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February in Jane Austen’s World

Posted in 18th Century England, A Year in Jane Austen's World, Austen Events, English Garden, Jane Austen's family, Jane Austen's letters, Jane Austen's life, Jane Austen's World, Regency gardens, Regency Winters on February 12, 2024| 3 Comments »

Last month I started a new month-by-month series titled “A Year in Jane Austen’s World,” wherein I began exploring important events and details that happened in Jane Austen’s novels, letters, and lifetime during each month of the year. Starting with January in Jane Austen’s World, my aim is to share my monthly finds every month this year, through December. My goal is simple: Glean as much as I can from Austen’s life, letters, and novels about what life was like for Jane Austen during her time and era.

We now turn our attention to February in Jane Austen’s novels. As I examined passages in her novels and letters that mention February, some of the information I found was an extension of what we learned last month: Mainly, that most of the British aristocracy went to the London (and some to Bath) during the winter months for “the season.” They enjoyed balls, parties, and other social gatherings in the bigger cities during the colder months and then moved back to their country homes by summer when the heat and stench of the cities became unendurable. You can read about it here.

Snowdrops at Chawton House in February, Photo: @ChawtonHouse.

February in Hampshire

The snowdrops are in full bloom at Jane Austen’s House Museum and Chawton House this time of year. Chawton House even hosts “Snowdrop Sunday” tours, when guests can come visit the grounds and enjoy the stunning display of snowdrops and other bulbs that are starting to pop out.

I mention the snowdrops because they are everywhere on the grounds of Chawton House in the winter time, and it’s lovely to think that perhaps Jane Austen saw them for herself. These type of bulbs can spread and spread for years.

Chawton House in February, Photo: @ChawtonHouse.

February in Jane Austen’s Letters

Several of Austen’s surviving letters were written in February. In them, she covers many topics, but the excerpts belows are especially intriguing.

8 February 1807 (Castle Square, Southampton):

These snippets are from Austen’s letters when the Austen women lived in Castle Square, Southampton. This first letter mentions the improvements they were making:

  • Garden: “Our garden is putting in order by a man who bears a remarkably good character, has a very fine complexion, and asks something less than the first. The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better kind, therefore, and at my own particular desire he procures us some syringas. I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.”
  • Interior: “The alterations and improvements within doors, too, advance very properly, and the offices will be made very convenient indeed. Our dressing table is constructing on the spot, out of a large kitchen table belonging to the house, for doing which we have the permission of Mr. Husket, Lord Lansdown’s painter — domestic painter, I should call him, for he lives in the castle. Domestic chaplains have given way to this more necessary office, and I suppose whenever the walls want no touching up he is employed about my lady’s face.”
  • Beds: “The garret beds are made, and ours will be finished to-day. I had hoped it would be finished on Saturday, but neither Mrs. Hall nor Jenny was able to give help enough for that, and I have as yet done very little, and Mary nothing at all. This week we shall do more, and I should like to have all the five beds completed by the end of it. There will then be the window curtains, sofa-cover, and a carpet to be altered.”
  • You must be very cold to-day at Godmersham. We are cold here. I expect a severe March, a wet April, and a sharp May. And with this prophecy I must conclude.

20 February 1807 (Castle Square):

In this letter, we hear a bit more about the weather there in Southampton and at Godmersham, where Cassandra was staying:

  • “We could not pay our visit on Monday; the weather altered just too soon, and we have since had a touch of almost everything in the weather way; two of the severest frosts since the winter began, preceded by rain, hail, and snow. Now we are smiling again.”
  • “You must have had more snow at Godmersham than we had here; on Wednesday morning there was a thin covering of it over the fields and roofs of the houses, but I do not think there was any left the next day. Everybody used to Southampton says that snow never lies more than twenty-four hours near it, and, from what we have observed ourselves, it is very true.”
  • And one of Austen’s hilarious one-liners:”A widower with three children has no right to look higher than his daughter’s governess.”
Southampton High Street, 18th C.

4 February 1813 (Chawton, regarding PP):

In the following letters, we read a bit about Austen’s first beta readers for Pride and Prejudice and her reactions to their commentary:

  • “My dear Cassandra,—Your letter was truly welcome, and I am much obliged to you for all your praise; it came at a right time, for I had had some fits of disgust. Our second evening’s reading to Miss B. had not pleased me so well, but I believe something must be attributed to my mother’s too rapid way of getting on: though she perfectly understands the characters herself, she cannot speak as they ought. Upon the whole, however, I am quite vain enough and well satisfied enough. The work is rather too light and bright and sparkling: it wants shade; it wants to be stretched out here and there with a long chapter of sense, if it could be had; if not, of solemn specious nonsense, about something unconnected with the story,—an essay on writing, a critique on Walter Scott, or the history of Buonaparte, or something that would form a contrast, and bring the reader with increased delight to the playfulness and epigrammatism of the general style…. The greatest blunder in the printing that I have met with is in page 220, v. 3, where two speeches are made into one. There might as well be no suppers at Longbourn; but I suppose it was the remains of Mrs. Bennet’s old Meryton habits.”

Dated soon after:

  • “I am exceedingly pleased that you can say what you do, after having gone through the whole work, and Fanny’s praise is very gratifying. My hopes were tolerably strong of her, but nothing like a certainty. Her liking Darcy and Elizabeth is enough. She might hate all the others, if she would. I have her opinion under her own hand this morning, but your transcript of it, which I read first, was not, and is not, the less acceptable. To me it is of course all praise, but the more exact truth which she sends you is good enough.”

Garden Plans at Castle Square

As most gardeners (myself included) can attest, planning one’s spring garden is a happy prospect in the middle of February. Jane Austen was no different! With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at her descriptions of the plans for their garden from her 8 February 1807 letter to Cassandra:

Our garden is putting in order by a man who bears a remarkably good character, has a very fine complexion, and asks something less than the first. The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better kind, therefore, and at my own particular desire he procures us some syringas. I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.

Letter to Cassandra, 8 February 1807.

Austen’s Southampton Garden

With these lovely descriptions, we can paint a picture in our minds of what Austen was imagining as she planned the garden:

Sweet Briar

Austen wrote: “The shrubs which border the gravel walk, he says, are only sweetbriar and roses, and the latter of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better…”

On the blog From the Notebook of a Rosarian, you can read all about Sweet-Briar (or Eglantine Rose). I imagine Austen would have looked forward to seeing these blooms very much! Here is an example:

Regency Roses

Austen wrote: “roses . . . of an indifferent sort; we mean to get a few of a better…”

Perhaps the existing roses either weren’t uniform or weren’t as pretty as the Austen women wanted. Thus, they planned to add a few of “a better” sort. One can imagine a line of beautiful roses along their walkway come summer.

You can read a wonderful article about Regency Roses from Leeds University Library here: Regency Roses. Here is an example:

Pierre-Joseph Redouté, ‘Les Roses’, 1817-1824. Image credit: Leeds University Library.

Syringa (Lilac)

Austen wrote: “I could not do without a syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s line. We talk also of a laburnum.” This is in reference to a line in William Cowper’s poem, “The Winter Walk at Noon” (Book VI, The Task, 1899).

In her article “‘With what intense desire she wants her home’: Cowper’s Influence on Jane Austen,” Jane Darcy provides the following commentary:

The house in Castle Square in Southampton feels more like a home [for Austen]; there is a garden which she energetically starts to plan. She insists on lilacs: ‘I could not do without a Syringa, for the sake of Cowper’s Line’, adding ‘We talk also of a Laburnum’, referring to the lines in ‘The Winter Walk at Noon’,
Book VI of The Task:
… Laburnum rich
In streaming gold; syringa iv’ry pure (149-150)

Jane Darcy, CowperandNewtonMuseum.org
Edward Phillis, “A Georgian Springtime” (Strictly Jane Austen).

Laburnum

Austen wrote: “We talk also of a laburnum.”

Laburnum, a flowering tree, also called golden chain or golden rain, is pictured below. One can imagine how lovely it would look in Austen’s garden in spring.

Laburnum, flowering tree. Wikimedia.

Austen wrote: “The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries.”

Here, we find an example of something pretty and edible for the garden come summer. Currants, gooseberries, and raspberries were all useful in a variety recipes. You can read more about the history of British food and Gooseberries here.

Gooseberries, Britishfoodhistory.com.

To read more about the trees and shrubs Austen would have recognized, the JASNA Eastern Washington/Northern Idado region provides this fascinating information regarding the “Trees and Shrubs Mentioned in Jane Austen’s Novels, Letters, and Minor Works with Historical Background: “Austen’s Trees and Shrubs A-K” and “Austen’s Trees and Shrubs L-Z.”

February in Jane Austen’s Novels

The following are a collection of interesting little tidbits and important moments from Austen’s novels:

Sense and Sensibility

  • “[Mrs. Palmer] expects to be confined in February,” continued Mrs. Jennings.
  • “[Edward] will be there in February, otherwise London would have no charms for me; I have not spirits for it.” (Lucy Steele)
  • Colonel Brandon: “But last February, almost a twelvemonth back, [my little Eliza] suddenly disappeared.” […] “Good heavens!” cried Elinor, “could it be—could Willoughby!”—
  • “[Mrs. Dashwood] had yet another reason for wishing her children to remain [in London]; a letter from her son-in-law had told her that he and his wife were to be in town before the middle of February, and she judged it right that they should sometimes see their brother.”
  • “Early in February, within a fortnight from the receipt of Willoughby’s letter, Elinor had the painful office of informing her sister that he was married.”

Pride and Prejudice

  • “With no greater events than these in the Longbourn family, and otherwise diversified by little beyond the walks to Meryton, sometimes dirty and sometimes cold, did January and February pass away.”

Mansfield Park

  • “With such thoughts as these, among ten hundred others, Fanny proceeded in her journey safely and cheerfully, and as expeditiously as could rationally be hoped in the dirty month of February. They entered Oxford, but she could take only a hasty glimpse of Edmund’s college as they passed along, and made no stop anywhere till they reached Newbury, where a comfortable meal, uniting dinner and supper, wound up the enjoyments and fatigues of the day.”
“Entrance to Oxford from the London Road.” Ackermann’s Oxford University. Engraved by Frederick Christian Lewis after Frederick Nash (1814).

Emma

  • “In the summer it might have passed; but what can any body’s native air do for them in the months of January, February, and March? Good fires and carriages would be much more to the purpose in most cases of delicate health, and I dare say in her’s. I do not require you to adopt all my suspicions, though you make so noble a profession of doing it, but I honestly tell you what they are.”
  • “Frank was here in February for a fortnight.”
  • “When [Frank] was here before, we made the best of it; but there was a good deal of wet, damp, cheerless weather; there always is in February, you know, and we could not do half that we intended. Now will be the time.
  • “Mr. Woodhouse was resigned. The time of year lightened the evil to him. May was better for every thing than February.”

Persuasion

  • “It was the beginning of February; and Anne, having been a month in Bath, was growing very eager for news from Uppercross and Lyme.”
  • Mary Musgrove sends a long, newsy letter to Anne from Uppercross.

Northanger Abbey

  • “Catherine . . . gave herself up to all the enjoyment of air and exercise of the most invigorating kind, in a fine mild day of February, with the consciousness of safety.”
Bath, England, Regency Era.

February Dates of Importance

This brings us now to several dates that would have been quite important to Austen personally:

Celebrations/Birthdays:

13 February 1765: James Austen (Jane’s brother) born at Deane.

Historic Dates:

1 February 1793: France declares war on England.

4 February 1794: France abolishes slavery in French colonies.

February 1811: George, Prince of Wales, becomes the prince regent of England.

Sorrows:

22 February 1794: Eliza de Feuillide’s husband is executed by guillotine in Paris.

February 1797: Tom Fowle (Cassandra’s fiancé), who was serving as a chaplain, dies in San Domingo of yellow fever.

Writing:

Winter 1810: Sense and Sensibility accepted for publication (Thomas Egerton).

February 1811: Jane Austen starts work on Mansfield Park.

Sense and Sensibility, 1st edition, JaneAusten’s.House.

February in the Life of Austen

I hope you enjoyed this tour of February in Jane Austen’s World as much as I enjoyed researching it and writing it. There is so much more to explore! I followed several intriguing trails and threads in this article, but I’m sure one might find many other avenues to research. Austen’s letters alone are a fount of information and charm. Here’s to what we’ll find in March in Jane Austen’s World next month!

RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling author of The Little Women Devotional, The Anne of Green Gables Devotional and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Now Available: The Secret Garden Devotional! You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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January in Jane Austen’s World

Posted in 18th Century England, 19th Century England, A Year in Jane Austen's World, Austen Events, Georgian London, Jane Austen's letters, Jane Austen's life, Jane Austen's World, Marriage Mart, Regency, Regency Life, Regency London, Regency society, Regency Winters, Upper Class on January 12, 2024| 7 Comments »

Today marks the start of a new month-by-month series, “A Year in Jane Austen’s World,” in which I highlight several important events and details that happened in Jane Austen’s novels, letters, and lifetime during each month of the year.

We’ll kick off Jane Austen January (aka “Jane-uary”) by examining passages and situations in each of her novels that occur in January. While some of the novels have no mention of January, others do—with interesting results! Next, we’ll note where Austen was and what she was doing in January by checking her letters for January dates and details. Finally, we’ll highlight events and anniversaries that occurred in January that directed affected Jane Austen or her family.

All of this can help us better understand Austen’s life and times as we look at specific dates, events, and details in the context of months and seasons.

Snowdrops at Chawton House in January, courtesy of Chawton House.

January in Regency Times

One of the highlights of January for Jane Austen’s family was surely Twelfth Night (also known as Epiphany), which falls on January 5th.

Maria Grace, in her article “Celebrating Twelfth Night–Jane in January and You,” explains its religious importance: “Epiphany or Twelfth Night … was the exciting climax of the Christmastide season… It was a feast day to mark the coming of the Magi bearing gifts to the Christ child, and as such was the traditional day to exchange gifts.”

She also explains the social side of Twelfth Night: “In Jane Austen’s day, the party of the year would generally be held on Twelfth Night.” (Austen Variations)

During the Regency Era, people hosted parties and balls to celebrate Christmas and especially the last day of the Christmas season. The entertainment often involved guests playing assigned parts for the evening, dressing up in costumes, eating “Twelfth Cake,” and eating and drinking.

Rowlandson, “Twelfth Night Characters,” Creative Commons, 1811.

In a letter to Cassandra on December 27, 1808, Austen writes about an upcoming ball between Christmas and “Twelfth-day” at Manydown:

I was happy to hear, chiefly for Anna’s sake, that a ball at Manydown was once more in agitation; it is called a child’s ball, and given by Mrs. Heathcote to Wm. Such was its beginning at least, but it will probably swell into something more. Edward was invited during his stay at Manydown, and it is to take place between this and Twelfth-day. Mrs. Hulbert has taken Anna a pair of white shoes on the occasion.

Austen’s Letters (December 27, 1808)

Later, on January 10, 1809, she writes, “The Manydown ball was a smaller thing than I expected, but it seems to have made Anna very happy. At her age it would not have done for me.”

Manydown Great House, Wikipedia Commons, 1833.

January Travel in Jane Austen’s Novels

In Austen’s novels, January is primarily mentioned in the context of parties and travel. Anne Elliot goes to Bath for January and February, Miss Crawford is invited for “a long visit” to see her friend in London in January, Mrs. Jennings goes to her own house in London in January, and Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and Bingley’s sisters all go to London (when Bingley leaves Netherfield) and stay for the winter.

In Sense and Sensibility, Lucy Steele and her sister, Anne, go to “town” (London) in January to stay with relatives (and subsequently move from house to house throughout the season as socially advantageous opportunities become available):

I had quite depended upon meeting you there. Anne and me are to go the latter end of January to some relations who have been wanting us to visit them these several years! But I only go for the sake of seeing Edward. He will be there in February, otherwise London would have no charms for me; I have not spirits for it.

Sense and Sensibility

Mrs. Jennings, who “resided every winter in a house in one of the streets near Portman Square,” invites Elinor and Marianne to come with her to London in January when her thoughts begin to turn toward home after Christmas.

Portman Square, London, Wikipedia Commons, 1813.

The London Season

So why do so many of Austen’s characters travel to London in January? Wouldn’t the weather make travel difficult? Wouldn’t they prefer to stay home (and inside) where it’s cozy?

These are fair questions, but after Christmas, a large portion of the genteel class moved “to town” during the winter months for the London Season, which coincided with England’s political schedule, for entertainment and socializing. The Season had previously started in the fall, meaning most people went to London before the bad weather set in, but with the improvement of roads and travel during Austen’s day, the season slowly shifted later.

Here’s an explanation of the London Season from Jane Austen’s House Museum:

The London season coincided with the sitting of Parliament, beginning at some point after Christmas when fashionable families would move into their London houses. The men would attend Parliament, whilst the women shopped, visited, and found husbands for themselves or their daughters. It lasted until early summer, when the ‘beau monde’ would return to their country estates, escaping the city’s stifling heat and pungent smells.

The season was a whirlwind of court balls and concerts, private balls and dances, parties and sporting events. On a typical day, ladies would rise early to go riding in Hyde Park, before returning home to breakfast and spending the day shopping, dealing with correspondence and paying calls.

The Season, Jane Austen’s House Museum

Most villages had assemblies and balls during the winter, but all of the most important social occasions happened “in town.” In Pride and Prejudice, we’re told that the Bennet sisters have little to do “beyond the walks to Meryton” in January and February, when conditions are “sometimes dirty and sometimes cold” (Ch. 27). It makes sense that many young women longed to go to town in the winter, at the height of the London Season and “marriage market,” when the majority of the parties, balls, and social events were held.

Rowlandson, Drawing Room at St. James’s Palace in London, Wikimedia Commons, 1810.

January in Jane Austen’s Letters

January often brings rain, cold weather, and even snow to the various locations where Austen lived and traveled. Austen kept her spirits up, but January in England, especially in homes without central heating or today’s insulation, could not have been entirely comfortable. Balls and assemblies, visits and travel, kept Austen busy and content during the winter months.

Austen’s entries follow below and give us a glimpse into the miserable weather conditions during one particularly snowy and wet January:

17 January 1809 (Castle Square):
“Yes, we have got another fall of snow, and are very dreadful; everything seems to turn to snow this winter.”

24 January 1809 (Castle Square):
“This day three weeks you are to be in London, and I wish you better weather; not but that you may have worse, for we have now nothing but ceaseless snow or rain and insufferable dirt to complain of; no tempestuous winds nor severity of cold. Since I wrote last we have had something of each, but it is not genteel to rip up old grievances.”

In the same letter, Austen describes her writing:
“I am gratified by her having pleasure in what I write, but I wish the knowledge of my being exposed to her discerning criticism may not hurt my style, by inducing too great a solicitude. I begin already to weigh my words and sentences more than I did, and am looking about for a sentiment, an illustration, or a metaphor in every corner of the room. Could my ideas flow as fast as the rain in the store-closet, it would be charming.”

On the topic of the store-closet, she writes this:
“We have been in two or three dreadful states within the last week, from the melting of the snow, etc., and the contest between us and the closet has now ended in our defeat. I have been obliged to move almost everything out of it, and leave it to splash itself as it likes.”

30 January 1809 (Castle Square):
“Here is such a wet day as never was seen. I wish the poor little girls had better weather for their journey; they must amuse themselves with watching the raindrops down the windows. Sackree, I suppose, feels quite broken-hearted. I cannot have done with the weather without observing how delightfully mild it is; I am sure Fanny must enjoy it with us. Yesterday was a very blowing day; we got to church, however, which we had not been able to do for two Sundays before.”

And a final update on the flooded closet:
“The store-closet, I hope, will never do so again, for much of the evil is proved to have proceeded from the gutter being choked up, and we have had it cleared. We had reason to rejoice in the child’s absence at the time of the thaw, for the nursery was not habitable. We hear of similar disasters from almost everybody.”

If you’ve ever dealt with water damage or burst pipes due to cold weather, you know how awful and destructive it can be. Austen makes light, but one can imagine it caused quite a bit of damage.

Snow at Jane Austen’s House Museum, January 2021.

January in Jane Austen’s Lifetime

And finally, let us turn our attention to some of the most important dates and events that happened (or were celebrated) during the first month of the year in Jane Austen’s lifetime. In December 1800, Reverend Austen decided to retire and remove his family to Bath. Austen’s letters in January 1801 prove an interesting read as she and the Austen family prepare to move later in the year:

3 January 1801 (Steventon):
Austen writes that her mother wants to keep two maids and quips about their plans to have “a steady cook and a young giddy housemaid, with a sedate, middle-aged man, who is to undertake the double office of husband to the former and sweetheart to the latter.”

Austen discusses three parts of Bath where they might live:
“Westgate Buildings, Charles Street, and some of the short streets leading from Laura Place or Pulteney Street.” She writes extensively about each neighborhood and several others, giving her opinion and hopes about each. She details which pictures, furniture, and beds they are choosing to keep or leave behind and asks Cassandra’s advice. And she shares plans for the family to travel to Bath a few weeks from then.

Austen shares own thoughts on their move to Bath:
“I get more and more reconciled to the idea of our removal. We have lived long enough in this neighborhood: the Basingstoke balls are certainly on the decline, there is something interesting in the bustle of going away, and the prospect of spending future summers by the sea or in Wales is very delightful. For a time we shall now possess many of the advantages which I have often thought of with envy in the wives of sailors or soldiers. It must not be generally known, however, that I am not sacrificing a great deal in quitting the country, or I can expect to inspire no tenderness, no interest, in those we leave behind…”

The letter is full of useful information and well-worth a read. You can access it HERE.

14 January 1801 (Steventon):
Austen speaks of the many visitors they’ve received in response to the news that Rev. Austen is retiring and the family is moving to Bath. She says, “Hardly a day passes in which we do not have some visitor or other: yesterday came Mrs. Bramstone, who is very sorry that she is to lose us, and afterwards Mr. Holder, who was shut up for an hour with my father and James in a most awful manner.”

4 Sydney Place, Bath.
Plaque outside 4 Sydney Place, Bath.

January Dates of Importance

This brings us now to several dates that would have been quite important to Austen personally:

Celebrations/Birthdays:

9 January 1773: Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra Elizabeth Austen, born.

23 January 1793: Edward Austen’s first child, Fanny, born.

Goodbyes/Sorrows:

January 1796: Tom Lefroy leaves Ashe for London (and never returns) and Tom Fowle (Cassandra’s fiancé) sets sail for the Indies, where he later dies.

21 January 1805: Rev. George Austen (Jane’s father) dies suddenly in Bath.

Writing:

28 January 1813: Pride and Prejudice was published, by Thomas Egerton (Whitehall, London).

21 January 1814: Austen begins writing Emma.

The Joys of Sleuthing

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first installment of our month-by-month exploration of Jane Austen’s world. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was so much more to research and explore about the month of January than I anticipated. I enjoyed sleuthing around, following my nose, and discovering what I could uncover–just with the word “January.” If you have ideas about what I might pursue for February in Jane Austen’s World, please share your ideas in the comments.

RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog. She is the bestselling author of The Little Women Devotional, The Anne of Green Gables Devotional and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Now Available: The Secret Garden Devotional! You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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The Severe English Winter of 1794-1795 Began on Christmas Day: First-Hand Accounts

Posted in 18th Century England, Jane Austen's World, Mini Ice Age 18th Century England, Regency Frost Fairs, tagged , , , , , on December 5, 2023| 12 Comments »

This post features the recollections about a severely cold winter in 1794/95 by three Englishmen: Rutland squire, Thomas Barker, the Rev James Woodforde, a country parson whose diary (1759-1802) provides valuable first hand insights, and an event described by Matthew Flinders, listed in the Lincolnshire Archives. Interestingly, their observations, which read like today’s text messages, will intrigue the modern reader.

The weather in central England during the fall of 1794 started out warmly. Barker recorded:

“The autumn though wet was mild; swallows and martins did not go away till about October 18; the autumnal flowers continued till December, anemones were then in flower; winter and spring flowers were forward, and the leaves of the spring crocus appeared.”

Reverend James Woodforde came to Weston Longville, a small village north of Norwich, in 1775 and remained as rector until his death in 1803. During this time he kept a diary of his life as a country parson. While he mostly focused on parish visits, food, and the people and villages in his surroundings, he concentrated many of his observations on the weather from October to March 1794/95. His descriptions dovetailed nicely with Barker’s notes. In the next two passages Woodforde also mentioned the rains in October and flowers in November:

“The Rain that Fell yesterday [October 6] rose the Water at Foxford & East Mills quite high, Nancy very much alarmed and frightened therewith as it came almost into our little Cart.”

and

“Nov. 30, Sunday …. Mem. a Primrose in my Garden in full bloom, seen by myself and my Niece.”

Thomas Barker then referred to the sudden change in the balmy weather:

“But in the latter half of December the scene altered, and the frost began; it was a mixture of severe and moderate frost, falling and melting snows, and floods, with hard frost and breaks; the beginning of a very severe winter … for a quarter of a year, yet now without a thawing day or two now and then in January…”

Pastor Woodforde wrote a sequence of descriptions on weather events and how they impacted his life. One gains a visceral sense of how the intense and unrelenting cold invaded houses and affected the inhabitants down to their bones.

Dec 25, Thursday, X-mas day….It was very cold indeed this Morning, and the Snow in many Places quite deep, with an E. Wind. About 11. this Morning I walked to Church and read Prayers & administered the Holy Sacrament. Had but few Communicants the Weather was so bad….The Weather being so severely cold, which I could never escape from feeling its effects at all times, affected me so much this Morning, that made me faint away…..Mr Howlett after Service, very kindly offered to drive me home in his Cart, but as I was better I declined it, however hope that I shall not forget his civility….

and

Jan. 15, Thursday….Got up this morning very bad indeed in the Gout in my right foot….The Weather Most piercing, severe frost, with Wind & some Snow, the Wind from the East and very rough…I had my bed warmed to night & a fire in my bed-Room….Obliged to put on my great Shoe, lined with flannel.  The Weather very much against me besides.

and

Jan. 21, Wednesday….The last Night, the most severest yet, extreme cold. So cold that the Poultry kept in the Cart-Shed and obliged to be driven out to be fed….

Image of George Morland, 1763-1804, British Winter Landscape with Figures, ca. 1785 Yale Center for British Art, Public Domain

Jan. 23, Friday….The Weather more severe than ever, it froze apples within doors, tho’ covered with a thick carpet. The cold to day was the severest I ever felt. The Thermometer in my Study, with a fire, down to No. 46….

and

Jan. 25, Sunday….The Ice in the Pond in the Yard which is broke every Morning for the Horses, froze two Inches in thickness last Night, when broke this morning.

The pastor also wrote that a terrible storm took the thatch off the barn and stripped the tiles from his roof. On the 28th he described a “very severe frost indeed. It freezes sharply within doors,” and he related the sad news of two women who “froze to death Saturday last going home from Norwich market to their home.” 

Early February provided a smidgen of hope:

Feb. 8, Sunday…..Weather much altered, very foggy and a cold Thawe, with very small Rain, all the whole day. I hope to God that now We shall no more have any severe Frosts this Year…

Woodforde’s hopes were premature, however. Thomas Barker observed that a thaw for four or five days from February 8 to 12: 

“…took away a great part of the snow, and made a greater flood than any remembered, which did more damage to the bridges all over the kingdom than was ever known yet without taking away all the ice and snow; the frost returned again as hard as before, and with a less break near the end of February …”

The Lincolnshire Archives provides a description from Matthew Flinders, who wrote about the abnormal winter and great flooding as the snow melted. His observations add dimension to Barker’s and Woodforde’s writings, for he referred to the misery that farmers and peasants must have felt. He also mentioned the war raging in the background, which affected all Englishmen during this period.:

“…This has been the severest winter in these climates known in living memory… the snow began at Xmas Eve  – and continued with intervals most of the time. I think I may say more has fallen than in the last 7 years together and several times more on the ground, than has been since the great snow in 1767 when it was a yard deep on the level… very great damage has been done on the breaking up of the frost by the floods – numbers of bridges being broke down, and large tracts of land overflowed – no such flooded known since the memorable year 1764. Great injury done to the farmers – much sowed wheat destroyed & the poor much distressed – tho’ there were very liberal subscriptions in many towns. This added to the distress occasioned by the War – has given the times an alarming aspect w’ch I hope God in his good time will remove.” [Lincolnshire Archives] – Extreme weather events in focus: White Christmases

The flooding was ruinous to the winter crops. Pastor Woodforde also worried that the poor people would suffer from the effects. 

More recently, John Kington from the University of East Anglia states that the cold in January 1795: 

…was exceptionally severe, it was not until Christmas Eve 1794 [as previously related] that the very cold conditions set in The frost then lasted, but without breaks, until late March. The cold was most intense in January, which resulted in the coldest January (-3.1°C) in the Central England Temperatures series (Manley 1974). –  The Severe winter of 1794/95 in England, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia, Norwich

An article in The Guardian dated Jan 01, 2022 provides the following information about the cold’s impact on people:

The coldest January since 1659, when records began in England, was in 1795 when rivers including the Thames and Severn froze over. The temperature barely rose above freezing all month.

and

Country parsons, who fed poor people at Christmas, gave them a shilling each to buy food for January. Grain was in already in short supply because of a dry summer and hunger became so widespread that the following spring there were bread riots. (Read more on this topic later in this post.)

The thaw previously mentioned on February 8 by Parson Woodforde and Thomas Barker resulted in floods that devastated lands in Norwich, near the Pastor’s parish, but also farther west in Shrewsbury. Shrophsire Star.com features a facsimile of the news published on February 13, 1795. The following information are excerpts from that facsimile, which you can read in full at this link to the article. 

In consequence of the sudden thaw after so long a frost, the Severn has overflowed its banks to a higher degree than ever was known in the memory of man. This town is, therefore now nearly an island; neither the Mail-Coach or any other carriages could get out of town on Wednesday morning, the water being so deep at both the bridges….

and

…Great quantities of timber have been carried away by the violence of the flood; several houses are fell in, and the furniture entirely swept off;…the inhabitants….cannot leave their habitations but by boats; a number of horses, cattle and pigs have been drowned…

and

Great praise is due to several humane Gentleman, who were active in assisting the poor people whose dwellings were inundated. Several boats loaded with fresh meat, bread and cheese, etc. were sent for the relief of such poor persons who could not leave their habitations, and which was given to them thro’ their chamber windows.

The flooding did not reflect the full extent of the damage from the east of central England to the west, for the “thaw” did not last. A cold spell ten days later froze the Severn to such an extent that John Kington wrote: 

On the 23rd [of January], the Severn [river] was frozen and a printing press, after the fashion set on the Thames, was set up on the ice. 

The River Severn, which is the longest river in England, experienced thick frosts during the “mini” ice age of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. By 1795 at least ten frost fairs were held on the Thames River. Communities along the Seven, while not as organized as those along the Thames, held frost fairs in 1620, 1622, 1795, and lastly in 1855. – Wyre Forest Net

Despite the hardships from the hard freezes, these “frost fairs” provided winter entertainments in the form of food tents, sports, and games. Paper souvenirs were printed on the ice. They all but shouted for posterity — “I was at the Frost Fair at the Severn in 1795!” These mementos could be simple or more elaborate, depending on the amount of money the fair goer could afford to spend. The image below of a Frost Fair on the Thames River shows a long line of revelers waiting at the printing press for their choices. Other images in the links provided below depict simple or more elaborate souvenirs saved by fair goers.

Screen Shot 2023-11-30 at 11.04.26 AM

Close up of a printing press set up on ice on the Thames River.The British Library, Printing on Ice

This link leads to four affordable paper souvenirs printed on a sheet. Click to view. This elaborate Frost Fair souvenir was printed in 1740. Click here.

In his Memoir of that winter, Pastor Woodforde did not mention a Frost Fair, but he continued to observe the weather in his diary. On Feb. 18 he wrote: 

Wednesday….Very hard Frost, with strong Easterly Winds, a black Frost*. Every Vegetable seems affected by it. A cold this day almost, as any this Winter. I felt it before I got up this Morning, pain within me. It froze very sharp within doors all the day long. Dinner to day odds and ends, but very good. Had a fire again in My bedchamber to night, tho’ I had left if off some time, bitter cold to night.

*a dry, non visible killing frost that turns vegetation black (Oxford Languages)

Feb. 20, Friday….This Day is said to be this most cutting this Winter. It snowed the whole Day, but small & very drifting. The cold this day affected us this day so much that it gave us pains all over us, within & without and were even cold tho’ sitting by a good fire….

and

Feb. 22, Sunday….Severe, cold Weather still continues, froze again within doors. In the Afternoon some Snow. I am afraid now that we shall have more of it–The New Moon being now three Days old, and no appearance of a change.

The weather was unrelenting. Pastor Woodforde went on to say that although he meant to make an appearance at church, the weather continued on so severely and with so much snow on the ground that he “sent word to my Parishioners that there would be no service.” 

His journal mentioned only one final entry in my edition of his memoirs regarding these severe winter events:

March 13, Friday….Ground covered with Snow this Morning, having a great deal of Snow in the Night. The Morning was fair but Air very cold. A 4th Winter….

A fourth winter indeed. Thomas Barker picked up the narrative:

… it continued into March. It was in general a calm frost, with vast quantities of snow coming and going, so that though it was pretty thick at times, it never lay so deep as it sometimes does. But perhaps some of the deep pits of snow and beds of ice were not entirely gone at the end of March.”

The effects of this cold weather on the populace did not end with a warming spring. 

“Grain was already scarce thanks to a hot and dry summer in 1794, but Britain was at war with revolutionary France, too, which disrupted imports and raised food prices even higher. The Gentlemen’s Magazine, a popular periodical from the time, warned of “unprecedented inclemency” – How British people weathered exceptionally cold winters, University of Liverpool Research News, 04 January 2021

Some rich landowners feared an uprising due to the scarcity of food, bread, and fuel. 

Land agent William Gould’s diary entry for January 21 1795 notes that he was instructed to give money, coal, beef and bread to the hungry around the Duke of Portland’s Welbeck estate in Nottinghamshire. Elsewhere in the county, Reverend Samuel Hopkinson bought peat turf (a kind of fuel) to distribute to the poor on behalf of Earl Fitzwilliam. – University of Liverpool Research News, 2021

Even with this ‘minimal’ support, the general populace suffered and bread riots ensued the following spring.

More resources:

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Segmented Sleep: A common Phenomenon Before the Industrial Revolution

Posted in 18th Century England, Sleep in 18th + 19th c on January 4, 2023| 8 Comments »

“[They] thrive by sleep, not long but deep”
– Welsh saying*

Recent research shows that until 200 years ago our sleep patterns followed two cycles every night. “Each block of sleep would be around four hours, with most people staying awake for two to four hours in between.” (Sleep in the 1800’s…, 2014).

In many societies interrupted sleep was so common that it was considered normal. The first awakening occurred around midnight, three to four hours after nightfall, when people in Western cultures generally went to bed due to lack of light, for most of the populace did not have the means to afford expensive candles. 

Two decades ago Roger Ekirch, a university distinguished professor in the department of history at Virginia Tech, researched sleep habits in Europe and America. He discovered many references to biphasic sleep in over 500 original sources from centuries past, such as diaries, medical texts, literature, prayer books, and even a crime report: He found descriptions written in English, Italian, French, and Latin. Sleep documentation also existed in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Latin America, with some referring back to Ancient Greece. Ekirch would uncover over 2,000 preindustrial sleep documents in his searches.

Richard Westhall, Tate
The Dream, Richard Westhall, 1765-1836
A Woman Ministering to Another, Three Weeping Children. Young: Night Thoughts null Richard Westall 1765-1836, Tate Gallery

According to sources, some individuals took the quiet time of first wakefulness to complete tasks, such as those of housewives or servants, or to write letters, or record their dreams. Others ate a small snack, chatted with a guest or spouse, read, prayed, attended to necessary bathroom needs, or made love. Individuals followed their own nightly rituals, be it alone or with someone else. 

“…it was suggested that fertility among laborers was increased due to the midnight wakefulness; men who came home physically exhausted were more likely to have enjoyment, and successful intercourse, if there was a rest period after the day’s troubles.” – The History of Sleep Before the Industrial Revolution (historycooperative.org)

Although there were many references to segmented sleep in the past, knowledge of this once common phenomenon was largely lost to the modern world. Interrupted or biphasic sleep was not practiced everywhere. The diaries of Samuel Pepys and James Boswell indicate that both men slept uninterrupted. Studies the world over mentioned a variation of sleep patterns and practices. While hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, Namibia, and Bolivia slept through the night, a rural society in Madagascar practiced segmented sleep. – (The Atlantic)

The Industrial Revolution changed sleeping patterns for Western Europeans. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, lamps filled with whale oil, kerosene, or coal gas lit streets, factories, and homes many hours beyond sunset. This increase in light both outside and inside homes and establishments affected daily habits. 

“Following experiments with coal-gas for lighting in the 1790s, gas lights now illuminate streets, house, factories and commercial properties.” –  P. 42, A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England. 

Sue Wilkes, author of the Visitor’s Guide, discussed an 1817 article in Ackermann’s Repository that mentions improved lights in a variety of city settings, including factories. The new brilliantly lit lamps were used

“for lighting Halls, Staircases, Dining-Rooms, Drawing-Rooms, Counting-Houses, Banking-Houses, Public-Offices, Churches, Chapels, Ball-Rooms, Public Places, etc.” – Wilkes, A Visitor’s Guide,  p 42

Lamp-lit city streets (by 1807 in London and 1820 in Paris) promoted increased travel and crowd participation in nightly entertainments, including operas and gambling clubs. 

Not everyone was so affected. People living in the rural countryside and small villages still scheduled nightly events to coincide with the full moon to guide their way along unlit lanes. When visiting friends in an adjoining village, the gentry and pseudo gentry (like the Austens) would remain as overnight guests after a long event like an assembly ball, rather than to return home in the dark of the night. Thus, sleeping habits changed more slowly in areas with far flung villages – but even the people in these regions would change their bedtime behavior by the mid 19th century. 

For many, sleep transformation was sadly a result of economic necessity. Poor country folk, who were displaced from their common lands and denied access to growing their own food and feeding their animals, flocked to cities where factory owners recruited cheap labor. Their employers found no profit in 8 hour work days, and so laborers returned home after working from 10-14 hours a day, 6 days per week. They stumbled into beds for a few hours of sleep before waking and returning to work. The laborers (which included men, women and children) had no choice but to change their sleep habits. 

Yet was one long, uninterrupted sleep period possible in a factory city? The cheaply built houses (tenements) for the poor, described in excruciating detail by Ian Mortimer in his book, The Time Traveller’s Guide to Regency Britain, were located in narrow streets and had thin walls that let in the incessant noise of clattering wagons, loud conversations, and barking dogs. The squalid, overcrowded conditions, overpowering stench of rotting food, putrid effluence of backed up privies, and the constant infestation of lice and bed bugs in uncomfortable beds prevented sound sleep. Most likely these poor factory ‘slaves’ stumbled out of beds still tired. 

Sleep patterns for aristocrats and the very rich varied vastly, for these groups had the luxury of choice. For them, the cost of candles did not factor as a deterrence against staying up at all hours. They could choose to go to bed early or to stay up until dawn and sleep uninterrupted into the afternoon. Their comfortable and very expensive beds and beddings contributed to a sound night’s sleep. Unfortunately, the servants suffered. They remained at their stations to prepare their employers for bed at a moment’s notice, and arose early to anticipate their every need when they awakened. 

According to Ekirch, by the mid-1800s, prolonged uninterrupted sleep and early rising was practiced in England and America. The second leisurely sleep was now reduced to stealing a few extra minutes of shut eye before getting ready for the day. 

Jane Austen fans and scholars know that she and her sister Cassandra were practically inseparable. Anna Lefroy wrote that the two sisters shared a small sitting room that

“Opened into a smaller chamber in which my two aunts slept. I remember a common-looking carpet with its chocolate ground, and painted press with shelves above for books, and Jane’s piano…but the charm of the room…must have been…the flow of native wit, with all the fun and nonsense of a large and clever family.” (W.& R.A. Austen-Leigh, Jane Austen: Her Life and Letters, 1913.

I wonder if in rural Steventon, Jane and Cassandra experienced biphasic sleep. If so, I imagine them awakening at midnight, chatting and giggling, or discussing Jane’s progress in writing, before falling asleep again. In Chawton Cottage, where the Austen women finally settled down after years of moving from house to house after Rev. Austen’s death, the two women shared a cramped bedroom. They must have been happy, for Jane’s writing blossomed. 

There’s something magical about that first awakening in the stillness of the night. At times, when this happens to me, I go to the computer and write a few lines for this blog, or read before dropping off to sleep again. Perhaps our ancestors knew something that we’ve lost over time.

____________

*(‘They’ substituted for ‘men’)

Sources:

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Joy to the World: Christmas Carols, Psalms, and Hymns in Jane Austen’s England

Posted in 18th Century England, Christmas, Jane Austen's World, Music, tagged , , , on December 25, 2022| 7 Comments »

“If I,” said Mr. Collins, “were so fortunate as to be able to sing, I should have great pleasure, I am sure, in obliging the company with an air; for I consider music as a very innocent diversion, and perfectly compatible with the profession of a clergyman.”–Pride and Prejudice

“In the evening we had the Psalms and Lessons, and a sermon at home”–Jane Austen, Letters, Oct. 24-25, 1808 [“Lessons” were the Bible readings for the day, from the Book of Common Prayer, which also prescribed the Psalms to read or sing for that day.]

When I asked some Facebook friends what gave them joy, the most popular response was “Singing!” There’s nothing like singing to raise your spirits. Even “singing the blues” can be cathartic, getting sadness out and making room for joy. (Of course, in Sense and Sensibility, Marianne Dashwood uses music and singing to increase her sadness, rather than relieve it.)

Early Carols

For centuries people have sung Christmas carols to express their joy at Christmastime. I’ve come across three books of Christmas carols published in the years following Austen’s death (1822, 1833, 1861; details in sources below). Almost all the carols in them were known and sung during Austen’s lifetime. Many are secular, about the holly and ivy used to decorate homes for Christmas or the boar’s head that began ancient Christmas feasts. Some are specifically for wassailing. Wassailing was similar to modern caroling, but wassailers carried with them a large bowl of “wassail,” a mixture of apple cider, spices, sugar, and alcoholic beverages. Wassailers sang to each house they visited, wished them prosperity, and drank to their health; the hosts might give them money, Christmas food, or drinks.

Joy is mentioned repeatedly in these songs. A fourteenth century carol, “The Seven Joys,” describes seven joys that Mary experienced; the last one is “To see her own Son Jesus To wear the crown of heaven.” An early seventeenth-century carol begins, “So now is come our joyful’st [most joyful] feast; Let every man be jolly.”

Many tell the Christmas story, or parts of it. Some also tell the story of Adam and Eve, their creation and their fall into sin. Others include the death and resurrection of Christ. Some older carols narrate legends. In “The Cherry-Tree Carol” a cherry tree bows down to Mary, proving her innocence to the doubting Joseph.

Early carols we still sing include “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “The First Noel” (which in some versions was sung “Oh well” rather than “Noel”!), and “I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In.”

Carols at Home and Charity for Carolers

Would Jane Austen and her family have heard and sung Christmas carols? Many were available as published broadsheets (single pages) or known orally. Since the Austen family loved music and singing, it’s quite possible that they sang carols at home during Christmas celebrations. Jane mentions Christmas gatherings in her novels and letters, and singing was probably part of those celebrations.

Would she have heard carolers going door to door? Also likely. Two country parsons of the time, one in eastern England and the other in the West, kept journals that have survived. Since Austen’s father was also a country parson, her family’s experiences may have been similar to theirs.

Parson James Woodforde of Norfolk mentions, on Christmas Eve of 1764, that the church’s Singers came to him and sang “a Christmas Carol and an Anthem”; he gives them “cyder as usual” and a gift of money. They also sang to him in 1768 and 1769; it seems to have been a regular practice. In 1781 (when Austen would have been six years old), Woodforde gave money to “Spragg’s lame son for a Christmas carol.” Peter Parley, in his 1838 description of Christmas customs, says groups of ragged children went from door to door singing for alms. Giving money to carolers was part of Woodforde’s extensive Christmas charities; he gave money to more than fifty poor people every St. Thomas’ Day (Dec. 21), and fed Christmas dinner to a number of “poor old men” every Christmas Day.

Poor Children Caroling for Alms, p. 142 in Tales About Christmas, by Peter Parley, 1838

Some years later, Parson William Holland of Somerset also gave charity at Christmastime, including dinners for the Sunday School children (poor children learning reading and religion at the church each Sunday). In 1800 Holland says the poor came “AChristmassing,” which he translates as begging. It seems likely their house to house visits included singing carols. His church Singers came and serenaded his family at the parsonage every Christmas morning, sometimes as early as 5 AM (in 1799) or even 3 AM (in 1809)! Parley calls groups of church musicians, who wandered about playing and singing during the night on Christmas Eve, “the waits.” He says the custom came from earlier times when groups of watchmen wandered the streets at night.

Austen’s family also probably heard and entertained Christmas singers, and gave alms to them and other poor people at Christmas.

“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks”

In 1792 and 1793, Woodforde says the church Singers sang a Christmas Anthem during the service. In other years he also mentions singing in Christmas services. What would have been sung in Austen’s country churches at Christmas? Most likely, the carol, “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night.”

In the 1700s in Anglican worship, most congregations only sang Psalms from the Bible, not hymns. In fact, in many small churches there was no singing at all; the Psalms were just read. However, some had groups of “Singers,” like those in Woodforde and Holland’s churches, sometimes with musical instruments. (Holland’s congregation took up money to buy their Singers instruments.) The congregation might sing along with the Singers, but more often just listened.

The Singers generally sang from Tate and Brady’s New Version of the Psalms of David, which was a book of “metrical Psalms.” These are Psalms rewritten in a regular poetic form so they could be sung with standard tunes. In 1700, a Supplement was added which included a few hymns. The only Christmas hymn was “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night,” which is paraphrased from Luke 2:8-14. It was the only officially approved Christmas carol for churches in the eighteenth century. The words were as we sing them today. It could be sung to any tune in “common meter” (churches had books of tunes with certain meters, patterns of syllables, stress, and rhyme). But it likely was commonly sung to the tune still used in Britain today. (The tune popularly used in the U.S. now is from 1821.)

“Joy to the World”

Anglican country churches in the 1700s were mainly singing Psalms. However, the Dissenters (those outside the Church of England) and the Methodists wrote and sang many hymns during this time, including some Christmas favorites. Isaac Watts, a Dissenter, is considered the Father of English Hymnody. He believed that singing Psalms was not enough, because the Psalms did not express the New Testament experience and the gospel of Christ, or the congregation’s thoughts and feelings as Christians. He rewrote many of the Psalms to express those ideas.

“Joy to the World,” published by Watts in The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament in 1719, was a rewrite of Psalm 98, but it also includes phrases from other Bible verses. Psalm 98:4 (King James Version) says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Watts wrote this as “Joy to the World.” Psalm 98:9 says the Lord is coming to judge the earth, which Watts adapted to “The Lord is come; let earth receive her king!” The line “Heaven and nature sing” is from Psalm 96:11, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad.” The third verse of the carol says, “No more let Sins and Sorrows grow, Nor Thorns infest the Ground: He comes to make his Blessings flow Far as the Curse is found.” This is adapted from Genesis 3:17-18, in which God tells Adam that the ground is cursed because of his sin, so Adam will eat from it in sorrow, and it will bring forth thorns and thistles.

As Watts’ songs had been spreading for some years, the Austens may well have sung this one in their home, if not at church. The tune we sing today had not yet been created; it was adapted from Handel in the 1830s.

Charles Wesley’s 1739 “Hark how all the Welkin rings” became “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” when George Whitefield modified it in 1753.

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing” is a Methodist hymn that might also have been sung by the Austens, at home or possibly at church. The Methodists attempted to revive the Church of England, but eventually, on John Wesley’s death, separated and became Dissenters. However Charles Wesley, John’s brother, who wrote thousands of hymns, was strongly committed to the Church of England. His “Hymn for Christmas-Day” was published in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739.

It began, “Hark how all the welkin rings!” “Welkin” was an archaic word for the heavens. George Whitefield, another famous Methodist preacher, changed this line and other parts of the song in a collection of hymns he published in 1753. It became “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” The music we sing it to now was added in the mid-1800s. At that time, Wesley’s four-line stanzas were combined to make our eight-line verses and the chorus was added.

All of these Christmas carols express joy:

“Glad tidings of great joy I bring To you and all mankind.” (“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks”)

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her king!” (“Joy to the World”)

“Joyful all ye nations rise; Join the triumph of the skies!” (“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”)

Wishing you all much joy, whatever holidays you celebrate!

What is your favorite Christmas carol, or other song, that brings you joy?

Brenda S. Cox writes for Jane Austen’s World and for Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen, where this post first appeared. Her recent book, Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England, includes a chapter on “Psalms and Hymns: Singing in Church, Or Not.”

Sources

A Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions, by Maria Grace

The Diary of a Country Parson 1758-1802, James Woodforde, edited by John Beresford

Paupers & Pig Killers: The Diary of William Holland, A Somerset Parson, 1799-1818, edited by Jack Ayres

Tales About Christmas, by Peter Parley, 1838

“Joy to the World”

Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

“While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks”

Eighteenth-Century Books introducing new Christmas Carols

The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament, Isaac Watts, 1719

Hymns and Sacred Poems by John and Charles Wesley, 4th edition, 1743

A New Version of the Psalms of David, Tate and Brady, 1733. “While Shepherds Watched” on p. 58-59 in the supplement at end.

Nineteenth-Century Christmas Carol Collections

Some Ancient Christmas Carols, with the Tunes to which They Were Formerly Sung in the West of England, 1822

Christmas Carols, 1833

A Garland of Christmas Carols, 1861 and Review

You can check out the history of your favorite carols at The Hymns and Carols of Christmas; scroll down to the alphabetical index.

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