England’s First King, Ecgberht, King of Wessex

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

With Queen Elizabeth II celebrating 60 years on the throne today, I thought we would take a look at Britain’s first monarch.

In the early 600s, the Anglo Saxons had driven the Celts from England. The country was then divided into seven kingdoms, or The Heptarchy: Kent, Sussex, Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Wessex. Kent and Northumbria, which practiced Christianity, often fought with the adjoining kingdoms in an effort to convert their “heathen” neighbors. Northumbria and Mercia were the most successful in their efforts to dominate their neighbors. Finally, Wessex found a footing when they defeated the Mercians at the Battle of Ellandun.

Ecgberht, King of Wessex (771-839), had led his people through the worst of the conflicts leading up to this victory. The son of Ealhmund of Kent, in the 780s, he was forced into exile by Offa of Mercia and Beorhtric of Wessex, but on Beorhtric’s death, Ecgberht returned to claim the throne in 802. At the time, Mercia dominated the other southern English kingdoms. With the defeat of Beornwulf of Mercia in the 825 battle, the Mercian control of southeastern England ended. In 829, Ecgberht defeated Wiglaf of Mercia and drove the man from his kingdom, giving Ecgberht  temporary rule of Mercia. Later in the same year, Northumbria submitted to him. The Anglo-Saxon Chroniclesdescribed Ecgberht as a “bretwalda” or “Ruler of Britain.”

Depiction of Egbert from the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings, a late 13th century manuscript in the British Library

Ecgberht was unable to maintain this dominant position, and within a year Wiglaf regained the throne of Mercia. However, Wessex did retain control of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; these territories were given to Ecgberht’s son Æthelwulf to rule as a subking under Egbert. When Egbert died in 839, Æthelwulf succeeded him; the southeastern kingdoms were finally absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex after Æthelwulf’s death in 858. Ecgberht’s grandson, Alfred the Great, consolidated these gains.

The earliest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, the Parker Chronicle, begins with a genealogical preface tracing the ancestry of Ecgberht’s son Æthelwulf back through Ecgberht, Ealhmund (thought to be Ealhmund of Kent), and the otherwise unknown Eoppa and Eafa to Ingild, brother of King Ine of Wessex, who abdicated the throne in 726. It continues back to Cerdic, founder of the House of Wessex. He is reputed to have had a half-sister Alburga, later to be recognized as a saint for her founding of Wilton Abbey. She was married to Wulfstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire, and on his death in 802 she became a nun, Abbess of Wilton Abbey.  The only source naming the wife of Ecgberht is a later medieval manuscript at Trinity College, Oxford, which relates that Ecgberht married Redburga, regis Francorum sororia, thought to indicate sister, sister-in law or niece of the Frankish Emperor.  This seems consistent with Ecgberht’s strong ties to the Frankish royal court and his exile there.

Egbert's name, spelled Ecgbriht, from the 827 entry in the C manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

During Echberht’s life and reign, Anglo-Saxon England produced a number of impressive scholars, the most notable of those being Baeda, or the Venerable Bede (673-735), who produced the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which outlined the Roman occupation of Britain. Other important events during the period include:

** In 613, Aethelfrith of Northumbria, defeated the Celts at the Battle of Chester.

** The Picts defeated Ecgfrith of Norhumbria at the Battle of Nechtansmere in Scotland. It was the beginning of Northumbria’s influential decline.

** In 716, Aethelbald becomes Mercia’s king. His reign brought Mercia into dominance.

** In 779, Offa, King of Mercia, defeats the West Saxon at Benson. He is considered to be England’s overlord.  The following year, Offa begins begins constructing a defensive dyke on the English/Welsh border.

** In 787, the first Viking raids occurred along the English coast.

** Charlemagne and Offa sign an trade agreement in 794. The pact would encourage exchange of goods between Europe and England.

** In 871, Ecgberht’s grandson, Alfred the Great, succeeds to the throne of England.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on England’s First King, Ecgberht, King of Wessex

Jane Austen and the Romance Novel

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

by Regina Jeffers

According to the Romance Writers of America, the main plot of a romance novel must revolve around the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship together. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters’ romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.” 

Wikipedia says, “The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people and must have an “emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Separate from their type, a romance novel can exist within one of many subgenres, including contemporary, historical, science fiction and paranormal. One of the earliest romance novels was Samuel Richardson’s popular 1740 novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, which was revolutionary on two counts: it focused almost entirely on courtship and did so entirely from the perspective of a female protagonist. In the next century, Jane Austen expanded the genre, and her Pride and Prejudice is often considered the epitome of the genre. Austen inspired Georgette Heyer, who introduced historical romances in 1921.”

Chick Lit (according to the Metropolitan Library System in Illinois), on the other hand, explores the personal, professional, and romantic lives of young, single, working women. Quirky protagonists and humor distinguish the genre as these women look for love and deal with often less than desirable jobs. Some general characteristics of chick lit:

Written by women for women

First person-personal voice (confiding to reader)

Humor is important

Discuss life issues (love, marriage, dating, relationships, friendships, jobs, weight)

Circle of friends for support

Dead end jobs they usually hate, often with bad bosses

Unsuitable boyfriends or a lack of one

Urban-but no real sense of place

Outrageous situations

Main character drifting through life

May have overbearing/interfering mother, family

Obsessed with fashion, weight, shopping

So, does Jane Austen fit into either of these categories? Specifically, can Pride and Prejudice serve as a model for the modern romance or chick lit novel? Let us make some assumptions.

Pride and Prejudice is the story of a smart, sassy young woman.

Elizabeth Bennet has a totally impossible family, especially her mother. “An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do.”

The book has a “relatable” heroine, a sympathetic and believable creation.

Elizabeth Bennet takes pleasure in observing the follies of others and Society’s quirks. “They were, in fact, very fine ladies; not deficient in good humor when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable when they chose it; but proud and conceited.”

Yet, she is equally critical of herself and her apparent flaws. “That is very true,” replied Elizabeth, “and I could easily forgive his pride if he had not mortified mine.”

Elizabeth Bennet’s female relationships are as important, if not more important, than her relationship with Mr. Darcy. She is a loyal sister, a true friend, and a devoted daughter.

There are more pages of the book devoted to the female interactions than there are those devoted to Elizabeth’s interaction with Mr. Darcy. Think of the multiple conversations between Elizabeth and Jane, Elizabeth and Aunt Gardiner, and Elizabeth and Charlotte. Like modern women, they discuss the men they have met by analyzing every word or action in detailed post mortems. “Well, he certainly is very agreeable, and I give you leave to like him. You have liked many a stupider person.”

Elizabeth is coming to terms with her family complications, Charlotte’s irresponsible choices, and her own prejudices, while trying to determine what she wants from life. “

She changes dramatically throughout the book. Elizabeth admits that Mr. Darcy does not change. “How despicably have I acted!” she cried. “I, who have prided myself on my discernment!”

Another modern concept is what does a girl do when her friend marries a “jerk”? Even more important is what to do when your friends marry and you remain single. “She had always felt that Charlotte’s opinion of matrimony was not exactly like her own; but she could no have supposed it possible that, when called into action, she would have sacrificed every better feeling to worldly advantage.”

Elizabeth meets a charming “womanizer” in the form of Mr. Wickham, but he proves to be only “pleasing in countenance.” The man appears to be the perfect romantic hero, but perfection cannot exist. In reality, he’s a pathological liar and a scoundrel: the perpetual bad boy.

Although Mr. Darcy is the romantic hero of the Pride and Prejudice (and assuming you have no images of Colin Firth immerging from a placid lake in a wet shirt or of Matthew Macfadyen walking through the morning mist with an open shirt and lots of chest hair), you probably do not care for the man. In fact, Austen manipulates the reader before revealing Darcy’s true worth. Quite frankly, he’s a “snob.”

Elizabeth’s shifting through the men in her life is the part of Austen’s theme of “first impressions” or false impressions or flawed impressions.

______________________

Besides, Jane Austen-inspired novels, I also write Regency romances. One of those who leave a comment on this post will earn the opportunity to win one of my four published novels. The winner will choose from the following:

The Scandal of Lady Eleanor (Book 1 of the Realm Series)

The Future Earl of Linworth: James Kerrington, a key member of the British government’s secret unit, the Realm, never expected to find love again after the loss of his beloved wife. But a visit to his close friends, the Fowlers, leads to a chance meeting with Lady Eleanor Fowler. Instantly, Kerrington whole world tilts on its axis.The Debauchery of Lord Thornhill: For years, Lady Eleanor hid from Society, knowing her father’s notorious reputation for wickedness tainted her chance for romantic fulfillment. Now, with Kerrington’s advances and her father’s recent death, she is at last hopeful that her family’s dark past is behind her. But when Sir Louis Levering appears with final proof of her father’s depravity, Eleanor is drawn into a web of immorality and blackmail.

Return of the Realm: To free Eleanor from Levering’s diabolical clutches, Kerrington brings together his former Realm comrades. Before they can save her, they must confront their own secret pasts and tangle with Shaheed Mir, a longtime nemesis who is exacting revenge against members of the Realm for stealing a mysterious emerald from his homeland.

A Touch of Velvet (Book 2 of the Realm Series)

After years away, members of the Realm return home to claim the titles and the lives they abandoned, each holding on to the fleeting dream of finally knowing love. For now, all any of them can hope is the resolution of their previous difficulties before Shaheed Mir, their old enemy, finds them and exacts his revenge. Mir seeks a mysterious emerald, and he believes one of the Realm has it.

No one finds his soul mate when she is twelve and he seventeen, but Brantley Fowler, the Duke of Thornhill, always thought he had found his. The memory of Velvet Aldridge’s face was the only thing that had kept him alive all those years he remained estranged from his family. Now, he has returned to Kent to claim his title and the woman he loves, but first he must obliterate the memory of his infamous father from the books, while staving off numerous attacks from Mir’s associates.

Velvet Aldridge always believed in “happily ever after.” Yet, when Brantley Fowler returns home, he has a daughter and his wife’s memory to accompany him. He promised her eight years prior that he would return to make her his wife, but the new Duke of Thornhill only offers her a Season and a dowry. How can she make him love her? Make him her “knight in shining armor”? Regency England has never been hotter or more dangerous.

A Touch of Cashémere (Book 3 of the Realm Series)

Marcus Wellston never expected to inherit his father’s title. After all, he is the youngest of three sons. However, his oldest brother Trevor has a developmental problem, and his second brother has lost his life in an accident, so Marcus has returned to Tweed Hall and the earldom. He had left Northumberland years prior to escape the guilt in his sister’s death. He could not save Maggie, and Wellston has spent years in atonement with the Realm, a covert governmental group. Now, all he wants is a biddable wife with a pleasant personality. Neither of those describes Cashémere Aldridge.

Cashémere Aldridge thought her opinions were absolutes and her world perfectly ordered, but when her eldest sister Velvet is kidnapped, Cashé becomes a part of the intrigue. She quickly discovers nothing she knew before is sacred. Leading her through these changes is a man who considers her a “spoiled child” – a man of whose approval she desperately needs. Mix in an irate Baloch warlord, who seeks a missing emerald, and the Realm has its hands full.

The First Wives’ Club (Book 1 in First Wives’ Trilogy)

Nathaniel Epperly, the Earl of Eggleston, has married the woman his father chose, but the marriage has been everything but comfortable. Nathaniel’s wife, Lady Charlotte, came to the marriage bed with experience. She provides Eggleston his heir, but within a fortnight, she deserts father and son for Baron Remington Craddock. In the eyes of the ton, Lady Charlotte has cuckolded Epperly.

Rosellen Warren longs for love and adventure. Unfortunately, she’s likely to find neither; she’s a true diamond in the rough. Yet, when she meets Epperly’s grandmother, the Countess Henrietta creates a “story” for the girl, claiming if Rosellen is presented to the ton as a war widow with a small dowry, that the girl will find a suitable match.

Baron Remington Craddock remains a thorn in Eggleston’s side, but when Craddock makes Mrs. Warren a pawn in his crazy game of control, Eggleston offers the lady his protection. However, Nathaniel has never before faced a man who holds no strength of title, but who still wields great power, and he finds himself always a step behind the enigmatic baron. When someone frames Nathaniel for Lady Charlotte’s murder, Eggleston must quickly learn the baron’s secrets or face a death sentence.

To read excerpts from each of my books or to place an order, please visit www.rjeffers.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Tom Stoppard’s Screenplay of Tolstoy “Anna Karenina” Called “Right On”

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

I am so looking forward to this movie. It has many of my film favorites: Keira Knightley; Matthew Macfadyen; Olivia Williams; Ruth Wilson; Thomas Howes. Plus, I love Tom Stoppard’s take on the Russian history. His “Coast of Utopia” trilogy was brilliant. (It starred Jennifer Ehle (the 1995 Elizabeth Bennet), who won a Tony Award.) I am pleased to find more information on the film available. Below find an article from The Daily Mail. There’s a link to read the complete story.

Stunning as always: Keira Knightley turns in a great performance as Anna Karenina

By BAZ BAMIGBOYE

Last updated at 7:49 AM on 27th January 2012

Keira Knightley, as Anna Karenina, emerges from the mist, her gaze focussed on her husband — and her lover — played by Jude Law and Aaron Johnson, respectively.

The actress is wearing an embroidered coat that sweeps the floor, a hat trimmed in fox fur — and £1 million worth of Chanel gems, dangling from her ears.

The costume designer, Jacqueline Durran, has at the request of director Joe Wright, created a hybrid look for Keira, in which 1870s style meets fitted Fifties couture, and the result is stunning.

Big screen starlet: Keira Knightley Big screen starlet: Keira Knightley

Anna Karenina is Tolstoy’s giant meditation on the aspects of love, and Keira, now 26, is clearly up to the task of playing one of the greatest heroines in literature.

I’ve been following Keira’s career for years, but as I stood looking at her on the set of Anna Karenina, something had changed. The film’s hair and make-up designer Ivana Primorac articulated my thoughts. ‘Keira looks like a proper woman,’ she says. Director Joe Wright, who is filming the train station scene at Shepperton studios, tells me: ‘There’s fire in Keira’s belly.”

Triple threat: The new adaptation has a screenplay written by Shakespeare in Love writer Tom Stoppard and is directed by Atonement's Joe Wright Triple threat: The new adaptation has a screenplay written by Shakespeare in Love writer Tom Stoppard and is directed by Atonement’s Joe Wright. He’s directing her for the third time, having worked with her on Pride and Prejudice and Atonement. And he agrees that Keira has grown up. ‘She’s her own woman — she’s got so much fight in her at the moment,’ he says, as he watches her being framed by Seamus McGarvey, the director of photography, and camera operator Peter Robertson.

He tells me that Keira’s taken a lot of stick in England, in the years since they last worked together. ‘A lot of young actors would have gone “Up yours!’ and gone off to Hollywood. But she braved it out, and it has made her stronger — and fiercer,’ Wright adds, with a slightly nervous laugh. The director believes Keira is more than ready to play Anna — but not a 20th-century feminist version of Anna, ‘following her heart.’

‘As far as Tolstoy was concerned, he was writing a book about a woman who was a sinner — a fallen woman,’ Wright says. ‘He wasn’t writing about her as a heroine. He started off writing this book about a good husband and a bad wife. But then, as he  wrote, he fell in love with Anna.’

Wright’s basing his version of Tolstoy’s great novel on a powerful screenplay by Tom Stoppard, in which the playwright gives equal weight to the parallel stories of Anna’s cuckolding of her husband Karenin (Law), and her passionate affair with Count Vronsky (Johnson), and also the romance between Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) and Kitty (Alicia Vikander). Stoppard’s view is that most previous versions made the mistake of favouring Anna’s story over Levin’s. ‘Tom turned in one draft and it was all there,’ marvels producer Paul Webster.

Tim Bevan of Working Title, who is making the film for Focus Films and Universal, told me it’s the first time Wright has worked with a great screenplay. ‘Joe’s had good scripts, but this is a great one,’ says Bevan, a man not known for idle overstatement.

Wright and his long-time design collaborator Sarah Greenwood checked out locations in St. Petersburg, and stately homes in the UK (particularly in Yorkshire) which could double as Russian homes.

But the more Wright studied Russian cultural history, the more he realised he didn’t want to shoot a conventional costume drama. The eureka moment came as he pored over Orlando Figes’s study of Russian cultural history, Natasha’s Dance, which suggested the aristocrats of St. Petersburg in the 1870s were more western European in their behaviour than Russian. ‘The aristocrats spoke Italian, English and French — and Russian only to the serfs. There was a sense that they were always playing parts,’ producer Webster explained.

So Wright hit on the idea of doing an expressionistic version of Anna Karenina, emphasising that theatricality. Greenwood designed a theatre on a soundstage at Shepperton, from which the action would flow. You go through a door and there’s a train station; go through another and there’s a snowy street, or a forest of silver birch. While most of the filming was done on lavish sets, there were real life locations, too; and some shooting is being done in Russia, for the more naturalistic scenes involving Levin and Kitty. Ornate tableaux peopled with extras of Russian heritage, all choreographed to move in a certain way.

And the cast is as rich as Greenwood’s sets. Ruth Wilson (“Jane Eyre”) plays Princess Betsy; Olivia Williams(“Miss Austen Regrets”) is Countess Vronsky; Emily Watson plays Countess Lydia; Kelly Macdonald is Dolly; and Matthew Macfadyen (“Pride and Prejudice” and “The Three Musketeers”), Oblonsky.

Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery has been cast as Princess Myagkaya, while her former co-star Thomas Howes (William, the ill-fated footman) plays Yashvin.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2092451/Keira-Knightley-turns-great-performance-Anna-Karenina.html#ixzz1kyaRyaEw

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Could Barnes & Noble Go the Way of Borders?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

The book store’s last stand

By JULIE BOSMAN, The New York Times
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 9:46 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 9:46 a.m.

Page 2 of 7

No one expects Barnes & Noble to disappear overnight. The worry is that it might slowly wither as more readers embrace e-books. What if all those store shelves vanished, and Barnes & Noble became little more than a cafe and a digital connection point? Such fears came to the fore in early January, when the company projected that it would lose even more money this year than Wall Street had expected. Its share price promptly tumbled 17 percent that day.

Lurking behind all of this is Amazon.com, the dominant force in books online and the company that sets teeth on edge in publishing. From their perches in Midtown Manhattan, many publishing executives, editors and publicists view Amazon as the enemy — an adversary that, if unchecked, could threaten their industry and their livelihoods.

Like many struggling businesses, book publishers are cutting costs and trimming work forces. Yes, electronic books are booming, sometimes profitably, but not many publishers want e-books to dominate print books. Amazon’s chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, wants to cut out the middleman — that is, traditional publishers — by publishing e-books directly.

Which is why Barnes & Noble, once viewed as the brutal capitalist of the book trade, now seems so crucial to that industry’s future. Sure, you can buy bestsellers at Walmart and potboilers at the supermarket. But in many locales, Barnes & Noble is the only retailer offering a wide selection of books. If something were to happen to Barnes & Noble, if it were merely to scale back its ambitions, Amazon could become even more powerful and — well, the very thought makes publishers queasy.

“It would be like ‘The Road,’ ” one publishing executive in New York said, half-jokingly, referring to the Cormac McCarthy novel. “The post-apocalyptic world of publishing, with publishers pushing shopping carts down Broadway.”

To read the complete article (and it is well worth the time), go to http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120129/ARTICLE/120129451?p=1&tc=pg

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Life Below Stairs – Part 4 – The Work Never Ends

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

Up before dawn, the servants of an aristocratic household found the work tedious. Likely, the lower servants worked two hours before he/she was permitted to sit to his own meager breakfast.

The kitchen maid began her day with lighting the cooking fire. To do so in a cast iron stove, she must first rake out the cinders and sweep the bars, the hobs, and the hearth free of dust. She would then clean the stove with a round-headed brush and black lead mixed with some water to make a “paste.”  When the black lead dried, it was polished with a special brush, which was designed to get into the groves of the ornamental work. At least one weekly, she also swept away the accumulated soot from the flues. Generally, she was expected to bring the cook the woman’s morning tea.

The housemaids began their days with cleaning the carpets. An unusual ritual included scattering wet sand or damp tea leaves over the carpets before they swept them. They cleaned the main hall and receiving rooms thoroughly and set fires in the hearths (after cleaning the grates). After morning prayers, the housemaids cleaned the bedchambers: changed bed linens, emptied chamberpots and baths, swept the carpets, dusted the furnishings, washed and polished wooden floors, etc. One must recall that there were three mattresses on a Victorian bed. The bottom one was filled with straw and was turned once weekly. The middle one was filled with wool or horsehair. It was turned daily. The top mattress was filled with feathers. Please recall that the housemaids were supposed to finished with their work by mid day.

Upper servants (cook, lady’s maid, governess, parlour maid, and nurse) usually got an extra hour sleep while others began their days as early as 5 A.M. The cook was responsible for 4 meals daily for the master and mistress and their guests, the children, and the other servants. She prepared a different type of meal for each group. All the servants, minus the nursery staff, sat down to breakfast shortly after 8 A.M. They would dine on leftovers of yesterday’s roast or cold meat pie and a slice of bread, along with a weak tea or home brewed beer. A tea break for the servants came at approximately 11 A.M. The cook would meet regularly with the mistress to discuss the menus for the day. The servants had their “dinner” between midday and one o’clock. Generally, it was a roast and vegetables with a rice or suet pudding. Beer was served with the meal. The nursery staff were given a shepherd’s pie or mutton stew. The master and mistress and the older children had a luncheon served by liveried footmen. This was a more formal meal than was breakfast. The course was usual fish, which was followed by hot dishes and then a sweet dessert or fresh fruit. The ladies would be out the door for afternoon social calls. 

Parlour maids, which replaced butlers during the Victorian era, set the table in the dining room, as well as to oversee the removal of the leftovers. Occasionally, the parlour maid acted as a valet to the master of the house. Parlour maids, like footmen, were chosen for their height and good looks, and they were often a target for unfaithful husbands. At about 9 each morning, the parlour maid would summon the family, the children, and the other servants to family prayers in the drawing room. (If you recall, Edmund Bertram and Mary Crawford discuss this practice in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.) Before she called the household to prayers, the parlour maid had set the table with linen and silverware. She had also placed bread, toast, butter, jam, and honey on the table, along with a cream and sugar for tea. After the prayers, she brought in the covered breakfast dishes. They family would then choose from hot and cold dishes: eggs, bacon, kidneys, kippers, fish, tongue, potted meat, etc.

The ladies’ maid woke her mistress and helped the lady of the house with her ablutions and dress. Remember that women of the  Victorian Period wore tightly laced corsets or stays, several petticoats, steel-hooped crinolines, tight pantaloons, and dresses with yards and yards and yards of material.

Nursery maids swept and cleaned the day nursery and lit the hearth for warmth. The governess saw to the children. Upper class ladies rarely visited their children in the nursery for longer than 30 minutes per day. With infants, a wet nurse was engaged. Ladies of quality never breast fed their children. Governesses were occasionally accused of using a bit of laudanum to keep the children in order. The first duty of the day was to bath and feed the babies/children. A mixture of milk and barley water was used for the infants. The governess was also responsible for administering prescribed medicines and purges of castor oil, senna, or peppermint. They took the children out for morning and afternoon excursions. Older children were bathed and dressed. Even little boys wore stays until the age of 7 or 8. Breakfast was a porridge or gruel. It was quite bland when compared to what the parents ate.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Life Below Stairs – Part 4 – The Work Never Ends

Life Below Stairs – Part 3 – The Role of the Male Servants

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

Dinner in the Servants' Hall

The English aristocrat often lived beyond his means. Maintaining country houses (often several of them) and a large Georgian town house in Mayfair took its toll on his purse strings. In addition to owning the property, Society forced him to maintain an extensive staff, which would see to his family’s needs.

Rank among the serving class manifested itself in extra bedrooms and workrooms to meet the servant hierarchy. The house steward and the housekeeper were often given a sitting room in which the upper servants could dine. A work space was required for the steward to conduct his business. The butler oversaw an extensive pantry. A stillroom was necessary. Storerooms for groceries. A separate china closet. The scullery. The ladies’ maids required a separate room where they could do their mending and ironing. Don’t forget a knife room. A shoe room. A lamp room. A brushing room. A servants’ hall. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Even a modest staff was costly. Characteristically, a land owner maintained 40-50 servants. A large number of male servants was an indication of a man’s wealth. Employing males, instead of females, created a greater expense because a tax on male servants was introduced by Lord North in 1777. The tax was to be used for the cost of fighting the Americans and the war with the French. It cost a landowner £7 for each male servant if there were eleven or more in the household. Although it was gradually reduced over the years, the tax continued until 1937.

Running Footman

Compounding the issue of keeping powdered footmen increased by the duty placed on the hair powder. That tax remained in place from 1786 to 1869. Is it any wonder that some landowners forced their servants to use ordinary house flour to save on expenses. A smart footman might use the household flour and then claim the reimbursement for the expense of the duty.

Footmen and other male servants were provided tailored livery. In the mid 1800s, it would cost 3 guineas for a footman’s uniform. Typically, a footman received 2-3 suits per year. Only the wealthiest aristocrat could afford to employ a house steward, groom of the chambers, valet, cook, butler, under-butler, footmen, footboy, usher, page, “tiger,” coachmen, grooms, a man-of-all-work, gardeners, etc.

footman

Footmen were chosen for their height and their handsomeness. Most were at least six feet tall. It was desirable to match the footmen in height (like the Rockettes). Most households had 3 footmen. The first footman, who was often called “James,” no matter what was his Christian name, usually acted as the lady’s footman. He would serve her breakfast, clean her shoes, take her dogs for a walk, stand behind her chair when she dined elsewhere, carry packages when she shopped, etc. The second footman served the afternoon meal. Often he completed valet duties for the eldest son. The third footman carried the coals and wood. The first and second footman served meals. They would accompany the carriage whenever it was used by any member of the household. The footmen were responsible for cleaning and polishing the silver.

The valet was usually at least 30 years of age. He was expected to have a superficial air of aristocracy about him. He saw to his master’s dress and was expected to be abreast of social gossip to aid his master in social engagements, etc. He did not wear livery. He would rise before his master. The aristocrat’s clothes were prepared, a bath drawn, and everything his master required for his ablutions prepared. He might also be required to dress the master, or he might need to know how to load a gun quickly so that his master could shoot with his friends.

The butler needed similar skills as the valet. He was responsible for the footmen, the custody of the plate, and the contents of the wine cellar. He also oversaw the brewing of the servants’ beer, the arrangement of the dining room, etc. Unlike our perceptions of the haughty butler who ruled a household with an iron hand, the Victorian butler was in a more lowly position. In reality, the valet, the house steward, and the groom of the chambers, all outranked him in the household. They also received higher pay.

The groom of the chambers was the one who attended the main door, opened doors for members of the household, filled inkpots, saw that everything the household members needed was within reach.

The house steward oversaw the transition from country estate to Town when the Season came around. He was responsible for all the servants. He maintained the household accounts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Life Below Stairs – Part 3 – The Role of the Male Servants

Mary Balogh’s “Slightly Married”

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

 Okay, I confess. I am a big Mary Balogh fan. In reality, Slightly Married is the first book by Balogh that I read. After that, I read just about everything she has written. This “Slightly” series and its spinoff, the “Simply” series remains my favorites.  The “Slightly” series involves the Bedwyn family: Wulfric, the Duke of Bewcastle, Rannulf, Alleyn, Aidan, Freyja, and Morgan. We are introduced to the siblings in Balogh’s A Summer to Remember.

Slightly Married by Mary Balogh (copyright April 2003); ISBN 0-440-24104-9; A Dell Book

Book Blurb: Meet the Bedwyns…six brothers and sisters—men and women of passion and privilege, daring and sensuality…Enter their dazzling world of high society and breathtaking seduction…where each will seek love, fight temptation, and court scandal…and where Aidan Bedwyn, the marriage-shy second son, discovers that matrimony may be the most seductive act of all.…

Like all the Bedwyn men, Aidan has a reputation for cool arrogance. But this proud nobleman also possesses a loyal, passionate heart—and it is this fierce loyalty that has brought Colonel Lord Aidan to Ringwood Manor to honor a dying soldier’s request. Having promised to comfort and protect the man’s sister, Aidan never expected to find a headstrong, fiercely independent woman who wants no part of his protection…nor did he expect the feelings this beguiling creature would ignite in his guarded heart. And when a relative threatens to turn Eve out of her home, Aidan gallantly makes her an offer she can’t refuse: marry him…if only to save her home. And now, as all of London breathlessly awaits the transformation of the new Lady Aidan Bedwyn, the strangest thing happens: With one touch, one searing embrace, Aidan and Eve’s “business arrangement” is about to be transformed…into something slightly surprising.

If you are looking for a book full of action and swashbuckling, this is not the book for you. This is a book containing well-developed characters placed in believable situations. Balogh takes the traditional Regency “marriage of convenience” story and adds a few new twists. She takes characters of different temperaments and views of life and brings them together in a fulfilling love story – a love begun in honor and duty and ending in passion.

Aidan Bedwyn does the honorable thing by offering to marry the down and out Eve Morris and, therefore, say her and her rag-tag group of misfits who depend on Eve for survival. Personally, I fell in love with Aidan from the beginning. He is not handsome (his hook nose is mentioned repeatedly), but he possesses a manliness that women would find  appealing. I love how Eve stands up to Bewcastle and the Bedwyn’s aunt, Lady Rochester.

I felt especially sad for both Aidan and Wulfric who are thrust into their roles simply because of birth order. Wulfric, as the first born, is deprived of his childhood as he is groomed to be the Duke of Bewcastle. As the second born, Aidan, who has the knowledge and the interest to make the estate wealthy, is sent to war. There is depth in Balogh’s character development. Yet, she does not “tell” her readers what she wants them to know. She “shows” them the multi-levels of characterization by Aidan’s and Eve’s actions and dialogue. Aidan’s stern facade crumbles as he falls in love with Eve Morris, who is a complex tangle of contradictions.

I would give this novel a 4.5 stars out of 5. It made me what to read the rest of the stories (which I will include in later reviews).

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Would you visit “Napoleonland”? French Planned Theme Park Celebrates Waterloo and Trafalgar

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

French plan ‘Napoleonland’ theme park which will stage daily re-enactments of Battles of Waterloo and Trafalgar

  • £180million park to be built on site of famous battle and create 3,000 jobs
  • Park is being billed as a rival to Disneyland and could open in 2017
  • Napoleon has no national museum despite being the second most famous Frenchman after Charles De Gaulle

By ROB COOPER

Last updated at 9:39 AM on 20th January 2012

Celebrated: Napoleon Bonaparte will be commemorated with a new theme park to be built at the site of the Battle of Montereau - if funding can be securedCelebrated: Napoleon Bonaparte will be commemorated with a new theme park to be built at the site of the Battle of Montereau – if funding can be secured.

After almost 200 years, the last thing you would think the French want is a daily reminder of the devastating military defeats at Waterloo and Trafalgar.

But now a theme park is being planned in honour of Napoleon Bonaparte – and will stage daily re-enactments of the victories for Wellington and Nelson.

Dubbed ‘Napoleonland’, the attraction is likely to be built on the site of one of the military leader’s most famous victories.

If funding is secured for the £180million park it is expected to create 3,000 jobs and could ultimately emerge as a rival to Disneyland.

There are plans to build it at the site where Napoleon defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Montereau in 1814 in Montereau-Fault-Yonne just south of Paris.

The six-day battle was the nation’s last military victory over the Austrians.

The Battle of Waterloo, which put an end to Napoleon’s rule in France, is expected to be recreated on a daily basis and visitors may even be able to take part in the reenactments.

They will also be able to take in a water show recreating the Battle of Trafalgar.

A museum, a hotel, shops, restaurants and a congress are all expected to be built at the park.

Planners are also hoping to recreate the killing of Louis XVI, France’s last King, who died after being guillotined during the Revolution.

And in another attraction visitors may be able to ski around the bodies of soldiers and horses frozen on the battlefield.

Napoleon is the second most famous French and much-celebrated leader after Charles De Gaulle – so it remains to be seen how much room his countrymen give over to Lord Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

French politician Yves Jego, who is backing the project, hopes that construction work can get underway in 2014 and the park open its doors in 2017.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089267/French-plan-Napoleonland-theme-park-stage-daily-reenactments-Battles-Waterloo-Trafalgar.html#ixzz1kESu6wSH

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Ah, Politics…

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

Living on the border between North and South Carolina, of late, we have been inundated with politics. Between the SC Primary and the Democratic National Convention coming to Charlotte in September, we have heard our share of political rhetoric. Here is a bit of humor to lighten the mood…

Ah, politics!

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress. – John Adams

2. If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. – Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. – Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. – Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. – George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. – G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. – James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. – Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. – Frederic Bastiat, French economist (801-1850)

11. Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. – Ronald Reagan (1986)

12. I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. – Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! – P.J. O’Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. – Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you! – Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. – Mark Twain (1866)

17. Talk is cheap…except when Congress does it. – Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. – Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. – Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. – Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. – Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class…save Congress. – Mark Twain

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. – Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. – Thomas Jefferson

25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. -Aesop

FIVE BEST SENTENCES

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealth out of prosperity

2. What one person receives without working for…another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they worked for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

Can you think of a single reason for not sharing this?

Neither could I…….


Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Life Below Stairs – Part II – Snobbery and Rules of Engagement

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Regina Jeffers

from "Upstairs, Downstairs"

Yesterday, we looked at what a servant in an upper house, or even in a second-class household, of the late Regency Period or early Victorian times, might encounter. We spoke of wages, delineation of duties, and additional compensation. Today, we wish to examine the “snobbery” found among the servant class. As mentioned in yesterday’s article, the servants in upper households expected “tips” from the master’s guests. If he did not receive it, he might still exact his revenge on those who paid a second visit to the estate. On his return, a guest might find himself in a one of the draftier bedchambers or he might be met at the train in a cart rather than an estate carriage.

The servants expected the guests to conform to certain standards of gentility. Heaven help a stranger who appeared on a the doorstep and not dressed to the hilt. John James, in The Memoirs of a House Steward, tells a tale of how, in 1895, he mistook His Grace the Duke of Westminster for a servant. Apparently, Westminster wore shabbily care for clothing, and he was clean shaved, which was frowned upon in that time. James did not realize his mistake until he examined the man’s card.

Of course, below stairs, the servants commented freely on the master’s guests. “Behind the servants’ mask of perfect politeness and consummate gentility, there were dark thoughts and hidden feelings, another world to which only the still innocent children of the house were ever admitted, where rumours echoed from the lofty ceilings and were imagined and distorted into malicious gossip and false report. The roots of the servant grapevine were embedded deep in the foundation of each great London house. A fragment of conversation overheard by a footman at the dinner table or some actual confidence foolishly entrusted by some too ingenuous mistress to her maid, would be carried swiftly downstairs to the kitchen. From there it was transported lovingly up and down the neighboring area steps by the visiting butterman and butcher to be deposited with that day’s order on the great wooden tables in nearby kitchens, whence it could be disseminated to every part of the house by a word and a wink between the first and second footman or by a whispered conversation between two under housemaids who shared the same room, and sometimes the same bed, in the cold and draughty attic.” (Huggett, “Life Below Stairs”) This situation reminds me of the chauffeur in the play Sabrina Fair (basis of the movie Sabrina, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn) who earns a fortune by simply listening to his employer conduct business in the backseat of the car and then buying and selling stocks based on Linus Larrabee’s knowledge of the stock market.

Some servants even followed their masters into battle. Yet, such devotion to the old ways died quickly as the servant class became more aware of the world in which they lived. The penny post might have brought down a feudal way of life. Although wages increased significantly in the later part of the 19th Century, it did not guarantee a servants’ loyalty. Also, the lower servants no longer accepted the strict unspoken rules of the household. One might find those below stairs sporting more freely among the servant dichotomy.

This information comes from a website I dearly adore. Wedding Castle – An Online History (KEY PEOPLE: The Life of Victorian Servants). http://www.webspinners.org.uk/weddingtoncastle2/new_page_77.htm

Below are examples of some of the rules that the servants had to follow

1 – When being spoken to, stand still, keeping your hands quiet, and always look at the person speaking.Housemaid

2 – Never let your voice be heard by the ladies and gentlemen of the household, unless they have spoken directly to you a question or statement which requires a response, at which time, speak as little as possible.

3 – In the presence of your mistress, never speak to another servant or person of your own rank, or to a child, unless only for necessity, and then as little as possible and as quietly as possible.

4 – Never begin to talk to the ladies or gentlemen, unless to deliver a message or to ask a necessary question, and then, do it in as few words as possible.

5 – Whenever possible, items that have been dropped, such as spectacles or handkerchiefs, and other small items, should be returned to their owners on a salver.

6 – Always respond when you have received an order, and always use the proper address: “Sir”, “Ma’am”, “Miss” or “Mrs,” as the case may be.

7 – Never offer your opinion to your employer.

8 – Always “give room”: that is, if you encounter one of your betters in the house or on the stairs, you are to make yourself as invisible as possible, turning yourself toward the wall and averting your eyes.

9 – Except in reply to a salutation offered, never say “good morning” or “good night” to your employer.

10 – If you are required to walk with a lady or gentleman in order to carry packages, or for any other reason, always keep a few paces back.

11 – You are expected to be punctual to your place at mealtime.

12 – You shall not receive any Relative, Visitor or Friend into the house, nor shall you introduce any person into the Servant’s Hall, without the consent of the Butler or Housekeeper.

13 – Followers are strictly forbidden. Any member of the female staff who is found to be fraternizing shall be immediately dismissed.

14 – Expect that any breakages or damages in the house shall be deducted from your wages.

Servants’ Wages

In Victorian times, live-in servants, who had all their expenses (food, lodging, clothes etc) taken care of, earned as little as £10 a year, (which is only the equivalent of £77 in today’s money).

Here is a list of the average wages of servants (figures collected by the Board of Trade in the 1890s).

Between Maid            £10, 7s
Scullery Maid             £13
Kitchen Maid             £15
Housemaid                £16, 2s
Parlour Maid             £20, 6s
Cook                         £20, 2s
Lady’s Maid              £24, 7s
Cook / Housekeeper £35, 6s
Housekeeper             £52, 5s

In 1888 Butlers earned £45 per annum and had no expenses except clothes. They would make up their income from such perks as tradesman offering discounts to receive continued orders. Butlers would also collect the end of candles and one bottle of wine for every six opened.

1800s advertisement

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Life Below Stairs – Part II – Snobbery and Rules of Engagement