I saw a show on HGTV about Highclere and the current Earl and Countess. It looks like a lot of the castle is in disrepair. It might not even be safe to go up in the tower.
Isn’t that pretty much what they did do with the letter from her pa? :rolleyes:
She’s Miss O’Brien to her peers and subordinates and O’Brien to her betters.
Same deal with Carson (but averted with Mrs Hughes or Mrs Patmore). Daisy really should be Mrs Mason now (& she’s a Mrs in fact, not just by courtesy), but of course everyone still thinks of her as the kitchen maid instead of assistant cook. Of course Anna really should be “Bates” upstairs, but that would just confuse people.
Right. The cook and housekeeper would be called “Mrs.” even if they had never been married.
As mentioned in an earlier thread, it was also fairly common to call servants by ‘new’ names- James and John were popular for footmen and Emma was popular for housemaids.
This was done in the U.S. also. There were also racial and ethnic twists: Irish day laborers were often called Paddy of course and Irish maids were often called Annie, just as in the south older black men and women were often called Uncle and Auntie. Lizzie and Abby Borden called their Irish maid (who was a key witness in the murder trial) ‘Maggie’ even though her name was Bridget Sullivan, and when she left them they called the next Irish maid Maggie as well.
Joke. Ha. :rolleyes:
A DA personality quiz: http://www.weta.org/tv/picks/downtonabbey/quiz
I’m closest to His Lordship. No surprise there!
I’m Matthew Crawley apparently.
Interesting, apparently I’m John Bates (my least favourite character). The last time I took one of these I was Thomas.
Yes! Apparently I’ve switched genders and gained and Earldom. Go me!
Oh, I just have to post a link to pictures of a foxhunt in Ireland last weekend. There were something like 50 side saddle riders taking some huge ditches. ]
Before the hunt
Climbing out of a ditch
If I don’t look, I can’t die.
Master over fence (Master has to do with his position in the hunt, not social status.
Hounds after scent
In tandem
Dry Clean Only
Kids on ponies
Over the ditch
Generosity in the field
Two worlds meet
TallyEffin’Ho
StG
Oh, dear. I’m Violet. That doesn’t seem quite right. Perhaps I should ring someone round to look into the matter.
Another Matthew.
Great find, StG!
Lord Grantham.
Huh.
Elendil’s Heir!
Oh! I didn’t dare hope I would be but I am …
Me too.
No, StG for the great fox hunt pictures.
Aw fuck. I’m Bates. 
Just saw Secrets of Highclere Castle, which aired on PBS on Jan. 6 here. It shows the interior of the tower, which is not part of the regular tour today. It was the maids’ quarters back in the day and forbidden to all men. It’s now unused and looks pretty ratty, with peeling paint and lots of dust and grit on the floors and windows. Since there was only a single staircase down, the maids had a folding canvas escape chute to get out in case of a fire - it would hang on a windowsill by a metal frame, and the maids would slide down through it. They showed a B&W photo of a fire drill with the chute hanging down; don’t know why the maids wouldn’t break their ankles when they made it down to ground level.