1860s: Herbals & Indoor Gardening

"We have been into rooms which, by the simple disposition of articles of [the following] kind, have been made to have an air so poetical and attractive that they seemed more like a nymph's cave than any thing in the real world.
Take an old tin pan condemned to the retired list by reason of holes in the bottom, get twenty-five cents' worth of green paint for this and other purposes, and paint it. The holes in the bottom are a recommendation for its new service. If there are no holes, you must drill two ot three, as drainage is essential. Now put a layer one inch deep of broken charcoal and potshersd over the bottom, and then soil, in the following proportions:
Two fourths wood-soil, such as you find in forests, under trees.
One fourth clean sand.
One fourth meadow-soil, taken from under fresh turf. Mix with this some charcoal dust.
In this soil plant all sorts of ferns, together with some few swamp-grasses; and around the edge put a border of money-plant or periwinkle to hang over. This will need to be watered once or twice a week, and it will grow and thrive all summer long in a corner of your house.

Victorian Garden Terrarium....a fragment of the green woods brought in and silently growing; it will refresh many a weary hour to watch it."
...text and pictures, top left, and left, from The American Woman's Home, Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1869.

1869 Decorators: The Beecher Sisters.

"Now," says the housewife, "I must at least have a parlor-carpet. We must get that to begin with, and other things as we go on..."
...she buys the Brussels carpet, which, with all its reduction in price, is one third dearer than the ingrain would have been, an not half so pretty.
Now let us see what eighty dollars could have done for that room...Thirteen rolls of good satin paper [buff]...A maroon bordering, made in imitation of the choicest French style...Cover the floor with, say, thirty yards of good matting.

......Select some one tint or color which shall be the prevailing one in the furniture of the room. Shall it be green? Shall it be blue? Shall it be crimson? To carry on our illustration, we will choose green, and and we proceed with it one side of the fireplace there be, as there is often, a recess with a rough frame with four stout legs, one foot high, and upon the top of the frame have an elastic rack of slats. Make a mattress...or ...get a nice mattress...made of cane-shavings or husks. Cover this with a green English furniture print [glazed English or glazed French, and French twill].With any of these cover your lounge. Make two large, square pillows of the same substance as the mattress, and set up at the back...feather pillows...shake them down into a square shape and cover them with the same print...
Cut out of the same material as your lounge, sets of lambrequins (or, as they are called, lamberkins,) a kind of pendent curtain-top, as shown in the illustration, to put over the windows, which are to be embellished with white muslin curtains. White curtains really create a room out of nothing.
...Let your men-folk knock up for you, out of rough, unplaned boards, some ottoman frames, stuff the tips with just the same material as the lounge, and cover them with the self-same chintz....
...broken-down arm-chair, stuff and pad and stitch...and cover it with the chintz like your other furniture... Presto--you create an easy chair.
If you want a centre-table...any kind of table, well concealed beneath the folds of handsome drapery, of a color corresponding to the general hue of the room, will look well.
Wall-paper and border............................$5.50
Thirty yards matting............................$15.00
Centre-table and cloth..........................$15.00
Muslin for three windows.........................$6.75
Thirty yards green English chintz, at 25 cents...$7.50
Six chairs, at $2 each..........................$12.00

Total............................... ...........$61.75

Subtracted from eighty dollars, which we set down as the price of the cheap, ugly Brussels carpet, we have our whole room papered, carpeted, curtained, and furnished, and we have nearly twenty dollars remaining for pictures [varnished chromos in rustic frames].

....American Woman's Home, 1869, by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Catherine E. Beecher.

Victorian Swimwear

Once the railway arrived in Britain the masses visited the seaside regularly and it spawned a need for new fashions. In the early Victorian era women had worn serge or dark flannel bathing dresses, but by the 1860s two piece belted costumes replaced the earlier styles. The top was jacket like and the bottom part three quarter trousers which had been rejected only a decade earlier when Amelia Bloomer urged women to adopt them. The swimsuit outfit was still cumbersome, but was more practical and more attractive than earlier bathing clothes.



Early and Mid-Victorian swimwear for women.


Although the trouser was acceptable as Victorian beachwear it did not enter mainstream fashion until the 1920s when trousers were accepted after wear in the Great War. Even when bloomers were accepted as cycling wear in the 1890s they still remained only on the fringes of costume.
Swimwear changes moved very slowly. Differences were simple such as the introduction of short cap sleeves and eventually sleeveless styles with more ankle showing beneath the bloomers became usual.




Edwardian Swimsuits were very similar to Victorian styles. They were still made of wool and now consisted of bloomers and a wool over dress. The dress was now a sleeveless version and the outfit was worn with black stockings and laced footwear.


Edwardian swimwear.


From

www.fashion-era.com

GREAT DINNERS in the 1860s

1860
Prince of Wales, Albert Edward, 19, dines at an elaborate dinner held in his honor at The Academy of Music, 14th Street in New York during his first visit to America.
Main course: Beefsteak-and-kidney pie. -- Related article: Tour of His Royal Highness, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Through the United States, Our First Century, by R. M. Devens.
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1862
Napoleon III dines at James de Rothschild's French estate. They join a hunting party in the afternoon, killing over 1200 heads of game. Returning, the Paris Opera entertains them with hunting songs.
Main course: Boar and pheasants en plumage.
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1863
Thanksgiving Day becomes a U.S. national holiday to commemorate the Pilgrims' 1621 feast honoring their Native American benefactors.
Main course: Turkey
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1864
The steamer proved to be the Nutfield, perfectly new, and, as her papers showed, laden with arms and stores for the Confederate Government. She had been chased the day before, and escaped only to find herself at night in the very midst of the inside blockaders off Wilmington...In the cabin of the prize, which was most luxuriantly furnished, stood the breakfast-table hastily abandoned.
"A Cruise on the "Sassacus," by Edgar Holden; Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November, 1864.
from Cruise on the Sassacus 14-page.

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1865
The Six Chinese Companies in California host a dinner in honor of Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives; Hon. Wm. Bross, Lt-Governor of Illinois; Albert D. Richardson, New York Tribune; and Samuel Bowles, Springfield (Mass.) Republican at the Hang Heong Restaurant, 308 Dupont Street, San Francisco, California.
Main course: Bamboo soup, bird's nest soup, stewed sea-weed, stewed mushrooms, fried fungus, banana fritters, shark fins, shark sinews, reindeer sinews, dried Chinese oysters, pigeons, ducks, chickens, scorpions' eggs, watermelon seeds, fish in scores of varieties, many kinds of cake, and fruits ad infinitum.
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1866
Citizens of Augusta, Georgia hold a barbecue honoring General Steadman and General Fullerton, sent by President Johnson to investigate the Freedmen's Bureau. Black families have their barbeques, generally at the close of their labors in getting in the cotton crop. -- Harper's Weekly.
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1866
Banquet in honor of Cyrus W. Field, at The Metropolitan Hotel in New York, with telegraph-pole centerpieces, celebrating the first successful attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable.
-- Successful Laying of the Telegraph Cable Across the Atlantic Ocean, Our First Century, by R. M. Devens.
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1869
Farewell Dinner at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia for Honorable Andrew Curtin (former Pennsylvania Governor) after his acceptance as minister to Russia.

from
www.housemouse.net

How to Give An 1865 Dinner.

A dinner, no matter how recherché, how sumptuous, will never go off well if the wine is bad, the guests not suited to each other, the faces dull, and the dinner eaten hastily.
But some impatient reader will exclaim, How can we manage to unite all these conditions, which enhance, in a supreme degree, the pleasures of the dinner-table?
I will reply to this question, so listen attentively, gentle reader.

• Let the number of your guests never exceed twelve, so that the conversation may constantly remain general.
• Let them be so collected that their occupations are different, their tastes similar, and with such points of contact that it is not necessary to go through the odious form of introduction.
• Let your dining-room be brilliantly lighted, your cloth perfectly clean, and the temperature of the room from 13 degrees to 16 degrees Réaumur.

• Let the men be clever without presumption, the women amiable without conceit.
• Let your dishes be limited in number, but each excellent, and your wines first-rate. Let the former vary from the most substantial to the most light; and for the second, from the strongest to the most perfumed.
• Let everything be served quietly, without hurry or bustle; dinner being the last business of the day, let your guests look upon themselves as travellers who have arrived at the end of their jouney.
• Let the coffee be very hot, and the liqueurs of first quality.
• Let your drawing-room be spacious enough to allow a game to be played, if desired, without interfering with those addicted to chatting.
• Let the guests be retained by the pleasant company, and cheered with the hope that, before the evening is over, there is something good still in store for them.
• Let the tea not be too strong; the hot toast well buttered; and the punch carefully mixed.
• Let no one leave before eleven, but let every one be in bed by midnight.
... The Handbook of Dining, or Corpulency and Leanness Scientifically Considered, by Brillat-Savarin, 1865.
From
www.housemouse.net

Gilbert & Sullivan's London

By Andrew Goodman
Published by Faber and Faber;
DATE; UK ฃ12.99 RRP; 0-571-20016-8
Here is a guide book with a difference, for the Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiast as well as the general reader. By moving in and around London, backwards and forwards in time, Andrew Goodman unfolds the story of the most astonishing partnership in the history of British musical entertainment against the authentic background of the era in which it flourished.
With much original research and many hitherto unpublished illustrations, Andrew Goodman makes an invaluable contribution to our knowledge, understanding and appreciation of Gilbert and Sullivan in this handsome volume, which is already a classic of its kind. The book summons up a bygone era in a predominantly celebratory tone, recalling the lost grandeur of the city's great entertainment palaces, its atmospheric streetlife and nightlife, its splendour and its squalor.
Acclaimed film-maker Mike Leigh, director of Topsy Turvy the new film about Gilbert and Sullivan set during their collaboration on The Mikado, provides a new Foreword.
Excerpt
The following is an excerpt from the book Gilbert and Sullivan's London
by Andrew Goodman
Published by Faber and Faber; DATE; UK ฃ12.99 RRP; 0-571-20016-8
Copyright ฉ 2000 Andrew Goodman
INTRODUCTION
London is still a Victorian city. Glass, steel and concrete may now encase its heart, but within a radius of ten miles from Charing Cross there are many houses, schools, churches and other public buildings that reveal their mid-19th century origin. Some would say that they are not the only survivals and that many of London's institutions, notably the Bar, the Church, the Civil Service and central government itself, remain essentially Victorian in outlook.
Such considerations are beyond the scope of this book, the main purpose of which is to provide the general reader and the Gilbert and Sullivan enthusiast with a travelling companion, a volume which the Victorians themselves, being much better classicists than we are, would undoubtedly have called a vade mecum, to be dipped into and consulted before setting out on a Savoyard quest. By moving from place to place, and backwards and forwards in time, it is hoped to unfold the story of the greatest partnership in the history of British musical theatre in its proper setting, against an authentic background of the period in which it flourished and came so thoroughly to represent.
It is also part of our purpose to celebrate Gilbert and Sullivan's London; its lost grandeur and forgotten theatres; the great centres of popular entertainment such as Crystal Palace, the Royal Aquarium and Rosherville Gardens; its swirling fog and spluttering gas lamps; its horses and four-wheelers with their irascible cabbies. The London of the high-born, the nobility and the nouveaux riches, the clubmen and the courtiers. The London of contrasts, from the languid elegance of Regent Street to the shoeless squalor of Seven Dials.
The lives of Gilbert and Sullivan span the astonishing transformation of London from a small, albeit commercially important, centre to the largest and most important city in the world, heart of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. 1836, the year before the young Princess Victoria came to the throne, was the year of Gilbert's birth. At that time, the capital consisted of little more than the square mile of the ancient city of London and its attendant satellite., the city of Westminster, the royal palaces between the two, with their mews and yards and barracks, together with a few elegant Georgian squares and some handsome Nash terraces. Across the river lay the historic boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. Beyond, deep in the surrounding countryside, were a number of villages with strange-sounding names, such as Peckham and Tooting.
By 1862, when Stanford published his Library Map of London and its Suburbs, without doubt the most useful and detailed commercial map of Victorian London, the basic shape of the nation's capital had remained unchanged despite the rapid growth of the railway system and the construction of large termini in or near the city centre. There were, of course, major projects afoot. From Thomas Helmore's house at 6 Cheyne Walk, Sullivan in his teens would have watched the building of Chelsea Bridge, along with the Prince Albert's great project to drain the Battersea marshes and turn them into London's first formal landscape gardens. But also across the river he would have seen fields stretching towards Battersea Rise and Lavender Hill. Chelsea itself was still a rural market garden from which fresh supplies of fruit and vegetables were sent to Mayfair and Belgravia. And in those newly fashionable areas gipsy girls sold lavender during the season, freshly gathered from the fields of Mitcham. Kensington and Knightsbridge, Hampstead and Highgate, Homerton and Bow, Clapham and Wandsworth were small villages, each with its own character, detached from the city by open countryside.
Then the housing explosion occurred, and within a few years all was changed. In 1875 Gilbert got a rueful laugh from his audience in Trial by Jury when he described Camberwell as a 'bower', and Peckham as that 'Arcadian vale'. By 1888 London had achieved the population and the status of a separate county. Between the 1841 census and that taken 50 years later in 1891 the population had gone up from just under 2 million to just over 4 million in inner London, and to nearly 6 million in outer London, which included districts such as Acton, Finchley and Walthamstow to the north of the Thames, and Dulwich to the south. It is not at all surprising that the huge demand for new housing created by this increase in population resulted in a land grab by mid-Victorian developers and builders on an unprecedented scale. The miracle is that in those days of unbridled free enterprise the open commons of Streatham, Wandsworth, Tooting Bec, Clapham and the like, remained intact.
At the peak of all this development Gilbert wrote a short story in 1869 entitled Foggerty's Fairy, which he dramatised for the Criterion Theatre in December 1881. Foggerty was a confectioner in the Borough Road whose surname clearly fascinated Gilbert, for we find him mentioned also in the Bab Ballad, Bishop of Rumd-Foo. In Foggerty's Fairy he is a young surgeon, much in need of a practice, who in Act III tries desperately to escape the unwanted attentions of one Miss Malvina de Vere. He leads her on a merry dance throughout London and in doing so gives us a very clear idea of the boundaries of the metropolitan area at that time:
'I have given her the slip at last. When I left the house I bolted up Harley Street. Malvina followed. I got into a cab; she got into another. I said "drive anywhere." He drove everywhere. I told him to drive like the devil. He drove like the devil. So did Malvina. Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, Kentish Town, Holloway, Ball's Pond, Dalston, Hackney, Old Ford, Bow, Whitechapel, London Bridge, Southwark. At Southwark my horse fainted; so did Malvina's. I jumped out - got another cab. So did Malvina. Off again, Old Kent Road, Peckham, Camberwell, Walworth, Kennington, Brixton, Clapham, Battersea, Wandsworth. At Wandsworth my horse fainted. So did Malvina's. jumped out, but no cab to be found. Bolted, on foot, followed by Malvina; ran through Putney, Barnes, Mortlake, Kew, Chiswick, Turnham Green, Shepherd's Bush, Kensal Green, Malvina after me. At Kensal Green I fainted; so did Malvina. Off again, through Westbourne Park. At Westbourne Park I found a cab; so did Malvina. Off again; Maida Hill, Edgware Road, St. John's Wood, New Road, Harley Street. As I passed the door, jumped out unobserved, and left my empty cab tearing on ten miles an hour, and Malvina after it.'
With the development of London on so massive a scale it was inevitable that social change would quickly follow. Not revolutionary upheaval as Marx had predicted, but a series of much smaller changes in the pattern of the lives of ordinary people which, taken together, were no less significant. The place and the nature of their employment, for example. The standard of housing and of basic amenities such as running water and mains drainage. The spread of elementary education and the development of social and welfare services. The rapid growth of cheap public transport and the greater mobility which resulted. The fundamental change in the distribution and sale of goods and services. And changes, too, in the patterns of worship and in the use of leisure time.
Within that final entry in the long catalogue of change comes popular entertainment, with which so much of this book is concerned and in which music played so prominent a part. In the shops there was a very wide choice of musical instruments to be had, some manufactured in the north of England, others imported from abroad. But it was the upright piano which dominated the domestic scene: no Victorian household was complete without one. Behind the net lace curtains and the carefully-tended aspidistras a piano occupied pride of place in the parlours of all but the most impoverished families. They gathered round to hear the daughter of the house pick her way through arrangements of the popular classics, or to hear Uncle Bertie, recently-returned from India, sing O Fair Dove, O Fond Dove, before moving on to the latest narrative ballad, or a rousing, patriotic song more appropriate to his military calling. It is easy to poke fun at the Victorians at their leisure -- much too easy, in fact. What will our grandchildren have to say of us, each shut away in a private world, lost before a flickering, inanimate screen in the corner of the room?
Music in the home formed part of the very fabric of Victorian life, and one of the consequences was an enormous sale of sheet music of all kinds, the publication of which became very big business and provided a major source of income to successful composers such as Arthur Sullivan.
Profound changes were also taking place in public entertainment in theatres and in concert halls, once the preserve of the idle rich and their hangers-on. Now the rising middle classes had money to spend, and they demanded entertainment which conformed to their ideas of what was, and what was not, proper for their families to see and to hear. Even the lower orders of society could afford the occasional 'night out' if they so chose, and shrewd managers offered a wide range of seats at prices most people could afford. During the latter part of the 19th century social legislation was introduced to ensure some leisure time for the new working classes. By today's standards the provisions were meagre in the extreme, but the creation of bank holidays and some guarantee of free time at weekends made their impact on the entertainment industry, as did the expansion of public transport and the growth in the number of restaurants and eating houses of all kinds. And so, theatre outings became for many people living in London and other major cities part of the regular pattern of family life.
Theatres and concert halls were becoming safer, pleasanter places. Electric lights were replacing the old gas lamps and flares; queues for the pit and the gallery were being encouraged so that it was no longer necessary to scramble and fight for the cheaper tickets; new and more comfortable seating was being installed, and strict rules were being enforced to keep gangways clear and to reduce the fire hazard in all places of public entertainment.
Spectacular as it was, the success of Richard D'Oyly Carte and his Savoy operas did not burst upon the London scene entirely without precedent. To a limited extent the ground had already been prepared to take the seed. By the early 1850s Thomas German Reed and his wife, at their Gallery of Illustration, had successfully steered a middle course between insipid, churchified drawing-room entertainments on the one hand and coarse, vulgar burlesques on the other hand, later to be perpetuated by the music halls. The new audiences flocked to see the German Reed productions, and it was their style of entertainment the Savoy triumvirate followed and developed beyond recognition. They created a new theatrical genre which became enormously popular, yet which still held its appeal for people of fashion; a form which was entirely musical, but not at the expense of the witty, topical libretti; plots which were most amusing, without being in any way indelicate, and all produced to a new, dazzling standard, the like of which had not been seen before on the British stage or, indeed, anywhere else in the world.
By the turn of the century, as Queen Victoria's reign neared its end, London had become the centre of an empire which ruled one quarter of the world's land mass and one-third of its population. By a judicious blend of enterprise and ingenuity, high courage and low cunning, determination and good fortune, dedication and opportunism, administrative skills and political bluff, one small nation on the edge of Europe contrived to dominate the conduct of the world's affairs and its trade. The value of the legacy left behind including, as it does, the English language, is beyond calculation.
But what of the legacy left by Gilbert and Sullivan themselves? Many of the theatres Gilbert knew have been swept away. The Opera Comique and its rickety twin, the Globe: the Gaiety, the Olympic and the Royal Strand -- all fell victim to the development of Aldwych and Kingsway from 1900 to 1905.
Memorials to the great men are to be found by Hungerford Bridge, in the Embankment Gardens, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Savoy Chapel and in a number of houses and churches at various places in the suburbs. Their portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery, the Garrick Club and elsewhere. There is a bust of Sir Arthur Sullivan in the entrance hall of the Royal Academy of Music. But surely none of these will prove as enduring as their own unique compositions?
In the early days before the Savoy Theatre was built, D'Oyly Carte mounted the original productions wherever he could find a theatre in central London and from the 1880s onwards he sent out touring companies to take the repertoire to the widest possible audience. Their tours make fascinating reading today: Kennington, Wood Green, Camden Town, Bishopsgate and Richmond. The Brixton Theatre, the Coronet at Notting Hill Gate, the Chiswick Empire, the Croydon Empire, the Croydon Grand, the Lewisham Hippodrome, the Royal Artillery Theatre at Woolwich, the Borough Theatre at Stratford, the Streatham Hill Theatre and the Wimbledon Theatre. Rupert D'Oyly Carte died in September 1948, but, commencing a year later, after the main circuit had closed down, Bridget D'Oyly Carte kept her grandfather's tradition alive right up to the 1960s by taking the touring company to such well-known venues as the People's Palace in Mile End Road, the King's Theatre at Hammersmith and the Golders Green Hippodrome.
During the past 100 years the principal company has mounted many revivals of the Savoy operas at many different venues in central London. From the Savoy Theatre the company moved to the Prince's Theatre (now the Shaftesbury) in 1924, and thereafter was based at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, apart from occasional seasons at the Scala Theatre. For many years the expiry of copyright in the published operas in January 1962 hung as a threat over the D'Oyly Carte Company. It was forecast that a large number of new and 'unauthentic' productions would invade the London stage. But in the event, this threat proved to be greatly exaggerated and it was not until the closure of the company some twenty years later that new productions, as well as the original, classical versions, appeared side by side. A rejuvenated Pirates of Penzance from America, and a Mikado from Canada have been staged with great success at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and at the Old Vic respectively. Parodies of Io1anthe and of The Mikado were presented during the campaign against the abolition of the Greater London Council. The English National Opera have taken both Patience and The Mikado into their repertoire at the Coliseum. And many other pieces written by Gilbert and Sullivan independently, outside their partnership, have been revived by professional and amateur companies in recent years. Despite a long struggle and considerable financial sponsorship, the original D'Oyly Carte Company eventually collapsed under the commercial burdens involved in producing Gilbert and Sullivan operas in repertory on the professional stage. Its successor company has experienced similar difficulties. However, there are many amateur groups all over the country -- indeed, all over the English-speaking world -- very well placed to sustain and enhance an honourable tradition which began on 30 April 1879. For it was on that date, in a drill hall at Kingston-upon-Thames in Surrey, that the Harmonists Choral Society presented the very first amateur production of a Savoy opera -- H.M.S. Pinafore.
Wherever the English language is spoken, wherever English music is played and wherever the English sense of humour is understood and enjoyed, Gilbert and Sullivan operas will continue to be performed. That is their true legacy to us, and the delight and applause of audiences over the years is our true tribute to them. It is one which both these men of genius would have been more than happy to accept.

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Born in Zwickau, Germany in 1810, Robert Schumann started his musical education on the piano. The son of a bookseller, he began to experiment with composition at an early age, and also cultivated a passion for poetry and literature. Although richly talented, he was never considered a prodigy, especially by the standards of the time. At sixteen, after the tragic deaths of his sister and father, he entered the University of Leipzig to study the law; but this didn't last long, and soon he had left the school to pursue music with all his energies.
At the age of twenty, Schumann was studying the piano with Friedrich Wieck in Leipzig; he also boarded with the Wieck family. Although a hand injury prevented him from pursuing a career as a keyboard virtuoso, he found a niche writing music criticism - and composing, an activity, which was starting to focus his considerable talents. In the early 1830s, he published several piano pieces to critical acclaim. In 1834, he founded the New Journal for Music and served as its editor for the next nine years; the publication attacked what Schumann felt were the shallow and inconsequential musical practices of the day. On the positive side, he recognized the brilliance of Chopin and Brahms.
Meanwhile, Schumann continued to compose. In 1835 he fell in love with his former piano teacher's daughter, Clara Wieck - who was only sixteen at the time. Her father, although he liked Schumann, wanted more financial security for his daughter, and opposed the union hotly. But the couple persevered, and they were married in 1840. That year was Schumann's happiest as a composer. He wrote over 130 songs, including the gorgeous Widmung, and threw himself into his first symphonic projects. The next year, his first two symphonies were performed; after that, he delved into chamber music writing.
But the happiness and creative fire was not to last. In the early 1840s, Schumann began to suffer from mental illness; even while accepting a position at Mendelssohn's conservatory in Leipzig, his brain was beginning to deteriorate. He attempted suicide, and was committed to an asylum in Bonn. There he died, aged 46, in 1856.
Schumann was a master of piano music, both in minor settings and in fully developed sonatas and a Concerto. As a symphonist, he is regarded as a talented, but not masterful, creator of large orchestral forms; nor was he successful as a composer of operas. It is in his piano music and his songs - Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und Leben in particular - that he accomplished his greatest work, and this music takes its rightful place among the greatest achievements of the early Romantic period.
Several musical selections from Schumann's works can be found in the Victorian Station Gramophone.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Tchaikovsky studied music sporadically early in his life, but took a job as a government clerk. Hating the post, he turned to music and studied at the newly founded music school in St. Petersburg. Here his compositions garnered much attention and Tchaikovsky was hailed as the hope of Russia's musical future. Yet much of Tchaikovsky's early works were harshly criticized by his peers and teachers, especially by the Russian nationalist composers comprising "The Mighty Five." But his music usually always found favor with the public. Such works include his first three symphonies, the Violin concerto in D major, and the immensely popular Piano Concerto no. 1 in B-flat minor.
Tchaikovsky, always self-critical, felt he was unable to grasp the concepts of musical form, and so relied heavily on romantic melodies and colorful orchestration. This reliance on "the big tune" is apparent in his best works, and is largely responsible for his overwhelming popularity among newcomers to classical music and in concerts of "popular" classics. Among his most popular works is the 1812 Overture, composed in 1880 as part of the celebrations commemorating Russia's defeat of Napoleon.
In 1877, Tchaikovsky received some commissions from a wealthy widow, Nadezhda von Meck, whose continued patronage and financial gifts enabled Tchaikovsky to devote all of his time to composing. The Symphony No. 4 in F minor was the first of these later works, and although Madame von Meck and Tchaikovsky communicated almost daily by letters, during their fifteen-year relationship they never once met. One of his most successful and still popular works from this period is the opera Eugene Onegin . .
The romantic in Tchaikovsky found its greatest outlet in his three great ballet scores, all of which are eternally popular. The Nutcracker is a perennial Christmas favorite, and the well-known theme of the tragic Swan-Princess from Swan Lake seems to embody the intense, heartfelt, romanticized suffering which Tchaikovsky's music gives voice to so often. Nowhere is this sad, yearning quality more in evidence than in the first movement of his Symphony no. 6 in B minor, nicknamed by his brother Modeste "Pathetique".
Tchaikovsky died soon after the premiere of the symphony, very likely from suicide, although the jury is still out on that.
Several musical selections from Tchaikovsky's works can be found in the Victorian Station Gramophone.

Frederic Francois Chopin (1810 - 1849)

Frederic Chopin was born in 1810, in Zelazowa-Wola, a town near Warsaw, Poland. Publicly performing on the piano at the age of eight, Chopin began to compose soon afterward. With his lyrical, often melancholy, compositions, he brought romantic piano music to unprecedented heights of expressiveness.
A prodigy as a pianist and a composer, he began performing at aristocratic salons in Warsaw, and in 1826 he began full-time studies at the Warsaw Conservatory. After concert appearances in Vienna and Munich, he settled in Paris, where he gave his first concert in 1831. Although he remained always devoted to Polish culture and artists, he never returned to his homeland.
In Paris he became closely associated with the principal composers, artists, and literary figures of his time. He was a virtuoso interpreter of his own works, but his dislike of playing in public made him prefer teaching and composing to the concert stage. In 1836, Liszt introduced him to Mme Dudevant, better known by her pen name George Sand, with whom he spent the winter of 1838–39 in Majorca; there, despite worsening pulmonary illness, he wrote his 24 preludes, which are counted among his finest compositions.
The stormy affair with the novelist lasted until 1847, by which time Chopin's illness had developed into tuberculosis. He made a last concert tour through Great Britain in 1848. Chopin established the piano as a solo instrument free from choral or orchestral influence. Even in the piano concertos in E Minor (1833) and in F Minor (1836), the orchestra is completely dominated by the piano.
Other major works include the sonatas in B Flat Minor (1840) and B Minor (1845), and two sets of ้tudes (1833, 1837). Because of their highly romantic quality, some of his works have become known by descriptive titles that he did not give them; they were published simply as nocturnes, scherzos, ballades, waltzes, impromptus, fantasies, and the like. Polish nationalism is evident in his many polonaises and mazurkas. His last concert was a benefit performance for Polish refugees, and at his funeral in Paris, Polish soil was strewn on his grave.
Several musical selections from Chopin's works can be found in the Victorian Station Gramophone.

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)

Liszt was the son of a steward in the service of the Esterhแzy family, patrons of Haydn. He was born in 1811 at Raiding in Hungary and moved as a child to Vienna, where he took piano lessons from Czerny and composition lessons from Salieri.
Two years later, in 1823, he moved with his family to Paris, from where he toured widely as a pianist. Influenced by the phenomenal violinist Paganini, he turned his attention to the development of a similar technique as a pianist and in 1835 left Paris with his mistress, the Comtesse d'Agoult, with whom he traveled widely during the following years, as his reputation as a pianist of astonishing powers grew.
In 1844 he separated from his mistress, the mother of his three children, and in 1848 settled in Weimar as Director of Music Extraordinary, accompanied by Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein and turning his attention now to composition and in particular to the creation of a new form, the symphonic poem.
In 1861 Liszt moved to Rome, where he found expression for his long-held religious leanings. From 1869 he returned regularly to Weimar, where he had many pupils, and later he accepted similar obligations in Budapest, where he was regarded as a national hero.
He died in Bayreuth in 1886, four years after the death of his son-in-law Wagner. As a pianist, he had no equal, and as a composer he suggested to a younger generation of musicians the new course that music was to take.
Several musical selections from Liszt's works can be found in the Victorian Station Gramophone

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

During his first visit to Vienna in 1787 Beethoven impressed Mozart with his improvisations at the keyboard. Before any formal tuition could take place, however, news that Beethoven's mother was dying took him back to Bonn. By the time he returned to Vienna in 1792, Mozart too was dead. He went instead to Johann Albrechtsberger for composition lessons. Meanwhile, Beethoven's career as a pianist made a promising start. He made his first appearances in Vienna in 1795 playing his Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat, and was soon established as the city's leading pianist. Other compositions from the 1790's include piano sonatas, cello sonatas and violin sonatas. He completed his first symphony in 1800 and his first set of string quartets in 1801. Beethoven was Vienna's first successful freelance musician. He had wealthy aristocratic friends, patrons and perhaps loves, to whom he dedicated his early compositions in return for payment. His success in such circles, despite notoriously awkward manners, an unpredictable temper and a refusal to defer to superior social rank, can be attributed to his genius and personal magnetism.
Beginning in 1798, Beethoven experienced a continual humming and whistling in his ears that gradually grew stronger, eventually prompting the agonizing realization that he was going deaf. In 1802, in a state of desperation in which he contemplated suicide, Beethoven retired to the secluded village of Heiligenstadt and addressed to his brothers a statement expressing his anguish. The Heiligenstadt Testament, as it is known, marks the start of a new period in Beethoven's output; the next ten years saw one of the most prodigious outpourings of masterpieces in the history of music. By 1812 he had completed Symphony 2, 3 Eroica, 4, 5, 6 Pastoral, 7 and 8, Piano Concerto No. 4 and No. 5 Emperor, the Violin Concerto, his opera Fidelio, the three Rasumovsky String Quartets and a wealth of piano sonatas and other works. Haydn and Mozart had demonstrated that melody alone, no matter how beautiful, could not hold an audience's attention for more than a minute or two and had mastered the principle of using harmonic tension to sustain large-scale structures. But Beethoven went further; with the first movement of the Eroica Symphony (1803) he created a single span of uninterrupted music of unprecedented length. He also widened the scope of the piano sonata to symphonic proportions with his Waldstein Sonata (1803) - dedicated to his old friend Count Waldstein - and even more with the Appassionata (1804-4). In this he introduced new dynamic extremes, shattering the thoughtful calm of the opening with sudden fortissimo chords.
This music was revolutionary, and not only in technique. Beethoven's expanded forms broadened the scope for emotional expression, giving voice to the revolutionary spirit of the age. What raises Beethoven's genius in music to the level of Shakespeare's in literature is his supreme mastery of musical form. He was able to create vast and complex musical structures stemming from the fundamental building blocks of music itself. For him a simple musical figure had manifold implications that could generate an entire symphony.
Most of 1818 was taken up with his colossal Hammerklavier Sonata, and the years until 1824 were divided between the last three Piano Sonatas, the Diabelli Variations, the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony. This work, whose final movement is a triumphant setting of Schiller's Ode to Joy, again broke new ground in terms of scale and introduced choral forces into the symphony for the first time. After the performance Beethoven stood stone deaf on the stage, oblivious of everything, until one of the soloists turned him around to see the thunderous applause. In his final years Beethoven turned once again to the string quartet. In 1825 and 1826 he produced five works, at once profoundly complex and serene, for this intimate medium. He had become preoccupied with fugal techniques, just as in later life Bach had done, and the Grosse Fuge - originally the finale to his Quartet in B flat - is one of the most extended and elaborate examples of the form. These last works were far ahead of their time and still challenge scholars and listeners.
Several musical selections from Beethoven's works can be found in the Victorian Station Gramophone.

time line

1837
Queen Victoria comes to the throne.

1839
First Opium War in China.

1840
Marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert; Penny post starts; Annexation of New Zealand.

1842
Opening of the Great Western railway.

1840s
Railway mania hits Britain.

1842
Attempted assassination of Queen Victoria.


1845
Potato famine hits Ireland.

1846
Corn Laws are abolished.


1848
Revolutions break out across Europe.

1850
The first public libraries open.

1851
Great exhibition opens in Crystal Palace.

1852
Britain annexes Burma.


1854-1856
The Crimean War.


1855
Livingstone discovers and names the Victoria Falls on Africa's Zambezi River.


1856
Victoria Cross is created to reward bravery in battle.


1857
The Indian Mutiny happens; the Second Opium War in China occurs.


1858
The London Omnibus company is founded.


1859
Darwin's On the Origin of Species is published.


1860
The navy launches its iron warships.


1861
Prince Albert dies from typhoid; Civil War begins in America.


1867
Diamonds are discovered in South Africa; The second Reform Act is passed.


1869
The Suez Canal is opened in Egypt.


1871
Henry Morton Stanley finds Livingstone in Africa.


1873
Asante war occurs on the Gold Coast.


1876
Christians are massacred in Turkish Bulgaria; Disraeli becomes Earl of Beaconsfield; First telephone call made by Alexander Graham Bell.


1877
Queen Victoria made Empress of India; The first Wimbledon tennis championships are played.


1879
The Zulu War occurs in Africa, with British army defeated and humiliated at Isandhlwana); Britain invades Afghanistan.


1880
The first Boer War.


1881
Boers defeat British in Boer War; Wales bans drinking on Sunday; Parnell is sent to prison in Ireland.


1884-1885
Berlin Conference ends the scramble for Africa; Third Reform Act passed by Parliament.


1885
The Fall of Khartoum; The motor car is invented; The Indian National Congress is started in Bombay to help Indians play a larger role in the government of their country, which is under British rule.


1886
Gold is discovered in South Africa's Transvaal.


1888
Match girls' strike; Jack the Ripper terrorizes London.


1890
Cecil Rhodes becomes prime minister of Cape Colony.


1892
Kier Hardie becomes first Labor Party MP.


1894
Rudyard Kipling writes The Jungle Book.


1896
The British invade Sudan; Kaiser sends a telegram to Rhodes regarding the Jameson Raid; Invention of X-ray photographs.


1897
Queen Victoria's Jubliee.


1898
The Boxer Rebellion happens in China.

1899
The Boer War.

1900
Sigmund Freud publishes the Interpretation of Dreams.


1901
Queen Victoria dies.

Antique words, or words of changed usage

(c) 1996 by C.J. Cherryh
Consult the right hand for words to watch out for: words that are too modern, slang, or out of place in any attempt to render an old style. or antique flavor in dialogue or text Sometimes the meanings are vastly changed; Consult the left hand, for the older expression.
Sometimes it's useful to look up the other word, too: sometimes both are acceptable, but at least the left hand column will give you a sense of what to look for and what should trigger alarm bells in a writer attempting the older style. Remember that the circulation of the blood and the function of the brain were late scientific discoveries, and while explosions can happen in the ancient world, explosive agents were a little rarer...as a rough example of knowledge we tend to take for granted.. At a certain point in the list (which is not scholarly, but rather composed as my own checklist) you will find I reverse the procedure and list modern things and their equivalents in the pre-1900's world.
Examples of usage are in [ ]'s.
a merry : a fine [mess]
a plague on : damn . . .
abandon : lack of concern for appearance
abide : allow
about : around [about the house]
above : [heaven, residence of deities]
abroad : running around in the world
absent a reason : without a cause
absented : gone away [absented himself]
abundant : a lot of
accomplished : skilled
account : [give an account of oneself]
accursed : cursed
acknowledge : own up to as offspring
act : [act the fool]
acute : sharp, as pain
addled : [addled wit] confused, shaken up
ado : commotion
ado : fuss
afforded : gave [afforded a view, a smile]
affrighted : scared
affrighted : frightened
again : once more
aggrieved : offended [esp. aggreived party]
ague : fever
aha : ah
air : appearance of [have the air of] feeling of; 2) heaven
alarm, take : be startled
along : beside
aloud : out loud
altogether : entirely
amends : [make amends, amend] apologize
amid : in the middle of
amiss : wrong
amongst : in the midst of [people or objects]
an : if
anguish : pain
anon : soon
another : another [person]
answer : respond to
anxious : worried
appetite : desire
appointed : authorized
apt : inclined to
arms : weapons
arrived : got there [eliminate the word `got' except as `obtained'
ashore : onto the shore
aside : away from the others
askance : [look askance at] give a sidelong, misgiving glance
ass : donkey
astir : moving around
athwart : across
atop : on top of
attained : [attained to] reached; 2) get, got
aught : anything
autumn : fall
avenge : take vengeance or revenge upon or for
awaiting : waiting for
aware : conscious
awash : flooded
aye : yes, 2) [for aye] for ever
a-with verb : in the process of a-twinkle, a-stream, later elided
babes : babies
backward : shy, awkward
bandit : different than outlaw
bar : prevent, block; lock
barb : catch, hook
barked : skinned, as knee
barren : childless 2) lacking produce, a barren land
bartered : traded
bathe : take bath, give bath
bay : at bay; back to wall
bear bearing : having offspring; giving birth to 2) carry
beckon : gesture to come
become becoming : appropriate for
bedclothes : sheets
befallen : happened to
befell : happened to
beg : ask
bent : inclination [a wicked bent]
bereft : robbed of
besetting : attacking, prevalent [a besetting sin]
beside : besides
besmirched : muddy
best : had best= had better
bestir : get moving
betters : one's superiors in rank
bid : tell, order
bidding : orders
bid, bade, bidden : tell, order
binding : tying
blast : explosions are unknown: this word applies to divine apparitions
: only the wind can blow, unless A Blow, a strike: no explosives
bog : marshy area, esp. peat
bore : carried
born : be born, ie come into the world
borne : carried, or born as in bear a child
bosom : breast
bothy : small shack, hut
boughs : branches with leaves
bound : tied; bent on; sworn to do
bowstaves : body of bow with string undone
brace : pair of
bracken : fern
brain : not clearly understood as site of thought or feeling: seen in split skull
branch : line of descent
brave : gutsy
breast : 1) chest, male or female 2) female 3) plow through, vb.
breath : life, [the breath in him]
bridge : span
bridle : 1) a bridle 2) control [bridle your temper] 3) take umbrage at
brink : edge
brink : edge
briskly : energetically
brook : creek
brow : forehead
brute : raw, as in force
budge : make move
burn : a river
canny : smart
care : concern about
cared : was worried about: not used for `love'
careful, be : watch out, look out
cast : throw, pitch
cauldron : large round pot
cause : reason for
cell : a priest's room
certain : sure, inevitable
chance : luck [by chance, perchance] 2) happen [he chanced by]
charged : instructed
charity : compassion
charm : a luck piece
chary : cautious, careful
chase : the chase chided : scolded
chill : cold
choice : the best
choler : anger
choleric : habitually angry
churlish : unmannerly, ill bred
circuit : a course around
cistern : rain-catching basin or well, as opposed to spring-fed
clap : slap [on shoulder]
clasped : shook as hands
clever : smart
cling : hang on
close : to close with, to join battle; also 2) a narrow alley between building
clothe : dress
clue : idea
companion : buddy
compel : make
confound : confuse
confusion : panic, mental disarray
constancy : faithfulness
content in : happy with
contest, vb : argue with [ do not contest him]
contrary : nay-saying
convenience : agreement, also, later, a W.C.
convenient : agreed [a convenient day]
cord : rope or twine
counsel : advise; advise also used
countenance : expression on face; also 2) look on with acquiescence to
course : the hunt; give chase: pursue, chase
courted : was suitor to
cozening : tricking, tricky, lying
crofter : smallholder, Scot.
crossed : irritated
cry : shout
cuffed : boxed, hit lightly
curious : odd
curious : odd
darkling : dark and getting darker
darksome : dark
deadfall : a downed limb
deal : a deal; a lot
deal a blow : hit
dear : expensive
dearth : shortage, scarcity
deceive : lie [deceive me of=lie to myself about]
deed : action
deeds : actions
degree : rank
delve : dig
delver : digger
despite : in spite of
device : pattern or image on heraldic banner or shield
dire : serious
direly : in a serious manner
discomfit : set off balance mentally
disposed : inclined to [do]
dispossessed : put out of
dispute, to : quarrel with [he disputed his king]
disquieted : upset
disspirited : crushed
distracted : crazed, acting irrationally
doff : take off
dog, to : track
doings : actions
doom : judgement
doubtful : up for grabs [a doubtful contest]
dour : humorless; dull
douse : wet down
downcast : depressed
draw : pull
draw (bow) : aim but not fire
ducking : throwing in water
dumb : mute
duress : compulsion by force
durst : dared
earnest : a pledge, an earnest of
else : or
embers : glowing stage, often interchanged with coals
embrace : hug
enamored : in love with
enough! : cut it out!
ere : before; before is also acceptable
erstwhile : once
exceeding : very [no -ly]
except : [Except he come] if he doesn't; with Subjunctive
faint : pass out
fair : light
faithless : disloyal
false : faithless, or lying
familiar : belonging to close group of associates [one's familiar] fare : do, as in welfare
fast : firm, tight
fast : strongly [hold fast]
fellow : buddy, companion
fellow : companion [not polite as term of address]
fever : any sickness
fisher : fisherman
fishes : pl. of fish
fit : able, 2) a seizure
fling : throw
folk : a people, a certain group of people
font : fountain, source
forbear : stop
forbear : restrain oneself from
forswear : give up; forsworn: having broken an oath, a serious business
forthwith : quickly, now
fortnight : 14 days
foxes : common European pest
front : confront
fruitless : useless
furious : frenetic
gall : irritate
garments : clothes
gentle : wellborn, attribute of wellborn
gibed : teased, jeered
give over! : cut it out!
glamor : fairy illusion, making something seem better than it is
glanced : bounced
glean : pick up spare grain
gleaned : picked out
gnaw : erode
go to : buzz off
gorse : tumbleweed like brush
gory : bloody
grace : favor, good will
granddam : grandma
grateful : pleasing
greatly, often : a lot
grievously : seriously, severely
gull : trick [gullible]
hail : greet
hale : cause to come along, often by force
hallow : supernatural, either sacred or ghostly
happy : fortunate
hare : rabbit
haste : to hurry
haste : hurry
hasty : impetuous
haunts : ghosts
hazard : to risk
head : not considered seat of purposeful thought or resolution, but of reason
headlong : headfirst
heap : pile
heart : not understood to circulate blood, only to beat quickly when excited
heart : considered seat of emotions; head considered seat of reason
heaviness : depression
heavy : sad
hereabouts : near here
hindmost : last
hist : psst!
hoard : store
hold . . .tongue : shut up
hold! : stop! cut it out!
hour : highly imprecise: usually 1/10 of available daylight, with 6th at noon
household : includes servants
hoyden : tomboy, trollop
humor : disposition
hurtled : plummeted
husband : save back
hush : shut up
idly : to no purpose or meaning
ilk : sort, kind
ill : harm
inconstant : fickle
instant : quick to move [instant upon]; pressing upon, original meaning
intend : ain
iron : believed to harm fairies
itch : yen
jape : prank
jest : joke
joiner : carpenter
joint : roast
jug : bottles were too expensive for most purposes
just : fair
keen : sharp, eager
keep : castle center
ken : know, know also acceptable
knoll, knowe : small hill
laden : loaded
laggard : slowpoke
least : smallest
lesser : smaller
lest : so that . . . not, used with Subjunctive: [lest he come]
let : rent
let : hinder [without let or hindrance]
lightly : fecklessly
lips : mouth; : mouth generally taken to be inside
loath to : reluctant to
lodge : stay [temporarily]
lonely : isolate, as house
lost : done for
lump : oaf
mad : crazy: never means angry
maiden : first-timer, of either gender [maiden knight]
manner : behavior, Attitude
marches : borders
marked : noticed
marsh : a wide bog
master : form of address
mazed : amazed, dazed
measure : [his measure] how tough he is
meek : quiet
meet [on the field] : armed meeting
mend your . . . : behave!
merriment, mirth : laughter
mettle : guts
mid : the middle [the mid of the night, the watch, etc.]
might : energy
millrace : water headed for millwheel
mince : walk effeminately
mind : remember
mind your . . . : behave!
mirth : laughter
mischief : no good actions
mistake me : are wrong about me, my intentions
mock : make fun of
moderately : reasonably [answered him moderately]
mortal : human
mote : small speck
nape : back of neck
naught : nothing
neath : beneath
nether : bottom, under
nets, snare : trap
nice : precise
nimble : agile
nimble : agile
nock : fit arrow to bowstring
noisome : nasty
nook : small recess
nor . . . nor : [Nor one nor 't other.]: neither-nor; same with either-or=or-or
not, n't : to avoid n't, use never, neither, nor did he, etc.
not : in really old English comes after simple verbs: come not
also with pronoun intervening: come ye not: a command
oath, on my : on my word
oddments : scrap
over- : too, excessively, as prefix
over-long : too long
own to : confess, claim as one's own
pains : hurts [it pains me]
passable : ok
passage of arms : a bout, a brief clash
passing : momentary
peculiar : one's own
pine : grieve
porridge : oatmeal, grain cereal
portcullis : barred gate of castle
potent : powerful politically or religiously
pray : ask
pray : please
preferred : passed someone in front of someone else
prickled : itches and prickles announced omens
prithee : please
privates : genitals; balls
privily : privately
prone : flat on face
prove : turn out [he proved a fool]
pyre : funeral fire
quickly : fast
receive : agree to talk with in one's own establishment
reek : smell bad
reeling : staggering
regard : look [a burning regard]
remorse : regret
rime : frost
rude : roughly hacked from wood; rough; uncultured
rue : regret; also an herb
sack : loot
satisfy : formally finish a quarrel, or duel
savor : the taste
scapegrace : rascal
scarcely : only just
scatheless : unharmed; also unscathed
score : 20
seat : means more than chair: can mean important chair of lord
seek : look for, go to
seize : grab; arrest
seize : grab
sense : consciousness; five senses
shall : used only with I and we, unless as command
sheet : rope on sail
shone : shined
shrink from : flinch from
signs : portents
silly : stupid
simple : foolish [he is a simple man: : not flattering]
skein : bundle of yarn or rope
skirt : go around
skull : often used for `head'
slates : roof slates, shingles
smart : hurt [it smarts=it hurts]
snatched : grabbed
sooth : truth
sore : very, badly [sore afraid]
sorts, out of : sullen
souls : people, persons, individuals
space, a : a while [time as well as distance]
spate : brief, violent flow [a river in spate]
spite : nastiness
spoils : the loot
sported : played
sprite : spirit
spurned : kicked from underfoot
stamped : never stomped
stane : stone
stare : [in fright]
start : jump in startlement
stature : height
stay : hold [stay one's hand]
stayed for : waited for
stay! : wait!
steadfast : faithful
steady : faithful
steal : go quietly
stiff-necked : stubborn, hard-headed
straggle : come in few at a time, or disorganized
straitly : precisely, with narrow definition
stricken : having been struck
strides : long steps
stroke : blow
subtle : clever
suffer : allow
sufficed : was enough
sum : total
sure : definitely loyal
surety : guarantee
swiftly : fast
take oath : swear
taken, be : get caught
talents : abilities
teeth, in the . . .of : in the face of, as [fling in teeth of]
temper : disposition; also temper metal
tender : gentle
thatch : straw roof
thrice : three times
thrust : shove
tinker : small scale smith
to course : run
tread : step on
troubled : upset
true : faithful [a true man]
true : real
tug : pull
twain : two [in twain, the twain]
tweak : pinch lightly
upright : proper; on one's feet
use : treat [use one badly]
vain : useless, empty, shallow
vantage : high spot to look out from [seek a better vantage]
vault : arch-ceilinged room
very : complete [ a very fool]
vex : annoy
villain : peasant
virtue : powers [healing virtue]
visage : face, expression
vitals : gut
waft : float on air
wager : bet
wake : wake up
wane : grow smaller
ware, be : watch out, look out
wary : on guard
war, to : make war [against]
waste : desert, 2) to lay waste : to make desolate
watch : the night is divided into 4 watches of so many hours each
wax : grow larger
weary : tired
weathercock : [late] weathervane, coward
weep : cry
weird : a prophecy of one's fate
wend : go in a winding course
whence : from what place [whence he comes, not from whence]
whereafter : after which; and after this
which : can = and that, or And this---[Which he knew]
whiles : while
whilst : while
whim : spur of moment decision, lightly taken
whither : to what point [whither goest thou?]
wholly : entirely
whom : acts like him: if you'd say him if the clause were reversed, it's whom
who/whom : who acts like a noun and does not agree with its antecedent
wiles : cleverness
will : intend
will : used with pronouns except I & we, unless as command
will : intent, consent
willful : stubborn, hard-headed
willfully : obstinately
will, with a : gladly
wink at : ignore
winter : year of life, he has 12 winters.
wit : brain, sense of humor
within : inside
witling : fool
wits : brains, mind
wonder, a : a strange thing
worth : value
wrench : sprain
yard : understood as court- or stable-
yield : give up
youth : young man
-bred : mannered; of social class
-st, or -t : verb ending with you singular
-th : verb ending with he, she, it
-witted : half, lack, slack, scatter
Scottish dialect
ach :(disgust, contempt)
agley : amiss
ain : own
alane : alone
auld : old
awa' : left, was awa'; gone; away
ay : always
aye : . yes
aye : one; a
a' : all
back of : at the back of, just after.
bairn : child
bannock : cake of oatmeal
beast : animal
besom : harridan; a broom of sticks
bide : wait
blether : blather
bogle, straw bogle : scarecrow; bogie man
bonny : lovely
bothy : a rough hut of shepherds, etc.
brae : steep slope; river bank; hillside
braid : broad
braw : handsome, fine
bree : juice, barley bree
breeks : trousers
broch : ancient round stone fort
burn : stream, small river
byre : cowshed
cairn : heap of stones
canny : careful, gentle: ant. no canny
carl : peasant
carline : old woman
cauld : cold
causey : cobbled roadway
ca' : call, drive, (like ago)
close : covered passageway between two bulidings, alley
corbie : raven
couthie : pleasant
croft : smallholding
dae : do
daft : nuts
daith : death
deer forest : forest for hunting: hunting preserve
defender : scots law : defendant
deid : dead
deil : devil
dinnae : don't
dirk : belt dagger (sgian dubh, worn at calf)
dochter : daughter
doon : down
douce : quiet
dour : grim, dull
dram : drink
drouth : thirst
drove road : a drovers' track
drystane wall : rubble wall without mortar
dyke : stone wall
faither : father
fank : sheepfold
fash : annoy
fause : false
faut : fault
fa' : fall
fire-raising : arson
forby : as well, in addition
forenoon : morning
forest : a large wooded tract, hunting reserve
foust : mould
gae,
gang : go
gan,
gaun,
gey : very
gillie : servant, attendant
gin : if only
gi', gie : give
glen : narrow valley
gloaming : evening twilight
green : lawn
greet : weep, cry
guid : good
hae : have
hame : home
haugh : river meadow
heid : head
heidbanger : stupid, crazy person
heugh : steep cliff; deep gorge or ravine
hoodie (craw) : hooded crow, carrion crow
ilk a : each, every
ilk : that ilk, the same place
ilk : sort
joiner : carpenter
ken : know
kist : chest
know : knowl, little hill
Lammastide : August 1
laird : landlord
lang : long
leal : loyal
line : a credit account with a shop, or prescription
loch : lake or fjord, fresh or salt
Merry Dancers : northern lights
mair : more
maist : omst
man, mon, : man; also address in surprise or exasperation
march : boundary
maun : must
messages : go the messages, do the shopping
midden : rubbish heap
mill lade : channel of water to a mill
mill race : (I think) water leaving a millwheel
mind : remember
mither : mother
moss : a stretch of moorland or boggy ground
muckle : big
Nick : the devil
nae weel : ill
nane : none
na, nae : not
neep : turnip
neuk : a corner, a point of land
next : Tuesday next, eg., next Tuesday but one; Tuesday first is the real next.
nicht : night
no bad : very good
noo : now
nor : than
o : of
och : exclamation of sorrow, pain, annoyance
ocht : any
or : before
outwith : beyond, outside
pan bread, pan loaf : bread baked in a pan;
pan loaf, to talk : to sound like an Englishman.
past : to put past = put away for later use
pibroch : bagpipe music
piece : piece of bread with butter; a jeelie piece
pig : earthenware jug, or hotwater bottle
pinkie : little finger
pit : put
pled : past tense of plead
plowter : mess about in water, potter
poke : a bag
policies : ground around a large house
press : cupboard, esp. a wall cupboard
provost : an English mayor; Lord Provost of Glasgow
public room : a room in a house for entertaining
pudding : a sausage of entrails, blood, oatmeal
puir : poor
pursuer : scots law--- a plaintiff in civil case
quaich : sort of a patera with two handles
ragnail : hangnail
reek : smoke
reid : red
retiral : retirement
richt : right
rone : roof-gutter; rone-pipe, downspout
roon : round
Sassenach : Englishman
sae : so
saft : soft
sair : sore; a sair fecht: a hard fight
sark : shirt
sett : pattern of squares and stripes in a tartan
sgian dubh : black knife worn in stocking
sherrif : chief judge in an area
sheuch : ditch, drain, street gutter
shieling : a summer pasture; also a rough hut with it
shot : a brief use of
siller : silver, money
skellie-eyed : squinty
skite : slide, slither, to knock and cause to go off at an angle
sleekit : smooth, cunning, false
sma' : small; sma' hours = early
souch : rushing sound
sporran : purse in front of kilt
stane : stone
stank : gutter/grating
stave : sprain a joint
stook : a number of sheaves drying in a field
stookie : plaster
supper, fish supper : fish and chips
sweetie-wife : effeminate man
tae : to; too
tak : take
tattie : potato
tattie-
thraw : throw
till : to
trews : trousers, closefitting
tryst : agreed meeting
twa, twae : two
tyne : lose
venom : poison
wee : small
weel : well
weet the bairn's head : drink a toast in honor of newborn: Christian
weet : wet
wha' : who
wheesht : hush!
wi' : with
wrath : anger, see choler, which is habit
yon : that
Words and concepts to watch
Certain words and concepts don't exist in the ancient world
Modern Try instead:
a lot many, much
analyze scope, ken, scry
animal beast
babysit wet-nurse
babysitter, governess nurse
baby, to cajole
bastard is one
blow up dissolve
book codex
book-roll scroll
boring tedious
bright only means light: see smart
calculate, do math cipher
communicate say, tell, convey message, send
constant only in meaning of faithful: try very
counterclockwise widdershins
crazy mad
dumb means mute: try lack-witted, dull.
energetic vigorous
energy no such word or cognates
fast quickly, swiftly; quick, swift
steady -fast, constant
fink traitor
grab grasp, seize, take up, take, snatch
head as seat of emotion heart
head as seat of thought mind, wit, wits
head, top of pate
heartbeat beat of heart
heart: as circulatory blood ran cold, hot
highway does exist, but are the few main (king's) roads
inhabitants folk
involve it regardeth him: it involves him
is about concern
is busy at is about [his business]
lousy calamitous
nag scold
notary public scribe
people folk
person man, woman
planets stars, mostly, except brightest
pretty comely
psych front, confront
psychotic driven, possessed
rat bastard blackguard
real true
real bad grievous
reality verity
revolve around concern
shoot more often: loose, let fly
sky air, heaven
smart clever, canny, sly
logding for sheep: fold
cows: byre
pigs: sty
dogs: kennel
horses: stable
goats: pen (or wherever else they'll stay)
doves: cote
fish trap weir
willow wands withies
stamp seal
street try also: lanes, closes, mews, courts.
sun the Sun
think believe, have credence, as often as not
toxicity venom
track pursuing animals or people
traveling salesman peddlar
tricky cunning
worker in smith (iron)
silversmith
goldsmith
tinsmith
coppersmith
(cookware) repairman tinker
writer scrivener
fumes vapors
folk medicines simples
magic, practice of grammarie
bedroom chamber
women's quarters bower
man in charge of hunt: master huntsman, huntmaster
weapons: armsmaster, weapons master
students: tutor
cavalry: master of horse
infantry foot
cavalry horse
grimace pull a face, frown
dining room great hall
throne room great hall
small gate by big one sally port
chain mail more often, chain
mace not a chemical
discourage dishearten
depress make distraught
con artist cozener
trick gull, cheat
atmosphere air
horizon as a concept, not very clear
curve bent
inclination bent
head to head corps a corps (fencing)
bomb surprise
delete expunge, eradicate
origin root
dictator tyrant
body count tally
body bag shroud
get the idea comprehend, wot
two-faced duplicitous
hot and heavy amain
hearsay gossip
give hostage foster out
out of control career, careen
control dominance, domination, under one's hand, authority

Helen Rowland Quotes

• One man's folly is another man's wife.
• There is a vast difference between the savage and the civilized man, but it is never apparent to their wives until after breakfast.
• It takes a woman twenty years to make a man of her son, and another woman twenty minutes to make a fool of him.
• To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.
• Before marriage, a man declares that he would lay down his life to serve you; after marriage, he won't even lay down his newspaper to talk to you.
• A husband is what's left of the lover after the nerve has been extracted.
• Never trust a husband too far or a bachelor too near.
• The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.
• To a woman the first kiss is just the end of the beginning but to a man it is the beginning of the end.

how did the railways change the lives of people in victorian britain?

Most of the working people, who came to the Great Exhibition on the 'Shilling Days', arrived by rail, often from the north of England. King's Cross station had been opened in 1850 and there were nearly 7,000 miles of track linking London with the towns of the Midlands and the North.
The most popular way of getting to the Great Exhibition was by buying a ticket that included a return rail journey and entry. These could cost 4, 5 or 6 shillings. Hundreds of thousands of people took advantage of these day trips, which were the idea of Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook started his business in 1841, but the Great Exhibition gave him his big chance.
He booked trains from all over Britain to take people to the Great Exhibition and charged them a fixed price for the return trip and the entry ticket. Overnight he had invented the 'Day Out'. As Cook’s business grew he began to offer excursions to more and more places, including trips to other European countries. When Thomas Cook’s son took over the family business he increased the tours abroad and offered a wider choice of excursions. Soon the railway companies began to run their
own excursions.

At first, railway companies tried to avoid catering for the masses and preferred to run trains that only offered second and first class carriages. They also tried to avoid stopping their trains at every station. But in 1844 the Railways Act stated that at least one train a day must stop at every station and include third class carriages. Now large numbers of Victorians could afford to travel. Rich people could even take their horses with them on special hunting excursions!
The railways were to make a huge difference to the leisure activities of the Victorians. Not only were opportunities for holidays and day trips increased, sporting events also grew in popularity. Special trains and trips were run to take people to the races, cricket matches or the FA Cup Final, which was held for the first time in 1872. It was not only spectators that benefited, the football clubs that were being started in many of Britain’s Happy cities could now travel away to play against each other.
In 1888 the Football League was founded. This was made up of professional teams. It would have been impossible for the first teams to have travelled to play away matches without regular trains. So the railways were very important in the development of professional football in Britain.

But many of these developments only affected the better off people in Britain. For most working people, the important changes were the cheap day returns that many railway companies started to offer.

In 1871 Bank Holidays were introduced and so began the great British tradition of the day at the seaside, along with sticks of rock, candy-floss, walks along the pier, fun-fair rides and fish and chips. The first fish and chip shops appeared in the 1860s.

Queen Victoria's Empire Lesson Plans2

by Lisa Prososki



Plan 2: A Victorian News Magazine

Subject Areas: High School World History, Communication Arts, and Journalism

Objective: Students will create a special feature news magazine that highlights
Queen Victoria and her reign over England. Students will include
stories about key events, people, and politics of the time. Students
will use proper writing techniques when creating news and feature
stories as well as editorials. Magazines will focus on different decades
of Victoria's life from 1819 to 1901.

Materials: Students should view the entire series "Queen Victoria's Empire". If
this is not possible, they should view the key elements from each
episode noted below. Students will also need access to the
companion website and additional internet/library resources.
Students will need access to a computer with a desktop publishing
program such as Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word, Microsoft
Works, Pagemaker, etc. The project would be easiest to complete
in a computer lab setting. Finally, be sure students have access to
some method of binding their magazine together. This could be a
3 ring notebook, staples, a small plastic binder and binding machine,
etc.

Procedures:

1. Generate interest by asking students to think about a typical newspaper and the types
of articles that usually get front page coverage. Direct the discussion so that students begin thinking about government, and how it is the topic of many news stories. The teacher can then facilitate a discussion about why the workings of government are so widely covered by the press and reported in such detail. Some questions or ideas to include in discussion might be:

-Why do the people and policies of government get front page news coverage?
-Why should the average person pay attention to this type of coverage?
-How can the press affect the people and policies of government in a negative
or positive way?
-In what ways does the press shape public opinion about government and political
leaders?

2. As discussion winds down, point out to students that written news reports available in
newspapers and magazines were the primary source of information for people
before the widespread use of radio and television. Thinking back to Victoria's
rule, this would have been the case. People learned about the political activities
and policies through reading the newspaper and discussing information.

3. Explain to students that during Victoria's reign there were several newspapers and
periodicals that wrote articles about her and the activities associated with her
reign. They include: Punch, The Penny Magazine, Fortnightly Review, Cornhill
Magazine, Illustrated London News, The Graphic, and Pictorial Times. Have
students look at several of these periodicals using the websites below. They
should pay specific attention to the types of stories written, style of writing, and
illustrations and political cartoons.

Brown University Victorian Web
http://www.landow.stg.brown.edu/victorian/victov.html

Punch Magazine
http://www.vassun.vassar.edu/~victstud/punchpage1.html

Political Cartoons
http://www.boondocksnet.com/cartoons/

Penny Magazine
http://www.history.rochester.edu/pennymag/

Illustrated London News
http://www.vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/FAMINE/

4. After students have had an opportunity to view the sites and become familiar with
the content, facilitate a short discussion about what they noticed in terms of
stories, writing style, political cartoons and illustrations, etc.

5. Show students the Queen Victoria website. Have them pay special attention to the
section titled "Victoria's Realm". Here they should see a timeline that features
key events from Victoria's reign. Tell students that Victoria's reign was a time
of great change in England and around the world. Encourage students to watch
for details about the events on the timeline as they view the series or selected
portions of the series.

6. Before viewing begins, go over the Magazine Requirements Sheet with students so
they will know what types of information they are looking for. Encourage them
to take notes about key events they plan to write about in their magazines. Also,
remind them that good news stories use the 5 W's and the H to present the facts.
Finally, encourage students to make note of key people they may want to profile
in feature or editorial articles that will appear in their magazines. This would also
be a good time for students to decide or be assigned the decade they will be
focusing on in their magazine.

7. Students are now ready to view the series or selected portions. Key portions are
noted below by episode, time cues, and beginning quotations. As students view
the series, the teacher should stop and facilitate discussion about key people
and events as needed.

Episode 1:
27:17 to 39:08 "In 1845 Britain was a global superpower." (section describes
conflict over the Corn Laws and profiles Disraeli and Gladstone)
Episode 2:
8:07 to 21:00 "This feeling coincided with new inventions..." (section describes
how Indian and British cultures clashed, profiles Azimullah Khan)
24:08 to 32:13 "In March, 1854, the British fleet sailed for the Black Sea..."
(section describes the Crimean War, Charge of the Light
Brigade)
32:21 to 51:47 "The British agents of the East India Company..."(section
describes uprising of Indian and subsequent fighting and
massacres, and finally, peace agreement)
Episode 3:
4:38 to 15:51 "In the Victorian mind, nowhere was the civilising mission..."
(section describes Livingstone's missionary work, slavery of
Africans, discovery of Victoria Falls)
16:40 to 19:30 "In the House of Commons..." (section describes Disraeli and
his views)
25:03 to 27:40 "Victoria began by liking Gladstone..." (section describes k
Gladstone and his views)
28:07 to 31:55 "David Livingstone had returned to his Dark Continent."
(section describes Livingstone's expedition to find Zambezi
River trade route)
38:28 to 49:13 "The Suez Canal was to drag Britain..." (section describes
conflict between Disraeli and Gladstone)
49:31 to 53:14 "Livingstone had returned to Africa..." (section describes
Livingstone's final mission)
Episode 4:
2:46 to 22:48 "There is a saying among the Arabs..." (section describes
conflict with The Mahdi and story of Charles Gordon)
25:02 to 43:04 "Gladstone's fall from power..." (section describes Cecil
John Rhodes quest for riches, tricking of Lobengula, and
founding of Rhodesia)
47:49 to 50:57 "But this joy would soon turn to..." (section describes
Boer War and its effects on Victoria)

8. After viewing is complete, students should begin work on their magazines. Be sure
to distribute the Magazine Evaluation Sheet before students begin. This will
let them know specifics about what is expected from the magazine. Allow
students 5-7 work days to complete the project.

9. Once the magazines are complete, students should choose their favorite article and
share it with the class. This could be done in small groups or as a class.

Assessment Suggestions:

1. Use the Magazine Evaluation Sheet that is provided to assign a letter grade to each
student's magazine.

2. Modify the Magazine Evaluation Sheet to allow for student or peer feedback about
the quality of the work.

Extension Activities:

1. Victorian England has been portrayed in many different popular representations
such as books, plays and musicals, films, etc. Some works to explore might
include: Oliver, A Christmas Carol, and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (book, musical, or movie versions) , the movie "Mrs. Brown", and the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Give students the opportunity to read or view one or more of these representations and compare it to what students learned from the series "Queen Victoria's Empire" as well as the research they did for the magazine projects.

2. Rather than creating individual magazines, have students use a television news
magazine format to create a 30 minute video presentation about Queen
Victoria. Students would need to work in groups to create scripts, scenery,
and costumes. Students could choose to present their program as if it were
taking place in the present, or they could leap through time and present the
stories as if they were taking place during the Victorian Age. The teacher
and students could work together to develop evaluation criteria for the
programs.

3. Have students research the same time period they were assigned for the magazine,
only this time they should look for local, regional, and state activities and news
items of the time. They could then compare what was happening in England and
what was taking place in their part of the U.S.

National Standards:
This lesson addresses the following national content standards found in the McRel Standards Database at http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/

Historical Understanding
Standard 2: Understands the historical perspective.

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)
1. Analyzes the values held by specific people who influenced history and the
role their values played in influencing history.

World History
Standard 33: Understands the causes and consequences of the agricultural and industrial
revolutions from 1700 to 1850.

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)
5. Understands the relationship between improvements in agriculture, population
increase, the rise of the textile industry, the enclosure movement,
urbanization, and industrialization in 18th-century England.
7. Understands how and why industrialization developed differently in Britain
than it did on the continent.

Standard 36: Understands patterns of global changes in the era of Western military and
economic dominance from 1800 to 1914.

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)
3. Understands the influence of European imperial expansion on political and social facets of African and Indian society.
7. Understands African resistance movements against the British during the
period of European imperial expansion.
12. Knows the causes and impact of the Indian Uprising of 1857.

Language Arts
Writing
Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes.

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)
2. Uses a variety of print and electronic sources to gather information for
research topics
3. Uses a variety of primary sources to gather information for research topics

Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Level 4 (Grade 9-12)
1. Uses a range of strategies to interpret visual media.
2. Uses a variety of criteria to evaluate informational media



Magazine Requirements Sheet

Name:______________________________________ Date:_____________


Your magazine should provide readers with a comprehensive look at Queen Victoria and her reign during the decade you are assigned to write about. Collect your research from the video series, the companion website, and other internet and library resources. Helpful websites are listed for you below. As you prepare your articles and layouts, keep in mind the types of stories, writing style, illustrations, and political cartoons you saw when you looked at the archived copies of periodicals of the time. Refer back to the sites as needed, focusing on entries specifically from the time period you are covering. Imitate the writing style and features that were prevalent as you are completing your project.

Women's History: Queen Victoria
http://royalty.about.com/aboutuk/royalt/msubvic.5b.htm
Site contains a number of sections that relate to key advisors, people, and events. Specific sections to look at include: "Victoria's Advisors.2", "Victorian Imperialism. The Boer War", "Victoria's Industrial Revolution", and "Victoria Princess and Queen".

Queen Victoria: Images of Her World
http://www.btinternet.com/~sbishop100/
This is a collection of over 200 photos of Victoria, her life, major events, and people associated with her.

Queen Victoria's Empire
http://www.pbs.org/empires/victoria/
"Queen Victoria's Empire" companion website

Your magazine should contain all of the following. These are minimum requirements.

5 news stories about major events relating to Victoria's reign during the designated decade

1 feature story on Queen Victoria

2 feature stories about other important political figures

1 editorial related to Victoria or another politician

1 map showing Queen Victoria's Empire in some way

1 political cartoon focusing on Victoria or another politician

1 picture/graphic to accompany each news, features, and editorial stories

Bylines for all stories

Captions for all pictures, cartoons, and maps

Dateline for all stories

A cover featuring a date, a title, highlights of the magazine's contents, and a picture of Queen Victoria

Below you will find lists of key people and events to profile in your stories. It is not all inclusive. See you teacher for other ideas you have.

George Stephenson
Prince Albert
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Benjamin Disraeli
William Ewart Gladstone
Joseph Paxton
Thomas Waghorn
Azimullah Kahn
William Russell
David Livingstone
John Brown
General Charles Gordon
Cecil John Rhodes


Industrial Revolution in England
Building of the Crystal Palace
The Great Exposition
The Corn Law Controversy
The role of the East India Company in India's settlement/takeover
Crimean War
Accusations that Prince Albert was a spy
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Great Mutiny
Massacre at Kanpur
National Day of Humiliation
Death of Prince Albert
Livingstone's missions/assignments
Slave trade in Africa
Expansion of Victoria's Empire
Acquisition of the Suez Canal
Victoria becomes Queen-Empress of India
The Mahdi and Charles Gordon: Conflict in the Sudan
Cecil John Rhodes road to riches
The formation of Rhodesia
Conflict with the Matabeles
Discovery of gold in Africa
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee
The Boer War
Queen Victoria's death

Magazine Evaluation Sheet

Name:___________________________________ Date:___________________


Magazine Requirement Possible Points Points Earned

Includes 5 news stories 25

Includes a feature story on
Queen Victoria 5

Includes 2 additional feature
stories 10

Includes 1 editorial related to
Victoria 5

Includes 1 map of Victoria's
Empire 10

Includes 1 political cartoon 10

Includes 1 picture/graphic for
each news, feature, and editorial
story 10

All stories include bylines 5

All stories include datelines 5

All pictures, cartoons, maps,
and graphics include captions 10

Includes a cover with
-date 2
-title 5
-highlights of magazine's 5
contents
-picture of Queen Victoria 3

All stories and contents are historically
accurate 50

There are no errors in spelling, grammar,
capitalization, punctuation, or usage 25
Magazine is appealing
-uses color well 3
-has user friendly layout 3
-text is readable (size) 3
-pictures match stories 3
-is bound appropriately 3


Total 200


Teacher Comments:





Student Comments:





Parent Comments:

Queen Victoria's Empire Lesson Plans

by Lisa Prososki



Plan 1: Inventions that Changed the World

Subject Areas: Middle School Social Studies

Objective: Students will create small group projects that illustrate the positive and
negative impacts of the inventions of the Industrial Revolution, the ways this
revolution shaped Victoria's reign as Queen of England, and the ways this
invention contributed to the idea of a world economy.

Materials: Students should view episode 1 of the "Queen Victoria's Empire" series. In
addition, they should have access to the companion website, particularly
the sections titled "Engines of Change" and "The Changing Empire".
The use of other internet/library research materials would also be helpful.
Students will also need access to art supplies and/or presentation or
desktop publishing computer programs. Other helpful websites are listed
below:

The Great Exhibition of 1851 http://englishwww.humnet.ucla.edu/individuals/eng188/petrossian/greatex
h.htm
Describes the Great Exhibition, its participants, and the items displayed

The Industrial Revolution
http://www.eurohist.com/the_industrial_revolution.htm
Information about people and inventions from Industrial Revolution


Procedures:

1. Choose a recently invented item such as the internet or cell phones and
facilitate a discussion using questions similar to the following:

-What are the positive impacts of this invention? Give examples.
-How has this invention impacted people in a negative way? Give examples.
-Has this invention had an effect on the world economy or has it made the
world a "smaller" place in any way? Explain.

2. Explain to students that over the past 20 years we have been involved in a
technological revolution. What we have seen in the last few years was
unimaginable when our grandparents were young, and has changed the way
the world communicates and does business.

3. Using this as a stepping stone, see if students can think of another time period when
inventions changed the world dramatically in a short time. The teacher might
offer hints about some of the inventions (steam engine, telegraph, etc.)
Eventually, students should be directed to the time period encompassing the
Industrial Revolution. Finish the discussion by pointing out that without the
Industrial Revolution, many of the conveniences of today might not have come
along so quickly. Tell students that the Industrial Revolution began in England
and helped the woman who was queen at the time develop England into a world
power.

4. Have students view episode 1 of "Queen Victoria's Empire". They should pay
special attention to the sections noted below. As they are watching, have
students take notes using the Episode 1 Viewing Guide.

Episode 1: time cues and beginning quotes for each cue

1:51 to 3:00 "The reign of Queen Victoria saw the birth of the modern world."
3:37 to 8:33 "In 1819, the year Victoria was born...."
11:33 to 14:31 "But Britain was no longer the land of peasants."
22:56 to 28:27 "Albert had a lively interest in industry and invention..."
43:00 to 45:01 "British people had to be persuaded..."
51:17 to 52:04 "But it was the achievements of British industry..."

5. Once viewing is finished, give students time to respond to the final viewing guide
questions. Then use the information to facilitate a short discussion about what
students learned about the Industrial Revolution and how it helped the British
gain power and prestige throughout the world. Ask students to discuss how these
inventions contributed to the development of a world economy.

6. After the discussion is complete, students should begin working on their research
projects. Distribute the Project Guidelines Sheet and go over it carefully with
the students. Students may choose to work in pairs or small groups to complete
the project. Allow students 2-3 days of work time to finish their projects.

Assessment Suggestions:

1. Individually, or with the help of students, develop a scoring guide for the projects.
When student work is displayed, take time to evaluate using the guide that
was created.

2. Give students the opportunity to evaluate their own work. Ask them to write a short
description of the grade they feel they earned, reasons why they earned this grade,
and what they learned from the completing the project. Students should turn this
in with the project. The teacher can then conduct a short one-to-one conference
with each student/group and go over the explanation of the grade and the project.
At that time, the teacher can then assign the grade he/she feels each student or
group should earn. .


Extension Activities:

1. Facilitate a discussion about free trade. Begin by defining free trade as discussed by
Albert during Victoria's reign. Examine the free trade movement that took place
during the Victorian Era. Ask students to think about how the concept of free
trade has evolved or changed since that time. Specifically, students should
research/discuss topics such as NAFTA and the WTO. Students should
brainstorm/debate the pros and cons of free trade. Bring into the discussion the
idea of trade negotiations and treaties and the effects of trade embargos on the
world economy.

2. Ask each student to sign up for a time to create a videotaped presentation about their
project and what they learned. Be sure to show close-ups of student work and
allow students time to explain their project and what they hope others will learn
from it. Share the tape with students from other schools or students in younger
grades that are studying similar material and information.

3. Keep completed projects and display them at an open house night. If this is not
possible, try displaying student work at a local education fair, at the district's
adminstrative offices, or in a prominent display someplace within the school.
Leave a guest sign-in sheet near the display and ask those who see it to sign in
and make comments about the work they are viewing. When the display is
finished, give students the feedback they received from the sign-in sheets.


National Standards:
This lesson addresses the following national content standards found in the McRel Standards Database at http://www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/

Historical Understanding
Standard 1: Understand and knows how to analyze chronological relationships
and patterns.

Level 3 (Grade 6-8)
4. Understands patterns of change and continuity in the historical succession of
related events.

Standard 2: Understand the historical perspective

Level 3 (Grade 6-8)
1. Understands that specific individuals and the values those individuals held had
an impact on history

World History
Standard 33: Understands the causes and consequences of the agricultural and industrial
revolutions from 1700 to 1850.

Level 3 (Grade 7-8)
1. Understands why industrialization flourished in Britain.
2. Understands the effect of the industrial revolution on social and political
conditions in various regions.
4. Understands the importance and consequences of new technologies
5. Understands the impact of new technology that emerged during the industrial
revolution.

Language Arts
Writing
Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes.

Level 3 (Grade 6-8)
4. Uses a variety of resource materials to gather information for research topics.
6. Organizes information and ideas from multiple sources in systemic ways.

Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Level 3 (Grade 6-8)
1. Understands a variety of messages conveyed by visual media.

Queen Victoria's Empire Episode 1 Viewing Guide

Name:____________________________________ Date:___________________

Directions: As you view the film, record as much information as you can about each of
the inventions and people listed below. Be sure to read through all of the
questions before viewing so you know what you should be focusing on.


1. Before the Industrial Revolution began, how did most people in England make a
living?


2. Describe the main means of transportation people had before the invention of the
steam engine.


3. Find the following information about the first public railroad.

When was it completed?
What cities did it link?
How fast could the trains travel?
Who was the man credited with inventing the steam engines?

4. What device changed the way crops were harvested?


5. People moved to cities because of the Industrial Revolution. Describe at least
3 problems this caused for Britain.

A.

B.

C.


6. Write short description of life in British cities during the Industrial Revolution.



7. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was responsible for what invention?


8. Why was the steamship crucial to the British empire?

9. While Britain produced many goods for export around the world, they were
unable to produce one basic item that all people in Britain needed. What was it?


10. After many debates in Parliament, the Corn Laws were repealed. What effect did
this have on Britain?


11. Albert wanted to establish free trade in world in order to encourage a world economy
that was interconnected. He decided to do this by building a cathedral of Free
Trade after a meeting with Henry Cole. Answer the following questions about
this building.

Who was the man that agreed to help Albert with the cathedral?
What was the building made of ?
By creating the building from the material above, what problem did the
buiding's designer solve?
When the building was finished, what did the people call it?
Describe the success of the Great Exhibition that took place in the building.



Directions: After viewing the tape, take a few moments to reflect on the ideas presented
below.

1. Which of the inventions mentioned in the video was most important to Britain? Why?




2. How did inventions like the steamship, telegraph, and steam engine make it easier for
Victoria to rule over her empire?



3. Be 1850, the British were world leaders in industrial production and world trade.
Do you think this would have been possible without the Industrial Revolution?
Why?



4. The British hoped to establish free trade throughout the world. How would this
benefit Queen Victoria and her empire?



Project Guidelines Sheet

Name:__________________________________ Date:___________________


Directions: Using what you have learned from class discussion, the video, and other
sources, create a project that illustrates the positive and negative impacts of the invention, the ways this invention and the revolution shaped Victoria's reign as Queen of England, and the ways this invention contributed to the idea of a world economy. You may choose your ideas from the lists below. If you have other ideas, be sure they are approved by your teacher before beginning work.

Be sure each member of your group is accountable for at least one part of the
project and presenting it to the class.

Topic List

steam locomotive
threshing machine
spinning jenny
flying shuttle
hydraulic press
iron steamship
electric telegraph
other:_________________

Activity List

1. Create a 3-D model of your invention. It should be made by you. The model
should be historically accurate.

2. Create a catalog or brochure about your invention. Include pictures and drawings
of the item, descriptions of how it works and benefits people, and information
about cost, if possible.

3. Write a news story about the invention of your item. Include a picture of it and
information about the item. Also include facts about the inventor of the item.
Be historically accurate and use the 5W's and the H in your story.

4. Make a computer presentation about your invention. Include pictures of it,
quotes about it, information about the inventor, and possible uses for the product.

5. Other:



Written Requirements

Each project will require a short piece of writing to accompany it. Write a 2-3 paragraph response to the questions below.

-How did the invention of this item change life for the average citizen?
-How did the invention of this item help Britain gain power in the world?
-How did the invention of this item assist Queen Victoria with ruling or gaining power
for her empire?
-How did the invention of this item make the world more interconnected or help to
develop a world economy?
-What were the negative effects caused by the invention of this item?


Presenting Your Work

You work will be on display for others to see. Be sure it is high quality and meets the specifications listed above. Be ready to explain your work and the answers to the questions above to other students and adults who will see what you have made.