Georgette Heyer's Regency World (27 page)

In general, upper-class women did not get drunk, although the prevalence of alcohol in society sometimes made this difficult. The arrack-punch served at Vauxhall Gardens was drunk by both men and women, despite a reputation for potency. It was said to have been made from the grains of the Benjamin flower mixed with rum and was freely imbibed on gala nights. Some men preferred to mix their own punch as Freddy did in
Cotillion
and rum punch (rum, lemon, arrack and sugar), Regent’s punch (various fruits, rum, brandy, hock, Curaçao, Madeira and champagne) and Negus (port, lemon, sugar and spices) were popular brews. Fortified wines such as Madeira and sherry were also popular with men and some women during the Regency but red wines such as claret, burgundy and port tended to be the more exclusive province of male drinkers. Brandy, gin and rum were drunk by upper-class men, although they often chose to drink the rougher forms of these spirits in the less salubrious surroundings of the inns and taverns of the poorer quarters of London.

Drunkenness was common, particularly among young men for whom it was deemed an acceptable condition. To engage in a revel-rout, wine party or a spread (where an undergraduate invited up to a hundred other students to a drinking party) was practically a requirement of an Oxbridge education. Among upper-class men, to be inebriated was not only acceptable but, in some circles, expected—although to be drunk in the middle of the day as Dysart frequently was in
April Lady
was not considered appropriate behaviour for a well-bred man. The propensity for men to drink heavily after the evening meal made it a well-established custom for the ladies to leave the table at the end of dinner and withdraw, at which point the doors were locked and the port brought to the table. Not everyone drank to excess but of those who did it was quite usual for two or three men to drink as many as eight bottles of wines such as claret, burgundy or champagne at a single sitting.

The Sporting Life

Sport was considered by many to be the natural pursuit of the true Englishman. Love of a contest, the test of courage, fair play and a readiness to step into the fray and defend his home or his country were often touted as the inborn characteristics of the English male. During the Regency sport was a major preoccupation for men of all classes and many men would go out of their way to attend a boxing match or horse race, or to watch two dogs or a couple of cocks fight to the death as Peregrine Taverner did in
Regency Buck.
Hunting, fishing, shooting, racing, fighting and cricket were the major sporting pastimes in which Regency men participated either as spectators, punters or players. Of the various physical activities and outdoor entertainments enjoyed by men, a limited number were also available to women and, for the upper class in particular, these generally centred on the equestrian sports—mainly riding, coaching and, for a few women, hunting. It was in horsemanship that women found one of their few outlets for strenuous exercise and independent activity, as well as the opportunity to match men in both knowledge and expertise. In
Bath Tangle,
Lady Serena Carlow found a much-needed outlet for her pent-up energy and frustration in taking her horse for a gallop through the hills surrounding Bath. In general, women were not expected to be interested in sports but women of all classes could and did attend horse races, and some females of the lower orders enjoyed watching (and occasionally participating in) boxing matches and contests between animals.

Boxing at the Fives Court, Prizefights and Pets of the Fancy

Fist fights as a means of resolving disputes, attacking an enemy or defending oneself in a weaponless situation had long been a part of English life and, despite the fact that boxing matches were forbidden by law, a wide cross section of the population eagerly embraced the sport and would travel miles on foot, on horseback, in a carriage or any conveyance they could find, to attend a match. In
The Unknown Ajax
, Richmond Darracott was thrilled at the prospect of going to a prizefight at Sevenoaks with his cousin Vincent to watch Cribb’s latest protégé battle it out with Tom Bugle for twenty guineas a side. Although the magistrates rarely put a stop to illegal bouts, fights were generally held outside the main cities and towns and their location kept a closely guarded secret until the night before a match. In London, however, sparring was a regular attraction at the Fives Court in St Martin’s Lane, Leicester Fields. Up to a thousand spectators could be accommodated in the old, high-ceilinged, brick building where men had traditionally played at hand tennis or ‘fives’. Sparring exhibitions and boxing matches were held at the Fives Court each afternoon at two o’clock and, for a three-shilling admission, enthusiasts could watch up-and-coming pugilists demonstrate their skill, and learn something of the science of boxing, although Jessamy Merriville in
Frederica
felt that he had led his younger brother into a ‘haunt of vice’ by taking him there. Combatants had to be approved by the great man of Regency boxing, ‘Gentleman’ John Jackson, and several of the most famous names of pugilism, including Jem Belcher, Tom Cribb and Bill Richmond, made appearances there to the delight of the ‘fancy’.

The ‘fancy’ was a collective term for those who followed boxing and ‘pets of the fancy’ were those pugilists who had made names for themselves as champions or fighters with ‘bottom’ or great courage. They had huge followings among the populace and, as the Taverners discovered in
Regency Buck
when they arrived at Grantham on the day before a major match, fighters like Cribb, Belcher or Molyneux could draw crowds of twenty or thirty thousand spectators whenever they fought. Whether they walked, rode or drove, men of all classes would often set out the day before a match to be sure of a good vantage point and the opportunity to place their bets.

In 1795, John Jackson had won the title of English Champion from the great Jewish boxer, Mendoza, and immediately afterwards set about establishing a boxing school for gentlemen. He took rooms at number 13 Bond Street and equipped the elegant saloon with a set of scales, boxing gloves, weights, fencing equipment, wooden staves for single stick and chairs for subscribers. The walls were decorated with pictures of famous bouts, well-known pugilists and diagrams explaining the art and science of boxing. Open three times a week throughout the Season, Jackson’s Saloon became a kind of boxing headquarters during the Regency and Jackson drew a huge following from among the aristocracy to the sport. He condemned fixed fights (known as crosses), never made a bet and his presence as either a referee or a spectator at a fight was a sign to onlookers that the bout would be fair. Entrée to Jackson’s Saloon could only be obtained through introduction and many upper-class men aspired to boxing lessons from the great man. Some among the nobility, such as Sir Richard Wyndham in
The Corinthian
, were privileged enough to strip to the waist, don a pair of boxing gloves and engage in a sparring contest with ‘Corinthian Jack’, and many famous Regency men, including Lord Byron, learned the art of self-defence at his Bond Street rooms. Charles Rivenhall in
The Grand Sophy
sparred there regularly and Jackson was wont to say that he could have made him a champion if he had not been an aristocrat. Jackson’s manners and well-bred demeanour earned him the sobriquet ‘Gentleman’ and he was respected by nobility and commoners alike.

After John Jackson, the most famous English Champion during the Regency was Tom Cribb, who fought his greatest matches between 1805 and 1811. Renowned for his courage and stamina, as well as for his ability to read an opponent and engage in the ‘science’ of boxing, Cribb was most famous for his hard-fought victories over the American Tom Molyneux and in particular the match fought in 1811 at Thistleton Gap in Leicestershire which Cribb won. Apart from an exhibition match given for the Allied Sovereigns during their visit to England in 1814, Cribb chose not to continue boxing after his victory over Molyneux. He bought the King’s Arms tavern and established ‘Cribb’s Parlour’, a neat little snuggery or separate room off the main taproom in which pugilists and the sporting men of the
ton
would gather to talk, smoke and admire the Champion’s cup—a prize Bertram Tallant in
Arabella
was thrilled to be able to hold. The King’s Arms was always crowded with men of all ranks and professions and it was not uncommon for eager young men with visions of glory to try and goad Cribb into fighting with them—only to find themselves hauled directly to the watch house or magistrate by the unimpressed Champion.

Cocks and Dogs

One of the oldest-known spectator sports, cock-fighting had a large following during the Regency and men (and sometimes women) would gather regularly at both indoor and outdoor venues. Betting was as much a part of the sport as spectating and sometimes entire estates were wagered on the outcome of a ‘main’ which consisted of an odd number of battles, sometimes run over several days, between two rival teams with each cock fighting once. The main was won by whichever team gained the majority of victories with prize money paid for each battle and a larger sum offered to the overall winner. In
Regency Buck
, the bet was a thousand guineas a side and forty guineas for each individual contest. Similarly, crowds would often gather in pubs, yards or purpose-built venues to watch dog-fighting where two or more dogs would fight to the death. Eager spectators would gather at local venues or the Westminster Pit in London to watch contests between different breeds. Battles between bulldogs and bull terriers were popular and dustmen, butchers, grooms and barristers would jostle with MPs, gentlemen and the nobility for a ringside view. As with all Regency sports, gambling was a vital part of the event and vast sums often changed hands during a contest at the Westminster Pit.

Revel-routs and Boxing the Watch

The propensity for Regency men to drink heavily led many of them to take part in drunken revels late at night when few people were on the streets and the chances of being caught greatly reduced. Aristocratic young men up from the country, or sons of the nobility sent down from Oxford or Cambridge for outrageous behaviour, took great pleasure in getting drunk and engaging in the kind of ‘larks’ that such an uninhibited state allowed. A revel-rout was a gathering of usually young men for the specific purpose of drinking and engaging in revelry. In London the opportunities for mischief were many and a favourite sport for young bucks such as Dysart in
April Lady
was known as ‘boxing the watch’. The ‘watch’ were the city’s nightwatchmen, also known as ‘Charleys’, whose job it was to patrol the streets calling out the time and the weather on the hour, and ensuring that law and order were maintained. They were not very effectual as many of the watchmen were old and interested only in the small wage paid to them by the Parish.

Small wooden booths were set up at various points around the city in which the watchmen could sit and observe the passers-by. Each booth had a single door and inebriated young men considered it a great lark to overturn the booth (with the Charley inside) or to turn it door-side to the wall so he could not get out. This was known as ‘boxing the watch’. It was not uncommon for young men, finding their favourite gambling hell closed to them in the early hours of the morning, to wander the streets looking for a fight, break windows, wake a shopkeeper with a false call of ‘fire’ or cut the traces of a hackney cab while the coachman slept inside and take his horses to some other part of the city. Many revellers’ drunken antics ended with the unrepentant young men being locked up in the watch-house before appearing in the magistrates’ court the following day while those who had managed to avoid arrest often chose to end the night at the Covent Garden coffee-house known as ‘the Finish’ where they fell asleep on a bench.

On the Strut to Tattersall’s

In 1766 Richard Tattersall of Lancashire, horse master to the Duke of Kingston and equine aficionado, established a horse sale-yard off Grosvenor Place in London. The business prospered and he acquired a ninety-nine year lease on premises at Hyde Park Corner and in (about) 1773, opened an auction house there. Although Tattersall died in 1795 he had built such a reputation for integrity and knowledge of horseflesh that his name had become synonymous with bloodstock sales and Tattersall’s had become an institution. In addition to its thoroughbred auctions, racehorses, coach horses, hunters, hacks, hounds and carriages could be bought and sold at the weekly sales, with stabling for over one hundred horses, kennels for the dogs and a coach-house for the carriages and harness available for inspection. Faced with a mountain of debt after the death of his father in a hunting accident, the new Viscount Lynton, Adam Deveril of
A Civil Contract
, felt compelled to sell his stable and sent sixteen hunters to Tattersall’s to be put up at auction. During the winter (the hunting season) sales were held on Mondays and Thursdays but in the summer only on Mondays. It was considered fashionable during the Regency to ‘take a look in’ at Tattersall’s, to stroll about the premises, examine the horses and discuss their respective merits or defects with other sporting men. Henry Stornaway in
The Toll-Gate
considered himself to be quite at home at Tattersall’s and spent considerable time there despite being generally held to be a poor judge of horseflesh. For a guinea a year a man could gain admittance to the subscription room where he could lay bets on any forthcoming race or sporting event. Monday was settling day (known by the less fortunate as ‘Black Monday’) during which gamblers received their winnings or were required to pay their debts. Known also as the ‘Repository’, Tattersall’s held its auctions outside in a courtyard enclosed on three sides by a wide veranda supported by pillars. Prospective buyers and onlookers would gather in the yard and the horses would be run around the perimeter before being offered for sale. Tattersall’s took a small commission on each sale and charged both sellers and buyers for any necessary stabling of their animals.