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Thursday, 22 October 2015

Where Mr Darcy walked - film locations used in the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice BBC 1995 DVD with picture of Colin Firth as Mr Darcy
It is now 20 years since Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle ‘became’ Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet for thousands of fans of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. For many, it was their first encounter with Austen’s wonderful characters and it brought her novel to a new audience – those who had never picked up her classic work and read her words for themselves. 

The best 

Fifteen years before, I had eagerly watched an earlier BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice with David Rintoul and Elizabeth Garvie. I was so taken with it at the time that I watched it twice a week when it first came out (it was in the days before I had a video player let alone catch-up TV!). But it did not age well. The scenes that had so captivated me at the time later seemed rather wooden and I unhesitatingly transferred my devotion to the 1995 BBC mini-series as soon as it came out. I remain hopeful that someday another version will be made which will steal my allegiance, or at least share it, but it will take some beating.

In honour of its 20th anniversary this year, I thought I would look at some of the wonderful places used as filming locations in this, for me, unsurpassed version of Pride and Prejudice. Many are National Trust properties, but some are in private ownership and therefore not usually open for visits.

Longbourn and Netherfield Park

Both Longbourn and Netherfield Park were filmed at private locations – Longbourn at Luckington Court in Wiltshire, and Mr Bingley’s home, Netherfield Park, at Edgcote House in Northamptonshire. 

Luckington Court - Longbourn Photo © Paul Ashwin
Luckington Court - Longbourn Photo © Paul Ashwin (1)
Edgcote House - Netherfield Park © Ian Rob
Edgcote House - Netherfield Park © Ian Rob (2)
Lacock Village becomes Meryton

The National Trust village of Lacock was used to portray the village of Meryton, the home of Aunt Phillips and a frequent destination for the Bennet girls, particularly Lydia and Kitty who love to shop. Here are some pictures Andrew took when we visited Lacock in September - I'm afraid you will have to use your imagination to lose the cars!

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Red Lion, Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

The church, Lacock Village © Regencyhistory.net

Rosings

Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s magnificent home was filmed at Belton House in Lincolnshire. The house contains the famous desk where Darcy sits and writes his letter to Elizabeth after she has rejected his proposal of marriage.

Front view of Belton House © regencyhistory.net
Front view of Belton House
The walk up to the rear of Belton House © regencyhistory.net
The walk up to the rear of Belton House
Rear view of Belton House © regencyhistory.net
Rear view of Belton House
The hallway, Belton House © regencyhistory.net
The Hallway, Belton House
The staircase, Belton House © regencyhistory.net
The Staircase, Belton House
That all important desk, Belton House © regencyhistory.net
That all important desk, Belton House
Pemberley

Elizabeth Bennet’s tour of Derbyshire with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner was filmed in Derbyshire and also in Staffordshire. Back in 2007, I found this rock in the Peak District that reminded me of the scene where Aunt Gardiner beseeches her niece to take care and Elizabeth utters the line “Beautiful” as she looks at the scenery laid out before her.

Rachel in the Peak District (2007) © regencyhistory.net
Rachel in the Peak District (2007)
Rachel in the Peak District (2007) © regencyhistory.net
Rachel in the Peak District (2007)
The exterior shots of Pemberley were filmed at Lyme Park in Cheshire. Who can forget Elizabeth’s first sight of the house across the lake?

Lyme Park - Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
Lyme Park - Pemberley
Or the courtyard where Darcy rushes down the steps having hastily dressed after his famous swim in the lake?

Lyme Park - Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
The Courtyard, Lyme Park
Or indeed the garden where Darcy humbly asks Elizabeth whether he can introduce his sister to her?

Lyme Park - Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
The gardens, Lyme Park
But if you go inside Lyme Park expecting to recognise the internal views of Pemberley, you will be disappointed. The interior of the house was not filmed here, but inside two different National Trust properties – Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire and Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire.

Staircase, Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
Staircase, Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley
Staircase, Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley
Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley © regencyhistory.net
The Study, Sudbury Hall - inside Pemberley
The Long Gallery, Sudbury Hall - but alas, no portrait of Darcy! © regencyhistory.net
The Long Gallery, Sudbury Hall - but alas, no portrait of Darcy!
Lacock Abbey was also used for Darcy’s flashback to his time at Cambridge while writing his letter to Elizabeth. He strides along the corridor and bursts in on Mr Wickham and a lady in a state of semi-undress, to illustrate Darcy’s knowledge of his dissolute character.
 
Lacock Abbey © Regencyhistory.net
Lacock Abbey
Looking at all those pictures is making me feel nostalgic. It must be time for another viewing of Pride and Prejudice and Colin Firth in his wet shirt...

Headshot of Rachel Knowles author with sea in background(2021)
Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 
Notes
(1) This photograph is being shared under a Creative Commons Licence: Paul Ashwin [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
(2)  This photograph is being shared under a Creative Commons Licence: Ian Rob [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

All photos apart from the two shared under a Creative Commons Licence are by Andrew Knowles © regencyhistory.net.

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

The Cascade at Vauxhall Gardens

A map of Vauxhall Gardens from The Mirror (1830)
A map of Vauxhall Gardens from The Mirror (1830)
During the Georgian period, it was fashionable to visit pleasure gardens. Some of the most famous gardens were those at Vauxhall. For the modest sum of a shilling, members of the public from all walks of life could escape from the hubbub of the city and visit the gardens and sample its amusements.1
 

In the first book in The Merry Romances, A Perfect Match, Mrs Westlake and Alicia visit Vauxhall Gardens in pursuit of the Duke of Wessex.

Vauxhall Gardens from The Microcosm of London (1808-10)
Vauxhall Gardens from The Microcosm of London (1808-10)
The Cascade

One of the most popular attractions of Vauxhall Gardens was the Cascade – an artificial waterfall. It first opened in 1752 and was situated in the woodland area near the Centre Cross Walk. It was the central feature of a three-dimensional landscape and gave the appearance of real water by means of a system of tin sheets on belts which moved as the mechanism was turned by a team of men. Clever lighting accompanied by the sound of roaring water made it a spectacle not to be missed.

Erasmus Darwin wrote in 1756:
The artificial Water-fall at Vaux Hall I apprehend is done by pieces of Tin, loosely fix’d on the Circumferences of two Wheels. It was the Motion not being perform’d at Bottom in a parabolic Curve that first made me discover it’s not being natural.2
To enhance the mystery of the Cascade, during the daytime it was hidden by a curtain or screen decorated with a landscape painting. As darkness fell, this was drawn back dramatically to build the anticipation for the show. The Cascade only operated for around ten to fifteen minutes each evening and a bell was rung to announce the nightly performance. Some reports state that this was at nine o’clock, whilst others say ten, so I think it must have varied over time.

Vauxhall Gardens (2012)
Vauxhall Gardens (2012)
 Carver’s Cascade

The Cascade was regularly upgraded and improved to keep the audience interested. In 1787, the scene was repainted by Robert Carver. The newly painted landscape was accompanied by a storm. The Times on 8 May 1783 reported:
The new Cascade, with the Land Storm, might have been played off—but we did not observe it.3
Another newspaper report described the Cascade as:
Grand, and the effect awful; the fall of water is accompanied by a storm, executed with every appearance of reality and nature.4
Print of Vauxhall Gardens from signboard in Vauxhall Gardens
Print of Vauxhall Gardens from signboard in Vauxhall Gardens (2012)
Contemporary descriptions of the Cascade

An eyewitness account from 1762 said:
A most beautiful landscape in perspective of a fine open hilly country with a miller’s house and a water mill, all illuminated by concealed lights; but the principal object that strikes the eye is a cascade or water fall. The exact appearance of water is seen flowing down a declivity; and turning the wheel of the mill, it rises up in a foam at the bottom, and then glides away. This moving picture attended with the noise of the cascade has a very pleasing and surprising effect on both the eye and ear.5
In his Picture of London for 1802 John Feltham wrote:
At ten o'clock, a bell announces the opening of a beautiful cascade, which, exhibiting some rural and comic scenery, delights and surprizes.6
The Microcosm of London (1808-10) described the Cascade:
At the end of the first act of the grand concert, which is usually about ten o’clock, a bell is rung by way of signal for the exhibition of a beautifully illuminated scene, called the cascade. A dark curtain is then drawn up, which discloses a very natural view of a bridge, a water-mill, and a cascade; a noise similar to the roaring of water is also well imitated; while coaches, waggons, soldiers and other figures, are exhibited crossing the bridge with the greatest regularity. This agreeable piece of scenery continues about ten minutes.7
The Mirror (1830) said:
To the left, in a line since called ‘the Dark Walk’, near the pavilions, was the artificial Cascade, after wards displaced by the Cottage scene, with the old man smoking, &c.; and at the extremity of the walk was some other decoration. The Cascade was, doubtless, one of the original exhibitions; for in the Connoisseur dated Thursday, May 15, 1755, it is mentioned, though not as a novelty — “At Vauxhall the artificial ruins are repaired; the cascade is made to spout with several additional streams of block-tin; and they have touched up all the pictures, which were damaged last season by the fingering of those curious connoisseurs, who could not be satisfied without feeling whether the figures were alive.”8
Vauxhall Gardens by Rowlandson from signboard in Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens by Rowlandson from signboard in Vauxhall Gardens (2012)
The final years

The Cascade was later changed again to portray the tidal race and watermill at London Bridge and other scenes and it continued to be popular until its demolition prior to the Ballet Theatre being built in the 1820s. Walford stated that at one stage the Cascade was referred to as the Cataract9, but I have not come across any contemporary records that use this name for it.

There was still a cascade on the 1841 plan of Vauxhall Gardens on the site of the Chinese Pavilions, but this was probably the real waterfall created for the birthday of Queen Adelaide in 1835.

The Cascade in fiction

Evelina

In Fanny Burney’s Evelina (1778), Evelina visits Vauxhall Gardens:
As we were walking about the orchestra, I heard a bell ring; and, in a moment, Mr. Smith, flying up to me, caught my hand, and, with a motion too quick to be resisted, ran away with me many yards before I had breath to ask his meaning, though I struggled as well as I could, to get from him. At last, however, I insisted upon stopping: “Stopping, Ma'am!”cried he, “why we must run on or we shall lose the cascade!”
And then again he hurried me away, mixing with a crowd of people, all running with so much velocity, that I could not imagine what had raised such an alarm. We were soon followed by the rest of the party; and my surprise and ignorance proved a source of diversion to them all, which was not exhausted the whole evening. Young Branghton, in particular, laughed till he could hardly stand.
The scene of the cascade I thought extremely pretty, and the general effect striking and lively.10
Vauxhall display at Museum of London (2013)
Vauxhall display at Museum of London (2013)
A Perfect Match

In A Perfect Match, Mrs Westlake and Alicia visit Vauxhall Gardens in the summer of 1789:
At the appointed time, a bell rang to announce the nightly performance of the Cascade. Mrs Westlake immediately expressed a desire to see the artificial waterfall that had been so much improved since the days of her youth. She had heard that the show now included a storm. Mr Lamont readily rose to his feet and, with a lady on each arm, led them to the area of woodland where the famous spectacle was situated.
As soon as she reasonably could, Alicia withdrew her arm from Mr Lamont’s grasp and moved a little away from her mother and her companion so that she could watch the Cascade in peace.
“It is done by mechanics,” a voice behind her said.
Alicia recognised it instantaneously. Despite her recent doubts over his morals, she was heartily glad to see him. “Mr Merry, I quite thought you had gone out of town.”
“And I thought you had become part of the Duke’s party.”
Alicia blushed. “I …my mother…”
“It is all achieved by a mechanical device that gives the illusion of a waterfall,” Mr Merry said, changing the subject.
“Oh. But maybe I just want to enjoy the spectacle instead of analysing how it works.”
Mr Merry considered this. “That does not seem very likely, but if the illusion gives you pleasure, then by all means, be amused. I could explain how it works, but if you are not interested, I will cease to bother you with my company.”
Alicia was torn. She had seen so little of Mr Merry in the past few weeks and though she knew she should not encourage his attentions, she did not want him to go. Besides, she was inquisitive and wanted to know how it worked. Her mother was too absorbed to pay any heed.
“Very well. Tell me,” she said.
Mr Merry grinned, making his face seem much younger. He proceeded to explain, very clearly and succinctly, the device behind the Cascade.
“You would make an excellent teacher, Mr Merry,” she exclaimed.
“But my job is so easy when I have only one pupil and she is eager to learn.”
“Alicia? Where are you?” Mrs Westlake’s voice called out. The Cascade’s performance was over and she had finally noticed that her daughter was not standing next to her as she had assumed.
“Mother, I…” How was she going to explain Mr Merry’s presence? It had all the appearance of a secret assignation. She turned to say goodbye, but Mr Merry had already gone.11
Vauxhall display at Museum of London (2013)
Vauxhall display at Museum of London (2013)
The Citizen of the World

The Cascade was referred to as the water-works in Oliver Goldsmith’s The Citizen of the World (1820):
Mrs Tibbs was for keeping the genteel walk of the garden, where, she observed, there was always the very best company; the widow, on the contrary, who came but once a season, was for securing a good standing-place to see the water-works, which, she assured us, would begin in less than an hour at furthest.
But the widow was destined not to see the water-works.
Mr Tibbs, now willing to prove that his wife’s pretensions to music were just, entreated her to favour the company with a song” and “At last then the lady complied, and after humming for some minutes, began with such a voice and such affectation, as, I could perceive, gave but little satisfaction to any except her husband. He sat with rapture in his eye, and beat time with his hand on the table. You must observe, my friend, that it is the custom of this country, when a lady or gentleman happens to sing, for the company to sit as mute and motionless as statues. Every feature, every limb, must seem to correspond in fixed attention, and while the song continues they are to remain in a state of universal petrefaction. In this mortifying situation we had continued for some time, listening to the song, and looking with tranquillity, when the master of the box came to inform us, that the water-works were going to begin. At this information I could instantly perceive the widow bounce from her seat; but, correcting herself, she sat down again, repressed by motives of good breeding. Mrs Tibbs, who had seen the water-works an hundred times, resolving not to be interrupted, continued her song without any share of mercy, nor had the smallest pity on our impatience. The widow’s face, I own, gave me high entertainment; in it I could plainly read the struggle she felt between good-breeding and curiosity; she talked of the water-works the whole evening before, and seemed to have come merely in order to see them; but then she could not bounce out in the very middle of a song, for that would be forfeiting all pretensions to high life, or high-lived company, ever after. Mrs Tibbs therefore kept on singing, and we continued to listen, till at last, when the song was just concluded, the waiter came to inform us that the water-works were over. “The water-works over!” cried the widow, “the water-works over already, that's impossible, they can’t be over so soon!”12

Headshot of Rachel Knowles author with sea in background(2021)
Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

Find out more about Rachel's books and sign up for her newsletter here.

If you have enjoyed this blog and want to encourage me and help me to keep making my research freely available, please buy me a virtual cup of coffee by clicking the button below.

 

Notes
(1) The entrance price to the gardens was fixed at one shilling from 1736 until 1792 when it was raised to two shillings. In 1812, the cost was four shillings.
(2) From a letter written by Erasmus Darwin to his friend Albert Reimarus in 1756 in The Collected Letters of Erasmus Darwin (2007).
(3) From Vauxhall Masquerade Times London, England 18 May 1787 3. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
(4) From an unknown newspaper report dated 24 May 1787 in Coke, David and Borg, Alan, Vauxhall Gardens, a history (2011).
(5) A report from 1762 in Coke, David and Borg, Alan, Vauxhall Gardens, a history (2011).
(6) From Feltham, John, The Picture of London (1802).
(7) From Ackermann, Rudolph and Combe, William, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Vol 3 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904).
(8) From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (1830).
(9) From Edward Walford, 'Vauxhall', in Old and New London: Volume 6 (London, 1878), pp. 447-467 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol6/pp447-467 [accessed 13 October 2015].
(10) From Burney, Fanny, Evelina or the history of a young lady’s entrance into the world (1778).
(11) From Knowles, Rachel, A Perfect Match (2015).
(12) From Goldsmith, Oliver, The Citizen of the World (1820).

Sources used include:
Ackermann, Rudolph and Combe, William, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Vol 3 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904)
Burney, Fanny, Evelina or the history of a young lady’s entrance into the world (1778)
Coke, David and Borg, Alan, Vauxhall Gardens, a history (2011)
Darwin, Erasmus, The Collected Letters of Erasmus Darwin, Cambridge University Press, 2007, Letter 56-6)
Feltham, John, The Picture of London (1802)
Goldsmith, Oliver, The Citizen of the World (1820).The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (1830)
Knowles, Rachel, A Perfect Match (2015)
The Times Digital Archive - as referenced in notes above.
Walford, Edward 'Vauxhall', in Old and New London: Volume 6 (London, 1878), pp. 447-467 [accessed 13 October 2015].

Photographs © RegencyHistory.net

Thursday, 8 October 2015

The youth-giving wonders of Olympian Dew - the Georgian answer to wrinkles!

Perfumery goods selected by Mr Ross of Bishopsgate   on behalf of the East India Company as gifts to the Emperor of China  from Ackermann's Repository (Dec 1816)
Perfumery goods selected by Mr Ross of Bishopsgate
on behalf of the East India Company as gifts to the Emperor of China
from Ackermann's Repository (Dec 1816)
In the opening pages of my novel, A Perfect Match, I paint a picture of the heroine’s mother, Mrs Westlake:
“Even though she was past the bloom of youth, Mrs Westlake was still a very fine-looking woman. She had maintained her figure into middle age and her face was remarkably free of wrinkles, thanks, she believed, to the Olympian Dew which she religiously applied every day. Her hair was as thick and golden as it had been in her heyday without the slightest hint of grey. She wore it fashionably powdered and carefully arranged into a style ‘au naturel’ that her fashion arbiter, the Duchess of Devonshire, had lately adopted.” (1)
What was Olympian Dew?

Olympian Dew was a Georgian super-cosmetic that claimed to cure all manner of skin problems. I have not been able to find out what was in it, but it was probably based on rosewater. According to an advert in The Times in 1786:
“Olympian Dew, or Grecian Bloom Water, is the only really useful and elegant composition for washing the Skin; it renders the complexion clear and beautiful; tan, redness, and every spot, freckle, wrinkle, or defect, it removes, and gives the countenance that beautiful jene quoit, so truly delightful and highly pleasing—‘No Perfume so sweet, so delicate, or refreshing, as Olympian Dew,’ says her Majesty of France.” (2)
There does not seem to be a translation for ‘jene quoit’. Maybe the ‘jene’ is supposed to read ‘jeune’ but I cannot make out what the ‘quoit’ is supposed to say; perhaps the whole means something like ‘youthful look’. Alternatively, maybe it should read ‘je ne sais quoi’ – referring to that indefinable quality that no doubt the advertisement is trying to allude to.

A rose - The basis of Olympian Dew was probably rosewater
The basis of Olympian Dew was probably rosewater
Olympian Dew in popular verse

Olympian Dew was so popular that it made its way into several contemporary poems.

In his poem, The Newspaper (1785), Reverend George Crabbe wrote:
“Come, faded belles, who would your youth renew,
And learn the wonders of Olympian dew;
Restore the roses that begin to faint,
Nor think celestial washes vulgar paint;
Your former features, airs, and arts assume,
Circassian virtues, with Circassian bloom.” (3)
Reverend Samuel Hoole’s poem Aurelia (1790) included the lines:
“Meantime, with secret care, her watchful maid
Art’s choicest treasure on the toilet laid;
Here blush’d the red, there shone the liquid blue,
The milk of roses, and Olympian dew;” (4)
Eliza Daye wrote in her poem Song (1798):
“That age decays is nature’s doom:
But art can mysteries unfold;
Olympian dew, Circassian bloom;
And happy woman ne’er is old.” (5)
Lady's dressing table and stool, Nostell Priory
Lady's dressing table and stool, Nostell Priory
Not a replacement for early nights!

In his poem, The Village Curate (1788), Reverend James Hurdis was more scathing about the claims of Olympian Dew and warned his readers not to rely on it to renew their youth:
“Nor let the sweetest blossom nature boasts
Be thus expos’d to night’s unkindly damp.
Well may it droop, and all its freshness lose,
Compell’d to taste the rank and pois’nous steam
Of midnight theatre, and morning ball.
Give to repose the solemn hour she claims,
And from the forehead of the morning steal
The sweet occasion. O there is a charm
Which morning has, that gives the brow of age
A smack of youth, and makes the lip of youth
Shed perfumes exquisite. Expect it not,
Ye who till noon upon a down-bed lie,
Indulging fev’rous sleep, or wakeful dream
Of happiness no mortal heart has felt
But in the regions of romance. Ye fair,
Like you must be woo’d, or never won:
And, being lost, it is in vain ye ask
For milk of roses and Olympian dew.
Cosmetic art no tincture can afford
The faded feature to restore: no chain,
Be it of gold, and strong as adamant,
Can fetter beauty to the fair one’s will.” (6)
What did Olympian Dew claim to do for you?

According to an advert in The Times in 1788, Olympian Dew could be purchased from Sharp, perfumer to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who traded from 131, Fleet Street and 57, Cornhill, London. The advert claimed:
“OLYMPIAN DEW; or, GRECIAN BLOOM WATER – for washing the Skin; being the only thing in Nature that will effectually take away Freckles, Redness, Tan, Pimples, &c. making the Complexion elegantly Fair, and delicately Beautiful. No Article yet discovered is so healthy, sweet or refreshing. Young Ladies who wish to insure themselves a fair Complexion will succeed by the assistance of Olympian Dew. Those farther advanced in Life, will be pleased to find its influence make wrinkles disappear; the softness of Youth return, and lovely Vivacity sparkle in the Eye. As a Perfume, it is the most fragrant and pleasing of any—proved by an Observation of the Queen of France, at Versailles, about five Years ago—‘No Perfume so sweet, so fragrant, or refreshing, as Olympian Dew,’—was Her Majesty’s expression.” (7)
Mary Wollstonecraft on Olympian dew

Mary Wollstonecraft
from Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication
of the Rights of Woman
by W Godwin (1798)
In 1787, Mary Wollstonecraft published her Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, with Reflections on Female Conduct, in the More Important Duties of Life. One of the chapters in her book addressed the question of dress. She wrote:
“Many able pens have dwelt on the peculiar foibles of our sex. We have been equally desired to avoid the two extremes in dress, and the necessity of cleanliness has been insisted on, ‘As from the body’s purity the mind receives a sympathetic aid.’ By far too much of a girl’s time is taken up in dress.”
She went on to say:
“In the article of dress may be included the whole tribe of beauty-washes, cosmetics, Olympian dew, oriental herbs, liquid bloom, and the paint which enlivened Ninon’s face, and bid defiance to time. These numerous and essential articles are advertised in so ridiculous a style, that the rapid sale of them is a very severe reflection on the understanding of those females who encourage it. The dew and herbs, I imagine, are very harmless, but I do not know whether the same may be said of the paint.” (8)
I can’t help but feel that this is, perhaps, an accurate assumption about the understanding of Mrs Westlake!

Notes
(1) From A Perfect Match by Rachel Knowles (2015).
(2) From "Universal Register." Times [London, England] 16 May 1786: 3. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.
(3) From Crabbe, Rev George, The Poetical Works of the Rev George Crabbe with his letters and journals and his life by his son 2/8 (1834)
(4) From Hoole, Rev Samuel, Poems: consisting of Modern Manners, Aurelia, The Curate, and other pieces never before published 2/2 (1790)
(5) From Daye, Eliza, Poems on various subjects (1798)
(6) Hurdis, Rev James, Poems 1/3 (1808)
(7) From "To The Ladies. Sharp." Times [London, England] 12 Apr. 1788: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.
(8) From Wollstonecraft, Mary, Thoughts on the education of daughters with reflections on female conduct in the more important duties of life (1787)

Sources used include:
Crabbe, Rev George, The Poetical Works of the Rev George Crabbe with his letters and journals and his life by his son 2/8 (1834)
Daye, Eliza, Poems on various subjects (1798)
Hoole, Rev Samuel, Poems: consisting of Modern Manners, Aurelia, The Curate, and other pieces never before published 2/2 (1790)
Hurdis, Rev James, Poems 1/3 (1808)
Knowles, Rachel, A Perfect Match (2015).
Wollstonecraft, Mary, Thoughts on the education of daughters with reflections on female conduct in the more important duties of life (1787)

Times Digital Archive as cited in notes above.

All photos © RegencyHistory.net