I can’t wait for spring! It is still pretty chilly in the Midwest, but I know the sunny, warm days will be here very soon.
Can you imagine what it would be like if spring never came? That is what happened one year during the Regency period. In fact, 1816 is often referred to as the “Year Without a Summer,” and during this time extreme weather dramatically effected England’s cultural and economic landscape. Let’s take a quick look:
In April 1815, the volcano Mount Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbara in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). The force of the blast launched ash, dust and debris into the atmosphere. The impact was so significant that temperatures lowered globally and the sun’s rays were blocked, making the days appear darker. The altered atmosphereic conditions affected weather and agriculture worldwide, especially in Canada, northeastern United States, and northern Europe.
As a result, 1816 ranks as one of England’s coldest winters on record. The snow fell as late as May in London, and in the Lake District, snow was still on the highest peaks at the end of July. The excessive precipitation and unseasonably cold temperatures devastated crops. Consequently, food shortages were rampant. To make matters worse, farm laborers were not working, and with thousands of soldiers returning from foreign wars, unemployment was a major problem. Rioting looting broke out all over the country. Malnutrition and cold, wet conditions led to a rise in disease.
Chichester Canal by J. M. W. Turner
But even during this time of darkness, the artists and poets of the day found beauty in the midst of the shadows. The gloomy, bitter weather inspired Byron’s haunting poem Darkness. Byron said he “wrote it… at Geneva, when there was a celebrated dark day, on which the fowls went to roost at noon, and the candles were lighted as at midnight.” And in the world of art, J. M. W. Turner is said to have been inspired by the spectacular sunsets that resulted from the high levels of debris and ash in the atmosphere.
Curious about what else was going on in England at this time? To give you a frame of reference, here is a quick snapshot of England’s literary scene during the cold, raw months of 1816:
– Jane Austen’s Emma published. (actually published in December 1815, but the title page says 1816)
–Lord Byron’s poem Darkness, The Siege of Corinth, and Prometheyus are published.
–Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Kahn is published.
–Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Alastor: Or, The Spirit of Solitude is published.
–John Keat’s O Solitude and On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer are published .
–Charlotte Bronte is born on April 21st.
Thanks for stopping by Regency Reflections. Enjoy the spring and summer months ahead!
Full mourning (or deep mourning) was the first stage. During this stage, a woman would dress in all black – typically bombazine (heavier silk), crepe (lightweight silk treated to have no sheen), sarsnet, gossamer, and velvet – and she would accessorize with a mourning bonnet, black shawl, black gloves, widow’s cap, and/or a crepe veil. The only acceptable jewelry for full mourning was that of jet, black enamel, black glass, or amber. Embellishments, such as buckles or buttons, needed to be modest. While in full mourning, a woman was expected to abstain from social activities.
During the Regency, wealth – or at least the appearance of it – was the ultimate status symbol. Women did not have the same opportunities to earn money as they do today, so a woman’s economic status was defined by her family’s fortune – first by that of her father, and then by that of her husband. It was not uncommon for a woman to forego a marriage of love to marry an affluent man. Many women believed that the more money one possessed, the more secure her future would be. This point is demonstrated in the following quote about Charlotte Lucas from Pride & Prejudice: “Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honourable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want.”
Eating hot cross buns on Good Friday is a longstanding English tradition. A hot cross bun is made from yeast dough and contains sugar, milk, flour, butter, eggs, and a variety of spices. Today, icing is often used to create the cross on hot cross buns, but during the regency it was most likely formed with a knife. The idea of consuming and bread in as a religious ceremony is well known, and some even say that the tradition is tied to the blessing that Jesus gave a woman who offered him bread while he was carrying the cross to Calvary. During the days leading up to Good Friday, the streets would be alive with vendors selling hot cross buns. In fact, this practice is the basis for the nursery rhyme:
