Word Wenches

A Cup O' Kindness

Susan here, wishing all of you a Happy New Year’s Eve – with best wishes for 2020 and its new decade. May this be the start of a happy, healthy, peaceful time in your lives.

Tonight many of us will sing verses of a very famous and familiar song, known far and wide, sung every New Year’s Eve around the world. We may not know all the words or understand the Scots language in the verses, but we all know the song. And here’s to the Scots, for the song is theirs originally, written by Robert Burns, who based his version on remembered lines from even earlier songs.  

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

He wrote it shortly before December 17, 1788, and it was officially published in 1796. Burns claimed that three verses came from older traditional Scottish folk songs dating back to the 16th century or earlier, and he added two verses himself. Some scholars feel that none of his verses were authentically older versions, though the phrasing was indeed traditional.

An early precursor appears in the Bannatyne Manuscript, a collection of Scottish poetry compiled in the 16th century:

About me friendis anew I gatt,
Rycht blythlie on me thay lewch…
And auld kyndnes is quyt foryett.

(About me friends anew I had/Right blithely on me they looked… And auld kindness is quite forgot.) 

A 17th century English version of an older Scottish folksong from a sheet of ephemera (basically, a flier), hints at the Burns song to come. “My jo” is a Scots endearment meaning "my joy" or "my dear”…

On old long syne,
On old long syne, my jo,
On old long syne:
That thou canst never once reflect
On old long syne.

A verse by the 17th century poet Ayton contains other elements of the Burns song:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never thought upon,
The flames of love extinguished,
And freely past and gone

A few verses of a song about soldiers returning from war were published by the Edinburgh bookseller and poet Allan Ramsay in his Tea Table Miscellany, 1724:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Tho' they return with scars?
These are the noble hero's lot,
Obtain'd in glorious wars

Burns was familiar with some of these sources, though we are fortunate that he decided to have a go at the lyrics himself.

The melody was traditional as well—he set his version to a Scottish strathspey, a Highland reel called “The Miller’s Daughter,” a fiddle tune that can be traced much earlier (many old fiddle tunes are based on even older harp melodies). “The air is but mediocre,” Burns said of it, but it suited his verses and was a catchy little tune.

He wrote to a friend on 17th December 1788: "Is not the Scotch phrase ‘auld lang syne’ exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune which has often thrilled through my soul. You know I am an enthusiast in old Scotch songs…Light be the turf on the breast of the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment!"

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne

For over 200 years, the “mediocre air” with its borrowed phrases that Burns put together has proven unforgettable.

Here’s the song performed by Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean - a rendition that Burns himself surely would have applauded. Enjoy - and Happy New Year to you! 

 

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

Pat here, wishing everyone a wonderful winter! 

I'd meant to find six geese a laying, but lacking Photoshop skills, I had to give up the task. And these gowns are much prettier than geese. I'm sure this is an image of a romance opportunity in the making. Poor gentleman, going down before all the lovely misses! Don't you think one will run to his aid?

I used to love ice skating but I'd probably break every bone in my body if I tried it now. How about you, do you ice skate? How are you spending your chilly winter days?

Good Swig at the Thatcht House

Susanna here, carrying on our Christmastide with a song from the era I’m currently writing about—the late 17th century.

As some of you know, I love using songs in my own stories, and I’ve been known to spend an enjoyable research hour or seven mucking about on the Bodleian Library’s Ballads Online website…but this particular song, although it is found there, didn’t come to me as a result of my own research.

It came via Twitter, three days before Christmas, in a random tweet that crossed my timeline, authored by historian and writer Emily Brand:

“Can we all agree to forget the Victorian Christmas & embrace the Restoration Christmas this year?” she wrote. “Features: - The finest young wenches that ever were seen - Cake & ale - Widows giving out mustard - Young maids & men getting together on the village green to shake their bums”

Now I confess, the Cake and ale would more than likely, on their own, have been enough to reel me in. But add the Restoration (which I’ve always loved)? And wenches? Wenches?!

Reader, I was well and truly hooked.

Moving into the Sunshine

Joanna here, feeling like I should be doing something to encourage the sun a bit more.

It always strikes me as weird that the days get longer after the Solstice in December but the weather keeps getting colder. My truly cold winter months hit in January and February when there's more sun. It seems both unfair and, like, counter intuitive.

It's sciency stuff, basically. The "getting slowly colder" thing happens because the earth is a big place and holds a whole bunch of accumulated heat energy stored up from last July and August. Takes a while for that heat to dissipate.

Same reason you can't just take yer pie out of the oven and it's instantly cool enough to chow down.

see the similarity to the earth on the right

If the pie were the earth and you took it out on the Solstice, round here you wouldn't be eating dessert till January.

Here's a nifty map of the coldest day for the US. (you can look at it up close here.) You'll see that some places -- like in Colorado -- get chillyfreezing at the Solstice. This is arranged by the local Chamber of Commerce to encourage Ski Tourism over Winter Break. Where I live, deepest cold hits in the middle of February and we are still worried about blossom damage on the fruit trees into March and April.

So the whole "inertia of the earth's heat" is all very well, but it doesn't account for what actually happens, does it?

When you ask why, they come up with a lot of meteorological hand-waving basically. They talk about humidity and local climate and how close you are to the ocean and I suppose computers are involved somewhere. It still does not seem fair and I find the Chamber of Commerce argument more convincing, meself.

This is a fox in Norway who really cannot wit for the days to get longer

In case you were wondering How Much Longer your days are going to get now that the Winter Solstice has come and gone, you can go here, plug in your city, and you will be able to find out.

Here in Virginia I get an extra minute of daylight tomorrow. Yippee! I'll continue to get an extra minute of sun every day till the Summer Solstice. I feel so special.

Folks living in Nome, Alaska will get close to two extra minutes tomorrow, but I do not begrudge it to them.

 

Are you looking forward to getting some sun eventually? What do you plan to do with it?

The Colours of Christmas

Nicola here on the third day of Christmas, talking about colours (or even colors!) For me this year, Christmas has been a very colourful occasion. White, red and gold have traditionally been the colours associated with Christmas in my home ever since I was a child and helped my grandmother decorate the tree each year. Red always reminds me of the vivid berries that you can still find in the hedgerows, feeding the birds, in the winter. Gold feels bright and regal and white is for snow, of course! White decorations arethe closest we've been to a white Christmas here in quite a while! Together they all look lovely with the green of the tree.

Before Christmas I went to a light show at my local arboretum. It was magical to stroll through the trees and watch the play of light on the bare branches, bringing out the shadows and patterns in the wood. They had recreated the Northern Lights and they rippled overhead as you walked along an avenue of huge trees. it was the most beautiful sight and quite enchanting. Meanwhile, the church in my parents' village was lit up with purple, which I discovered is the colour of advent.

Finally, my favourite Christmas present was these rather fabulous gloves with their multi-coloured trim! Overall I do feel as though I have had a beautifully-coloured and illuminated Christmas which, when it's a bit dark and cold outside, is wonderfully bright and warming. I hope your Christmas has been full of light as well.

What are your favourite colours of Christmas?

Boxing Day

Anne here, as we move into our Wenchly daily Christmastide blogging. I've scored the Boxing Day blog several times in the past, so if you'd like to read my 2008 blog about the traditions and practice of Boxing Day, as well as some odd Australian traditions, click on this link.

I'm avoiding the Boxing Day sales, and not watching the cricket — or any TV. Nor will I be cooking for a while, as I'll be browsing on the leftovers from Christmas dinner, as well as cherries and mangoes and watermelon. It's summertime and I always have this bowl filled with cherries on my Christmas table. And there is some of the "Christmas Crack" I made for Kris Kringle "home-made" presents left over, so I guess I'll be nibbling on that, too. It's very yummy. Recipe here.

Merry Christmas!

(vintage card: thegraphicsfairy.com)

Warmest holiday wishes from the Word Wenches ~

May the sweet magic of the season

fill your heart and home this year! 

Visit the blog throughout the Yuletide season! We'll be posting greetings and fun holiday blogs every day from Christmas through Twelfth Night! 

 

Random Doodles!

Andrea here, What with the holidays upon us, and this week likely being a frenzy of last-minute running around, I’ve decided to keep my scribbling short. Very short! So I'm doing something a little different.

Now, scribbling is the operative word. Many of us here enjoy historical books—both ones written by contemporary authors set in the past, and ones actually penned in the past. (I adore seeing displays of historical manuscripts. I literally got goosebumps seeing Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre at the British Library!)

I recently saw a delightful blog that made me have a fun “ah-ha!” moment regarding on how we read books. (more on that in a moment.) I would like to posit that there are two fundamental types of readers: Those who revere the printed page and abhor the idea of adding any markings to it. And those who don’t hesitate for a moment about adding their own personal doodles.

Novellas: A Little Bit of Christmas!

By Mary Jo

There have been novella anthologies on many themes and for many holidays, but Christmas novella anthologies blow all the rest out of the water. 

A novella is usually defined as between 20K and 40K words, so it's more than a short story--it's long enough to have character development, a proper romance, and a plot.  Christmas, with warm fuzzies and over the top sentimentality, is perfect for novellas. <G>

Those of us who started out as Regency writers at NAL tend to have written more than our share of Christmas novellas--I certainly have!  I've collected mine into two different collections:  CHRISTMAS REVELS, with five novellas, and CHRISTMAS CANDLES, which has two novellas. 

But today's riff is because I've produced two of the stories from Christmas Revels as standalone e-books: The Christmas Cuckoo has been available as an e-book for several years, and I quite recently produced an audiobook version which is available for a very modest sum. 

 

Sailing the Danube Continued

Pat here:

That's me on a fake penny farthing--a vehicle that plays a part in my March release, Lessons in Enchantment. I couldn't resist the photo op. I don't know how anyone climbed on one of those things unless it was stuck to the ground like this one!

In my last blog , I described the first few days of my Viking tour of the Danube and lamented that I didn’t have room to get into the really magical stuff. My memory isn’t of the best, but I’m hoping if I dig around in our tons of photos that I may be able to piece together the rest of the journey.

Ask A Wench - December

Susanna here, with this month’s Ask-A-Wench post, in which our question is—appropriately enough for the season—“What Christmas stories have you been reading lately?"

Every year I settle in with my holiday comfort reads—Dinah Dean’s The Cockermouth Mail, and the paperback novelization of The Gift of Love (a wonderfully sappy romantic TV movie from the 1970s based on O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi) and, if I’m not in the middle of writing a book myself, Rosamunde Pilcher’s Winter Solstice. This year, I added a book I’d bought last year and saved as a treat—Happy Christmas, by Daphne du Maurier.

Christmas Ghost Stories

Joanna here, talking about ghosts and Christmas and the assumptions we make about the past. These are three topics of moderate interest and even — to me at least — related.

Consider long winter nights. This is natural to consider since we in the Northern Hemisphere have been doing the whole it-gets-dark-at-4:30-in-the-afternoon-dagnabit thing for a while now and we are very tired of it. It’s still two weeks till the tipping point of the year, the Solstice, when we start to get our sun back.

Good on you, Brother Sun, for showing up to do your job.

 

How did folks cope with these long, dark, cold winter nights, historically?

In the beginning, countless generations of our pre-technological ancestors spent their long winter nights huddled together, scratching fleas, giving serious effort to the goal of not freezing to death, and keeping an ear cocked for cave bears. Probably they were not bored.

Eventually folks killed off the bears and got their act together enough for a warm fire, a solid roof, and walls that kept out the wind. The edge was off the accustomed misery of existence and everybody was seeking entertainment. Families gathered round the increasingly effective hearth of a wintry evening, exchanging merry jests, roasting chestnuts, and telling each other stories.There might have been riddles involved.

It makes one understand why we, as a species, charged headlong into the electronic age and the internet.

Rebranding AKA New Covers and Titles for Old Books

Nicola here. Today I’m talking about re-branding in the form of book covers and titles.  The reason: My publisher and I decided to give The Woman in the Lake a new cover and a new title for the UK e-book and I thought it might be interesting to explore why this happened. I hope this will appeal to readers who might wonder why books are sometimes rebranded, and to authors who may face the same dilemmas themselves. It’s a look behind the scenes – and a very honest one – into what happened with The Woman in the Lake.

TWITL as I call it, was published simultaneously in the UK and North America in March 2019. It’s my third “timeslip” novel, a term which in itself can cause problems for an author trying to interest an agent or publisher in a book. Some people haven’t heard of timeslip, others ask what the differences are between timeslip and time travel, some people call the books dual or multiple time stories… There can be some identity issues!

Of shopping centers and chocolate

Anne here. A few weeks ago I visited Sydney, and spent a few hours wandering through the Queen Victoria Building (known to Sydneysiders as the QVB.)

Situated in the heart of Sydney, it's a large ornate Victorian-era building, filled with upmarket shops and cafes and boutique stores of various kinds — and was one of the earliest "trading halls" of its kind, certainly in Australia.

Building commenced in 1893 as a government project, and, as there was a depression at the time, there was a deliberate choice to make the building grand and ornate — partly to express confidence in the future, and partly to employ large numbers of unemployed craftsmen and workers — stonemasons, plasterers, tilers, stained glass artists, metal workers and many more.

You can see from my photos how elaborate and heavily decorated it is, in the best Victorian-era fashion, with decorative tilework, intricate stone carving, elaborate plaster work, great copper domes, stained glass windows and fanciful wrought iron. It took four and a half years to construct and was opened with great ceremony in 1898 and was named The Queen Victoria Market Buildings in commemoration of her Diamond Jubilee. See the invitation to the opening and grand ball below.

An Edith Layton Christmas Collection!

By Mary Jo

Just in time for the holidays! It’s a Wonderful Regency Christmas , a collection of six Christmas stories by the late and much missed Word Wench, Edith Layton, has just been released. 

Edith wrote many and varied wonderful stories, but she had a special gift for Christmas novellas.  For the first time, these six novellas are available in one volume.  The stories have been out of print for years, so this is a special treat for Layton Lovers and else who loves a warm, romantic holiday tale.

This collection includes the following stories:

The Duke’s Progress

It’s a Wonderful Christmas

The Gingerbread Man

The Last Gift

The Amiable Miser

Dogstar

I haven’t read Dogstar yet, but since Edith was a whole-hearted dog lover, I expect something really special! 

I just reread the first story, The Duke's Progress, and it was as lovely as when I first read it on the initial release.  A lonely and depressed duke, a winsome little boy, and the perfect woman to take dashing through the snow on a sleigh!  What more can a sentimental lover of Christmas stories want?

It's available as an ebook for the first time and in paperback almost everywhere books are sold. Edith's daughter Susie Felber says fans have been asking for this for years, and she's delighted to publish the first Layton Christmas collection is here--so we readers can be delighted as well! 

Mary Jo

PS:  A surprise bonus!  Susie Felber will give an e-book of IT'S A WONDERFUL REGENCY CHRISTMAS to one person who comments between now and Sunday midnight.  Good luck!

A Royally Sweet Secret!

Andrea here, As most of you know, I love doing research. For me it’s endlessly interesting—and at times exciting, especially when I discover something new about something I’ve delved into before. (That’s truly one of the pleasures of history—the more you think you know, the more you find hidden surprises!)

And given the season, this sweet discovery is particularly fun. Chocolate and the holidays—really, how perfect is that! The royal palaces of London are some of my favorite places, and I happened to be doing some additional research on Kensington Palace and Kew Palaces for the Wrexford & Sloane mystery I’m currently writing . . .when lo and behold, a tantalizing little sidebar popped up regarding Hampton Court Palace. Given that it involved chocolate, how could I resist! So join me in enjoying this little nibble of history.

 

Susanna's TBR

Susanna here, and once again, I didn’t have anything to contribute to this month’s What We’re Reading post. That’s because I’m deep in the middle of writing a book, and I don’t read much fiction at all when I’m writing—partly because I’m so buried in nonfiction research reading I don’t have a lot of free time left, and partly because I learned long ago that, if a writer has a strongly individual storytelling voice, it will start to creep into and influence mine if I read while I’m working.

Case in point: way, way back in the day, when we were on our honeymoon (which was actually also a research trip for my novel Season of Storms only he didn’t entirely know about that), my husband brought along a copy of Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath to read on the train. I wasn’t actively writing the novel then, but I did have my ever-present notebook with me, in which I jot down things that I observe and lines of dialogue and bits of scenes. I started thumbing through the Steinbeck, too.