If you have read my first novel, Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, then you know that a duel with swords takes place toward the end. Naturally, in order to present a realistic duel, or simply have a duel at all, I needed to research the hows and whys as pertinent during the Regency...
Castle Howard is one of the most treasured homes in England, located in North Yorkshire. It has been the home to the Howard family for over 300 years, and is still a private residence for the current Howard family. While the house is not a real castle, it was given...
Gentlemen and ladies carried personal cards – often in highly decorative card cases – which they gave to friends and acquaintances. Personalized cards were presented as a matter of course when making a first visit to someone newly arrived in the neighborhood, when calling for the first time on newly...
I love this portrait of David Lyon. Isn’t he dashing? Possibly a bit Darcy-esque? He has the refined air, proud stance, slender musculature, and elegant, chiseled face we all imagine when envisioning Mr. Darcy. His richly nuanced clothes, from the fur lining his coat to the slim cane and dandyish handkerchief, the gentleman in...
Once an object of royal privilege, the parasol had its origins in the ancient east, migrating from China to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent where its use was exclusively to protect from the sun as opposed to rain. It eventually spread to the arid climes of Egypt, Greece, and...
Miser’s purses are known by many names: Misers, miser bags, ring or string purses, stocking purses, and finger purses to name a few. They originated in the late eighteenth century and were popular into the early 1900’s. These purses were used by both men and women and usually were long, almost...
Negus is the name of a drink made of wine, most commonly port, mixed with hot water, spiced and sugared. This mulled wine, created by Colonel Francis Negus (d.1732), was served at the balls in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park and The Watsons, and noted in other classic literature such as Jane...
Continuing on with a study in Floriography — the cryptological communication through flower use or arrangement. For the first post covering A and B flowers, as well as a short history on the “language of flowers”, click HERE. There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s ruefor you; and here’s some...
Floriography — the cryptological communication through flower use or arrangement — has been practiced for thousands of years in numerous cultures. In Europe, especially England, the craze truly bloomed (pun intended) in the Victorian Era, but was seeded and sprouted some one hundred years earlier. Lady Mary Wortley Montegu, wife...
Unlike dip or chew, those moist tobacco products that are ingested orally, or the dried leaves which are smoked, snuff is made from tobacco leaves that have been dried (sometimes via baking in an oven) and then ground into a fine powder. It is insufflated or “snuffed” into the nasal cavity,...
A collection of common terms and titles for law enforcement officials in England up to and encompassing the Regency Era, with a bit of history thrown in. Enjoy! Sheriff comes from the Old English scirgerefa, or shire-reeve, meaning: “representative of royal authority in a shire.” In medieval times a reeve (from the...
Cavagnole was a French game of chance similar to Bingo or Lottery. It was a low stakes game, extremely easy to learn and cheat at, and rather boring to play. Nevertheless, it was very popular. In the late 1730s the game became all the rage among the ladies of Versailles, Queen Marie...
ORGEAT – the drink with the odd pronunciation (I will explain in a moment), is never mentioned by Jane Austen, either in a letter or her novels, but surely would have been known to her. Mentions of Orgeat being served at Almacks and other Society gatherings are scattered throughout letters...
Regency decorations, in most respects, were not all that different from ours today. A Christmas tree was a rarity, becoming most popular thanks to Queen Victoria, although the wife to the Prince Regent, Catherine of Brunswick, was reputed to have brought the custom from her native Germany. For some reason...
Until very recently my experiences with fishing have been practically non-existent. I have vague memories of fishing (or attempting to fish) in the small pond in my hometown. Most often I caught pollywogs and frogs by hand, which in my opinion was way easier than trying to hook a fish!...
