The Dauntless Damsels

This blog is dedicated to our fandom of the great Mark Ferguson and the great Ioan Gruffudd, our favorite actors. We will also post about the stories we are working on, our favorite books, authors, movies, music, and anything else we love and adore. Cheers!

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Location: United States

I'm also a usually quiet, reserved Lady, who enjoys books, tea, baking, and movies! I spend most of my time reading one of my favorite books or wishing I was reading my favorite books. My Grand Passion is history, particularly the Regency Period in England, when Jane Austen wrote, Lord Nelson defeated the French Fleet at Trafalgar, the Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon, and men were Gentlemen and women Ladies. I cherish the thought of being a Lady and love manners, being proper, and having proper tea. My favorite tea is Twinings, especially Earl Grey or Prince of Wales. My specialty to make is Scones with Devon Cream. I am a Catholic and a Conservative.

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Win a Copy of the Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen!

HarperCollins Publishers has two copies of The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen (my review of this excellent novel is below!) to give away and you can win them here!


Here is how to win:

All you have to do is comment my post at A Lady's Diversions and answer these two questions:

1. Which is your favorite Jane Austen novel? (If you haven't read one, you can list which one you want to read or which movie is your favorite.)

2. If you could have tea with Jane Austen, what is the first & most interesting question you would ask her?

You have until midnight on Wednesday, 14 November 2007, to enter. I will randomly choose two winners and then announce the names on A Lady's Diversions on Thursday, 15 November.

Good luck!

If you have a blog and would be so gracious as to post about this contest, please feel free to use the below graphic and link it back to this post. Thank you!

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Sunday, October 21, 2007

To Nelson

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To the immortal memory of Nelson
and all those who fell with him.



  • This is the famous toast to Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson.

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Trafalgar Remembered

Today, 21 October 2007, is the 202nd anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, where the British Fleet, under Admiral Lord Nelson, defeated the combined French-Spanish Fleet off Cape Trafalgar. It was a very important victory in the war against Napoleon. Admiral Nelson perished in the fight, aboard his flag ship HMS Victory.

I have a great passion for British history and British naval history, so I like to celebrate this day (It also happens to be my half-birthday, a coincidence which makes me very happy!).

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England expects that every man will do his duty.
You will find more on Trafalgar, Nelson, and the British Navy here.

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May the Great God, whom I worship, grant to my Country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious Victory; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after Victory be the predominant feature in the British Fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may his blessing light upon my endeavours for serving my Country faithfully. To Him I resign myself and the just cause which is entrusted to me to defend. Amen. Amen. Amen.
  • Nelson's Prayer, written in his diary before the Battle of Trafalgar commenced

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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

710-Year-Old Magna Carta Copy to Be Sold

I would love to own this. Or, actually, even just see it.

Reuters: Rare Magna Carta to be sold at Sotheby's in NYC---

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rare 710-year-old copy of the Magna Carta valued at up to $30 million is due to be sold by The Perot Foundation at Sotheby's in New York in December, the auction house said on Tuesday.

The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king. The U.S. Constitution includes ideas and phrases taken almost directly from the charter, which rebellious barons forced their oppressive King John to sign in 1215.

Sotheby's said the Magna Carta was ratified and reissued with each monarch who succeeded John. It was enacted as law in 1297 by the British parliament when it was reissued by King Edward I. The copy to be sold is from 1297.
According to the article, there are less than 20 copies of the Magna Carta and this copy is one of only 2 outside Britain.

Learn more about the Magna Carta:
British Library
National Archives
Avalon Project

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Monday, June 18, 2007

The Battle of Waterloo

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815, Waterloo, Belgium, where the English Duke of Wellington, principally, defeated, for the last time, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Huzzah for General Wellington!


You can read all about the bloody Battle of Waterloo, including combatants, generals, British regiments present, and troop movements, here.


Today, Waterloo reenactment draws thousands.

And more:
The Allied Order of Battle
The French Order
The Casualties (British only)
Uniforms, Arms, Equipment, Training

Waterloo-The Battle
Eyewitness to History: Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo

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Sunday, May 07, 2006

In Pursuit of JA

I just came across this very interesting article. I'm still on quite a Pride and Prejudice kick, and am re-reading the book (I just re-read it in December-January). So beautiful! It gets better every time, as does the newest version of the movie. I loved it.

DenverPost: To England, with pride: In pursuit of Jane Austen---

BAKEWELL, England -- Let me guess. If you loved the book, you probably saw the latest film version of "Pride and Prejudice." You're sorry it didn't win an Oscar, but you don't really care.

Compared to English literature's most enduring romantic novel by author Jane Austen, the Oscar ceremony was nothing more than a moment on the stage, full of sound and frenzy, signifying zip. The real testimonials were in evidence in America's movie theaters, where teary-eyed viewers spent the last half-hour blowing their noses.

Which is why, 136 years after the first Jane Austen biography appeared, devoted readers are still searching for clues to the elusive author.

The first fans visited the places where Jane had lived: Steventon, her birthplace; Bath, where the family moved when her father retired; and Southhampton after he died. Later she moved to Chawton, in Hampshire, and finally to Winchester, where she died (at age 41 of Addison's Disease).
The article goes on to discuss the different houses that doubled as book locations in the newset film. I would love to visit all these places some day, as well, of course, as the places Jane Austen lived and walked.

If you enjoyed the latest movie, you will enjoy reading the article and learning about those gorgeous houses. Happy reading!

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Thursday, March 30, 2006

Much Ado About a Folio

Oh, I wish I could buy this! Or at least see it and smell it and feel the old pages beneath my finger tips. How exquisite it must be. Such history.

Reuters: Much ado about Shakespeare's first folio sale---

LONDON (Reuters) - A complete First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays, in prime condition and still in its 17th century calf leather binding, is expected to fetch up to 3.5 million pounds when it goes on sale in July.

Hailed by auctioneer Sotheby's as the most important book in English literature, the First Folio is credited with saving for posterity many of the bard's plays including "Macbeth," "Twelfth Night" and "Julius Caesar" which had never before been printed.

"The First Folio preserves 18 of his plays, including some of the most major, which otherwise would have been lost for all time," English literature specialist Peter Selley said as the volume was put on show on Thursday.

"Relatively complete copies of the Folio in contemporary or near contemporary bindings very rarely come to market. There is only one copy recorded as remaining in private hands," he added.

The only copy in private hands similar to the one going for sale was bought by Paul Getty in April 2002.

Printed in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death and containing 36 plays, only about 250 copies of the First Folio survive and most of those are incomplete.

The volume up for sale on July 13 has been in the William's Library -- a key research facility for English Protestant dissent -- since about 1716, making it the longest uninterrupted ownership by a public library of any copy in the world.
[...]
The thick tome with its heavy, yellowing pages and portrait of England's leading playwright on the front is not only unique for its completeness and condition.

It contains detailed notes in the margins made, it is believed, by contemporary scholars and giving an insight into the understanding and interpretation of the wordsmith's masterworks soon after his own era.

"The profusion of markings in this volume does much to illuminate a contemporary or near-contemporary reader's taste for, and in some measure interpretation of, Shakespeare's works," said Sotheby's English manuscript expert Peter Beal.
Picture here.

(Crossposted at A Lady's Ruminations)

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Sunday, March 05, 2006

Pride & Prejudice Quizzes!

Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet


Which of the Pride & Prejudice Sisters are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hooray! Lizzy is my favorite!

And:

Mr Darcy
Your proud and prejudiced match is Mr Fitzwilliam

Darcy! One of those dark and mysterious

hotties... mmmm...


Which 'Pride and Prejudice' guy is for you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Oh, Mr. Darcy, I love!

And:

Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet.


Which Pride and Prejudice Woman Are You?
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And:

You are most like Jane. You don't let your feelings

for a person show, are quiet, and more

reserved.


Pride and Prejudice? (girls)
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And:

HASH(0x8cd7550)
You are Elizabeth Bennet! You are smart and funny

and you love to read. You will find the

perfect person in the end!


Which Pride and Prejudice Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

And, the best, as it concerns the newest movie version!:

pride
Lucky you!
You are a real Mr. Darcy fan.
I agree, he was an arrogant man at first, who seem

realy intolerable and proud. But as we get to

know him, he's a handsome man of feelings!


Pride and Prejudice
brought to you by Quizilla

*faints* :)