Category: Research

Posts in which we talk about research

Beach Days –in Regency England

Updated on August 5, 2013 by Gail Eastwood

Do you love the beach? I do. I’m addicted! Who could not enjoy a walk on an ocean beach, with a cooling breeze and the green thundering waves dashing down into foam and then washing gently up by your feet? You walk between the wide expanse of blue sky above and the blue reflection in the smooth wet sand beneath you. Then lured into the water, you float enveloped in its clear green invigorating coolness, coming out utterly refreshed.

I’m certain that throughout human history, people who lived near beaches enjoyed them. I am lucky enough to live in a state with plentiful ocean beaches very nearby, and at this time of year I try to juggle my work schedules to find one day a week when I can go. But did you know that it was only as recently as the 18^th century that people who didn’t live near beaches began to come to visit them as tourists? Dr Richard Russell’s 1752 publication A Dissertation: Concerning the Use of Sea Water in Diseases of the Glands, about the health benefits of sea-bathing and even drinking sea water is credited with helping create what became a thriving industry, but certainly improvements in transportation in this period and the Regency also were a big factor in the development of sea-side resorts.

Just as guides to the great houses were published for tourists, guides to the beach resorts such as John Fletham’s A Guide to all the Watering and Sea-Bathing Places (1803) also became available. Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sanditon, is set in a small town trying to become the next popular resort, and Jane visited Brighton, made popular by the Prince Regent, as well as Worthing in Sussex and spent time in Southhampton. Competition between resorts was fierce. Jane would have heard all about Sandown on the Isle of Wight, and Bognor, and Eastbourne. Margate was famous and by 1816 so popular they had more than 40 bathing machines, and four bathhouses where patrons could relax while awaiting their turn. For an interesting discussion about whether or not Worthing stood as Jane’s model for Sanditon, check http://austenonly.com/2010/03/19/austenprose-group-read-of-sanditon-worthing-the-model-for-mr-palmer%E2%80%99s-town/.

Whether Regency people visited the shore for pleasure or for health reasons, the activities they pursued did not differ greatly –they walked on the sand, and enjoyed watching the waves and ships offshore and each other. They “dipped” in the sea (only men actually engaged in swimming). The way they dressed at the seaside is an entire fashion topic in itself. I highly recommend that you check out (or reread if you have been following our Risky blog for a while) posts from past summers made by Elena and Myretta and others here –just type “beach” into our search box and they will come up. Myretta wrote about Brighton. Elena did a terrific post that explains about the bathing machines with attendants that made it possible to be “dipped” into the ocean while preserving modesty at all costs!!

This line about sea-bathing at Ramsgate in 1811 from Memoirs of a Highland Lady by Elizabeth Grant makes me glad I am not limited by the old system they used, for once I am in, I am always reluctant to get out of the water until I am blue with cold: “The shock of a dip was always an agony: that over, we would have ducked about much longer than the woman let us.” I found this in a great article by Andrea Richards of the Jane Austen Society of Australia (http://www.jasa.net.au/seaside/Bathing.htm).

If you can’t get to the modern-day beach, perhaps you can make a vicarious trip, and go back in time as well! Besides the above, I recommend the following: http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/category/sea-bathing-during-the-regency-era/

http://www.isabellegoddard.com/sea-bathing-regency-period.html

http://austenprose.com/2010/03/19/by-the-seaside-with-sanditon-guest-blog-with-mandy-n-on-regency-era-seaside-fashions/

Are you a beach-lover? If you had lived in the Regency, would you have traveled to one of the many resorts to try the water? Have you read any Regency stories that use this setting? Jump into the comments and share!

www.gaileastwoodauthor.com

Posted in Frivolity, Regency, Research | 7 Replies

The Georgian Bawdyhouse

Updated on August 1, 2013 by Myretta

A friend just returned from a holiday in England and, knowing what kind of girl I am (a writer), she brought me The Georgian Bawdyhouse by Emily Brand. This is one of the excellent Shire Library books found in many of the UK National Trust gift shops. I’m not sure where Laurel got this one. I’ll have to ask her.

Since we’re all interested in bawdyhouses, I thought I’d share some of it with you. The book addresses the long 18th century, but does concentrate largely on the 17th and early 18th. In fact, the illustration at the top of the table of contents is of a Regency era Prince of Wales disporting himself at a bordello.

A young Prinny relaxing in a bawdyhouse

Brand tells us that bawdyhouses were not under the exclusive direction of women. Men (called panders) ran some of the houses and, in some cases, a husband and wife team were in charge. Regardless of who was running it, a brothel could be highly lucrative. In 1743, the Gentleman’s Magazine speculated that Mother Hayward (owner of a bawdyhouse), was worth £10,000 at her death.

Bawdyhouses ran the gamut from poverty-stricken garrets to elegant (or at least expensive) townhouses. Indeed, The Folly was a floating brothel on the Thames.

Prostitution was not illegal, but bawdyhouses could be punished for disturbing the peace. So, apparently, maintaining a respectable appearance was an important factor in running a successful house of ill repute.

Frontispiece 1794 Harris’s List

Brand gives us a selection of terms for prostitutes: drazil-drozzle from Hampshire, dolly-tripe in Warwickshire. The lowest of these were the bunters and hedge-whores. The loftier were squirrels and demi-reps. Their average age was 16 to 24. Between 1757 and 1795, Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies, rather a prostitute directory, provided descriptions of working women, including their age.

The Georgian Bawdyhouse also includes a chapter on the men who frequented these establishment. These ranged from sailors and visiting country squires to The Dukes of Wellington and Queensberry. Of course, the types of houses these men would attend would vary widely, from the tawdry to the palatial.

Early 19th C condom made of sheep gut

Although most of these men gave no thought to impregnating their partners, disease was not uncommon and various types of “cures” (taking the waters, mercury, a remedy served in hot chocolate) and preventive measures existed. Early condoms were made of linen, silk or leather. By the early 19th century, sheep gut soaked in water and tied with a ribbon was the usual. Other inventive measures were taken. Apparently, Casanova once persuaded a lover to use half a lemon rind as a cervical cap.

There is a lot of information in this small book and it’s full of illustrations. Gillray is amply represented. It’s well worth a look if you’re interested in the seamier side of life in the Georgian city. Thanks for the souvenier, Laurel.

Posted in Regency, Research | 3 Replies

The Beau Monde

Updated on July 22, 2013 by diane

I’m back from RWA, all bone-weary and brain-dead, but also rejuvenated and ready to conquer everything about the Romance writing world. I did have a lovely time.

Before the RWA conference, though, there was the Beau Monde conference. The Beau Monde is the Regency chapter of Romance Writers of America and they had a one day conference before the big conference. It is a great time to reconnect with writing friends who love the Regency as much as I do.

Big thanks to Isobel Carr who made the Beau Monde published authors little pins of their latest bookcovers. I wore mine proudly the whole week–until I lost it the last day (sniff!!).

Every one of the workshops I attended at the Beau Monde conference was terrific.

The first was by our very own Risky Susanna Fraser who spoke on Your Hero’s Military History: Beyond Trafalgar and Waterloo. Susanna’s love of the Napoleonic War and its heroes equals (or maybe even exceeds) mine and she did a beautiful job of making a huge topic understandable and useful. Plus in her handouts she provided a fabulous set of timelines.

The next workshop I attended was A Quack or Dr. House by Sharon Lathan, RN, which made the different professions in Regency Medicine much clearer. Now I know the difference between a physician, a surgeon, an accoucheur (midwife) and an apothecary.

The afternoon began with Louisa Cornell, who is such a loyal friend of Risky Regencies. Louisa’s topic was A Great Proficient, about the performance of music in the Regency, especially what a proper lady or gentleman might do. One of the fascinating things about her topic was how similar music became popular then as it does in modern times. One heard music performed, say at Vauxhall Gardens, then ran to the lending library or music shop to get the broadsheet so it could be played at home. The real delight of this workshop, though, was getting to hear Louisa sing. I’ve known for years that she was once a professional opera singer who performed all over Europe, but I’d never before heard her sing!

Last workshop I attended was by our very own Risky, Janet, who talked about The Jewish and Black Communities of Georgian London. I won’t say too much about this one in case Janet wants to expand upon the topic for the blog, but she showed the stereotypes portrayed and some of the ways these groups were assimilated and accepted beyond stereotypic expectations. I will say that Janet was her usual very entertaining self and just listening to her was a pleasure!

The workshops I didn’t get to see were Regina Scott‘s What is So Grand About A Grand Tour, Historical Accuracy: When To Worry And When To Fudge with Anne Cleeland, Jade Lee, and Elizabeth Hoyt, and Ashlyn Macnamara‘s How To Play Whist. But I have the conference tapes so I can catch up on those later!

Later that evening we had the Beau Monde Soiree with Regency dancing. I love this part of the conference because so many of the members dress in Regency dress. I didn’t this year, but wore a long “Regency-esque” dress. One lovely part of the Soiree is that the Mills and Boon editors from the UK (Amanda’s and my editors) always attend. It just seems fitting that they should!

Of course I have NO PHOTOS. I’m terrible at remembering to take pictures until it is too late!

For more on the RWA conference-according-to-Diane, see my blog on Thursday.

If you attended the Beau Monde conference, what was your favorite part. If not, which of these workshop titles most appeals to you?

Posted in Regency, Research, Writing | 4 Replies

Kensington Gardens

Updated on July 12, 2013 by Myretta

I’m revising my current WIP and have come across the scene where my heroine out for a drive with the hero in an open carriage. They have just passed the entrance to Hyde Park and, being new to London, she wonders where they’re going.

They’re headed for a picnic in Kensington Gardens.

When I first worked on this scene, I did a little research on Kensington Gardens and shared it on my personal blog. Since I am quite convinced that my blog has about two followers (including me), I thought I’d share it here as well.

Kensington Gardens is west of and contiguous with Hyde Park. It was carved out of Hyde Park and made what it is today by Queen Caroline, wife of George II. Queen Caroline had The Long Water and The Serpentine (in Hyde Park) created from the Westbourne Stream and separated Kensington Gardens (which was a private park throughout most of the 18th century) from Hyde Park with a ha-ha.

Here is a plan of the gardens from 1754.

Plan of Kensington Gardens 1754

Once the hero and heroine arrive at the gardens, they will get out of the carriage and take a stroll – and who knows what else might happen? Well, I do, but I’m not telling just yet.

Kensington Gardens 1798

I think that, were they to be transported to the present day (which they won’t be), they might recognize a lot of the gardens in which they are strolling.

Kensington Gardens

There are many things, however, that they would not recognize, including the Albert Memorial (Queen Victoria made several additions to the gardens) and the bronze statue of Peter Pan, now a destination for visitors to the park.

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

I had fun finding out what I could do in Kensington Gardens. I hope that Anne and Simon have fun while they’re there and that perhaps one day you can join them.

Prints are from The British Library Online Gallery

Posted in Regency, Research, Writing | 3 Replies

A birthday bump in the night & CONTEST

Updated on July 10, 2013 by Janet Mullany

Happy birthday, a couple of days late, to Ann Radcliffe, 9 July 1764–7 February 1823, mistress of the gothick.

And, oh yes, a contest. We’ll be drawing the names of two people who are subscribers to the newsletter at the end of this month. Your prize–select items from your Amazon wishlist. For full details and a sample of the deathless prose of the Riskies newsletter, check out the one we sent out today here. And if you’re not signed up, then sign up already.

Ah yes. Gothics. The influence of the gothic novel is still with us today; its elements creep into films and novels, and paranormal-influenced romances must be the next step. So what is it about gothics people liked (then and now), other than a good scare and the idea of the TSTL heroine creeping around dark passages and wearing only her nightie?
The gothics of Radcliffe et al feature exotic, often Italian settings, sinister castles and abbeys–something very popular in the regency era, when landowners commissioned picturesque ruins and follies to grace their landscape. As well as the good scare, they have a strong moral twist of justice done and wrongs avenged, with one or two people, usually the hero/heroine or a narrator (like Robert Walton, the narrator of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), who lives to tell the tale, and with whom we can identify. In some cases, as in Wuthering Heights, the matter-of-fact tone of the not-very-bright narrator (Mr. Lockwood) serves to strengthen the supernatural elements; if a twit like Mr. Lockwood can hear the ghostly Cathy at the window, then it must be true. The monsters, real or imagined, are instruments of justice or revenge, like Frankenstein’s monster, or Conan Doyle’s hound in Hound of the Baskervilles, written in 1902 but drawing strongly on the gothic tradition.
I have a soft spot for gothics since the hero of my book Dedication, Adam Ashworth, publishes gothic novels under the name of Mrs. Ravenwood, and I had a lot of fun creating purple passages to head each chapter. I based most of them on the work of the gothic novelist I knew best, Mrs. Ann Radcliffe. She published bestsellers beginning with The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), skewered by Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. The scene where Catherine explores an ancient chest and finds a laundry list is pure gothic pastiche. And remember the horrid veil?
Ah yes, the horrid veil.
If you’ve read Udolpho (it’s still in print) you’ll certainly remember the scene where the heroine discovers the veil and draws it aside (she’s creeping around a secret passage at the time, having been kidnapped to a mysterious castle) and swoons in horror at what she sees. It’s a tremendously effective scene. Every time she remembers it, which is fairly often, there’s a frisson of terror. And so on through the book. You’re still wondering. The references to the horrid veil become less frequent toward the end and you begin to wonder if Mrs. R has forgotten about it. Oh, surely not. Because if you were a character in a gothic who was denied such knowledge you know you’d go mad, or go into a nunnery, or have to pretend to be a ghost or some such. Then, when you’ve almost given up hope, Mrs. R. delivers, sort of. Busy tidying up the odds and ends of the novel, she reveals, in one throwaway sentence, that what the heroine saw behind the veil was the wax effigy of a worm-ridden corpse. Huh? I believe there’s a reason for the wax effigy being there–possibly a warning for visitors to keep out of the secret passage–you couldn’t expect the owner of a castle in a gothic to do anything sensible like post a “Keep Out” or “Servants Only” sign.

What do you like about gothic elements? Have you used them in your books? What gothic-influenced novels do you like? Could you write one with a straight face?

Posted in Jane Austen, Reading, Research | 3 Replies