Articles about the Regency era
Hello! I’m Maureen Mackey, one of the new chairs of the Quizzing Glass blog. As my co-chair Caroline Warfield explained in her introductory post last week, the two of us will be posting frequently in the coming weeks with news and information we hope you’ll find fun and interesting. Caroline told you a little bit…
April is early spring, and usually the month for Easter, with its Hot Cross Buns and the end of Lent. The London Season usually began right around Easter. In Scotland, April 1, Fool’s Day, was a popular holiday. “Hunting the gowk” was the name for the game in which people were sent on phony errands…
On March 10, 1812 John Murray published George Gordon, Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Cantos I and II. Murray printed 500 quarto copies, which sold out in three days, costing 30 shillings each (that’s 1£ 10 shillings, or in the modern world about 56£, and quarto refers to printing four pages on each side of…
On Wednesday, February 6, 1811, Prince George took the oath at Carton House that allowed him to become the Prince Regent. At 48, the prince was no longer the dashing young man once dubbed “Prince Florizel” (due to his affair with the actress Mary Robinson, who had had the lead as Perdita, opposite Florizel, in…
“Monday. Here’s a day! – The Ground covered with snow! What is to become of us? – We were to have walked out early to near Shops, & had the Carriage for the more distant. – Mr. Richard Snow is dreadfuly fond of us. I dare say he has stretched himself out at Chawton too.”…
The origins of caroling date far back in time, with the word ‘carol’ dating back to the Old French and the 1300s, meaning a ‘joyful song’ or to ‘dance in a ring accompanied by singers’. In ancient times, celebrations often included song and dancer, with May carols and harvest carols existing, and perhaps others we…
At the end of the eighteenth century, John Cary was commissioned by the Postmaster-General to survey all the principal roads in England. He did this by walking these roads, pushing a wheel connected to a counter, which kept a tally of the number of rotations and then produced an accurate mileage. Between 1787 and 1831,…
While we often think of “punch” these days as something non-alcoholic to serve, in Regency England punch was a drink to get you more than a little tipsy. The first mention of punch was recorded in 1632, but the roots go much further back to wassail, and also to mulled wine or brandy (the word…
September 24 was the day associated with harvest in much of medieval England, and this continued into Regency era, although weather was always a factor since too much rain or an early frost can ruin a crop. During harvest time, Corn Dollys would be crafted. By tradition the dolly held the spirit of the corn…
In the UK, August 12 is commonly known as ‘the Glorious Twelfth’ due to its being the start of grouse shooting season, which then leads on into other shooting seasons. This was as true in the Regency era as it is today in England, for August is when those who could—or who can today—fled London’s…