I recently got the movie Starter for Ten from Netflix. I’m not sure how I missed it before, considering a) it stars the adorable James McAvoy, and b) it’s a British rom-com about, of all things, Academic Team! Well, the British version of AT called University Challenge. I, being a Geek And Proud Of It, was on Academic Team in high school, though I never met anyone like McAvoy at tournaments. Where else could I utilize my basically totally useless knowledge of 19th century British novels, Russian ballet, Olympic figure skating, and Elizabethan poetry??? (Though I was totally no good at almost any kind of science, as well as, oh, the rules of cricket, or the history of Germany. All those duchies, very confusing!). This is also how I know that November 17th was a Very Important holiday in the England of the late 16th century. It was Elizabeth I’s Ascension Day.

Queen Mary died at St. James’s Palace early on the morning of November 17, 1558, and members of the Privy Council immediately set out for Elizabeth’s residence at Hatfield House (where she was practically under house arrest) to tell her the news. They carried Mary’s betrothal ring from Phillip of Spain, to prove to Elizabeth that the queen was dead, so long live the queen. The legend is that they found her sitting under a tree, reading a Bible in Greek. On hearing the news, she proclaimed, “It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Now, I am not at all sure someone would just “happen” to be sitting under a tree reading in November! Maybe she was just out for a stroll, maybe the story is apocryphal, or maybe she heard they were coming and stage-managed the whole thing. She was one of the great stage managers in history). On a side note, the original tree is no longer there, but one was planted in its place by Elizabeth II in 1985. On another side note, when Elizabeth I died in 1603, after a reign of 45 years, she was buried with Mary in Westminster Abbey. The inscription reads, “Partners both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.” Kind of ironic, but I admit I got a little emotional when I saw the tomb (or maybe it was jet lag?)

Anyway, thereafter November 17 was a Big Party at court, and around the country. The big event was always a tournament, with a joust and sports where all the men vying for the queen’s attention could show off. Pomp and chivalry were paramount–all the men carried banners and shields adorned with symbolic images of the queen and their devotion to her. (Jousts, of course, were not all Renaissance faire-ish fun–Henri II of France died in one, and there were always injuries at Ascension Day tournies. No fatalities that I could find, though).

The jousts would be followed by a banquet and ball, maybe a play or tableau celebrating the glorious reign of Elizabeth. At one banquet, the court polished off an ox, 40 sheep, 12 pigs, 132 capons, 5 swans, several pheasants, partridges, herons, pigeons, peacocks, and calves, not to mention fish, chicken, barrels of wine, vegetables and eggs, and sweets. Subtleties made of sugar and almond paste, shaped into castles and other fanciful things, were great favorites on such occasions.

Some of the best-known Elizabethan dances were: pavanes (a stately processional), usually followed by a lively galliard. There were gavottes (a circle dance to a medium tempo), sophisticated courantes and sarabands from France, and almains. The Volte was one of the of only dances that allowed couples to closely embrace (the man showed off his strength by lifting the woman high in the air–this is probably why it’s used so often in movies! See Shakespeare in Love, both Elizabeth movies, and probably various Masterpiece Theaters).

Celebrations were not just held at court. There were bonfires, dances (maybe not pavanes, but bransles and Morris dancers), games, lots of wine and ale, and illuminations all across the country.

So, happy Ascension Day, everyone! We might not celebrate with a Volte and a barrel of wine, but we can toast Good Queen Bess. And look forward to our own bacchanalia–Thanksgiving! I hope you all have a great one. Any big plans? I’m very, very thankful for the Riskies and our friends this year.

Oh, and be sure and join us tomorrow as we welcome our Very First Guest Bloggers! Regina Scott and Marissa Doyle from the blog Nineteenteen will join us, and talk about adventures in writing historical YA. We’re so excited to see them here, and hope to have more guest bloggers in the future.

Make us very thankful by signing up for our monthly newsletter at riskies@yahoo.com! Be forewarned of interviews, guest bloggers, and all the fun holiday surprises coming up…

Amanda’s last post and the talk about RR amateur theatricals got me thinking. I’m not much into acting but there are other things I love to do as an amateur: various crafts and music. I play a Lithuanian folk instrument, the kankles (pictured below) and also play piano “a little” in the tradition of Elizabeth Bennett and Jane Eyre. Since my kids took up violin and piano I’ve been having a blast being a music mom, helping them as they practice and playing duets and trios with them.

Of course, all sorts of arts and crafts, amateur theatricals and music-making were popular among the upper classes during the Regency. Without the media we have now, they needed to find something to do in the evening. Jane Austen took music lessons into her twenties and carefully copied music into books she used to entertain herself and her family. These music books have inspired several recordings. I own one: Jane’s Hand: The Jane Austen Songbooks. Click here to listen to some tracks.

I get the feeling that many people nowadays do not do as much in the way of amateur art as they did in the past. We’ve got such easy access to professional quality art and music that perhaps we wonder if there’s any point in making our own. But I think there’s something special about doing it yourself, even if it will never bring money or fame. There are venues for amateurs: community theatre, church choirs, etc… and you meet some interesting people that way, too.

Now that I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month, I’ve met some local writers who are just having fun with it and not thinking seriously about publication at this stage. At a get together at our local B&N one of them confessed that her husband thought she was crazy for trying to write a novel. I asked her if he would have had the same reaction had she decided to take up piano or pottery lessons. We realized that for some reason a lot of people don’t understand writing for fun. People who wouldn’t think of asking a beginning guitarist when their first gig will be will ask a newbie writer when the book is coming out. It’s as if they don’t realize that it takes time to learn or that the process itself is rewarding.

I’ve always been career-oriented but my best writing happens when I pretend to be an amateur, when I shut off thoughts of the industry and write to please myself. I also think that my amateur craft and music activities are good for my muse–a chance to be creative without the pressure that seems to come with the writing.

So anyway, here’s to the amateurs out there! Let us know who you are and what you do. What do people think of your hobbies? How do you respond?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Lindsey, where are you?

The prize you won, Mary Blayney’s signed copy of Dead of Night, is too special to go uncollected, so please contact us at riskies@yahoo.com before midnight Monday, November 11.

If we do not hear from you by then, we will select a new winner.

Well, I’ve had a pretty good week! I wrote those wondrous words The End on my Sicilian WIP (it still needs some rough edges polished before it flies off, but the hardest part is done! No Hello Kitty whips needed, Megan). I started a new day job with more time for writing and more money (a winning combo, IMO). And I got a big box of new books from the Edward R. Hamilton catalog. Joy!

Now, after last week’s birthday post for Marie Antoinette, you might have noticed I’ve been spending some time on
historyorb.com This is a great site with info on historical birthdays and happenings for every day of the year. So, whenever I’m having a hard time coming up with topics for Saturdays, I can turn here. Like today!

There are two November 10 birthdays with significance for “our” period (it’s also the birthday of the Earl of Essex, but I stuck with the 18th century)–William Hogarth and Oliver Goldsmith. Hogarth was a painter, printmaker, satirist, and social critic born in 1697, living until 1764. The son of a poor school teacher, he was born in London and apprenticed to an engraver in Leicester Fields, London as a boy. He took an avid interest in sketching the street life of the city, and was well-acquainted with the seamier side of 18th century life (his own father was imprisoned in the Fleet for debt for five years, something Hogarth never talked about). In 1729, he married the daughter of a fellow artist. In 1757, he was appointed Serjeant Painter To The King.

In 1731, he completed the earliest of his famous series of moral works, The Harlot’s Progress (the paintings are now lost, but the engravings still exist). In six scenes, it shows the miserable fate of a country girl lured into prostitution. The next series, The Rake’s Progress, follows in eight paintings the reckless life of Tom Rakewell, the son of a rich merchant who wastes his money and dies in Bedlam. (These paintings are now in a gallery room at Sir John Soane’s Museum, where Diane and I actually got to see them!)

in 1743-45, he painted the six works of Marriage a la Mode, a skewering of upper-class society that warned of the miserable tragedy of marrying for money. It shows the fashionable marriage of the son of bankrupt Earl Squanderfield to the daughter of a rich merchant, and ends with murder and suicide. (If it was a romance novel, which the initial set-up suggests it could be, things would have ended far better…)

His later important cycle was Beer Street and Gin Lane, pieces I find endlessly fascinating in their details! Beer Street has happy occupants, drinking the good, healthy beverage of English beer, versus Gin Lane, which causes serious troubles (like babies tossed over railings!).

Hogarth died in London, and was buried in St. Nicholas’s Churchyard, Chiswick. His friend, the actor David Garrick, wrote the inscription.

Oliver Goldsmith, playwright, poet, and physician, was born in 1730 in Ireland, the son of an Anglican curate. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College in 1749, studying theology and law but never being ordained. He later studied medicine in Edinburgh, Leiden, and Padua, returning to London to work as an apothecary’s assistant. He earned extra money as a hack writer, but also worked on more serious poems and became friends with Samuel Johnson, with whom he was a founding member of the “The Club.” His great literary work combined with a dissolute lifestyle led to Horace Walpole nicknaming him “The Inspired Idiot” (not a nickname I covet…). He died in 1774 and was buried in Temple Church. There is also a memorial in Westminster Abbey with an epitaph written by Johnson.

His best known works include the novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), the pastoral poem The Deserted Village (1770), and his plays The Good Natur’d Man (1768) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771, first performed in 1773). I’m especially fond of She Stoops to Conquer, since I got to take part in a production when I was in college! It’s a farce and romantic comedy of errors, initially titled the appropriate Mistakes of a Night.

The central plot follows Charles Marlow, a wealthy young man being forced to marry a woman he’s never met. He’s very shy around women of his own class, but with females of the lower orders he suddenly turns into a lecherous rogue. He sets out to the lady’s family home, Hardcastle Manor, with his friend George Hastings, who is an admirer of Constance Neville, a relative of Kate, the bride-to-be. They get lost on the journey and stop at a tavern for directions. Tony Lumpkin (the bride’s kinsman) comes across them there, and decides to play a practical joke by telling them they are a long way from the Manor and must pass the night at an inn. The “inn” is really Hardcastle Manor, though the two men are too dumb to realize that and behave scandalously!

Kate, meanwhile, disguises herself as a maidservant in order to get to know her might-be fiance. Marlow, of course, falls in love with her, but because she seems to be a maid behaves in a very shocking manner around her. But all misunderstandings are resolved in the end, and everyone lives happily ever after. (I, btw, played Constance, a young lady who is heiress to a vast fortune in jewels. She loves George, who loves her in return, but she is promised to her cousin Tony. She attempts to elope with her true love in one of the many follies in the play!)

So, two more birthdays! Bring out the cake! What are your plans for the weekend (besides celebrating, of course?) I plan to start reading one of my new books as a reward for finishing my WIP, and for writing this post.

Lindsey!
You have won a copy of Dead of Night, signed by Mary Blayney, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, Mary Kay McComas and Ruth Ryan Langan!
Please send your contact details to riskies@yahoo.com