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Archive for the ‘Regency Customs’ Category

Holiday Drinks for the Ladies in Austen’s Day

Posted in Jane Austen's World, Regency Christmas Traditions, Regency Customs, tagged , , , on December 21, 2023| 6 Comments »

Ah, holiday gatherings! December is an historic month to celebrate good cheer and good will towards family, friends, and neighbors – this means inviting guests for food, drink, music, games, and entertainments. During Austen’s time, the hosts at houses or assemblies traditionally provided refreshments for their guests. Centuries later we still follow these wonderful customs. This post concentrates on popular drinks prepared for the ladies in the Regency era.

The Darking Hundred describes the drinks most popular during this time – Food, Part the Third: What People Drank, Darking Hundred

“Cordials were popular for social occasions—ratafia, orgeat, negus, and punch among others. Ratafia used a base of distilled spirits into which aromatics were infused, often almonds or fruit pits, and the brew was then sweetened. Orgeat was a syrup made with sugar, orange flower water, and almond that was added to distilled spirits. Negus used a base of sherry or port, to which were added hot water, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon; it was considered an appropriate drink for men or women.“

Regency Drinks

According to history, the patronesses of Almack’s served watered down drinks of orgeat and ratafia, since both of these refreshments were deemed acceptable for ladies. The drinks remained syrupy sweet. Men in general arrived at this strictly exclusive event already soused from having drunk hard liquor at their clubs or at home. Syrupy sweet, watered down drinks would not have tempted them.

Screen Shot 2023-12-20 at 11.32.27 PM

A Ball at Almack’s Assembly Rooms in London, 1821, Version of illustration from the “Tom and Jerry” book (1821) by George CruikshankWikipedia

“There was a balcony at one end where the small orchestra were seated. Refreshments (such as they were) were deliberately (revoltingly) mediocre: weak lemonade or orgeat or ratafia, dry biscuits and day-old brown bread and butter. – Almack’s – it’s not quite what you think…

In no particular order, the drinks served in public assemblies and at festive gatherings were:

Orgeat

This  light, sweet drink was considered appropriate for debutantes. While orgeat was not mentioned by Jane Austen, it was popular in her time.  Pronounced or-zat, readers of Georgette Heyer novels can easily associate this drink with the watered down refreshments described at Almack’s that were considered too syrupy for male tastes. 

Author Sharon Lathan provides a fascinating insight into the history of orgeat, which was once made with barley. The syrup can be purchased today to satisfy a variety of tastes.

“Orgeat syrup, made with almond extract, sugar, and orange flower water, was (and still is) added as a flavoring to punch, coffee, or cocktails. I wouldn’t want to drink this milky liquid by itself, and a little bit goes a long way (we usually only use 1/4 ounce per cocktail). Some drinks were made like orgeat lemonade. Orgeat lemonade would have been orgeat syrup, lemonade and soda water, and might well have been the sort of drink served at Almack’s. and orgeat (distilled from barley or almonds with orange flower water, considered to be a light refreshing drink), Almack’s Assembly Halls – LLWiki

Orgeat was once made with bitter almonds, which in large quantities contained cyanide. The drink could be lethal. Today’s recipes are made with sweet almonds, which reduce the levels of hydrocyanic acid, and are considered safe, except for individuals with allergies. Wikipedia

The Spruce Eats  offers a modern orgeat recipe. Here’s the link: Orgeat Syrup Recipe

Negus

Negus was an English drink popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was an “extremely popular party drink throughout Georgian and early Victorian times.” — The Jane Austen Cookbook, Maggie Black & Deirdre Le Faye)” Click on this link. 

Austen mentioned negus in The Watsons:

“As Tom Musgrave was seen no more, we may suppose his plan to have succeeded, and imagine him mortifying with his barrel of oysters in dreary solitude, or gladly assisting the landlady in her bar to make fresh negus for the happy dancers above.” – The Watsons

Interestingly, during the early Regency era negus and white soup were expected to be served near midnight at balls, such as the one at Netherfield Park. Here’s Martha Lloyd’s recipe for the soup. 

One can imagine the aftermath of the dinner in Emma, when the guests, because of Mr Woodhouse’s panic, quickly departed from the Weston’s party due to a smidgen of fallen snow. Did anyone receive a comforting drink of negus before they hastened into their carriages, I wonder?  Mr Elton perhaps?

Negus still figured prominently in Victorian times. Charles Dickens in  “A Christmas Carol” mentioned old Mr Fezziwig:

“There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and more dances, and there was cake, and there was negus, and there was a great piece of cold roast, and there was a great piece of cold boiled, and there were mince pies and plenty of beer.” –  Negus – vintage cookbook shelf

Over time, negus morphed into a children’s drink . Yet it still contained alcohol!!. No longer fashionable, the beverage had become similar to mulled wine, as this recipe in Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management attests, and it was made with a variety of ingredients. 

“Negus does have striking similarities to mulled wine — with interchangeable main ingredients of red wine/port, nutmeg, sugar, and citrus like lemon juice or orange zest. So, it seems, the most striking and significant difference between the two popular warm sips is the addition of hot water to the negus recipe – A Short History of Negus, the Mulled Wine Beverage of Yesteryear | VinePair

Ratafia

Ratafia was another beverage deemed suitable for ladies.  Its preparation began in December, with the concoction ready to drink in mid-February. Abigail Reynolds writes:

“…along with lemonade, orgeat, and punch, so I assumed it was similarly low in alcoholic content. Silly me! It’s a liqueur made of brandy with fruit, spices, and crushed fruit pits steeped in it for 1-2 months, then filtered and sweetened with large amounts of sugar. The sweetness and fruitiness meant that men didn’t touch the stuff, but if you think about that recipe for a minute, you’ll realize it’s nothing more than slightly diluted flavored brandy. – Austen Variation, Abigail Reynolds, – Ratafia is Not for Sissies  

In her excellent blog, Lesley-Anne McLeod wrote: 

“The Professed Cook” has a section titled Des Ratafiats or Of sweet Drams or Cordials. It includes some ten recipes for different versions of ratafia. They all begin with brandy and they all take thirty to forty days to prepare and infuse. The adventurous cook, it seems, can add almost anything to the brandy. Some of the ingredients listed in “The Professed Cook” include walnuts, quinces, orange-flowers, juniper-berries, lemon-peel, anise seeds and apricots. Plenty of sugar is included and three spices in these receipts in particular–coriander, cinnamon and cloves.” – Lesley-Anne McLeod, Ratafia, The Lady’s Choice 

Ratafia, was either distilled or with an infusion of fruits and spices. The drink had an alcoholic base of Marc brandy and grape juice. A liqueur routinely made in December, could be ready to serve two months later on Valentine’s Day. A recipe for dark brown ratafia suggested that it be stored in an oak barrel for at least two years. — Gin Affair Champagne Punch – Bridgerton Cocktail

At the end of an evening:

In Austen’s day, often after a local assembly ball, a neighbor’s party, or a return from the opera or theatre in town, supper was served quite late. People would gather to eat or drink before returning home in the wee hours of the morning. White soup was served, as well as negus, which was prepared a half hour before guests left for home. 

More on the topic:

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New Year’s Traditions in Jane Austen’s Time

Posted in Jane Austen's World, Regency Superstitions, tagged , , , on December 31, 2021| 15 Comments »

Inquiring Readers, We will soon be ringing in 2022 and celebrating New Year’s Eve. Superstitions and traditions from the Regency era still survive. This post mentions customs Jane Austen and her family probably knew about or personally followed.

Did you know that the New Year’s Day date was changed to January 1st in 1752?

William Savage, who writes about Georgian England in his blog and who lives in England, writes that his oldest relatives still often refer to January 6th as ‘Old Christmas Day.’ The change came: 

from the time in 1752 when Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar to align our dates with those in use on the continent. The calendar was advanced by 11 days: Wednesday 2nd September, 1752 was followed by Thursday 14th September, 1752 and the year shortened to just 355 days to allow the New Year to fall on January 1st.” – The Superstitious Eighteenth Century, William Savage, Pen and Pension: Immerse Yourself in Georgian England 

Black and white engraving of two men in a tavern shaking hands at midnight, singing Auld Lang Syne

The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing the Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. Illustrated By W.H. Bartlett, T. Allom, and Other Artists. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham, London: George Virtue, ca. 1841. Image, Wikimedia Commons

Cleaning

Savage also mentions that washing any clothes on New Year’s Day was considered as “washing someone out of the family,” resulting in their death in the coming year. Meanwhile, the Chinese avoided any cleaning on New Year’s Eve, since they believed that any scrubbing or cleansing would guarantee that no one in the house would  experience luck in the next twelve months.

Donna Hatch states, however, that “During the Regency and Georgian Eras, one tradition was to clean the house thoroughly, including ashes in the hearth, scraps, and rags, and even eating or discarding any perishable food in order to start the year fresh, discarding bad luck and inviting good luck.” Her source, I believe, is Maria Grace’s book, A Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions. 

Doors and Thresholds

As part of their New Year’s celebrations on the final day of the old year on the Gregorian Calendar, also known as Hogmanay, the Scots still practice ‘first footing,’ an ancient Gaelic tradition, in which the first person to cross a home’s threshold can bring good or bad luck in the next year. This individual should be someone who was not in the house before midnight, and  

… should be someone who is tall, dark, handsome and bearing gifts such as coins, coal, salt, bread and whiskey. But beware, as fair-haired males are considered unlucky. It is believed this superstition dates back to the Viking invasion, back when blonde strangers turning up at your door usually meant trouble.” – East Anglian Daily Times, 12 quirky New Year’s Eve superstitions” 

 A Dozen Guests or An Even Number?

In ‘Regency Folklore: An Uneven Superstition,’ Regency Reader writes:

A popular superstition alive in the Regency era had all to do with an uneven number of dinner guests.  Apparently, if the number of guests at a table reached 13, it was a bad omen. Of death. Specifically, death to the youngest at the table and within a year of the dinner party.”

The Last Supper was one obvious basis for this tradition/superstition. The feast featured 13 people, one of whom (Judas) betrayed Jesus. The omen of death makes sense in this context. Less known by many is a Viking legend passed through oral tradition in Christian Britain, one that concerns twelve people sharing a meal in Valhalla, which was crashed by Loki, a cunning trickster and spirit of strife. One person at that banquet ended up dead. The unlucky number 13 figures most highly with superstitious people.

The even number of guests might explain a French theory of why most dinner sets come in multiples of twelve. This article from How Stuff Works describes why

The thirteenth person who ends up with a mismatched plate would feel unloved, and come into bad luck.”

As an aside, my family’s tradition has been to give our guests the matching dinner service, while we use the mismatched ware. It also seems that any uneven number of guests at the New Year’s table might bring ill luck in the new year. Protocol and etiquette, especially in proper Regency and Victorian households, required an even number at the table so that guests were paired. 

Auld Lang Syne

Who hasn’t sung this famous song when the clock strikes midnight?  Kristen Koster writes that Auld Lang Syne translates to “old long since.”

After a long tradition of being sung during the Scottish celebration of Hogamany on New Year’s Eve, the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, collected and wrote down the lyrics in 1788 and it was first published in 1796. It quickly spread to much of the English-speaking world and is now sung at the stroke of midnight instead of when the guests leave the party. – A Regency Primer on Christmastide & New Year’s

“Auld Lang Syne” – Music and Lyrics by Trad.(Robert Burns). Arranged by Dougie MacLean. Published by Limetree Arts and Music (PRS & MCPS UK), Butterstone Studios.

Happy New Year, ALL!

In conclusion, our blog team wishes you a Happy New Year’s Eve and a joyous 2022. May the pandemic release its stranglehold on our world citizens and may we experience freedom of movement once again to go where and when we like.

Other Resources

New Year’s articles on this blog

English Historical Fiction, English History Authors: A Regency Holiday Calendar

Regency Folklore: An Uneven Superstition

Custom Survived: New Year’s Day First Footing 

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Party Like the Musgroves

Posted in 19th century food, Christmas, Georgian Christmas food, Georgian Life, Jane Austen's World, Old English Customs, Regency Christmas Traditions, Regency Customs, Regency Drink, Regency food, Regency Life on December 18, 2021| 1 Comment »

I love the idea of a Regency-style Christmas season, complete with gifts, foods, and traditions that Jane Austen and her heroines might have enjoyed. Though Christmas traditions were different during Jane Austen’s time than they are today, as I share in my article about Regency Christmas Traditions, it’s fun to think of creative ideas that can make for a truly Austen-tatious holiday season.

In Persuasion, Austen paints a Christmas scene. It’s one of my favorite festive scenes, and I love to think of ways to recreate it:

On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others. […] Charles and Mary also came in, of course, during their visit, and Mr Musgrove made a point of paying his respects to Lady Russell, and sat down close to her for ten minutes, talking with a very raised voice, but from the clamour of the children on his knees, generally in vain. It was a fine family-piece.

Persuasion, Jane Austen

Evergreen Decor:

Create your own holiday decorations the way people did during Jane Austen’s time. Trim your windows and home with holly branches and evergreen trimmings.

On Christmas Eve the children laid out the traditional holly branches on the window ledges…

Jane Austen: A Life, Claire Tomalin, p. 4.

For Regency-inspired holiday decorating ideas, check out this Jane Austen’s World article on Regency Era Christmas Evergreen Decorations.

Craft Table with Silver & Gold Paper:

Create a craft station for children and adults to make ornaments or other crafts like these: Christmas Crafts for Kids and Adults from Abbi Kirsten.

On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper…

Persuasion, Jane Austen

Tressels and Trays:

…on the other were tressels and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies…

Persuasion, Jane Austen
A pot of simmering wassail, infused with citrus fruit slices and cinnamon sticks. (Wikipedia Commons)

Riotous Games:

…riotous boys were holding high revel…

Persuasion, Jane Austen

A Roaring Fire:

…the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard, in spite of all the noise of the others.

Persuasion, Jane Austen
A Yule Log Cake

Jane-Inspired Gifts to Buy

This holiday season, add a little “Jane” to your gift giving! Here are a few shops and lists to peruse:

Austenesque Homemade Gifts

Want to make your own gifts? Check out these creative ideas!

Scented Sachets, Jane Austen Centre

Charitable Giving

Finally, charitable gift giving was a large part of the Regency Christmas season. On the day after Christmas, on St. Stephen’s Day (now called Boxing Day), people gave gifts to charities and to those in need.

The gentry gave gifts to the servants who worked in their homes and those hired to help on their land. Read The History of Boxing Day And How To Celebrate It (Lindsay Schlegel – Verity.com) for some modern-day ideas for ways to celebrate Boxing Day.

Now it’s your turn! What do you like to do around the holidays to make your gifts and get-togethers special? Do you have any Jane Austen traditions this time of year? I enjoy attending one of the local Jane Austen Birthday Teas in my area at this time of year. At home, I love to decorate the house with greenery and bake family recipes! -Rachel

RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog and Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine. She is the bestselling author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional: A Chapter-By-Chapter Companion for Kindred Spirits and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Her newest book The Little Women Devotional is coming this January! You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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Regency Women: Pin Money and Private Expenses

Posted in Georgian Life, Jane Austen's World, Jeniffer Ehle, Marriage, Money in Regency, Pride & Prejudice 1995, Pride and Prejudice, Regency, Regency Customs, Regency Life, Regency Women, Upper Class on October 11, 2021| 3 Comments »

As we investigate the private lives of Regency Women, it’s important to consider money and a woman’s private expenses. If a genteel woman was expected to dress a certain way, do her hair in the latest styles, wear the right shoes and accessories to accentuate her beauty, and care for her own private needs and beauty regimes, how did she pay for everything she needed?

If one of Jane Austen’s heroines (or Jane herself) wanted to purchase something like a bonnet or a ribbon or a new gown, where did she get the money? Who supplied her with money, what was the amount she might have to spend, and how often was it replenished? Let’s find out!

You are very right in supposing how my money would be spent—some of it, at least—my loose cash would certainly be employed in improving my collection of music and books.

Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility
Magazine of Female Fashions of London and Paris, No.21. London Dresses, 1799, Wikipedia Commons.

Pin Money

Pin money, also sometimes referred to as an allowance, was the money that genteel Regency women used for personal expenses, such as dresses, hats, shoes, and other things of that sort. She kept an accounting of it herself and must balance her own budget.

The history of the term “pin money” dates back to the 1500s: “At that time, pin money was a substantial sum that was used for important purchases. The expression is linked to the price of straight pins, once items that were very rare and expensive, and part of the necessary purchases to run a household” (Grammarist). Over time, the term became synonymous with a woman’s personal money.

For the most part, genteel Regency women were entirely reliant on their male relatives for any “loose cash” for their own personal expenses. As an unmarried woman, she would only have what money her father or a close male relative gave to her (or left to her). Once married, she only had what her husband gave to her or what she was entitled to as part of her marriage settlement.

British Sixpence, 1816, Wikipedia Commons.

Jane Austen’s Allowance

We know that Jane Austen herself had a small allowance from her father. In Oliver MacDonough’s Jane Austen: Real and Imagined Worlds, we read this: “Jane had nothing of her own beyond the pin-money allowed her by her father, which was probably only £20 a year.” Cassandra’s annual allowance, as noted in a letter from 28 December 1798 was twenty pounds: “If you will send my father an account of your Washing & Letter expenses, & c, he will send you a draft for the amount of it, as well as for your next quarter [£5, to be paid on 1 January].”

Mrs. Darcy’s Pin Money

Finally, Pride and Prejudice shows us how a generous allowance allowed married women to live in comfort, having enough for their own needs and for the needs of others, either for charitable giving or to help support family members.

We can now read Mrs. Bennet’s famous reaction to Elizabeth’s engagement to Mr. Darcy with even more interest:

Oh! my sweetest Lizzy! how rich and how great you will be! What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane’s is nothing to it – nothing at all.

Mrs. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth, Pride and Prejudice, 1995

And it seems that Mrs. Bennet was correct indeed. We see this play out when Lydia writes to Elizabeth at the end of Pride and Prejudice, hoping to get a regular allowance from Elizabeth and Darcy: “As it happened that Elizabeth had much rather not, she endeavoured in her answer to put an end to every intreaty and expectation of the kind.”

However, while the Darcys do not provide the Wickhams with a regular allowance, Elizabeth still kindly send gifts of money on a frequent basis to help Lydia. She gives this money out of her own private funds, which as the text implies, was substantial:

Such relief, however, as it was in her power to afford, by the practice of what might be called economy in her own private expenses, she frequently sent them. . . and whenever [the Wickhams] changed their quarters, either Jane or herself were sure of being applied to for some little assistance towards discharging their bills.

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

The Love of Money

Money mattered greatly in the lives of Jane Austen’s Regency women. Having “loose cash” didn’t just provide for bonnets and gowns; it also provided for the safety and protection of several of Austen’s female characters. Money could be used as a means of control or generosity. It could limit a woman or give her greater freedom.

Join me again next month as we delve further into Regency Women: Money Matters and look closely at several instances where Austen uses a lady’s personal money (or lack thereof) as a clever plot device.

RACHEL DODGE teaches college English classes, gives talks at libraries, teas, and book clubs, and writes for Jane Austen’s World blog and Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine. She is the bestselling author of The Anne of Green Gables Devotional: A Chapter-By-Chapter Companion for Kindred Spirits and Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen. Her newest book The Little Women Devotional is now available for pre-order and releases December 2021. You can visit Rachel online at www.RachelDodge.com.

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Easter in Jane Austen’s Day: a pastiche of information

Posted in Jane Austen's religion, Jane Austen's World, Pride and Prejudice, Regency Customs, Regency Life, Romantic London, tagged , , , , on April 4, 2021| 14 Comments »

Happy Easter, gentle readers. Many of the customs followed in the early 19th century by Jane Austen and her family are still followed today in one fashion or another. For this blog post, I have gathered information already known to many, and some that might be new. The following quote sums this holiday up nicely:

“Easter during the Regency was both a holy day and a holiday.” – Lesley-Ann McCleod

Pancake Races Before Lent:

The 40 days before Easter or Lent began on Wednesday with a church service. This day was preceded by Shrove Tuesday, on which one would confess one’s sins. The date was also the last day to eat all the foods that would be prohibited during abstinence. This meant emptying the larder of rich foods, such as milk, eggs, butter, fat, wheat flour, and spices—ingredients commonly found in pancakes. An alternate name in Britain for Shrove Tuesday was Pancake Tuesday! Pancakes were made for consumption or for public races:

“At the sound of a pancake bell, often the bell from the local church, women ran a course carrying a frying pan with a pancake in it. They had to successfully flip the pancake at least three times before they reached the goal. Some communities held pancake parties, with people dressed up [as] the Protector of the Pancakes, irst Founder of the Fritters, Baron of Bacon-flitch, and the Earl of Egg-baskets.” –  Regina Scott, guest author on The Regency Blog of Lesley-Anne McLeod

Pancake races with female contestants are still held today. In addition, street football, or hurling, where teams of men (country men against city dwellers, for instance) hurled the ball against the opposing team until one team won, is also a time-honored Easter tradition.

Pancake Race, Wikipedia image by Lestalorm, 2009
Old Town Hall, image Tony Grant
Foot Ball, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Shrove Tuesday

Easter Sermons:

Easter Sunday, which commemorated Christ’s resurrection from the dead, was a solemn occasion and one of obligation for parishioners, such as the Austen family and the community of worshipers. In the book, Jane Austen and the Clergy, Irene Collins writes that clergymen in Jane Austen’s day were not expected to write original sermons every Sunday, except on a few occasions.

“Henry Crawford, assessing Edmund Bertram’s commitments at Thornton Lacey, judged that ‘a sermon at Christmas and Easter ‘would be’ the sum total of the sacrifice.”

She also wrote that Mr. Collins produced only two sermons between his ordination at Easter and his visit to Longbourn in November of the same year.- p. 96. Jane Austen and the Clergy, Irene Collins, August 1, 2002.

cover of Religion and Philosophy of a stack of Bibles and the title of a sermon Thomas Lloyd preached in a parish church on Easter-Day, April 8th, 1787

Easter Music

I will always remember Sunday Easter service with my parents when singing this uplifting Methodist Church hymn, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.” (14th C. song rewritten in 1739 by: Lyricist Charles Wesley, Composer Samuel Arnold, initially titled Hymn for Easter Day). This hymn was also popular during Jane Austen’s day. My emotions well up when I watch this YouTube video of the King’s College choir singing the hymn.

Easter in Pride and Prejudice

When Elizabeth Bennet visits Hunsford and Rosings, she becomes aware of Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s omission in inviting the Collins’ and their guests in advance for this most important holiday:

“In this quiet way, the first fortnight of her visit soon passed away. Easter was approaching, and the week preceding it was to bring an addition to the family at Rosings, which in so small a circle must be important.”

Elizabeth understands that Lady Lady Catherine de Bourgh has no time for herself or Mr and Mrs Collins, but an invitation finally came:

“Colonel Fitzwilliam’s manners were very much admired at the parsonage, and the ladies all felt that he must add considerably to the pleasure of their engagements at Rosings. It was some days, however, before they received any invitation thither, for while there were visitors in the house they could not be necessary; and it was not till Easter-day, almost a week after the gentlemen’s arrival, that they were honoured by such an attention, and then they were merely asked on leaving church to come there in the evening. For the last week they had seen very little of either Lady Catherine or her daughter. Colonel Fitzwilliam had called at the parsonage more than once during the time, but Mr. Darcy they had only seen at church.”

The ladies, we presume, arrived wearing their new Easter bonnets and gowns made especially for such an important holiday. One assumes that Easter must have presented a busy schedule for Mr Collins, the vicar of his parish. Elizabeth Hawksley, who has written an interesting article about the clergy in Jane Austen’s novels, describes Mr Collins during the days surrounding Easter. His schedule is far from busy:

“So what did the vicar of a parish actually do? Elizabeth Bennet and Sir William and Maria Lucas visited the Collinses around Easter – today, the busiest time of the church year. Nevertheless, we hear of Mr Collins driving his father-in-law round the countryside every day during his visit, and of dinners at Rosings with Lady Catherine de Bourgh; but there is no mention of any church activities.” – Jane Austen and the Clergy: How the System Worked, Elizabeth Hawksley.

Tithing at Easter

Interestingly, people were punished for non-payment of tithes or attendance at Easter. In his book, The Parish Registers of England, Charles Cox (1843-1919) writes:

“…On conviction for divers of the less serious offences, such as non-payment of tithes or Easter dues, or for the non-observance of Sundays or Saints’ Days, offenders were admonished, and if obstinate excommunicated; but in such cases absolution and discharge could  usually be obtained on payment of a fine…”


The Monday After Easter—Merriment at Greenwich Park:

This image depicts Easter day for the masses in Greenwich Park in London. At the top of the hill is the Royal Observatory with astronomical equipment. According to a contemporary description, a sojourn to the park is well worth the visitors’ time! The Monday after Easter the park is filled with throngs of merry makers (ten to thirty thousand) from all walks of life and many ages. The hill is steep, with celebrants running down it in pairs or groups of males and females, sometimes tumbling head over heels, and most likely giggling.

Black and white engraving of Greenwich Park with crowds celebrating Easter

Greenwich Park with the Royal Observatory on Easter Monday, Modern London, Edward Pugh

“Greenwich is crowded at these holidays.  In the public-houses is dancing from morning to evening.  Almost every private house of the lower and middle sort make tea and coffee; yet it is often difficult to find room even for a small company; and it is very usual for parties to take a cold repast and wine with them, and dine beneath the trees in the Park, in spots a little retired from the throng. “ – Mapping Modern London, Horwood’s Map, Greenwich Park

To view the incredible details of the park, click on an image, which will open to enlarged version.

Food:

Hot cross buns, ham, lamb in season, and potatoes were common dishes at Easter, as were colored eggs for an Easter egg hunt. These foods are still popular today. Kirstin Olsen writes about Pastor Woodforde, the author of Diary of a Country Parson,

“Woodforde and his friends tended…to prefer the grass lamb, and it is in the spring that most of his references to eating lamb occur.” – Kirstin Olsen, Cooking with Jane Austen (pp. 66-67)

Grass lamb, or young lambs that still drink milk from their mothers were prized by many. Soon after they are born, the lambs start to eat hay, grass, or grain, but much of their food intake is still from their mothers’ rich milk. The lambs are slaughtered within 2-15 months of birth, weigh from 135 to 140 lbs, and are available only from April to September. Their taste is not as intense as an older lamb’s, but it is one that Pastor Woodforde prefered.

Jane Austen’s Easter

This 2011 article from the Jane Austen Centre, written by Laura Boyle, is worth reading in full. It is a comprehensive discussion about Jane Austen’s celebration of Easter, both as a solemn religious holiday and as a festive event. Click here to enter it.

All Things Georgian

I also recommend this website and its many fact-filled blog posts with well-researched, hard to find information. This link lead to an article entitled “An Early Easter Miscellany.”

_____________________

Have a happy Easter everyone. As with many of you, mine will be spent with the family. The sky is cloudless, the day is warm and perfect for the smaller fry to find Easter eggs.

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