What are tussie-mussies? Tussie refers to a small bunch of flowers and mussie means the moss moistened to keep the flowers fresh. Tussie-mussie holders vary from paper to lace to silver.

In the nineteenth century Victorians were passionate about floriagraphy, the language of flowers, and consulted books on the subject before selecting the perfect flowers for their sentiments. Some enterprising Victorian sweethearts combined their messages with a coded floral clock to arrange and confirm the hour for rendezvous at a predetermined place.

EXAMPLES:

IVY: Meet me.

PRIMROSE & IVY: I will meet you.

LAVENDER & IVY: I cannot meet you.

FIELD POPPY: Make another appointment.

CLOVER: Today.

CORNFLOWER: Tonight

BUTTERCUP: Tomorrow

CARNATION: Noon or midnight

RED ROSE: One o’clock

MARIGOLD: Two o’clock

VIOLET: Three o’clock

DAISY: Four o’clock

A tussie-mussie of ivy, primroses, clover, and violets would convey “Meet me today at three o’clock.” If a young lady sent back the ivy and primrose, her beloved understood her reply, “I will meet you.”

What tussie-mussie message and reply would you create?

LINK:

Language of Flowers book by Kate Greenaway 1884

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/31591/pg31591.txt

Sir Horace Edmund Avory, a noted British solicitor and jurist of the late Victorian era, reportedly said “No one but a lunatic would keep a copy of his love letters.” If so, I’ve read many poignant letters written by famous and obscure lunatics.

Victorians consulted popular manuals on letter writing etiquette. Lovers wishing to keep their communications private used coded messages and stamp positioning to indicate meanings to the recipients. Letters were often hidden in the secret compartments of writing desks, canes, and parasols. If discovered, the incriminating missives could lead to scandal, divorce, blackmail, or murder.

In this age of instant messaging is the art of writing love letters dead, too?
 
 

LINKS:

Nineteenth Century Manual (with tips on letter writing and stamp positioning)

http://archive.org/details/TheMysteryOfLoveCourtshipAndMarriageExplained

Nineteenth Century Letters and Codes

http://www.victorianloveletters.com/

http://www.archive.org/stream/lovelettersofjul00drouiala/lovelettersofjul00drouiala_djv.xt

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2237604/Love-letter-in-secret-picture-code-discovered-after-100-years.html

Nineteenth Century Box with Hidden Compartments

http://hygra.com/uk/wb/wb101/index.htm

Who would want to be dangling from the pinnacles of the Victorian tower at the House of Lords with or without an earthquake? Not me. However, that’s exactly where six workmen were on the morning of April 22, 1884 during the Great English Earthquake aka Colchester or Essex Earthquake.

When the tower began to sway, the men thought the vibrations were caused by the wind and scrambled to the roof near the flagstaff. Fortunately they all survived to report the incident. Marguerite, the heroine of my manuscript, would not have been one of the public house customers who ran off without paying for their ale, but she would have protected as many people as she could.

Victorian tower at the House of Lords
(far right)

The quake lasted about twenty seconds and was felt across England, Northern France, and Belgium. The British Geological Survey used records from 1884 and estimated the quake would have registered at a magnitude of 4.6. In 1961 East Anglia television interviewed Mrs. Jane Wadley, an eyewitness to the epicenter near Essex in 1884. She described her reactions as a thirteen year-old teacher as well as those of the students and her father, who was stranded without a ladder. What did the villagers think was happening? Fears ranged from an attack by Irish extremists to tidal waves to Judgment Day. Click here to view the video.

Did you know that other disasters like the eruptions of the Tambora and Krakatowa volcanoes changed the gases in the atmosphere over Europe, the color of London sunsets, and the appearance of the daytime sun for seafarers during the 18th and 19th centuries? Scientists uncovered evidence, which indicates that deaths attributed to the plague in 1258 AD were actually caused by conditions created by a volcanic eruption. Some effects lasted for years and resulted in thousands of deaths.

If you’re curious about the details, click on the links below. If you’re a writer, I suggest you avoid disasters by researching them carefully. You never know how they can affect your story or lead to new story ideas. Or characters. BTW I have dibs on Mrs. Jane Wadley.

Links:

The UK Historical Earthquake Database has data from 1048 AD to 2001.

The 1258 AD earthquake

The Mount Tambora Eruption 1815

The Krakatoa Eruption 1883

My father taught me how to play badminton when we lived in England, although I must admit the eight year-old me thought the game was called “badmitten.” I also didn’t know the name originated from Badminton House where the game was introduced at lawn parties during the 19^th century.

I haven’t kept up with all the details of the recent Olympic badminton scandal. However there’s a reference to badminton in my Victorian era manuscript, Much Ado About Scandal, which made me curious about previous badminton scandals.

The Badminton Scandal of August 1895 didn’t involve the game of badminton, but the case originated with Mrs. Jacoby, who lived near Badminton. Newspapers from Australia to the United States reported the events of the three day trial. Some of the notoriety was caused by the large number of legal counsel including Sir Edmund Clarke, the lead counsel for Mrs. Jacoby. Sir Clarke had previously represented Oscar Wilde in his libel case and cross-examined the Prince of Wales in the Baccarat Case.

Mrs. Jacoby accused the Dowager Countess Cowley of slander and sued her for damages. According to Mrs. Jacoby, the dowager was jealous and wrote and shared horrible anonymous letters about her. As a result, Mrs. Jacoby and her husband were “cut” by other members of county society. Many witnesses from various social classes swore that the dowager said that Mrs. Jacoby had written the letters.

Further testimony from Mrs. Jacoby resulted in warnings from the judge and the opposing counsel. Mr. Jacoby testified about a handwriting expert who examined the letters and advertisements for a reward to anyone who helped identify the letter writer. Mrs. Jacoby’s doctor testified about her medical condition, which Mrs. Jacoby blamed on the stress of the social “cut” and slander.

What was written in the letters? We’ll probably never know. Mrs. Jacoby said a Lord Worcester destroyed them, because he recognized the dowager’s handwriting. The opposing counsel did not present any testimony. At that point Sir Clarke attempted to submit a letter as evidence. The judge refused, but he offered to read the letter before rendering his decision the next morning. The decision never came, because the case was settled privately. For detailed excerpts of the testimony, click here.

I’m glad you’re here for our tour of the grounds and outbuildings near the mansion.

My family and I had picnics near this round pond, which was part of a priory in the 17^th century. I heard many local tales about an 18^th century woman who saved a child from drowning in the pond. Later the woman was convicted of crimes and transported to Australia. Hmm! I wonder why I was already interested in rule breakers when I was a child.

© 2009 Paranoid from Suffolk

This 17^th century ice house is near the round pond. It was built from brick and covered with an earth mound. The interior is about 30 feet deep. Whenever the pond froze, workers would cut blocks of ice and pack them into the vaulted space between layers of straw. Even in the hottest weather, the melted snow cooled the wine and kept the food fresh. How are we supposed to get a better look when the entrance is locked?

I enjoy coming here on a weekday, because the park is not crowded. The place is my kingdom. Sorry, it’s the princess in me.

I should have warned you. This park, which is located in the middle of a neighborhood near the center of town, is about 83 acres or 33 Hectares. It’s not the 100 acre woods of Christopher Robin, but you can get lost. That’s not good, because it gets dark early in this part of the world and the gates are locked in the evening. Thank goodness the hero of my next manuscript knows how to pick a lock.

It’s a sunny October morning, not night, in this photo. We’re deep in the Wildlife Reserve. I played in the thick brambles and pretended I was Maid Marian hiding with Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest.

Unfortunately this area is no longer home to spotted deer; but over 100 species of birds, plants, and animals can be found here now. Oh yes, and an occasional princess.

I’m sorry this photo is dark. I still don’t know the history of the small cottage near the center of the photo. Maybe the caretaker lived here. Wouldn’t it be a fantastic place for a historical romance author / princess to live and write humorous novels about heroes and heroines who circumvent the laws and rules of Society in Victorian England? If only I knew someone like that. And had the key.

It would take several days to explore everything. There are several outbuildings, tennis courts, a croquet lawn, and a bowling green in the park. This building is an art gallery, which was added to the rear of the mansion. You might want to view the paintings by two of my favorite British landscape painters, Thomas Gainesborough and John Constable.

Thanks for joining me. This visit is the last part of the Once Upon a Time series. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the places, which inspired my passions for writing, research, and England. In the future, the majority of posts in this category will include research directly related to my current manuscript(s).

© 2012 All rights to change my mind are reserved.

We’ve passed the red letterbox from Part 2 last week and are on our way to the “real” mansion for lords and ladies. We won’t dally as long as I did as a child, but here are some of the places that piqued my curiosity.

I was enthralled with visions of being invited inside these homes for tea or . . .

living behind ivy covered walls or bright colored doors.

 
© 2010 by Simon K.

I imagined fighting the smuggler who once owned this Georgian public house or the ghostly inhabitants who supposedly haunted it at night.  Even the church with its graveyard didn’t deter me. In my stories I was invincible.

 
© 2009 Sophie Sampson  http://flatlanders.co.uk/

Don’t worry! We’re almost to the main entrance to the mansion with its pineapple finials and wrought iron gate.  I promise not to swing on it this time, so you can see the red brick Tudor mansion.

©2004 Roland Shaw

Sorry. I’m afraid Elizabeth I, Charles II, and Prince Albert beat us here by over 150 years. From the 16^th to 19^th century the original E-shaped building, grounds, and ownership changed. No lords lived here, but quite a few ladies did. However, several viscounts and a reverend resided in the mansion until a local brewery owner purchased the property. In the late nineteenth century he deeded the mansion and land to the town for public use and preservation.

Sorry, I’m late and have to rush home. Unfortunately my mother doesn’t think I’m invincible. Meet me here next week, and we’ll go inside the mansion.

Once Upon a Time

My passions for history, research, and England began when my family moved from the U.S. to this late Victorian era home near London. That’s me by the front door during a return visit in 2008, not me arriving at age eight. At least now I can reach the first row of stained glass without standing on tiptoe.

When I first viewed the ornate iron gates, front garden, and curved gravel drive I imagined I was a princess arriving at a mansion. The estate agent extolled the virtues of the interior Victorian furniture, William Morris wallpaper and rugs, carved marble fireplaces, French doors, and crystal chandeliers. It didn’t matter whom William Morris was or that I had only seen the ground floor. I was a princess living in a mansion.

After a week of exploring the maid’s quarters, glass-walled nursery, dumbwaiter, rear gardens, and carriage house, I ventured into the neighborhood. The family next door explained houses like ours were built for wealthy people like bankers, doctors, and architects. The real mansion for lords and ladies, not princesses, was a few blocks away.

I wasn’t disappointed then or now. My childhood home, neighborhood, and its residents inspire my writing. In fact I’m developing a three book series based on my research of the families who lived there from the Edwardian through World War II eras. Every time I visit this special place a part of me becomes that eight year old who believes she’s a princess and thinks every day is an HEA(Happily Ever After).

Which place(s) inspire your writing, research, or reading? Please share, ask a question, or leave a comment.