Author Archives: Janet Mullany

Hot Scything Action

Updated on March 27, 2015 by Janet Mullany

Coming in June, PBS presents the new Poldark, and to put it mildly, I can’t wait. Here’s a preview.

Starring the lovely and talented Aidan Turner (and some other people, but don’t worry about them too much), the series is based on the blockbuster novels by Winston Graham, set in Cornwall. And you know what that means–smugglers! Duels! Naked frolics in the surf! Tin mining! Brawls! Galloping about cliffs on horseback! Shirtless scything!

Some of us who are ahem a little older may remember the 1975 version, starring Robin Ellis, who was also pretty hot, and one of my local PBS stations is repeating the series in all its faded melodramatic glory–the ultimate binge-watch: a show stuffed to the gills with people declaiming their love or damning people to hell. (Sarah Hughes, The Guardian.) One interesting detail, the scar has shifted from the right to the left of Poldark’s face (well, think about it. He’s been wounded by someone right handed, far more likely in an age where left-handers were literally beaten into compliance. Hence, the scar is on his left).

And this new series. Oh boy. Yes, there was hot scything action last Sunday, and Sarra Manning (The Guardian) sums up our hero thus:

He’s part alpha male, part metrosexual, all combined in one HD-ready, smouldering package …He’s imbued with a social conscience, sees the heroine as an equal rather than a commodity to be conquered and possessed, and manages to do all this in a pair of pleasingly tight breeches without banging on about his feelings all the time. Reader, I’d marry him.

Me too. And for those of you who absolutely must take a look Aidan Turner’s pecs and so on, here’s an interview with pics where the actor confessed he took the role to pay the bills and describes how he achieved his impressive physique: Daily Mail.

What will we do until June? Easy. Watch Wolf Hall, and here’s a preview.

Do you remember the original Poldark? Are there any other tv series you’d recommend or that you anticipate?

Posted in TV and Film | Tagged Poldark, Wolf Hall | 7 Replies

Invaders Behaving Badly

Updated on February 25, 2015 by Janet Mullany

This week in 1797, the French invaded Britain.

No kidding. We tend to think of 1066 as the last invasion, but a far less auspicious attempt took place in February, 1797, at a town called Fishguard in Wales. And it’s a great, bizarre story that has trappings of Gilbert & Sullivan and a heroine of a certain age.

The idea was that members of the French Légion Noire would storm Bristol, release the citizens from the king’s tyranny, and, march inland conquering all. But it didn’t work out that way. They were blown off course, and the Légion Noire was not so much a crack regiment as a regiment of crackheads, “the worst soldiers ever,” according to one of the commenters on this video. Most of them had been culled from prisons.

The first thing the gallant invaders did was to get drunk; a Portugese ship had grounded recently on the coast with a cargo of wine. Then, after some looting, they began to mutiny. And the good people of Fishguard, not very keen on the invaders gobbling up their wine and trashing their church, did not flock to the tricouleur.

Then things really got pear-shaped for the French who didn’t realize that Lord Cawdor, commander of the local militia, was hopelessly outnumbered. Had they been better soldiers things might have gone very differently. There’s a legend that the French, who probably couldn’t focus too well, saw some local women in the Welsh national costume of red cloaks and tall black hats, and thought they were English soldiers. A tapestry on display in Fishguard depicts the legendary Jemima Fawr, (Jemima the Great) who, armed with a pitchfork, captured twelve soldiers, locked them in the church, and went out for more. She was 47 years old.

Two days after landing the French surrendered. A peace treaty was signed in the Royal Oak Inn on February 25.

To add to the farcical elements of the story, the French officers broke their parole and escaped in Lord Cawdor’s yacht. Definitely not cricket.

What I love about this story is that it has so many bizarre, incredible elements. What if the French had landed in Bristol, kept out of the pubs, and succeeded? (I used this in my book Jane and the Damned. If you’re going to have Jane Austen become a vampire you can do just about anything else you want). Or landed in Brighton–that was one of the hotspots for an invasion, which is why the regiment was sent there in P&P, not purely because it was a major party town.

Do you know any strange but true historical facts that are begging to have a story built around them?

Posted in History | Tagged Fishguard | 2 Replies

Celebrating Capability Brown

Updated on February 6, 2015 by Janet Mullany

With some pride I can claim I’m ahead of the curve here. Next year, 2016, is the 300th anniversary of the birth of the famous landscaper and designer Lancelot “Capability” Brown, who transformed the grounds of English stately home. Today, however, is the anniversary of his death in 1783. You can visit capabilitybrown.org for lots of information and plans for next year.

An anonymous obituary of Capability Brown reads: Such, however, was the effect of his genius that when he was the happiest man, he will be least remembered; so closely did he copy nature that his works will be mistaken.

And that’s pretty much true. We have come to associate his hallmark “Serpentine” style–gentle undulations of land, curving rivers and drives, circular clumps of mature trees–as what we expect to see when visiting an English historic house. Brown never saw his completed work, trusting to nature and time to finish the job.

He is thought to have worked on over 170 gardens in his 35-year career. He began his career as undergardener and then head gardener at Stowe, one of his most famous creations:

Here’s his plan for Bowood House, with the Grecian temple on the right (east) point and how it looks today:

Blenheim Palace:

Petworth House:

And talking of Capability Brown (his nickname came about from assuring his clients that their estates held great capabilities), let us not forget Terry Pratchett’s fictional Bergholt Stuttley “Bloody Stupid” Johnson from Discworld:

His efforts in landscape design are especially noteworthy, and the Ankh-Morpork palace gardens are considered to be his greatest accomplishment. It is here that we find such creations as the hoho, which is a fifty foot deep ha-ha, the gargantuan beehive currently used as a pigeon coop in the absence of ten foot long bees, a structure referred to only as the “Johnson Exploding Pagoda”, iron patio furniture that melted and crazy paving that committed suicide, and the chiming sundial that also tends to explode around noon. In the palace grounds is also a maze so small that people get lost looking for it. Another notable feature is the ornamental trout lake, built long, but, sadly, only one inch wide. It currently houses one trout that is quite content provided it doesn’t want to turn around. “Perfect for the dieting fish”. At one point there was also an ornate fountain which, upon being turned on, did nothing but groan ominously for several minutes before firing a small stone cherub a thousand feet into the air. Read more

I’m wondering if there are any books with landscape designer heroes or heroines. Enlighten me! Or tell me which historic homes you’ve visited, or would like to visit, in England.

Posted in Reading, Research | Tagged Bloody Stupid Johnson, Capability Brown, landscape design | 15 Replies

Happy New Year

Updated on January 1, 2015 by Janet Mullany

To all our Risky friends. May you have a great 2015 of reading, writing, research, or whatever moves you most; time with family and friends; and good health.