Monday 5th July 1819, Aberystwyth
Monday July 5th We passed another delightful quiet day here and enjoyed ourselves exceedingly; my brothers went out cormorant shooting, Mama, Papa and I rode on horseback.
OBSERVATIONS & COMMENTS:
Cormorants were shot to help the fishing industry. Numbers have thrived since 1981 when they were protected against random killing, but anglers frequently appeal to DEFRA to raise quotas to limit colonies and protect their sport. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/anglers-urge-cull-of-cormorants-for-eating-too-many-fish-554677.html and https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/angling-trust-fishing-cormorants-shooting-licence-rspb-a8489961.html
1824 The Sportsman, Mezzotint by B Marshall and L Clennel, engraved by G Maile
Alex, William and Frank were probably sporting guns like the one in this image entitled The Sportsman published in 1824. Being keen fishermen, they would probably have felt it was their duty to protect the fish and cull as many cormorants as they could. They would not have used dogs for retrieval but would have left the carcasses in the sea.
Horse riding in Regency times: While men rode astride their horse it was not socially acceptable for women to straddle a horse and they were obliged to ride side saddle. Jill Ottman in A woman never looks better than on horseback (Jane Austen Society of North America, Vol 3, No 1 - Winter 2015) explains in great detail the reasons that women were confined to riding this way and saddles were often custom made to fit the woman and her horse.It was dangerous for women to ride and they would rarely ride on their own. Ottman explains that it was thought safer for a woman to ride a mare but in her opinion a gelding would have been safer. She adds that women did not wear split skirts but long fashionable attire that would cover the legs so that not even the ankle would show (accidents excepted, as in the print, below). The “riding habit” would be long sleeved and gloves would be worn. It was required that heads be covered so women would wear a range of headgear from hats, bonnets to turbans and these would be worn to make a fashion statement rather than for protection.
“L’Inconvenient des Perruques/The Inconvenience of Wigs” (1798), by Carl Vernet.
Engraving by F. Sansom, London. © The Lewis Walpole Library.
Regency women would be helped up into the saddle and once their attire had been carefully arranged they would set out at a gentle walk or sedate trot. Dismounting would also require a graceful descent, preferably using the shoulders of a gentleman for safety.
http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol36no1/ottman.html
1797: : His Grace the Duke of Hamilton, Brandon &c on horse back, by G Garrard, engraved by William Ward
There were no constraints on gentlemen riding. It was not cheap to keep a good horse and horses were usually chosen by gentlemen to display prestige and social standing, the above print of the Duke of Hamilton in 1797 emphasising the quality of his horse.
There is further information on riding in Regency times at: https://shannondonnelly.com/2011/07/28/the-regency-horse-world/
Can you help us?
Old Regency Prints, Pictures and Coaching maps: Do you have access to any prints or pictures showing what Regency life and customs were like as Lucy and her brothers were growing up? Anything on Cormorant shooting and riding horseback for leisure would be relevant for today’s entry. Illustrations of what she would have seen in 1819 will enliven our research.
New Pictures: Do you have any modern pictures that would enable us to see the changes that two centuries have wrought?