Picturesque Rides and Walks, with Excursions by Water …

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Yet again I have made a most delightfully serendipitous find in the course of my research. A lovely Regency-era guide-book which I think many Regency authors will find most helpful when they are seeking a setting for a new story, or perhaps planning a country excursion for their hero and heroine. In fact, the author of this book himself might very well serve as a model for a character in a Regency story.

When a Regency author needs a locale near the metropolis . . .

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The Rolling of the Cheese in Regency England

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

This past week, the fellow who reports on sport for the local public radio station did a tongue-in-cheek piece on the recent cheese rolling event which took place in Gloucestershire, England. His intent was to remind his listeners there were sporting activities abroad in the world beyond the upcoming basketball playoffs. However, his report also reminded me that this was an ancient country sport which had been enjoyed in England for several centuries, including during the years of the Regency.

A slice of cheese rolling lore …

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The Regency Sport Utility Vehicle

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

In her debut novel, Deflowering Daisy, romance author, Kathryn Kane, lets her heroine, Daisy, put her importunate suitor in his place by use of a dog-cart. In today’s article, you can learn more about this very handy Regency vehicle.


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How many times have you been reading a novel set in the Regency and come upon characters who ride in or discuss riding in a dog-cart? I have run across a great many over the years, and the descriptions of these vehicles varied widely. So much so I could never get a clear mental picture of a dog-cart. I decided to do some research to learn more about the appearance, use and construction of dog-carts during the Regency. The more I read about them, the more I realized they were often used rather like the SUV of today.

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The Dandy Chargers — 2014 Riding Season

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Thanks to a dedicated group of aficionados known as the Dandy Chargers, the velocipede, which Georgette Heyer fans know as the pedestrian curricle, is not a thing of the past. Each year, the Dandy Chargers don Regency dress and ride their historically accurate "dandy-horses" at various historic estates and other venues in Great Britain. Thus, those who would like to see these vehicles in action as they might have appeared during the Regency have an opportunity to do so at one of the Dandy Chargers’ appearances this year.

The 2014 schedule of the Dandy Chargers fourteenth riding season …

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Puzzle Jugs in the Regency

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

A diverting drinking vessel which could be found in village inns and public houses for centuries had a resurgence in popularity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These vessels had been made throughout England and northern Europe since at least the fifteenth century. Most commonly called puzzle jugs, they were also sometimes called teasing pitchers or wager jugs. It was a challenge to determine how to drink the liquor which they contained and wagers were often placed on the outcome of the attempt.

By the time of the Regency, puzzle jugs were being made not only for use in inns and taverns, but also for home use. Many gentlemen enjoyed entertaining their male visitors with drinking games using their own puzzle jugs.

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Dogs in the Regency   By Ann Lethbridge

Do dogs have table manners? Well it might be the sort of requirement one would ask of a dog in the Regency. Mine certainly doesn’t. Which is what generated me thinking about posting on dogs again. My sweetie-pie demonstrated his lack of table manners on Thanksgiving at my in laws. After we left the table and were sitting outside on the patio, my brother-in-law leaped from his seat, pointed in through the window. "Is that your dog?"

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The Great Georgian Gambling Epidemic   By Cheryl Bolen

In today’s article, Cheryl Bolen gives us a glimpse of the extent of the rage for all forms of gambling in the late Georgian era, which includes the Regency. Some of the tales she tells would probably be rejected by today’s Regency romance editors as completely unbelievable and yet, they are all true.

How the chips fell in Georgian times …

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Of Jehus and Jarvies

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Readers of Regency romance novels are familiar with the ubiquitous figures of the jarvey and the Jehu on the box of one kind of vehicle or another. These two words are commonly used in modern writing interchangeably, as though they were synonymous. Yet, my reading of various Regency documents such as books, letters, diaries, newspapers and other periodicals over the years has led me to the conclusion that in actual fact these two words are quite antonymous. A jarvey is not a Jehu, nor is a Jehu a jarvey. Not to mention that a jarvey is not a coachman, but a Jehu might be.

So what is the difference between a Jehu and a jarvey?

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The Wake in Regency England

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

The English wake during the Regency had nothing to do with the ceremony which many people in westernized nations today observe in honor and memory of someone recently departed. In fact, wakes in England by the early nineteenth century were considered by many such profane and unruly events that there were many efforts being made to suppress them completely. By the time the former Prince Regent, George IV, died in 1830, at least a third of the wakes in England had been abolished or severely curtailed. Few survived past the end of the reign of his niece, Queen Victoria.

The origins and history of the English wake …

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Horseracing: The Thoroughbred of English Sports by Cheryl Bolen

Horse racing can be an exciting aspect of a Regency romance novel. In today’s article, Cheryl Bolen gives us a brief overview of the origins of the sport and some historical details about some of the most prominent racing venues in England.

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