The English Social Scene ~ January, 1809

It seems odd to think of January in the middle of the heat and drought that we are enduring where I live. I don't like January, but cold air and precipitation don't seem totally repulsive at the moment!

Adverse weather aside, the January of 1809 was one full of assemblies, balls, concerts and parties. At least it was according to the newspapers I have been reading.

The Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle of Monday, January 2, 1809 was particularly full of notices:

The Salisbury and Winchester Journal of the same day, advertises the Southampton Winter ball at the Dolphins Inn as did the Hampshire Telegraph, but adds other events as well.

The Bath Chronicle of the same week has, not unexpectedly, a large advertisment for its Assembly Rooms:

The Derby Assembly Rooms meanwhile were looking for sponsors to help with renovation:

It is not clear if winter balls were taking place while this process was going on.
In The Northampton Mercury there were notices of two upcoming entertainments:

And The Bury and Norwich Post was also advertising balls:

On considering the matter, I would have thought that the prospect of driving in an unheated carriage, to an ill-heated ballroom, in inadequate clothing (particularly in the case of women) would dull many people's interest in the parties and balls advertised. But perhaps Regency folk, like us, sought diversion from the dreary winter weather. There was certainly a social whirl underway in January of 1809 all across England!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

N.B. Newspapers from the British Newspaper Archive

The Queen's Drawing Room May 1816

As promised last time, here are the particulars of the Drawing-Room held by Queen Charlotte just days after her granddaughter's wedding:

 

 

 

A Drawing-room of 1809

This account of the social event of the 1816 season comes from the popular journal, La Belle Assemblee, for May 1816. The exact date of the Drawing-room is not provided. There are long lists of the presentations made at the event, and even longer lists of the ladies' gowns. Please leave me a comment or send me an email letting me know if you would like to see those lists posted here. I don't feel confident of their general interest, so your input would be appreciated!

'Til next time,
Lesley-Anne

The Prince Regent's Party Planner

No, I don't know who the Prince Regent's party planner was! But I did get thinking about the immense amount of staff it must have taken to put on one of his entertainments. Here, for example, is one of his parties as reported in the Edinburgh Annual Register--July 1, 1813:

"Last night the Prince Regent gave a ball and supper to a numerous and splendid party. By the heavy and incessant rain which fell during the day, considerable damage was done to the tents erected on the lawn at Carlton-house, and it was feared they could not be used; however, the preparations went on. The entrance to these temporary erections was from the supper-rooms, along a temporary passage about sixty yards in length, boarded, and covered in with canvas, lined with green glaze cotton, decorated with artificial flowers, and the whole illuminated by chandeliers at proper intervals. The tents were arranged on each side of this passage or promenade, and their entrances were hung with curtains, festooned with artificial flowers. The tents were eighteen in all, and supper was to be laid in each of them for twenty-eight persons. At the extremity of the promenade was the Prince Regent's tent, which was lined with light printed cotton, and the centre pole ornamented with artificial flowers.

About nine o'clock, the Queen and the Princesses proceeded in their chairs from the Queen's Palace to Carlton-house. The company began to arrive after this in great numbers."

That is over five hundred sitting down to dinner. The organization boggles the mind. Who was the overseer of all the details? Every aspect must have had a 'sub-contractor'. Secretaries for the invitations, and the menus. Designers to organize the set-up and the decorations. Tradesmen to execute the designs. And the suppliers--of cotton, canvas, tents, artificial flowers, etc. All wondering if they would be paid, and when!

And then there was the meal--cooks, under-cooks, confectioners, right down to the scullery maids. I wonder how many hours it took to wash the dishes after such an event, and who over-saw the work. And what about the major-domo, the butler, the foot-men, and the maids who made the company comfortable and saw to their every need. It needed a master-mind to orchestrate all these details.

'A Squeeze at Carlton House'

The Prince Regent's Fete held June 20, 1811 was an even more extravagant party--some 3,000 guests accommodated at Carlton-house, including French royalty as well as English.

"The full band of the Guards, in their state-uniforms, play in the court-yard various martial airs."

"The ball-room floors were chalked in beauitufl arabesque devices."

"The hall was adorned with a variety of shrubs, and an additional number of large lanthorns and patent-lamps."

"The gold-room shone with unequalled spelndour; the ceiling and walls here are painted delicately, on a ground of gold."

The Golden Drawing Room at Carlton House

This was the event at which "...there was a meandering stream to the bottom of the table, bordered with green banks...It contained also a number of gold and silver fish." Who designed this? Who wrung his/her hands when the fish died and floated belly-up among the decorations? I am indebted to The Literary Panorama and Annual Register for 1811 for an account of this 'fete', and I was charmed to read the following at the end of the account:

"Every praise is due to the superior officers of the household;--also to several noblemen, military officers, and other friends in the confidence of H.R.H. for all possible accommodation..."

Even the military reviews held by the Prince Regent showed a similar extravagance and must have required the use of an 'army' of subordinates to design and orchestrate the business. One such event was held on Wimbledon Common, June 10, 1811. There were 20,000 troops on parade, and it was estimated "200,000 persons on the ground".  Much of the organization would have been down to the military for this event, but

"The Regent was also attended by a vast retinue, and was mounted on a beautiful grey charger, richly caparisoned; he was dressed in a full suit of General's regimentals, with the order of the garter, and a diamond star."

This is a Hyde Park review of 1814

It all required planning, and it all required staff. So here's to the Prince Regent's talented and, no doubt, long- suffering party planners. By all accounts they did a splendid job with spectacle after spectacle. I hope they got thanked--and I do hope they received their wages!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Sources: The Literary Panorama and Annual Register 1811 The Edinburgh Annual Register 1813
both free downloads from Google Books

A Rout or A Rout-Party?

I've become enamoured of the word 'rout'. I took it for granted until I started researching it yesterday. I've always known that Regency people held 'routs' or 'rout-parties'. I thought it was common usage; now I'm wondering.

My dictionary tells me that an archaic use of the word 'rout' describes a large evening party or assembly. It is otherwise described as a verb "to poke, search, or rummage" or a noun "a tumultuous or disorderly crowd of persons". Both of those things may of course describe a Regency evening party, but only at a stretch.

So it occurs to me--how many people know this usage of the word 'rout'? Most people know a 'rout' as an overwhelming defeat, I think. How much was the word 'rout' used in the Regency era? Jane Austen certainly knew what 'routs' were, but who popularized use of the word? Who first mentioned the word 'rout' in a Regency romance? It must have been Georgette Heyer, but I'm not sure. My characters certainly attend 'routs'; in fact, in my WIP, my hero and heroine host a 'rout'.

The best description of a rout comes from a manuscript titled the "Receipt Book of Mary Whiting Sewell". It is published in the Georgian and Regency Lady's Fashion Plates CD-ROM from Prints George and is reprinted here with permission.

"Receipt for a Rout
Take all the ladies and gentlemen you can get, place them in a room with low fire--stir them well--have ready a Piano Forte or Harp--a handful of Books and Prints, with a few packs of cards--put them in from time to time--When the mixture begins to settle, sweeten it with briteness of wit if you have it--if not, flattery will do as well and is very cheap. When all is stewed well together for two or three hours,--put in one or two fowls, some tongues, sliced beef or ham, seed cakes, sweetmeats and wine. The more you put the bettter, and the more substantial your rout will be---
N.B. Fill your room quite full and let scum rise off of itself."

This tongue in cheek 'receipt' tells us a great deal about the usual rout. Music, conversation about books and art, occasionally cards and certainly a good supper were the key ingredients of an enjoyable evening party. The last sentence offers a wonderful rebuke of the society.

Jane Austen does not much speak of 'routs' but in Emma, Mrs. Elton does bore everyone with talk of rout-cakes. And indeed, a noted cookbook writer of the time, Maria Rundell includes a recipe for 'Rout Drop Cakes' in her 1806 book and its many subsequent editions.

"Rout Drop Cakes
Mix two pounds of flour, one ditto butter, one ditto sugar, one ditto currants, clean and dry; then wet into a stiff paste, with 2 eggs, a large spoonful of orange-flower water, ditto rose-water, ditto sweet wine, ditto brandy, drop on a tin-plate floured; a very short time bakes them."
These sound the perfect compliment to lobster patties, buttered prawns, ratafia cakes and orgeat.

Evening dresses would be the requirement for attendance at a rout, perhaps knee breeches for the gentlemen. James Gillray offers a sly look at such a gathering in this carton "Lady Godina's Rout"--plumes appear, in some ladies' minds, to have been mandatory.

A rout-party had the advantage of being able to be hosted in an average town house. A formal ball required a ballroom and few but the greatest homes had those. But anyone in fact could hold a rout. A hostess could place conversation and music in the drawing room, cards in the morning room or small parlour, and supper in the dining room. The perfect Christmas party, perhaps?

Many of our own house parties approach the requirements of a rout--some board games, some conversation and good food. I hope you enjoy some wonderful parties this holiday season--

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne