Weathervane - Colonial American Doppler

        Earlier this month, my dear state of South Carolina suffered a terrible weather event that caused torrential, unprecedented rain, flooding, loss of life, and devastation that will take us years to recover from. For days on end, I watched TV weathermen point to maps and describe what the moving arrows and different colors meant. I then watched in horror as that data became rife with meaning in the videos of people climbing out second-story windows of their homes as raging flood waters swept away their vehicles and belongings. Water climbed steadily up and up, finally engulfing their homes. The bravery of trained first responders, as well as ordinary people, played out before us as my husband and I sat in the safety and comfort of our home, unable to help. Fortunately, we live on a hill and suffered no damage. Our only inconvenience was having to boil our water for several weeks. But our hearts were broken upon learning that many people, including dear friends and church members, lost everything and upon seeing the havoc wreaked upon our cities, communities, farms, bridges, dams, and roads.
 

When I began to consider a topic for my Colonial Quills post, I wondered how Colonial Americans forecasted their weather. I came across the fascinating history of weathervanes.

Weathervanes, also called “wind vanes,” are one of the oldest forms of predicting weather. They get their name from the Old English word “fane,” which means flag or banner. They were used as far back as 3,500 years ago in Mesopotamia; by the Chinese in the 2nd century B.C.; by Vikings in the 9th century (bronze depictions of animals and creatures of Norse myth); and by ancient Greeks and Romans on their homes.

Following a papal edict, 9th century Europeans put weathervanes on their church roofs to ward off evil and to proclaim good faith. The edict declared that every church in Christendom must be adorned by a cockerel, a symbol to remind Christians of Peter’s betrayal of Christ: "I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." (Luke 22:34)

 It follows that the rooster was a popular shape for weathervanes in Colonial America. Colonial craftsmen soon began to branch out with designs that included farm animals such as horses, pigs, cows, sailboats, fish, and whales. Indian figures and eagles were also popular. 

Colonial American farmers and sailors used weathervanes and almanacs to help predict weather. It may sound archaic, and mistakes were made, but weathervanes helped with agricultural production and fishing, and so, were a valued contribution to the success of our country.

To commemorate the Revolutionary War, George Washington commissioned a weathervane of a “Dove of Peace” to put on his home at Mount Vernon. When it arrived in August 1787, Washington was in Philadelphia and was concerned about its installation. He wrote to his secretary/nephew, "Great pains...must be taken to fix the points truly; otherwise they will deceive rather than direct - (if they vary from the North, South, East, and West) - one way of doing this may be by my Compass being placed in a direct North line on the ground at some distance from the House."

Dove of Peace weathervane on the cupola

of Mount Vernon.

Thomas Jefferson designed a weathervane so he could read it from inside his home in Monticello.

At his blacksmith's shop, Paul Revere had a weathervane in the shape of a codfish.

How weathervanes work:

Weathervanes must be attached on the highest point of a structure, away from tall buildings, balanced on their rotating axis. Wind blows against a weathervane spinning it, and the end with the least surface area turns into the wind, indicating the wind’s direction.

Here's a montage of some interesting weathervane designs.

Susan F. Craft is the author of the Xanthakos Family Trilogy - The Chamomile, Laurel, and Cassia - inspirational romantic suspense that spans from 1780-1836 and from the Blue Ridge Mountains, to Charleston, SC, and to the NC Outer Banks.

Memorial Day, A Time to Honor and Remember

        In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, NY, the birthplace of Memorial Day.
        They did this because on May 5, 1866, the town held a service honoring veterans who had fought in the Civil War.

In a General Order in Washington DC, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan said, The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
        We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose, among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion."
        What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their death a tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the Nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic.

        Other towns, including Macon and Columbus, GA, Richmond, VA, Boalsburg PA, and Carbondale, IL, claimed to have had earlier ceremonies, but their events were considered informal and not community wide.

        For example, on April 25, 1866, a group of women in Columbus, MS, decorated the graves of Confederate soldiers killed at the Battle of Shiloh. When they saw that nearby graves of Union soldiers had fallen into neglect, the women put flowers on their graves as well.
        Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, ceremonies were held on May 30 throughout the US, and the Army and Navy adopted regulations on how to properly observe the day at their facilities.
        At the end of World War I, the observance was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be observed on the last Monday in May.
        The passing of “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” by Congress in December 2000 encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.
        Let us pause today to honor and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

 

 

Susan F. Craft is the author of a Revolutionary War suspense, The Chamomile, and its sequel, Laurel. A third book in the trilogy, Cassia, will be released September 2015.
 

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

One of the carols/hymns that Colonial Americans sang after moving away from the Puritan banning of Christmas celebrations was "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Charles Wesley.

Charles Wesley

Wesley was the youngest of eighteen children born to a Church of England minister and his wife. He wrote an average of ten verses every day for more than fifty years, estimated at almost 9,000 hymns.

The original version of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” wouldn't be recognizable to many listeners today, because, when Wesley published this hymn in 1739, its first words were "Hark! How All the Welkin Rings," and it was sung in a slow and solemn way to the tune of his Easter hymn, “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” You see, for Wesley, Christ’s birth was inextricably connected to His death and resurrection, and he wanted to make that point by using the same tune for both songs.

Wesley's brother, John, and other friends often altered Charles’s works when they thought it would serve a good purpose. "Welkin," which means "vault of heaven," was already an antiquated word in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The evangelist George Whitefield thought the word "welkin" would confuse people and changed the first line of Wesley's hymn to "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and included it in his own anthology of hymns published in 1753.

In the preface to the 1780 edition of Hymns and Sacred Poems, John Wesley expressed his disfavor toward people who changed his music saying, “Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honour to reprint many of our Hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome so to do, provided they print them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them; for they really are not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them one of these two favours; either to let them stand just as they are, to take them for better or worse; or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page; that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.”

In 1840, Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, and it is music from this cantata that the English musician William H. Cummings adapted to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”—the version we are most familiar with today.




Here's a link to an older version --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjYobIhPUVI

and this is the modern version --
http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=SFjMPaOBzXc

Susan F. Craft is the award-winning author of a Revolutionary War romantic suspense, The Chamomile. Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas will release two of her post-Revolutionary War books -- Laurel on January 12, 2015, and Cassia on September 14, 2014.

What's for Dinner, Pilgrim?

    



The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899). The painting shows common misconceptions about the event that persist to modern times: Pilgrims did not wear such outfits, and the Wampanoag are dressed in the style of Native Americans from the Great Plains

        The Thanksgiving food we know today is nothing like what the 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans hunted, harvested, prepared, and served at the famous meal 391 years ago.
        No one knows the complete dinner menu, but historians are certain that the participants enjoyed the following:

• Wildfowl (goose, duck, swan, passenger pigeons)
• Wild turkey
• Venison
• Porridge
• Corn bread
       
        Instead of turkey, goose or duck was the main course. Historians suspect that some birds were boiled first, and then roasted, and others were roasted first, and then boiled. Also, the birds were stuffed with shelled chestnuts or onions and herbs.
        Historians, although uncertain, believe that the following was also served:

• Eels
• Lobster
• Clams
• Mussels
• Chestnuts
• Walnuts
• Beechnuts
• Hickory nuts
• Multi-colored Indian corn
• Pumpkins
• Squashes
• Onions
• Dried beans and peas
• Lettuces
• Spinach
• Radishes
       
        Seasonings included salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, liverwort, leeks, and nutmeg.

        Here are some recipes adapted from Plimoth Plantation’s recipe page featuring original colonial recipes www.plimoth.org

Onion Sauce for Roast Turkey
        In the 17th century “gravy” was the drippings from the meat that were often transformed into a sauce.
6 medium onions, sliced thinly
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of coarsely ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup bread crumbs (optional)
        Follow your favorite recipe for roast turkey. Remove the turkey to a platter reserving the pan juices. Place thinly sliced onions in a pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and cook until the onions are tender but not mushy. A good deal of the water should have boiled away. Set aside for a moment. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and stir to loosen any brown bits. Stir in the onion sauce, sugar, vinegar and bread crumbs if desired. Add pepper to taste and adjust seasonings. To serve, pour over sliced turkey or serve alongside in a separate dish.

Hasty Pudding
        This pudding recipe was originally brought over from England and was called Indian Pudding or supawn when it was made in Colonial America, since cornmeal was cheaper and more readily available.
        As a British dish, it was a quick pudding to make using a sweetened porridge made from flour, tapioca or oatmeal and milk.
        Here the recipe was transformed to use local ingredients -- cornmeal, molasses or maple syrup and milk.
       It’s anything but “hasty,” since it requires 2 hours to bake. If you want to be truly authentic, serve as an appetizer.
2 cups milk
2 cups light cream
3 tablespoons stone ground yellow cornmeal
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
         In a heavy pan scald milk and cream. Gradually sprinkle with yellow cornmeal and bring to a boil, stirring briskly. Stir in sugar, maple syrup, butter and all the other dry ingredients. Let the mixture cool slightly. In a small bowl beat the eggs with the milk/cream mixture. Pour the batter into a buttered 1 ½ quart baking dish and bake in a moderately slow oven (325 degrees F) for 2 hours. Serve hot or warm with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Susan F. Craft is the author of the award-winning Revolutionary War romantic suspence, The Chamomile. She is represented by Linda S. Glaz, Hartline Literary Agency.

Colonial Era Cosmetics, A Deadly Vanity

By Susan F. Craft

Author of the SIBA Award Winning Revolutionary War Romantic Suspense,

The Chamomile 

Lady Dawlrymple by Gainsborough
(an example of pale skin, rouged cheeks and lips, and dark eyebrows)

The average colonial American woman, whether due to a lack of money, time, incentive, or religious reasons and cultural mores, wore little or no makeup.
European women who visited America from places where makeup was common among the upper classes, often commented in their letters and diaries about this.   

Colonial women did apply skin treatments that were intended to be washed off. Here’s one concoction for a cleanser made of a paste of dried almonds:

Beat any quantity you please of Sweet and Bitter Almonds in a marble mortar, and while beating, pour on them a little Vinegar in a small stream to prevent their turning oily; then add 2 drachms of storax in fine powder, 2 drachms of white Honey, and 2 Yolks of Eggs boiled hard; mix the whole into a paste.

Women, mostly wealthy, who were attentive to their looks did the following:

• For pale, waifish skin

        Apply rice powder or powder made from lead paint
        Trace the veins with a blue pencil

• Glistening eyes

        belladonna eye drops

• Lip Color

        Mix beet juice with lard;
        Use carmine red, a color derived from cochineal beetles imported from Central   
        America (these beetles are used in lipstick today!); 

cochineal bettle

        Vermilion (ground from cinnabar and including mercury) or creuse – both toxic

• Blush

        Pinch your cheeks or mix beet juice with talc or 
        cornstarch;
        Puncture one’s finger and use the blood for rouge (Ee-ew!)
        Safflower, wood resin, sandalwood, and brazilwood mixed with greases, creams,  
        or vinegars to create a paste

• Mascara/Eyeliner

        Moisten eyelashes with your fingers or line eyes with coal tar (could cause
        blindness)

• Anti-aging skin creams

        Rub bacon grease on your face or egg whites for a “glaze.”

• Lip Plumpers

        Bite your lip several times throughout the day

• Perfume/Scents

        No essential oils like sandalwood, but plenty of rose petals and potpourri were
        used to mask the smells of the streets

• Acne Products

        Lemon-juice, rosewater, or concoctions of mercury, alum, honey, and eggshells 
        (which is not advisable)

Recipe for Lead Powder
Several Thin Plates of Lead
A Big Pot of Vinegar
A Bed of Horse Manure
Water Perfume and tinting agent
 
Steep the lead in the pot of vinegar, and rest it in a bed of manure for at least three weeks. When the lead finally softens to the point where it can pounded into a flaky white powder (chemical reaction between vinegar and lead causes lead to turn white), grind to a fine powder. Mix with water, and let dry in the sun. After the powder is dry, mix with the appropriate amount of perfume and tinting dye.

The French physician Deshais-Gendron believed in 1760 that pulmonary lung disease among high-born ladies was associated with frequent use of lead face paint and rouge.

Kitty Fisher

In 1767, Kitty Fisher, a famous English beauty, died at age 23 from lead poisoning.

During the third quarter of the 18th century, dark eyebrows became all the rage. Over time, lead-based cosmetics caused hair-loss at the forehead and over the brows, resulting in a receding hairline and a bare brow. It became the custom as early as 1703 to trap mice and use their fur for artificial eyebrows, which were glued on. Sometimes, the glue did not always adhere well.

In 1718, Matthew Prior wrote a poem about eyebrows. Here’s the last stanza:

On little things, as sages write,

Depends our human joy or sorrow;

If we don’t catch a mouse to-night,

Alas! no eyebrows for to-morrow.



Tragic Maria Gunning, the former Countess of Coventry,
was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty,
but her love of lead-based make-up stole her looks and eventually killed her.

Maria Gunnings’s grand seven-foot vanity mirror was recently auctioned for more than £300,000.
The 253-year-old mirror sold well above its estimate even though Maria's condition meant the society hostess used it for a matter of just months.

Jenny Diver, The Queen of Pickpockets

Picture was found on – http://john-adcock.blogspot.com

      One of the characters in my post-Revolutionary War novel, entitled Laurel, is modeled after Jenny Diver, a notorious pickpocket.
      Jenny was born as Mary Young around 1700 in Ireland. She was the illegitimate daughter of a lady’s maid who, after being forced to leave her job, gave birth to Jenny in a brothel.
     At age 10, Jenny was taken in by a gentlewoman who sent her to school where she learned needlework and to read and write. Once she had mastered needlework, she moved to London to become a seamstress.
     There she met the leader of a gang of pickpockets and learned the skills of a street criminal so well she soon became their leader. Though she was caught several times, imprisoned in Newgate, and sent to the American colonies, she managed to return to London under assumed names.
     Eventually at the age of about 40, her luck ran out, and she was caught and put on trial for street robbery.
     The following description is from The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 1/2, by Camden Pelham:
     "After conviction she appeared to have a due sense of the awful situation in which she was placed; and employing a great part of her time in devotion, she repented sincerely of the course of iniquity in which she had so long persisted. On the day preceding that of her execution, she sent for the woman who nursed her child, which was then about three years old, and saying that there was a person who would pay for its maintenance, she earnestly entreated that it might be carefully instructed in the duties of religion. On the following morning she appeared to be in a serene state of mind. The preparations in the press-yard for a moment shook her fortitude, but her spirits were soon again tolerably composed. She was conveyed to Tyburn in a mourning--coach, being attended by a clergyman, to whom she declared her firm belief in the principles of the Protestant Church. Her execution took place on the 18th March, 1740. She was hanged from London's Tyburn Tree. Her remains were, at her own desire, buried in St. Pancras churchyard."

Susan F. Craft is the author of the Revolutionary War romantic suspense, The Chamomile, which won the SIBA Okra Pick award. Laurel will be released January 12, 2015, by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. Susan is represented by Linda S. Glaz, Hartline Literary Agency.

It's Tea Time

A Family of Three at Tea, 1727

Attributed to Johann Zoffany (German-born British painter, 1733-1810)

      Tea is served usually at four o’clock, but sometimes between two and five o’clock.

      There are several types of teas:
Elevensies – morning coffee hour
Cream Tea – simple tea served with scones, clotted cream, marmalade or lemon curd
Low Tea or Afternoon Tea (got its name because guests sat on low armchairs next to low side-tables) – various sweet teas served with tiny sandwiches (savones), scones, and pastries with clotted cream, and curd
Royal Tea – begins with champagne and ends with sherry
High Tea (also known as Meat Tea) – served around six o’clock in the evening and includes meat and potatoes, various other foods. Was for the working class, but also was usually served for the upper classes on Sundays to give servants time off from having to cook an evening meal.

 

     Items necessary for serving tea include:

China tea set – teapot, cups, saucers, and tea spoons
Stainless steel wire mesh infusers or tea balls
Tea strainer
Mote spoon (slotted spoon for straining stray tea leaves)
Caddy spoon (short spoon used to measure out the tea leaves)



Mote Spoon





Caddy Spoon













Sugar bowl
Creamer for milk
Pitcher of hot water (for those who prefer weak tea)
Plate for lemon slices Plates and forks, if serving cake
Knives or butter spreaders if serving jam
Napkins (Napkins have an etiquette of their own. Fold large napkins in half with the fold facing the body, but open completely smaller tea napkins. When leaving the table temporarily, place your napkin on your chair, not on the table. At the end of the tea, pick up the napkin by the center and place it to the left of the plate.)

Gaiwan – a Chinese covered cup (To drink from the gaiwan, use the thumb and index finger of your left hand to hold the lid by its knob, and let the other three fingers follow the curve of the gaiwan, Tilt the lid slightly away from your lips so that it serves as a filter holding back the leaves as you drink the liquid. The cup is never removed from the saucer.)

Proper way to hold a tea cup and saucer:
Place the saucer in the palm of your left hand and move it forward to rest on the four fingers, which are slightly spread apart. Steady the saucer with your thumb on the rim. Hold the cup by placing your index finger through the handle and grip the handle with your thumb, and, for added support, place a second finger below the handle. Curve the next two fingers around the bowl. Don’t raise the pinky finger, even the slightest little bit, which would be a no-no.

Susan F. Craft is the author of the SIBA award-winning Revolutionary War novel, The Chamomile.

Famous Horses

George Washington’s Horses, Blueskin and Old Nelson


Washington and Blueskin

      Washington had several horses throughout the Revolutionary War. Two of these were named Old Nelson and Blueskin.
      In a letter to a friend, Mr. John Hunter, an English visitor to Mt. Vernon in 1785, stated:
     "When dinner was over, we visited the General's stables, saw his magnificent horses, among them ‘Old Nelson,’ now twenty-two years of age, that carried the General almost always during the war. ‘Blueskin,’ another fine old horse, next to him, had that honor. They had heard the roaring of many a cannon in their time. ‘Blueskin’ was not the favorite on account of his not standing fire so well as venerable ‘Old Nelson.’ The General makes no manner of use of them now. He keeps them in a nice stable, where they feed away at their ease for their past services."

Paul Revere’s Horse, Brown Beauty

Paul Revere on Brown Beauty

      Paul Revere left several accounts of his ride, and although he states that for his famous ride he borrowed the horse from John Larkin, he referred to it simply as “a very good horse.” Many names have been attached to the animal, one being Scheherazade. The only name for which there is any evidence, however, is Brown Beauty.





Brigadier General Francis Marion’s Horse, Ball


Marion and Ball

      In a skirmish at Black Mingo Creek, SC, General Marion’s forces defeated the British including Tory Colonel John Cummins Ball. Marion captured Col. Ball’s sorrel gelding, which he rode the rest of the war. He named the horse, Ball




Some Other Famous Horses Throughout History
(This list is taken from A Writer’s Guide to Horses, which I compiled for the Long Riders Guild Academic Foundation, who gave me permission to use it.)
Babieca, horse of Ruy Diaz or El Cid whose last instruction was that his body be secured on Babieca, in full armor and with sword raised. When they led the Spanish knights into battle, the 
moors fled, crying that El Cid had risen from the dead.
Black Bess, highwayman Dick Turpin's horse
Black Nell, Wild Bill Hickok's horse
Blackie, Chief Sitting Bull’s horse
Bucephalus, Alexander the Great's horse, name means “oxhead”
Burmese, Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite, a gift from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Buttermilk, Dale Evans' horse
Byerly Turk, one of three stallions from whom all Thoroughbreds are descended
Champion, Gene Autrey's horse
Cincinnati, one of Ulysses S. Grant's horses, his favorite
Comanche, of mustang origin, sole survivor of General George Custer's command at the Battle of the  Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876
Copenhagen, Duke of Wellington's horse he rode at the Battle of Waterloo
Eclipse, the horse who won every race he entered, and whose descendants include Desert Orchid, Arkle and all but three of the Derby winners of the past fifty years
El Alamein, President Ronald Reagan’s favorite white Arabian stallion
Godolphin Arabian, one of three stallions from whom all Thoroughbreds are descended
Incitatus, Emperor Caligula's horse
Isham, Buffalo Bill Cody's white horse
Jim, former milk cart horse used to produce diphtheria antitoxin; contamination of this antitoxin inspired the Biologics Control Act of 1902
King, a foundation sire of the Quarter Horse breed
Lexington, US Civil War General William T. Sherman’s horse; Sherman also rode Dolly and Sam
Llamrei, steed of King Arthur
Marengo, Napoleon's horse
Old Sorrel, Stonewall Jackson's horse (sometimes called Little Sorrel or Fancy)
Red Fox, Jesse James’s horse
Rocinante, Don Quixote's horse
Sampson, tallest horse ever recorded; stood 21.2½ hands high
Scout, Tonto's horse
Silver, The Lone Ranger's horse
Tornado, El Zorro's horse
Traveller, US Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee's horse
Trigger, Roy Rogers' Palomino
Virginia, US Civil War Maj. Gen. Jeb Stuart’s horse credited with saving Stuart from capture by jumping an enormous ditch

Artwork Painted on the Edges of Books

Fanned pages of a book to show the artwork on the edge.

        Artwork that’s painted on the edges of book pages is called fore-edge painting.
        There are several types of fore-edge painting:
1. single fore-edge painting -- painting on only one side of the book page edges. Generally, gilt or marbling is applied by the bookbinder after the painting has dried, so as to make the painting completely invisible when the book is closed;
2. double fore-edge painting -- paintings on both sides of the page margin so that one painting is visible when the leaves are fanned one way, and the other is visible when the leaves are fanned the other way;
3. triple fore-edge painting --paintings on the edges with a painting applied directly to the edges (in lieu of gilt or marbling); and
4. panoramic fore-edge painting. paintings that are continuous scenes wrapped around more than one edge are called.


Painting the edge of a book

        Single fore-edge painting includes two basic forms -- paintings on edges that have been fanned cannot be seen when the book is closed, but can only been seen when the edges are fanned. For the second form, the painting is done on the closed edge itself and is visible when the book is closed.   
        Fore-edged paintings came about during the European Middle Ages and became popular during the mid-17th century to the late 19th century.

The speeches of the right honorable William Pitt, v.2 1808
by William Pitt. The book's edge is painted with
George Washington and Benjamin Franklin



Analysis of the Game of Chess, 1790
by François-André Danican Philidor

        Since most fore-edge painters didn’t sign their works, it’s difficult to date the hidden paintings. The Boston Public Library holds one of the finest collections of fore-edge paintings in the United States. You can view them at http://foreedge.bpl.org/


1777. Two-volume set of Duncan & Whitworth “Cicero” with original Edward of Halifax bindings.

Also, each book has a fore-edge scene, likely contemporary to the book itself.

 

 

Susan F. Craft is the author of the award-winning Revolutionary War novel, The Chamomile.

She is represented by Linda S. Glaz, Hartline Literary Agency.

 

 

Jews and the American Revolutionary War

        When I was considering what my post would be for this month, I noticed that today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.

        It made we wonder, with the idea of America being a “melting pot” and a refuge for people suffering religious persecution, what part did Jews play in the American colonies and especially during the Revolutionary War?
        Despite America’s tolerance and acceptance of religious minorities as compared to the rest of the world, there existed a lack of political equality for Jews in America. Acceptance, a little as there was, presented a challenge to the Jewish community: balancing a desire to integrate into mainstream culture with a desire to maintain a unique heritage. Colonial Jewish families typically downplayed their Jewish identity with their neighbors while maintaining their ancient customs and traditions among themselves. This was symbolized by Touro synagogue, the oldest synagogue still standing in America, built in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1763.

Touro Synagogue

        Jewish feelings about the American Revolution matched that of the general population. Accordingly, the Continental Congress sent a request to pray for a peaceful resolution to the conflict with the Crown on July 20, 1775, to churches and synagogues.
        As for participation in the conflict, there were Jewish merchant blockade runners, Jewish soldiers in the Continental Army, and Jewish officers. Two of the most famous Jewish Patriots were Jonas Philips and Haym Solomon.
        Philips, a blockade runner, wrote his supply list in Yiddish --
גוּט טַק אִים בְּטַגְֿא שְ וַיר דִּיש מַחֲזוֹר אִין בֵּיתֿ הַכְּנֶסֶתֿ טְרַגְֿא - a sample of Yiddish that means, May a good day come to him who carries this prayer book into the synagogue. But his plan didn’t work, for when the British boarded the ship, they thought the Yiddish was a code, seized the ship, and sent the note to England to be decoded. In 1793, there were no “weekends,” and court was held on Saturdays. Records show that Philips was fined for refusing to testify in a Philadelphia court on the Jewish Sabbath because of his religious obligations.

Haym Solomon

Solomon, a Jewish immigrant, joined the New York branch of the Sons of Liberty. He was captured by the British and sentenced to death, but escaped and fled to Philadelphia. While there, he worked with the Continental Congress and helped raise most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution.
        In 1774, Francis Salvador, a Jew, was elected to the General Assembly of South Carolina. He also served in the South Carolina‘s revolutionary Provisional Congress. At age 29, Salvador was killed during a fight with the British and their Cherokee allies near the Keowee River in South Carolina. During the battle, he was shot and fell into the bushes, but was discovered and scalped by the Cherokee that night.
        In an August 4th, 1776 letter from Colonel William Thompson to William Henry Drayton, Colonel Thompson wrote about Salvador’s death:
        Here, Mr. Salvador received three wounds; and, fell by my side. . . . I desired [Lieutenant Farar], to take care of Mr. Salvador; but, before he could find him in the dark, the enemy unfortunately got his scalp: which, was the only one taken. . . . He died, about half after two o'clock in the morning: forty-five minutes after he received the wounds, sensible to the last. When I came up to him, after dislodging the enemy, and speaking to him, he asked, whether I had beat the enemy? I told him yes. He said he was glad of it, and shook me by the hand – and bade me farewell – and said, he would die in a few minutes."
        Unfortunately, like most states after the war, South Carolina placed religious qualifications on who could hold office that barred other Jews from being elected.
        Despite this lack of equality, Jews in colonial and post-revolutionary America were usually accepted as members of the larger society. Jews often adopted the customs and fashions of their neighbors, went into business with them, and made friendships with those outside their religious community.

Susan F. Craft is the author of The Chamomile, a SIBA award-winning Revolutionary War novel. She is represented by Linda S. Glaz of Hartline Literary Agency.

Ship's Bells

By Susan F. Craft

     When watching movies or reading novels about ships at sea, have you ever wondered what the bells indicated?
      In the age of sailing, the periods of time that sailors worked were called “watches.” These hours of duty were coordinated with a 30-minute hourglass. Therefore, bells were struck every half-hour when the hourglass was turned, and in a pattern of pairs for easier counting, with any odd bells at the end of the sequence.
        So, unlike civilian clock bells, the strikes of the bell did not accord to the number of the hour. Instead, there were eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour watch.
       The first five watches are as follows:
First Watch,              8 pm to Midnight         (20:00 to 00:00 hours)
Middle Watch,         Midnight to 4 am          (00:00 to 04:00 hours)
Morning Watch,       4 am to am                   (04:00 to 08:00 hours)
Forenoon Watch,      8 am to Noon              (08:00 to 12:00 hours)
Afternoon Watch,     Noon to 4 pm              (12:00 to 16:00 hours)
The next four hours are divided into two Dog Watches—the first Dog Watch, 4 pm to 6 pm (16:00 to 18:00 hours) and the Second Dog Watch, 6 pm to 8 pm (18:00 to 20:00 hours). By means of the Dog Watches, the watches can be changed every day, so that each watch gets a turn of eight hours rest at night. Otherwise each member of the crew would be on duty the same hours every day.

Number of Bells     Bell Pattern                            Hour (a.m. and p.m.)
One bell               ding                                                                                              12:30   4:30    8:30
Two bells             ding, ding                                                                                    1:00     5:00    9:00
Three bells           ding, ding pause ding                                                                  1:30     5:30    9:30
Four bells            ding, ding pause ding, ding                                                          2:00     6:00   10:00
Five bells            ding, ding pause ding, ding pause ding                                         2:30     6:30   10:30
Six bells              ding, ding pause ding, ding pause ding, ding                                3:00     7:00   11:00
Seven bells         ding, ding pause ding, ding pause ding, ding, pause ding              3:30      7:30  11:30
Eight bells          ding, ding pause ding, ding pause ding, ding, pause ding, ding     4:00    8:00  12:00

Bells are sounded for other purposes. At midnight on New Year's Eve, 16 bells are sounded with 8 given for the old year and 8 sounded to bring in the new year. Bells are sounded rapidly for five seconds during periods of low visibility and fog. Bells ringing for a longer period signals a general ship alarm. The passing of a sailor is marked with the ringing of eight bells, a nautical euphemism for “finished.”
     According to seafaring legend, the ship's cooks and boatswain's mates had a duty arrangement to give the cooks more sleep. The boatswain's mates, who worked 24 hours a day on watches, would build the fire in the stove, so that when the cook arose a little while later, the fire would be already going so he could begin preparing breakfast. In return, between meals, the cooks would shine the bell, which was traditionally the boatswain's mates' responsibility.

     Nautical superstition --the ringing of bells is associated with funerals, so sounds mimicking bells were thought to forecast death. The ringing of a wine glass was such a sound, and had to be stopped before its reverberation ended. Ship’s bells were exempted from this superstition, because they signaled time and the changing of watch duties. But if they rang of their own accord, as in a storm, somebody was going to die.
     Ringing of midday bell on the QM2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur5GT6_wuWs

 
Susan F. Craft is the author of the award-winning novel, The Chamomile,

a Revolutionary War romantic suspense set in Charleston, SC.