Clik here to view.
The Fine Art of Toasting in the Regency
Of bread or wine, both were related to the drinking of the health of others. However, today’s article will focus on the history of the use of alcoholic beverages to honor or salute one’s fellows, or a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Was the Prince Regent a Jacobite?
Absolutely, as had been both his father and his grandfather before him. Curiously, though the throne of the early Hanoverian kings of England had been severely threatened by both the son and grandson...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Regency Bicentennial: Prinny and the Head of Charles I
At about two o’clock in the afternoon, on Tuesday, 30 January 1649, King Charles I stepped through the northern-most second-storey window of the Banqueting House in Whitehall, from which the window...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cleveland Bay: The Bentley of Coach Horses
The Cleveland Bay is the oldest of all the indigenous British horse breeds. Clevelands are large, powerful, and elegant, and they are always bay in color. Though they were considered to be the very...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yorkshire Coach Horse: The Regency Aston Martin
Last week, the topic of discussion was the great English coaching horse breed, the Cleveland Bay. This week will be dicussed the taller, lighter, faster cousin of the Cleveland Bay, the Yorkshire Coach...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Regency Bicentennial: Byron Hides Authorship of The Waltz
This coming Sunday marks the two hundredth anniversary of the writing of a letter by Lord Byron in which he directed his publisher to deny any claims that he was the author of a satirical poem entitled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dandy Chargers Ride — The 2013 Season
One of my favorite signs of Spring is the arrival in my email box of the Dandy Chargers annual schedule of appearances. For those of you who may not know, the Dandy Chargers are a group of gentlemen,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dancing Through the Novels of Jane Austen
I usually receive a book or three each Christmas, as my family and friends are well aware they can hardly go wrong with such a gift to this devoted and steadfast bibliophile. I am always very pleased...
View ArticleClik here to view.
St. John’s Wood: The Development
St. John’s Wood has been the setting for countless scenes in countless Regency novels. But what many people do not know is that the development of St. John’s Wood into a popular, if somewhat notorious...
View ArticleClik here to view.
St. John’s Wood: The Naughtiness
Last week, the development of the area of London known as St. John’s Wood was outlined, from medieval forest to Regency garden suburb. The grand plan for this property, drawn up in 1794, included...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Paper Knife Was Not a Letter Opener
Paper knives were commonly found on many desks during the Regency. Paper knives were not the same as pen knives, nor were they made for the purpose of opening letters. However, they would become the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When Beer Was Poisoned
The poisoning of beer began in the first years of the nineteenth century, and continued for more than sixty years after the Regency had ended. Beer was not poisoned by those who brewed it, but by those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Painting of a Panorama
In previous articles in my series on the history of the panorama, I have discussed its invention by Robert Barker, the purpose-built rotundas in which these paintings were displayed and the technology...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regency Roof Rack: The Imperial
Did you think all those roof racks and cargo boxes that are mounted on all those car roofs every year for summer vacation road trips are an invention of the twentieth century? Then you will be quite...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regency Bicentennial: The "Scum of the Earth" Enrages Wellington
Today marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Vitoria, during which General the Marquess of Wellington led his troops to victory over the forces of Napoleon’s eldest brother, Joseph...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regency Bicentennial: Bagging Bonaparte’s Baggage
Last week was discussed the Battle of Vitoria, by which Wellington and his allied forces defeated the French army, officially under the command of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s elder brother. Though...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regency Bicentennial: … Your Fat Friend?
There is more than one version of the story in which Beau Brummell deliberately insulted the Prince Regent, even different versions of the actual question and of whom he asked it. There are also...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Defying Death: The Genesis of a Panorama
Last month, I posted an article here on how panoramas were painted. Every single one of those panoramas was painted on an enormous canvas after a drawing of the scene had been transferred to it....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Matching a Team — Color is Only the Beginning
Recently, I wrote a pair of articles about Cleveland Bays and Yorkshire Coach Horses. Though a single horse of either of these breeds might be hitched to a small carriage, or even ridden under saddle,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Acquisition and Handling of a Matched Team
Last week, I discussed the main criteria which were used during the Regency to match a pair of carriage or coach horses. But as with coat color being only the first consideration in matching a team,...
View Article
