Traditions of November

I must admit, November is not my favourite month of the year. The autumn has passed for the most part. The glorious golden trees, the occasional bonfire, the excitement of harvest, the great migrating flocks of geese and crows and the subtle disappearances of song birds, all are over, at least where I live in western Canada. We await the snow.

In England, November follows much the same path, though there are some flowers still, and green grass. No snow, however, it is a rarity there. An old saying warns “A warm November is the sign of a Bad Winter.” But a warm November would accommodate the myriad celebrations and special events of the month. This was especially true in the England of the Regency—the early 1800’s—where I spend a great deal of my time. Thanksgiving, the premier holiday of the United States, was unknown in England but there were still festivities to look forward to.

After All Hallows’ Eve, a scary and uncertain time, came All Saints’ Day on November 1 and All Souls’ Day on November 2. Candlelit processions, bell-ringing, and ‘souling’ were undertaken in various parts of the country. Souling, like carol singing, involved going door to door, asking for alms, or selling 

<<<<  ‘soul  cakes’ (rather like a hot cross bun).

On the 4^th of November, Mischief Night lingered in many counties. All sorts of naughty things were done—the main idea being to put things in the wrong place. Also coal might be collected against the coming cold months, as one might collect alms. In a few areas, this was called ‘Jolly Minering’ with its own songs, and festivities.

Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night was held then as now on November 5. Until 1859 church services were required to be held to celebrate the foiling of the plot to blow up the British Parliament, and celebrations were held throughout the day, culminating in a great bonfire, often with the burning of an effigy of Guy Fawkes, and fireworks.

During the Regency the 9^th of November heralded the Lord Mayor’s show in London which has been held since the 13^th century. It is centred on a parade, and the celebration must have awed the ordinary folk of the Regency.

Martinmas Day—the Feast of St. Martin—occurs on November 11. It was among the days that ‘hiring fairs’ were often held, which sometimes included feasts and a great deal of disorderly behaviour. That day has now been radically transformed by Remembrance Day which has overtaken it.

On the 22^nd of November, St. Cecelia’s Day was an occasion for concerts and recitals as she is the patroness of music.

The last Sunday of the Church Year, the Sunday in November before Advent, is called 'Stir-up Sunday. This was the day Christmas puddings were often prepared and everyone in the household gave a stir to the batter and made a wish. The notion came from a famous collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer:

"Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; "

My new book, “The Tower’s Peculiar Visitor”, to be released November 18, takes place mainly in October. No doubt the celebrations of November were enjoyed by the residents of Kenning Old Manor, after the upheavals they experienced in the autumn. They had neither leisure nor inclination during the sojourn of the ‘peculiar visitor’ to enjoy the season.

But I hope you are enjoying the fall season wherever you are in the northern hemisphere, and your spring in the southern hemisphere. 

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

P. S. This post is also being published in the Uncial Press blog for November. If you would like to visit this interesting and informative blog, please click here.

Announcements and the rest of "The Months" poem by Samuel Collings

 As an Anglophile and a Canadian (Canada is a nation with the monarchy of Great Britain as its head of state), I am deeply saddened by the death of Queen Elizabeth II. There are no words but...

Long Live the King

And as always, life goes on.

 

I am pleased to announce that my website, https://www.lesleyannemcleod.com has undergone a complete refurbishment and renewal. I hope you will visit and enjoy its fresh, new look. 

There you will also discover the cover reveal of my thirteenth novel, The Tower's Peculiar Visitor. This book will be released on November 15, 2022 by Uncial Press. I love this cover, and I hope you will also!

I thought you might enjoy reading the rest of Samuel Collings' poem, The Months, as it appeared in The Repository of Arts, in August of 1812. It is laboured, and hackneyed, but it gives us a view of what our Regency forebears considered worth reading. The stanza 'August' contains repellent sentiments on the part of the squire, and 'September' is decidedly odd, but it is all interesting nonetheless

THE MONTHS by Samuel Collings, continued from my last post:

    August

    See the reapers, gleaners dining, 

    Seated on the shady grass; 

    O'er the gate the squire reclining, 

    Wanton eyes each ruddy lass.

 

    September

 

    Hark--a sound like distant thunder!

    Murd'rer, may thy malice fail!

    Torn from all they love asunder,

    Widow'd birds around us wail. 

    October

    Now Pomona pours her treasure,

    Leaves autumnal strew the ground;

    Plenty crowns the market measure,

    While the mill runs briskly round.

    November

    

    Now the giddy rites of Comus

    Crown the hunter's dear delight;

    Ah! the year is fleeting from us,

    Bleak the day and drear the night.

    December 

    Bring more wood and set the glasses;

    Join, my friends, our Christmas cheer:

    Come, a catch, and kiss the lasses,

    Christmas comes but once a year.

 

I hope your autumn (or spring!) is unfolding as it should, and all is well with you.

 

Until next time,

 

Lesley-Anne

 

The Pedantic and the Silly -- books for educating children circa 1805

 In 1826, there was a book written "by an experienced teacher" titled "The Complete Governess; a Course of Mental Instruction for Ladies, with a notice of the Principal Female Accomplishments".

from The Governess, or The Little Female Academy 1820

 

In its Introduction, "The Complete Governess" castigates the books published to educate children.
"The existing books may be divided into two classes; the pedantic and the silly; the former being handed down, with only slight changes in the form, from the days of the schoolmen [a teacher in a university in medieval Europe or a scholastic theologian]; and the latter, chiefly the produce of ignorant persons..."

The author of this book who, it can be assumed, is female goes on to say "Whoever takes the trouble to examine the grammars, and epitomes, and catechisms, of the different arts and sciences that are introduced...must at once see how ill they are adapted for communicating anything like valuable information."

Confirmation of this opinion comes when one considers the book published in 1806, titled 

"A Museum for Young Gentlemen and Ladies
or, a Private Tutor for Little Masters and Misses
containing a variety of useful subjects...
with Letters, Tales, and Fables, for Amusement and Instruction"

The 1806 publication was its 17th edition, placing the original publication date probably in the 1780s. It uses a typeface of that era, with the replacement of some s by f. The few woodcuts are archaic:

 One of the sections of the book is titled "An Account of the Solar System, Adapted to the Capacities of Children" and includes an up-to-date, at least in the 1780s, reference to Georgium Sidus (the original name of the planet Uranus). 

Then there is "The Instructive Remembrancer: being an Abstract of the various
Rites and Ceremonies of the Four Quarters of the Globe for the use of schools"
by Sarah Wilkinson
This may be the most appalling collection of  erroneous, insensitive and inaccurate information ever presented to children. Even the frontispiece is offensive:

The 'facts' presented in this book are too awful even to be reproduced here.

The reading book "A Spelling Book with Easy Reading Lessons, beginning with
Words of Three Letters and proceeding gradually to those of as many syllables" presented in 
1805 by the author of several other instruction manuals, which were advertised in the back of the book. 

The author's name is never declared, and I can see why. The maxims that are used as examples for reading toward the end of the book, are cloying, and presented in oblique formality:

Finally there is a book I have mentioned in another blog "A Book explaining the Ranks and Dignities of British Society intended chiefly for the instruction of Young Persons"
Dedicated (by permission) to Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth

Published in 1809 this little book is, unlike its counterparts, useful and mostly accurate. But even it was prey to oddity. At its very end, after lists and descriptions of the orders of nobility and church, precedence, and court dress, there is a small strange section titled "A Scotch Highlander". The highlander is described mainly in favourable terms but the book also states, "they do not appear to have possessed that degree of refinement in sentiment and manners that is ascribed to them by some writers..."  

I cannot imagine why this small section was even included in an otherwise sensible and well-organized book!

The author of "The Complete Governess" declares that "to the uninstructed all subjects are equally difficult". It is fortunate that she pointed out the inadequacy of the educational books available at the time. Perhaps some parents took note, and did not send their children into the world primed with inaccurate and flawed learning from a number of these books.

Happy New Year!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Paying for Prosecution - Justice in the Regency

 I discovered an interesting fact last week, one that I should probably have known about before now.

In Regency England, if you were assaulted, robbed, or otherwise the victim of a criminal act, you had to pursue prosecution yourself and pay for all the fees and costs of such prosecution. There were no public police to bring charges, and so the responsibility lay with the injured.

To deal with the costs incurred with such prosecution, there were set up voluntary societies or clubs, where an annual or monthly fee payment ensured reimbursement of expenses. Such a group was the Society for Prosecuting Felons:

The above advertisement was published in the Commercial Directory for 1818-20. But the Society had been around for quite some time. Below is another advertisement for the Society from the Reading Mercury - Monday 27 April 1801:

Often the societies paid rewards for information and assistance as well as covering legal and other expenses as the advertisement below from the Morning Advertiser - Monday 29 June 1807 indicates:

 

And this notice below from the Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Wednesday 08 January 1817

Monthly meetings were held to discuss the various business aspects, noted below from the Oracle and the Daily Advertiser - Tuesday 18 February 1806 :

As these groups had grown out of parish council support for prosecution fees, it was logical that they continued to have parish connections.

Rastrick Society © Calderdale MBC

 

Any worthwhile society had of course to have its annual dinners and annual meetings:

 

from Sun (London) - Monday 06 June 1803

 

from Sussex Advertiser - Monday 01 February 1819 

The Regency era was over before full responsibility for prosecution of criminals--and proper defense of the accused--lay with the government and employees hired for the job, including police forces.

Until then the societies for prosecution were useful tools for those who had been injured and/or wronged.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Years Ago

I was browsing through a 1796 issue of Bell's Weekly Messenger this past week. Suddenly I realized that it was virtually the same week as I was currently experiencing -- July 17 to July 24. But this newspaper was two hundred and twenty-five years old.

Jane Austen was twenty that summer and may have perused this copy of Bell's journal. So I thought you might be interested to learn what she was reading and what was happening in the summer of 1796 in England.

Fashions were classical, softly draped, often white, and sometimes trained.

Gallery of Fashion

           Journal für Fabrik, Manufaktur, Handlung und Mode 1796

These styles were worn by the 'Fashionables' whose activities were of interest in Bell's.

Princess Elizabeth's Drawings - As they are now before the public, it is but common justice to notice them with praise. They are delicate and tasteful.

The Bishop of Rochester is now enjoying the fine air and charming prospects of Bromley in Kent.

The picture of the  Duke of Wurtemberg, who is to marry the Princess Royal, is arrived. The original is very shortly expected.

The Westminster regiment still remains without a Colonel, no successor having appointed to the disgraced Col. Cawthorn.

There was always news from the Court:

The King has appointed the period of eight weeks to be the term of the Royal residence at Weymouth for the approaching bathing season.

Lord Gwider was at Court, and received the appointment of Master of the Horse to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

The country seemed always at war, so there was considerable army news in the paper but of course with the speed, or lack thereof, of communication it was all 'old news' and so does not really pertain to our week. The Naval Intelligence was likewise lacking in immediacy but the paper listed:

Ships Take by the French
  - The Hope, Colburn, from Bristol to Newfoundland, is taken by the French.
  - The Vine, Cutton, from Cork to the West Indies, was taken...and is carried to Gaudalope.

Entertainment was of much more interest to the general public it seemed for Bell's was full of diverting details from London and the counties:

On Monday the Annual Cup given by the Proprietors of Vauxhall Gardens, was sailed for by the pleasure-boats, which started from a boat moored off Blackfriars Bridge, went round another near Putney Bridge, and returned to a barge moored off Vauxhall.

Essex

At the late Poney Races, at Messing Maypole, there was very sharp racing, and a number of bye-races. Mr. Middleton's poney the silver cup and Mrs. Barnes's, of Heybridge, the silver punch ladle.

Dorsetshire, Shaftesbury, July 11

A few nights since, as Shatford's Company of Comedians were playing to a crowded house, about the end of the second act, the whole of the gallery (escept for the beam) gave way, with every soul in it, and fell upon the audience in the pit; and wonderfully not a single person was killed, or limb broken, although there were scarce two planks left together.

Brighton it seemed was boring:

Sussex, Brighton, July 11
The late heavy rains have rendered this place more insipid than ever. There is a vast concourse of visitors here for this time of the year; but they unfortunately have not vivacity or spirit. There were seven people present at the opening of the first Ball.

And the news from Monmouthshire was pedestrian, at best:

Chepstow Bridge is at length complete repaired, and passable, etc.

Theatricals were as always a rich source of news:

The Hay Market Theatre has hitherto experienced very flattering success, and it has hitherto deserved it.

Ranelagh has not had altogether a very successful season, owing to the rapid changes of the weather.

The Fireworks of Nature on Friday evening spoiled the Fireworks of Ranelagh --the company, however, was numerous, although the lightning drove most of the ladies home. 

The summer of 1796 was a golden time, it seemed, and Bell's Weekly Messenger waxed poetic:

Never in the memoirs of man, was there a year in which plenty reared her fair front, or diffused her golden blessings with a more unsparing hand that the present; grain of every species, herbage, kitchen vegetables, and every article of food, both for man and beast, are in a state of great forwardness, and give indications of any early and superabundant harvest.

The auguries were good for comfortable winter. I hope it worked out well.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

The "other" people - England 1812

Regency authors tend to write about the upper classes of British society--at least the gentry, if not the lesser nobility, and far too often, dukes. But there were many more people inhabiting the Regency world.

In October and November 1812, Ackermann's "Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, etc.", itself a journal for the middle and upper classes, published a quantity of drawings for the following purpose:


As stated, these drawings were 'etched from the life', and so provide us with a fairly accurate portrait of the appearance of country people during the Regency period.

The following were described as 'cottagers':

Then there was a section of 'gleaners':

And finally a selection of 'shepherds':

This commoditization of the rural poor, treating them as no more than 'picturesque' adornments for the landscape drawings of the upper classes, is a shocking depersonalization.

The situations of these country folk are romanticized--their feet are shod and their clothing is not ragged. They were likely not so well off. They were suffering through the job losses caused by industrialization and the repercussions of the Peninsular War and the War of 1812. Work was hard, food was expensive.

 Nevertheless these representations give us a hint of the day-to-day life of many in the Regency era. Despite the somewhat cold-hearted reason for their creation, they are of benefit to us, two hundred years later, in understanding their time.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne