Susanna’s blog post on Friday got me thinking about heroes. I, too, look for images of my heroes and I think the idea of looking at videos of actors is brilliant.

In 2006 I wrote a blog about Regency Heroes, where I pretty much gushed about my favorite type of Regency hero, the soldier, but there are other types which recur in Regency Historicals (including some I’ve written!)

Soldiers.These are my favorite Regency heroes, who, of course, fought in the Napoleonic War, especially at Waterloo. They have strength and bravery. They also have damage from the war, some way the war affected them emotionally, like we talk about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in soldiers today. Why should our soldiers be much different than Napoleonic War soldiers?

Dukes. Dukes in Regency romance, to me, are the “Harlequin Presents” heroes of their time. Harlequin Presents heroes are powerful, wealthy, commanding and seductive. They are used to having their own way–the quintessential Alpha hero. I haven’t written about a duke…yet.

Rakes. We must not forget rakes, those bad boys who have disreputable reputations, but who also have a keen sense of integrity that is all their own. These heroes are fun to write about, which I certainly did in my RITA winner, A Reputable Rake.

Corinthians. A Corinthian is a sporting man. In Regency romance he is the one who is a member of the Four-in-Hand club, meaning he drives his own carriages. He also might ride to hounds, spar with Gentleman Jack in the man’s boxing academy, or fence at Angelo’s fencing club in the same building.

Impoverished Lords. I didn’t know any other way to describe this hero. He has a title or is heir to one or is the younger son, and he lacks money to support his estate or to simply support himself or, in the case of The Mysterious Miss M, support the woman he loves. For the sake of people this hero cares about, he must contemplate stooping to desperate measures.

Of course, we often mix up our heroes, having impoverished lords who were soldiers, or dukes who are Corinthians. That’s part of the fun of it.

Can you think of any other Regency hero types? Which is your favorite?

Congratulations to the following winners of Lord Langdon’s Kiss in ebook format!

bn100
Judy
Satu
Rhonda
Lesley

I’ll be contacting you each, but if you don’t get an email from me, feel free to email me at elena @ elenagreene.com (no spaces).
Thanks for visiting the Riskies!

Elena

Habit, c. 1780s

This week’s post fulfills my promise to showcase red gowns. There are numerous extant examples, ranging from habits (red is a very common habit color, and the most common color for cloaks from what I can tell) to day dresses, to fancy evening gowns. They come in every fabrication possible (wool, silk, netting, linen, cotton) and appear across classes (you see plenty of reds in the scraps preserved in Threads of Feeling). Frankly, Pinterest is overrun with examples.

Open Robe, c. 1790

Round Gown, c. 1795

Shawl Gown, c. 1800

Printed Gown, c. 1800-1805

Red Dot Apron Gown, c. 1800-1810

Red Net Gown, c. 1810-1815

Red Muslin Evening Gown, c. 1820

I’ll bet many of you are doing your income tax returns right now. It is that lovely time of year. Income taxes. A topic that elicits strong emotion and, when filling out the returns, anxiety.

Did you know they had income taxes in the Regency?

Income taxes were first implemented in Great Britain in 1798 by William Pitt the Younger in order to pay for the impending war with Napoleon. It was a graduated income tax starting at 2 old pence in the pound for incomes over 60 pounds per year and rising to 2 shillings in the pound on incomes over 200 pounds.

This income tax was abolished in 1802 after the Peace of Amiens, but a new one was voted in in 1803, again because of the Napoleonic War. It wasn’t called an income tax, though. It was called a ‘contribution of the profits arising from property, professions, trades and offices,’ but, basically, it was an income tax.

Like our taxes, it even had different ‘Schedules.’ Schedule A was a tax on income from UK land. Schedule B, from commercial occupation of land. Schedule c was a tax on income from public securities. Schedule D was tax on trading income, income from professions and vocations, interest, overseas income and casual income (whatever that is!). Lastly, Schedule E was a tax on employment income.

The maximum tax rate seems minuscule to ours in the present day. It was only 5%, but, like all income taxes, it was very unpopular. After its repeal in 1816 Parliament ordered the destruction of all documents connected with it. This was all for show, though. The King’s Remembrancer made duplicates. 

Never fear, though. During that time there were many other taxes for the citizenry to complain about. Taxes on windows and glass, on servants, on carriages, on owning a dog (the more dogs, the more tax). And, of course, the tax on hair powder, which did its part in making that practice go out of fashion.

Winner of the Wellington (abridged) biography by Elizabeth Longford, in honor of The Duke of Wellington Tour, is……Louisa Cornell!! Louisa, I’ll be in touch by email.

So, who is having fun with taxes today?????

(By the way, I was quoted in a lovely blog post about Harlequin Historical on the USA Today Happy Ever After Blog!)

The Toilet of Flora

The Toilet of Flora is “a collection of the most simple and approved methods of preparing baths, essences, pomatums, powders, perfumes, and sweet-scented water with receipts for cosmetics of every kind, that can smooth and brighten the skin, give force to beauty, and take off the appearance of old age and decay.” published originally in 1779.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few of the receipts provided therein so that we may, god forbid, take off the appearance of old age and decay.

Let’s start with a remedy for Corns on the Feet (as you do). Roast a Clove of Garlic, or an Onion, on a live coal or in hot ashes; apply it to the corn, and fasten it on with a piece of cloth. This softens the corn to such a degree, as to loosen and wholly remove remove it in two or three days.

How about A Coral Stick for the Teeth? Make a stiff paste with Tooth Powder and a sufficient quantity of Mucilage of Gum Tragacanth: form with this Paste little cylindrical Rollers, the thickness of a large goose quill, and about three inches in length. Dry them in the shade. The method of using this stick is to rub it against the teeth, which becomes cleaner in proportion as it wastes.

Maybe you’d like you’re worried about your child having excess hair on his forehead. Try A Simple Depilatory.  All you need is Oil of Walnuts frequently rubbed on a child’s forehead to prevent the hair from growing on that part.

If you have a hankering to Change your Eyebrows black, First wash your eyebrows with a decoction of Gallo Nuts; then wet them with a pencil or a little brush dipped in a solution of Green Vitriol, in which a little Gum Arabic has been dissolved, and when dry, they will appear of a beautiful black colour.

And I leave you with a remedy for that ever-troubling problem, Moist Feet: Take twenty pounds of Lee made of the Ashes of the Bay Tree, three handfuls of Bay Leaves, a handful of Sweet Flag, with the same quantity of Calamus Aromaticus, and Dittany of Crete; boil the whole together for some time, then strain off the liquor, and add two quarts of Wine. Steep your feet in this bath an hour every day, and in a short time they will no longer exhale a disagreeable smell.

You’re on your own to find sources of Calamus Aromaticus and Dittany of Crete.  Let me know how you do.

Do take a look at Toilet of Flora.  It’s all there on Google Books.  Yes, most of these receipts are hilarious from where we sit, but some of them might be useful, if not for moist feet, then for authorial purposes.  Enjoy.