Risky Regencies

Lady Miller and Batheaston Poetics

Updated on January 27, 2013 by Diane Gaston

When I was searching for a blog topic I found this on Hillman’s Hyperlinked and Searchable Chambers Book of Days for today. It is Georgian, so one must imagine the parents of our Regency heroes and heroines telling about what they did in their youth on a visit to Bath.

After a Grand Tour of Italy, Lady Miller of Batheaston, an amateur literary figure, brought back an elegant antique vase which she prominently displayed on an altar in their home and formally dedicated to Apollo. Assigning herself the role of high priestess, she invited her guests to assemble twice a week to play homage to Apollo. These salons were popular and, because of the proximity to Bath, any number of important people partook of the ceremonies and refreshment after.

Here’s how it went:

“The worship of Apollo was conducted by each candidate for fame dropping a votive offering, in the form of a short piece of poetry, into the urn, as the whole assemblage marched round it in solemn procession. A lady was deputed to take the pieces one by one out of the urn, and hand them to a gentleman, who read them aloud. The merits of the poems were then considered, and the prizes adjudged, the blushing authors of the four best compositions being presented to the high-priestess, Lady Miller, and by her crowned with myrtles, amidst the plaudits of the company.”

Just picture that….adults in Georgian dress, powdered hair and brocades, marching around in a solemn procession….

I guess it is no worse than playing Pictionary…..

And then:

“The meetings lasted for several years, till at length they were put an end to by a most unwarrantable breach of good manners and hospitable confidence. Some unknown person disgracefully and maliciously contaminated the sacred urn with licentious and satirical compositions, to the great annoyance of the ladies present, and the chagrin of the host and hostess. The urn was thenceforth closed, and the meetings were discontinued for ever.”

One of the poems was included in this account:

Addressed to Lady Miller, on the Urn at Batheaston.
‘Miller, the Urn in ancient time, ’tis said,
Held the collected ashes of the dead:
So thine, the wonder of these modern days,
Stands open night and day for lifeless lays.
Leave not unfinished, then, the well-formed plan,
Complete the work thy classic taste began;
And oh, in future, ere thou dost unurn them,
Remember first to raise a pile, and burn them.’

When my friend Helen has a Halloween party, each of the costumed guests are expected to perform. Some do a reading; some play music. I read from one of my books once. But that is as silly as it gets for any party I’ve attended lately.

What is the silliest thing you’ve done at an adult party? (Refrain from any risque sharing, if you please!)

And……

This is the last week for the Harlequin Historical Author Beach Bag Giveaway. Click HERE for instructions on how to enter for the daily prizes and many chances to win the Grand Prize of a Kindle Fire!

My part of the contest is open now. My official day is this Thursday. I’ll choose my daily winner of a $25 Amazon gift certificate and a copy of A Not So Respectable Gentleman? on June 29, the last day of the whole contest! Click HERE on how to enter.

Posted in Giveaways, Research | Tagged Lady Miller of Batheaston | 4 Replies

Museum Tuesday!

Updated on January 27, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

First of all, to start off my week I got a brand new cover! This book is coming out in October, a sort of sequel to The Winter Queen set at the court of Mary Queen of Scots (I loved doing the research for this one!). She has a lot of hair, but just like with my last Harlequin cover I wanna steal her dress…

And when I was searching around for something for today’s blog, I found out that June 26 marks the anniversary of the opening of the V&A museum in its current location! The Victorian Albert is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, with 4.5 million objects over 145 galleries covering 12.5 acres. Their collections cover design objects from all over world and in every medium imaginable.

The origins of the museum were in the Great Exhibition of 1851, objects from which formed the nucleus of the first collection. (Prince Albert was always very keen to promote English arts and design). It was called the Museum of Manufactures and opened in May 1852 at Marlborough House. The cornerstone of the current Aston Webb-designed building was laid in May 1899, the last official public appearance of Queen Victoria. It was officially opened to the public by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on June 26, 1909 and has undergone numerous extensions since then (including right now).

Just a few of their objects are the Great Bed of Ware (mentioned in Shakespeare plays, see pic below); Henry VIII’s writing desk; the complete Music Room from Norfolk House, 1756; a costume collection of 14,000 objects from 1600 to the present; jewels such as Marie Antoinette’s bracelets and the Beauharnais emerald necklace, given by Napoleon to his stepdaughter; the 13th century Sicilian Tristan quilt; and so, so, so much more. Plus great shops.

Recently the Oklahoma City Museum of Art hosted a great traveling exhibit of objects from the V&A, including clothes, George III’s walking stick, silver and porcelain, furniture, and a writing table belonging to Marie Antoinette. It was a small but beautifully selected exhibit, and I visited it several times! (One of my favorite things they had was this portrait of Madame de Pompadour):

To see explore the museum a bit yourself, visit them here!

Have you been to the V&A? What was your favorite thing there? And what do you think of the cover??

Posted in Research | Tagged covers, V and a museum | 6 Replies

Anachronism vs. Anomaly

Updated on January 26, 2013 by megan

I am currently writing a fluffy historical, sometimes called a wallpaper historical–this is the kind of book where the period is there for mere decoration (hence the wallpaper comment), and period experts will rightly say, “That could never happen in the Regency!”

And usually, I cock an eyebrow when a heroine of any time decides to have sex without considering protection, or the consequences, no matter what time period it is.

But in this book, my hero and heroine will not be going all the way until I’ve figured out how to make it work, in any context (not so much the act itself; I do know how that works).

But my heroine will be doing some heavy petting, so to speak, prior to making a commitment to the hero. I don’t think this is anachronistic behavior; I do believe that human beings of any time did things they perhaps should not. I prefer to think of it that my heroine is extraordinary in any time, although in this period she is an anomaly, particularly as a young aristocrat. Young ladies generally did not do such things. But my heroine, in specific, is.

Perhaps it’s justifying what I’m writing, perhaps it’s just looking at the time through my 21st century eyes, but I am okay with it. The characters are having fun figuring themselves, and each other out, and that shouldn’t be anomalous, no matter when it happens.

Meanwhile, I am glad I have something warm to write when it is so cold outside! Hope everyone is bundled up, sitting at home with a good book and a great cup of tea.

Megan

Posted in Regency, Writing | Tagged Megan | 12 Replies

Castonbury Park: the Spanish Connection by Joanna Fulford

Updated on January 25, 2013 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

Today we’re welcoming Harlequin Historical author Joanna Fulford, to talk about Book 7 (of 8!) in the Castonbury Park series! Comment for a chance to win a copy…

Redemption of a Fallen Woman is the seventh book in the Castonbury Park series and is due for release in February. Hoping to save his family from ruin, my hero, ex-soldier Harry Montague, reluctantly returns to Spain to seek vital information about the death of his brother, Jamie. On arrival in Madrid, Harry meets fiery Spanish beauty, Elena Ruiz. Elena is a fallen woman whose chequered past is about to result in her being incarcerated in a convent. Among her transgressions are the two years she spent with a guerrilla group, fighting the French.

The ideas for this story arose from the years when I lived in Madrid. It was the base for subsequent explorations of Iberia, including the wonderful cities of Seville and Cádiz which feature in the book. My travels often took me up-country as well. One weekend, quite by accident, I discovered Patones, a small hillside village in the foothills of the Sierra de Guadarrama. I suspect that most people find Patones by accident. Even by modern standards it’s pretty remote, but at the time of the Peninsular Campaign (1808-1814) it was truly isolated. In spite of their best efforts, Napoleon’s forces never did find the place so it was spared the ravages inflicted on other villages and towns. It must have been an ideal base for guerrilla fighters during that conflict. Years later the memory of that trip gave me the idea for my heroine’s backstory.

The word guerrilla means little war. Although it was an old established method of fighting, the term was first coined in Spain during the Napoleonic Invasion. The guerrillas used hit-and-run tactics in their insurgency against the occupying French. A French sniper called Mignolet wrote home: “We are surrounded by 40,000 Spanish brigands whom we must fight every day – and the situation gets no better, but worse…”

Mignolet’s pessimistic assessment reflects the part played by the local topography. Spain is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. At its centre are high plains crossed by mountain ranges and rivers. It’s a wild and spectacular landscape, but it’s also ideal terrain for guerrilla warfare. There were numerous bands involved, each with its own agenda. My guerrilla leader, Juan Montera, is fictional, as is the brigand, El Lobo, but they are representative of the different groups in action at the time.

Being undisciplined irregulars, the guerillas were of little use in open battle against cavalry. Where they really came into their own was in providing accurate military intelligence. Wellington had good cause to be grateful for this. After Talavera, for example, he marched off with a force of 18,000 men to attack what he believed to be a detachment of 10,000 French troops. The ‘detachment’ turned out to be three army corps numbering well over 50,000 men. But for a timely warning from the local guerrillas it is likely that Wellington and his force would have been annihilated. Fortunately, he was able to retreat in time.

Spain has been accurately described as a beautiful blood-soaked land. It has shaped my hero and heroine in different ways, and created the deep emotional conflicts that they must resolve. It was fun to go with them on that journey. I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

Posted in Giveaways, Guest, Regency, Research | Tagged Castonbury Park, Joanna Fulford, Peninsular War, Redemption of a Fallen Woman | 19 Replies

Obsessions

Updated on January 25, 2013 by Elena Greene

While I was down with the flu, I was finding it very hard to just rest. I am so unused to lying around and doing nothing! So some of the time I did some crochet and I’ve continued to do bits of it during odd moments, like waiting for my daughter to get out of her play rehearsals, etc… It’s an obsession.

I blogged about Regency Crochet a few years ago. At that point I was unable to discover much evidence of ladies crocheting during the Regency, although it was possible. It was around that time that tambour work (embroidery that resembles crochet on fabric) evolved into what the French called “crochet in the air”. Crochet didn’t become popular in England until the time of Victoria. (Check out that old post if you want to see some examples of truly hilarious modern Bad Crochet.)

Anyway, today for fun I tried googling “Regency crochet”.

I found a book called “Austentatious Crochet: 36 Contemporary Designs from the World of Jane Austen”. Some of the patterns use crochet technique effectively; some I’m not so sure about as they use swathes of single or double crochet (boring!) to do what might be done with ordinary fabrics. For instance, I think I would redo the cover pattern by just adding the crochet embellishments to a knit top.

There’s an example of another pretty item that uses crochet more effectively, Lizzie’s Lace Mantelet, on the Ravelry website.

Sense & Sensibility Patterns has some crochet patterns mostly inspired by periods other than the Regency, but cute, like these Edwardian style earrings designed by Jenny Chancey.

At the Jane Austen Centre website, I found a pattern for crocheted gloves. Now these look fun to make although I wonder if they would stretch as easily as the pattern claims. I have longish fingers and gloves often feel a smidge small to me. If I do this, I’m going to check them against my hands frequently and add rows if I need to.

The Jane Austen Centre also has a page on the art of tatting. That’s something I would very much like to try sometime. It says it can be addictive and I don’t doubt it would be for me! I have a plain fabric reticule made to go with my Regency gown and it would be fun to decorate it with tatting like the one below.

Anyone else enjoy handicrafts of any sort, to make or to wear? What should I work on next (besides finishing the mess-in-progress)?