The Wizard Lady of Branxholm

"The feast was over in Branksome tower, And the Ladye had gone to her secret bower; her bower that was guarded by word and by spell, Deadly to hear, and deadly to tell--"
--the Lay of the Last Minstrel by Sir Walter Scott
Scott's opening lines to his seminal work introduced a new kind of heroine who had the power to bewitch Georgian and Regency readers and catapult her creator to instant fame. She was a true wizard lady, her presence shivering and felling the rational, elegant pillars of verse so prized by the classicists in the previous century.
The age of Romanticism had dawned with a spell.
I say Sir Walter Scott created her, but in truth the wizard lady of Branxholm was based on a true historical figure--Janet, Lady of Buccleuch and Branxholme (1519 - 1569). Her father was John Beaton, Laird of Creich, a Scottish border lord who, as the poem relates, bestowed on his daughter a keen interest in the occult. Whether this is true or not, it is absolutely certain that Janet had an almost supernatural power over men's hearts. Even as she grew older, her youthful looks remained remarkably preserved.
Witchcraft, it was whispered. Not Oil of Olay.
If she didn't cast spells, she certainly had enthusiasm. Janet married four husbands, the last one at the advanced age of sixty-one. She also had at least two affairs out of wedlock, both significant enough to be documented in court filings during litigation!
When Janet's first husband died, she married Sir Simon Preston, Lord of Craigmillar Castle. He was a busy man, rebuilding the castle after it was destroyed during England's "Rough Wooing" of Scotland during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots. Janet was busy as well. She was divorced when Sir Simon discovered her infidelity with another man.
She then married her lover, a much older man known (alarmingly!) as "Wicked Wat," the Laird of Buccleugh and Branxholm. Like the poet, his name was Sir Walter Scott and was Janet's senior by twenty-four years. Perhaps it was his mortal hatred for the English which attracted her, for he was not the last man with this quality she was linked to. Together they had several children, including Margaret, the inspiration for Scott's Lady of the Lake.
According to some, Margaret was nothing like her mother, being rather insipid.
Sir Walter met his end at the hands of his hereditary enemies, the Kerrs in Edinburgh's High Street. He was still breathing after the attack, but was finished off by servants' daggers. The Queen Regent of Scotland, Marie of Guise, ordered the Kerrs to be banished.
Not to be satisfied, the widow of Buccleuch went after those who had supported the Kerrs. She set out with a party of some two hundred armed men after one of them, the Laird of Cranstoun. The hapless man fled at her approach, seeing sanctuary in a church called Kirk of the Lowes. He locked and barred the door. Undeterred, Janet took an axe and forced her way in. It is not too far-fetched to imagine the grief-wracked widow tearing the man from the altar with her own hands.
As they say, "Wicked Wat" was the love of the wizard lady's life.
Not to doesn't diminish her other romantic exploits: at the age of forty-three and having borne seven children, Janet ensnared another English-hater. James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, was "as naughty a man as liveth" and all of twenty-four at the time when they began their liaison. Hardly a secret, the affair became the subject of testimony during a lawsuit, of all things:
A man sued the wizard lady and demanded the judge be removed. On what grounds? he was asked. Because the judge, being the Earl Bothwell was "either quietly married or handfast" to the Lady of Buccleugh, disqualifying him from deciding the case. Any other grounds? You bet. There were "other causes of suspicion between them as is notoriously known."
I wish I had been there.
In any case, there were not the events that inspired the poem's claim that the Lady of Buccleugh could "bond to her bidding the viewless forms of the air." Janet had always been a respected member of the aristocracy, received at court by both Queen Mary and her mother when that lady was Regent. Indeed, others were suspected of witchcraft at this time. Mary Fleming, one of the Queen's attendants, was said to have cast Mary's labor pains onto Lady Margaret Reres, later wet-nurse to the baby prince.
Maybe the wizard lady wasn't up to that job. After all, Lady Reres was Janet's sister.
Janet's reputation as a witch began, ironically, right about the time the Queen's character was being sullied. Notorious placards calling Mary whore and murderess were circulated in Edinburgh, a city whose citizens were formerly captivated by the glamour of their queen. One of the pamphlets declared Janet had persuaded the Queen through witchcraft to marry Bothwell. It was a preposterous claim but widely accepted as truth. She was his former mistress, they said, and bound to do him a favor.
The date of the Queen's wedding was whispered to have been chosen by witches and sorcerers. "The people say that wantons marry in the month of May."
The brutal deposition of Mary from her throne cannot have failed to instill caution in even so intrepid a female as the wizard lady. Supporters of the former queen were hounded in the aftermath of the Queen's imprisonment. Janet had been her attendant and was almost certainly aware that there was a precedent for burning a witch to death, even if she were a noble one.
Who could forget the fate of Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis? She was the sister to the Earls of Angus yet that had not saved her from being burned as a witch on Castlehill in Edinburgh only decades before.
The wizard lady eventually returned to history's pages to be heartily welcomed by an audience hungry for castles, medievalism and the supernatural. She was the sensation of the Regency. Many fancied themselves caught up by her command to go to the "holy pile" of Melrose Abbey (pictured below) and "win the treasure of the tomb," a book of spells that would give her the power to wreak her vengeance.

Man's best friend

Man’s best friend

Once our son’s grew up and left home, my husband and I got puppies. So now we do agility with our dogs, a Scottish terrier named Smokey and a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Bandit.

So now I’m thinking about how to incorporate dogs into my stories. Since I write (mostly) in the American west, there are plenty of opportunity to have a dog as a character.

In one story the cowboy hero brings his new wife a puppy. Ranches often had dogs, as they were useful in helping drive cattle. My husband’s family had a dog, Buster, that would help is father round up the cattle. Our Welsh corgi would be over the moon if we had some cows so we could tell him to go get and drive them in for milking.

Dogs were also served to hunt vermin, especially terrier type dogs. Cats get mice, but terriers can get rats. And farmers always have grain to protect.

And, of course, all dogs are watch dogs, who bark when something out of the ordinary happens. I was always impressed by Buster, as if you drove up to my in-laws house in the Oklahoma county side, Buster would bark a warning as you drove up the long driveway. If, however, my in-laws were not at home, Buster would just lay on the porch and give you look like ‘nobody home, silly.’

I would assume that most dogs in the American west were not the purebreds we would see today at a dog show. If a hunting dog had a reputation of being a good hunter, people would want puppies from them. Same with herding dogs, or terriers on their ability.

Finally, one of the most common reason for keeping a dog was for companionship the dog provided.

And while our dogs have the run of our house, I’m pretty sure my heroine who runs a boarding house will only allow the dog in the back kitchen. Our dogs don’t know how good they have it.

Does your family have any dog stories- or do you have dogs in your stories?

Blain’s Smokey of Santee, CGC, NA & Blain’s Sundance Bandit, CGC, NA, NJW

THE LEGEND OF PAUL BUNYAN AND THE BLUE OX

Definition according to Wipipedia:
Paul Bunyan is a mythological lumberjack who is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill. The character was first documented in the work of U.S. journalist James McGillivray in 12910. In 1916, as part of an advertising campaign, advertisement writer William Laughead reworked the old logging tales into that of a giant lumberjack and gave birth to the modern Paul Bunyan a folklore character.

Paul Bunyan statue in Bangor, Maine

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statue in Bemidji, Minnesota

History
Apparently, French-Canadians originated the tales during the Papineau Rebellion of 1837, which is when they revolted against the young English queen This possibly explains Paul Bunyan’s last name. Boyenne is a colloquial French-Canadian expression which means “Good Grief” or “My Goodness.”

The Legend
At the mouth of the river in the Two Mountains area near Saint-Eustache, Quebec, loggers battled against the British. Among them was a bearded giant named Paul Bo0njean, his nickname – Bonyenne.

Another legend is that of a man living in Ottawa Valley (an actual person). His name – Big Joe Mufferaw or Joe Montferrand, Defender of the people.

The name was eventually Anglicised and the stories changed from generation to generation. Historians later say that the idea of Paul Bunyan with a blue ox was created in the twentieth century.

According to Wikipedia:
“Although it is claimed in some sources that ‘there is no…evidence of any Paul Bunyan story being told before…McGillivray’s story, The Round River Drive, published in 1910, ‘McGillivray had published some stories in the Oscoda, Michigan Press on August 10, 1906, and Governor of Michigan Jennifer M. Granholm proclaimed the centennial of that date as ‘Paul Bunyan Day.’

Bunyan and the Blue Ox
McGillivray’s story doesn’t portray Bunyan as a giant, nor is there mention of an ox. However, J. E. Rockwell, who wrote tales of Bunyan, referred to the blue ox in the February1910issue of The Outer’s Book. One tale indicates Bunyan to be eight feet tall and weighing three hundred pounds.

A historian, Carlton C. Ames, claimed (in 1940) that Bunyan was an invention of the twentieth century and not a nineteenth century folk hero. But William Laughead took the stories and reworked them into the modern character and sold the character to the Red River Lumber Company.

The Myths
According to Wikipedia, “Bunyan's birth was somewhat unusual, as are the births of many mythic heroes, as it took five storks to carry the infant (ordinarily, one stork could carry several babies and drop them off at their parents' homes). When he was old enough to clap and laugh, the vibration broke every window in the house. When he was seven months old, he sawed the legs off his parents' bed in the middle of the night.[11] Paul and Babe the Blue Ox, his companion, dug the Grand Canyon when he dragged his axe behind him. He created Mount Hood by piling rocks on top of his campfire to put it out.

Babe the Blue Ox, Bunyan's companion, was a massive creature with exceptional strength.[12] Most imagery of Bunyan shows Babe the Blue Ox as being of proportionate size (meaning massive compared to everything else). Among other subjects, a myth about the formation of Great Lakes was centered around Babe: Paul Bunyan needed to create a watering hole large enough for Babe to drink from.[8] There are also stories telling that the 10,000 Lakes of Minnesota were formed from the footprints of Paul and Babe while they wandered blindly in a deep blizzard. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were said to give Babe to Paul Bunyan, because they were all "woodsey" pioneer types. Paul Bunyan has dozens of towns vying to be considered his home. Several authors, including James Stevens and D. Laurence Rogers, have traced the tales to the exploits of French-Canadian lumberjack Fabian "Saginaw Joe" Fournier, 1845–1875. Fournier worked for the H. M. Loud Company in the Grayling, Michigan area, 1865–1875, where MacGillivray later worked and apparently picked up the stories.”

Statues
Bunyan and the Blue Ox in Bemidji, Minnesota – part of the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Bangor, Maine, Rumford, Maine, Westwood, California, Del Norte County, California, St. Ignace, Michigan, Ossineke, Michigan, Enchanted Forest Water Safari, N.Y., and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dells and Minocqua, Wisconsin.

There are many more statues and parks devoted to Paul Bunyan and he continues to be the subject of advertisements. This summer, Minnesota Twins Baseball player, Jim Thome, played the role of Bunyan, together with the blue ox, with two other players commenting.

I found this history of Paul Bunyan interesting and would be interested in knowing how any of you would use Paul Bunyan as a hero in a romance or adventure novel.

Joan K. Maze
Writing as J. K. Maze
www.joanmaze.com
http://sleuthingwithmollie.wordpress.com
http://homicideandmayhem.wordpress.com

Murder By Mistake, book 1 in the Mollie Fenwick Mystery Series, available from Red Rose Publishing, B&N, Fictionwise and Amazon
Murder For Kicks, book 2 in the Mollie Fenwick Mystery Series, available from Red Rose Publishing, Fictionwise and Amazon
Framed In Fear, romantic suspense set in Colorado, available from Red Rose Publishing, Fictionwise and Amazon
Murder By Spook, book 3 in the Mollie Fenwick Mystery Series, in progress

Bonanza, Little Joe, and the Real Julia Bulette

Julia Bulette, a high priced courtesan known for her beauty and brains, arrived in Virginia City in 1858 and found herself the lone woman in a town filled with rough and desperate men who were mining the Comstock Lode. She set to work and besides her considerable feminine charms, she became known for her community support, her loyalty and her good business sense before her life came to a tragic end.

Julia’s story found its way onto the small screen in episode 6 of season 1 of the popular TV series, Bonanza, which took place around the environs of Virginia City at the time Julia was plying her trade.  In the fictionalized account, Little Joe gets captivated by the older Julia at her upscale saloon and Ben Cartwright, Little Joe’s father, is not pleased. But when a fever breaks out in Virginia City and Julia pitches, she earns Ben's admiration and he relents saying if she is what Joe wants, he won’t stand in the way. Of course, Little Joe remained single, much to the joy of female viewers everywhere. You can watch it in parts on You Tube. Here’s the first part 

The real Julia Bulette  proved that the woman of loose morals with a heart of gold was more than just a Hollywood caricature.

It was said Julia was from London, England, but of French ancestry, and came to Virginia City, Nevada by way of New Orleans and California.

Her house on D Street became a center of community life in those early days and a place to enjoy the finer things after working down under in the mines. A place of  light and charm versus dark and gloom. You had to behave as a gentleman, however, or you would not be welcome. And these rough, raw and tough men did just that.  She taught her patrons about elegance and grace and they admired her all the more for it.

The miners working the Comstock lode, whose pockets were overflowing with silver, paid dearly and, by all accounts, happily for Julia’s favors as she charged them up to $1000.00 a night. Needless to say in a short time she had the means to open her own house of pleasure, Julia’s Palace, which combined feminine companionship with wonderful French wine and cuisine.

Being an exceptional business woman, Julia “expanded her operations, importing only the most accomplished and refined girls from San Francisco.” (p. 81, Gentle Tamers: Women of the Old Wild West by Dee Brown)

As women of more respectable origins, such as the wives and daughters of the miners, arrived in the city, one would have thought Julia’s role would diminish and, like most sporting women, she would have kept in the background. But that was not Julia’s way.

She rode through the streets of Virginia City in her brougham with four aces emblazoned on the panel and crowned by a lion. She walked the streets going about her daily affairs wearing the latest Parisian fashions and sable muffs and scarves if the weather dictated. She felt part of the city and for a time, the city, at least the men of the city, embraced her. She could often be seen at the Opera in her own loge and always fashionably dressed.

Her proudest moments came from being made an honorary member of in the Virginia City Fire Company, Engine Company No. 1, voted in by the firemen themselves. Of course it didn’t hurt that her favorite lover, Tom Peasley, was the Fire Chief.  In the 1861 Independence Day celebration she was elected Queen of the parade and rode on the fire truck with a fireman’s hat on her head.

She was given other “honors” by the men of the area. “One of the Comstock Mines was named the ‘Julia’ in her honor and the best club car of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad bore the gold-plated name, ‘Julia Bulette.’ When the newly elected governor Nye came to Virginia City, it was Julia who entertained him and other state functionaries at dinner while the “good women” of the town gnashed their teeth behind closed curtains.” (p. 112, Lost Legends of the West by Williams and Pepper)

Julia was beloved by her patrons and she was loyal in return. Many stories circulated of her generosity to those down and out and her support of the city, including her plentiful donations to the fire company. She also would help the men put out fires by working the water pump and serving coffee to the fire fighters. ( p. 81, The Gentle Tamers)

When the Piute War of 1860 erupted Julia offered to stay and feed the defenders of Virginia City but the miners finally persuaded her to join a dozen or so other women in a shelter. When several hundred miners became sick after drinking water containing arsenic, she turned her Palace into a hospital and “went on duty as a nurse, soothing and comforting, and bring the patients to health on a diet of warm soup and rice.” (p.82, The Gentle Tamers)

By 1863, with a population of 30,000 Virginia City was the largest city west of Chicago and their red light district was considered superior to others in the West. ( p. 83, The Gentle Tamers). But with a population that large it was inevitable that “civilization was coming to Virginia City. Indeed by the next year, the Opera house hosted Adah Menken and Julia watched the performance from a “box behind half drawn curtains, exiled because the town had become too respectable for her.” (p. 83 The Gentle Tamers.)

But the end of Julia’s story came about not due to the encroachment of civilization but to the greediness of one of her “uncivilized” admirers who murdered her in the middle of the night in order to steal her considerable jewelry. She was found partially naked, bound, and dead come morning light.

According to reports, Virginia City, at least the male population of the town, went into mourning for her, closing down the mines and shops, hanging black wreaths from saloon windows and decorating fire trucks with black streamers. Thousands of men walked behind the black horse-drawn hearse to bury her in unconsecrated ground.

It took almost a year but finally her murderer, John Millain, (who figures as a jealous lover in the TV version) was caught and brought to trial. As Mark Twain noted in his book, Roughing It, no one was punished for murder in a wide open town like Virginia City.  John Millain would prove an exception so outraged was the town over Julia’s death. Mark Twain, who witnessed Millian’s hanging, gives a chilling account of it in his Letters from Virginia City.

“I saw it all. I took exact note of every detail, even to Melanie’s (sic) considerately helping to fix the leather strap that bound his legs together and the quiet removal of his slippers—and I never wish to see it again. I can see that stiff, straight corpse hanging there yet with its black pillowed-cased head turned rigidly to one side, and the purple streaks creeping through the hands and driving the fleshy hue of life before them. Ugh!”( State Library and Archives: A Division of Nevada Cultural Affairs, From Mark Twain, May 2, 1968)

To read Mark Twain’s full account click http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1574&Itemid=95

A sad conclusion to the story of the woman whose heart of gold could not save her from the tragic fate that befell so many in her profession.

Should Julia have won Little Joe’s heart? It would have made a much happier ending but perhaps spoiled the series for so many young woman of the time.

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

BAD HAND - COL. RANALD MACKENZIE

Mackenzie Park in Lubbock, Texas

A part of Yellow House Canyon

Growing up in Lubbock, Texas we attended what seemed to me a dozen reunions at Mackenzie Park each summer. I knew the park and one of our junior high schools were named for a military man, but nothing else about him, especially not that he went insane. I must have missed the day that was covered in Texas History class. Allegedly, Mackenzie had contracted syphillis, a destroyer of the brain if left untreated. His nickname of Bad Hand came from his losing part of his hand in a battle. His exploits were legendary, and it's said he was fearless and seemed indestructable. Although I find it hard, especially as one whose great grandmother was Native American, I try to see him as he would have been regarded in his time. Whether you view him as a hero or a villain, here's his story.

Ranald Mackenzie

Ranald Slidell (Bad Hand) Mackenzie, army officer, was born on July 27, 1840, in New York City, the son of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, a popular author and naval officer who had taken his mother's family name of Mackenzie, and Catherine (Robinson) Mackenzie. (I suspect there’s an interesting story there!) Alexander Mackenzie was a Captain in the Navy, but he made a bad career move when he hung the son of the Secretary of War for mutiny.

Ranald received his education at Williams College and at the United States Military Academy, where he graduated on June 17, 1862, at the head of his class. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the Army of the Potomac. Within two years he had fought in eight major battles and been promoted to the rank of colonel. Later, in the Shenandoah Valley, he commanded troops in five battles, and in the final campaign against Robert E. Lee he was a brevet major general. At Appomattox he took custody of surrendered Confederate property and afterward commanded the cavalry in the Department of Virginia. In three years he had received seven brevets and six wounds.

Buffalo Soldiers

In 1867 Mackenzie accepted an appointment as colonel of the Forty-first Infantry, a newly formed black regiment reorganized two years later as part of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry. The unit had its headquarters at Fort Brown, Fort Clark, and later at Fort McKavett. On February 25, 1871, he assumed command of the famed Black Buffalo Soldiers, the Fourth United States Cavalry at Fort Concho (San Angelo, TX) and a month later moved its headquarters to Fort Richardson (Jacksboro TX).

Mackenzie awarding medals

That summer he began a series of expeditions into the uncharted Panhandle and Llano Estacado (the staked plain) in an effort to drive renegade Indians back onto their reservations. In October his troops skirmished with a band of Comanches in Blanco Canyon, where he was wounded, and on September 29, 1872, they defeated another near the site of the present town of Lefors. In 1873 Mackenzie was assigned to Fort Clark to put an end to the plunder of Texas livestock by Indian raiders from Mexico. On May 18, in an extralegal raid, he burned a Kickapoo village near Remolino, Coahuila , and returned with forty captives. That and effective border patrols stopped the raiding.

In July 1874 Lt. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan ordered five commands to converge on the Indian hideouts along the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado. Mackenzie, in the most daring and decisive battle of the campaign, destroyed five Indian villages on September 28 in Palo Duro Canyon (near Amarillo, TX) and on November 5 near Tahoka Lake (Tahoka, TX) won a minor engagement, his last, with the Comanches. His destruction of the Indians' horses after the battle of Palo Duro Canyon, even more than the battle itself, destroyed the Indians' resistance.

Comanche Chief Quanah Parker

In March 1875 Mackenzie assumed command at Fort Sill and control over the Comanche-Kiowa and Cheyenne-Arapaho reservations. On June 2 Quanah Parker arrived at Fort Sill with 407 followers and 1,500 horses. The Red River War was over.

After Lt. Col. George A. Custer's troops had been annihilated on the Little Bighorn River in 1876, Mackenzie was placed in command of the District of the Black Hills and of Camp Robinson, Nebraska. In October he forced Sioux Chief Red Cloud, who had won a campaign in 1868 against the United States, to return his band to the reservation.

On November 25 Mackenzie decisively defeated the Northern Cheyennes. After a short tour of duty in Washington, during which he commanded troops mustered to keep the peace in the event of disturbances following the presidential election of 1876, Mackenzie returned to the Black Hills, then to Fort Sill Oklahoma. In late 1877 Indians from Mexico were again raiding in South Texas, and by March 1878 Mackenzie was again at Fort Clark. He began patrols and in June led an expedition into Mexico. His incursion prompted the Mexican government to act, and by October the raiding had ceased.

Mackenzie

In October 1879 Mackenzie was sent to Colorado with six companies of cavalry to prevent an uprising of the Utes at the Los Pinos agency. The Indian Bureau eventually negotiated a removal treaty, but the chiefs refused to leave until Mackenzie informed them that the only alternative was war. Two days later, the Utes started for Utah. On September 2, 1881, Mackenzie received orders to move his cavalry to Arizona, take field command of all troops there, and subdue the Apaches. After a short and brilliant campaign, despite the opposition of the department and division commanders, Mackenzie was assigned on October 30 to command the District of New Mexico, where the Apaches ignored departmental and international lines and the Navajos were restless. Within a year the army was in control.

Mackenzie was promoted to the rank of brigadier general, but was seriously ill. He had taken several medical leaves during the last few years. On October 27, 1883, he was reassigned to command the Department of Texas. He planned to marry and retire soon on land that he had bought near Boerne, TX. The day before his marriage he went into a store, broke a chair, and threatened the store owner with the chair leg. He was restrained, babbling and incoherent. (A narrow escape for his bride-to-be!) By December 18 he was declared suffering "paralysis of the insane." A few days later he was escorted to New York City and placed in the Bloomingdale Asylum. Reportedly, he did not speak or respond. On March 24, 1884, he was retired from the army. In June he went to his boyhood home in Morristown to live with a cousin. In 1886 he was moved to New Brighton, Staten Island, where he died on January 19, 1889. He was buried in the military cemetery at West Point.

According to Johnny Hughes of Lubbock, Texas: “In this part of West Texas, Colonel Ranald "Bad Hand" MacKenzie is seen as the hero of the Indian wars of the 1870s. There were so-called battles in all our area canyons: Yellow House, Blanco, Tule, White River, and the last and largest battle of the Red River Wars, in Palo Duro Canyon against Quanah Parker, and several tribes. MacKenzie had to spend more time killing people than anyone in American history. He entered the Civil War in 1862. Right after the Civil War, he began leading cavalry charges on Indian villages against dozens of tribes in several states and Mexico. This went on until 1880.

Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo

"In several of the canyons, the bleached bones of the horses remain. In the final big ‘battle’ in 1875 in Palo Duro Canyon, MacKenzie burned all the lodges in five villages, and all the food stored for the winter. His troops captured 1400 horses. They kept 300 and shot the rest. They kept an accurate count on the horses, mules, and ammunition, but the number of Indians who died as a result of this government policy has not been written. MacKenzie led white and black soldiers, the famous buffalo soldiers.

"With winter approaching, the Indians were left without food, horses, blankets, warm clothes, or a place to hide. Most surrendered to face a long, cold, hungry walk to Oklahoma. Those that surrendered to the cavalry were in a herd on foot, and herded like cattle or horses.”

The 1958-1959 syndicated television series, "Mackenzie's Raiders," starring Richard Carlson in the title role, is loosely based on Mackenzie's time in Texas. According to Johnny Hughes, the scene in “Dances With Wolves” where Kevin Costner rides around between rebel and union lines was based on Ranald Mackenzie.

Caroline Clemmons is the author of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME, a contemporary sweet romance set in and near the West Texas towns of Lubbock and Tahoka, Texas. http://www.carolineclemmons.com/  her blog is at http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/

Buy link is www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html

The Renaissance and Women

It has long been held that the Renaissance began in Florence, Italy in the 14th century mostly because of the social and civic uniqueness of the city at that time.  The Renaissance was a cultural movement that saw the rise of literature, science, art, religion, and politics. It was an intellectual transformation that bridged the Middle Ages and Modern era.

Women in the Renaissance were primarily the domestic caretakers of the children and the household. They were subordinate inferiors of men. Only a few wealthy women escaped the tasks of making clothes from scratch, the overall maintenance of the home, and production of food. In the Middle Ages master craftsmen worked out of the family home. The women of the house not only did their womanly chores but also took on responsibilities in the family business. In the 13th century, the family business was removed from the home to larger shops in a different location.  It’s during this time period that crafts became individual male trades thus removing the women in the household from participating while she kept house. However, fathers and husbands who stood to profit from the careers of their daughters and wives were not likely to oppose their participation. However, this was not a very common situation. Historians believe women filled a greater variety of professional roles, had more responsibilities, and had more economic contribution during the Middle Ages rather than the Renaissance.  

Like the Middle Ages, women of the Renaissance were denied all political rights and considered legally subject to their husbands. A woman was controlled by her parents throughout her childhood, and then handed directly into the hands of a husband, whom she most likely had not chosen herself, and who would exercise control over her until her death or his. Unmarried women were not emancipated but lived under the subjugation of a male relative or in a convent where she could become a nun, the only profession allowed to women.

The heroine in my book, Knight or Runes, is a 21st century renowned Renaissance scholar. She is an independent take control person. She has a black belt in martial arts and is a survival and rescue expert. When she’s tossed back into 17th century England she’s challenged by the repressive attitudes about women. You’ll have to read the book (it comes out November 14) to see how she fares but how would you cope and survive? What would be your biggest challenge?  

August Contest Winners

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August Winners

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