The Thursday News - Caution

LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

26th April 1811

Caution to the Public: Whereas a Man named Jonas LAZARUS of Lincoln, has been travelling about the country and falsely representing himself to be the brother (by Marriage) of me, Moses LYON of Boston - I hereby give Notice, that the said Jonas LAZARUS is not related to me in any manner, nor have I any connection with him whatsoever. Boston, April 23rd 1811, Moses LYON.

LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

25th June 1811

Caution to the Public: Whereas a Person is travelling the County of Lincoln representing himself to be in Partnership with me - This is to give Notice, that I have no Partner whatsoever but brew Ale and Porter solely on my own Account. Boston, 21st June 1819, Samuel COX. NB: A Quantity of Bottled Porter on hand.

The Thursday News - What??

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

22nd August 1806

Death - Lately died Mr. Robert BROMHEAD, late of Stamford, and within one day´s sail on his passage to New York, when he and another person imprudently attempted to bathe and both jumped out of the window. The latter was saved with great difficulty, but the former (Mr. BROMHEAD) never rose

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

29th April 1808

If John PALIAN of Helpringham still intends to persist in calling himself a Quaker, he is desired to produce the Minute of the Monthly Meeting by which he was admitted into the Society, as without such a Minute of Admission, no person who was not born in the Society, can become a Member of it. By producing, or failing to produce this proof of his assertion, it may be known whether or not he is in reality such ´A Lover of Truth´ as he professes himself to be. The advertiser repeats that John PALIAN never is, nor never was a Member of the Society of Quakers..

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

29th April 1808

Elopement: Whereas Thomas KIME of Scremby did, on Thursday 24th March 1808, take away Susanna, the wife of William STANDWELL of Candlesby in the County of Lincoln, Victualler, and two Children named Thomas and Elizabeth - Thomas KIME is about 29 years of age, stands about 5 ft 9½ inches high, round face, small thin nose, light blue eyes, light hair cropt, fair complexion. He had on a light great-coat, dark brown undercoat with yellow buttons, short waistcoat, light corded breeches and shoes tied with strings. Susanna STANDWELL is about 45 years of age, stands about 5 ft 3 or 4 inches high, a good looking woman, fresh coloured but rather subject to scurvy in the face. The son is about 12 years old and can write a decent hand. The daughter is about nine years old and is short-sighted. Susanna STANDWELL is supposed to have concealed cash, plate, linen and various other articles to the amount of £200 or upwards, the property of William STANDWELL. They went off in a Post Chaise from Boston in Lincolnshire and have since been seen in London. Whoever will apprehend the above named persons and lodge them in any of His Majesty´s Gaols, and if possible, secure the property, by giving notice thereof to William STANDWELL by letter or otherwise, shall immediately receive a Reward of Five Guineas. Candlesby, 27th April 1808.

The Thursday News - Missing Persons

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

6th May 1808

John ROLLITT of Walcot near Sleaford in this county left his house on Monday the 11th April to go to Pinchbeck, where he arrived on Friday the 15th and then returned as far homeward as the sign of the Wheel Inn at Heckington Fen on Saturday the 16th April where he staid (sic) the night, and on the next morning left that place, seemingly to pursue his journey homewards, but has not since been heard of. Mr John ROLLITT is 45 years old and about 5 ft 4 ins high with black hair and a dark complexion, stoops in his walk, is rather corpulent and is rather hard of hearing. He had on a blue coat and a dark great-coat and also had buckles in his shoes and is supposed to have a great deal of money with him. Whoever can give any information of him to his WIFE at Walcot aforesaid, to Mr James ROLLITT of Navenby, or to Mr Valentine INGRAM of Surfleet, shall be handsomely rewarded.

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

13th May 1808

TWENTY GUINEAS REWARD. If any persons will give information to Mr TORKINGTON of Stamford or to Mr WHITE of Grantham, attorneys at law, of Richard STANHAM of North Witham in the county of Lincolnshire, farmer and grazier, who left his home on Friday the 1st of April instant, he will receive the above Reward together with all reasonable Expences (sic). The said Richard STANHAM is about 48 years of age, 5 ft 7 ins high, stout made, ruddy dark complexion, black hair cut short, turning rather grey, rather inclined to corpulency, broad round face and a pleasant cheerful countenance: he wore a dark singlebreasted coat with metal buttons, and yellow and striped toilinette waistcoat, with metal buttons, and dark velveteen breeches with metal buttons, all new: he had on also a pair of boots with turn-down tops, a new round hat and an old drab loose top-coat with two capes, which were stained on the right side. The Creditors of the said Richard STANHAM are particularly requested to meet at the White Lion Inn in Colsterworth on Monday the 16th of May next, at Eleven o´clock in the forenoon, to take the affairs of the said Richard STANHAM into further consideration. Colsterworth, 27th April 1808.

The Thursday News - Escapees, Runaways, and Gigolos, oh My!

LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

11th May 1810

ESCAPED from His Majesty´s Gaol, the Castle of Lincoln, about three o´clock in the afternoon of Wednesday the 9th day of May by getting over the walls, ROBERT WHARF, a Convict under sentence of Transportation for Life. The said Robert WHARF is about 20 years of age, light brown hair, grey eyes, a round visage, slim made, a good-looking young man, was born at Kirton near Boston; had on a brown coat, stript (sic) waistcoat, blue and drab coloured country breeches and had no shoes on - whoever will apprehend the said ROBERT WHARF and lodge him in any of H M Gaols, shall receive a Reward of Five Guineas from the Keeper of Lincoln Castle.

LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

 23rd November 1810

 RUN AWAY from his Master´s Service, JOHN MAJOR, apprentice to Mr William PYCOTTS, cordwainer of Crowle, Lincolnshire, on April 1st 1810. John MAJOR is about 18 years of age, 4ft 10ins high, has black curly hair, a scar on his chin and walks with his knees bent. Whoever will lodge the said John MAJOR in any of His Majesty´s Gaols, and shall give notice to Mr William PYCOTTS aforesaid, shall receive One Guinea Reward; but if he will return to his master´s service, within a Fortnight from this date, and behave himself well, his master will forgive the lost time. Crowle, November 13th 1810.

LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

 16th November 1810

A few days ago at Alford, after a brief courtship, was married Mr. HEWSON, aged 24, to Mrs. BRYON, a brisk widow of the Anchor public-house there, aged 70 years.

The Thursday News - Food Network 1800

 LINCOLN, RUTLAND & STAMFORD MERCURY

31st January 1800

The POTATOE SOUP recommended by Mr TURNOR at Bourn Sessions, is prepared as follows: (see pamphlet entitled "Information for Overseers": Put an Ox´s Head, well washed, into 13 gallons of water, add a peck and a half of pared potatoes, half a quartem of onions, a few carrots and a handful of pat herbs, thicken it with two quarts of oatmeal (or barley meal) and add pepper and salt to your taste. Set it to stew with a gentle fire early in the afternoon, allowing as little evaporation as may be, and not skimming off the fat, but leaving the whole to stew gently over the fire, which should be renewed and made up at night. Make a small fire under the boiler at seven o´clock in the morning, and keep adding as much water as will make up the loss by evaporation, keeping it gently stewing until noon, when it will be ready to serve for dinner. The whole may be divided into 52 messes, each containing (by a previous division of meat and fat), a piece of meat and fat and a quart of savoury nourishing soup. The expenses of the meals are: Ox´s Head 2 shillings and 6 pence; Potatoes, onions, etc 1 shilling and 1 penny; 2 Qts of Oatmeal 11 pence; Cost exclusive of fire and cooking: 4 shillings and 6 pence.

WIP Wednesday - Unusual Duels

Duel au pistolet au XIXème siècle 1857 Bauce et Rouget

During this week, I've been researching duels for a plot line running through my WIP. I found some very interesting tidbits I thought I'd share.

While most duels were fought with sword or gun, some were far more unconventional.

On the 4th of September, 1843, in the commune of Maisonfort, France, two young men named Lenfant and Melfant, quarreled while playing at billiards, and agreed, at last, to settle their disturbance by a duel with billiard balls; after which they drew lots to see which one should get the red ball and throw first. Melfant won the red ball and the first throw, and the two at once took their positions in a garden at a measured distance of twelve paces from each other. Melfant, when the signal was given to throw, made several motions, saying to his adversary, “I am going to kill you at the first throw.” And then he hurled the ivory sphere with deadly aim and effect, for it struck Lenfant in the middle of the forehead and he dropped dead without uttering a word. The survivor was arrested and tried for willful murder, and convicted of manslaughter.

—The Field of Honor: Being A Complete and Comprehensive History of Dueling In All Countries; Including the Judicial Duel of Europe, the Private Duel of the Civilized World, and Specific Descriptions of All The Noted Hostile Meetings in Europe and America by Benjamin C. Truman.

And let's not forget the hot air balloons. The staple for any duelist. 

Rama

Two Frenchmen chose to fight from balloons over Paris because they believed they had ‘elevated minds’. Monsieur de Grandpré and Monsieur de Pique quarrelled over a famous opera dancer called Mademoiselle Tirevit, who was mistress of one and lover of the other. So,at 9 a.m. on May 3 1808, watched by a huge crowd, the two Parisians climbed into their aircraft near the Tuileries and rose gently up into the morning air. At about 2,000 ft, when the balloons were about 80 yards apart, de Pique fired his crude blunderbuss and missed. De Grandpréaimed his more effectively. De Pique’s balloon collapsed, the basket tipped, and he and his second fell headfirst to their deaths on the rooftops below. De Grandpré and his second, however, drifted happily away in the light north-westerly breeze before landing safely 20 miles away.

--The Last Duel: A True Story of Death and Honour By James Landale

Dueling was not always this conventional. One man actually threw off some surprising constraints when he dueled. 

A Member of Parliament once duelled in the nude. Humphrey Howarth, the MP for Evesham, was attending the races at Brighton in 1806 and dined one night at the Castle Inn. There he fell into discussion with the Earl of Barrymore, an Irish peer. Discussion turned into quarrel and they arranged to meet on the race course early next morning. Both men were rogues, and much given to taking the piss. But even Barrymore was astonished as his opponent took his clothes off and presented himself on the duelling ground armed solely with pistol and pants. The seconds and other witnesses burst out laughing, not least because Howarth was by then a fat old man. But Howarth was in earnest. He had spent much of his earlier life as an army surgeon for the East India Company. He knew gunshot wounds were often infected by the dirty clothing that preceded a bullet into flesh. In the end, however, his precaution was redundant. Both he and his opponent missed their targets  and  resolved their dispute without bloodshed.

--The Last Duel: A True Story of Death and Honour By James Landale

There you have it. Truth really is stranger than fiction.
Robin

Spotlight Sunday - Jillian Stone

Today, our visitor is Jillian Stone, a wonderful debut author of dark Victorian novels with a fantastic and original voice. Her debut novel, An Affair With Mr Kennedy, comes out January 31st 2012 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Please help me welcome her.

I'd love to find out a bit about you as a writer. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I have always been a storyteller and have been fortunate to work in the creative arts my whole life. In 2005, I experienced the loss of three deaths in my family. If anything jolts you into getting on with the work you are meant to do in life, it is the realization that we are here on the planet for a brief moment in time––so best get your stories told! 

I can understand that drive to get a manuscript complete and polished. After that was done, how long did it take you to publish your first novel? 

About three years. In the year I was marketing the AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY manuscript, I wrote another novel, THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK, a paranormal, steampunky story about an eccentric occult detective who lives in a basement flat below a brothel. On a layover in the Dallas airport on the way to RWA Nationals in 2010, I received "the call" from Kensington Brava editor, Audrey LaFehr, offering a contract for Phaeton! Oddly enough, my first book offer came before I had an agent or had won the Golden Heart for AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY. Such a strange business!

That does sound pretty crazy. Now that we know a bit about your writing, let me ask some fun questions.

What is your favorite dessert?  

A coconut cream cupcake from Zov's Bakery!

Ooh, that sounds yummy! Speaking of yummy, let's move to a subject near and dear to all romance writers (and readers) hearts. Men. 

What most attracts you about a man?  

His mind and his sense of humor. I look forward to the day when men return the compliment!

Lol. Anything else you'd like to share? 

Just to give thanks to all the many wonderful editors and writers (April Dawn included) who have helped mentor me through the process of becoming an author. 

 Bio

Jillian Stone was born a storyteller. A skill that got her into considerable trouble as a youth until she solved the problem by becoming an advertising creative. And the career did seem to suit her as she won many national ad awards including the Clio and the New York Art Director’s Club Gold. What more could she ask for? Create her own worlds? Become goddess of her own universe? Yes! So, she began to write fiction. Her Victorian Romantic Suspense novel AN AFFAIR WITH MR. KENNEDY won the 2010 Golden Heart and sold to Pocket Books. Her sexy, supernatural Steampunk novel, THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK, won the 2010 Romance Through The Ages Erotica category and sold to Kensington Brava. Jillian lives in California and is currently working on the next adventure for both series.

 An Affair With Mr. Kennedy

London, 1887. Part stoic gentleman, part fearless     Yard man, Zeno “Zak” Kennedy is an enigma of the first order. For years, the memory of a deadly bombing at King’s Cross has haunted the brilliant Scotland Yard detective. His investigation has zeroed in on a ring of aristocratic rebels whose  

bloody campaign for Irish revolution is terrorizing the city. When he discovers one of the treacherous lords is acquainted with his free-spirited new tenant, Cassandra St. Cloud, his inquiry pulls him unexpectedly close to the heart of the conspiracy and into the arms of a most intriguing lady.

     And Cassie is no Victorian prude. An Impressionist painter with very modern ideas about life and love, she is eager for a romantic escapade that is daring and discreet. She sets her sights on her dour but handsome landlord, but after she learns their meeting was not purely accidental, she hardly has a chance to forgive her lover before their passionate affair catapults them both into a perilous adventure.



We're having a holiday blog hop, so be sure to come back Dec 16-23 and comment on the blog hop post to have a chance to win an Author Signed, Advanced Reader Copy of this book. And one grand prize will be given away for one lucky commenter from the whole blog hop. A Nook Color. So be sure to check it out.This contest has concluded.

Romance Writers Are Amazing

When you think about all we go through, with no guarantee that anyone will ever know who we are, I'm pretty impressed with how we handle it. Here is my top ten list (in no particular order) of what I love about great romance writers.




 The Best Romance Writers -

• 1  Share a world with us we could never live in without them.
• 2 Share it in a vivid way that makes us love the characters like friends. (Or lovers.)
• 3 Support each other (for the most part) and stick together in this difficult business.
• 4 Know all sorts of fabulous facts. Mostly from all the research. lol
• 5 Can make you happy with their fantastic prose, even when you are sad.
• 6 Become an active part of your life, especially if you find one that is a must read.

• 7 Aren't afraid to show you the dark and ugly parts of their minds, if the manuscript calls for it.
• 8 Look for alternatives when they must. So many writers have started in one genre, only to change to another and find their niche.
• 9 Make us sigh and feel that all is right with the world, even when that is far from true.
• 10 Persevere, even in the face of rejection. Imagine if Nora Roberts, Julia Quinn, or any of the others had quit after being rejected a few times. (Seriously, some have an amazing number of rejections under their belts.)

 
I will leave you to ponder that while I get back to my Nano project. Happy Nano, everyone.

My Monday - Halloween

Mondays I will post whatever the heck I want. lol. It's my free day. (Maybe I'll even take a Monday off now and again. Probably coinciding around holidays, though I'm sure it will be coincidental.)

For this first Monday, I will be talking about Halloween, naturally.


All Hallows Eve, or Hallowe'en, in the late 18th/early 19th century wasn't the way it is today. People didn't dress in costume and trick or treat the way we do today (not until the mid to late 19th century), or light a pumpkin (originally it was a turnip used to ward off evil spirits).

So, you ask, what did people do in the 18th century on Hallowe'en. The answer is...party! Okay, not the keggers we have today.  Mostly they focused around marriage rituals.

I'll list a few of these Halloween marriage rituals.

In the Robert Burns poem, Hallowe'en, we find a number of rituals for discovering one's future husband of wife, or divining if love would last.

Then, first and foremost, through the kail,
Their stocks maun a' be sought ance;
They steek their een, and graip and wale,
For muckle anes and straught anes.
Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander'd through the bow-kail,
And pou't, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow't that night.

Then, staught or crooked, yird or nane,
They roar and cry a' throu'ther;
The very wee things, todlin', rin,
Wi' stocks out owre their shouther;
And gif the custoc's sweet or sour.
Wi' joctelegs they taste them;
Syne cozily, aboon the door,
                                                       Wi cannie care, they've placed them
                                                To lie that night.

Translation??? Young men and women would pull kale out of the ground with their eyes shut, and it would indicate the stature and figure of their future partner.

The auld guidwife's well-hoordit nits,
Are round and round divided,
And monie lads' and lasses' fates
Are there that night decided:
Some kindle coothie, side by side,
And burn thegither trimly;
Some start awa, wi' saucy pride,
And jump out-owre the chimlie
Fu' high that night.

Translation: Nuts were roasted, and if they burned together, the couple would live a long happy life together. If they popped apart, well.... DOOM! :D

Some other traditions from early Halloween.

Bobbing for apples, or trying to hit an apple with a fork using your teeth.
Tying an apple, or sweet slathered pastry, to a string, tying the persons hands behind them, and making them catch it with their teeth.
Dripping wax in water to see a future spouses wealth and standing.

There were so many variations, that listing them all would take me all day. lol. So now that you have a few ideas about how they celebrated Halloween back then, go have fun celebrating Halloween however you choose to celebrate it!