First of September 1827

Loretta reports:

From The Every-day book; or, Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Vol. II, by William Hone.
~~~
September 1*

Until this day partridges are protected by act of parliament from those who are "privileged to kill."

Application for a License.
In the shooting season of 1821, a fashionably dressed young man applied to sir Robert Baker for a license to kill— not game, but thieves. This curious application was made in the most serious and business-like manner imaginable.

"Can I be permitted to speak a few words to you, sir?" said the applicant.  "Certainly, sir," replied sir Robert. " Then I wish to ask you, sir, whether, if I am attacked by thieves in the streets or roads, I should be justified in using fire-arms against them, and putting them to death ?"  Sir Robert Baker replied, that every man had a right to defend himself from robbers in the best manner he could; but at the same time he would not be justified in using fire-arms, except in cases of the utmost extremity. "Oh! I am very much obliged to you, sir; and I can be furnished at this office with a license to carry arms for that purpose?" The answer, of course, was given in the negative, though not without a good deal of surprise at such a question, and the inquirer bowed and withdrew.

* Feast of St. Giles, patron saint of beggars and blacksmiths, among many others.  The name is familiar to Regency readers as a famously crime-ridden section of London. 

Illustration by Robert Havell, Partridge Shooting at Windsor. 

Happy Birthday to Us!

Loretta and Susan reporting:

Today* we are one! 

That is, not us specifically (even if we are both Geminis), but our blog. When we began the Two Nerdy History Girls last year, we decided to write what we wanted to read, and hope that might be a few others out there who might like to read it, too. Turns out there are a great many of you: we've had over 100,000 page views, and our 250th follower just signed up this week. We're delighted that we've delighted you. Long live Nerdy Girl History, and many, many thanks for your support and your enthusiasm, your interest and your comments!

* We realize that there may be those who will quibble with this birthday, since a few posts in our archive date from earlier in the summer of 2009. These were our trial blogs, shared with a small, trusted, and indulgent audience while we were trying to figure out what the hoo-hah we were actually doing. We went live to the world on September 1, 2009, which is why we decided that was our true birthday. Besides, if the Queen of England can celebrate her birthday in June because the weather's better, we figured we could choose September 1. 

Intrepid Women: Sarah Bowdich Quells a Mutiny, 1816

Susan reporting:

In 1816, not all English ladies were leading a genteel, Austen-esque life in the country. At least one of them was sailingwith her infant daughter to Africa to meet her husband. Sarah Wallis Bowdich (1791-1856) was the only woman, let alone the only lady, on board a small merchant ship full of desperate men. Here's Sarah's own telling of what happened one evening, from her 1835 book Stories of Strange Lands, & Fragments from the Notes of a Traveller:

The surgeon whispered to me his apprehensions that all was not well, and that our people...were irritated and annoyed, and in a most discontented state. The first mate was in command of the vessel; and, though he was an admirable sailor, and a most obliging and excellent person, was very impetuous. The dinner was sent to table very ill-dressed, and the cook was summoned aft to receive a reprimand. He became impertinent, and the mate, seizing a butter-boat, threw it at his head....A general scuffle ensued, and the second mate, running to the chest of arms, loaded a brace of pistols, and stood in the door-way of the cabin, swearing to two men who came aft, that he would blow their brains out if they ventured a step further. I expostulated with him, but he only replied, "You do not know the danger, Ma'am; the men are in a state of mutiny, and if they seize on the small-arms, we may all be murdered." My child happened to be on deck; and, at the word murdered, I crept under the second mate's arm after her. She was perfectly safe, with Antonio [another sailor] beside her, as guard. My fellow-passenger [a convicted slaver!] was on the larboard side, striving by fair words to quell the tumult; but the first mate was nearly overpowered at the opposite gangway. In striving to reach my child, I became mixed up with their party; and, without knowing it, was close by the mate when when the cook made a plunge at him with the large knife with which he cut the meat. To seize the cook's arm, to snatch the knife out of his hand, and throw it into the sea, was an affair of impulse, not reflection; however, it probably saved the mate, for the knife had already cut through his waistcoat. This action, and my presence, seemed to produce a momentary pause, and gave time to those who were well-disposed to rally round their master. The cook was put in irons, and...went away muttering curses and threats; and I had no inclination to eat the offering with which he had tried to propitiate me....I accordingly threw it into the sea, and retired to the cabin, to prevent further identification with this painful concern.

But wait! This is only one tiny slice of this lady's amazing and accomplished life. More, much more, to follow on Thursday....

Above: Loaded pistols were served out to all the sure men by N.C. Wyeth, 1911, illustration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Collection of Andrew and Betsy Wyeth.

Following Up: Ann Thicknesse to Shine in Cincinnati

Susan reporting:

Earlier this year, we wrote of one of our favorite Intrepid Women, the celebrated musician Ann Ford Thicknesse (1737-1834). Thanks to our friends at the Duchess of Devonshire's Gossip Guide, we've learned that Mrs. Thicknesse's fabulous portrait (left) by Thomas Gainsborough has been newly spruced, and will be the centerpiece of a show this fall at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Thomas Gainsborough and the Modern Woman promises not only extraordinary paintings, but gowns of the Georgian period as well. If you're fortunate enough to be in Ohio this fall (the show runs September 18-January 2), we hope you'll stop by and pay your respects to Mrs. Thicknesse. She is quite deserving.

Above: Mrs. Philip Thicknesse, nee Ann Ford, by Thomas Gainsborough, 1760, Cincinnati Art Museum

Riding Habit 1817

Loretta reports:

I'm always thrilled to find riding habits and court dresses in the fashion magazines, because these are not nearly so common as evening dresses and walking dresses.  This is one very like what I had imagined my heroine Zoe (of Don't Tempt Me) wearing.

I cannot pin down the "Glengary" element, since it doesn't correspond with definitions I've found elsewhere, including Louis Harmuth's 1915 Dictionary of Textiles.  The cap doesn't look like today's idea of a Glengarry cap, and, being made of satin, doesn't fit the "mottled wool" definition below.  Perhaps one of our knowledgeable readers can enlighten us.


From Ackermann's Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions, Manufactures, &c., The Second Series, Vol. IV. September 1,  1817.  No. XXI
~~~~~

PLATE 16.—THE GLENGARY* HABIT

Is composed of the finest pale blue cloth,** and richly ornamented with frogs and braiding to correspond. The front, which is braided on each side, fastens under the body of the habit, which slopes down on each side in a very novel style, and in such a manner as to form the shape to considerable advantage. The epaulettes and jacket are braided to correspond with the front, as is also the bottom of the sleeve, which is braided nearly half way up the arm. Habit-shirt, composed of cambric, with a high standing collar, trimmed with lace. Cravat of soft muslin, richly worked at the ends, and tied in a full bow. Narrow lace ruffles. Head-dress, the Glengary cap, composed of blue satin, and trimmed with plaited ribbon of various shades of blue, and a superb plume of feathers. Blue kid gloves, and half-boots.

*Glengarry—All-wool, mottled English tweed.  (?????)

**Cloth—1, general term for fulled woolen fabrics; 2, general term for any textile fabric having some body; 3, medieval English worsted made six yards long and two yards wide.