How many Regency novels have you read in which the hero and his cronies share one or more rounds of brandy, drowning their sorrows, or in celebration? And how many times is that brandy served in a snifter, or a balloon? Yet that simply was not possible during the decade of the Regency or for many decades thereafter. It may surprise you to know that the brandy snifter was an American creation introduced near the end of the Victorian era. It did not become common in England until the middle of the twentieth century.

The word "snifter" had entered the English language by the second half of the eighteenth century, but it had other, quite different meanings having nothing to do with drinking vessels. So what was a "snifter" in the Regency decade, and how was brandy most probably served during those years?

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Or perhaps more precisely, Madmen of Words. If you like to read, you probably like words. I love words, all kinds of words. But I care very much that they are used correctly. When one is writing, the best way to ensure one is using any word correctly is to refer to a reference book for words, such as a dictionary or thesaurus.

In these days of computers and databases, we all take reference materials like dictionaries and thesauri for granted, assuming they are easy to compile and publish. They are, after all, just lists of words, right? However, even in these days of powerful data management technology, the compilation and maintenance of word reference materials is quite demanding and labor-intensive. How much more so was it in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when all of the work must be done by hand, much of it by candle light. And yet, for three of the major monuments of word reference in the English language, we are indebted to the tenacious efforts of three men who suffered psychological problems, one of them so severe he was actually confined in a mental institution for much of his life. But in spite of their handicaps, they all persevered to produce word references essential to anyone who writes, to this very day.

Just who were these "Madmen of Words?"

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A deliciously old-fashioned word, "garniture" first entered the English language in the sixteenth century and over the years acquired several different meanings. It has its roots in the French word garnir, which translates as "garnish." But what was garnished?

Initially, it was used as a term for equipment, especially that found in the kitchen. In the seventeenth century it came to mean ornamentation of furniture, swords and horse harness. By the eighteenth century it was also used to refer to the trimming of significant dishes for the table. In the nineteenth century it added yet another definition, that of clothing as the embellishment or "garnishment" of the human form. But after this diverse career, by the years of the Regency, "garniture" had acquired a more specialized meaning and was used to designate a specific type of household ornament.

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Last week, I wrote about the history of the development of the friction match in the years surrounding the Regency. If you have read that article, you will remember that there were a few innovative, expensive and rather dangerous match types available during those years. With the exception of a few wealthy and adventurous early adopters, these experimental matches were not widely used during the Regency. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the friction match was in general circulation.

But fire was necessary to everyone, as it was the source of both light and heat. So how did most people manage fire during the Regency?

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Literally.    Matches as we know them were not available during the years of the Regency since they had not yet been invented. Fire was not yet truly portable during the decade of the Regency, though it would move in that direction by the end of the reign of George IV. But matches would not become the inexpensive and ubiquitous fire source we now take for granted until the reign of his niece, Queen Victoria.

And yet, "matches" had been in existence since the early Middle Ages. A form of match was developed in China in 577AD by the ladies of a besieged court in need of fire for cooking. By the fourteenth century, the "match" was known in Europe, but it was rather more like what we know as a wick or a fuse. It was a chemically treated cord which burned slowly, but continuously and could be used to ignite the touch-hole of a cannon or a camp fire. Wooden splints called spunks or "matches," dipped in brimstone were one of the usual contents of the tinderbox. But none of these "matches" are comparable to the matches we use today, more precisely designated the "friction match."

So, when and where was the friction match invented and when did it come into common use?

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