They Were Expendable

I was going to talk about weather and books set in the year 1816 but got sidetracked reading a compilation of General Orders from the Peninsular War.

One Private Dennis Farrell of the 61st was tried for stabbing his wife to death...and found guilty of a reduced charge of "manslaughter" was given 12 months imprisonment. Yesterday is Today, no?

A Private Frederick Klutt of the 1st Battalion was found guilty of stealing sheep and got 900 lashes.

go read. it's interesting if for nothing else than the relative value put on the lives of women. 900 lashes would painfully kill if not cripple one would think. 12 months in the pokey....not so very much...unless Dennis dies of the bloody flux....one can dream, can't one?

Her Story

.
.
Just started "The Last Hellion" a novel by Ms. Chase. But stopped dead and chilled for a moment......I read this passage:

Lydia was well aware that she had ruffled feathers in the Home Secretary's circle. In the first of her two-part series on the plight of London's younger prostitutes, she had hinted at the legalization of prostitution, which would enable the Crown to license and regulate the trade, as in Paris, for instance. Regulation, she had suggested, might at least help reduce the worst abuses.

Pay attention my ladybirds and panders.... it's an horrifying and painful story; what happened when it sort of thing came about. I threw up in my mouth a little. And while I would love to don my non-existent superpowers and take up my gelding knife for a quick bloody journey back through the time portal under my bed - dammit I can't.

So read about it if you wish. Have some dry crackers and ginger handy. It's a brutally ugly story.
Prostitution and the Contagious Diseases Acts (1864, 1866 and 1869)

Thanks to the fine Jezebels over at Jezebel for the link to this new magazine .. which should be on everyone's list of must reads.

A Good Name

Eufemia.

Also spelt Euphemia. It 's a good name ... but not for a Baltic Pagan. Madeline Hunter writes wonderfully rich stories with all sorts of interesting "read more about it" historical detail. I've been reading historicals for more years than I care to remember, since high school. I learned a good deal of history by wanting to "read more about" bits and snips of historical detail in those romances. One reason I knew Kosovo was a pressure-cooker of east/west tensions looooong before Yugoslavia shattered into several bloody pieces. One reason I spent summers immersed in medieval history for fun. A 690 on a Euro History achievement test after less than one semester of Euro history in high-school. The same on the US History achievement test.

But I digress, I fear.

Yes, the title By Possession by Madeline Hunter. A good jump point to get interested perhaps in what feudalism was about. Serf-riding and all that fun stuff. A jump point for learning about the Teutonic Plague as our hero was a participant in the Baltic Crusades. But it was the one glitch where our hero was the slave of a Baltic pagan priest who had a daughter named Eufemia, that inspired this post.

Euphemia is a Christian name with Greek roots. It may well have been the baptismal name of an adult convert. That is how it went. For instance, there is now a Saint Olga of Kiev. But it only became a canonically Christian name after Olga was baptized and brought the religion to Kiev and was canonized. Olga's baptismal name was Helen and it was how she was called when she received the Eucharist. Now in 2009, a convert named Reynebeaux may take the name Olga upon her baptism because it is now a saint's name.

The pagan Lithuanians Latvians, and Estonians has plenty of their own names. and being the last holdouts against Christianity, would have likely held pretty tightly to their own names rather than those of Christian saints. A list here would be a start. Simply weed out the names derived from Greek & Latin and keep it about "nature" and there ya go. Insta believable Baltic pagan priestess. Eufemia was jarring....ya know...

The Occasional Missed Opportunity - AMA Edition

Sometimes a good historical misses a great opportunity. Once a big medieval setting fan, I've been binging on Georgian/Napoleonic/Regency of late. Lots our wounded rakes returning form the Peninsular Wars and Waterloo and all that.

Barbara Dawson Smith's With All My Heart. A nicely lightishly spicy read. Or hero has trained as doctor and was in the army. Now he suffers trauma-rama-ding-dong and wants to retire to his country estate and be a normal doctor. Book takes place 1815-1816-ish.

A Mention of Dominique Larrey Would have given the book a certain historical boost, methinks. As one can see from the link provided, his book in English translation was available in 1815. A truly forward thinking gentleman of whom Wellington said he was"of an age no longer ours'." .

And for you ladies wearing the pink -apres guerre he was also a pioneer in mastectomy.

He was remarkable - and as a plus? A not an unpleasant eyefull. Google the image.

Advent-ure in Orthopraxis

Oh dear. The book is entertaining but someone has not read their CofE and Orthodox traditions and strictures.

Miss Feather and book To Wed a Wicked Prince. I picked it up in hopes that we might see a touch of the Russian Greek Church at the Russian Embassy in London - the first foundation of Orthodoxy in the UK. So far it's all pleasant anglicanus genericus tepidus. And lo! He and She are getting married the Saturday Before Christmas..... whuuuuut???

Orthodox don't marry during Advent, or Lent, or The Apostles Fast or several other fasting periods. it always has been that way. I am given leave tobelieve through some web grazing that CofE didn't marry during Advent or Lent because of the penitential nature of those seasons ... at least historically if not today - and especially a vicar's daughter.

Honestly don't be afraid to make your Regency Russians a bit smells'n'bells - it would add character ya know.

When One Learns A New Fact

Historical romances are....escapism? Yes indeedy that they are. And they can be taken at simply that value if one wishes. They can also be a nudge toward learning more about the time period in which they are set.

Sometimes it can be disturbing and unsettling. Liz Carlyle threw me a whopper last month. In Tempted All Night the hero witnesses the aftermath of the siege of Tripolitsa. Whazzat? I asked myself. I was not prepared for the Google that told me about it and that it is celebrated in some Greek Orthodox churches in the USofA. I am Orthodox. I am so not good with hosting a celebration over a wholesale massacre of people of other faiths. If anything, it should be a service of remembrance and also of repentence - subdued and with eyes wide open that the population did not perish of starvation.

Distressing to say the least since the rumbles from beantown say the phanar should take the USofA wholesale. I can't goove on denial....srsly.

One Potato Two Potato

Stressing the importance of researching seeming anachronisms whilst writing a book review; I came across a review where the otherwise very good reviewer disputed that a Regency heroine might make a Sweet Potato pie. Not so my hoydens and fribbles!

I would only dispute that it was called a "pie" and not a "pudding". Pies have top and bottom crusts, puddings only have a bottom crust.

The sweet potato was brought to England by Katherine of Aragon. Henry VIII grew rotund on them. An illustrious history to be sure.

Known as the Batata or Spanish Potato it is well known and regarded in the annals of British history. And besides, it passed muster at Saint Mary's City grand muster. 17th Century reenactors' muster in Maryland with various competitions both military and domestic. If you are out that way in the autumn be on the look out for it. Your's truly took first in cooking with the following reciept as part of the menu presented.

NEWE WORLDE TART STUFF

Peel and chop three largge spanisshe potateos. Putt on a pott wyth sugar in the amount the size one potatoe. Putt also in fresch butter half the amount of the sugar. Grind fyne spyces of cynamond a piece the syze of ye thumb, nine or tenn of cloves, three podds of cardamon seed, and half a nutmegg. Lett cooke in a closed pott until ye potatoes be soft and the syrop be thikke. Serv to yor lad. Hee wil ravisshe thee.

Although I no longer do reenactiments, I have fond memories of single handedly feeding the 10-12 not so wee men of our wee camp of miscreants. Dedicating this to DM, a gentleman of the highest order - Memory Eternal