http://jannelewis.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

As for me, if you’ve enjoyed my ramblings on the 18th century, you’re in luck, because I’ll continue doing them over at The Rags of Time. Come by and say hi!

My blog is www.catehart.com

Hopefully the other girls can stop by and leave their web addresses as well. Thanks for reading. Adieu.

~Cate

In the mid-19th century, there was a right fern craze in England. Not only were ferns present on pottery, textiles, wallpaper and glass, but you would be hard pressed to find a drawing room that did not contain at least one such plant. Charles Kinglsey, in his novel Glaucus even made up a special word for the fern craze – pteridomania (which to me sounds oddly like something fairly omnious and certainly contagious).

Generally, a British drawing room in the Victorian era did not offer an ideal environment for plants (it may be questioned if it offered a very favorable environment for any living thing, but that is not for this post to discuss). The room would be dark, with curtains drawn to keep the light from harming the delicate textiles of the room and also, to keep the ever-present dust and dirt out. Only hardy plants, such as ferns, could be expected to live in such a hostile place.

A lot of the blame for this trend can likely be put on the shoulders of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, a doctor and hobby botanist who in the 1830′s discovered that his ferns thrived when placed in closed glass domes. Dr. Ward published his experiment and followed it up with a book in 1842, On the Growth of Plants in Closely Glazed Cases. Thanks to this invention, the chances increased for plants to survive in rooms where gas fumes and coal dust abounded.

The Wardian cases were soon found in every drawing room – ranging from simple glass domes to elaborate semi-palaces of crystal. Sometimes ferns were also cultivated outside, in fern houses and fernaries.

All in all, there was a very satisfying seriousness to keeping and collecting ferns. The Wardian cases surely added an aspect of botanical experimenting that meant that a serious-minded young lady might indulge herself in fern collection. There was also a definite appeal in the fern’s looks. It was not frivolous and, frankly, not very pretty, which again ensured that fern collecting could be put down as a serious hobby. At the same time, the fern has a sort of almost exotic charm, reminiscing of palm trees.

A lady of some ambition would naturally not be satisfied with just one fern – or indeed just any old fern. No, she educated herself, perhaps by reading the bestselling The Fern Garden by Shirley Hibberd. Much like later card-collecting children, she did perhaps secretly long to catch them all. In fact, the fern mania led to certain species becoming extinct while others just barely survived.

In time, the craze would pass, but it forms a very particular and indeed, unmistakably Victorian phenomena.

Gardens take years to develop and require substantial investments in time and money and labor, so styles in gardens change with much less frequency than in clothing. But they do change. I love to visit historical homes in the region and I always visit gardens. Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a good place to see the development of garden styles in the US because they have homes and gardens from  different periods represented, from the simple kitchen gardens of the early 18th century, to the more elaborate mixed borders we think of as English gardens  in the early 19th century, to the carpet gardens and  greenhouses of the Victorian era.

Strawberry Banke Victorian era garden

Volumes have been written about garden design through the years and the way plants  have been domesticated far from their native homes–like roses or azaleas or peonies (bringing in non-native pests as well and some species that quickly become invasive like kudzu in the American south).

I’ve yet to focus a story on a garden, but I’ve been reading Gardens of the Gods:Myth, Magic and Meaning by Christopher McIntosh. McIntosh does a wonderful job of describing what gardens have meant to different cultures and how elements of garden design have religious and spiritual meaning. In my book collection I also have The Naturalist’s Garden by John Feltwell with descriptions of gardens in different time periods and the plant collectors who took plants from their native sites and introduced them to the wider world.

I’ve made some notes and am letting my ideas percolate. What better place for a seduction than a garden? Meanwhile, for those writing historical romances, remember–when your heroine and hero go for a stroll in a garden, you need to know not only what clothing fashion suits their time period, but also what garden style. Do your research before you have them stop and smell the roses.

And if you can think of a story where a garden setting plays a pivotal role, do let me know!

The obvious answer is to find an heiress, naturally. But – the inevitable question appears – where? How does one find a selection of unwed ladies of considerable fortune? One would need… Well, a catalogue of wealthy and available ladies!

And guess what, the crafty Georgians really had them! An example can be found here in the shape of A master-key to the rich ladies treasury;  Or, The widower and batchelor’s directory, containing an exact alphabetical list of the duchess dowagers &c from 1742.

Mary Edwards by Hogarth, 1742 (at Frick Collection)

In it you find the ladies listed in order of rank – starting with duchesses and ending with “Widows and Spinsters in Great-Britain” – and for each you can see the address, the fortune and (specified especially) what they have “In The Stocks” (and the considerate author has even specified in what, so that you may judge the value of East India versus South Sea). How then to proceed in order to be introduced to The Dowager Lady Salisbury and her 40,000 pounds, it does not say, but an enterprising young man will always find a way, will he not? Though I have to say that the odds of laying your hands on The Dowager Duchess of Marlborough and her millions would likely be slim, considering that Sarah was probably not too keen on remarrying in her 82nd year…

The list is very useful for a writer – not only do you get great inspirations for names and addresses, but you also get a picture of the sort of fortunes found in a selection in British society. A “how much is much” sort of guide. Plus, oh, the ideas it generates! All those wealthy spinsters and widows and the idea of all the fortune-seekers out to get them… It’s a plot bunny farm!

The author is merely given as a younger brother, but who says he was? Who says it was even a he at all? Wouldn’t that be an occupation worthy of a heroine – being the secret author of a list of marriageable rich ladies?

      I thought I would kick off a several posts-long series devoted to one of my favorite historical American towns – Salem, Massachusetts. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to the town. Maybe, it has to do with The Witch of Backbird Pond - though, I never read the book. Salem, of course, is notorious for the events that took place in the late 17th Ccentury known as the Salem Witch Trials. Today I’m going to focus on just one of a dozen historically significant places in Salem, The Burying Point or Charter Street Cemetery.

Located on Charter Street, the cemetery has been cited as the second oldest in the United States. The Witch Trial Memorial, a low wall with the names of the accused, runs right beside the property. In fact, in looking at photos, the Memorial seems to be an extension of the cemetery retaining wall.

Buried with in the cemetery are several notables including an early governor of Massachusetts and two men who sat on the judging committee during the Trials. John Hathorne is probably the most recognizable as he was an ancestor to Nathaniel Hawthorn who, fittingly, wrote The Scarlet Letter.

Several trip planning websites mentioned the Old Burying Point as a must see site. Most visitors recommended taking a tour as to get the best out of the graveyard. The tour provides history and background behind many of those buried in the cemetery. Though, it is not recommended to visit the cemetery during October, especially on the weekends and close to Halloween. It seems this is due to so many tourists and tour groups flooding the property.

Cover for Pleasuring a Pirate

Can’t you just smell the salty tang in the air?

Here’s the blurb for the book:

When Jenny Miller’s widowed mother becomes engaged to the father of Jenny’s ex-lover, Jenny is torn. She knows a renewal of her affair with Robert, her soon-to-be stepbrother, could jeopardize her mother’s marriage. But Robert was the sexiest, most commanding lover Jenny has had, and though he has a reputation as a heartbreaker, she yearns to get him back in bed.

When Robert plays the role of Pirate Blackwell in a video production, and Jenny plays the pirate’s wife, Robert’s passionate on-camera kiss sends Jenny’s libido into overdrive. Jenny is a dedicated lawyer who has prided herself on her self-control. But resisting the irresistible Robert? That’s a whole other case.

Obviously, Pleasuring a Pirate isn’t a historical romance, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any history behind it. Last year, Ellora’s Cave announced it was looking for stories with a pirate theme but writers were free to interpret what that meant. I read the announcement and thought—Perfect!

I’d had practice thinking of creative uses for pirates. I’d just published a novel with EC starring a hero who looks like the sexy pirate in the heroine’s fantasies and titled it Roxanne’s Pirate. Hmmm. How else could I make creative use of a pirate? Space pirates? Time travelling pirates? Pirates in kilts? None of these ideas sent out “write me!” vibes.

I thought of  stories I’d heard about pirates along the New England coast, especially in the area north of Boston. I found an excellent article online by Brigid Alverson called “Local aargh-guments” in which Ms. Alverson debunks some of the pirate stories but substantiates others.

In particular I was struck by the story of Captain John Quelch, who sailed out of Marblehead Harbor commissioned by local businessmen to do a bit of privateering (legal piracy). Unfortunately, Quelch captured Portuguese ships at a time when the British government had entered into a treaty with Portugal that outlawed piracy against each other’s ships. Quelch sailed back into Marblehead with gold dust, claiming that his treasure came from the West Indies. Someone on his crew blabbed the truth in the local tavern (you don’t need a vivid imagination to picture that scene!). Quelch and some of his men were captured on the Isles of Shoals (an area between present day New Hampshire and Maine) with a small quantity of gold dust. Some of the crew seem to have escaped. Unfortunately Quelch and five of his crew were not so lucky—they were hanged in Boston for piracy after a trial that was later called “one of the clearest cases of judicial murder in our American annals.”

Interesting story. I didn’t see Quelch as a romantic hero (that hanging was likely to be a real downer), but I liked the idea of some member of the crew making off with a bit of gold dust in his pocket.

And then I found another story online by J. Dennis Robinson titled “In Search of Blackbeard’s Treasure.” Robinson wrote about a crew from the History Channel coming to the Isles of Shoals to make a video about a legend that Blackbeard had buried treasure on one of the islands and left his thirteenth wife behind to guard it.

I wasn’t so excited about the Blackbeard myth (thirteen wives?) and the pictures accompanying the article of the historical Blackbeard and the actor playing the role weren’t romance hero material. But the idea of a film crew making a video about a pirate and buried treasure hit me. Here was a way to use a pirate story creatively!

What if there was a crew filming a movie about some member of Quelch’s crew who had escaped and managed to hold onto his gold dust? What if the heroine was in that film and the hero played the pirate? Ah, (or maybe “Argh!) that got my creative juices flowing!

Sometimes my inspirations for a story are not so clear cut, but in this case, a bit of actual New England pirate history was exactly what I needed to get this pirate story under sail.

Want to read an excerpt? You can find it here. Want to win a copy of the ebook? I’m giving one away today on The Romance Studio.

Many people think corsets have always simply been about trimming down the waist, but of course that isn’t so. Their purpose isn’t necessarily to slim down but to transform into whatever shape is currently desirable. I thought I’d do a quick little break-down here of what our heroines might be wearing underneath their clothes in various periods.

My heroines, being of the 18th century variety, wear stays. Stays are of course a form of corset, but unlike the later variety, they are not so much about trimming the waist as they are there in order to make you conical. That’s right, inverted cones are HAWT. Or at least you’d think so if you lived in, say, the 1770s. What you wanted was a flat, smooth front and your bosom pressed together and upwards.

Here is an example of what I’m talking about:

Italian silk corset, 1770s from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org)

Besides turning you into a cone, stays also helped you to keep a nice posture. They don’t encourage slouching or bending over but they are not as uncomfortable as one might think. Sort of an exo-sceleton, I suppose. Note how they don’t go over your hips – they will be hidden under panniers anyway. In fact, it was rather the wide skirts than the stays that were meant to make your waist look tiny.

The style is kindly modeled for us by Madame de Pompadour:

Madame de Pompadour by Boucher (c. 1754)

In time, the cone softened so that in the 1780s, you got a slightly more curved front with more “thrust” if you get what I mean. They also gradually got shorter as waists moved upwards, and one day suddenly, – voilà. You had the short regency stays!

They should look something like this (I couldn’t find a museum pic, unfortunately but google short regency stays and you’ll find tons of pictures from reenactors and costumers):

Corset, short Regency variety

You see how different they are from the earlier variety? These also separated and pushed up your bosom, creating the shelf effect seen here on Lady Blessington:

Lady Blessington by Thomas Lawrence (c. 1822)

Only later, in the Victorian era, did corsets turn into what we might think of first when we hear the term – tools for cinching in the waist and creating that hourglass figure that still more or less embodies “sexiness” to us. The Victorian corset gives you a tiny waist and thereby emphasizes your “assets”.

Here’s what I mean:

American corset ca. 1880 in cotton, metal and bone from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (www.metmuseum.org)

The sort of look these were meant to create can be seen in this painting:

Deatil from The Love Letter by Toulmouche (c. 1883)

Compare this with the 18th century silhouette and you’ll see how different ideals the corsets are catering to. “Curves” would not have appealed to an 18th century dressmaker – or a Regency one, for that matter. But the later 19th century had women looking much like the first railways – all curves and bends and no straight lines. If the Georgian woman was a ‘V’, and the Regency a ‘T’, then the later Victorian was an ‘S’.

No matter the shape though, one thing remained the same; no fashion-conscious woman would dream of going without these fortresses of bone, silk and metal – much, I imagine, to the chagrin of Romance heroes everywhere!

Today, I am going to talk about my other favorite thing…Scottish men, and the Clan MacGregor in particular.

My first effort at serious writing was an epic historical romance – I’ve mentioned it before. I knew from the beginning that my hero was a.) Scottish, b.) had a sordid history, and c.) was a spy on the “wrong” side of the Thirty’s Years War. Well, his first name came to me pretty easy – Iain Malcolm – but I had to choose a last name that matched a conflicted clan that would lead to problems in the hero’s past – more important give him a reason to flee the Highlands and run away to Europe to enlist in the Catholic Army.

So, I researched the early 17th Century and found that the MacGregors were perfect for my wayward, rake hero, Iain.

Clan MacGregor to this day are referred to as the Children of the Mist.   The Clan’s motto is “S RIOGHL MO DHREAM” or “My Race is Royal.” The real trouble for the clan began in 1589 when the MacGregor cheiftain and a few outraged MacGregors murdered John Drummond, the King’s forester – Drummond had hung some MacGregors for poachingon the King’s lands. Urged by a land hungry Campbell – King James VI of Scotland and I of England, outlawed the MacGregors: banning their name and stripping them of their lands. Thus the MacGregors slipped into the Highlands, changing thier names. The clan MacGregor was reinstated, so to speak, in 1774.

I will leave you here on the MacGregor Saga, seeing as an enitre post could be devoted to Rob Roy.

But I shall leave you with eye-candy. A wonderful pic of Liam Neeson as Rob Roy, and my personal favorite MacGregor – Ewan!!

You can read for yourself some wonderful websites devoted to Clan MacGregor :

 Clan MacGregor at Rampant Scotland

Scotland in Oils

http://www.macbraveheart.co.uk/macgregor/index.htm