Queen Victoria's Favorite: Sharp, the Border Collie

Susan reporting:

It's difficult to imagine English monarchs without their dogs. Whether King Charles II surrounded by his scurrying spaniels or the current queen with her corgis, royalty and dogs seem inseparable. The connection makes sense, really. What human courtier could ever offer the complete and unquestioning loyalty of a canine counterpart?

Queen Victoria was no exception. With her love of all things Scottish, the little queen admired the collies bred by sheep farmers in the border lands between England and Scotland. The first of the Queen's favorites was named Sharp, acquired in 1866 soon after the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert, and the dog proved the perfect comfort to the grieving queen, even earning a place in royal photographs such as this one, upper left. He was also painted, right, by the queen's favorite animal portraitist, Charles Burton Barber. (This painting is soon to be sold at auction, where it is predicted to bring between $4,000-6,000 from either an art or dog lover.)

Border collies were still an unfamiliar breed to most 19th c. Englishmen, and many surrounding Her Majesty wished they had remained so. While Sharp was devoted to his mistress and to her personal servant, John Brown, others found the dog to be quarrelsome and badly trained. Wrote a contemporary:

One pet collie rejoiced in the name of Sharp. He had all his meals with his mistress, being seldom away from her. Though such a favorite...the popularity of the quadruped had limits. The households used to retreat before him, for Sharp not only barked with vigor, but could bite with spite. Even the Queen mentions that the pet was fond of fighting. Referring to him after a ramble, she mentions that the collie varied the monotony of the walk by numerous 'collie shangies'; it is the Highland phrase for a set-to between dogs of Sharp's breed.

Even after his death in 1879, Sharp continued to hold his place in the queen's affections. He was buried in her garden in Windsor Home Park, Berkshire, beneath the elaborate tomb, lower left, and immortalized as the "favourite and faithful Collie of Queen Victoria." What dog –– or queen –– could ask for more?

Above left: Queen Victoria with Sharp the Border Collie at Balmoral, 1867
Right: Sharp, Brother of Fern by Charles Burton Barber, 1877
Lower left: Monument to Sharp, Windsor Castle, Berkshire

Downton Abbey and the Edwardians

Loretta reports:

Though the new PBS Masterpiece program, Downton Abbey, is set in 1912, two years after King Edward VII (1841-1910) died, you won’t hear me complaining about descriptions calling it an “Edwardian era” drama.  George V might have been wearing England’s crown, but the Edwardian atmosphere lingered.  Like the Regency period about a century earlier, the term “Edwardian” is often stretched to include some time before and after the specific ruler whose name it bears.

There are some other interesting parallels to the Regency.  King Edward VII’s mother, Queen Victoria, had an interminable reign, like King George III, father of the Prince Regent (later George IV).  This mean that both heirs to the throne had a very long wait to wear the crown.  Both wore their crowns for a very short time—less than nine years for Edward VII, ten years for George IV.  Both were rebellious sons who had difficult relationships with their parents (Victoria blamed her eldest son for the death of her beloved Albert).  Both men were fashion plates, although Edward was more of a fashion leader.  The Prince Regent, when not under the guidance of Beau Brummell, had theatrical tendencies in dress, with sometimes unfortunate results. 

Both men had a lot of girlfriends, though I’m not sure either could compete with their ancestor King Charles II.  However, again unlike the Prince Regent, Edward VII was quite fond of his wife, Alexandra.  I blogged about one of his mistresses, Daisy, Countess of Warwick, a year ago, and plan to gossip about more of his girlfriends during the run of Downton Abbey.


For now, though, let's take look at fashion.  It’s interesting, isn't it? that both eras feature a vertical style of dress, and a reduction in underwear.  Between the time John Singer Sargent painted the splendid portrait of Daisy and her son, and the time of Downton Abbey, women's fashion underwent quite a change.  Instead of the S curves of the turn of the century, the shape of women’s fashion began slimming down, heading toward the boyish look of the Roaring Twenties.

As we all know, styles come and go and come again, and these two eras offer a good example.  Loyal readers of this blog may notice a similarity between the 1912 French fashion plate here and the winter promenade dress I showed for January 1815.

Breakfast Links: Week of January 3, 2011

Now that we've joined Twitter, we're discovering dozens of other interesting blogs and sites, news stories and announcements, that delight us as Nerdy History Girls. We're sure you'd enjoy them as well, and thus we're beginning this weekly selection of the best links gathered in our Twitter-ramblings.


• The internet's endless fascination with stays (it's a "magic word" for searches on our blog, too): http://bit.ly/h7lyAQRT
• Ready to elope with that charming rake? A New Years' Trip To Gretna Green http://wp.me/pGJsu-1kg
• Happy 450th anniv. yr. to The Broderers' Company - long live fine#needlework & hand embroidery! http://bit.ly/erYMZl
• Can't we get past the snarky "heaving bosoms"? Women read more than men & buy more books: this is news? http://bit.ly/eXcaQu
• Rock 'n' roll history: efforts to save Ringo Starr's childhood home in Liverpool: http://bbc.in/e2wAzR
• Shocked, we are by thist: Woman claims to have been fired because of historical fiction blogging? Good grief.http://bit.ly/ibk8E2
• Frocks & bikini, ooh-la-la! 1957: Clip: 'COMMONWEALTH FASHIONS MADE IN LANCASHIRE' : http://bit.ly/hFklP
• Now that's frugal: 19th c activist Lydia Child's "American Frugal Housewife" as free download: http://amzn.to/hbUia9
• @ Royal_Armouries: Check out our newly updated image library - including some 19th c. pictures of the Tower of London http://bit.ly/fbYoPO

• Hurray! NPG Thomas Lawrence portrait exhibition coming stateside next month to Yale! http://bit.ly/hnwjbf

• Attn. Dandies, Reenactors, & Seamstresses: 18th c menswear patterns to download at #LACMA: http://bit.ly/fDVGIK Oh that green silk banyan!

• In the footsteps of Will Kempe: morris-dancing from London to Norwich to raise cash for garden http://bit.ly/eFtFfi
• Gold sandals from King Tutankhamun's tomb: http://fb.me/PsdjdC9z

• Brooks's staircase today: http://bit.ly/fHl4P2 The gaming rooms used to be one of the main attractions of this St James's Club


Above: Princess Sophia by Sir Thomas Lawrence

Update: More "Accessories Head to Toe" & a Video, Too

Susan reporting:

We've posted several times about the upcoming exhibition, "Accessories: Head to Toe 1650-1850", coming this March to Colonial Williamsburg. We've showed you replica plumed hats, calash bonnets, and gentlemen's hats, too, that have been made by CW's historic trades staff that will be featured in videos as part of the exhibition, including the "brought to life" version of The Spruce Sportsman.

Now Colonial Williamsburg has posted this video teaser for the exhibition on their own website that includes not only the original pieces from their collections that will be on display, but also the replicas being worn –– many of which will be very familiar to readers of this blog.

More Marvelous Muffs

Susan reporting:

We have to admit to a fascination with historical muffs, whether small or large, for ladies or even for gentlemen. Earlier this week, Loretta's post included a muff from 1814 that was large enough to house at least a small dog. Any fashionable 18th c. lady – like this coy young Frenchwoman, left, being pushed in her personal sled – would agree with us regarding the wonderfulness of muffs, and even insist on this stylish accessory, particularly now in the coldest months of the year.

Over the last months, the mantua-makers of the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop in Colonial Williamsburg have been recreating all manner of muffs in preparation for an upcoming symposium and exhibition, Fashion Accessories from Head to Toe, 1650-1850. On our recent visit, they generously showed us several of their favorites. All are based on 18th c. prints or paintings, or are reproductions of museum pieces, and, like everything in the shop, all were made entirely by hand, using traditional methods.

This muff, left, would have been most fashionable in the 1760s. The body is white silk, stuffed with down for warmth and shaping. The gathered strips of blue velvet, trimmed with silver lace, spiral around the muff, beginning at one opening and ending at the other.

An extravagant display of white fox, imported from the North American colonies, would have made this a warm, if costly, muff in the 1770s, right. The majority of the fur and leather that was being used in the fashion/clothing trades in 18th c. London came from North America, and it's easy to imagine the wails of distress from stylish English beauties as the colonial rebellion made their favorite furs more scarce – and even more expensive.

More appropriate for a chilly spring day rather than deep winter, this white muff, left, is from shirred, sheer, stripped silk, stitched to a silk base. Copied from a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the style dates from 1777.

While this muff, right, may look like the perfect accessory for Christmas, it actually represents the narrower muffs of around 1800, and reflects the more slender silhouette then in fashion in general. It's made from red velvet, banded with white fox, which likely would also have trimmed a matching cloak or redingote.

See here for more about other pieces being recreated for the same symposium. And, if you're on Facebook, please "like" the Margaret Hunter Shop to see more pictures of their projects.

Top: detail from Winter, by Francois Boucher, 1755