Hornblower on the case!

Here is the first post of Act II of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act II: Hercule Hornblower Investigates

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From the Case Journal of Hercule Hornblower: 

August 16, 1898


Following the discovery of the remains of Baron von Boddy in England, I am summoned home from Egypt by my present employer, Mrs. Midas-White, to agitate the little gray cells over the baron’s mysterious death. I have discovered much of his last months but am no closer to finding the treasure he sought for Mrs. Midas-White.

Thus far I have assembled in my timetable:

1.    April 1 – Mrs. Midas-White agrees to fund Baron von Boddy’s expedition in search of a Nubian treasure, the fabled Eye of Africa.

2.    April 21 – Baron von Boddy departs England in his solo expeditionary airship, the Jules Verne.

3.    May 3 – Baron arrives in Cairo and pledges Mrs. M-W’s credit for his palatial suite at Shepherd’s Hotel.

4.    May 15 – Baron accepts delivery “on approval” of several expensive items of ladies’ jewellery. A young widow residing in the hotel is seen wearing them.

5.    May 30 – Baron departs Cairo at dusk to disguise his direction over the desert.  The young widow soon vanishes from Cairo along with the jewellery.

6.    June 30 – British Surface Navy Destroyers at the mouth of the Suez Canal sight the Jules Verne a few miles inland.

7.    July 15 – The Jules Verne is spotted free-floating, low over the English Channel off Cornwall. It is boarded and found deserted.

8.    July 16 - Mrs. Midas-White sends me to Cairo to discover the baron’s whereabouts with the treasure, which she feels she has more than paid for.

9.    August 3 – Baron von Boddy’s remains are dragged ashore in Cornwall by a storm tide.

10.  August 10 – I, Hercule Hornblower, am summoned like a dog to damp and chilly Cornwall. Only by baying ferociously at my employer via international cablegram was I permitted to travel in the luxury to which I am accustomed. Never again will Hercule Hornblower work for an American woman who whistles him to heel like a puffed poodle.

Click here for the next installment.

The Evil Eye

Here is the last post of Act I of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!



Starting tomorrow  I will begin posting ACT II  as extracts from the journals of the famous inspector Hercule Hornblower, he of the prodigious mustachios.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Dover Sole

August 6, 1898

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DID BARON VON BODDY FIND THE EVIL EYE? 

A photograph of a mask that may be the fabled Eye of Africa was found in the trunk that came ashore in Cornwall. Though much damaged by seawater, the now-reconstituted image clearly shows an African mask with a gleaming stone in its forehead. The baron’s housekeeper identified the arm seen above as wearing the baron’s favourite coat, and the settee on which the mask rests as being in the Boddy Manor parlour. Two questions arise: where is the treasure now, and how did the baron and his trunk end up in the English Channel?

One thing is certain: no stick nor stone of Boddy Manor will be left unturned by his heir, in hopes of stumbling upon African jewels of unsurpassed value. “Lady Peacock has been most industrious in seeking it,” Sir Ambrose stated. Professor Indiana Brown claims the papers seen with the mask are his own original drawing and map to the Eye of Africa’s ritual hiding place. Famed investigator, Hercule Hornblower is en route from Cairo to Boddy Manor to investigate both the mysterious death and the whereabouts of the treasure.

Click here for the next installment.

Them bones them bones...

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts 

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Cornwall Cog and Goggles

August 3, 1898

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BODDY’S BODY FOUND – MYSTERY DEEPENS

The mortal remains of Baron von Boddy, thought lost over the English Channel after his airship was abandoned, have washed ashore in Cornwall, only a few miles from isolated Boddy Manor. The remains, much diminished by the action of waves and sea creatures, were lashed to a small, but weighty, White Star Line trunk. Coast Guard say the body may have been in the water only a couple of weeks, as the shad were running in their millions and could have picked the body clean quite quickly.

Those who discovered the body immediately opened the trunk, hoping to be the first to see the fabled Nubian treasure the baron sought in Africa, but were disappointed to find only books and papers, some of them damaged by water seepage. Coast Guard officials say the trunk could not have floated and was probably dragged inshore by the tide. Why Boddy should have elected to abandon ship with a heavy trunk is un-guessable, but local sea-goers, familiar with the baron’s eccentricities in pursuit of his various quests, believe he might have bailed out at low altitude over shallow water and hoped to drag the trunk ashore safely. Whether the tide set against him or the wind was offshore cannot be known unless the time of his entering the sea can be determined by other means.

Click here for the next installment.

Beware the Evil eye!

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Remember that if you think you have solved the mystery email your deduction to:  madamesaffron at gmail.com.
Madame will be drawing from all the correct solutions for some prizes from Tyche Books!

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Goggles Grapevine – August 1, 1898

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EVIL EYE DIAMOND GLOWS RED SAYS PROF

Professor Plum, seen here vigorously protesting his innocence, was one of the last people to see Baron von Boddy alive before his departure for Egypt last May. Scotland Yard today confirmed there is no case against Professor Polonius Plum for the theft and sale of Henry Brown’s trunk.  “Our only possible witness to any sale has gone missing,” said Chief Inspector Snidely Bellows.  “You know, that chap whose airship was just found floating off the South Coast. Without him or the trunk, we’ve got nothing.”

Plum proclaimed his innocence. “Von Boddy wasn’t going after a mask anyway. Masks in Africa are as common as mutton in England. My friend was on the trail of a unique red-veined diamond, sometimes called a bloodshot diamond.” There followed a long, technical explication of the geological processes by which other rare minerals are compressed into the midst of a diamond. When the American academic’s latest threat was quoted to him, Plum said, “Brown’s yearning to discredit me because I demanded his expulsion from Oxford. If he dares lay a violent hand on me, I’ll have him up on charges. Immediately following a sharp lesson in British pugilism.” The professor is departing today for Boddy Manor in Cornwall. While awaiting news of his friend’s fate, he intends to catalogue the baron’s papers for his university.

Click here for the next installment.

A Contretemps in the hallowed halls

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The University Times

July 27, 1898

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INDY BROWN’S CASE AGAINST PROFESSOR PLUM

Photo Indiana Brown and Professor Plum nose to nose in Balliol Fellows dining hall A new wrinkle arose in the mysterious case of the missing baron, when American adventurer Henry “Indiana” Brown levelled a public accusation at Professor Polonius Plum for the theft of his research into the fabled Eye of Africa mask. “We both attended the annual meeting of the Association for Archaeology in Academia a couple months back, in New York City. We came on to England on the same trans-oceanic airship,” said Brown. “I showed him the map. I put it into my book trunk right in front of him, and next day the whole trunk vanished.

“As soon as I heard that Baron guy was on the trail of the Eye of Africa when he got lost , I knew the Professor had shanghai’d my research for him. And I’ll prove it, by gum, or my name isn’t Henry Walton Brown, Junior.” In terms not suitable for newspaper publication, Brown expressed his intent to follow the professor to Cornwall, where the latter hopes to curate Baron von Boddy’s papers for the Balliol Library. Said Brown, “And when I catch up to him, I’ll punch him right in the schnoz!”   Hand-drawn facsimile of mask Brown claims to have researched thoroughly

Click here for the next installment.                       

A Mysterious woman...


Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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London Fog and Cog

July 27, 1898

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LAST LADY LOVE OF BARON VON BODDY?

Do you recognize this woman, seen in intimate proximity to Baron von Boddy at the Cairo Aerodrome shortly before his departure for parts unknown? Hercule Hornblower, investigating the last days of Baron von Boddy in Egypt, has learned he was often in company with a lovely young widow whose name, as given at her hotel and to the English community in Cairo, was proved fictional. This woman was seen weeping at the aerodrome as Boddy departed on his ill-fated treasure hunt into the Nubian desert.  An airship captain who witnessed the tearful parting had no information to share on her identity beyond, “A demmed fine woman, sirrah. Demmed fine.”

Hornblower has appealed without success to the English community in Cairo for the woman’s actual name and whereabouts, and now seeks the same information from the Fog’s loyal readers. If you know this woman by any name, please fill in the Fog and we will ensure the information reaches Monsieur Hornblower. Below: a wider view of the mystery woman at the aerodrome, being consoled or cajoled by the baron while an incidental airship captain resolutely keeps his eyes on the skies.

Click here for the next installment.

Beauty and Danger...

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Social Steamer

July 22, 1898

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AMERICAN HEIRESS BADGERED FOR BATTY BARON’S BILLS

Mrs. Medusa Midas-White in her parlour at Claridge’s Hotel. Following the discovery of the abandoned Jules Verne, the expeditionary airship of Baron von Boddy, Mrs. Midas-White, the only surviving heir to Atlantic Airship Industries in New Jersey, America, and now resident in Claridge’s Hotel, London, is being urgently billed by merchants who supplied the missing adventurer’s expedition in search of Nubian treasures. Mrs. White’s patronage of Baron von Boddy was widely known in England, and doubtless contributed to the merchants’ willingness to advance goods to the latter. On being informed the baron had not paid his bills before departure, her shock seemed genuine. How much the heiress had already advanced in support of Boddy’s latest whacky dream is unknown. A few inquiries would have revealed the venturesome baron’s English investors were long since embittered by his unfruitful quests for legendary treasures.

Notable detective Hercule Hornblower is on the case.   Mrs. White dispatched a notable British detective, Hercule Hornblower, to Egypt in hopes of determining whether Boddy found the treasure and, if so, where she might lay claim to her contractually guaranteed portion of the trove. “If I must, I will take my money stick by brick from his property in Cornwall,” she said, frowning severely. “I am going there immediately to make sure it is not tampered with until I’ve got my pound of flesh.”

Click here for the next installment.

Served with Distinction...

Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Floating Fortress, England’s Aeronautical Weekly

July 21, 1898

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CARDSHARP COLONEL EJECTED FROM ST. JAMES CLUB

Colonel Bilious Mustard, long an habitué of the fashionable gaming clubs of London, was escorted from the premises of The Royal Air Arms recently. Rumours fly of cheating at piquet and failure to pay his club dues. Creditors are encamped outside the veteran officer’s lodging, where the landlady said his rent is also in arrears. Colonel Mustard inside his club, The Royal Air Arms, caught in a candid moment during a card game. The Colonel’s downfall is all the more shocking as his service record is filled with battle honours. His earliest post was with the high-altitude scouts, who spend many hours aloft in tethered balloons to report enemy troop movements to the ground forces. These daring aeronauts were constantly at risk from enemy snipers and vagaries of weather, with only a canvas canopy to drop them gently to Earth should their balloon be ruptured.

A high-altitude scout training with his canopy by leaping from scaffolding. Mustard earned three valorous medals aloft before returning to the Airship Marine Corps for many further years of honourable service. He has not been seen in his usual haunts lately. The recent disappearance of his good friend, Baron von Boddy, weighed on his mind, and some club members suggest he has taken the “honourable way out,” ie self-termination with his service pistol, a long tradition for disgraced military men.

Click here for the next installment.

Academics behaving badly!


Here is the next post of Jayne Barnard's "The Evil Eye of Africa."

The first post is here.
A list of all the characters is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The University Times

July 18, 1898

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AMERICAN LECTURER LAUGHED OUT OF OXFORD

Professor “Indy” Brown addressing the Annual Fellows Dinner at Balliol College in Oxford Henry “Indiana” Brown, a scholar visiting from a middle-American “university,” gave a detailed description of a fabled proto-Nubian mask, The Eye of Africa, at the Explorers Club dinner in Balliol College last week.

He embellished the telling with apparently erudite and convincing detail. But, when asked to produce evidence of his conclusions, Brown claimed his research was all lost on his voyage across the Atlantic. The White Star Line denies any claim was made by Mr. Brown for lost luggage, casting his research into grave doubt and resulting in prompt termination of his visiting-professor status at Oxford. An American, Professor Brown did not depart with the dignity of a British don. After confronting an esteemed Oxfordian in the dining hall with accusations of theft, Brown was escorted from the Sacred Halls of Academe. At the university gate he yelled back, “I’m right and I’ll rub all your noses in it.” As this is the widely preferred form of teaching puppies not to do their business indoors, the egregious insult has further cast doubt on the recent policy of treating America’s fledgling academic institutes as in any way on a par with those venerable universities of England. Look for sparks to fly at next month’s meeting of the Oxford Universities Guild.

Click here for the next installment.

Suspects!

To make it easier to keep track of who is who, here is the list of characters in "The Evil Eye of Africa".
The next part of the Mystery will be posted shortly.
The first post is here.

You can get all the posts by clicking on the mystery tag.

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Dramatis Personae:

Baron von Boddy – a Cornish adventurer better known for his failures than his successes, and his idiosyncratic single-hander expeditionary airship, the Jules Verne. His present quest for the Eye of Africa began in London amid fanfare but degenerated into bragging for drinks around the British haunts in Cairo.
 (Andrew Nadon)

Colonel Bilious Mustard – Boddy’s long-time, stalwart friend, recently retired from an upstanding military career that left him showered with medals but holding few saleable assets.
(Grant Zelych)











Sir Ambrose Peacock – heir to Baron von Boddy’s title and whatever is left of his estate, this feckless fop has never worked at anything more challenging than the tying of his cravat nor made a more weighty decision than the placement of a jeweled pin in said cravat.
(Jessep Crossfield)

Lady Peacock – an undeniable beauty, of whom little is known prior to her recent airship wedding – some say hasty, others romantic – to Sir Ambrose.
(Raven Hawthorne)










Professor Polonius Plum – an Oxford scholar of no particular note, until he came to frequent the company of Baron von Boddy last winter.
(James Prescott)

 

Henry “Indiana” Brown – an American, professor of Archaeology at a little-known Midwest university, he has made a lifelong study of ancient African relics of power. (Andrew Nadon)








Mrs. Medusa Midas-White – an American industrial heiress with pots of money and a thirst for more.(Karen Siemens)

Hercule Hornblower – a notable British-Belgian detective whose forays into undercover surveillance are thwarted by his excessively large and recognizable moustaches.
(Stewart McPhee)



 

An Incidental Airship Captain of No Particular Importance.
(Me)



Click here for the next installment.

Murder, Mayhem, Detection!

It's time to get this game rolling!

This is the first post of the Mystery Game, "The Evil Eye of Africa," by Jayne Barnard.

Here is your chance to win some prizes from Tyche Books by solving the mystery.

I will be posting each section to the blog and as soon as you figure out who the murderer is you can email your deduction to madamesaffron at gmail.com. You can submit multiple times if you change your mind but we will only use the last one!

Once all the parts have been posted I will collect all the correct guesses and pass them along so that Madame Saffron Hemlock herself can draw names and award the prizes.

The Mystery consists of two Acts.

• Act I is a collection of newspaper articles where the mystery begins to become apparent.
• Act II is a collection of reports and journal entries from the private investigator who has been hired to figure out what is happening.

The posts are illustrated with pictures of some of Calgary's best dressed Steampunks, who joined Jayne at the Seanachie pub on a wonderful summer Sunday afternoon for good food, good ale, fun, murder and mayhem.

You can get all the parts of the mystery posted so far by clicking on the mystery tag.
A list of all the characters is here.

So without further ado here then is...

"The Evil Eye of Africa"
By Jayne Barnard

A Guess-the-Murderer Mystery in Two Acts

Act I: The Headlines Thicken

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The Cornwall Cog and Goggles

July 15, 1898

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POTTY PEER’S AIRSHIP ADRIFT

The expeditionary airship of Baron von Boddy, amateur archaeologist and ardent explorer of Egypt, has been found deserted, floating low over the English Channel, a fortnight after vanishing from view in a sandstorm that crossed the Suez Canal. One canvas canopy and one cork life-vest were missing from the vessel, leading to the belief that the explorer bailed out over water. Of the fabled Nubian treasure von Boddy’s latest expedition sought, there was no trace. Asked about his uncle’s quest, his heir, Sir Ambrose Peacock said, “He was after the Eye of Africa, a pigeon’s egg diamond streaked with red. Those heathen tribes thought a spirit made the diamond glow when evil-doers were near. By golly, I’d like to see that diamond!” Peacock was on the point of departing overland for Egypt, to pursue investigations into his uncle’s last known whereabouts.

Baron von Boddy on April 1, greeting his latest investor, Mrs. Medusa Midas-White of New Jersey, America.

Click here for the next installment.

What Ifs...

Everybody likes to day dream.  I like to daydream about projects, contraptions, airships (as you may have noticed) and other wondrous Steampunk things. Now daydreams are OK as a way to spend an idle few minutes waiting for a bus or waiting for a kettle to boil or something, but sometimes they can lead to projects that might actually be interesting or at least entertaining to actually create.

Between the pure fantasy daydream, and the detailed planning for a real project, lies the wonderland that I like to call "Pie In the Sky" projects. These are projects that get fleshed out a bit further than a pure daydream but don't fall prey to the issues that reality imposes if you actually want to turn them into real things.

For my first Pie In the Sky I present to you an Airship Gondola!

The idea here is to modify a motorhome, to become the gondola / control car of a personal airship.
Perhaps a small version of the one I have been designing in my Practical Airship Design Series.

By not having to worry about the pesky details of building and flying a real Airship, my project would be to just build the control car and drive it to events as if it was flying there!

We would start with something like one of these Airstream Motorhomes:

http://www.aluminarium.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/airstream-moho.jpg

Inside though we would make it look like it belonged to the Airship of our imagination, with flight controls and cabins, even an engineering and communications station.

Once someone stepped aboard I want them to think they could be suspended beneath the massive envelope of an Airship. One that has just touched down from some exotic adventures amongst the clouds.

With the passengers and crew suitably attired we could travel the by ways and have all sorts of adventures while never leaving the safety of the ground!

I was partly inspired by that amazing Victorian fantasy "The Never Was Haul"

Oh the wondrous Pie In the Sky projects!

Keep your sightglass full your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Dispatch from the Austrian Court

Here is the second part of Jayne Barnard's wonderful post concerning a duel according to the infamous Hungarian Imperial Parasol Duelling Rules, popular in the Astro-Hungarian Empire.
An account of intrigue and death, by parasol duel, in the court of the Empress of Austria Hungary!
Part one is here.

Enjoy
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ 

Ed: Warning to those of a sensitive nature that this document contains descriptions of possibly disturbing violence.

The Duel Begins

To begin, it was as punctilious as any meeting of two Prussian Cavalry officers, the ladies’ grave demeanor a stark contrast to the oddity of their apparel. The Doctor took his stance at center, the duelists opposite each other with parasols aslant across their breasts and their leather-cased feet square across the line of the circle. A chime sounded, at which all the assembly fell silent. I turned to my neighbour to whisper a question – what it was, I now forget – and she hushed me with an imperative gesture. The chime repeated. All were still in that vast room, with only a bluebottle buzzing on a window to disturb the silence.

A Hungarian Imperial Rules
Parasol Duellist *

On the third chime, the duelists paced forward to meet before the Doctor, who spoke firmly of their obligation to act with honour and to abide by the Code. He released them, they turned on their heels and retreated to their previous positions on the line. The Doctor retreated still further, a good six feet beyond the line, and raised his arm high. As he brought it down, the chime sounded again and the duelists stepped warily into the circle.

Ah! My fickle mind returns the question: was this to be a timed bout, as exhibitions were, and as I had seen the novices do? But no, my answer must wait upon events, for no word was uttered in all that vast, echoing room, so silent that the slip and pad of the leather-clad feet was clearly audible. The combatants moved around their perimeter, perhaps ten feet apart, parasols shifting in their hands, gliding through rudimentary Twirls or resting a fraction in a Plant. The first minute passed. I expected a chime, and a pause, but neither arrived. The silence, and the circling, continued, with a gradual decrease in the distance between the two. The tension was immense. I confess I would have daubed my brow with my handkerchief had I not feared to disturb the mesmerizing ritual.

By my estimate two and a quarter minutes had passed before the first contact was made. Fraulein F_’s parasol whipped neatly into an incipient Snub by Madame S_H_, leaving a two-inch slit in the fabric. Madame gave no ground, but followed up speedily with an attempted Ankling, which caused Fraulein to hop backward. More circling ensued, but faster, and with feints and parries almost a blur. My breath held for long moments, awaiting a decisive thrust, but still they continued. A Cut down Fraulein’s left sleeve exposed her sturdy forearm, and was returned to Madame’s thigh, leaving several inches of pale skin in view. (The woman has freckles there, Aubrey! What decent woman would expose that part of her anatomy to the sun?). Madame repaid that slash with one that drew blood – the Cut Direct – through the leather and into the skin of Fraulein’s meaty buttock. They fell back, circling.

When they closed again, Fraulein thrust out a truncated Snub.  Madame Twirled into it, body and parasol both, and caught Fraulein a hefty smack on the cheek with the lead collar. Whether she was intent on a Cut Direct down the cheek, I cannot be sure, but by no change in demeanor did she betray either satisfaction or disappointment. Fraulein rubbed a hand over her cheek but briefly, before attacking once more, stabbing downward in a vicious Plant. Madame slid that foot neatly out of the way and, in a lunge that would have done credit to an Oxford fencing don, put the Coup into Fraulein’s upper left arm, to the full depth of the tip. Fraulein stepped unsteadily backward, clapping her right hand to the wound, bright red blood staining her fingers. The Doctor stepped forward.

I was more than ready to see it end there, for Fraulein was bleeding now in two places and her face was flushed, even sweating. This is no sport for ladies, dear fellow, and for a moment I seriously considered withdrawing from the hall. But the wounded Fraulein waved off the Doctor and saluted Madame across the circle, and the duel was on again. It was so fast I did not fully follow the events, a mere flurry of parasols before Fraulein fell to one knee with blood streaming from a second Coup, this to her right thigh. The Doctor rushed forward to examine her, but before he could reach Fraulein, she waved him off again.

A Dispatch from the Austrian Court

One of the questions I am often asked is for more details about the infamous Hungarian Imperial Parasol Duelling Rules.  They have taken on quite an aura of exotic mystery if only because they are considered barbarous and violent, in contrast to the stately and more elegant forms of the Brandenburg Variations.

Jayne Barnard has written this delightful post to shed some light on these other rules.  Couched in the congenial, yet precise, form of a letter from an English Diplomat in the Imperial Court of Austria to an old friend and compatriot in the Diplomatic Service back in England.

Enjoy
Keep your sightglass full your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

Ed: Holographic letter (undated) discovered among the private papers of Sir Aubrey Barrett-Burrows (deceased). The author of this letter, signed only ‘Charles’, is suggested to be the Honourable Charles Burrows, Aubrey’s cousin, who entered the Diplomatic Corps under Aubrey’s aegis and traveled extensively within the Austro-Hungarian Empire on both pleasure and official duties for the last decades of the 19^th century. 

Warning to those of a sensitive nature that this document contains descriptions of possibly disturbing violence.

Dear Aubrey,

You were correct in warning me that this Court, so stifled with protocol on the outer shell, has within it arenas of private wildness. Not that the Crown Prince R’s wildness is at all private. The man’s a byword for excesses across the Continent.

The Empress of Austria Hungary

In your ear alone, I dare wonder if he inherited it from his mother. His father’s misbehaviour follows established lines involving the fairer sex, but his mother! The Empress travels extensively, is absent for months at a time from her husband and children, remains obsessed with her beauty, and herself exercises daily to exhaustion to maintain her legendary slimness. A stunner indeed, but cold with it, I believe, despite persistent rumours of her amorous entanglements. Whether there is fire behind the rumour I know not, but it is highly suggestive that a young woman within the Court died abruptly soon after daring to mention before the Archduke’s revered mother the Empress’s predilection for the company of a certain Hungarian count. You will know which count, for you were in Buda-Pest when the Hungarians were brought into the Austrian fold.

You may also remember the Empress spent that entire year on the newly designated royal estates in Hungary, with that nameless count in close attendance. As I have since been informed, the usual gymnasium facilities she required were lacking at that estate, and the weather being often too inclement for her to be out riding and walking sufficient to ease her restlessness, the Empress caused the formerly demure practice of parasol duelling to take on aspects of martial combat, to make it more challenging physically and mentally. This resulted in the Hungarian Imperial Code of Parasol Duel, through exhibitions of which we all in the Diplomatic Corps since your day have sat marvelling at the speed and acrobatic capability of the duellists, or at their indecently form-fitting duelling costumes, as our preference took us.

The real duels, those held over matters of honour and repute, of which you have doubtless heard, are conducted mostly in private, overseen by ‘seconds’ and the requisite Doctor, with a staff of assistants and nurses at hand, for injuries are all but inevitable. This form of parasol duel is indeed much wilder than the drawing-room pacing and posing permitted under HRM in British dominions. Young women make no effort to conceal scarred faces but show them proudly, just as the men do their duelling scars.

I venture to describe to you in some detail the recent, bloody and violent duel overseen by the Empress herself, in the gymnasium built for her in the Hofburg gardens. That a fatal duel between women could take place in the very heart of Vienna without a public outcry is testament to how thoroughly established the Hungarian Imperial Code is amongst the Austrians. Not a month hence, as the Empress exercised with her ladies, throwing heavy leather balls back and forth, leaping over padded hurdles and performing a variety of acrobatic routines that anyone who has seen a duelling exhibition would recognize as rehearsal of movements for those, a most spurious-sounding quarrel was forced on a Lady of the Bedchamber, one Fraulein F_, by a cousin of the Empress, a Madame S_H_, whom you may have encountered on some embassy posting or other. She moves much in court circles around the Continent, although a mere daughter to some minor Bavarian noble house and the widow of an obscure French professor of philosophical botany. She styles herself a professor of applied botany, whatever that may mean, and it has been speculated that she applied some unwholesome botanical decoction to her elderly husband to speed her bereavement.

She has the favour of the Empress, that much is certain, for her egregious insult to the talkative young Fraulein was both overheard and approved by that sovereign, leaving the younger woman no face-saving way to avoid a duel. I, with a few other men from various embassies who had been invited to converse with the Empress in the intervals of her exercise, was invited to stay or leave as I saw fit, but warned that I must on no account make a disruption to the proceedings if remaining.

You may well imagine I stayed, for this private glimpse under the skirts (as it were) of the stiff Austrian court was not to be lightly bypassed.

My fellows departed, having, they said (but quietly), no stomach for watching women pretend to defend their honour, that quality being, in their minds, reserved only for the male sex. Had they stayed to see the duellists replace their ankle-length divided skirts with leg-hugging leather trousers – well, not to say I saw them do so, either, but they each departed to a separate anteroom with their seconds and returned so garbed – had they stayed, the unabashed display of nether limbs might have entranced or horrified them, such never being seen in England or indeed most European courts. Their hair, tight-braided and pinned to their heads for their earlier exertions, was further confined in heavy hairnets, well secured, that did naught to advance the beauty of either the Fraulein’s brown tresses or Madame’s deep burgundy locks.

A continental view...

Here is another faux historical piece about Parasol Duelling.

Written by the talented Stewart MacPhee of Calgary, it is a very interesting look at one of the many continental styles of Parasol Duelling that could have existed at the time of Queen Victoria.

Enjoy
Keep your sightglass full, your fire box trimmed and your water iced.
KJ
 
Ed: This evening, continuing the fascinating discussions on Parasol Duelling, I am happy to post a paper from a more European and Continental perspective.

This paper, by a Dr. Johann Portsmouth Adler, appears to have been written shortly after the time that the Brandenburg Variations were formalized by Her Majesty. It discusses the version of Parasol Duelling as practiced in Prussia at that time. The contrasts with the Queen's Rules are intriguing.

I am hoping to get more information on the specific provenance of this paper, but even without the details of its source there is much here that warrants close study.

Walzer der Schmetterlinge

(Waltz of the butterflies)

A treatise on the noble art of parasol dueling in the Germanic territories.

By Dr. Johann Portsmouth Adler

                With the rise in popularity of Parasol Dueling in England and her far flung empire ,thanks in no small part to the royal assent given by her royal majesty Queen Victoria, I feel compelled to sit and pen this account of Parasol Dueling in my families homeland of the Germanic principalities.

                There is no small amount of debate among scholars as to where the sport originally came from on the European continent.  These debates (heated at times I am told) have raged since the formation of some of the earliest dueling schools in the capitols of the major powers.  In the case of Germany I have uncovered evidence both confirming and contradicting the claims that Deutschland was the birthplace of the sport. 

                What I can confirm undoubtedly is that in the beginning it was the families of the Military aristocracy that saw to the spread and refinement of what today is called the Prussian style.  In those early days it was the wives and daughters that took to the sport with a relish.  While the men would engage in lengthy debates over military strategy and points of honor the women would have their own spirited discussions over the various points of the growing sport, weighing the pros and cons of a figure with the same fervor that a general would while forming strategy for an upcoming battle.

                Owing to their connections to the military it was soon that a highly formalized and some could even say regimented style started to emerge.  Where the sons of Military families were sent to one of the Military academies it was not unheard of for daughters of the same families to go to one of the quickly growing Dueling schools. 

                As each nation and in some cases each city developed their own style it quickly became apparent that the Germanic schools prided themselves on the efficiency and execution of each of the figures.  As one visiting dignitary to Berlin noted in a letter to his family "The way that they go about their training  you would think you were looking at a group of infantry practicing rifle drill. They are all formed in a tight well dressed group, at the head is the mistress, at her command the entire group presents the chosen figure.  again and again they repeat it.  Pausing after every one while the Mistress walks up and down the assembled ranks correcting girls on the proper display and posture of the chosen figure."

                It is said that some of the Mistress's of these schools would have custom made pace sticks made for them so that they could exactly measure the distance between a duelist and her parasol in any given figure.  This can even be seen in use today in some of the older Germanic schools.

                Of course their chosen course did have its drawbacks and while they were quickly becoming masters of the compulsory figures in the arts of the flirtation trials they were lacking, instruction in these arts was mainly left to the individual duelist to develop and expand upon at their discretion.  There did exist one school in Dresden where the arts of Flirtation were highly practiced and it is said that their "Ankling" methods were on par with some to the great Parisian schools at the time.  But overall they were in the minority when compared to the other schools.

                With the rise of the Brandenburg variations and the strict rules regarding contact the title of Doctor is usually purely an honorific given to the appointed adjutant of a duel.  In the early cases of German competitions  however this was not the case.  While there was a mandated distance decided upon it was still within striking distance of their opponent.  Usually it was only one marching pace away from your opponent and it was a rare case where the doctor was not needed after a match to treat a bruise, cut or broken bone in severe cases.  There exist multiple cases of renowned duelists who would bear these marks with pride after a competition.  One remarkable case details a young noble women who after a particularly brutal match was left with a small scar on her jaw line, instead of trying to hide it she wore it with pride, eagerly regaling the tale of how she obtained it to other young duelists.

                One disturbing trend that did arise was the use of weighted parasol tips.  The thinking at the time was that a well placed "accidental" strike to your opponents wrist would numb it enough that they would be unable to complete their figures in time thus giving the duelist an advantage.  While this did indeed numb the wrist if contact was made it resulted in more than one case of severe fracturing of a young woman's wrist.  More than one promising dueling career was cut short due to this method of thinking and the use was quickly banned though it was not unheard of for the occasional duelist to risk forfeiture and  expulsion from the competition with the use of a weighted tip in the hopes of gaining an advantage over a particularly skilled opponent.

                When comparing the Brandenburg variation figures to those developed by the Prussian style it is easy to see similarities between the two.  It is even joked about in some circles that the Brandenburg variation is just a British twist on the Prussian style.  One figure that is unique to the Prussian style though and hardly seen outside of German competitions is the "Ehre Nehmer" or Honor Taker.  This move is used when one wishes to show their utter contempt for their opponent or in cases where the duelist knows they will not win in a final show of defiance.  For this move the duelist places their parasol over their shoulder as if going to perform a twirl but then with a flourish of their skirt turns their back on their opponent, forfeiting the round but taking any honor that the opponent might have gained in a straight forward match.  One famous example of this was when a German duelist performed this maneuver on a Parisian duelist in an international competition that had soundly defeated the entire German team previously.  The French woman was so incensed by this that she launched herself at the German and both parties had to be physically removed from the venue for fear that a real duel might break out if they remained.

                The main Prussian style as it had evolved before the rise of the Brandenburg variation was indeed a very similar style.  Both had a core set of 3 figures, the Plant (Pflanzen), The Twirl (Drehen) and the Snub (Abfuhr).  While there did exist some secondary figures it was these three (Plus the above mentioned Ehre Nehmer) that were at the core of the style and the officially recognized moves used at German competitions.  Where they styles start to differ is in the separation of the duelists, in the Prussian style it is one standard marching step before the turn to face your opponent.  In case of disagreement on the length of the pace to be taken it is not unusual for a pace stick to be brought out and one full pace exactly measured to ensure that there is no further argument.

                On the matter of contact between duelists it was perfectly sanctioned in Prussian style duels for contact to happen in a match with extra points awarded on occasion if a duelist actually managed to disarm their opponent of their parasol.  But points could also be deducted or the match forfeited if an outright attack was made on the opponent in an attempt to disarm them or ruin their parasol in such a manner that they could not continue the match.  Any contact that did occur in later era matches had to be either accidental or a part of a sanctioned figure.  One example of this would be if when going from a snub to a twirl the duelists parasol made contact with their opponents person or parasol.

                Another exception can be found in the recent rise of "street dueling" that is quickly becoming an accepted part of modern competitions.  In the Germanic territories while this new method and style is quickly being picked up by the middle and lower classes the upper classes and schools have been slow to accept this new form of the classical duel and while it is starting to be studied in some schools for the time being it is still mainly up to the individual duelist as to whether or not they pursue learning on this matter. 

Ed: This is all that remains of Dr Adler's paper one wonders what else he may have discussed, alas no other pages have been preserved.

Report from the Max's workbench


To: Vice Admiral Sir Rogers Wainscote OBE
Chief Training and Exercise Office

Re: Analysis of Tea Duelling Biscuits,
and estimation of availability in remote areas of the Empire

Sir
As requested by their Lordships in furtherance of the training requirements of Her Majesty's Airship Crews to insure their ability to do just honour to Her Majesty when called upon to represent Her Majesty's vessels in competitions, or in matters of honour when satisfaction is requested by use of the Honourable Tea Duel (HTD).
And,
Having found the supply of suitable biscuits for use in the HTD in the remote areas of the Empire to be limited, if not unavailable entirely.
Therefore,
As requested in their Lordships written orders of January 6 last, I have undertaken a comparative analysis of the merits and behaviour of common biscuits likely to be found in most areas of the Empire.
A brief summary of the results is here included for your information.

I trust that this meets with your approval.
I remain as always your servant.
Lt Cdr(E) Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe

Test Procedure
My ship undergoing a refit at Her Majesty's London Airdockyard the testing program was carried out in the "Kitchen" amply supplied with a kettle, cooker and fresh water.

Each biscuit was tested multiple times as if a HTD was in progress. The behaviour of the biscuit held as per a successful dunk was observed. To mimic competition conditions the dunked biscuit was held a slight angle and the time at which cohesion was lost was observed.

Comparison was made to the standard Peek Freans "Nice" biscuit used in London, also known as a "Nickie"

Results
All tested biscuits were also produced by Peak Freans and I am reliably informed that it would only be in the very extremely remote areas that none of thes would be available.

The biscuits are ranked according to the behaviour after the Dunk from best to worst.

1) LifeStyle Bran Crunch
2) Digestive
3) An unknown biscuit found in PF assorted Tea collections. The biscuit has blueberry pieces in it so it is technically not allowed but it does behave close enough to the standard Nickie to be used if nothing else is available.

Shortbread and arrowroot like biscuits are totally unsuitable as they are dunk proof!

Amazing find from the archives!

It appears from this clip that at least one Parasol Duelling School lasted into the 1930s, in far off Japan of all places.

Perhaps this is not surprising as Japan has a long history of honouring martial arts. It is likely that Parasol Duelling was introduced soon after Japan was opened up to Western ideas during the mid 19th c.

Odd to think that when the Mikado was first being performed in London, and anything Japanese was considered exotic and wonderful, that Japanese ladies were having Parasol Duels.
 
The video clip shows the parade of the last school members through the streets of Ginza sometime in the 1930s. Most likely on their way to a formal competition.
 
More research into this last known remnant of Parasol Duelling is warranted!



Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced!
KJ

Parasol Duelling in art!

Originally posted in Madame Saffron Hemlock's Parasol Duelling League for Steampunk Ladies

Some strong evidence for Parasol Duelling can be found in these paintings by John Fredric Lloyd Strevens (1902-1990). While these pictures were painted in the first half of the Twentieth Century however they incorporate very interesting details when looked at from a Parasol Duelist's perspective. 

Key points to notice with reference to the Rules for Parsol Duelling I posted previously here:

1) No "hooks" on the handle to prevent catching during the "twirl"
2) There is no catch to keep the parasol closed so it is tied with the same ribbon used to mark the complete rotation during a twirl
3) When closed the parasol is hung from the arm by a loop, thus keeping it handy even when both hands were needed.
4) The cuffs are not plain, but where lots of lace is present they are mid forearm length thus preventing any interference with the parasol.

Key elements here are the lack of hook on the handle and the ribbons keeping the duelling parasol closed. Note how this duelist keeps her parasol handy in case of need by the removable ribbon that hangs the parasol from her arm.
 
While an otherwise unremarkable domestic scene, I would not be surprised if this lady did not figure very well in the competitions!

An elegant twirl!
 
Worthy of a Flirtation Trial finalist!

 A fine "snub" form.
 
Note the steely gaze of a hardened competitor!
 
The mid sleeve lace is common during the time when lace cuffs were fashionable amongst the non-duelling public.













Going for the "plant"!
 
Note how the ribbon that holds the parasol shut has been slipped back out of the way. This painting shows the confident stance and easy motion of an accomplished Parasol Duelist.
 
She could easily go to a "snub" or a "twirl" next.

This lady knows her business!
 
Things to note in this image, the relatively plain cuffs, the ribbon holding the parasol to her arm in readiness, the tipped forward hat. This latter is important because it allows a lady's hat to be elaborate but also prevents interference with the Parasol during a "twirl".

I particularly like the intense look of this serious competitor!










Paintings taken from this fantastic website Tutt's Art@

Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ 

Duella in umbra,

I have been getting a lot of interest in the Parasol Duelling rules I posted recently.
In fact we will be holding our first public demo this weekend at an event in Calgary called:
Well, Basil My Rathbone - Classic Movie and Performance Series
This week's movie is The Time Machine and we will be putting on several  Steampunk displays which will include a demo of Parasol Duelling. I'm hoping to get  more feedback to enable some fine tuning so that we can actually have competitions later in the year.

So since this seems to have struck a cord in the Steampunk community I thought I would have a bit of fun with some alternate history.  What would it be like if Parasol Duelling had actually been a real thing in Victorian England?  What follows is some faux academic analysis of the mysterious Victorian Parasol Duelling.

I hope you enjoy it.
Keep your sightglass full, your firebox trimmed and your water iced.
KJ

The Rules for Parasol Duelling are here.

Duella in umbra
(Dueling in the shade)

Ed: After the publication of the Victorian era Parasol Duelling rules in our most recent edition of the Neo-Victorian Chronicle there has been much discussion amongst scholars and historians about the historical provenance of the rules. Many notable historians of the period have stated outright that the rules are likely a hoax, that no such formalized rules existed,and that the storied exploits of famous Parasol Duelists were simply children's stories and nothing more. Others have taken a calmer "wait and see" approach suggesting that if the rules are legitimate and can be further documented then they would indeed explain several odd features of the late Victorian era. 

Even though I am quite sure the rules themselves are authentic, in that they were written in Victorian times, I have not myself been convinced that they represent a real competition style. That is, I was not convinced until I received the following long and detailed letter from Professor Lackstone Merrywilson of the Neo-Victorian studies department at Mintercommon College outside Oxford. Professor Merrywilson's letter was stunning in its implications for the historical context of the Rules themselves and does shed some significant light on the practice of Parasol Dueling during the reign of Queen Victoria.
 

 I will let the good professor's letter speak for itself.


Dear Mr Jepson
I was most interested to read your article concerning the Parasol Duelling Rules of Queen Victoria. This is an area of particular interest to me and one on which I have spent much of my time in recent years. I also followed with some interest the debates amongst our academic fellows in which the Rules seem to have taken on the form of a phantom, a historical Loch Ness monster as it were.

Parasol Duelling, far from being a phantom, was a major form of Ladies entertainment. Much prestige attended on the duels and many famous duellists, whose names live on today in the children's stories, were feted, and attained significant social standing on their own from their exertions on the field of honour. Of all this I am certain, though as you are no doubt aware, this is not the orthodox opinion amongst our fellow historians. The reason that is so has to do with one of the great erasures of history.

Parasol Duelling as a sport and specifically a Ladies Sport has been erased from the public memory, erased as surely as Pompeii was erased by Vesuvius in 79 AD. But even the most perfect erasure leaves a mark, a sign that something was there before. Hints, little pieces of out of place information, even the children's stories themselves, all serve to point to that which has been lost.

If you recall the paper my colleagues and I presented, at the Victorian Historical Pastimes Conference three years ago, you will remember that we postulated that the main reason for the paucity of information on Parasol Duelling was that after the death of Queen Victoria there was a social backlash against it simply because it was a strictly Female Sport and at that time the social mores were swinging towards a more Male oriented culture with respect to public competitions. The tragedy of the First World War also helped to finally obliterate any remaining vestiges of the sport because of its association with the hated Hun and the resulting post war anti-continental feelings.

We based these conclusions on a compilation of news paper articles, court documents and the deeds and leases of the Duelling Schools themselves. By the end of the period many of these once famous schools had been converted to taverns, and in some cases bawdy houses, in order to pay the bills. As such they often ran afoul of the increasingly stringent social and legal framework that was coming into force after the old Queen's death. As we showed in our paper the common elements of all these documents do indeed show the shadow of Parasol Duelling from earlier in Victoria's reign.

Since the presentation of our paper I have come across a document that finally lays to rest any concerns regarding the historical provenance of the rules and of Parasol Duelling itself!  I am in the process of preparing a paper with other members of our faculty, for peer review and presentation at next years conference. But I have my fellow author's permission, in light of the controversy your article has aroused, to release some of the information from our paper in hopes that more eyes will be able to see the truth and historical veracity of Parasol Duelling. 

The document is entitled simply "Duella in umbra" which translates from the latin as "Duelling in the Shade".
Those who study children's literature will immediately recognize the title as being one of the lines of the rhyming song included in the "Adventures of Two Parasol Mary", by Algernon Oakham. This book is often pointed to by scholars as being the origin of the legends of the Parasol Duel.

The author of "Duella in umbra" however is none other than Maxwell MacDonald-Smythe himself!  
The manuscript was found amongst some stored boxes of documents rescued from the archives of an old airship hanger in Portsmouth that had been badly damaged during World War Two.  The document looks to be the final draft that had been sent to a publishing house to be produced as a book.

There are no extant copies of the book that we are aware of, so whether or not it was actually published is unclear. The copy of the rules that you published in the Chronicle is word for word the rules included in the manuscript!  This implies that at least one other copy of the manuscript exists and perhaps the book itself may survive somewhere. 

The manuscript is a history of Parsol Duelling, it documents the arrival of Parasol Duelling in England with a lady in the household of Prince Albert in 1840. How as it gained popularity the young Queen was apalled at the loss of parasols and the injuries sustained by Ladies of all classes in duels that were little more than brawls with parasols used as fragile clubs. MacDonald-Smythe also documents in meticulous detail the various schools that had sprung up in England and, as she became an accomplished Duelist in her own right, the desire of the Queen to organize and formalize the competitions between them.

It is in this manuscript that we see for the first time the formalizing of the Rules with the Brandenburg Variations, and the subsequent massive increase in popularity of Parasol Duelling at all levels of society.

MacDonald-Smythe also documents the rise of the Street Duel and how this form of informal duel eventually made its way into the organized competitions held every year at Wembley.

Now it must be said that MacDonald-Smythe is writing near the end of Victoria's Reign at a time when more conservative elements in English society were beginning to put constraints on the freedom of Ladies to partake in such open female only competitions.

In one revealing passage he laments the passing of the "Flirtation" trials that had been such a popular feature of Parasol Duelling competitions in previous years.

Rest assured that with the "Duella in umbra" we have an eye witness guide to the world of Parasol Dueling.
It is not a hoax or a bunch of children's stories, but rather a social phenomenon that had major effects on the role of women in Victorian society.  That it could be so thoroughly erased from the memory and social records of England is a subject worthy of further study and we intend to touch upon that in our paper.

I hope that this note has given you courage to continue your work and we would be happy to assist and collaborate with you in studying this fascinating period of English history.

Yours Sincerely
Lackstone Merrywilson
Professor Neo-Victorian Studies
Mintercommon College
Oxford