GIVEAWAY! Not one but TWO books!

This week Grace Elliot is offering not one, but TWO, ebooks here on the English Historical Fiction Authors blog. You can read about the books HERE.
For a chance to win an eBook copy of new release "Eulogy's Secret" PLUS and ebook copy of
"A Dead Man's Debt", simply leave a comment on this post.



Popular Pidgeons and Slanderous Psittacines

by Grace Elliot

In Victorian times bird keeping was a popular hobby amongst city communities. Native birds such as thrushes, bullfinches and goldfinches were trapped at night in country villages and sent by train to the suburbs to be sold in markets at Greenwich, Hounslow and Woolwich.

Bullfinches and goldfinches were especially popular, since they could be trained to sing and fetch a high price, several shillings each, whilst larks sold for six to eight pence a piece. There was even a market for dowdy birds such as house sparrows- once they were disguised with paint –sadly when they preened they died of lead poisoning. Even more unpleasant was the craze in the 1890’s for ‘flying’ greenfinches. These birds were sold for half a penny each, with a cotton thread tied to a leg. The idea was to bet on which bird could fly in circles longest before it dropped dead of exhaustion. 

Keeping caged birds was widespread, even amongst prisoners held at the Tower of London. One prisoner wrote ‘An Epitaph on a Goldfinch,’ on the death of his pet bird,

‘Buried June 23, 1794 by a fellow prisoner in the Tower of London.’

The Spitalfields weavers of the 1840’s also prized their birds. The breeding of fancy pigeons and canaries; Almond tumblers, Pouting horseman and Nuns, was taken very seriously. Bird shows were highly competitive, matching the fashion amongst wealthier classes for dog shows. It could be a dodgy business - the prize winning pigeons at a show in Islington had had their throats stitched back to improve their appearance – the perpetrators were found out and prosecuted.

London’s pigeons are descended from those that escaped from dove cotes in medieval times, to roost amongst the cities ledges and towers. In 1277 a man is recorded as falling from the belfry of St Stephens, Walbrook whilst trying to raid a pigeons nest and in 1385 the Bishop of London complained of ‘malignant persons’ who threw stones at pigeons resting in city churches.

   

One parrot owner was W S Gilbert – who wrote the words to accompany Sir Arthur Sullivan’s music. He owned a particularly fine parrot, reputedly the best talker in England. When a guest commented on the appearance of a second parrot in his hallway, Gilbert replied:

‘The other parrot, who is a novice, belongs to Doctor Playfair. He is reading up with my bird, who takes pupils.’

However, pet birds were not popular with everyone. George Bernard Shaw was given a caged canary, which he heartily disliked, calling it a ‘little green brute.’ He was delighted when the bird was stolen, and equally disappointed when a friend replaced it. His comment was;

‘I’m a vegetarian and can’t eat it, and it’s too small to eat me.’

~~~~~~~~~~

If you have enjoyed this blog post then please visit Grace’s blog – a blend of historical trivia, romance and cats!

http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com
www.wix.com/graceelliot/grace-elliot

Coming...November 2011.

History-Within-History.

by Grace Elliot (author of 'A Dead Man's Debt.')

‘Smuggling, though a real offence, is owing to the laws themselves, for the higher the duites, the greater the advantage and consequently the temptation.’

1768 Treatise on Crimes and Punishment, Beccaria.

I’m currently researching my WIP (work in progress) which involves smuggling along the south coast of England in the 18^th century. Imagine my surprise when my husband, produced an old, beige-coloured book with linen covered boards from our very own bookshelves, on the very subject of smuggling!

This book, ‘The Smugglers of Christchurch, Bourne Heath and the New Forest’, by E Russell Oakley, published in 1924, turned out to be a wonderful glimpse into the history, not just of smuggling, but of the 1920’s.

In the book Mr Oakley writes about a talk on smuggling he gave on BBC radio, in January 1924. He recounts the true story of a fast sailing boat with a cargo of contraband tea which, in 1748, was chased by Revenue cutters. In danger of being overhauled and captured, the smugglers jumped overboard in shallow water just off Bourne Heath and swam ashore to escape. In his radio broadcast Mr Oakley bemoans:

“It is curious that contemporary records give us so much detail, yet the name of the boat and her home port are not stated.”

Preventatives men bursting in on smugglers.

And it’s this next bit that I love as a reflection of history-within-history. In his book, Mr Oakley recounts that a week after the program he received a letter which read:

“Last week I purchased a wireless set. [Don’t you just love it? Owning a radio was so unusual the writer mentioned it in his letter!] Last Saturday night I listened in for the first time and you were the first speaker I have heard on the air.”

The letter goes onto say:

“I am going to tell you something you don’t know. That boat belonged to a relative of our family and the loss of it broke his heart and he died soon afterwards. The name of the boat was ‘Charles’ and she was…an oyster dredger and fishing boat.”

How wonderful, that the new-technology of the ‘wireless set’ provided an answer to a question nearly two centuries old! 

Smugglers landing goods in a sheltered cove.

Another fascinating glimpse into the past is the mention of what were then hamlets and villages, - Shirley – a hamlet four miles away (now a sprawling suburb of Southampton, and anything less idyllic or hamlet-like it’s difficult to imagine.) And of course there is the Bourne Heath of the books title – which it transpires is the forerunner of the well-known seaside resort and popular retirement town of Bournemouth. In Victorian and Edwardian times the transformation from sleepy Bourne Heath, to bustling Bournemouth was underway, as E Russell Oakley writes in 1924:

“Many places in the coastal belt….have entirely disappeared, submerged under a titanic tide of bricks, cement, reinforced concrete and Trinidad asphalt.”
 

Aerial view of modern day Bournemouth.

About the author:

Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day, and author of historical romance by night. Her debut novel, 'A Dead Man's Debt' is available from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/A-Dead-Mans-Debt-ebook/dp/B0046REKBS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=books&qid=1293833253&sr=1-1

If you would like to know more about Grace Elliot and her work please visit:

http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com – Grace’s blog is a blend of historical trivia, romance and cats!

Or Grace's website at: www.wix.com/graceelliot.grace-elliot