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Monthly Archives: July 2014

Game Laws — More complicated than you think

My current project involves a scene in which my hero (a duke!) is at his hunting box in December. As I was writing this scene, several questions arose.

1. The term “hunting box.” I have seen the term in historical romances, but is it period? The answer is yes. A hunting box implies something small, but in looking at images and floor plans, these structures were not small. This makes sense if you think about the need to accommodate staff, guests, and their servants AND the equipment, horses and dogs.

2. Who was allowed to hunt and why is, for England, a question of class and rank that comes down to this: if you needed to hunt to put food in your belly, chances are you were legally prohibited from doing so. In order to demarcate who was of sufficient rank to be allowed to hunt, there were any number of thresholds; your family, property you owned, a legal entitlement you might possess, your yearly income, the value of your estate. It’s exactly as complicated as you’d imagine when the real requirement is that you be of sufficient rank–in a culture where rank was derived from ownership of land. Down there at the border between “commoner” and “has enough money and does not need a job” there were ambiguities.

3. If you were a gentleman with the right to hunt—likely on your own property, you also had servants, and those servants, by law, were not permitted to hunt. Laymen could not legally be in possession of the implements of hunting; breeds of hunting dogs, guns, snares, nets, and the like. Nor could they be in possession of game. The penalties could be severe: significant fines, months to years in jail, and, even, transportation. What, then, was the gentleman to do when his servants were prevented from assisting in his hunting? We’ve all seen pictures of servants holding hunting equipment. The answer is a certificate; a document that granted a legal exemption from the laws.

This certificate was a legal document obtained yearly from a local clerk appointed specifically to issue the certificate. If there was no appointed clerk, the local land surveyor would issue the certificate. The certificate cost 3 pounds 1 shilling. The servant or other layman was required to produce the certificate on demand.

Think, then, what this would mean for a household with sporting gentlemen. Legally, only servants who had been issued certificates could accompany their employers on hunts where they would be required to hold or handle dogs, dead or living game, or other hunting paraphernalia.

4. The Gamekeeper was another position entirely, and there were, again, specific legal requirements to be met in order to exempt a layman from the usual restrictions against hunting, and to prevent a land owner from appointing more than one. A Gamekeeper had what amounted to limited police powers. He could seize game and equipment from others, and he could detain them and search property. A lord or lady of a manor could appoint one and only one gamekeeper per property. The position would naturally be one of power, as you would expect, both among and over the local commoners and among other servants. In historical novels in our period, we should be mindful of the importance of the position and of the legal and extra-legal powers that came with it.

Game Seasons, Restrictions etc.

There were also, as you would expect, hunting seasons. Humans the world over have understood that if you do not allow future generations of animals to procreate and raise their young, you will not have future animals. It should be no surprise that the hunting that the proscribed periods coincide with the breeding and raising of young, and that, for birds, that included leaving the nests and eggs alone.

Here is a list I put together from the 1809 Game laws. Obviously, it’s possible the dates were different in different years, but likely not by much, if at all. I did my best to decode the day of certain holidays. For some there were inconsistent results. I also added the NO and YES months for hunting as after a bit my brain hurt.

But, at last, a handy chart to refer to! Would they REALLY have been hunting grouse in June?

1-June to 1-Oct Moulting season for water fowl.
NO: June July Aug, Sep
YES: Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr May
1-Feb to 1-Sep Partridge
NO: Feb, March, Apr, May June July Aug
YES: Sep Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan
1-Feb to 1-Oct Pheasant – unless kept in a mew or breeding place
NO: Feb, March, Apr, May June July Aug Sep
YES: Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan
10-Dec to 20-Aug Black game (birds except grouse) aka heath fowl
NO: Dec-10 Jane Feb March Apr May June July Aug-20
YES: Aug 21, Sep. Oct Nov Dec 9
10-Dec to 12-Aug red game (grouse)
NO: Dec-10 Jane Feb March Apr May June July Aug-12
YES: Aug 13, Sep. Oct Nov Dec 9
1-Mar to 1-Sep bustard
NO: March, Apr, May June July Aug
YES: Sep Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan Feb
10-Dec to 1-Sep Heath fowl in New Forest Co of Southampton (black game)
NO: Dec-10 Jane Feb March Apr May June July Aug
YES: Sep 2. Oct Nov Dec 9
2-Feb to 24-June No burning of gaig, link, heath, furze, goss or fern for preservation of black game and grouse on nay mountains, hills, heaths, moors, forests, chases or other wastes
1-Mar to 30-June No taking eggs of wild birds

HUNTING SEASONS (Possibly Not strictly observed)

Pedestrian animals: hart, hind, buck, doe, boar, fox, and hare

24-Jun to 14-Sep Hart and buck
from St. John the Baptist day til Holyrood-day
14-Sep to 2-Feb Hind and doe:
Holyrood to Candlemas
25-Dec to 2-Feb Boar:
Christmas to Candlemas
25-Dec to 25-Mar Fox:
Christmas to Lady-day. Lady day is either Jan 1 (which does not make sense, or March 25-ish, which makes more sense)
29-Sep to 2-Feb Hare:
Michaelmas til Candlemas

Miscellaneous Rules

No hunting at night. No hunting on Sunday or Christmas. Morning is either 6 AM, 4 AM, or 8 AM depending on the bird and time of year.

No tracing and killing hares in the snow.

No lord or lady of any manor shall appoint more than one gamekeeper within one manor, with power to kill game. Gamekeeper must be registered with the clerk of the peace in the county in which said manor lies.

Persons are forbidden to bear any hawk of the breed of England called nyesse, goshawk, passel, laner, loneret or falcon or disturb or slay them. Same for eggs.

FISHING

No unauthorized fishing between 6:00AM and 6:00PM.

There you have it.

Last week I was at the RWA National conference in San Antonio. I can reliably report that it is too hot in San Antonio for this California girl. I was all about the AC.

[Watch me appear to change the subject and then not really — CAUTION!! Advanced Blogging technique!]

In this year’s Brenda Novak Diabetes auction, I bid on and won a very lovely scarf. Here is a picture of it:

a cream, silver and light plum scarf with a floral pattern

Scarf!!

I was in the elevator at RWA with my spiffy red hair and my beautiful scarf, and a gentleman who looked a little bit hipsterish was in the elevator with me. We said nothing. As he got off on his floor he said, “Love the red hair and the Pashmina.”

Pashmina? Then I remembered that my scarf is, indeed, Pashmina, which I had not understood until that very moment, was something quite so recognizable.

You guys. It is one hell of a moment when the woman who wore jeans and Keds for the ENTIRE CONFERENCE manages to impress a hipster with her fashion “sense.” Admittedly, my jeans were black, as were my Keds. I’m pretty sure I was wearing socks.

This is living proof that the right accessories make all the difference.

Just think what a Regency heroine could do with a cashmere scarf. Why, she could impress a hipster duke.

 

Get your mind out of the gutter now.

I am acting as valet today. My husband is going on the Grand Tour–to Italy, at any rate–and I am helping him put a huge amount of t-shirts etc into a suitcase and urging him to do all the things you have to do before a trip. We leave the house in less than two hours when I will assume the roles of coachman and porter.

Eek.

So I think I can safely offer my services as a gentleman’s uh gentleman. I haven’t used an iron in years, can’t get out stains or tie a cravat, and wouldn’t know a clothesbrush if it hit me around the head, but I can sure stuff things into a suitcase.

And this is where he’s going:loro-ciuffenna_1437_smallOther than continual recorder playing it sounds fab (well, that’s why he’s going and why I’m not). And he’s the only person I know who’s going to Tuscany to eat vegan food.

Have you been on vacation this summer? Tell us about it.

And PS, in really important news, Dedication is now available as a paperback, first time in print (this edition)!

Posted in Anything but writing | Tagged | 1 Reply

This week I am so excited we have a brand-new guest blogger here at Risky Regencies!!!  We love all kinds of time periods, and today we’re taking a look at the 1950s, courtesy of my good friend Alice Dean!  (Who is also working on an exciting new 1920s project with me…stay tuned for more!)  Leave a comment to win one of her backlist, any title of your choice….

EndofLonelyStreet_w9180_FINALAlthough I was born a few years after Elvis Presley burst upon the music scene, I have been a fan my entire life. I don’t remember first discovering Elvis, it just seems that he’s always been a part of my life. I’ve also always wanted to be a writer. I wrote my first romance when I was eleven years old, and the title was “Just Pretend” after an Elvis song. My hero’s name was Lonnie (Elvis’ character’s name in the movie, Tickle Me), and I actually described him in the story as looking like Elvis.

I’ve more or less carried on with the Elvis theme, somewhat, in my stories, but hopefully, my writing has improved. Nearly every one of my published novels and short stories mention Elvis, but in an upcoming story, he’s more of a focus than usual. My Vintage Historical Romance, End of Lonely Street (a phrase from the song, “Heartbreak Hotel”) releases from The Wild Rose Press on January 7, 2015, the day before what would have been Elvis’ eightieth birthday. (Can you imagine an eighty-year-old Elvis??? I can’t).

The story is set in November,1957, and I’m not sure how the story idea occurred to me, but as soon as the era was in place, I knew my heroine would be an Elvis fan. It’s funny that, while the time period wasn’t terribly long ago, I still had to do a bit of research. Such as…

  • What clothing was popular in 1957 for a college-aged young woman? For young men? (I learned that poodle skirts were for younger teens, and leather jackets and Fonzie-type guys were really more of a cliché, an image of the 50’s rather than a common occurrence.)

  • My heroine is going to school to be a teacher, and my hero recently got out of the military and became a deputy in the small town where the story is set, so, I had to find out what the requirements were for both of those positions in the late 1950’s.

  • I had to be sure I used the proper terminology for the time period without overdoing it and without my characters sounding juvenile.

  • In the story, my heroine is coordinating a fund-raising dance, and at first, I was going to have them sell tickets for $2.00 apiece. Then, I heard a caller on Elvis Radio who said he paid $1.50 for an Elvis concert in 1956, so $2.00 for a dance seemed a little steep.

  • What Elvis songs had been released by November of 1957? Did the world yet know that he would be drafted into the Army the following year? (It was announced in December, 1957, so I didn’t mention it in my story)

  • My heroine was reading a book, and I had to find one that was out during that time. I chose End of the Affair (Which I purchased a print copy of, and I plan to read).

  • Also, I have a character in the story who is suffering from heart problems, so I researched what heart diseases they’d discovered at that time, and what treatments/surgeries were available.

I’ll have to say, the research was fun, as was writing the story. I’ve shared the cover and blurb below.

AND…we are holding a drawing where one winner will receive a free ebook copy once the book is released, plus their choice of any of my available titles (Currently, all of my short stories and novels are contemporary, I’m afraid. You can find a list here)

Be sure to leave your email address in the comments!

Blurb:

All Toby Lawson wants is to go to college to become a teacher and to be free of her alcoholic mother and some painful memories. But when her mother nearly burns the house down, Toby must put her dreams on hold and return home to care for her. The only time she isn’t lonely and miserable is when she’s listening to her heartthrob, Elvis Presley. His music takes her away and helps her escape from everything wrong in her life.

Noah Rivers has always loved Toby, but no matter what he says, she can‘t get past the fact that her drunken mother once kissed him. He soon realizes the true problem lies in Toby’s belief she’s not good enough for him and in her fear she will be just like her mother.

What will it take to prove to her that she deserves to be happy, and that he would give anything to be the man to make her dreams come true?

About Alicia:

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma and is the mother of three grown children. Alicia loves creating spine-chilling stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She writes paranormal and romantic suspense for several different publishers and was one of the launch authors for Amazon’s Kindle Worlds with two Vampire Diaries stories and one Gossip Girl story.

She’s a huge Elvis Presley fan, and loves MLB and the NFL. If you look closely, you’ll see a reference to one or all three in pretty much everything she writes. If she could, she would divide all her time between writing, watching her favorite television shows-such as Dexter (reruns, now that it has ended), Vampire Diaries, Justified, and True Blood-and reading her favorite authors…Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Lisa Gardner to name a few.

Find her here:

Email: AliciaMDean@aol.com

Website: http://aliciadean.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alicia-Dean/131939826889437?ref=br_tf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_

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