every nurse should also be furnished with a long, loose, warm wrapper, made like a dressing-gown, for night wear, when her duties require her to rise from her bed to take a baby to and from the mother's room. This garment should be purchased by the mistress, and kept for the use of any nurse who may succeed to the situation.
     Cassells Household Guide


But what about the Regency?
Moving a couple generations back in time and looking at the clothing of a Georgian or Regency maidservant, we discover an entirely different situation.  In 1760 or 1800, a maidservant wore essentially the same clothing as others of her class.  She wasn't required to buy special clothing to suit her job. 

Perhaps the maid dressed better than her cousins back home because she might have access to her mistress' castoffs.  Contemporary journals and letters complain of maids wearing clothing unsuitable to their station and their work.  But whether the maid wore her lady's silks to sashay about the parlor, dusting, or saved it for her day off, or thriftily sold it to the used clothing dealer, it must have presented a continual temptation to finery. 

There was no distinctive 'uniform' required for the Regency maid.  No necessity for drab and black.  No regimentation.  When the maidservant opened the door to the Regency hero she was as likely to be wearing flowered muslin as black serge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about you?  Have you ever had to wear a uniform?  Was it good, reasonable, proper to wear one ... or just a pain in the neck?

Did it make you feel differently?
Do you treat people differently because they're wearing a uniform?

One lucky commenter wins a copy of one of my books, your choice.

Mary Jo Putney - Nora Roberts Llfetime Achievement Award

The Romance Writers of America's annual conference is now over, and Mary Jo Putney will soon be winging her way home. In her luggage she carries a very special award: the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award.

According to the RWA Web site, "One of the highest honors RWA bestows is the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to a living author in recognition of significant contributions to the romance genre. To qualify for the award, the recipient's career in romantic fiction must span a minimum of 15 years. Recipients must in some way continue to promote the romance genre, teach romance in fiction, or publish romantic fiction."

Mary Jo more than qualifies! She is a best-selling author of more than 29 books published since 1987. Her stories are noted for their psychological depth and unusual subject matter, and Putney is a nine-time finalist for the RITA Award, has won two RITAs, and is on the RWA Honor Roll for best-selling authors. RWA presented Mary Jo with the Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday, July 20, at the Awards Ceremony during the 2013 RWA Conference in Atlanta.

The Wenches are so proud of you, Mary Jo! Congratulations on such a well-deserved recognition.

Cara/Andrea (middle) and Jo (right) help Mary Jo celebrate her Lifetime Achievement Award (Photo courtesy Cara/Andrea)

Mary Jo and husband John. (Photo courtesy Cara/Andrea)

Memorials

Jo here, talking about marble memorials. I've always been interested in gravestones and the memorial plaques found in churches, not because I'm morbid, but because they often, especially the ones in churches, tell a story about the deceased. A beloved daughter who died young after a lingering illness. I wonder which illness and think that possibly today she would have lived. A son who died in battle far too young -- but that's a sadness still with us today.

Memorials play a part in my August book, Seduction in Silk. When my heroine Claris arrives at Perriam Manor she find evidence of the Perriam curse in some poignant memorials.

"A graveled path led along the side of the house, and ahead stood a dense green hedge.

“Yew?” she guessed, but was puzzled. It was six feet high, but not very long. “A maze?”

“I wish it were.”

When they passed the hedge, she found it was one of three walls around a grassed area containing five stone plinths. On each plinth lay a white marble shape—the shape of a small, sleeping child entirely covered by a sheet.

No, not sleeping.

“Five?” she said, but then wondered why she’d asked that particular question.

“There was a daughter, never mentioned.”

She went toward the nearest one and saw the name engraved on the stone. “Giles Perriam,” with dates. He’d been two months old. On the next, “Giles Perriam.” And on the next. “Was he mad?”

“This isn’t his work, though the naming probably was. The last boy is Charles because when he was born his older brother still lived, though not for long. The girl was Beatrice. They are all the children of Giles’s first wife, Louisa Forbes, and this is her work.”

“Poor, poor lady. Are they actually buried here?”

“No, they lie in the churchyard. I’m told Louisa created this after the last child died, Giles number three. She followed him the next year.”

“Heartbroken. But I thought there were two more wives.”

“As soon as it was decent Giles married again. That wife, Amelia Shaw-Cobham, had the good fortune to be barren but the bad fortune to succumb to the smallpox. His third wife conceived but never brought a babe to life. After a series of miscarriages and two stillbirths, she went mad. She took her own life, here among these memorials, just over a year ago.”

“More things you didn’t tell me.”

He spread his hands. “I had my own necessities, and none of this affects you.”

“No? Isn’t the curse supposed to be passed on with the manor?”

“If you believe in the curse, then believe that our marriage has appeased your aunt. That’s what your mother promised.”

 Claris opened her mouth but closed it, unable to think what to say. Her mother had been obsessed. She’d have said anything."

Claris has to deal with many things, including the tragic memorials, and her quest took me to more

about marble memorials at this time. A visit to Westminster Abbey shows her the impressive work of a man called Henry Cheere. One of his most famous is the monument to Captain James Cornewall, richly decorated to reflect his naval career. It impresses her young twin brothers.

The one that impresses her is the memorial to Lady Elizabeth Nightingale, who apparently died of a miscarriage brought on by a lightning bolt. It shows her husband, Sir Joseph, trying to fend off both lightning and fate. It is by Louis-François Roubiliac, a protogee of Cheere's.

 

The subject affects both Claris and Perry because of the tragedies haunting the manor, but the quality of the work gives Claris an idea. She seeks Sir Henry Cheere's workshop, which is close to the Abbey.

Sir Henry Cheere was a real person (1703–January15, 1781). He was a poor boy made good, rising from an apprentice to become knighted in 1760. You can read more about him here. In the 18th century, there were many examples of people from very ordinary backgrounds rising high with talent, a little help, and hard work.

Seduction in Silk won't be out for a few weeks, but I've just e-published a novella in which Perry plays a small but crucial part. A mother fleeing scandal with her children finds herself homeless on a cold November day. A passing gentleman offers her refuge which she can't refuse, but why is he so secretive, and why does he live in seclusion in a neglected house? When Lily discovers the answers she sees hope for herself and her children, if only she dare fight for it.

You can find out more about Dare to Kiss here.

 I'm at the RWA conference in Atlanta, so I may not be able to get online to join in the comments, but I look forward to hearing whether you are fascinated by gravestones and memorials.

Have you seen any particularly interesting ones?

I'm not sure whether churches in "new world" countries go in for memorials on the walls as much as the older churches over here. Do they?

How would you like to be remembered. I have to say I rather like the benches at scenic viewpoints donated in memory of people.

Jo

Of Weddings and Arrows

Susan here, with a two-fer: two backlist ebook releases, and two behind-the-scenes stories about them.

At last, THE STONE MAIDEN and THE SWAN MAIDEN, two of my classic Scottish medieval romances, are now available in ebook! They're freshly edited and redesigned with gorgeous covers by Kim Killion (scroll down to see how pretty!). The “Maiden” series has an official series title -- “Celtic Nights: Lady of Legend I, II and III.” The third book – THE SWORD MAIDEN – will be available soon as well. Each novel in the trilogy was inspired by Celtic legends. 

THE STONE MAIDEN is one of those personally meaningful books -– I wrote it through the ordeal of an sudden family tragedy, and the writing became one of those rare instances in an author’s life where the creative experience is transcendant and healing. A tidbit of historical fact inspired the story, set in 12th century Scotland—a Highland girl must wed a Norman knight by order of the king--yet these two willful characters refuse to give in. Long ago, land was offered to Norman knights to attract their military strength, and foreign knights came up for land and Scottish brides, founding new clans with French roots, such as Fraser (my own heritage). A few foreign knights adopted the names of their Scottish brides.

What would happen, I wondered, if Norman honor met Highland stubbornness? That’s the premise of THE STONE MAIDEN. Alainna MacLaren, a stonecarver, is the last hope of her diminished Highland clan—and the man she marries must take the clan's name before it vanishes. But the king orders Sebastien le Bret, a hardened Norman knight, to marry the lady--and there is no way he will ever give up his name for hers. Both are fiercely proud and passionate, and both must discover that love is its own legacy. I particularly love this story for lots of reasons.

Last year, something truly wonderful happened: two dear friends of my son were planning their wedding—and asked if they could borrow the wedding scene in THE STONE MAIDEN for their own Celtic-style ceremony. They incorporated the wedding verses in the book (based on ancient Celtic poetry) –- and they also did a handfasting with a rope braided in the harvest colors of their wedding theme. I was so happy to witness these two special ones getting married, and thrilled to see my wedding scene come to life. Here are the verses from The Stone Maiden, and a couple of photos from Kate and Drew’s beautiful wedding:

  Alainna came toward Sebastien, then stepped to her left and walked around him in a circle, brushing behind him, circling in front, and again, twice more, until she stood before him. He held out his hands and she offered hers, joining left to left, right to right, so their arms made a crossed loop like an interlaced design. They stood, gazes steady upon one another. . . She clung to his hands, drew a breath, and began: 

A shade you are in summer
A shelter you are in winter
A rock you are
A fortress you are
A shield you are about me
I cherish you
I help you
I enfold you
I promise you.

. . . Sebastien drew a breath, overcome. He knew what to say, but he had not known until this moment that he would say it with such conviction. The poem that came to him was not the one he had learned that morning, but one the bard had recited a few nights ago.  Somehow it seemed perfect.
 

I found in the garden
My jewel, my love
Her eye like a star
Her lip like a berry
Her voice like a harp.
I found in the meadow
The bright-eyed maiden
Her eye like a star
Her cheek like a rose
Her kiss like honey.

"It is done," he whispered.  "So be it." His heart leapt in a new pattern, and he was caught in its infinite turning.

(Thank you, Drew and Kate, for giving the verses true meaning!)

THE SWAN MAIDEN

The second book in the series “Celtic Nights: Lady of Legend II” is based on the legend of a swan maiden, set in the 14th century—it’s a sequel to Laird of the Wind, a tale of the Scottish rebellion. Juliana Lindsay, cousin to the hero of Laird, is an archer among forest rebels, captured by the English—and Gawain Avenel is the English knight who risks his life for the beautiful freedom fighter who turns out to be somewhat of a handful -- not only is she a crack shot, but swans do whatever she wants.

There’s a fun story behind the research for this book, which I've mentioned in a previous post here on Word Wenches – the author as arrow-catcher. 

Sometimes stacks of history books or open links through Google are just not enough to complete the research for a book. We all bring something more to the work than what we glean from research—and though, thanks to graduate years in art history, I can research the heck out of anything, sometimes we just gotta roll up our sleeves and experience something before we put it on the page. For THE SWAN MAIDEN, I wanted the hero to catch an arrow in mid-flight. I couldn’t find any sources about it, but wanted to be sure it could be done. I thought it would be very cool for the hero to catch an arrow in the instant before it struck the heroine.

One evening I was telling my husband about my arrow-catching idea, and one of our sons (now a black belt) looked up from his homework and said, "Sensei can do that." Sensei was his karate instructor. What??A phone call to the sensei confirmed it, and he offered to teach me how to do it myself. Umm, okay.

Arrow catching is a lot harder than it looks. Trust me. It’s definitely one of those Don’t Ever Try This At Home or Anywhere things. Seriously. Unless you have an expert teaching you how to do it, and there aren’t many of those out there, it's not something to mess with.

My husband and I showed up, and at first Sensei tossed a bo (a wooden staff) toward us to catch in one hand, out to the side. We progressed to hand-tossed arrows, and then to blunt arrow shafts released from a bow a few feet away. Thunk, grab, oh hey, that’s easy, even I, a myopic writer, could do it.

Then he got out the REAL bow, and the REAL arrows. And he backed up about thirty feet.

There’s nothing quite like facing a tenth-degree black belt, an ex-Marine, a massive towering guy, as he raises a real nasty looking bow nocked with a very sharp arrow – and aims it straight at you. “Don’t worry,” says he, “I’m not going to shoot you.” Right, cuz I’m not moving.

He let the arrow go. It zoomed right past me, though I snatched for it. He released another. Zooooooopp. A blur. Another. Zzzzzzip. Missed that—and with the next one, I touched feathers!  Zzzzzzzzzzzip.  More feathers! Then I reached out and grabbed the shaft smack in the middle. After that, I caught them consistently. The secret is in the timing, and senses on alert, a bit of coordination, a little courage, and making sure to listen for the release more than watch the thing. 

My husband, I have to admit, caught an arrow on the first try. Argh! But I walked out of the dojo that day with a great research experience—and a feeling of achievement that I hadn't expected. And Sensei was so pleased (and found it so very amusing) that he asked me to demonstrate it at dojo parties. Yup—we took it on the road. Here’s a photo – that's little ol' me by the Christmas tree. I caught that arrow too.    

The third book in the series, THE SWORD MAIDEN, will be out soon--and that has an amazing cover too, that I can't wait to share!

Have you been to a Celtic wedding, or had one yourself? Have you ever caught an arrow, or thought about it?  (I know, those questions are SO related, right!) -- comments and thoughts welcome! I'll be giving away a print copy of the original paperback of THE STONE MAIDEN or THE SWAN MAIDEN (winner's choice) to one lucky commenter! 

Susan

 

Ask A Wench--Satisfying Endings

 

                                    Behind the scenes, we wenches have animated discussions, and after reading a particularly disappointing book, one of us brought up this topic. "Do you want all your endings to be satisfying? Or can you handle an ambiguous ending as Gone, Girl?  What makes for a satisfying ending?"
 

Mary Jo:  A lot depends on what kind of book it is.  For a romance, I want my happy ending!  I want the characters to have made a commitment, and I want to believe that they are right for each other and they have enough love and ability to deal with life’s challenges that they’ll be together “till death do they part.”

 “Satisfying” is a different measure.  “Happily ever after” is what make romances end satisfactorily, but other genres, such as mystery and science fiction and fantasy and women’s fiction, are different. 

Godkitten Update

Playing with imaginary friend

Sherrie, here, with an update on the godkitten, a little orphan I found on the 4th of July. For the full story, go here:  A new arrival . The Wenches immediately dubbed him their "godkitten," so now he has 8 doting aunties (and I'm still agonizing over what to name him!).

Kitten meets Christopher. Christopher is being remarkably kind and tolerant of the cheeky new kid.

Kitten is a polydactyl, having 6 toes instead of 5 on his huge feet. Note the large "thumbs."

When I first brought the kitten home, he was 3 weeks old and weighed 9 ounces. I'm feeding him kitty formula every 4 hours and by the time I took him to the vet 4 days later, he weighed 12 ounces. As of today, he is 14 ounces and growing like a weed!

 

 

The kitten spends a lot of time playing on my desk, and I believe he's a fledgling writer because he can't stay away from the mouse or keyboard. (Translation: he spends a lot of time thundering across my keyboard)

 

The final picture shows him attacking the mouse. He's fascinated by the thing, and never misses an opportunity to bite and subdue it.

I'll be posting periodic kitten updates on Sundays, so watch this space for the next month or so, as we chart the growth (and antics!) of this little rascal.

 

Biting the mouse

Lost in the Ether!

Cara/Andrea here,

As you know, we Wenches occasionally talking about the craft of writing here. The creative process has its highs and lows, as the Muse can be moody. And sometimes author must contend with more than Inner Demons—the distractions and challenges to the story come from the tools of the trade

Technology. For the modern scribe, it’s both a blessing and a curse. As you might have guessed, I had a Major Disaster yesterday. My desktop i-mac, the repository of all my data, files, book manuscripts, calendars, address books, etc. suddenly gave up the ghost. The hard drive just went kaput. Panicked, I called my IT friend, who was out of town but didn’t like the sound of what I was seeing on the screen when trying to reboot. I suggested I hoof it to the nearest Apple store and have it checked out. So up I trek to New Haven, when a very nice person at the Genius Bar confirmed that it was dead as a doornail. No hope of getting any data retrieved.

Well, thankfully, due to my tech guy’s constant warning that Bad Stuff happens without warning, I have most of the files backed up on CDs. A major pain to rebuild a new computer with them, but it could be worse.

So, since I’m there in the store, I start to peruse the latest generation high tech desktop wonders with a twenty-some salesperson. As we’re looking, I start musing on how I will have to upload all my data manually from my storage CDs—which draws a bemused look. "Oh, these models aren't built with CD ports anymore. No one uses that technology these days." I take a deep breath as I'm told I will have to buy an external drive to hook up to the computer.

Then I mention my InDesign and Photoshop programs. Another pitying look. "Oh, those versions don't run on this operating system. You're going to have to buy all new versions. (Note: the programs are very expensive.)

At this point I ask him whether they sell quill pens and paper. That elicits a blank stare. At least he laughs when I ask whether the Genius Bar served double martinis.

As you can imagine, I left the store muttering a number of very unladylike words. I decided to think over my options before rushing into a purchase . . . but it also got me to thinking about a lecture I recently attended by Susan Gibbons, the Head Librarian of Yale University, which addressed just this topic of technology as both a blessing and a curse.

The talk was all about libraries needing to be “Janus”— that is, they must look both at the past and at the future, and what challenges have to be met in the mission to preserve original material, and therefore history.

Books, manuscripts, codices, scrolls—most of us are familiar with the need for vigilant conservation to preserve papyrus, paper, vellum, leather, old inks and the like for posterity. But it was fascinating—and a little frightening—to hear her talk about the challenges of looking ahead. Libraries are faced with some really tough tasks, she went on to explain. History, original thoughts, which once were passed on mostly as words written on paper, are now being collected in a myriad of different forms. For example, many oral accounts of genocide in Africa or ethnic cleasing in the balkans have been made on variety of tape recorders and video cameras that are totally obsolete.  Aside from the stability of those forms (who really knows how long floppy disks, CDs, digital USB drives will last) an ancillary worry is how one will “play” them back in the future because the machines that run them disappear so fast. Think about it—rapid obsolescence seems programmed into computers, CD drives, flash drives, televisions, etc.  It seems that every two years we are expected to throw away one technology and upgrade to another. And those obsolete machines get thrown in the trash.

For libraries it’s a huge worry because they can’t plan for how to preserve, because forms of data seem ever changing, and the ways to access them are even more unstable. This, said Gibbons, is a huge issue. And as less and less material is being put on paper, we run the risk that future generations may lose decades—or centuries—of information and knowledge. It’s really quite sobering, isn’t it?

In the next few days, I will probably upgrade to the latest i-mac . . . which will be ancient history in a year or two. Truly, I am thinking twice about quill and paper.

So what about you? Has technology taken over your life? Have you had any disasters? And are you as worried as I am about the preservation of knowledge and ideas—and books!—in this digital age?

California Dreaming

As some of you know, I’ve been in the process of not one, but two life-changing events these past months. I’m not sure “husband retiring” rates as high as death or birth, but it has to be right up there with moving across the country. So please excuse my tardiness in posting. My calendar shows a big blank spot on today, and I didn’t even question it, that’s how brain dead I am.(a photo of our new backyard!)

I believe I’ve wondered before how our ancestors managed to pull up roots and move to villages where they knew no one, or crossed countries not even knowing where the next water might be found. With all our 21st century technology, moving is still a frustrating, terrifying, and stressful experience. We had two  cars, cell phones, and walkie-talkies driving over two thousand miles, and I was a wreck at the end of four days. Four months of watching oxen kicking up dust on my covered wagon would have killed me. At least I had the sense to jettison most of our household goods before we left!

A new arrival

Anne here, coming in late and murmuring apologies. I usually post my blog in the evening here, which is morning in the USA but we had a blackout last night just on dusk, and the electricity didn't come back on until well after midnight, by which time I was in bed. I hadn't written my blog, and this morning I have electricity but I have to go out, so in a shameless move, I'm going to share (with Sherrie's permission) the story of a tiny kitten that has arrived on the wenchly scene.

It started with this 4th of July post from our wenchly blogmistress Sherrie:
Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day, and for those of you in other countries, hope you had a lovely day. I am now the owner of an orphaned infant kitten, sucker that I am. He/she is very young--probably 2-3 weeks old--and tiny: just 9 ounces. We figure it is the child of a local semi-feral cat who may have met with a tragic end.

We'd been hearing a weird noise for about an hour, and it took us that long to finally realize it wasn't a bird, but possibly a kitten in distress. My sister and I discovered the kitten in the barn. We surmised the semi-feral mother may have come to a tragic end, because no way would a mother cat ignore such a loud and continuous call of distress from its kitten.

Soooo . . . I now have a miniscule kitten that fits in the palm of my hand and needs to be fed every 4 hours. Tomorrow I'll call the vet for an appointment for a health check and to have the kitten's sex determined, after which I will be free to pick a name. The house is in an uproar. All the resident animals are highly intrigued. The kitten has 2 modes: meowing at 5 million decibels, and sleeping.

Sherrie's been feeding the tiny creature every four hours, and keeping us posted.

Have just finished the 4 a.m. feeding and I think there's more kitten formula on me than in the infant's tummy. I've had my hand peed on numerous times (I must learn how to aim him better) and formula dribbled all over my shirt, hands and arms. Feeding an infant kitten with a tiny bottle is a veritable wrestling match. And for such a small critter, he can move remarkably fast on his wobbly pins, so I'm careful to keep him from falling off the desk when he's having his constitutional. 



I've also discovered he's a polydactyl--he has gigantic "thumbs" that are quite hilarious on such tiny feet.

He has already learned to recognize me as The Bringer of Food and it is quite endearing to hear him break out in loud purrs and friendly vocalizations when he sees me. I keep him in a carrying crate large enough for a small dog, so he has plenty of room to play and sleep. I keep the crate on my desk and he has me for company all day. Spoiled rotten, the kid is. Already.

Of course all the wordwenches are animal lovers so Sherrie has been keeping us updated on the progress of the wee orphan, our wenchly godkitten.

Today I took the infant critter to the vet. He received a clean bill of health, though they did find one flea on him. His blood work came back negative for any diseases, including Feline Leukemia. (Yaaayyy!!!) He is robust, very strong (he'll zoom up any vertical surface, including people), and he is alert and playful. They confirmed he's a boy (alas!), but I'll keep him anyway, even though I swore no more male cats. Oh well. At least now that I know he's a boy, I can start thinking of boy names for him.

Right now the little guy has had his feeding, dutifully peed on my hand, tottered all over the desk on a Great Exploration, fell face-first into the paperclip dish and successfully reached the summit of Mt. Pencil Cup. (I’m amazed at how strong he is!) Now he’s back in his crate . . . and very unhappy about it. He wants OUT! He wants out NOW! Despite his distended belly full of kitten formula, he is climbing the bars of his crate, and if he had a tin cup he’d be rattling it back and forth across the bars.

This morning when I checked on him, his crate appeared to be empty. Panic! But at the sound of his crate door being opened, his head popped up behind a little mound of blanketing at the back of the crate and he came wobbling over, full of sleepy squeaks and imperious demands for breakfast. He’s really quite adorable. I’ll shortly be headed over to Pet Smart to pick up another kitty nursing bottle and a stuffed animal so that he’ll have a buddy in his crate.

So that's where we are so far in the story that has all the wenches hooked. You can see what excellent progress he's making — he's already up to hunting a mouse! I think Sherrie could post an occasional kitten picture in her Sunday posts, don't you? 

And in the meantime, she's searching for a name for him.

Have you ever rescued an animal? I'll send a book to someone who leaves a name suggestion or the story of an animal they've rescued, and if Sherrie chooses one of the names for our little wenchly godkitten, there will be an extra bonus gift from Sherrie herself. 


Visiting Scotland in the Regency

Nicola here. It’s no secret that amongst the Wenches and our readers there are a lot of fans of all things Scottish. It’s a beautiful country, one of the places in the world I could never tire of visiting and I have had some amazing experiences there, from climbing mountains to swimming in the lochs, from sailing amongst the Northern Isles to wandering the cobbled streets of Edinburgh. I’ve fallen over in Scottish bogs, been bitten by midges, danced at a ceilidh and been marooned in every sort of weather you might imagine, flood, fog and snow. It’s been brilliant.

In making my frequent trips to Scotland I’m hardly unique. Nor is heading to the Highlands a recent phenomenon. Scotland was a tourist destination as early as the 18^th century and in the later years of that century and in the early 19^th century its popularity exploded. “It has now become fashionable to make a tour into Scotland for some weeks or months,” The Weekly Magazine commented in 1772, whilst Eliza Diggle observed in 1788: “All the world is travelling to Scotland and Ireland.”

Here are a few of the snippets I've picked up about the history of tourism in Scotland when I was researching the background to The Lady and the Laird (with a few of my own photos for illustration!)

Intrepid Travellers

The earliest authors who wrote about Scotland, including Martin Martin in 1698 and Daniel Defoe in 1724, were intrepid individuals whose writings inspired other travellers to venture into those wild lands. In 1771 Thomas Pennant published his Tour In Scotland, which was a vast success. He had previously written a similar guide to Ireland, which he admitted was very incomplete “owing to the conviviality of the country.” Visitors to Scotland were attracted by Pennant’s descriptions of landscape and his account of folklore. His enthusiasm for picturesque views and for nature was keen. He did much to inspire Dr Samuel Johnson’s travels and despite disliking Pennant’s politics Johnson said of him: “He is the best traveller I ever read; he observes more things than anyone else does.”

Dr Johnson and James Boswell followed swiftly in Pennant’s footsteps, travelling mainly through the Western Isles. Here they found the Highlands in a state of change. The clan system had been dismantled, the wearing of tartan was prohibited and the land was being cleared. Johnson wondered if he had left it too late to witness the “old” way of life of the Highlands. He did note, however, that illegal whisky distilling was common and that there was a custom called the skalk, whereby a man took a glass of whisky as an aperitif before breakfast. (My husband turned a bit pale when he heard that. He likes a wee dram but not before breakfast. I remember visiting the Talisker Distillery last year and doing some whisky tasting at about 11 in the morning. The rest of the day is a bit hazy.)

The Guidebook - An Insipid Tour

By the turn of the 19^th century guide books to Scotland abounded. The Quarterly Review of 1806 complained: “There is Johnson’s Philosophic Tour, Pennant’s Descriptive Tour, Gilpin’s Picturesque Tour, Stoddart’s Sketching Tour, Garnet’s Medical Tour, Mrs Murray’s Familiar Tour, Newte’s Nautical Tour, Mawman’s Bookselling Tour, Campbell’s Crazy Tour, Lithie’s Insipid Tour…All those Caledonian memorabilia that the more desperate visit in person.”  I must admit I am a keen reader of guidebooks. The guide book to Edinburgh I used last year was particularly good on helping me put my itinerary together even if it wasn’t called “An Insipid Tour of Edinburgh.” (Here is a photo of me consulting it in the famous Greyfriars church yard.)

It’s difficult to know how many of the 18^th and 19^th century travel guides were bought by people who simply had an interest in reading more about Scotland and were not actually intending to leave the comfort of their armchair. The tour guides definitely played a part in encouraging a growing interest in the country, its landscape, the rugged scenery, the geology, the literature and the legends. Perhaps some of those people who read about the country still saw it as too wild and dangerous to visit but reading about it at home made it seem safer.

At the same time the refurbishment of inns and the development of hotels does suggest that people were travelling in increasing numbers. The Napoleonic Wars certainly benefited travel in Britain as much of the continent was closed to tourists; one newspaper commented: “Edinburgh is as much visited by every dashing citizen who pretends to fashion as Margate or Tonbridge.”

An Opportunity for Tour Guides

With tourism came a need for people to show the visitors around. Guides could make a good income from fees and tips and some supplemented their talks by selling handbooks and souvenirs. By the 1790s the more entrepreneurial were designing advertisements offering their services. Towns such as Perth and Sterling appointed town guides and abbeys offered guided tours, as did stately homes. In 1814 the Duke of Atholl’s factor devised a set of guidelines for the people who showed visitors around the gardens at Dunkeld. They had to wear a badge for identification and they had to ensure that all visitors signed in. The tourists were not permitted to walk round on their own because some of them would help themselves to “souvenirs” of plant cuttings or carve their initials on the trees! The Head Gardener himself would show the more important guests around although on one occasion he made a mistake when two rich American visitors came posing as sailors. He took one look at their shabby attire and consigned them to an underling, thus missing out on a substantial tip.

The Visitor’s Book

In Scotland the visitor’s book started its life in the 18^th century as “the album given to strangers.” Most people simply signed their names but a few made comments about the place and whether or not they had enjoyed their visit. From this developed the idea of feedback on the attractions which today manifests itself in Trip Advisor! I haven't found any rude comments in Scottish visitors' books but I was intrigued to read that the gardens at Nuneham Courtenay in England had a problem with people writing uncomplimentary comments in the visitors book in 1815. One visitor wrote: “Well does the dinner and the day agree; the food is cold and so are we.”

By Land and Sea

As tourism started to take off it gave a boost to Scottish hotels and inns. This was much to the relief of the nobility and gentry who had previously offered friends and acquaintances accommodation in their own houses. In 1773 Lord Breadalbane commented that: “We have had a good deal of company here this summer… Many of them from England, some of whom I knew before, others recommended to me. Sometimes it is a little troublesome…” Guest had to be fed and entertained, which could be expensive, and they all wanted to participate in some Scottish country dancing.  Poor Lord Breadalbane found that he had barely a moment to himself before the next carriage load of visitors rolled up to the door!

Of the inns, the best were excellent but the worst had a name for being appalling. The Inchture Inn between Perth and Dundee was noted for serving a very poor breakfast of stale eggs, rancid butter and inedible bread. The well-organised tourist sent ahead to organise rooms, request fresh bedding and make sure there would be good food. The roads were equally mixed, some in excellent condition, others very poor. Whilst highway robbery was almost unknown by this period, other mishaps were all too frequent. Tourists frequently got lost because there were no road signs. Even Queen Victoria got lost in the hills above Dunkeld, and carriages could easily overturn and horses go lame. North of Perth the inns did not always provide horses for hire which meant that travellers had to rest their own teams until they were able to continue.

Travel on the water was even more perilous. The journey to see the famous Fingal’s Cave on the Isle of Staffa was considered extremely dangerous (and I have to admit that it was pretty rough the day we visited and our dog didn’t much appreciate being lifted in and out of the boat by two hefty sailors!) This is one of our photos showing the sea breaking over the entrance to Fingal's Cave.

The Medicinal Visit

The therapeutic value of sea bathing was not as quickly recognised in Scotland as it was in England, perhaps because it’s cold getting in the water in Scotland whatever the season.  (There is a photo of me swimming in Scotland but it's censored because of my horrified expression when the cold water hits!) A saltwater bath was built at Peterhead in 1762 to augment the existing mineral spring treatments and in 1788 there were bathing machines for hire at Tynemouth and other resorts. By the turn of the 19^th century there were a number of seaside towns near Edinburgh that offered sea bathing and this was generally recognised as being good for the health.  Dr William Buchan recommended seawater as a cure for skin complaints and a preservative of general health. These towns also developed coffee rooms, circulating libraries and music chambers for those occasions on which the weather turned wet.

Scotland also offered other opportunities for a healthy holiday. Equestrian trips, pedestrian tours and mountain ascents were all on offer by the end of the 18^th century. As the 19^th century progressed the idea of a picturesque tour of Scotland to admire the scenery or a medicinal visit for exercise and sea bathing was joined by the sporting visit so beloved of Victorian and Edwardian aristocrats. Scotland’s popularity as a tourist destination hasn’t waned since. 

Are you a planner or a pantser when it comes to taking a trip? Do you like to read the guidebooks beforehand or simply turn up and decide what to do when you arrive? And have you ever visited somewhere that was completely different from how you expected it to be? (For me it was Stonehenge - I expected it to be bigger!)

Jane Austen's London

Jo, here, delighted to welcome Louise Allen, who is already an Honorary Wench, and her new book, Walking Jane Austen's London. This is essential reading for any Regency or Austen fan visiting London, but also great for the armchair traveler.

Your knowledge of Regency London is remarkable, Louise, but did it grow out of your love for Regency fiction, or did the urge to write Regency grow out of your research?

Louise: Thank you for inviting me, Jo, it’s a pleasure to be here at one of my favourite blogs. The interest in the Regency came first and I found myself making more and more research visits to locations in London that I needed for scenes in my books. But I have a serious book-buying habit, so the pile of research books on London history grew and grew and so did my collection of Georgian prints of London. Luckily my husband, the photographer in the family, is also interested so we started to plan longer walks together. Londoners are very friendly and helpful on the whole, so we are often asked if we are lost as we stand on street corners peering at our map and guidebook. These kind people are usually a trifle confused to be shown that the book and map are dated 1814.

Jo: What is the special delight of writing romance in your period, which is 1780 to 1820, so perhaps the “extended Regency”?

Louise: I love the fact that it is a world on the cusp of change between the 18^th century and the modern world. The economy was changing, Society was changing, science and technology were developing at breakneck speed and the whole world was opening out and becoming connected. It was also an interesting time for women – in literature, in trade, in political influence.

(The print is of the stalls at Covent Garden theatre, one of Jane’s favourites. As always, click to enlarge.)

To take just one example, two of the most powerful stage coach proprietors in London were women. Mrs Ann Nelson ran the Bull Inn, Aldgate and had a virtual monopoly of the traffic to the eastern counties and Mrs Ann Mountain owned the Saracen’s Head, Snow Hill, and a coach factory, and sent out thirty stage coaches every day of the week. Unfortunately there is only one of the old coaching inns left in London, the George in Southwark.

Jo: Fascinating! I love learning about entrepreneurial woman of the past.

Louise:  Also, less seriously, I love the look of the period and I try very hard not to imagine my heroes in later years with mutton chop whiskers!

(Hyde Park Corner turnpike gates, looking west into London)

Jo: Have you ever written, or thought of writing in a completely different period?

Louise: My first novel, as Francesca Shaw, was set in the 17^th century but my editor steered me towards the Regency as having a wider appeal and I was soon hooked and have stayed within the “long Regency” ever since. The only deviation was to write about the Sack of Rome, AD410 (Virgin Slave, Barbarian King) because I knew it was the only way to get the gorgeous Visigoth hero out of my head. Otherwise my earliest setting was 1788 for Forbidden Jewel of India, set in Rajasthan.

Jo: Tell us more about Walking Jane Austen’s London.

Louise: This was enormous fun to do, although my feet may never recover from those hard pavements! Fortunately I thought of the idea eighteen months ago and pitched it to Shire Publications then, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it in time for the Pride and Prejudice bicentenary. I scoured Jane Austen’s letters and novels for London references and plotted them all on a map. Then I read piles of reference books, added as many of the must-see late Georgian sites as I could and spent a long time working out how to combine all of these into a series of walks.

Once I had eight possible routes I walked them all with my husband, the photographer for the project, and we took several hundred photographs, from the straightforward shots of three of the houses Jane Austen stayed in on visits to London to the downright quirky, such as a seagull behaving disrespectfully on the Prince Regent’s head, Beau Brummell’s boot scraper and traffic lights for horses on their way to Rotten Row.

Then it was back to the drawing board with more research and lots of tweaks to the routes before we walked them again and I finally wrote them up. After that it was a matter of choosing seventy five original prints from my collection to complement seventy five photos.

(Newton’s haberdashery shop, just off Leicester Square where Jane Austen often looked for bargains in Irish linen.)

I was lucky that Shire found me an excellent cartographer who has produced beautifully clear maps for each walk. I was also fortunate that my editor listened to my pleas for an index twice as long as he was expecting, so if you want to locate the Cole Hole Tavern, Prince Henry’s Room, Rotten Row or Astley’s Amphitheatre or all the references from the various novels, you can do so.

Jo: This all sounds irresistibly delicious, Louise!

Louise: Thank you. It is also possible to follow most of the routes on Google Earth and with Street View, as the cartographer had to do when he was wrestling with the tiny alleyways around Dr Johnson’s House and the Cheshire Cheese pub.

I wish I had room for at least two more walks. The Southwark area around Borough High Street is fascinating, and the East End and the docks -- which I used in my most recent novel Tarnished Amongst the Ton -- has endless hidden corners with stories to tell.

There's more about this novel and Louise's other books on her web site.

And you must visit Louise's blog about Jane Austen's London. Regularly. Because there are new treats all the time.

US readers can buy Walking Jane Austen's London in print here.  And in Kindle here.

It's available from all the usual other booksellers, and in most locations.

In addition, Louise is giving away a copy to a randomly selected commenter here. Have you ever visited London? If so, what are your favourite Regency spots? If not, where would you visit first if you went there?

Are you suprised to think of Jane Austen gallivanting around London?

What are your favourite London locations in fiction? Any memorable scenes set in real Regency locations?

Any and all comments welcome!

Cheers,

Jo