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Monday, January 30, 2012

Wool-crafts from Eras gone by and what is still in use today. By Mary deHaas

 I am one of those crazy people who cannot sit and do nothing.....

But it is more than just having to do something with my hands.
I see it as making the most of every minute available to me. In creating a useful and worthwhile object or gift that began from scratch, comes the achievement and pleasure of the completed article. Like these colourful crocheted butterflies!

In today’s world I believe time has become a most precious commodity, and one I will not waste. I am constantly sharing my valuable time among the ever growing list of things I hope to accomplish.Therefore I must utilize it wisely.

When travelling as a passenger, whether it be car, bus, train or plane, the need to keep my hands active as the miles whizz past, is a necessity. Thankfully I do not suffer from nausea that comes from having my attention given head down to knitting or reading a book
Even watching T.V. I will always find something to do, even if it is just cutting out pictures, such as used for the intricate art of decopage. Another interesting topic for later.

The opportunity to create is all around us so there’s not a minute to be spared.
In the past home crafts were not only for enjoyment and to keep wandering minds and idle hands busy, but also done out of necessity. Spinning and weaving the yarn, then using it to turn into clothing, blankets and wears. Knitting, hand stitching and embroidery, created a world of lovely garments, while darning gave life back to old or worn clothes and footwear, such as stockings and socks. It was a time when nothing was wasted or simply thrown away as we are inclined to do today!
In many European countries like Sweden, Germany, Bulgaria and Hungry, Folk Art was used to decorate the interior of the house during the winter months when occupants were snowed in.

I was lucky to learn many of these crafts from my mum, who created lovely pieces of clothing and beautiful needlework. I learnt knitting first, because two needles were a lot easier to manipulate than the fine mechanics and patience needed for one fine hook and thin cotton. It would be years later before I would be able to do fancy lacy stitching around face-washers and linen doilies, and make my own crotched squares for blankets.

With the introduction of the manufacturing age, hand-made articles declined. Time became sparse and numerous home-crafts were in real danger of becoming as extinct as the do-do bird. But in the past few years, many of these time honoured crafts are making a huge come back. And thank goodness I say. One can experience the calming effects of using these quiet skills, along with the, pride, joy and satisfaction that comes from completing something by yourself and with your own hands. More often than not, it has been my own experience to find the quality of handmade articles is by far more superior than anything made commercially or by bulk. It is also a pleasure to see a new, younger generation interested and eager to learn these old-fashioned skills. Wool and fabric shops are becoming popular once more.

So what kinds of wool crafts do I enjoy to do?
Many of the old hand-crafts are still in use today. The more popular ones and those which I am most fond of and enjoy to do are: Knitting, Crotchet, Cross stitch, Latch hook, Tapestry, Long stitch and Macramé.
Recently a lovely friend from the United States sent me a beautiful Cross-stitch of a fairy, complete with sequins and bead-work! With hours of dedicated work--you just know that people care when they gift you with such a time consuming gift. Thank-you Moira ... I will always treasure it.

DID YOU KNOW?
You are never too old to learn a new skill. Last year my DH and I attended a medieval Festival in Queensland-Australia, near Bribie Island. The Fair itself was simply amazing but that will be a topic for another time.
While there, I came across another interesting form of wool craft—Lucet.
The Lucet, otherwise known as a chain fork, is a simple forked wooden device used to produce strong, non stretching braids, like friendship bracelets. During medieval times, braids were used to attach useful and valuable items to one's belt, as well as to produce headbands, necklaces and bracelets.
http://www.makeitnow.co.uk/acatalog/The_Ancient_Lucet.html

For me, it was a new way of working with wool, but in reality it was one that is 1000’s of years old. A usefulcraft that has been passed down from the times of the Vikings. I was so impressed I bought a tool and with a few lessons I was on my way.
Here are some interesting sites you may wan to check out on the Lucet.
Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Historical Hearts Good News


Another great week on the Historical Hearts blog.
Join us in congratulating the following members on their excellent news.


Annie Seaton is now offering her services as an editor.
So if you have a ms you wish her to edit for
publication  and / or submission
please visit her website here for further details.


Alison Stuart has signed a contract for her novel
'Gather the Bones'
Available soon from Lyrical Press.
Alison calls it her 'Downton Abbey with Ghosts' story.
Sounds terrific and we can't wait to see the cover.
Congratulations, Alison!!


Anne Brear (Whitfield)
Is celebrating the release and beautiful cover love
for two of her historical novels.
'A Noble Place'
and
'The Gentle Wind's Caress'
These covers are just divine and I can't wait to read them both.
(further details below)

Australian Historical Available February 2012

Blurb:
Australia 1850.  Phillippa Noble, strong minded, spirited and adventurous, urges and encourages her parents and her twin to emigrate to the distant land of Australia to begin again. In a new country they can put their tainted past behind them, and Pippa can forget the unrequited love she felt for a distant cousin. Pippa blossoms in the new country and is determined that their horse stud will be the finest in the land. However, circumstances ensure that not all is golden. For every success, she has to bear up under the challenges of bushfire, death, the return of an old love and danger on the goldfields. Her strength is tested as she tries to find the right path to happiness, but it is the near loss of her dearest friend that makes her realise true contentment rests within her grasp and she must not let it go.

English Historical Saga Available June 2012
More details of this story coming soon...


Maggi Andersen has signed a contract to write
a three book series for Knox Robinson Publishing.

The series working title is: 'The Spies of Mayfair'
Book One: 'A Baron in her Bed' - Available Sept 2012
Book Two: 'Taming a Gentleman Spy' - Release date tba
Book Three: title & release date tba
Congratulations Maggi!! Amazing News!!


Congratulations again ladies
and keep the good news coming!



Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Costumes

While visiting York Castle Museum in England, I took some photos of Regency and Victorian costumes for research purpose, although I don't write Regency, my friends do, and I thought they would like to have the photos too.
So here are a few snaps.


Victorian

Monday, January 16, 2012

Courtship Throughout History - Regency England

By Danielle Lisle

Over my next few posts, I plan to take us all on a ride through time and witness some of the differences society standards and geological distance played in regards to young lovers and their courtship. You might be surprised to learn it was not as you thought it to be.

Regency England (early 1800’s)
 
Have flowers and candy always been the way to a woman’s heart?
Seemingly not.

I often wonder while I sit in my comfy recliner, watching regency movies or reading a new and exciting historical novel; Are the happy ever afters truly accurate? Do they really happen like we dream, watch or read about?

It turns out that fiction is simply fiction and majority of the time love has very little to do with a couple’s courtship. How sad.
Now this is not always the case, but it sadly occurred with some regularity among noble houses in the Regency period. People married for money and station in the past, with love having little or anything to do with the union. I guess I can see why it was so accepted to have a mistress back then. It makes me want to weep at the idea of a woman never finding her true love or happy ever after in life. Am I alone in this thought?

I guess there is an ideal example of the hardships woman faced back in the Regency in regards to marriage. The truth is, a woman had very little choice in the matter of her husband-to-be. Fathers ‘owned’ their daughters in a sense and contracts were drawn up once a settlement was agreed upon by the future groom and the bride’s father. But first, a woman needed to be chosen. And how was that done? *very big grin*

House parties and balls were a good opportunity for fathers and eager mothers to parade their young daughters around like horses up for sale at the stockyards. The young women (around seventeen years old) would be dressed in the latest fashion, jewelled in extravagant pieces and educated in the art of snagging a husband. After all, it was a woman’s goal in life to marry and run their own household. *can you hear me snorting people?*
The girls would be introduced to the men in attendance either by the host, their mother or a friend. It wasn’t like today, where you (okay, like me) would sashay up to a fella in a nightclub or bar and wink, ‘Hey stud, wanna dance?’ He would in turn give you a saucy grin and pull you onto the dance floor where you would bump and grind to the latest song on the pop charts. *snort* Hardly. A lady could never appear eager (I clearly wouldn’t have survived back then) or approach a man, especially if she had never been formally introduced to him before. There was a format that needed to be followed and strict unwritten rules that governed everyone, from the royalty to the labouring poor.
It wasn’t always peaches and cream for the men either, they were ‘expected’ to dance with all the girls making their come out, if not for the prospect of finding a bride but to appease their mothers, whether because they felt sorry for the wall flower sitting by the sideline or because they were a friend of a friend of a friend etcetera, it was still the expected thing to do. It was in these moments that a lady needed to shine. Her dancing needed to be precise and angelic, her manner needed to be demure and educated and her appearance needed to capture the man’s attention. Low necklines exposing the ‘girls’ was not unheard of either. But snagging a young buck was not always the easiest thing to manage.
A Regency Brothel

Men or boys (depending on your point of view) were ‘expected’ to sow some ‘wild oats’ before settling down and choosing a bride, likely because their father before them had done the same thing. College, at either Oxford or Cambridge, had little to do with education (in their mind anyway) and more to do with exploring life away from under their mother’s hand. Gaming Hells and Brothels catering to high society gentleman were a lucrative establishment to run, with regular visits from young gentlemen to their favourite courtesan or card table.
As a result, gentlemen did not generally marry at a young age and the men who were truly available to a debutant was likely quite older than she.

But what happened once a young lady actually caught a gentlemen’s eye?

Well, the idea of flowers and candy was not at all a reality back then. ‘Feel sorry for em now, huh?’ It was prohibited (not by a law, but simply society standards) that a man and woman could not correspond or exchange gifts. It was only into the Victorian era that flowers and candy became acceptable gifts, but that was all. The first gift a man would generally give his wife was her wedding ring and oddly they were not always expected or common.

So how did they get to know each other then? Well, in my opinion they didn’t, but I’m sure that’s debatable. A young lady’s most precious asset was her ‘virginity’ and it was not wise to call that into question or unmarried you would stay. It was therefore important that an unmarried woman was chaperoned at all times when outside of her home. She was accompanied by her mother, a member of the family or maid at every moment, whether it be a carriage ride in the park, a shopping trip or making a call to a friend, ensuring her ‘maiden state’ was never called into question. She was never, ever, left alone in the company of a man, courting or otherwise. Can you imagine trying to date a bloke with your mother listening to your every word? *shudders* I, for one, am glad times have changed.
I like thinking back to the Pride and Prejudice movies, either the early miniseries or the recent movie to explain this next point. Do you ever see Mr Darcy and Miss Bennett touch? Do you see them kiss? Well, they do kiss, but only AFTER they’re married. They never hold hands, or show any affection towards each other in any form of physical contact, simply because it just wasn’t done back then. Nor do they address each other by their given names, as that would appear far too ‘vulgar’ and call the poor woman’s virtue into question. *sigh* So, how did they truly do it? It was trying, to say the least.
While there is just something romantic about the Regency period, I think it is fascinating to learn that the idea of sending flowers and candy was not a reality in any way, shape, or form. But then again, there was always the opportunity to go riding with the handsome gentlemen, just sadly with your mother in tow. 
WIN ME!
Comment below for your chance to win a copy of Regency Pleasures by Louise Allan.
Danielle can be contacted via her website, Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Historical Hearts Good News


Congratulations go to the following HH authors
for their FANTASTIC news to kick of our
Good News Posts for 2012!!!


Bronwyn Stuart has signed her FIRST writing contract
with Carina Press for her Regency historical romance
'Scandal's Mistress'
to be released before the end of the year.
Congratulations Bron, we're all so happy for you
and can't wait to read 'Scandal's Mistress'.

 
To wet your appetite here is the blurb for Scandal's Mistress:

Love. It’s the cruelest mistress of all. When you have it, it hurts. When you lose it, it nearly kills you. But what if he doesn’t believe in it and she doesn’t want it…

Italian opera singer, Carmalina Belluccini, has been alone with her bad luck and morbid thoughts for too long. When a man who is no angel offers her an affare, dignity and desire start to battle within her. She is no courtesan and certainly not mistress material, only, when her beautiful voice fails she finds herself in a position too difficult to refuse Justin Trentham’s protection. But what is he hiding and why is he so desperate to create the scandal of the season?


Danielle Lisle has signed her second publishing contract with
erotic Regency historical
'The Virgin at Goodrich Hall'
2nd story in 'The Rogues of Deception' series.
We'll keep you posted on the release date!
 
 
To wet your appetite here is the blurb for 'The Virgin at Goodrich Hall':
 
The rumour of a place housing mindless pleasure is too much temptation for this young maiden to ignore. Lady Margaret knew her father would choose her a suitor soon, but how could she find passion with a man twice her age? With the fear she would never experience anything with her husband other than her duty of providing him an heir, she set out for Goodrich Hall, a whispered about mystery of the ton. Propriety and good sense be damned, she would not die without experiencing the pleasure a real man could offer!
 
As soon as the young maiden entered the Hall, Victor knew he would have her. Her masked face and barely there silks, which clung to her body with a lust of their own, sent a rush a need through his body. It was not until she melted against him later, her passion fully stated, did he realise he might have taken on more than he first thought. He needed to her, regardless of if she wanted him or not.
 
 
Such wonderful news. Congratulations again
and keep the good news coming, ladies.
 
 
 
 


Monday, January 9, 2012

Laws of Old England - Part 1


Old England, what a fascinating place, and what could be more fascinating than the laws of Old England. Over a thousand years of kings, queens and lawmakers made for some less than sensible laws, needless to say one blog won’t be enough.


It all started with the signing of the Magna Carta [English charter] by King John at Runnymede in June 1215. It consisted of 60 clauses, of which three still exist today.


Pivotal moment: King John of England signs the Magna Carta in Runnymede in 1215. It limited the power of the monarch and is responsible for the strong tradition of civil liberties that Britain enjoys today. Bettmann/Corbis


One defends the freedom and rights of the English church, another confirms the liberties and customs of London and other towns, but the third is the most famous:

No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised [deprived] of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgement of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.


Along with Magna Carta, Henry III also signed a law decreeing the death penalty for anyone found killing, wounding or maiming fairies. This being only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the strange and gruesome.


Some of the predecessors to make their mark on the laws included; Henry III, Edward I, George IV and Queen Victoria. The lawmakers continued to make alterations right up until 1969.


Habeas corpus – the cornerstone of liberty – did not appear until 464 years after the Magna Cater in 1679. In 1621, Alice Robinson and her husband were holding a rowdy, drunken party at their home in High Holborn, London. A passing constable heard ‘a brawling, fighting noise’ and entered the house to investigate. Inside, he alleged, he found ‘men and women in disordered and uncivil accompanying together’, so the party-pooping policeman accused Alice of keeping the whole parish awake with her revelry. When she swore at him, he arrested her and she was imprisoned in the Clerkenwell House of Correction.


Alice’s revellers missed her wild parties and pushed for her release, eventually forcing the authorities to bring her before the courts. She told a harrowing tale and when it transpired she was pregnant , there was an outcry, the jury acquitted her and the constable who had taken her into custody found himself in Newgate Prison on the grounds that he had arrested her without a warrant – and the justice of the peace who had signed the warrant for her detention was reprimanded.


The result was the Habeas Corpus Act which takes it name from the first words of the writ issued to enforce it: ‘Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum’, which means ‘You should have the body for submitting.’


All the above laws were being enforced by a number of different courts, some still sit today while others are in abeyance because no one has taken the trouble to abolish them. They include; The Court of Chivalry, The Prize Court, Courts Leet, Stannary Courts and Ecclesiastical courts.


There were many Fuedal Laws and each age had its barbarity. Be warned the following accounts are slightly disturbing.


The Saxons

Until Henry III began to record and organise the laws of the land, the law was pretty much what those in power said it was.


Saxon law could be quite barbarous and lords ruled over peasants with a rod of iron. The slightest offence could incur torture or death. For breaking dish or spilling wine, a servant might have their ears cut off, nose slit or lose a hand. While murderers and thieves could find sanctuary in a church, this privilege was not extended to servants, who could be dragged forcibly from the alter.


The Normans

William the Conqueror introduced to England the ‘Forest Law’ which granted his feudal lords hunting rights and the sole rights to cut down trees on the lands that he gave them. He was inordinately fond of hunting and cleared vast areas, moving large numbers of villagers and peasants to make way for the chase. These deer parks were policed by ‘foresters’ and anyone caught poaching was liable to lose their testicles as well as their eyes.


The feudal lord still had absolute power over his family. Robert de Belseme, Earl of Shropshire, Arundel and Shrewsbury, one of the most powerful and defiant barons of Norman times, tore the eyes out of his own children when they hid their faces behind his cloak in a game, and had his wife locked in fetters and thrown into a dungeon, only to have his servants drag her to his bed each night before returning her to the dungeon in the morning. He refused to ransom his captives, preferring to have both men and women impaled on stakes. Even his friends were wary of him – he could be chatting away one minute then suddenly plunge his sword into the other person’s side and roar with laughter.


The Plantagents were little better. Richard the Lionheart made a law against thieving sailors, which said: ‘Whosoever is convicted of theft shall have his head shaved, melted pitch poured upon it, and the feathers from a pillow be shaken over it that he may be known; and shall be put on shore on the first land which the ship touches.’


Private prisons were being built and inmates had to pay for their upkeep. Gaolers were particularly harsh on those who failed to do so. In 1290, the gaoler at Newgate bound a prisoner so tightly with irons that his neck and spine were broken, while in 1384, at Sarum gaol, the gaoler kept a prisoner in stocks so long one winter his feet rotted away.


Sometimes the method of proving a defendant innocent could be just as barbarous and deadly.


Trial by ordeal was common in medieval times. If the trial was by fire, the accused would be forced to carry a red-hot piece of metal a set distance – usually the length of the nave of a church – or walk blindfolded over a bed of coal. If they emerged unscathed, or the wounds healed quickly, they would be found not guilty.


When Queen Emma, the mother of Edward the Confessor (1024-1066), was accused of a ‘criminal intrigue’ with Alwyn, Bishop of Winchester, she was forced to walk blindfolded over nine red-hot ploughshares – one for each of the manors she was accused of giving to her lover. Not only did she manage this, but also when she had done it she innocently asked when the ordeal was going to begin. This restored her reputation and convinced the populace of her innocence to such a degree that she gave another 21 manors to the Bishop without eliciting a murmur. Trial by ordeal was banned by the Pope in 1215, though it took some time before the ban was implemented in England.


As well as trial by Fire there was also Trial by Combat and Trial by Swallowing. Imagine having to prove your innocence by swallowing consecrated barley-cake. They believed that a lying mouth would choke on it.


If a culprit wanted to escape punishment he could claim sanctuary. Since Saxon times every church had to provide a safe haven for 40 days, after which the fugitive had to ‘abjure the realm’ – make their way to a seaport ‘with a wooden cross in their hands, barefoot and bareheaded, in their coats only’. It was an offence to molest an abjurer who was genuinely en route out of the country. When he reached port, if no ship was ready to take him, he had to wade out into the sea up to his knees every day to show he was serious about leaving until he found passage.


Some places offered permanent sanctuary – notably the lands around the great abbeys and churches. The centre of sanctuary was a ‘fridstool’ or ‘chair of peace’, which extended for a mile around it, with the limits marked by stone crosses, once inside a criminal was safe as any infraction of the right of sanctuary invited severe penalties.


One of the most famous sanctuaries was at Beverley, which had been granted its charter by King Athelstan. Near the altar of St John’s was the fridstool ‘to which what criminal soever flies had full protection’. Sir John Holland took sanctuary in the Church of St John at Beverley after taking revenge for the death of this squire by killing the son and heir of Hugh, the second Earl of Stafford. Holland was the half-brother of Richard II, so it was only a question of sitting it out until the Kind came through with a pardon.


Beverley was a sanctuary for fugitives-this is the sanctuary chair or "Fridstool" from which the boundaries of the sanctuary area were measured.


Needless to say the system of sanctuary led to gross abuse. The criminals would devise new robberies, nightly they would venture out to rob, steal, and kill then come in again.


The system became under threat. Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull relating to English sanctuaries which said that anyone who left a sanctuary’s asylum lost his right of protection, even if he returned later. It was further eroded as Henry VIII abolished the right for those accused of treason when in 1530 he effectively abolished the right of abjuration as too many criminals were escaping abroad. From then on, once inside a sanctuary, inmates had to stay there for life, wear a badge twenty inches long, were forbidden to carry weapons and could not leave their lodging during the hours of daylight. Statutes of 1604 and 1623 removed the last legal vestiges of the sanctuary almost everywhere, but there were still a few palatine counties that maintained special sanctuaries.


And, finally, the laws of Swan Upping. Swans have been royal birds since 1186, and the only bird that can be ‘estray’ – that is, if they are found on common land or open water they belonged to the Crown as a prerogative right. The crown can grant the privilege of keeping swans on open water provided they are marked and pinioned – that is, their wing feathers are removed so they can’t fly. But if a bird strays and is not recaptured within a year and a day the ownership passes back to the Crown.


Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she is shown an orphaned cygnet at Oakley Court on the river bank during a swan upping census on the River Thames on July 20, 2009 near Windsor, England. During the ancient annual ceremony the Swan Marker leads a team of Swan Uppers on a five-day journey along the River Thames from Sunbury-on-Thames through Windsor to Abingdon counting, marking and checking the health of all unmarked swans.

(July 19, 20092009-07-19 16:00:00 - Photo by WPA Pool/Getty Images Europe)


The swan’s royal status was enshrined in stature with the Act of Swans in 1482, which introduced a right of ‘possession by prescription’ and a property qualification that restricted the possession of a swan mark to certain landowners to distinguish their birds. Swan marks were devices taken from the family coat of arms of the owner and cut into the upper beak with a sharp knife; they were then registered in ‘swan rolls’. Once legally obtained by a grant from the Crown they became the absolute property of the owner.


Special swanning courts known as ‘swan motes’ were set up to enforce the laws. These courts also had the power to draw up regulations affecting swan-keeping in their area and settle disputes concerning ownership.


In 1494, Edward IV enacted ‘that no one could have a game of swans’ unless ‘he may dispend five marks a year freehold’.


Even today there is still a ‘Master of the Swans’ who is responsible to the Crown for the care of the royal swans and the general supervision of swan-keeping throughout England, the post dating from at least the fourteenth century.


Today, the swans on the River Thames have just three owners – the Queen herself and two City livery companies, the Dyers (single nick on the beak) and the Vintners (a nick on both sides of the beak). Royal swans are unmarked nowadays, so the Queen owns any strays. The annual marking of swans is called ‘swan upping’, or sometimes ‘swan hopping’, and has been carried out on the Thames for around 500 years, the ‘upping’ referring to taking the birds out of the water. In the eighteenth century this became an elaborate ceremony, with specially decorated boats and the Master of the Swans and his ‘swan-uppers’ dressed in ceremonial costumes. It takes place during the third week in July when the cygnets are about a month old and are considered old enough to be handled. The birds are lifted and counted, numbers recorded and given the same ownership mark as their mother. A final health check is done before returning them to the water.


Feudal laws are just the beginning of some of the strange laws to protect Old England. Next time the restriction of fun will be explored including drunkenness, cockfights and the outlawing of mince pies at Christmas!


References

The Strange Laws of Old England, Nigel Cawthorne

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/basics/basics.html

Images

http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrightsandwrongs/800-years-making

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/0v6jg4XgXmW/Queen+Elizabeth+II+Attends+Annual+Swan+Upping/D7UIl-Cn-HC/Queen+Elizabeth+II

http://www.annandave.org/Beverley%20Minister.htm

Saturday, January 7, 2012

THE IDEAL GEORGIAN WOMAN by Maggi Andersen


Advice to a Lady
Seek to be good, but aim not to be great,
A woman’s noblest station is retreat,
Her fairest virtues fly from public sight,
Domestic worth, that shuns too strong a light.
Lord Lyttelton

The feminine ideal of Georgian womanhood may best be defined as a combination of moral perfection and intellectual deficiency. She was required to be above all things a ‘womanly woman’ meek, timid, trustful, clinging, yielding, unselfish, helpless and dependent, and robust in neither body nor mind. She was also expected to be a thoroughly practical domestic sort of person, not educated except in how to run a domestic establishment with good sense of judgment. Her tombstone might say she was born a woman and died a housekeeper. She was also a model wife and mother. The only career open to her was marriage, and she would have considered a loveless marriage infinitely more respectable than the pursuit of a profession. If a suitor presented himself it was her duty to love him, or at any rate marry him. Because masculine idealists of the time felt ‘The soul of the true woman finds its supreme satisfaction in self-sacrifice’ the woman who rejected this must renounce all claims to womanliness.
The kitchen and the nursery were her sole spheres of action. She must treat her men-folk with respectful admiration and accept their judgments in a spirit of childlike faith and obey them with unquestioning submission.
 


The education and training of the ideal woman was completely subordinated to the tastes and demands of men. In the words of Jean Jacques, “Woman was created to give way to man, and to suffer his injustice …. To please us, to be useful to us, to make us love and esteem them, to educate us when young and take care of us when grown up, to admire and console us, to render our lives easy and agreeable.”

Jane Austen made mention of the prejudice with sweet-tempered sarcasm in a passage in Northanger Abbey. "... in justice to men, that though to the larger and more trifling part of the sex imbecility in females is a great enhancement of their natural charms, there is a portion of them too reasonable and too well-informed themselves to desire anything more in a woman than-ignorance." 

Below: A shell-encrusted surround to a window in the Shell Gallery at A La Ronde, Devon made by the spinster cousins Jane and Mary Parminter, 1790c/
The doctrine that it was unfeminine for a ‘female’ to pursue any exact study, led in the course of time to the curious notion that it was unfeminine for her to do anything well. Unable to execute anything with professional skill, during the reigns of the third and fourth Georges, they were forced to they deliberately invented a kind of ‘mock art’. Modeling in clay was unfeminine but modeling in wax or bread a feminine occupation. Filigree and mosaic work was copied in coloured paper, medals were made of cardboard and bold-leaf, Dresden china of rice paper, cottages of paste-board, flowers of lambswool, coral of blackthorn twigs painted vermilion and ‘Grecian Tintos’ were painted –or plastered-with black lead mixed with pomatum, the lights being scratched out with a penknife. This medium was considered particularly adapted for sea and moonlight pieces.
In my novel, The Reluctant Marquess, which is to be released in March, Lord Robert expects as a Georgian member of the aristocracy that his wife will make the necessary adjustments to fit in with his way of life. He is shocked to find that his country-bred wife, Charity, the daughter of an academic, has a mind of her own. Her small rebellion against the strictures of society is sculpting in wood, which she learned from her grandfather. Thrown into a marriage of convenience, Charity wishes to be more than just decorative adjunct to her husband. Determined to live on her own terms, she fights for true intimacy with the handsome, moody and complex man she married.

References:
Side-Lights On The Georgian Period by George Paston
Behind Closed Doors At Home in Georgian England by Amanda Vickery

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Happy New Year


Happy New Year!!!!!



From all the writers at
Historical Hearts.

We hope you have a great
New Year and we look forward
to seeing you all again in
2012!