Regency Romance Novels

Regency Notes

Burns Night…

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Robert Burns
Robert Burns

My Goblin’s Scottish blood gurgled to the surface this evening (he also has lots of English blood). He turned to me out of the blue and said, “It must be Burns night!” I was like…what? Oh! You mean Burn’s Night! Tonight Scotland celebrates Robert Burns, the poet who wrote poetry in the common Scottish dialect. Born 25 January 1759, Burns died young at 37 on 21 July 1796. His most familiar work today is Auld Lang Syne…which has become a Western New Year’s sing along. When I think of Burns I think of his song/poem, My Love is Like a Red Red Rose which I first discovered when I was about twelve. It’s a lovely song and is still being sung after more than two hundred years. I found several examples on Youtube, but I thought this one sung by a Scottish woman was most appropriate. So here is a song sung throughout the Regency, still being sung today!

Speaking of Burns and love…

In 1788 Robert Burns married Jean Armour. I wish I could go back in time and put my ear to the keyhole as they discussed their wedding plans. In the end, Burns purchased 15 yards of black silk from a merchant in Glasgow, for Jean’s wedding dress and apparently paid about £7. That would have been quite a considerable sum for a working man. Here’s to Burns! May your songs be sung for another two hundreds years!

PS
I’ve finally finished Dancing the Maypole (though I’m thinking I might sneak in an epilogue after all). I’m now waiting for the Goblin to work his magic and get it put on line. If you’re not one of my Members and you’d like to receive an e-mail when it’s published. E-mail me and I’ll put you on the list. If you’re a Member I’ll send you a newsletter when it’s ready.

Chawton online Library…

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I’ve just discovered that the Chawton online Library has changed their online address as well as their website so I’ve just updated my link (which before took people to a blank page – sorry about that). If you haven’t visited the site to browse their free on line novels (all of them old, rare and written by women – some of them Regency romances written during the Regency) be warned it’s a tempting time warp that will suck you in and you won’t want to leave! The library introduces itself like this… [Read more…] about Chawton online Library…

Book Review: The Treasury of Flowers…

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This afternoon I stopped off at my favorite charity shop to see if there were any interesting books and I found one called ‘The Treasury of Flowers’ by Alice M Coats (published 1975). I’ve had a fearful fascination of plants and flowers since I was a small child. When I was about 4 and a half we moved out of town to this small farm. One morning I was out in the fields with my mother when she pointed at foxglove and said, “That’s foxglove! Don’t touch it or you’ll die!” The big red mushrooms with pretty white spots in the surrounding forest were similarly pointed out along with black widow spiders. “You see that black spider with the red spot? If it bites you, you’ll die!” Needless to say, along with a fear of imminent death I developed a fascination for flowers. Obviously I didn’t grow into a botanist, but thankfully one doesn’t have to be a scientist to enjoy flowers or even go near flowers. One can look at pictures.

As long as there have been books there have been books on flowers. Coats’ book is a presentation of 118 prints by various artists over the centuries that have been overlooked because they’re small (some of them very small). I didn’t really understand what exactly the book was when I bought it. I just noticed it had prints of flowers starting from the early printing press using woodcuts through to the mid 1800’s and I thought it might be interesting. It is! Coats unearths all sorts of interesting facts and vignettes about the artists and plants in the prints. Plate 32 alone makes this book a treasure. [Read more…] about Book Review: The Treasury of Flowers…

Come into my parlour said the spider…

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There’s an organization in England called The National Trust which owns lots of houses…lots of land…lots and lots of stuff! They own more stuff than any one person could see in a lifetime without one’s eyes drying up, falling out and ending in one of their collections of stuff. Sensing their hoard might be missing a trick (ie missing opportunities to make money) they’ve put online a collection of photographs of some their stuff (and offer the option to purchase large detailed photos for personal perusal). If, like me, you enjoy trawling through endless photos of antiques (because you never know what might inspire a romance novel or end up on the must have wish list) this website is for you! Some of the souls choosing items to be photographed for the collection appear to be either blind or mad (is there anyone out there in the known universe who lives to trawl through numerous photos of pewter dishes that all look alike?), but that’s part of the charm. Typing “pewter” into the search box (you have to click on the search button – pushing the enter key does nothing) on the second page I discovered a pewter bedpan from 1820… [Read more…] about Come into my parlour said the spider…

Cabinet No 1…

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Last month I persuaded my Goblin to take me to this antique market west of Lincoln. It’s an ex military base where the old RAF buildings have been taken over by various individual businesses many of which sell antiques. I’d decided that I needed (yes, needed) to treat myself to something Georgian…preferably something that had been manufactured before and then survived the Regency period.

Being an overly optimistic soul I had visions of finding an ugly ceramic figurine or clock that no one else wanted. I gave myself a budget (that could be given stretch marks if I saw something that called my name and promised I’d die without it). The Goblin only lasted the first building and then went back to the car for a nap. I carried on, determined to find treasure. After three buildings I’d seen about three things I liked (in the first building), but none of them made me feel anything. I looked at the objects. They stared back. They were lovely, but they weren’t for me…particularly after I gave myself a mental slap and asked myself if I really wanted to spend 80 English pounds for a cup and saucer that for all I knew was worthless. I kept looking. I was feeling exhausted when I entered the fourth building called Astra Antiques Centre. As I stepped inside and saw all the glass cabinets my spirits rose. Behind all that glass had to be at least one thing for me.

Just inside the door, I was peering into the nearest case when I overheard the young man behind the counter tell three apparent customers (who were also young men) that all the best stuff was in cabinet No. 1 which was located at the top of the stairs. I made a mental note to find that cabinet and have a look because it doesn’t cost anything to look at the best stuff and dream. Long before I made it to the stairs I’d seen several Georgian cups and saucers I liked at only 20 – 40 English pounds which compared to 80 seemed like a steal. I didn’t really spend too much time looking downstairs, I was drawn up the stairs by the nagging mystery of cabinet No 1. [Read more…] about Cabinet No 1…

Book Review: The Night Side of Nature…

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I don’t know if it’s a Vitamin deficiency, a lack of decent sleep or a morbid fascination for the weird and bizarre, but out of the blue I can be struck by an insane craving for real ghost stories. The craving demands stories I’ve never heard before; preferably weird ones that make me shiver and feel glad to live in my boring unhaunted house. (How do I know it’s unhaunted? That! is another story.) This last year I had the ghost story craving hit hard and I ended up having to buy (and borrow from the library) quite a few books before it was satiated. In my quest for stories I accidentally discovered ghost story treasure. The title, ‘The Night Side of Nature’ doesn’t sound like treasure. It makes one think of worms gasping for air on drenched sidewalks glistening in the moonlight. Treasure comes in all shapes and sizes! The author, Catherine Crowe, was not only a woman, she was the first person to attempt to scientific study (and then publish a book) on ghostly phenomenon. There had been earlier books on ghosts, but as she notes they were all written by men who’d already made up their mind that there was no such thing as ghosts. She felt such a well documented phenomenon found in every culture and every age deserved closer inspection.

Born in 1800, Crowe was an educated English woman fluent in German and German philosophy. A very logical person, she had an open curious mind. Published in 1848, this book is much more than a collection of 18th and 19th century ghost stories. Because Crowe is retelling stories that have been recounted as taking place in ordinary life the reader gets a detailed glimpse into the past one rarely finds in biographies or personal letters. As a social history this book is solid gold. As story-fodder (stuff that feeds the story factory in any writer’s brain) it is platinum. As a collection of ghost stories it is an Aladdin’s Cave! I loved this book and highly recommend it. The author’s introduction and the first chapter or two are rather thick going, but once she starts sharing ghost stories I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend it. I can’t believe I’d never come across it before I bought it though maybe I wasn’t ready for it… To give you a sample of what I mean I have to share my favorite ghost story from the book…

From page 232 using Crowe’s spelling and punctuation: [Read more…] about Book Review: The Night Side of Nature…