Saturday 19th December - Frost Fair, 1684

It is the last weekend before Christmas. Have you been doing any last minute shopping?  Have you been wrapping pressies?  Drinking mulled wine?  What ever you have been up to I hope you are feeling positive and relaxed and ready for the last week of Muffvent...

Frost Fair, 1684 (1900) Henry Gillard Glindoni

I love Henry Gillard Glindoni, or plain old Harry Glindon as he was known before fancying-up his name.  He painted extremely entertaining scenes, and this vision of the first official Frost Fair is no exception.  Between 1309 and 1814, the Thames froze at least 23 times, and on a number of these occasions, including the winter of 1683-4, the frost was thick enough to hold a fair.  Glindoni shows the scene as he imagines it, with ladies, gentlemen, dogs and royalty all meeting on the ice for their leisure and entertainment. 

You'd think his legs would get cold, but his stockings must be thermal...

Charles II was a man who liked a good time and so he attended the fair.  He bought a souvenir sheet that was printed on a stand on the Thames that said he had attended and is recorded as having eaten part of an ox that was roasted on the ice at his palace at Whitehall.  The Great Frost of 1863 was one of the worst on record, hitting Britain on 20th December and not lifting until 2nd February.  Deer in the parks died, many animals and birds perished and plants died.  Fuel became scarce and expensive and London became choked with smog from all the fires desperately burning.  The trade that usually flowed up and down the Thames ceased for obvious reasons.  Trade had to happen on the ice and suddenly there were street of stalls and places of merriment...

A gentlemen and his two 'nieces'....

The diarist John Evelyn described the attractions on offer as being bull baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays, food, tipling and 'other lewd places' - 'so it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph'.  No doubt where there was ale there were jolly women who were willing for a shilling and I think that is in evidence by the trio on the left of Glindoni's canvas.  It is very likely that morale was no small part of the jollity of the Frost Fair, feeding people who couldn't find food, and keeping up spirits by filling people will ale and the promise of a good time.  Also, what could possibly keep you warmer than finding a willing companion.  Or two.

The King and Queen on ice!

Turning to the muff in the picture, here we have Charles II and Queen Catherine holding their commemorative sheet saying that they had been to the Fair.  Beside them is Mr G Crook and his printing press, printing out the sheets that listed what famous people had been out there, which is how we know Charles, Catherine, the Duke of York (probably the man behind the sleigh) and other members of the royal family had attended.  I was a little uncertain of who the lady in the sleigh was, but given that it is a very splendid sleigh indeed and she is holding an ermine muff (the royalty of muffs) then I think she is likely to be Catherine of Braganza.  The date he attended was 31st January 1684 and we know from contemporary accounts that he had a whale of a time: fox hunting, roasting meat and generally thundering up and down the river on horseback.  Lawks!

The Frost Fairs tended to end abruptly with the thaw, and there were often people lost as they fell through the ice.  Luckily we haven't seen a winter quite that hard in a while, although 2010's winter was the coldest since 1890 and the Thames froze once more.  Sadly, no Frost Fairs appeared, although I'm not sure people really need ice to encourage them into bacchanalian practises...

Turning to my present suggestion today, extreme weather conditions remind me of a splendid book I read this autumn.  Beauty Secrets of the Matyrs by Verity Holloway tells the unusual story of a martyred saint trying to give the world hope by keeping the other saints looking good as they head into a environmental apocalypse.  Told with humour and wonderful prose, this tale takes you back and forth through time, and the lovely Saint Silvan tries to bring hope to the hopeless.  Long winter nights are perfect for a splendid read and so I thoroughly recommend this one to you.

Verity's novella is available from all good bookshops and Mr Amazon, obviously (UK here or USA here)

See you tomorrow...