Culture
October
In this episode of 'October,' we explore the beauty of autumn in Chawton, Hampshire, as Jane Austen would have experienced it. From the harvest of apples to the seasonal changes in the garde...
October
Culture •
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Speaker A
Welcome to a Jane Austen year. A seasonal journey through Jane Austen's novels, the story of her life and the world she lived in, created and recorded at Jane Austen's house in Chawton, Hampshire, the most treasured Austen site in the world. October. We have got the second volume of Espriella's letters and I read it aloud by candlelight. Jane Austen Saturday 1st October 1808.
Speaker B
October is a beautiful month. We are well into autumn and the woods around Chawton are aglow with copper coloured leaves. The little stream that runs through the fields opposite the house is full again after its summer drought and runs with crisp cold water. The garden is settling down, ready for winter. Its colors are muted. Flowers have given way to berries and seed pods. The ground beneath the trees is thick with fallen leaves. On good days the sky is a bright cold blue, perfect, inviting us out for a lunchtime walk in the courtyard. Cassandra's orchard is full of fruit, apples that are now ready and ripe to pick, just as they would have been in the Austens day. As the month draws on, we look forward to Halloween and prepare ourselves for the clocks going back and the evenings becoming shorter and darker. It's a time for reading, for lighting fires and going on crisp cold walks or digging in the garden, cutting back overgrown climbers and tidying up the flower beds ready for winter.
Speaker C
When the Austens lived in Chawton, the garden was much bigger and would have included a spacious vegetable garden as well as flower beds and an orchard. By October, the vegetables would be rooted up with potatoes and other root vegetables stored for the winter. This recipe in Martha Lloyd's household book calls for pippins. One of a number of tart crisp apple varieties that were grown in 18th century England. They were introduced from colonial America and grown in southern counties like Hampshire.
Speaker D
A baked apple pudding. Take a dozen of pippins. Pulp them through a colander. Take six eggs, sugar enough to make sweet the rind of two lemons, grated a quarter of a pound of butter, melted without flour or water. Squeeze the juice of two lemons. Let the apples be cold before the ingredients are put together. Make a puff paste in the bottom of the dish. Half an hour bakes it.
Speaker E
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen's first published novel, came out in October 1811. It was published anonymously. The title page simply stated that it was by a lady. The first advertisement for Sense and Sensibility appeared in the Morning Chronicle on 31st October 1811 in three volumes. Price 15 shillings in a new novel called Sense and Sensibility by lady, published by T egerton, Whitehall, and may be had at every bookseller in the United Kingdom.
Speaker A
In Sense and Sensibility, October is the season of happiness to Marianne. It is the month in which her relationship with Willoughby is at its height. She is openly devoted to him and her feelings appear to be fully reciprocated.
Speaker D
But Marianne abhorred all concealment where no real disgrace could attend, unreserve, and to aim at the restraint of sentiments which were not in themselves in laudable, appeared to her not merely an unnecessary effort, but a disgraceful subjection, attraction of reason to commonplace and mistaken notions. Willoughby thought the same, and their behaviour at all times was an illustration of their opinions. When he was present, she had no eyes for anyone else. Everything he did was right, everything he said was clever. If their evenings at the park were concluded with cards, he cheated himself and all the rest of the party to get her a good hand. If dancing formed the amusement of the night, they were partners for half the time and when obliged to separate for a couple of dances, were careful to stand together and scarcely spoke a word to anybody else. Such conduct made them, of course, most exceedingly laughed at. But ridicule could not shame and seemed hardly to provoke them. Mrs. Dashwood entered into all their feelings with a warmth which left her no inclination for checking this excessive display of them. To her it was but the natural consequence of a strong affection in a young and ardent mind. This was the season of happiness to Marianne. Her heart was devoted to Willoughby and the fond attachment to Norland which she brought with her from Sussex was more likely to be softened than she had thought it possible before by the charms which his society bestowed on her present home.
Speaker E
Jane Austen was a popular and beloved aunt to over 30 nieces and nephews. She and Cassandra spent a lot of time with their young relatives who came to stay with them in Chawton and whom they visited in their own homes. In October 1815, Jane wrote to her 10 year old niece, Caroline on the subject.
Speaker A
Now that you are become an aunt, you are a person of some consequence and must excite great interest which, whatever you do, I have always maintained the importance of ants as much as possible and I am sure of your doing the same now. Believe me, my dear sister. Aunt.
Speaker F
This is a cup and ball toy, also known in the Georgian period as a bilbokay or bilbo catch. It is made of ivory and consists of a small cup with a turned handle connected to a ball with a string. The aim of the game is to catch the ball in the cup it sounds easy, but depending on the size of the cup, length of string and weight of the ball, it can be very tricky. Bilbercatch was a popular game in England during the early 19th century. This cup and ball belonged to the Knight family and Jane is believed to have played it while staying at Godmersham. She was exceptionally good at it, as her nephew, James Edward Austen Lee noted in his book A Memoir of Jane Austen.
Speaker G
Her performances with cup and bull were marvellous. The one used at Chawton was an easy one, and she has been known to catch it on the point above a hundred times in succession.
Speaker C
In October, apples are harvested and stored for the winter. Here in Chawton, the Austen women were lucky enough to have an orchard, unlike Ms. Bates in Emma, who, living in town, had no garden of her own and was reliant on Mr. Knightley's largesse.
Speaker A
Oh, Mr. Knightley. One moment more. Something of consequence. So shocked. Jane and I are both so shocked about the apples. What is the matter now? To think of your sending us all your store of apples. You said you had a great many and now you have not one left. We really are so shocked. Mrs. Hodges may well be angry. William Larkins mentioned it here. You should not have done itindeed. You should not. Ah, he is off. He can never bear to be thankedbut I thought he would have stayed now and it would have been a pity not to have mentioned. Well, returning to the room, I have not been able to succeed. Mr. Knightley cannot stop. He is going to Kingston. He asked me if I could do anything.
Speaker E
At the end of October, we celebrate All Hallows Eve, now known as Halloween. The day has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Soane that marked the end of the summer and the harvest and the beginning of winter. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. And on the night of October 31, they believed that the ghosts of the dead return to earth. As the daughter of a clergyman, it is unlikely that Jane Austen celebrated a pagan festival like Halloween. However, she would have been aware of the festival and its occult rituals. Many of these were intended to help young men and women identify their future spouses. They often made use of apples and hazelnuts. As in Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom. One custom was for a young woman to peel an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over her shoulder. The peel was believed to land in the shape of the first letter of her future husband's name. Another was for the young man or woman to eat an apple in front of a mirror to see their future lover's face. Today we associate Halloween with scary stories, ghosts and the supernatural, all things that were popular in Jane Austen's time.
Speaker F
Here I have a set of four books. They're quite small and nice size to hold. They are bound in contemporary half calf and marbled boards. These books are a first edition set of the Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, which was published as four volumes in 1794 by Gigi and J. Robinson of Paternoster Row, London. The Mysteries of Udolpho is a Gothic romance novel. It was Mrs. Radcliffe's fourth and most popular novel, combining elements of suspense, horror and romance.
Speaker A
Pale with horror and anxiety, she now waited till Barnadine had trimmed the torch, and as her sight glanced again upon the grave, she could not forbear. Inquiring for whom it was prepared, he took his eyes from the torch and fixed them upon her face. Without speaking, she faintly repeated the question. But the man shaking the torch passed on and she followed, trembling to the second flight of steps, having ascended which a door delivered them into the first court of the castle.
Speaker D
Udolpho became a literary sensation. With its extravagant plot, overheated prose and naive heroine, it was an easy target for satire. And whilst it has inspired many parodies, the most famous of these is undoubtedly Northanger Abbey, in which Catherine Morland, Jane's naive protagonist, has her natural good sense distorted by her fondness for Gothic novels and an overactive imagination. Catherine reads Udolpho greedily, declaring to her.
Speaker E
Friend, Isabella Thorpe, oh, I am delighted with the book.
Speaker A
I should like to spend my whole.
Speaker E
Life in reading it.
Speaker D
Henry Tilney also professes to enjoy it.
Speaker G
Telling the person, be it gentleman or lady, who has no pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe's works and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho. When I had once begun it, I could not lay down again. I remember finishing it in two days, my hair standing on end the whole time.
Speaker D
Gothic terror novels not only feature within the plot of Northanger Abbey, but their conventions seep into it. Part of the action takes place at Northanger Abbey itself, where Catherine gleefully assumes the role of Gothic heroine, on a keen lookout for any terrifying circumstances.
Speaker B
Darkness, impenetrable and immovable, filled the room. A violent gust of wind, rising with sudden fury, added Fresh horror to the moment, Catherine trembled from head to foot. In the pause which succeeded, a sound like receding footsteps and the closing of a distant door struck on her affrighted ear. Human nature could support no more. A cold sweat stood on her forehead. The manuscript fell from her hand, and, groping her way to the bed, she jumped hastily in and sought some suspension of agony by creeping far underneath the clothes. To close her eyes and sleep that night, she felt, must be entirely out of the question. With a curiosity so justly awakened and feelings in every way so agitated, repose must be absolutely impossible. The storm, too abroad, so dreadful. She had not been used to feel alarm from the wind, but now every blast seemed fraught with awful intelligence. The manuscript, so wonderfully found, so wonderfully accomplishing the morning's prediction, how was it to be accounted for? What could it contain? To whom could it relate? By what means could it have been so long concealed? And how singularly strange that it should fall to her lot to discover it. Till she had made herself mistress of its contents, however, she could have neither repose nor comfort, and with the sun's first rays she was determined to peruse it. But many were the tedious hours which must yet intervene. She shuddered, tossed about in her bed, and envied every quiet sleeper. The storm still raged, and various were the noises, more terrific even than the wind, which struck at intervals on her startled ear. The very curtains of her bed seemed at one moment in motion, and at another the lock of her door was agitated, as if by the attempt of somebody to enter. Hollow murmurs seemed to creep along the gallery, and more than once her blood was chill, chilled by the sound of distant moans. Hour after hour passed away, and the wearied Catherine had heard three proclaimed by all the clocks in the house before the tempest subsided or she unknowingly fell fast asleep.
Speaker C
The Jane Austen Society of North America, now fondly known as Jasna, was founded in 1979 by Joan Austen, Lee, Henry G. Burke, and J. David Gray. An inaugural dinner was held on 5th October at the Gramercy Park Hotel in Manhattan, a glamorous occasion attended by 100 founding members. Since then, the society's ranks have grown to more than 5,000, making Jasner the largest literary society devoted to Jane Austen in the world. They meet for an annual general meeting every October in a different state, celebrating all things Austen with talks, workshops, performances, food, drink, conversation, dresses and dancing. We are lucky enough to send a delegate each year who delivers an update on the house in Chawton, attends talks and workshops, enjoys delicious dinners and delightful conversations with our American friends. Other societies dedicated to Jane Austen's life and works now also flourish around the world, from Australia and New Zealand to Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Japan and Iceland. Jane Austen's novels have been translated into many languages, and adaptations set in other countries and time periods show how universal her plots and themes are.
Speaker A
This is an extract from a letter that Jane wrote to Cassandra, who was staying at Godmersham on Saturday 25th October, 1800. We have been exceedingly busy ever since you went away. In the first place, we have had to rejoice two or three times every day at your having such very delightful weather for the whole of your journey. And in the second place, we have been obliged to take advantage of the very delightful weather ourselves by going to see almost all our neighbours. On Thursday we walked to Deane, yesterday to Oakley hall and Oakley, and today to Deane again. At Oakley hall we did a great deal, eat some sandwiches all over mustard, admired Mr. Bramston's porter and Mrs. Bramston's transparencies and gained a promise from the latter of two roots of heartseason, one all yellow and the other all purple. For you. At oakleigh we bought 10 pair of worsted stockings and a shift. The shift is for Betty Dawkins, as we find she wants it more than a rug. She is one of the most grateful of all whom Edward's charity has reached, or at least she expresses herself more warmly than the rest, for she sends him a sight of thanks. This morning we called at the Harwoods and in their dining room found Heathcote and Shute forever. Mrs. William Heathcote and Mrs. Shute, the first of whom took a long ride yesterday with Mrs. Harwood into Lord Carnarvon's park and fainted away in the evening. And the second walked down from Oakley hall, attended by Mrs. Augusta Bramston. They had meant to come on to Steventon afterwards, but we knew a trick worth two of that. If I had thought of it in time, I would have said something civil to her about Edward's never having had any serious idea of calling on Mr. Shute while he was in Hampshire. But unluckily, it did not occur to me. A Jane Austen Year was produced by Jane Austen's House in Chawton, Hampshire, the most treasured Austen site in the world. This series is just one of the special things we're doing this year to celebrate the 250th anniversary of of Jane Austen's birth. If you enjoyed it, we think you'd also love our new book, A Jane Austen Year, a gorgeous coffee table book full of pictures, extracts and stories. Available now from our online shop and from all good bookshops. Don't forget, you can also visit us in person at Jane Austen's House in Chawton or online at Jane Austen's House.