I was seduced by history by my history, if that makes sense. I was born in Illinois, and for the first seven years of my life my family lived either with or across the alley from my paternal grandparents. And my material grandparents lived in the next little town a whole seven miles away.
We went back to Illinois every summer until after I graduated from high school. I spent those summer sitting on the front porch at the family reunions with tons of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and great aunts and uncles, second cousins – you name it, they were there. And they all talked about when they were kids, or told the stories they had heard from their parents.
So I always knew my family’s histories, and where I fit into the scheme of thing (luck me!). So I grew up hearing the stories of my ancestors told of growing up in the 19th century, or with Indians, or wild animals, or the weather. Going to school, it seemed a logical choice to study history – because it just to story of people.
And teaching history lead me to the writing of historical romance. Researching this historical periods is easy and a lot of fun for me. When I write, I like to think that the characters I’m writing about lived just down the lane from my ancestors.
This was especially true when I wrote my first book, Kentucky Green, I used a lot of thing I remembered from my family’s stories in this book. One was my great grandmother’s dislike of soft butter, so my grandmother chore as a little girl was to walk down to the spring house where the butter was stored and bring it up for each meal.
I also have a scene where my heroine is churning butter, which was another of my grandmother’s jobs, so I had my heroine use the same rhyme that my grandmother used.
“Come (up) butter (down), come (up).
Come (down) butter (up), come (down).
Little Peter (up) at the gate (down), for his buttered (up) bread does wait (down)
Come (up) butter (down), come (up).
Writing historical allows me to keep the past alive, for me, and hopefully for my readers.
Why were you seduced by history? Family? A favorite teacher? Or just lucky?
A Civil War-era view of Battery Buchanan, the highest battery at Fort Fisher. Thanks to the fort, Wilmington, N.C., was the last Confederate port to fall to the Union.
Shiloh. Antietam. Cold Harbor. Gettysburg.
Most Americans, even if they don’t remember the details of the U.S. Civil War’s great conflicts, will never forget their names. But one of the war’s greatest offensives – the largest combined land-sea assault in the history of warfare until D-Day – may be the greatest Civil War engagement you’ve never heard of: The First and Second Battles of Fort Fisher.
Even today, the eroded remains of Fort Fisher, built under the command of Confederate Col. William Lamb, stand at the southern tip of New Hanover County, North Carolina, on a thin strip of land wedged between the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.
From its highest batteries, the fort’s guns could pick off any ship of the Union blockading squadron foolish enough to stray within five miles of the Carolina coast. Known as “the Confederate Goliath,” the earthwork fort guarded New Inlet, the main access from the Atlantic into the Cape Fear River, which twists and turns 17 miles until it reaches the scenic port city of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Wilmington, which is still a port today, as well as a thriving resort town, was the Confederacy’s leading port for most of the Civil War, thanks in large part to geography. With Norfolk and Baltimore in Union hands almost from the start of the war, Wilmington was the Confederate port closest to the main battle lines in Virginia. The city also was a quick four-day sail from Bermuda, one of the Confederacy’s chief sources of supply. The Wilmington & Weldon railroad, which ran from Wilmington north to Virginia, easily moved everything from rifles to medical supplies to Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army and the Confederate capitol in Richmond.
Fort Fisher was as important to Wilmington as Wilmington was to the Confederacy. Its guns kept the Union naval blockade so far from shore that blockade runners managed to slip into Wilmington on an almost daily basis. Fort Fisher was so vital to the Confederate war effort, in fact, that Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy, lobbied throughout the war for soldiers to help in attacking the fort, but failed to win the cooperation of Union General Ulysses S. Grant, who preferred to use his troops to keep the pressure on Lee.
Early in 1864, however, with his re-election in doubt and the war going badly, President Abraham Lincoln desperately needed a win. Convinced by Welles that closing Wilmington could provide the boost he needed, he asked Grant to reconsider. On the advice of William Tecumseh Sherman that cutting off the Confederacy’s last source of supply was well worth the risk, Grant agreed to support an attack on Fort Fisher.
War is a disorganized business, though. By the time the first assault finally launched on Christmas Eve 1864, Sherman had taken Atlanta, Lincoln had been reelected, and the political and strategic importance of felling Wilmington had diminished. Although they had sustained the South for three years, Wilmington and Fort Fisher became minor footnotes in the story of the war.
It’s a quirk of history that has haunted me since I first visited Fort Fisher thirty years ago, so it’s no surprise that Wilmington and the fort in the last year of the war became the backdrop for my manuscript Traitor to Love. Although their sacrifice is little remembered, the actions of those who fought and died at Fort Fisher helped to hasten the end of one of the saddest chapters in our nation’s history. Theirs is a tale well worth knowing, and I hope the story I've woven around it will help to attract more people to explore the history behind the fiction.
McKenna Darby writes historical novels with elements of suspense and romance. Visit her at http://mckennadarby.com
Seduced by History Blog is hosting a month-long contest in August. One winner will receive a ‘basketful of goodies.’ All you have to do is check in on each blog during the month, look for a contest question to answer andSeptember 1-5, 2011 send in your answers toseducedbyhistoryblog@yahoo.com.
Prizes award to one lucky winner include: Victoria Gray’s book "Angel in My Arms", "Spirit of the Mountain" package from Paty Jager, Cynthia Owens’s book "Coming Home", a Kansas basket from Renee Scott, Anna Kathryn Lanier’s ebook “Salvation Bride and gift basket, “Stringing Beads - Musings of a Romance Writer” by Debra K. Maher, Eliza Knight’s ebooks “A Pirate’s Bounty” and “A Lady’s Charade”, Anne Carrole’s book (that's my book:) “Return to Wayback,” a 4 gb jump drive, a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, and more!
All entries must be received by midnight Monday, September 5, 2011 to be eligible for the drawing. A winner will be chosen from all those eligible on or about September 6, 2011 and contacted by email. Odds of winning will depend on the number of total number of entries received.
Here's my question: I've given you the date for the start of the First Battle of Fort Fisher. When did the Second Battle start?
When searching for another legend to write about, I found an article about Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes, which captured my interest, one of the most famous being The Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
The Fitzgerald cleared Superior, Wisconsin on November 9, 1975 with a cargo of 26,116 tons of taconite pellets destined for Detroit. In company with Arthur M. Anderson of the United States Steel Corporation’s Great Lakes Fleet, the ship encountered heavy weather and flounder.
The captain, McSorley, reported he was having difficulty, was taking on water and listing. Two of three ballast pumps were working, she lost radar, and he was heard on the radio, saying, “don’t allow nobody (sic) on deck.” He also said it was the worst storm he’d ever seen.
All 29 crew, along with a Great Lakes Maritime cadet, perished, and the ship lies in two sections in 530 feet of water.
According to records, the National Transportation Safety Board voted, unanimously, to reject the Coast Guard’s official report, which supported the theory of faulty hatches. The NTSB claimed it was due to taking on water through hatch covers damaged by heavy seas.
The Lake Carriers Association disagrees with this and blames it on ballast tank damage, whiled the Coast Guard cites faulty hatch covers and lack of water tight cargo hold bulkheads, damage caused from an undetermined source.
The legend of the Fitzgerald has lived on in song as well as many sightings of the ship still sailing the Great Lakes to this day. …in 1985 a commercial vessel is recorded to have seen the Fitzgerald.
The stories of ill-fated ships stirs the imagination. Think of the tragic figures that you could write about in about in a novel: a wife waiting for the return of her captain husband, a young woman tracing her roots and discovering her father went down on a “ghost ship” such as the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Perhaps she catches a glimpse of a man at the helm of a ship that disappears right before her eyes.
The prospects are endless. They sure have captured my imagination.
I’d love to know if any of you have written, or plan to write a book because of unexpected research.
Since both my novels, In Sunshine or in Shadow and Coming Home, are set in Ireland, it’s safe to say I’ve had a deep love for all things Irish for a long time. I love the music, the myths and legends, the soft mist that hangs over the mountains. But most of all I love the people, and their unique way with words. Some call it blarney, some the “gift of the gab.” I just call it magic.
So today I decided to share a few of my favorite Irish proberbs.
It’s a fine day for young ducks
Distant hills look green.
There’s hope from the ocean, but none from the grave. ~ An emigrant’s proverb.
Melodious is the closed mouth.
Every man’s mind is his kingdom.
There is no need like the lack of a friend.
The man who pays the piper calls the tune.
He who has water and peat on his own farm has the world his own way.
The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune.
It’s not a delay to stop and sharpen the scythe.
Credit Island Ireland, an Internet guide to Irish art, culture and environment.
Seduced by History Blog is hosting a month-long contest in August.One winner will receive a ‘basketful of goodies.’All you have to do is check in on each blog during the month, look for a contest question to answer and September 1-5, 2011 send in your answers to seducedbyhistoryblog@yahoo.com.
Prizes award to one lucky winner include:Victoria Gray’s book "Angel in My Arms","Spirit of the Mountain" package from Paty Jager, Cynthia Owens’s book"Coming Home",a Kansas basket from Renee Scott, Anna Kathryn Lanier’s ebook “Salvation Bride and gift basket, “Stringing Beads - Musings of a Romance Writer” by Debra K. Maher,Eliza Knight’s ebooks “A Pirate’s Bounty” and “A Lady’s Charade”, Anne Carrole’s book (that's my book:) “Return to Wayback,” a 4 gb jump drive, a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, and more!
All entries must be received by midnight Monday, September 5, 2011 to be eligible for the drawing. A winner will be chosen from all those eligible on or about September 6, 2011 and contacted by email.Odds of winning will depend on the number of total number of entries received.
So here's my question, and it's an easy one: What are some of your favorite proverbs, sayings, or words of wisdom, and where do they come from?
Waitressing may not seem an unusual occupation for a woman, but in the late 1800’s it was almost unheard of for a woman to be serving people in a public establishment, unless, of course, she was a dance hall girl in a saloon. That changed when Fred Harvey, an Englishman, began to open up The Harvey Houses along the Santa Fe Railroad line starting in 1878. Harvey was one of the first to employ women of “good character” to serve the railroad patrons who were traveling west over several days where stopovers to eat at a respectable and well ordered establishment were a welcome respite. With the founding of the Harvey House restaurants, hotels, and resorts, Fred Harvey and the Santa Fe Railroad also began an experiment in something new for the Wild West—tourism.
In keeping with the age, Fred Harvey initially employed men and only men to work in his restaurants. But after a midnight brawl by waiters at his Raton, New Mexico establishment, Fred Harvey took the advice of his new manager and hired women because they were less likely “to get likkered up and go on tears…Those waitresses were the first respectable women the cowboys had ever seen—that is outside their own wives and mothers. Those roughnecks learned manners.” (Quoted from Tom Gable as cited in The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened The West, by Lesley Poling-Kempes, p.42)
These upstanding waitresses were popular with both patrons and the community to such an extent that Fred Harvey decided to replace the waiters in all his restaurants with women. A major obstacle would be convincing single women of good virtue to venture into the rough and ready frontier towns filled with saloons and the cowboys, railroad men, and prostitutes who frequented them.
Fred Harvey sought “women who were well educated (in 1880s, this meant having completed high school or at least the eighth grade) and exhibited good manners, clear speech, and neatness in appearance. Vulgarity of any kind would not be tolerated. Upon acceptance, a young woman usually had only twenty-four hours to say her goodbyes at home before she began rigorous training. When a Harvey Girl signed her contract for twelve, nine, or six months, she agreed to learn the Harvey system, follow instructions to the letter, obey employee rules, accept whatever locations she was assigned to for work, and abstain from marriage during the duration of her initial contract.” The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened The West, by Lesley Poling Kempes, p. 43
Harvey Girls worked hard, putting in a good day’s labor, though every account says that Fred Harvey was a fair employer who treated his staff with respect and care. In most cases a Harvey girl was required to work two to three meal shifts a day with just thirty minutes to feed upwards of 50 passengers at a time over eight trains, but there were plenty of staff to make it happen, from cooks to butchers to bus boys and from fifteen to thirty Harvey Girls per establishment. There was opportunity for promotion up the ranks and, on rare occasions, a woman could even become a manager where she would receive equal pay to a man—something often not true today.
Well aware that in the West, particularly, a waitress was often thought to be a prostitute as well, Fred Harvey lifted up waitressing to a professional standard by mandating that these single women reside in Harvey House dormitories on premises in “beautiful and well-kept rooms” under the guardianship of a house mother enforcing a strict curfew. Adhering to a universal Harvey Girls uniform, a Harvey Girl presented the picture of virtue with no make-up allowed and starched black and white skirts and bibs and aprons with hems no more than eight inches from the floor. Enforcing high standards assured the public that these were women of good moral character to be treated with the respect due a lady.
Thousands of women applied during the Harvey House period spanning 1883 until the 1950s. Here was an opportunity for independence previously unavailable to women, with the exception of becoming a teacher.
Harvey Girls were paid an average of “$17.50/month” with free room and board and railroad passes-http://www.florenceks.com/text/local/local_hh-girls.htm Compare this to the cowboy at the time who generally earned about $30/month with keep. Still, for a woman, these were considered good wages in a protected environment with the added bonus of adventure and, possibly, a marriage proposal. Minnie O’Neal became a Harvey Girl around 1885 in Raton, New Mexico and ended up married to the ranch foreman of Senator Stephen Dorsey’s ranch. Her experience was not uncommon. “It is estimated that more than 100,000 girls worked for Harvey House restaurants and hotels and of those, 20,000 married their regular customers.”-http://www.florenceks.com/text/local/local_hh-girls.htm
Fred Harvey worked with farming schedules, allowing time off during summer months to those who were needed on the farm and replacing them temporarily with teachers who needed work during summer months. Particularly in later years and through the depression, The Harvey Houses were known to help employees, including women, obtain a college education in the communities that had colleges or universities, by providing accommodating schedules for those who wished to attend classes.
The Harvey Girls were immortalized in Sam Adams’ book of the same name and romanticized in the MGM movie where there was much singing and dancing but not as much hard work as reality would suggest. The romance, however, appears to have been true. For those of you who have never seen the movie or would like a quick jog down memory lane, here is the movie trailer:
The Harvey Girls are one more example of women making their way out west for a new life in a role unthinkable at the time in eastern environs. As Will Rogers, an enthusiastic and loyal Harvey House customer, said: “In the early days, the traveler fed on the buffalo. For doing so, the buffalo got his picture on the nickel. Well, Fred Harvey should have his picture on the one side of a dime, and one of his waitresses with her arms full of delicious ham and eggs on the other side, ‘cause they have kept the West supplied with food and wives.” (Quoted in The Harvey Girls: Women who Opened the West by Lesley Poling Kempes, p. 102)
Seduced by History Blog is hosting a month-long contest in August.One winner will receive a ‘basketful of goodies.’All you have to do is check in on each blog during the month, look for a contest question to answer and September 1-5, 2011 send in your answers to seducedbyhistoryblog@yahoo.com.
Prizes award to one lucky winner include:Victoria Gray’s book "Angel in My Arms","Spirit of the Mountain" package from Paty Jager, Cynthia Owens’ book"Coming Home",a Kansas basket from Renee Scott, Anna Kathryn Lanier’s ebook “Salvation Bride and gift basket, “Stringing Beads - Musings of a Romance Writer” by Debra K. Maher,Eliza Knight’s ebooks “A Pirate’s Bounty” and “A Lady’s Charade”, Anne Carrole’s book (that's my book:) “Return to Wayback,” a 4 gb jump drive, a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, and more!
All entries must be received by midnight Monday, September 5, 2011 to be eligible for the drawing. A winner will be chosen from all those eligible on or about September 6, 2011 and contacted by email.Odds of winning will depend on the number of total number of entries received.
Here's my question for you to answer: Who starred in the MGM film The Harvey Girls and made famous the song the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe? Hint: check out the trailer for the answer.
Anne Carrole writes about cowboys who have grit, integrity and little romance on their mind and the women who love them. You can check out her contemporary romance, Re-ride at the Rodeo, at The Wild Rose Press. She also is co-editor of the review website, www.lovewesternromances.com
Listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, New Grange in Ireland was built around 3250 BC. That’s 500 years before the Egyptian pyramids and 1,000 years before Stonehenge. Brú na Bóinne, means mansion on the Boyne, and the passage tomb lies in the Boyne River Valley. The site receives over 200,000 visitors a year. New Grange access is by guided tour from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre located close to the village of Donore, County Meath.
Entrance stone
The kidney shaped mound covers an area of over one acre and is surrounded by 97 kerbstones, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art. The 62-foot long inner passage leads to a cruciform chamber with a corbelled roof. It is estimated that the construction of the Passage Tomb at New Grange would have taken a work force of 300 at least 20 years. At winter solstice, rays of the morning sun fall through a small opening in the mound’s roof box to illuminate the burial chamber for 17 minutes. Can you imagine waiting a year for 17 minutes of light? Can you imagine the precision required to accomplish that feat?
Pre-Celtic Design
The 12-inch diameter tri-spiral design from inside the chamber is probably the most famous Irish Megalithic symbol, and is one third the size of the same design on the entrance stone. It is often referred to as a Celtic design, but it was carved at least 2500 years before the Celts reached Ireland. At 12 inches in diameter the tri-spiral design is quite small in size, less than one-third the size of the tri-spiral design on the entrance stone.
Megalithic mounds such as Newgrange entered Irish mythology as sídhe or fairy mounds. New Grange was said to be the home of Oenghus, the god of love. Oenghus mac ind Og ("He Alone Who is Powerful") was the God of love and youth, patron god of children. The alternate spelling is Angus.
Oenghus is the son of the Dagda, ruler of an other-dimensional realm of beings known as the Tuatha de Danaan, a race of beings who were worshipped as gods by the Ancient Celts and Gaels of Western Europe, and Boann, the goddess of the Boyne River of County Meath in Eire (modern Ireland). Boann was the wife of the water-god, Nechtan, who settled Brú na Bóinne after the defeat of the Fomore, the eternal enemies of the Danaans. As Chieftain of the Tuatha de Danaan, the Dagda sent Nechtan on a day long errand, and in his absence, seduced Boann. Using his mystical powers, the Dagda extended the day to last nine months so that Boann conceived and gave birth to Oenghus in a single day. Oenghus was given to his brother, Mider, to be raised to adulthood, but when Oenghus became an adult, Nechtan gave Brú na Bóinne to Oenghus, possibly seeing him as his only worthy heir.
The Tuatha de Dannan were worshipped as gods throughout Ireland, Britain and Western Europe with the Dagda as King of Eire and Oenghus taking his throne in his absence. However, when the Dagda retired from Earthly rule, he split Eire up among four counties among his sons with Oenghus acquiring Leinster, Mider receiving Connacht, Oghma receiving Ulster and his brother Bodb Derg receiving Munster. Bodb as the eldest son also acquired the title as King of Eire at Meath, kept separate from the other four counties. During the Milesian invasion, the Danaans departed Earth for the realm of Otherworld connected to the Earth's dimension by way of countless sidhs or faerie mounds throughout Eire. Oenghus's sidh was located at Brú na Bóinne.
Oenghus took Derbrenn, the daughter of King Eochaidh Airem of Eire as his wife, but he eventually fell in love with Caer, the daughter of Ethal Anubal and grand-daughter of King Ailill and Medhbha of Connacht. Caer had appeared to him in a vision, and Oenghus turned to his older brother, Bodb, in order to identify and find the mystery woman in the vision. Using his spells, Bodb finally found Caer a year after the dream alongside the bank of a lake in Connacht with her numerous sisters. Oenghus approached Ethal Anubal for the right to court Caer. He learned that Caer was actually a mortal shapeshifter with her sisters, only able to live half a year on Earth in human form and the other half of the year as a swan. The reason for this spell is unrevealed, but Oenghus learned from King Ailill that the best way to court Caer was to take her as a swan and convince her to remain human. Following his instructions, Oenghus confronted Caer on the Feast of Samhain and followed her into the sky as she turned to a swan, becoming a swan himself. Enchanting a mystical spell to her in song, he finally encouraged her to fly away with him to Brú na Bóinne to live as his wife. After he out-lived her, he took a third wife, Nuamaisi.
In the First Century BC, Oenghus was sent in his capacity as a god of love to woo the Princess Edain of Ulster on Mider's behalf. In the Third Century AD, he adopted Diarmaid ua Duibhne, the son of a fallen Celtic lord. Oenghus placed a spell around Diarmaid to encourage women to fall in love with him. While he attended the wedding of Igraine, a princess of Eire to the aged warrior, Finn mac Cumhaill, Oenghus was noticed by Igraine, who fell in love with him and drugged her husband and guests to escape with Diarmaid and a otherwise potentially unhappy future. Igraine's father, King Cormac of Eire sent the Fianna to retrieve her, but Oenghus protected and sheltered the lovers for several years. (Igraine should not be confused with Igraine, the mother of King Arthur.)
In the Fifth Century AD, Christianity was introduced to Eire and the Celtic Gods retreated from Earth for the last time for the dimension of Otherworld which included the realms of Avalon and Tir Na Bhog. Oenghus left Brú na Bóinne to his mortal descendants. His modern day activities are unrevealed.
Now back to New Grange. The Passage Tomb at New Grange was re-discovered in 1699 by the removal of material for road building. A major excavation of New Grange began in 1962; the original facade of sparkling white quartz was rebuilt using stone found at the site.
Check your bookseller for a list of the numerous books that focus on New Grange, on other megalithic monuments in Ireland, and on Irish mythology.
Aerial view
Thanks to www.Knowth.com for part of this information and photos. To celebrate the Irish part of my heritage, I’ll give away a PDF copy of either my historical, THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE, or the contemporary time travel romantic suspense, OUT OF THE BLUE, to one commenter.
This is the cover of my debut book, Knight of Runes, releasing November 14, by Carina Press. *Heavy sigh* for the release and the cover! Runes, the writing down Lord Arik’s chest, play a large part in this story. Runes hold both the family secret and magic that the heroine, Rebeka, must decipher to finish her quest and win her man.
Runes are an alphabetic script used in Northern Europe from the first century c.e. until well into the Middle Ages. In addition to their use as a written alphabet, the runes also served as a system of symbols used for magic and divination. Runes fell into disuse as the Roman alphabets became the preferred script of most of Europe, but their forms and meanings were preserved in inscriptions and manuscripts.
The primary characteristic differentiating a runic alphabet from other alphabets is each letter, or rune, has a meaning. For example, "ay", "bee", and "cee" are meaningless sounds denoting the first three letters in our alphabet, the names of the first three runes, "fehu", "uruz", and "þurisaz" are actual words in the Germanic language, meaning "cattle", "aurochs*", and "giant", respectively. Runes also have magical and religious significance, thus transforming the simple process of writing into a magical act. Runes are also used for divinatory readings and creating magical spells.
In our popular culture, runes are associated with having mystical properties. One possible reason for the association is the etymology of the word rune. The Germanic root of the word run, means "to conceal", "a secret". There’s another way to explain its mystical context.
At first runes were used as a sacred writing system and later became not only the magic, but also the civilian script. The first Runic inscriptions appeared around 200 AD, but its origins may lie much deeper in the pre-history of Northern Europe. For the next thousand years it was used in Germany, Scandinavia, England, and Lowlands, and only in late Middle Ages it was replaced by the Roman script everywhere in Northern Europe.
The strange sharp forms we recognize today results from rune inscription on metal, stone, or wood boards. Since the alphabet, which was probably invented in Scandinavia, was spreading to the British Isles and to continental Europe, its symbols changed somehow, as well as the number of them. Modern science makes a distinction between the Elder Runes (up to the 9th century), and the later Younger Runes, or Scandinavian Runes. A special variety existed in Anglo-Saxon England from the 7th to the 10th century.
The Elder Runes, used mostly for magic purposes, contain many personal names and their lexicon is sometimes hard to understand, though the language is clear. There are about 150 runic inscriptions of this period, and some of them contain just one or two symbols. The Younger inscriptions are more numerous (about 3500), and are mostly documents written in particular Germanic languages.
Futhark Runic Alphabet
Though the origin of Futhark is unknown, there is no doubt that the alphabet is connected with the alphabets of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean (Greek and the Italian Peninsula.
My next task is to study my cover, really hard, and see if I can decode the runes. It may take me a very long time. Oh, the things I do for history!
