John F. Shaw first edition - n.d. (1882)
This is the second John F. Shaw 'wholesome' novel I have read in a row. This time it is by one of the publisher's favoured authors - Miss Emily Sarah Holt. On the first page of the Advertisements at the back of the book, there are several reviews extolling John F. Shaw's publications. Here are two of them:
Amongst publishing house for the young, Messrs. John F. Shaw & Co. hold high rank as uniformly aiming, not merely at the entertainment, but the moral and spiritual elevation of their readers. They have a staff of writers who most ably assist them in this endeavour. The Watchman.
The provision of tales for girls and boys, which, while attractive and of a good order of workmanship, lack the vicious sensationalism of the novels of what would in some circles by termed 'the naughty but nice' school, is an important part of the annual operations in the literary factory, and in no case is it performed with more complete success than by Messrs. John F. Shaw & Co. They provide a series of tales of a high order of merit, in which, while the tone of religiousness is preserved throughout, there is not a suspicion of dullness. Publishers' Circular.
Emily Sarah Holt's novels certainly fit the bill. The author was possibly the most popular novelist published by Shaw. She came from a well-off family and she spent almost her entire life in their ancestral home, Stubbylee Hall, Bacup. She had a working knowledge of six languages, including Latin and Greek'; her library was dominated by history, both original and secondary sources. Her true success as a published author came with her historical fiction, publishing more than 40 novels between 1868 and 1893. Her project was an explicitly Protestant and reactionary history of Britain through fiction, so as to counter the dangers of both Roman and Anglo Catholicism. She was fascinated with John Wycliffe and the Lollards. Holt integrates heavy doses of antiquarian detail into her fiction - everything from fashion to architectural motifs. Narratives temporarily derail in order to convey "quaint" factual detail...(Miriam Burstein, chapter in Clio's Daughters)
At Ye Grene Griffin is a short tale, concerning Mrs Dorothy Treadwell, a fat, slothful, domineering wife of a London tailor, and her quest for a new cook. Her husband, Master Humphrey Treadwell, was a quiet, humble individual, (a meek-looking man with a slight limp) who never contradicted anybody, and least of all his wife. It is May 1471, and Mrs Treadwell's cousin, Roger Cordiner, turns up with a possible answer to her prayers. After several pages of rather simplistic history-telling of the course of the Wars of the Roses up to the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury by the author, Roger is introduced as a follower of the late Earl of Warwick. He thinks he has the ideal person as cook for Mrs Treadwell.
'Nan' arrives - the girl was very young looking, and very, very beautiful. She was tall, slightly built, and stately in carriage, though so young...[with a] look of intense mournfulness in the eyes.
There is plenty of evidence of Holt using original sources. She refers to the landlord of the Crown Inn being hanged for jokingly saying that his son was "heir to the Crown". She quotes the Patent Rolls more than once. As mentioned above, Holt peppers her narrative with information about 15th century behaviour - e.g. the time and content of breakfasts; the meaning of potage and crustade; the fact that 'garbage' meant a stew of chicken giblets. Another example occurs when Kate is taxed by Nan for having no worse sorrow than losing of a pomander. The author breaks off to tell the reader what a pomander was. Such asides certainly pad out a shortish book, but they also interrupt the flow of the narrative. Increasingly, the novel appears didactic. Perhaps, if we were to feel a little more thankful for the liberty we have, and to make a little less noise about the rights and liberties we have not, it might not do much harm, either to ourselves or other people! Thus speaks the spinster Sunday School teacher. More Christian orientated morality follows when old Alice Treadwell arrives at the house. There are several pages of Christian homilies and parables.
Gradually, Humphrey Treadwell's live-in younger sister, Kate, drags information out of Nan. The latter is scared to venture out, is terrified of strangers and determined to keep 'hidden'. Eventually, she is unmasked as the fugitive Anne Neville, the younger daughter of the great Kingmaker. Her sister would prefer her to remain where she is, as the Warwick inheritance would then not be divided. However, the final chapter is ominously headed 'Found At Last'. Into the shop comes a well-to-do stranger with a voice known Anne. She asks, Hath he the one shoulder higher than the other? Look and tell me." On the answer being "Yes." she exclaims: "Too late! too late! Is there no mercy, O God?"
It is Richard, duke of Gloucester. Anne recoils from him: "You knew that it was from you I was hiding. Not from the law...Outlawry hath no terrors, death is no ill; but I pray God put the ocean betwixt me and you, for you are worser unto me than either." Oh dear; alas, it is no good. She is whisked away to a loveless marriage. Kate does not see Anne again for twelve years and then only as the new King Richard and his Queen Anne passed through the city towards Westminster.
The King had passed by, - the deformed prince with the handsome face and sinister eyes, the nervous restless man who must be perpetually fingering something, and who could not look fixedly at any man for more than a second... Anne's son dies, closely followed by Anne herself. Then Bosworth. The Nemesis was not long in coming upon him who had been the evil angel of that short and sorrowful life.
So perished Richard of Gloucester.
"God's mill grinds slowly, but it grinds very small."
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Miss Emily Sarah Holt would not be receiving Christmas cards from the Richard III Society then.
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