Male Bonding: The Gentlemen's Club System

Gentlemen’s Clubs in the Regency period were an indelible part of the English aristocracy. A man’s club proclaimed who he was, what his political beliefs were, and, in one case, what he ate (the Beefsteak Club).

Some examples of Gentlemen’s Clubs during this time period included:

• Albion
• Arthur’s
• Beefsteak Club
• Boodle’s
• Brooks’
• Cocoa Tree
• Four-In-Hand Club
• General Service Club
• Marlborough Club
• Royal Guards
• United Service Clubs
• Watier’s
• White’s

White’s

VS.

Brooks'

The club was sacred--so sacred, in fact, that not only were women not allowed to become members, women weren’t allowed to enter the club’s revered halls. Even further, a woman who appeared in a carriage or on foot on St. James’ Street--club street--during the afternoon would have expected social damnation from the Bon Ton.

However, a young lady traveling on St. James’ in the morning, with her maid or footman, ran no risk of censure. The reason that this was so was, most likely, due to the fact that a majority of male activities began in the afternoon or evening hours.

In addition, a woman who came calling for her husband at his club made a laughingstock of them both.

At their clubs, men indulged in typically male pursuits:

• They discussed politics--Brooks’ Club, located at 60 St. James’ Street, was known as Whig headquarters, while White’s, at 37-38 St. James’ Street, boasted of Tories supporters.  
• Gentleman won... or lost fortunes in the gaming-room. 
• They drank themselves under the table.
• Men also placed bets on everything, including absurd, obscure happenings. For example 1,000 pounds was the bet for whether a man could survive underwater for a twelve-hour duration. The outcome of that wager was hardly a surprise!
• And lastly, the members of the male species tended to avoid their families by dining frequently at their club.

One wife confided that during her first year of marriage, her husband only dined with her once. The rest of the time he supped at Mr. Brooks’ Club.

Clubs were indispensable to the male psyche... and still are today. Any aristocratic gentleman who had the least pretensions to being thought fashionable belonged to a club. In fact, the eleventh Duke of Devonshire stated in 1979, “... I belong to as many London clubs as I can afford and which are willing to have me as a member.” He also said to a interviewer, “... my idea of Heaven, apart from being at Chatsworth, is to sit in the hall of Brooks', having tea."

Male bonding was strong at these Gentlemen’s Clubs. A member was certain to find--

• stimulating conversation,
• servant deference,
• social rules and customs.

 All of these rigid rituals shored up a man’s self-importance. Even the club boor was welcomed because he could be depended on to promote knowing smirks and snickers from the other club members.

The code of honor was very important in these clubs. Debts incurred by gambling were expected to be paid usually within three days after a gentleman gave his vowels. To use the definition of vowels found in The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, “A gamester who does not immediately pay his losings, is said to vowel the winner, by repeating the vowels I. O. U. or perhaps from giving his note for the money according to the Irish form, where the acknowledgment of the debt is expressed by the letters I. O. U. which, the sum and name of the debtor being added, is deemed a sufficient security among gentlemen.”
Paying one’s gaming debt was more important than--

• refraining from seducing the neighbor’s wife, 
• treating the servants humanely, or dead last on the list of priorities,
•  paying tradesmen what was owed.

No matter that the gentleman’s fortunes could very well have been wiped out, and that he was now destitute. No matter that his children would’ve been forced into genteel poverty. Paying one’s gaming debts was considered the measure of a gentleman.

Gentlemen’s Clubs were, and are, so fundamental to the English psyche, that author Ralph Nevill wrote in his 1911 book, London Clubs, “[The club member] lunches and dines, dines and lunches, till the sands of the hourglass have run out, and the moment comes for him to enter that great club of which all humanity must perforce become members.”

Resources:

The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London, Anthony Lejeune and Malcolm Lewis
The 1911 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Studio Editions, Ltd.
The British Rich, Philip Beresford
Ackermann’s Illustrated London, Wordsworth Editions, Ltd.

Award-winning author Susanne Marie Knight specializes in Romance Writing with a Twist! She is multi-published with books, short stories, and articles in such diverse genres as science fiction, Regency, mystery, paranormal, suspense, time-travel, fantasy, and contemporary romance.

Originally from New York, Susanne lives in the Pacific Northwest, by way of Okinawa, Montana, Alabama, and Florida. Along with her husband, daughter, and the spirit of her feisty Siamese cat, she enjoys the area's beautiful ponderosa pine trees and wide, open spaces--a perfect environment for writing. For more information about Susanne, please visit her website at http://www.susanneknight.com/.

Latest Regency release:

PAGING MISS GALLOWAY: 2010 EPIC Award Finalist and Awe-Struck (www.awe-struck.net) Regency Winner. A determined young miss, a battle-weary lord, and a reckless masquerade. What will the Earl of Tremaine do when he discovers his page's shocking secret?

The Gardener's Season - It's Spring!

My thoughts have turned to gardening once again, as we experience an early flush of spring heat here on the Canadian prairies. My perennials are hesitantly poking their leaves above earth, and the trees are beginning to bud. In Great Britain things will be considerably greener; the island is several climate zones warmer than my home although it is on the same latitude.

Gardening in England has always been a rewarding activity. We have all heard of Repton and Nash and their predecessors Capability Brown and William Kent. They worked with head gardeners and teams of under-gardeners to carry out the horticultural dreams of the nobility and aristocracy in grand style.

But what of the gardens of the gentlefolk? The people like the Austens at Steventon Rectory, the Bennets of Pride and Prejudice, the Austen ladies at Chawton, and the Dashwood ladies of Barton Cottage. Their gardens would be smaller in scale, of necessity filled with vegetables, and for pleasure infused with flowers. They would rely on jobbing gardeners, or a carefully-tutored odd jobs' man to undertake or help with the work. Homeowners needed information and instruction on how to keep their gardens productive and attractive.

Books such as Modern Domestic Cookery and Useful Receipt Book by Elizabeth Hammond include a practical section on 'The Kitchen Garden' which lists the tasks required in each month. I can see Mrs. Austen or Elinor Dashwood perusing it with interest:

April "Plant French beans, cuttings of sage, and other aromatic plants; sow marrow-fat peas, and more beans for a succession; some thyme, sweet marjoram, and savory. Prepare dung for making ridges to receive cucumber or melon-plants, designed for hand-glasses. Sow small-salading weekly; and also some cos and Silesia lettuces. Weed the growing crops, hoe between the beans and peas, cabbages, cauliflower plants, etc. At night, cover your cucumbers and melons with hand-glasses."

But it is The Gardener’s Pocket Journal, and Daily Assistant in the modern practice of English Gardening by John Abercrombie--published in its 11th edition in 1808--which provided everything one might need to know. Month by month, almost day by day, it lists tasks which must be done in the kitchen garden, the flower gardens, the green-house, the hot-house, the orchard, and the nursery (trees and shrubs).

For example, in November Mr. Abercrombie suggests: "Remove pots of plants and seeds to a warm situation in the sun, or plunge them also into the ground, in a somewhat raised dry light soil, to preserve the roots better from frost; or the more tender or curious place in a frame or glass case, etc."

In June, he says: "Weeds rising numerously at this season, should be diligently destroyed, in all parts between rows of young trees and shrubs, etc. and among all young plants in seed-beds."

At its end the book catalogues every species of tree, hedge shrub, fruit bush and tree, which may be grown in Britain, in what the author calls 'A General Register'. There is a list of kitchen garden plants, and also a 'register' of flowers--annuals both hardy and tender, biennials, perennials and bulbs. Most of the annuals I recognize--some of them I grow--but what, I wonder, is Alkekengi? Ketmis? Venus's looking-glass? Likewise there are many familiar names among the perennials, but what was Collonsonia? Fraxinella? London pride? Last year in my gardening blog post, I opined that I did not know what flowers grew in the cottage garden. Now I have a complete list!

The Pocket Journal also gives instruction for tasks in the green-house and the hot-house. I was not fully aware of the differences between those two shelters until I read about them in this book. It was a fund of information two hundred years ago, and it is a delight for gardeners today.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Do you enjoy gardening? How does your garden grow this year?

Next week we will be joined by Regency author, Susanne Marie Knight, and she will be talking about Gentlemen's Clubs. Please visit again then and enjoy her informative research!

Award-winning author Susanne Marie Knight specializes in Romance Writing with a Twist! She is multi-published with books, short stories, and articles in such diverse genres as science fiction, Regency, mystery, paranormal, suspense, time-travel, fantasy, and contemporary romance.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

P. S. The Gardener's Pocket Journal is available for download from Google Books!