Halloween – when the veil between this world and that of the departed is said to be thin and contact with the after-life easier. Haworth and the Bronte Sisters are no strangers to ghosts and other spooky goings on, so here are my top Seven spooky Bronte bits and pieces. Enjoy – if you dare!
Chilling Charlotte…. In her novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte writes of ghostly goings on, when young Jane is locked in the Crimson Room and sees the ghost of her uncle.
Teriffying Taby. According to the The Bronte Parsonage Blog, the ghost of Taby Ackroyd, the Brontes faithful housekeeper, is said to haunt the cottage in which she spent the last years of her life. A little, old grey haired lady has been sighted several times and the door latch, is often heard moving, only to find nobody there when the door is opened.
Vile Villette, the novel written by Charlotte Bronte features a teriffying ghostly nun. ‘A sudden bell rang in the house—the prayer-bell. Instantly into our alley there came, out of the berceau, an apparition, all black and white. With a sort of angry rush—close, close past our faces—swept swiftly the very NUN herself! Never had I seen her so clearly. She looked tall of stature, and fierce of gesture.’
Ghastly graveyards… The Bronte Parsonage overlooks the Haworth graveyard and this grim aspect influenced the Bronte’s writing – you can read more in Juliet Barker’s incredible book. Sat at their table, looking out over the graveyard, and surrounded by death (the sisters had lost their mother and Three siblings) they would also have witnessed daily funerals of friends and aquiantences, the ideas of ghosts and spirits must have come to mind with great ease and may have even brought a little comfort.
Morose Moors… The moors around Haworth are home to many ghost and spirits. The ‘willow-the-wisp’ has been seen on the moors for centuaries and the legend of the Black Dog; the ‘Barguest’ that haunted, nearby Trollers Gill, has been passed down for many genreations.
Putrid Pubs…. The Black Bull in Haworth is always worth a visit (and it’s not at all putrid – it’s actually very cosy and welcoming!) The Black Bull was the favourite pub of Branwell Bronte and where he spent much of his time. It is supposed to be haunted by a number of different ghosts, including the old landlord from Branwell’s time, a maid, muttering voices, moving objects, fliting spirits and even Branwell himself!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little horrible Halloween Bronte tour…..
Happy Halloween and may all your ghosts be kindly!
Sarah x
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As the days shorten the weather here in Yorkshire gets a bit gothic, especially as halloween draws near and I’ve got to say I do love it!
We’ve always had a soft spot for all things dark and brooding and that comes across clearly in what we create and produce, so we decided that to celebrate Halloween we’d gather all our gothic inspired creations in one department in the store, so here’s a selection from our BRAND NEW Gothic Gifts, Art & Jewellery Section.
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The Autumn is officially upon us! The nights are drawing in really fast now and as we lose the daylight, I find it challenging to maintain my mood. So, as the temperature drops, the leaves turn to Red and Gold, I wanted to share a few of my favourite ways to embrace the Autumn and boost the mood over the next few weeks….
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Head out for a stroll. As the days shorten through October and November, here in Yorkshire, I try to make the most of the precious day light and get outside. Taking time to absorb the beauty of Autumn and appreciate the soothing autumn colours whilst they are with us. Seeking experiences that allow us to feel and express appreciation and gratitude are really great for our wellbeing. The fresh air and exercise will brighten your eyes and put a spring in your step too!
Be creative! Now’s the time to take those good intentions and turn them into a reality. How often do we say “This year I’m going to give beautiful handmade Christmas gifts this year”? So if that’s what you’d like to do, it’s the perfect moment to get cracking with your creations! If this feels like a little too much creativity, why not knit or crochet a scarf for yourself?! Giving yourself a neat little sense of achievement into the bargain – good for our self-esteem & mood!
Turn the heat on (a little bit). By October Yorkshire is cold and damp. I try not to turn the heating on until we really need it, wearing jumpers and scarves to keep warm. But, having the heating on, even just a tiny bit, makes this time of year feel really cosy. Set your heating to come on for a short burst just before you get up, so you wake up to a lovely warm home and do the same for when you come home. If you want to wake up to a really sweet-smelling home put a few drops of essential oils on to a folded hanky or tissue and tuck it behind the radiator, as it warms it will release it’s fragrance. I like to use grapefruit or orange essential oil; it’s refreshing and comforting. A warm welcoming environment is a great mood booster.
Make your Christmas cake & mash. So, this one sounds slightly random, but stay with me! As we all know, a great festive dinner is really about all the little extras, such as roast and mashed spuds, 100 different veggies and ALL the sauces. However, preping the endless list of food can be a real pain, so I try to do some of it ahead of time. During October I buy, prepare and freeze pigs in blankets, bacon rolls, bread sauce & cranberry sauce. I make and store my Christmas cake and I do an extra batch of mash when cooking and freeze it; all ready for December. So why not give yourself an extra Christmas present and unload some of the stress and work for a fab Yule-tide, by doing a bit of of the prep in October. Delicious smells and a warm kitchen, coupled with a sense of achievement is a top mood booster.
Have a home-made spa evening. Crank up the heating to sub-tropical levels, lock yourself inthe bathroom with a good book, a beverage of your choice, some great smellies, warm fluffy towels and instruction to the household not to disturbe you unless there is a situation that requires your urgent evacuation from the premises….
Get cosy… Feeling cosy is partly a state of mind and it’s easy to achieve, with the addition of a few bits and pieces and you don’t even need to turn up the heating. For a cosy atmosphere get the lighting right, a couple of small lamps will create a feeling of calm and warm, add in some comfy cushions and a warm throw and you’ve got your own snug space to get cosy!
Do some batch cooking & baking. This is the autumn gift that keeps on giving. first, if you’re batch cooking you’ll be creating some lovely cosy warming smells and the oven will warm your space too. Next, freeze the extra, you’ve made for a warming meal later in the season. Sit back in your warm and cosy space and enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Phone a friend. Before we get lost in the seasonal whirlwind it’s a good time for a catch up. So pick up the phone or brake out a good old fashioned paper and pen or writing set and get in touch with old friend that you haven’t seen in a while.
Check out you and your families winter wardrobe. It’s the perfect time to make sure you all have the right clothes for the up coming season. Are your snow boots still snow-proof? Do you all have warm socks and jumpers and does everyone have a good winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves that will keep the cold out.
Join in Halloween. Halloween can be as elaborate or simple as you like, but do join in, it’s a great way to meet your neighbours and join in with your local community and you don’t even have to take off your slippers or leave the house. So, grab a bowl-full of goodies, stick a handful bats (cut them out of Black Sugar paper) to your front door, pop some eco-friendly solar powered LED candles (DO NOT USE REAL CANDLES, there will be children about) in a carved pumpkin on your doorstep on October 31st and get ready to join in, meet the neighbours and feel part of something!
I hope you find my Autumnal mood boosters helpful and have a great week!
Thanks
Sarah x
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Give your wardrobe a quick and easy halloween upgrade with our fab vintage jet and cat earrings and if you fancy something different we’ve got bats, origami cats and ravens some come and take a look!
I love Whitby Jet – it’s dark, gothic beauty has real character and stories to tell. Over the last 300 years, it has mainly been used for mourning jewellery, especially favoured by the Victorians. Whitby Jet was lightweight and easy to carve, so lent itself perfectly to making jewellery to memorialize lost loved ones. I often use recycled and reclaimed antique Whitby Jet beads for our vintage recycled bead earrings as Whitby Jet jewellery is a lovely thing to collect and wear. So, here’s a few things that are good to know if you want to do that…
Whitby Jet is an organic material that is naturally formed from ancient fossilised wood such as the Monkey Puzzle & Chile Pine. Whitby Jet is also know as Black Amber and is 182 Million years old. It is formed when prehistoric wood gets washed up into a body of water and becomes covered by organic sediment. The pressure of the water and sediment over millions of years compacts the wood and slowly transforms it into what we know as Whitby Jet.
The layers of jet are usually trapped deep below the earth’s surface, in the layers of sedimentary rock, but, there are a few, rare places where those layers or seams of jet are found on or near the surface and Whitby is one of them. Jet is also found in small areas in Northern Spain, Poland, Ezurum in Turkey and in the USA in Utah, Colorada and New Mexico.
History of Whitby Jet
Whitby jet was discovered, mined and carved in Britain from the Neolithic period onwards and often appeared as beads and decorations, it was very popular with Romans in the Third centuary who felt it had magical protective & healing properties and used it for a variety of decorative objects, including hair pins.
Whitby Jet fell in and out of fashion, but it’s use continued, mainly as monks rosery beads. In 1808 a boat captain observed two men in Whitby hand carving beads and crosses from Whitby Jet. While the men, John Carter and Robert Jefferson, used files and handmade tools to work Whitby Jet, Captain Tremlett, had experience turning amber on a lathe to produce pieces, wondered if the same could be done with Whitby Jet.
With the help of a turner, Mathew Hill, they successfully lathed Whitby Jet, the Captain hired him as a jet turner and the first jet workshop in Whitby was started. The light-weight nature of Whitby jet and it’s sombre apperence combined with the sadly comon occurance of death meant that the production of mourning jewellery ensured that the industry grew. By 1850, there were more than 50 Jet workshops in Whitby, producing beads, mourning jewellery and other items & The Great Exhibition of 1851 presented Whitby Jet to the world.
In 1861 Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband died and she immersed herself in full, deep mourning, including Whitby Jet mourning jewellery. Immediately, Whitby jet became really fashionable, it was so popular that the demand for it rapidly out-stripped the limited supply that Whitby could produce.
At one point, Whitby Jet production meant work for over 1,400 people and produced an annual profit of over £100,000, which is approximately three million pounds by today’s standards.
As a result of the sky-rocketing demand, French Jet or Parisian Jet was developed to inexpensively re-produce the exclusive and expensive Whitby Jet, French Jet was Black glass and it allowed the mass-production of mourning jewllery. Whitby Jet & French Jet remained popular until the the 1920’s by which time it was mainly used as beads in flapper necklaces – the long waist-length necklaces worn by flapper girls during the roaring Twenties.
French jet jewellery coming onto the market, combined with cheaper imported Spanish jet, lead to the collapse of the industry by the mid-1900s.
Collecting & Identifying Whitby Jet.
In recent years Whitby Jet has enjoyed renewed interest and there are a number of Jet workshops in Whitby. There is also a strong interest in authentic antique Whitby Jet jewellery – and its substitutes.
When collecting jet it’s useful to know exactly what you’re buying, especially as antique Whitby Jet pieces can hold their value quite well, but, only if they are actually Whitby Jet. So the question is how do identify Whitby Jet.
Whitby Jet is a deep Black colour, it is light weight and warm-ish to the touch, it is shiney, glossy and smooth. The microstructure of Whitby Jet, resembles the original wood, and this can be seen under 120× or greater magnification. The detailing carved into the piece can help identify if it is genuine jet. Whitby Jet usually has shallow relief, simple carved details, such as straight carved lines, as it can shatter when the detailing is too fine. Whitby Jet will also either float or sink slowly when placed in water.
One great way to identify Whitby Jet is being to clearly identify when a piece is not Whitby Jet and what it might be.
Modern Plastic – will be very glossy, very light weight and it may have seams and creases from the pressing process. Pieces of imitation jet in plastic are often very intricate with very fine detailing – rarely seen in genuine Whitby Jet as it fractures when it is carved into very fine details.
Spanish (soft) Jet – quite a lot of soft jet was imported into the UK during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. However, as is was softer than Whitby Jet much of it has cracked and broken over the years and so it is rare to find it. Soft jet will have a cracked or crackled appearance.
Black glass – known as French Jet, Parisian Jet or Vauxhall Glass was commonly used as a Whitby Jet substitute during the peak of jet’s popularity. Glass feels heavy and cool to the touch and Whitby Jet is not, so if the piece is slightly weighty and cool to the touch it is French Jet (glass) not Whitby Jet. Also, if you carefully tap a piece of Whitby Jet against your teeth you’ll hear a soft tap, but if tap French jet or other glass beads against your teeth you’ll feel or hear a sharped, harder sound (please be very gentle).
Ebonite or Vulcanite (an early type of rubber) was also used as a Whitby Jet substitute and it looks and feels very similar to jet, but, it fades and loses its shine over time, so if you piece is not Jet Black and shiney (yes, this is where that phrase comes from) then it’s not Whitby Jet.
Anthracite (hard coal) is similar to Whitby Jet, and has been used to imitate it. When rubbed against unglazed porcelain, Anthracite will leave a Black mark and Whitby Jet will leave a chocolate Brown mark.
Bog Oak can be easily mistaken for Whitby Jet, but, Bog Oak has a visable wood grain when you look closely and the surface won’t be very polished, unlike the smooth, lustrous appearance of Whitby Jet.
Carved horn can be also look very similar in Whitby Jet. It also feels smooth and lightweight too. However, dyed horn, will appear slightly translucent along its edges when held up to the light.
Also, in some cases Whitby Jet off-cuts were mixed with glue and molded into jewellery but Whitby Jet is smooth and shiney, so if the piece is dulled, rough, mottled or fragmented in appearence, it is not solid Whitby jet.
Caring for Whitby Jet.
Whitby Jet is beautiful to collect and wear and keeping it looking lovely is easy. To clean Whitby Jet, simply wash carefully with warm water and a mild detergent, (don’t soak the piece in water), rinse with fresh water and pat dry with a soft towel and leave to air dry fully. Once it’s dry, give it a gentle wipe with a tiny amount baby oil on a piece of cotton wool, to bring back its high polish. Don’t forget to store your Whitby Jet jewellery separately from other items, so that it doesn’t get scratched or damaged.
Want to Know More About Whitby Jet?
I hope you find this information useful and it’s a good starting point for learning about Whitby Jet and if you’d like to find out more then this book is a great read.
Whitby Jet book. Please note – this blog contains affiliate links and if you purchase through them, I receive a small commision, that helps me pay my bills, so thank you for your support!
Thank you, have a lovely day & enjoy!
Sarah x
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As the days shorten the weather here in Yorkshire gets a bit gothic, especially as halloween draws near and I’ve got to say I do love it! We’ve always had a soft spot for all things dark and brooding and […]
The Autumn is officially upon us! The nights are drawing in really fast now and as we lose the daylight, I find it challenging to maintain my mood. So, as the temperature drops, the leaves turn to Red and Gold, […]
Gone to the heather 