December Fashions for 1798

Lady's Monthly Museum, 1798. 

Paying morning visits was an important part of fashionable life - and it was important that a lady was properly dressed. Popular magazine The Lady's Monthly Museum included up-to-date fashions for its fair readers. The lady on the left is wearing a 'Plain White Gown' (like the ones favoured by Eleanor Tilney in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey), with a 'Cloak of Purple Velvet, hanging in a point behind, trimmed with broad Black Lace'. She is sporting a 'Black Velvet Cap' with a 'Bandeau of Pink Ribbon', with a pink handkerchief and pink shoes. For warmth, she is carrying a 'Bear [skin] Muff'. Her companion is also attired in a 'Plain Gown' with a 'Cloak of Scarlet Kerseymere, trimmed with Sables, having either a hood or cape trimmed with the same'. This lady's 'head-dress' is made from 'Purple Velvet, with Bandeau, Puffing, and Rose of Scarlet Ribbon', with matching shoes.  

Plain gowns were also popular for evening wear, with suitable embellishments. Full dress (image right) for the first figure comprised a 'Round Gown, with the Agatha Robe of Pink Muslin'. The robe had satin half-sleeves, and was fashioned on each shoulder with a cornelian clasp. The lady is wearing a coral necklace and earrings, and a turban of purple velvet trimmed with white satin and pink muslin; purple shoes to match. The lady on the right is wearing a lilac muslin half-robe over her round gown with lace tucker. Her head-dress is a lilac 'fillet' fastened under her chin, decorated with pearls.

On 18 December 1798, Jane Austen was looking forward to a ball. She wrote to her sister Cassandra, 'I took the liberty a few days ago of asking your black velvet bonnet to lend me its cawl, which it very readily did, and by which I have been enabled to give a considerable improvement of dignity to cap, which was before too nidgetty to please me. I shall wear it on Thursday, but I hope you will not be offended with me for following your advice as to its ornaments only in part. I still venture to retain the narrow silver round it, put twice round without any bow, and instead of the black military feather shall put in the coquelicot one as being smarter, and besides coquelicot is to be all the fashion this winter. After the ball I shall probably make it entirely black'.   

A very Happy Christmas to all my readers! 

Sir Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1822.

Tomorrow marks 250 years since the birth of Sir Walter Scott, novelist and contemporary of Jane Austen. Young 'Wattie', as he was affectionately known by his family, was born 'in a house belonging to my father, at the head of the College Wynd' in Edinburgh, he later recalled. 

At first Walter was a healthy child, but after an illness in which he lost the use of his right leg, he was sent to live with his paternal grandparents on their farm at Sandy Knowe, Roxburghshire. The fresh country air and lots of exercise greatly restored Walter's health, although he was left with a permanent limp. 

But his stay at Sandy Knowe left an even more lasting legacy. His grandmother, and his Aunt Jenny, told Walter lots of stories and legends about the Border reivers, and the ill-fated Jacobite rebellions. These tales fired the young lad's imagination, and later inspired his poems and fiction. 

After attending school at Edinburgh and Kelso, Walter studied at Edinburgh University before becoming indentured to his father to train as a Writer to the Signet. When his apprenticeship ended, Scott trained for the Scottish Bar. In 1792 he qualified as an Advocate 'with all its duties and honours'. 

While studying at Edinburgh, Walter joined several literary societies. He also composed poetry. During the course of his legal training, he also visited the Highlands - and its scenery had a lasting impact on him. 

Following an unrequited love for a young lady he met during his teens, Scott fell for the dazzlingly beautiful Charlotte Carpenter (Charpentier). They married at Carlisle in 1797. Two years later, Scott was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Selkirk.

Scott's first full-length publication, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders (1802) was a collection of traditional Scots ballads (see Alistair Johnson's essay here); it also included some of Scott's own work. The Minstrelsy was a best-seller, and laid the foundations of Walter's first full-length published poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), followed by Marmion; A Tale of Flodden Field. (1808).

Scott at Abbotsford. 

Abbotsford; Scott's Study.

His poetry was incredibly successful, and warmly received by the critics. However, he had also been trying his hand at fiction, and his novel Waverley was published anonymously in 1814. Waverley was a runaway success, and the stage was set for Scott's incredible writing career. He published over twenty novels before his death in 1832. Walter sold a phenomenal number of books during his lifetime, and the proceeds helped to fund his dream home - Abbotsford - his 'Conundrum Castle'. 

Scott's later years were overshadowed by illness and financial troubles, and the death of his wife. The collapse of his publishers led Scott to try and repay his debts honourably, by writing. He successfully reduced a large amount of the debts before his death at Abbotsford in 1832.

All images from the author's collection. 

A Great Honour!

I'm very pleased and honoured to say that I've just been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society! I'd particularly like to thank the President, Emma Griffin, for supporting my application. I am really looking forward to joining this international community of historians, and helping to promote and support the discipline of history as much as I can. 

Illustration: Morning visiting dress, Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, 1837.

News for Email Subscribers

 It has been brought to my attention that the old 'subscribe by email' function, previously provided by Feedburner, will stop working in July. Therefore, I've switched subscribers to the new follow.it service (with help from my dear husband Nigel, and from technical support!) Current subscribers should be switched automatically, if all goes well. 

If you haven't already subscribed to my blog, you can do so via this link. If you'd like to subscribe to my Jane Austen blog, you can do so via this link here.

It's raining today, so here's a nice illustration of a lady wearing pattens - essential wear in Jane Austen's day. 

Caledonian Collection!

 
I'm very pleased to announce that I've just published my new book Caledonian Collection on Amazon Kindle! It's a collection of published articles inspired by our holidays in Scotland, in former happier times. The topics covered include the 'Killing Times', Radical rebels, and Bonnie Prince Charlie's ill-fated venture to gain the British throne. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it! 

Goodbye to 2020!

This has been a horrible year for so many people in so many countries.

However, the advent of several vaccines has given us fresh hope that some day soon we will be able to once again hug our loved ones safely. 

This is not a good time of year weather-wise. But I do take pleasure in small things whilst unable to travel: the joy of spotting our resident Robin Redbreast; the last few chrysanthemums braving the December rain; and the first tentative harbingers of spring as next year's bulbs begin to appear. 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the new year. 

Here's to better times next year! 

Image: The Aurora Borealis in Lapland. Penny Magazine, 21 December 1833. 

A Summer Like No Other

This summer seems to have gone by like a dream.

I cannot remember a situation like this during my lifetime – so many weeks of anxiety about the safety of our loved ones, both family and friends.

I meant to start a diary at the start of the pandemic, but for the first time in my life I have been far too anxious and unsettled to write.

The first few weeks of lockdown were the worst – those blisteringly hot, seemingly endless days when we were confined to the house except for our permitted one walk per day.

We have been very lucky compared with many families – we were able to walk round our garden when we needed a breath of fresh air. It was a great comfort to see the spring flowers appearing and to watch birds playing on the lawn, oblivious to the drama unfolding in the human world.

Our son came home just before the start of the lockdown, and it has been a great comfort, knowing he was safe with us.

But the separation from other family members was the worst, especially my elderly parents and our daughter.

We missed our daughter’s birthday, and my sister’s too, during the lockdown. Video calls aren’t the same as a hug, but better than nothing. Even though the restrictions have eased, it still hurts that I can’t cuddle my Mum and Dad, or our daughter.

We have enjoyed a few days out recently, but with no end to our invisible enemy in sight, it is hard to see when or if our lives will ever return to normal.

I hope that you and your loved ones are keeping well – and staying safe.