The Country House Courtship (57 page)

When the book opens, Mr. O'Brien is a poor curate, and poor curates were not uncommon in Regency England (or Georgian or Victorian England, for that matter). By the time of our happy ending, our poor curate is on his way to being a vicar (at Glendover), with an excellent benefice, and also holds a curacy in the nearby parish of Warwickdon. This means he will preside at services for both parishes, unless he chooses to hire his own curate for the second one.

Glebe
—The land belonging to a benefice in addition to the parsonage and grounds; a glebe was intentionally assigned to help with the support of the priest or parson, either by his own use in farming, or he could let it (lease it out), and the income from the lease would add to his stipend. At times a glebe could be attached to the grounds of the parsonage, but was not always (in other words, the land might be a short distance from the house).

Magistrate
—A magistrate during the regency was commonly a lay justice of the peace who sat voluntarily as a service to the community. In small villages and towns the magistrate was most often the wealthiest landowner or noble of highest rank.

Mr. Mornay is the magistrate at Glendover as he is the owner of the “big house,” and the man with the most holdings
.

Mama
—At this time, the word was always pronounced in upper class society with the accent upon the last syllable (ma-MA). Same for pa-PA.

A regency reader must never refer to a MOMMA! It is always ma-MA!

Nursemaid
—A servant who helped in the nursery or schoolroom for the children in upper class households.

Nursery
—The room or suite of rooms in upper-class houses used for the youngest members of a household. They spent most of their time here, including sleeping and often eating, as well. Once the children were old enough for tutelage, they either moved to a schoolroom, or the nursery was converted to one.

The Mornay's nursery is actually a suite of rooms including sleeping quarters for both the children and their nurse and nursemaids, as well as toys and other juvenile paraphernalia and furniture.

Ordinary
—The Ordinary in a church is generally a bishop of a parish or group of parishes; he must approve all newly nominated beneficiaries (clergymen nominated for a benefice).

Parish
—The local church; an administrative (and often geographical) unit within the larger church body.

Fortunately for Mr. O'Brien, the parishes of Glendover and Warwickdon are not more than a few miles apart, meaning that he may preside at services for both if he wishes, without having to travel extensively, and without the expense of having to hire his own curate.

Rector
—A rector can be an academic or ecclesiastical title; this book is concerned only with the ecclesiastical (church).
A rector would directly receive both the
greater
and
lesser
tithes of his parish, unless he had a vicar who would get the lesser tithes. He also had all the rights to the glebe, parsonage, etc.

Special License
—Though there were many legalities concerning marriage by the time of the Regency, the ancient right of the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant “special licenses” for marriage was retained. Thus, for around £5 or so, a special license could be obtained allowing a couple (of proper age) to marry at any time and place, within three months, at which point the license expired. The marriage had to be performed by an Anglican minister unless one was Jewish or a Quaker.

Tithes;
lesser tithes
,
greater tithes
—Tithes are the monies paid into a parish church by its constituents, historically 10 percent, which during the Regency was based upon taxing agricultural output. The “greater tithes” were those levied upon wheat, hay, and wood; the “lesser tithes” were levied upon all other farm yields.

Vicar
—from the latin word
Vicarius
meaning, “in place of.” The vicar presides in the place of the actual rector of a parish, who for any number of reasons has opted to live elsewhere. The rector retained the rights to the greater tithes of a parish, while the vicar was entitled to the lesser tithes.

Warden
—The warden was most often in charge of seeing to the upkeep of the church (except for the chancel, which fell to the rector to maintain) and the parsonage. In small parishes, there might be one warden for three or more churches, who was called a “circulating” warden, such as the one whose cottage is found by Beatrice and Mr. O'Brien on the Aspindon land.

Wet Nurse
—Generally a lower-class
woman
who is paid to nurse a child or children of the upper class. In some cases, the birth mother chose not to nurse for aesthetic reasons, or for convenience; in other cases, the mother might have died in childbirth, or was simply unable to nurse successfully.

Ariana Mornay is unfashionably happy to nurse her own children until her illness requires the need for a wet nurse
.

About the Publisher

To learn more about books by Linore Rose Burkard or to read sample chapters, log on to our website:
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON