This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.
I’m delighted to share with you a beautiful new book I think you’ll want by your side this fall as you settle down for a cozy read by the fire! It’s called Bygone: Musings and Poems from a Regency Hearthside by Hannah Linder.
Not only is it beautiful to behold, but it is also beautiful to read. Read on for a fun interview with Hannah and some of my own thoughts on her book!
Book Description:
Modern, Regency-Esque Love Poems from a Regency Novelist. Enjoy this hardback collection of whimsical thoughts and poems, perfect for fans of Jane Austen. Grab a cup of tea and immerse yourself in this gift book release, just in time for fall.
I had the great honor of writing an endorsement for this book:
“In Bygone: Musings and Poems from a Regency Hearthside, Hannah Linder offers elegant, heartfelt verses for the discerning Regency soul. As words dance delicately across the page, you’ll soon hear the gentle rustle of silk and the subtle murmur of voices as you step back through time to the beauty and romance of a bygone era.”
As you can see, I found myself in a very poetic mood after reading Hannah’s poems! Her words not only sweep you away to another time and place, but they are also food for the soul.
Interview with Hannah Linder
Hannah agreed to do an interview with me, and I enjoyed getting to know more about her and her writing and artistic background. She is an accomplished, creative, and talented person (I’m sure Austen would approve) with the same deep love for Austen and the Regency Era that all of us here at Jane Austen’s World share. I hope you enjoy our Q&A!
1. What is your background with poetry and what inspired you to write this book?
For years, I’ve enjoyed slipping off alone somewhere with an old poetry book, reading the stanzas out loud, or committing them to memory. I love the way poems play with words. The soothing sound. The cut of realization, throbbing at your chest, when you read something you always knew about life but never really pondered.
For years, I said I could not write poetry. I liked freedom best and writing in rhythms seemed too binding. Funny, isn’t it? Oftentimes the things we say we’ll never do are those we find ourselves doing. Now, writing poetry is an outlet. When emotions swell, I let them topple over and bleed into paper, each line a journal entry or a piece of what cries within me. Bygone is the collection of all my thoughts, dreams, and longings.
2. What are 2 of your favorite poems and what is the story behind each one?
Love You? is one that will always be special to me, because it reflects the heart of a wife who tries to explain to her husband all the ways she loves him. Love is not always flowers and moonlit dances and serenating music. Love, more often, is the simple things we do for each other. The life we live together.
Another favorite is Worth the While. This poem is a sweet reminder to slow down, be happy, and enjoy life as it comes.
3. When did you first discover Jane Austen and the Regency Era?
My best friend, in my early teens, invited me over and introduced me to the 2005 Pride and Prejudice. From the moment Mr. Darcy walked through the foggy field with his coat billowing in the wind, I was hopelessly twitterpated. I have been in love with everything Jane Austen ever since.
4. Do you read Regency or Historical Fiction? If so, who are your favorite authors?
Absolutely! My all-time favorite Regency author is Michelle Griep. Her stories always keep me captivated.
5. What are your favorite 3 books you read in the last year?
This is such a hard question! I think Memory Lane by Becky Wade and Forgotten Secrets by Christy Barritt were among my favorite reads of the year.
6. Who do you picture reading the poems in this collection?
Anyone who loves the Regency Era, the sweetness of romance, the sing-song voice of poetry, or the sentimental things in life. Bygone would be a fun book to curl up with in a chair, near a hearth, with a steaming cup of tea.
7. What was your writing process for this collection? Where did you write these poems?
Anywhere, everywhere! Sometimes a thought or idea would strike me, and I would rush to write it down before I could forget. Other times, I’d just go wandering in a field, take a seat by the creek, and ponder on life until a poem came to me.
Bonus: Who is your favorite Jane Austen hero? Who is your favorite villain?
Absolutely, hands down, the wonderful Mr. Darcy. Though Mr. Knightly would be a close second. And villain, hmm…perhaps Mr. Wickham. He’s so charmingly deceitful and such a layered character. Jane Austen was so masterful.
About the Author
Hannah Linder resides in the beautiful mountains of central West Virginia. Represented by Books & Such, she writes Regency romantic suspense novels filled with passion, secrets, and danger. She is a four-time Selah Award winner, a 2023 Carol Award semi-finalist, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Also, Hannah is an international and multi-award-winning graphic designer who specializes in professional book cover design. She designs for both traditional publishing houses and individual authors, including New York Times, USA Today, and international bestsellers. She is also a self-portrait photographer of historical fashion. When Hannah is not writing, she enjoys playing her instruments—piano, guitar, ukulele, and banjolele—songwriting, painting still life, walking in the rain, and sitting on the front porch of her 1800s farmhouse.
I hope you enjoyed learning more about Hannah and her beautiful new book! Which Jane Austen character do you think would be most likely to read poetry? Which would be most likely to write poetry?
“Now we are come from church . . .” (Jane to Cassandra, London, March 5, 1814)
In Jane Austen’s letters and novels, she often mentions church. A quick search of my Complete Works of Jane Austen shows 119 uses of the word “church” plus 31 uses of “chapel.” The church was an important part of Jane’s life.
A number of different churches are associated with Austen and her family, and this past summer in England I had the privilege of visiting many of them. In the coming months, I will share photos with you of some of these special places.
Most of the Austen family churches are small country churches, like the churches the Bennets, Darcys, Tilneys, Dashwoods, Woodhouses, and others would have mostly attended.
Most country churches at that time were simple, whitewashed inside, with perhaps the Ten Commandments hung on the wall somewhere, along with monuments (usually plaques on the walls) commemorating people from the squire’s family or previous rectors. A simple Communion table at the front, with a railing in front of it, would have served as the altar. The part of the church around the altar is called the chancel.
Memorials to Jane’s mother and sister inside the church.
Preaching was an important part of each service, and the pulpit might have been one, two, or three levels high. Many churches had a gallery, a balcony where the choir, called the Singers, would sit, if they had music. From the top level of the pulpit, the clergyman could preach to those in the gallery, as well as see down into the box pews, pews surrounded by walls. These box pews were generally owned by the local gentry, who could listen in privacy and be protected from drafts of cold air. Others sat on benches.
Country families visiting Bath or London would have attended larger churches. I’ve speculated previously about where Jane herself (and Catherine Morland) might have worshiped in Bath.
Country Churches Today
The country churches we visited this summer now have small congregations for regular services; perhaps a dozen or so people on a Sunday morning. However, they occasionally host baptisms, weddings, and funerals, with much larger attendance. Those events also provide income to the churches. These small churches may gather one to two hundred people for holiday services such as Harvest, Christmas, or Easter. They sometimes also host local school events, concerts, and community events.
Let’s start with the Chawton church. This is the one Jane Austen fans can most easily visit, since it is next to Chawton House and a short walk from Jane Austen’s House. Jane Austen attended this church from 1809 to 1817, while she and her mother, sister, and friend were living in Chawton Cottage (now Jane Austen’s House, a museum). During that time, she wrote or rewrote all her novels, and four of them were published. (The other two were published shortly after her death.)
The church is named after St. Nicholas, like the church in Steventon where Austen grew up; that’s a little confusing.
Nowadays a small team of clergy usually serve a group of country parishes. The Chawton church is now part of the Northanger Benefice, which includes eight small rural parishes, each with its own church.
While services are offered somewhere in the area every Sunday, most small churches do not have services every week. At the church in Chawton, three Sunday services are held per month.
One is led by a layperson (not an ordained clergyman or clergywoman). In the hour-long lay service I attended during Regency Week, a woman from the congregation led the service, reading from the Book of Common Prayer, while the congregation read the responses. The congregation sang hymns: “Lord of All Hopefulness,” a lovely traditional hymn, as well as “Kum Ba Yah” and “Morning Has Broken,” perhaps chosen because they were familiar and easy to sing. There was no sermon.
The leader read the banns for two couples who plan to get married in the church. I was told that, in order to be married there, a couple had to attend the church at least six times before the wedding, and they needed some connection with the parish or benefice.
The congregation was welcoming and kind to my friend and myself as visitors. We enjoyed the fellowship before and after the service.
The service I attended the following Sunday included the baptism of a nine-month-old boy. About forty or fifty people attended. (I was told anyone could be baptized in the church, with the payment of a small fee.) The rector in charge of the benefice, Rev. Carrie Walshaw, officiated. (The Church of England has ordained women since 1994.) The baby was dedicated with his parents, two godfathers, and one godmother (a baby girl would have two godmothers and one godfather), and baptized at the Victorian font at the back of the church. A candle was lit and given to the parents as a symbolic remembrance. Rev. Walshaw preached a sermon about baptism and salvation, and we sang hymns with organ music. Rev. Walshaw’s husband was the organist; the organ is an electronic one that sounds like a real pipe organ (to me, at least). It is hidden behind the pipes of the old organ which is now too expensive to maintain.
There has been a church at Chawton since at leat 1270 AD. The current church building, however, is not the same one Austen worshiped in. A fire in 1871 destroyed most of that church. The chancel (the area around the altar at the front of the church) remains, and most of the memorials were preserved, along with one original pew sitting against the back wall. So those are still as Jane Austen would have seen them, though the chancel has been extensively redecorated.
The rest of the church, including the tower, was rebuilt in 1872 and 1873 in a Victorian style. Several of the pews are marked as memorials to various people, including one for Jane Austen, though these pews are all modern.
For each parish church in England, someone owns the advowson, the right to appoint the next clergyman. The Knight family (who adopted Jane’s brother Edward) owned the advowson for Chawton from 1578 until 1953. At that point, they gave it to the Bishop of Winchester, when Chawton became part of a benefice with nearby Farringdon.
During Austen’s time, the Knights chose Rev. John Papillon as rector of Chawton. In one of her letters, Jane refers to a family joke that she was supposed to marry Rev. Papillon, regardless of how either of them felt about it (Dec. 9, 1808).
In 1817, Jane’s brother Henry Austen served briefly as curate at Chawton and at St. Lawrence the Martyr’s, parish church of the nearby market town of Alton. In 1837, Edward Knight installed his son, Charles Bridges Knight, as rector of Chawton. The rectory is the white house at the end of the lane leading to the church and Chawton house, just across the street. It is now a private home.
A guidebook to Chawton Church tells us, “The parish has increased little in population since the 19th century and still only has about 300 adults living in it so that the shortage of money which is the lot of most churches in tiny parishes is likely to continue in this, the 21st century.” The building is a grade 2 listed building in the UK, meaning it is “of special interest, warranting every effort to preserve it.”
The church therefore has to get permission to make any changes. Recent changes are the addition of two restrooms and a small kitchen in the back of the church. The kitchen is made of oak matching the pews, with a cover to hide the sink. These amenities make the church more appealing as a site for weddings and other community events. Income from such events helps keep the church running. The Chawton church has hosted five weddings this year so far.
The church also has a children’s area toward the back, with toys. This helps keep children occupied, especially during the regular services geared for families.
The church has a peal of six bells, which were ringing during the baptism service I attended. Three of them would have been heard by Jane Austen; they are dated 1420, 1621, and 1748. Another original bell was re-cast and re-hung as one of the newer bells. During Austen’s time, the church had a West Gallery, a balcony which may have been used by a choir or musicians, but the rebuilt church has no gallery.
Outside, the church can be approached from two traditional lych gates, one in front, one in the back. The word lych (pronounced litch) is from an Anglo-Saxon word for corpse. The lych gate was the entrance to the church yard, which was a cemetery. When a person died in the parish, their body might be set in the lych gate for a time, until the funeral was held.
The Chawton churchyard includes many headstones for people buried there, some of which are so ancient they are illegible.
Jane Austen’s mother and sister are buried in the churchyard. Their graves were recently cleared of huge, deep weeds. But the lettering on the stones is still difficult to read.
A Walk Through Chawton will give you a wider view of Austen-related places to visit in the area.
Donations
The Chawton church is always open to visitors like yourself. According to a sign in the church, however, it costs over £75 a day to keep the church operating. If you should wish to make a donation directly to the church, churchwarden Sandra Martin has set up this site, which Rev. Lesley Leon of the Northanger Benefice shared with us: Chawton church donations.
JASNA provides support for special projects in some Austen family churches, including this one. If you are a JASNA member, donations to the churches fund for such projects are appreciated. (You can donate when renewing your membership, or sign in to your account and go under the drop-down menu to “Donate to JASNA or English Institutions.”)
It’s time for the next installment in this series devoted to examining the enduring romantic themes in Jane Austen’s novels, many of which are used over and over again in today’s most popular “rom com” movies and books.
This month, we’re taking a closer look at the romantic themes Jane Austen used in Northanger Abbey (NA) and tracking the themes that are still used today.
Defining the “Meet-Cute”
Every rom com has a meet-cute, the moment when two characters meet each other in a “cute” and memorable way. In The Holiday, Arthur (Eli Wallach) defines a meet-cute like this:
Say a man and a woman both need something to sleep in, and they both go to the same men’s pajama department. And the man says to the salesman, ‘I just need bottoms.’ The woman says, ‘I just need a top.’ They look at each other, and that’s the meet-cute.”
The Holiday
While every story has a meet-cute, some are cuter than others. Sometimes the two characters cannot stand one another, sometimes there is a misunderstanding, and sometimes there is a clash. But sometimes, as in NA, the two characters meet and are immediately drawn to one another.
Introducing Mr. Tilney
In NA, not only do Catherine Morland and Henry Tilney have a clever first meeting, we also learn a lot about social etiquette during that era.
When Catherine arrives in Bath, she knows no one and her chaperone, Mrs. Allen, has no immediate acquaintances. On their first night in the Upper Rooms, they move through a crowded ballroom, but because Mrs. Allen does not see anyone she knows, Catherine cannot dance:
[S]he longed to dance, but she had not an acquaintance in the room. Mrs. Allen did all that she could do in such a case by saying very placidly, every now and then, “I wish you could dance, my dear—I wish you could get a partner.”
Northanger Abbey
However, when they visit the Lower Rooms, “fortune” is “more favourable to our heroine” (Ch. 3). It’s there that the master of ceremonies makes an introduction: “The master of the ceremonies introduced to her a very gentleman-like young man as a partner; his name was Tilney.”
After dancing they strike up a lively conversation and the meet-cute is on.
Northanger’s Meet-Cute
Henry is described by Austen in highly favorable terms: “He seemed to be about four or five and twenty, was rather tall, had a pleasing countenance, a very intelligent and lively eye, and, if not quite handsome, was very near it. His address was good, and Catherine felt herself in high luck.”
As they talk, Mr. Tilney teases Catherine and is clearly a good-humored man: “He talked with fluency and spirit—and there was an archness and pleasantry in his manner which interested, though it was hardly understood by her.”
Mr. Tilney flirts with Catherine when he questions her about her journal and even tells her what she “ought” to write in it after their meeting:
“I danced with a very agreeable young man, introduced by Mr. King; had a great deal of conversation with him—seems a most extraordinary genius—hope I may know more of him. That, madam, is what I wish you to say.”
For the remainder of the chapter, Austen is at her absolute best with light-hearted, quick-paced dialogue and witty banter. Rarely do any of her characters talk quite so much upon first meeting one another, and we, her readers, find ourselves as charmed by Henry as Catherine herself:
They danced again; and, when the assembly closed, parted, on the lady’s side at least, with a strong inclination for continuing the acquaintance. Whether she thought of him so much, while she drank her warm wine and water, and prepared herself for bed, as to dream of him when there, cannot be ascertained; but I hope it was no more than in a slight slumber, or a morning doze at most; for if it be true, as a celebrated writer has maintained, that no young lady can be justified in falling in love before the gentleman’s love is declared, it must be very improper that a young lady should dream of a gentleman before the gentleman is first known to have dreamt of her.
Northanger Abbey
Love at First Sight, Conflict Ahead
In a book with a quick mutual connection between characters, there must be some kind of problem or conflict to keep the story going. Otherwise, it would be over in the first few pages. In many popular movies today, writers add in misunderstandings, timing issues, geographical hurdles, age differences, and other road blocks to make things interesting.
The same is true for NA. After their first meeting, Catherine develops an immediate first major crush, and it’s clear that Mr. Tilney is hoping to see more of her as well. Both are charmed and interested. Both hope to see one another again. However, as with most stories that start with immediate attraction, Catherine and Henry don’t live happily ever after–at least not right away.
For the remainder of the novel, Austen uses a variety of plot devices to create conflict for her two young lovers, unfold a larger plot with its own major themes, and build a multi-layered story arc for Catherine and Henry.
C.E. Brock illustration, Northanger Abbey, “Pray, pray, Stop Mr. Thorpe”
Popular “Meet-Cute” Examples
No romantic comedy can hold a candle to Jane Austen’s complex plots, characters, and novels. However, it’s interesting to think about the devices she used to create the meet-cute in NA versus the devices writers must use today. While people don’t need a master of ceremonies to introduce them anymore, writers still must find ways to “match-make” their characters. Here are some popular movies that fall into the “meet-cute” category:
In The Holiday, there are several meet-cutes: When Iris and Amanda switch houses for Christmas, Iris ends up meeting Miles when he comes to drop something off at Amanda’s house on a windy day in Los Angeles. Miles and Iris immediately hit it off, while Miles’ girlfriend sits in his car waiting. Amanda meets Graham when he shows up on her doorstep (Iris’ doorstep), hoping to crash at his sister’s house after a night out.
In Serendipity, the two main characters meet in a busy department store at Christmas time. They each grab for the last pair of black gloves and strike up a conversation.
In Notting Hill, Will spills orange juice on Anna, a popular movie star, when they crash into one another on the sidewalk near his apartment. She agrees to go to his place to change into clean clothes and they share a delightful first conversation and an unexpected first kiss.
In 50 First Dates, Henry must create a series of meet-cutes to gain the attention of Lucy each day because she has lost her short-term memory and forgets who he is every time they meet.
And in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, we find a refreshing twist on the meet-cute when Toula meets and falls in love with Ian. As she serves him at her family’s restaurant, she can’t even speak to him. However, that meeting pushes Toula to change her life, go to school, (get a makeover – of course), and become the confident woman Ian later notices through the window of a travel agency.
Clever Introductions
Jane Austen created her stories in a world where men and women could only meet under certain circumstances. The social rules of her time necessarily set up parameters that she had to follow, which provided for some very creative inspiration. Today, people don’t have to follow those same rules, but they still need to find a way to meet and introduce themselves, either in person, online, at church, work, or school, or through a mutual friend.
What are some of your favorite “meet-cute” moments in literature or film? If you have a “meet-cute” story of your own, we’d love to hear about it in the comments!
When Jane Austen wrote letters to her sister or brothers, she had the choice of sending them two ways: One was to assume her siblings would pay to receive her letters. The other was that Jane would pay to send the letter. As we know, Jane lived on a budget of a mere £50 per year, as did Cassandra, and so their letters were crossed to save money on weight and pages.
Letter to Godmersham
In the following passage from Mansfield Park, Jane writes about 10 year old Fanny Price’s dilemma: She wants to write to her brother William, the sibling she loves the most, but she has no paper on which to write him, and even if she had the paper, she has no funds to send the letter. Her cousin Edmund offers a solution.
“My dear little cousin,” said he, with all the gentleness of an excellent nature, “what can be the matter?” And sitting down by her, he was at great pains to overcome her shame in being so surprised, and persuade her to speak openly. Was she ill? or was anybody angry with her? or had she quarrelled with Maria and Julia? or was she puzzled about anything in her lesson that he could explain? Did she, in short, want anything he could possibly get her, or do for her? For a long while no answer could be obtained beyond a “no, no—not at all—no, thank you”; but he still persevered; and no sooner had he begun to revert to her own home, than her increased sobs explained to him where the grievance lay. He tried to console her.
“You are sorry to leave Mama, my dear little Fanny,” said he, “which shows you to be a very good girl; but you must remember that you are with relations and friends, who all love you, and wish to make you happy. Let us walk out in the park, and you shall tell me all about your brothers and sisters.”
On pursuing the subject, he found that, dear as all these brothers and sisters generally were, there was one among them who ran more in her thoughts than the rest. It was William whom she talked of most, and wanted most to see. William, the eldest, a year older than herself, her constant companion and friend; her advocate with her mother (of whom he was the darling) in every distress. “William did not like she should come away; he had told her he should miss her very much indeed.” “But William will write to you, I dare say.” “Yes, he had promised he would, but he had told her to write first.” “And when shall you do it?” She hung her head and answered hesitatingly, “she did not know; she had not any paper.”
“If that be all your difficulty, I will furnish you with paper and every other material, and you may write your letter whenever you choose. Would it make you happy to write to William?”
“Yes, very.”
“Then let it be done now. Come with me into the breakfast-room, we shall find everything there, and be sure of having the room to ourselves.”
“But, cousin, will it go to the post?”
“Yes, depend upon me it shall: it shall go with the other letters; and, as your uncle will frank it, it will cost William nothing.”
“My uncle!” repeated Fanny, with a frightened look.
“Yes, when you have written the letter, I will take it to my father to frank.”
Fanny writes William a letter. (Mansfield Park, 1983)
Fanny thought it a bold measure, but offered no further resistance; and they went together into the breakfast-room, where Edmund prepared her paper, and ruled her lines with all the goodwill that her brother could himself have felt, and probably with somewhat more exactness. He continued with her the whole time of her writing, to assist her with his penknife or his orthography, as either were wanted; and added to these attentions, which she felt very much, a kindness to her brother which delighted her beyond all the rest. He wrote with his own hand his love to his cousin William, and sent him half a guinea under the seal. Fanny’s feelings on the occasion were such as she believed herself incapable of expressing; but her countenance and a few artless words fully conveyed all their gratitude and delight, and her cousin began to find her an interesting object. He talked to her more, and, from all that she said, was convinced of her having an affectionate heart, and a strong desire of doing right; and he could perceive her to be farther entitled to attention by great sensibility of her situation, and great timidity. He had never knowingly given her pain, but he now felt that she required more positive kindness; and with that view endeavoured, in the first place, to lessen her fears of them all, and gave her especially a great deal of good advice as to playing with Maria and Julia, and being as merry as possible.
From this day Fanny grew more comfortable. She felt that she had a friend, and the kindness of her cousin Edmund gave her better spirits with everybody else. The place became less strange, and the people less formidable; and if there were some amongst them whom she could not cease to fear, she began at least to know their ways, and to catch the best manner of conforming to them.”
Edmund’s solution was a third option not available to Jane or her family. Franking privileges were available to all peers and sirs, like his father, Sir Thomas Bertram, a baronet. He who would write his name diagonally across the sealed letter. This act automatically paid for the postage. — Regency Trivia: Franking Privileges, Ella Quinn
This scene sets the stage for the special relationship between the lonely, bewildered Fanny and her kind cousin, who has made her feel welcome and at home at a time when she felt adrift. Their connection would stand the test of time.
Oh ye gods! how I shall dine.” — Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745)
Inquiring readers: After reading Jonathan Swift’s poem, Mutton, I was reminded of the importance of pleasurable dining and the immense satisfaction a good meal gives us. While I understand much of the poem, which still feels fresh, some phrases and customs prompted me to look up the differences between dining customs in the mid-18th century and today.
While Jonathan Swift died 30 years before Jane Austen’s birth, his reputation as a writer, thinker and essayist must have been well known to her and her father, who most likely kept the author’s writings in his extensive library.
Annotations:
“Gently stir and blow the fire”:
Stirring the hot coals while blowing the fire with bellows increases the temperature to the desired heat for cooking the meat.
As the meat sizzles and browns, the drippings, or the fat rendered from roasting, are captured by a dish placed under the meat. The fat from beef is used to make yorkshire pudding: in this situation, mutton drippings are eaten with toast.
“Mutton is the meat I love.
On the dresser see it lie;”
“Although they looked much more like what we would call a sideboard, the earliest use of the word dresser dates to 16th-century England. Used in the kitchen and dining areas, these early incarnations provided extra space for serving and “dressing” meats headed to the dining table and were essentially side tables with a single row of drawers that rested atop tall legs.” – Dressers, Rau Antiques
Swift describes sheep that were fed in pastures with fresh green grass. We are all familiar with the bucolic engravings and paintings of that era of shepherds and sheep dogs or border collies looking after the flocks and bringing them to new pastures. — Glossary of sheep husbandry – Wikipedia
“Let the jack go swiftly round,
Let me have it nice and brown’d.”
“Roasting jacks (or spit jacks) were used in the kitchen to facilitate grilling meat or other dishes on a spit in an open fire by rotating (or turning) the spit.” – Spit Jacks: See image in this link.
We have no way of knowing whether Jonathan Swift enjoyed his mutton at home or in a tavern, as in the Schaak image. The latter would have been quite common for a bachelor. Swift, however, was a successful man who could afford servants to cook and serve this meal at home or arrange for more private accommodations in an inn.
The Corporal in Good Quarters, Thomas Rowlandson, Met Museum, Public Domain
Eating utensils, interestingly enough, didn’t change much for the poorer citizens from the medieval period to the industrialisation. This replica set of eating utensils is modeled from originals found in the UK and was used during the 18th century.
Vegetables:
“Pickles get and salad both,
Let them each be fresh and green.”
Pickles:
“Pickles aren’t limited to the dill and cucumber variety. They can be sweet, sour, salty, hot or all of the above. Pickles can be made with cauliflower, radishes, onions, green beans, asparagus and a seemingly endless variety of other vegetables and fruits. When the English arrived in the New World, they brought their method for creating sweet pickles with vinegar, sugar and spiced syrup.” – History in a Jar: The Story of Pickles
Salad:
Salad during Swift’s time was known as salmagundi, a 17th-18th century form of a composed and layered salad that we know today as a chef’s salad. Components varied throughout the year according to the foods available. These salads were either made with fresh greens or with vegetables that were boiled. The links below lead to recipes used during this period.
Throughout the middle ages, drinking water was unpleasant and unsafe to consume and milk was far too expensive for most people. Instead, a mildly alcoholic drink known as ‘small beer’ was brewed and consumed for its hydrating and nutritional properties in households, workplaces and even schools across Britain. Typically brewed to around 2.8% ABV (alcohol by volume), small beer became a staple of British daily life and was even cited in Shakespeare’s works. – What is Small Beer & When Was it Brewed?.
Difference Between Beer and Ale:
According to Wikipedia, “Ale is a type of beer brewed using a warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.” Beer or lager combined hops with other ingredients.
“As hops began to pervade breweries … this distinction between beer and ale no longer applied. Brewers began to differentiate between beer and ale on the basis of where the yeast fermented in the cask: ale uses yeast that gathers on the top, and lager uses yeast that ferments on the bottom.” – What is the Difference Between Beer and Ale?
The Ale House Door, Henry Singleton, 1790, Wikimedia
At the start of the 18th century, increased taxes on malt and hops to finance war with France, induced brewers to move to brewing more beer. Their reasoning was simple: the tax on malt was more than that on hops. Ale used more of the former, beer more of the latter.” – Early 18th century British beer styles
The above article explains the difference between small beer and ale in both strength and color. Beer was made for immediate consumption, and ales were drunk as soon as they had “cleared” in three or four weeks.
Wine
Poor people tended to drink beer or gin, but a wider range of alcoholic drinks was available to the rich. These included wines such as French claret; fortified wines such as sherry, port or Madeira; and spirits such as brandy and rum. – Jane Austen’s World, Elder Wine, A Perfect Libation for a Regency Holiday
In April, 1768, Pastor Woodforde described a get together at Lower House with Mrs Farr, presumably the hostess. His description of the dances and food served gives us an intimate view of ordinary get togethers only decades after Swift’s death. Notice the mention of a roasted shoulder of mutton, the paltry serving of vegetables, and alcoholic drinks:
April 19. … We had some Country Dancing and Minuets at Lower House…We were very merry and no breaking up till 2 in morning. I gave Mrs. Farr a roasted Shoulder of Mutton and a plum Pudding for dinner — Veal Cutlets, Frill’d Potatoes, cold Tongue, Ham and cold roast Beef, and eggs in their shells. Punch, Wine, Beer and Cyder for drinking.” – The Diary of a Country Parson, the Reverend James Woodforde, full text Internet Archive
Inside of a Country AlehouseDate: published March 1, 1797, William Ward (English, 1766-1826) after George Morland (English, 1763-1804) Art Institute of Chicago
Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England is now available! By JAW contributor Brenda S. Cox. See Review. Available from Amazon and Jane Austen Books.
Available through December 31st, 2025. Click on image for details, and share this poster with other teachers and students!
The Obituary of Charlotte Collins by Andrew Capes
Click on image to read the story.
Comments
“My idea of good company…is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.” – Jane Austen, Persuasion
Gentle readers: Please feel free to post your comments and continue the conversation! Due to SPAM, we will no longer accept comments on posts after 30 days of publication. In some instances, links will be removed from comments as well.
Administrators and Contributors
Vic Sanborn, founder of this blog, is supported by a team of talented and knowledgeable writers about Jane Austen and the Regency era. They are:
Tony Grant, who now contributes his photos from London and England
Click on their names to enter their own blogs.
In addition, we thank the many experts and authors who frequently contribute their posts and opinions, and who continue to do so freely or at our request.
Click here to enter the page. Topics include Regency fashion, historic foods, Jane Austen societies, British sites, related topics. Click on image.
May we suggest?
Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Maryland, USA. I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud lifetime member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me and my team. We do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we do accept and keep books and CDs to review.
If you would like to share a new site, or point out an error, please email us. (Yes, we are fallible. We'll own up to our mistakes and will make the corrections with a polite smile on our faces.) Write us at
Thank you for visiting this blog. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome.
Project Gutenberg: eBook of Stage-coach and Mail in Days of Yore, Volume 2 (of 2), by Charles G. Harper
STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE: A PICTURESQUE HISTORY
OF THE COACHING AGE, VOL. II, By CHARLES G. HARPER. 1903. Click on this link.
