Christmas is coming to the Academy...

As mentioned in a brief  post on the Academy Facebook page yesterday, my quietness online reflects concentration of thought & activity in developing new ideas and materials (as is usual). Since the HOD event (& completion of the 'Seeking Sophie 'Time Tec' Challenge) I've been working on digital 'cultural heritage experiences' for winter (hopefully for Christmas - though as explained on Facebook, technical issues continue to delay progress).

Earlier this year I completed what is effectively an e-book on the Regency Christmas - focusing on  Derby & Derbyshire in the late 1790s - 1820s - which will form part of the 'course materials' for a digital learning package. I'm now tweaking this a little to better fit the other materials that I intend to add.

I'm also working on a digital package - designed for cold winter evenings beside the fire! - that explores beliefs & practices in the area at this time relating to ghosts & the dead.

I'm experimenting with new resources & technologies, to see what formats work best (within the framework of extending access by keeping costs low, having to employ software that's free to the public, & does not require the involvement of an app producer / computer programmer!). So I'm still at the developmental stage for some elements of the packages. But the challenge is proving to be as enjoyable as it is demanding, and I hope that those who engage with these materials find as much amusement as I have in their making.

I shall explain content in more detail when closer to the release date - so watch this space!

Update: Experimentation continues on a wide range of more accessible resources, which I hope will be available in time for Xmas 2019.

Christmastide in the Age of Austen - Second Chance for tickets!

As Mrs. Leach's Academy is like other lady tutors of this age in her home, she requires a day or two to transform her common parlour into a venue suitable for the reception of her respected patrons, fore knowledge of numbers an imperative. The tickets she thus issues for entry are made available up until this preparation time.

Not assured of the attendance of sufficient numbers prior to preparations for today's meeting (which might otherwise allow the entertainments planned for the gathering to proceed), it must sadly be cancelled.

However, since having to take this regretful decision, she has received enquires expressing interest in attending the event, and has consequently rescheduled the talk for the evening (7-8.3 pm) of Wednesday 20 December, 2017. 

This provides time to reinstate the materials dismantled and returned to those kind enough to loan artefacts of interest, once cancellation was deemed necessary.

Tickets are available from the same box office as previously, here. To keep abreast with information on this talk, see the Facebook page, or follow her Tweets.

She hopes that this new date and time suits interested parties, who she looks forward to seeing next week.

Mrs. Leach Christmastide in the ‘Age of Austen’ Regency Revels, Georgian Gambols & Festive Fare

*PLEASE NOTE EDIT: the next event is planned to take place on 20 Dec. 2017, 7 - 8.30 pm, at Mrs. Leach's establishment in Derby. 

As my most-loved time in all the year, I am exceedingly pleased to be able to provide an event that revels in the beliefs of customs Christmases past: 'Christmastide in the ‘Age of Austen’ Regency Revels, Georgian Gambols & Festive Fare'.

I hope that this seasonal offering will become an annual tradition in itself; this year's December talk  - which forms part of the series of events that I intend to hold until summer 2018, concentrating on the time in which Britain's favourite female author lived and died, as part of the Bicentenary commemorations - will focus on the 'Age of Austen'

Centring on the 1770s - 1810s, the Christmastide talk considers celebrations before those of the Victorian period, with which many today are more familiar. In order to explore continuities (some of which have evolved into modern-day practices) and change (resulting in the loss of once popular customs), I will also include information about the two decade's between Jane Austen's death, and the start of Queen Victoria's reign, thus examining the late Georgian & Regency eras more fully, and including an array of attractive and intriguing material. 

I shall approach the topic through a number of themes to over-view attitudes, beliefs, and customs of the time surrounding Christmas past and present, using Jane Austen's work, and early biographies; a range of written and audio sources and images, including diaries and letters, newspapers & magazines, literature, poetry, and music; prints & art; and - of course, from an archaeological perspective - various aspects of material culture. This array of sources will pay particular attention to Derby, Derbyshire, and the East Midlands. 

The themes begin with 'Ancient Origins & Antiquarian 'Inventions'. This will touch upon pre-Roman, Classical, Medieval and Early Modern traditions, by considering Antiquarian interest in and '(re-)envisioning' of Christmas customs in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It will explore concerns of the 'Austen Age' that Christmas and other ancient English customs were under threat, considering how this related to war, urbanisation, and industrialisation, and  measures taken to preserve 'olde' ways. (This will integrate my own ongoing research into the effects of Antiquarianism upon ritual and belief in the past).

The second theme, 'Festive Families and Community Care', will explore Christmas trade and travel, briefly considering commerce, holidays, and transportation - notably that popular seasonal motif: coach travel; and the most significant factor of the Victorian (and subsequent) Christmas: the family. It will also touch upon faith and belief; and explore charity and gift-giving at Christmas time.

The final theme - 'Festive Food, Fun, and Games' - will look at seasonal amusements & pastimes, including the theatre, community entertainments, and domestic traditions, such as card-playing and party games. No exploration of Christmas would be complete without a foray into food and drink, which will conclude the talk, considering recipes of the day, and how food and drink was integrated with the Christmas calendar, and customs.

The event will be held in the 'common parlour' of the 'Academy', which (though limiting the number of available places)[1] enables the creation of a cosy 'atmosphere', through colour and candlelight, fabrics and furniture (& possibly firelight!),[2] and material culture and costume. I will as usual (in the guise of Mrs. Leach) be clothed in period dress - and 'Academy pupils' garbed in their own Regency- and late Georgian-style attire will be welcome!

Tickets cost £3.50 pp (purchases online accruing an additional Eventbrite fees of 87p), and may be obtained online by clicking this link; the 'Buy Tickets' button bellow; the 'Register' buttons at the top right of the webpage, or by using the form at the end of this post.

Update: Early Bird offer has now expired, but there's a discount of £1 for those who attend in Regency costume! Enter the promo code Costume_Concession

Tickets may also be obtained on request by email: antiquarianacademy@gmail.com, or text: 07903 237953 (Paypal); or by post: Lymehurst, 1 West Park Rd., Derby, DE22 1GG (cheque & SAE).

For more information, see the Eventbrite page; Facebook event page; Twitter: @LadyAntiquary; or by text, email, or post.

It would be great to know if readers are interested in this event - even if unable to attend (so that I might better plan this and future events), using website comments, Twitter, Facebook; or email. 

I hope to see some readers at the event! 

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Notes

[1] A minimum number of places need to be filled for the event to proceed.

[2] Should conditions be suitable.

True Tales from the Grave: Death & Burial in the 'Age of Austen' Halloween Talk

Mrs. Leach is pleased to announce her next educational event - for Halloween: True Tales from the Grave: Death & Burial in the 'Age of Austen'. This was initially intended as a tour of graveyards in Derby's Cathedral Quarter, although bureaucratic delays (as explained in a previous post) have necessitated alternative arrangements. 

The event will now be held at Mrs. Leach's establishment on 2nd November (All Soul's Night) 2017, 7-8.30 pm. It will take the form of a light-hearted (though at times dark) talk, which integrates evidence from and discussion of the graveyards hitherto intended as sites of interest that the tour party would visit, alongside other material. As now to be held indoors, there is opportunity to incorporate a wider range of sources - including more lovely Georgian prints, and a guest appearance from Mrs. Leach's bony inanimate friend, Morty Skelton.

As part of a series of events that commemorate the bicentenary of Jane Austen's death, True Tales will explore how people dealt with death in the time of Britain's favourite female author. Mrs. Leach will draw upon her antiquarian studies of funerary and mortuary customs and beliefs in Derby and beyond, to follow the fates of  those whose earthly endeavours came to an end in the late 1700s and early 1800s. 

Using local and wider archaeological and other historical evidence, she will meander through miasmas and medicine, to touch upon causes of death and experiences of dying, and – in this age of elegance – investigate how industrialisation and urbanisation gave rise to grisly graveyards. 

Contemplating corpses and crypts unearthed and evacuated in constructing new edifices for the living, and analysing an array of documents and illustrations exhumed from the archives - as well as a multitude of monuments that survive in the graveyards still present day, she will consider what bereavement, bodies and burials may tell us of beliefs in the Regency era, making occasional forays into superstitions and supernatural realms.

Through remnants of remembrance, and commemorative collections, Mrs. Leach will muse on mourning, mementos, and memorials. She will follow such sad sentiments by mulling over means of medical discovery, investigating how the search for scientific knowledge lead to gruesome treatment of human remains.  

As might be anticipated, a strong constitution might be required! The talk is therefore unsuitable for children, although on parental / guardian guidance, young persons over the age of 15 may attend if accompanied by a responsible adult (usual ticket prices apply).

Entry is by ticket purchased in advance. Only a small number of places are available for this select soiree - so if interested, it is advisable to purchase a ticket ASAP. The event may be cancelled if insufficient numbers of tickets are sold; in such a case, ticket sales will be refunded. 

Tickets are available online through the Eventbrite - on the Eventbrite event page, the form below, or by clicking the orange button to the right of the blog page. Entry costs £4 pp. plus the Eventbrite administrative fee (84 p: total cost = £4.84 - I have lowered the original ticket price to allow for this fee). 

Alternatively, or for more information, please contact me (providing name and contact details) - preferably by email or phone: antiquarianacademy [at] gmail [dot com]; 07903 237953; or by post via at the Academy (1 West Park Road, Derby, DE22 1GG); this blog or the Academy Website; or send a message via Facebook or Twitter. 

*PLEASE NOTE: TICKETS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

...But why not come along to the follow-on talk, planned for the close of the Christmas season in early January: Ghosts of Christmas Past: Late Georgian Death, Ritual and Belief?! 

More on this event soon...

Drawing Lots for Love! St. Valentine's Day Traditions.

e

Love is certainly in the air at Lymehurst Cottage (home of the Academy)!

In preparation for several salons and soirées on love and marriage that I aim to present (and perhaps host at the Academy), I have for some time been delving deep into romance during the ‘long eighteenth century’ (with regard to my work, usually covering the late 17^th - early 19^th centuries). I will perhaps provide one or two of these events in summer this year (those that concentrate upon the Regency period); and others (those on the Georgian Era more generally) at around this time next year.

These events will investigate a variety of topics relating to love and marriage in these eras – with particular regard to Derby and the surrounding area – examining a range of sources (including archaeological evidence and artefact collections; art and illustrations; print culture and newspapers; novels and poems; advice manuals; memoirs and diaries). In exploring attitudes towards love and marriage, they will consider the social, cultural, economic, and political settings of changing opinions and behaviour; and what material remains tell us something about how people expressed and felt romantic affection in the past. Events held on and / or around Saint Valentine’s Day will look at associated traditions of the day.

As today is Valentine’s Day, I shall provide a very brief a preview of work-in-progress. I am inevitably drawn to antiquarian interest, so present a topical excerpt from an eighteenth century theological (hagiographic) work. I follow this with something a little more down to earth: late eighteenth-century newspaper correspondence regarding the tradition of prospective suitors drawing lots for their Valentine!

*

In his Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints (published in the late 1750s), English Catholic priest Alban Butler (1710-1773) refers to early 17th century Swiss Valentine customs while writing of Saint Francis of Sales, Bishop of Geneva:[i]

He [Francis of Sales] severely forbade the custom of Valentines or giving boys, in writing, the names of girls to be admired and attended on by them; and, to abolish it, he changed it into giving billets with the names of certain saints for them to honor and imitate in a particular manner.

In the Derby Mercury newspaper, we read of traditions that seem to indicate continuing secular development of such 'Valentines' after the 17th century, in the form of drawing lots; clearly, not everyone agreed with perpetuating this 'ancient custom'!:

 

Derby Mercury, 7 March 1782 (above); 20 March 1782 (below)

As with other ostensibly ‘ancient’ customs (e.g., see the Halloween post), I cannot but ponder the extent to which antiquarian pursuits influenced the ‘revival’ of this practice – a topic that I continue to investigate. However, in this case the latter newspaper correspondent does not appear to be familiar with the move from secular (romantic) to ecclesiastical (saintly veneration) ‘billets’ in the early modern period referred to within Rev. Butler’s work.

I will again here return to the theme of love & marriage; but for now, I must return to the archives.

y

 Notes

[i] Alban Butler & Bernard Kelly (Ed.) n.d. The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, Vol. I. London: Virtue & Company Ltd., p.125.

Journal: January 9th. Reflections on Twelfth Night

Now that my Twelfth Night guests have departed, I might briefly reflect upon the delightful time that was had by all on the 6th – the festivities even more splendid than on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve!

We were fortune to purchase one of Johnson’s prize Twelfth cakes – such magnificence: sweet icing, rich and juicy fruit, delicate figures decorating the top, and what a size! Perhaps I shall bake my own Twelfth cake next year?

Derby Mercury report (12th January, 1804) on Twelfth Night Masquerade Ball

Although grander households (and increasingly, commercial establishment) throw masquerade balls on this night (of which we know from newspaper reports, and only rarely from invitation!), we contented ourselves with more modest masques. We had purchased a set of Twelfth Night character cards from Johnson’s; Dr Leach (of course!) King, and I the Queen (as would only be fitting!), our guests assuming the role of other courtiers – so much gaiety! I might even create my own set of cards for next year’s party, with characters better suited to the temperaments of our guests!

My antiquarian interests inform me of majestic and noble traditions (surely following the lead of their betters, also the poor and middling sorts!) of gambling on Twelfth Night, although I see no such sports mentioned in the press in these early years of the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding, we follow old court traditions by playing at dice and cards – although our stakes were surely much more meagre than those of wealthier citizens, and more generous than those of our more humble neighbours.

We ended the evening with the forfeits contrived earlier by those forgetting to remain in the character that they had drawn. However, (as my 21st century self has noted previously) we decided to forego Ravel's suggestions and instead fulfilled less boisterous, and more seemly, penalties.

I can now look forward to what this year might bring, and hope that it will be as happy for my family and companions (and I trust, my servants and forthcoming pupils) as it has been in recent months.

Christmas and the Antiquarians: Customs, Continuity, and Change

 

Nostalgia for Christmas in ‘Merrie England’ (from Robert Seymour’s 1836 Book of Christmas)[i]

As I partly let slip when twittering in the market place the other day, I am planning several Christmastide educational and creative endeavours for next year's celebrations. To this aim, around preparations for the Academy opening I persevere with antiquarian investigations – and what better employment at this time of year! I shall primarily incorporate my discoveries within talks, walks, and workshops; in academic publications and presentations; and I hope in more publically accessible texts, such as the pamphlet Old Christmas on which I now work (as mentioned previously). But for now, perhaps my reader might be interested in occasional tid-bits from my findings, and work-in-progress.

In my current writing I consider the widely held beliefs and assertions surrounding continuity from the Roman and Medieval eras, and explore the influence of early modern and industrial period antiquarians upon our understanding of ‘Old Christmas’ in Britain.[ii] One article pays particular attention to the almost universal assertion within popular works that the origin of the ‘modern’ Christmas lies in the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia. This primarily agricultural feast (typically involving over indulgence), merriment (usually including pranks and role-reversal), and present giving, was initially observed on December 17^th and 18^th, and later celebrated over five days. The festival is of interest to antiquarians of my time – including the redoubtable Edward Gibbon Esq.[iii] Some consider another Roman cult (with somewhat similar celebrations) as a more likely candidate – that of sol invicta (the ‘unconquered sun’), whose ‘birth’ was marked by the winter solstice, Brumalia, on the 25th December. It is usually claimed that with ‘Christianisation’ of the empire in the 4^th century, the church chose to adopt this date for celebrating the birth of Jesus,[iv] providing direct continuity of British Christmas festivities from this time, to this day.

However, while my 18^th century antiquarian self might allow such a conclusion (though may start to see alternative viewpoints emerge in the following decades), from the perspective of my 21^st century archaeologist self, I cannot escape the contention that many claims of continuity are largely based upon assumptions. [v] I will elaborate within future publications, but for now shall very briefly highlight several important issues with regard to notions of continuity. This forms part of  the well-attested argument that, by considering the work of antiquarians over several centuries, it is clear that interest in (and thus expansion of knowledge about) the past was (and is) largely intertwined with the various social and political circumstances and concerns of the day.[vi] Over time customs are selectively appropriated, modified, and discarded when no longer relevant, giving rise to new traditions that are most ‘meaningful’ at particular times, in particular places.

The first point is that such arguments rely upon homogenous ‘Roman’ culture – which any study conducted at various scales of analysis (the household, community, region, and – where appropriate, state or nation) reveals was clearly not the case.[vii] It also assumes that the rites described within written sources relating particular parts of the empire, at particular times, may readily apply to the British isles – which again is not necessarily (or often) the case.

Secondly (but following the same line of reasoning), until relatively recently, while the church provided an (inter-)national calendar of festivals – of course including Christmas, the actual form of associated rituals often varied significantly in different places, at different times, with much revelry taking place outside the sphere of the church. Such diversity might be expected without the mass media of recent centuries to aid the sense of shared culture across a wide area:[viii] for many centuries after the ‘fall’ of Roman, learning and the written word was concentrated within religious establishments, and primarily confined to ecclesiastical concerns.[ix]

Thirdly (though still connected with the previous issues), these assumptions seem to largely ignore that extensive changes that took place during and after the Middle Ages. Clerics had long been interested in the past (notably the work of Gildas in the 6^th century, Bede in the 8^th, and Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 12^th);[x] but with the Renaissance, interest in classical culture and origins grew. Antiquarianism flourished during the early modern period, with greater attention paid to the medieval era. In breaking from the Church of Rome, the Tudor monarchy looked to the Germanic settlers for political and religious foundations,[xi] while defense against invaders from the Continent, and colonial expansion, were significant in forming England (and later, Britain) as a nation.[xii] By bringing together, and committing to paper, various local customs, ‘national’ traditions were born. (I have considered similar issues here, with regard to ‘Halloween’ traditions).

With increasing urbanisation and industrialisation in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, conflict after conflict, social change (with the development of a ‘middle class’), and economic strife, many Christmas traditions are out of place, and fall into disuse. The sense that declining ‘ancient’ traditions will soon be lost – the dying embers of which are seen as sustained by ‘simple’ people, in rural regions, and preserved for posterity within antiquarian collections – provokes nostalgia for the supposedly static and ‘uncorrupted’ traditions of a semi-fictional past: ‘Merrie England’ (spanning the 15^th to 17^th centuries). Antiquarians continue attempts to ‘save’ ‘ancient’ rituals at risk of extinction, but those devoid of meaning to the society of the day go ‘out of practice’.[xiii] During the Victorian era, some traditions are adapted; others forgotten; and others still (famously including the Christmas tree, card, and cracker) are added to the corpus of popular customs.

‘Yule’ – a festival associated with the early medieval Germanic and Nordic ‘peoples’, who are credited with bringing winter traditions to this land that remain a part of modern Christmas celebrations – provides an interesting case when considering the putative ‘ancient’ origins of ‘British’ Christmas traditions. We see both the selective appropriation of certain customs (perhaps more extensively at the end of the early modern period); and their adaptation and rejection with urbanisation and industrialisation during and after the 19^th century. But we can also more general similarities between these customs, and those of many societies and cultures (Christian and pagan) in Northern and Western Europe over the centuries – including those of the late Roman empire (again both pagan and Christian).[xiv]

The celebration of a mid-winter festival is widespread – past and present, which, though diverse (and not directly related), incorporate a range of broadly comparable rituals. This frequently includes rites surrounding warmth, light, and food; communal festivities, frequently boisterous and indulgent; and although often taking place within a religious calendar, not necessarily involving sustained religious devotion.[xv] The extent and endurance of festivals at this time of year suggests their significant social (and perhaps psychological) value.

The aim of this post has not been to dismiss any notion of continuity with regard to Christmas customs; instead, it has been to show that rather than monolithic and unchanging, ‘traditions’ are living performances that shape, and are shaped by, our understanding of both past and present, and expectations for the future. By joining in, we invest a part of our selves, for succeeding generations.

A Happy Christmas, one and all!

Notes

---

[i] Image: Google

[ii] There are some notable exceptions, which I shall elucidate in subsequent work.

[iii] Perhaps some of my readers will be familiar with Gibbon, though his twelve-volume work of the 1770s – 80s, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In this work (Vol. I, Chapter XV, Part III) he speaks of the festival in discussing the progress of the Christian religion.  

[iv] Returning to Gibbon’s History, in Vol. II he suggests that without knowledge of the true date of Christ’s birth, the Church adopted the date of the pagan festival that celebrated the birth of the sun.

[v] In the final decade of the 20^th century, and first decade of the 21^st century, I specialised in the late Roman and early medieval periods, in particular examining the prospect of cultural continuity and change, especially with regard to tradition and ritual, and local, regional, national, and imperial identities. My doctoral research examined (among other topics) the significance of Christianity and Roman culture in the formation of ‘British’ identity and maintenance of power; the bibliography has references to research on the spread of Christianity in Roman and early medieval Britain. My work on the late pre-Roman period to 5^th century is available here, and reference to my work on the 6^th – 7^th centuries, here.

For the last six years, I have concentrated on post-Medieval culture and society, including consideration of the significance of the past (and the role of antiquarians – hence the ‘Academy’ endeavour!), and the importance of history in the formation of local communities, regions, and nations. This includes research projects that examine domestic life through standing buildings and surface artefact deposits (through Living in the Past Community Archaeology Project); family life and gender (though the Past Sense Project); folk magic (through Malefic Midlands Project); and various independent research as part of my teaching work, as highlighted on this site, and my other freelance website, and blog. References to my academic work are available here.

[vi] For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see e.g. Ronald Hutton (2001) Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (OUP).

[vii] Much work has been done in this field: see the bibliographies of the works cited above.

[viii] See Benedict Anderson (2006) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso.

[ix] It may be difficult for modern readers to imagine the investments needed in order to write prior to the development of paper and the printing press, with the production of velum from animal skins being most time-consuming and costly.

[x] Gildas: The Ruin and Conquest of Britain; Bede Ecclesiastical History of the English People; Geoffrey of Monmouth: Histories of the Kings of Britain; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

[xi] An interesting summary on this topic is Sue Content and Howard Williams (2010) ‘Creating the Pagan English, From the Tudors to the Present Day’, in Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple (eds.) Signals of Belief in Early England. Anglo-Saxon Paganism Revisited. Oxbow, pp. 181-200.

[xii] While I have argued elsewhere (see the references provided in note v) that a small body of elites may have held some notion of ‘British-ness’ (as defined in relationship to the Roman empire, and in the formation of post-Roman states in opposition to other ethnic groups), the concept of widespread British identity essentially develops during and after political change in the early modern era. See Linda Colley (2009) Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837. Yale University Press.

[xiii] There works of the early 19^th century – both for popular consumption (within magazines and newspapers), and academic interest (in the journals of the numerous antiquarian societies) ­– that seek to record declining traditions are too numerous to mention here. I shall outline various material in future publications.

[xiv] See e.g. Margaret Baker (2007) Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore: A Guide to Seasonal Rites Throughout the World. Shire.

[xv] See note vi.