Welcome Glorious Morn!

Hello Internet, and welcome to my brave new venture into the world of blogging! My apologies to those of you who searched 'Macaroni' expecting to find some delicious pasta recipes but please do stay and read! Here's a little overview of what you can expect to find in the blog...

It's Purcell! Yay!

• History-related fun stuff broadly related to the period 1688-1832, also known as the 'Long Eighteenth Century' and taking as its boundaries the Glorious Revolution and the Reform Act. I am from the UK so a lot of the historical topics will be related to British history, although I am also a huge fan of French history, particularly Louis XIV and also the Revolution.
• A lot of stuff about classical music, mainly Baroque, as all my music feels come from Lully/Purcell/Handel. Well done to whoever spotted the Purcell reference in the title - it's the title of his Birthday Ode for Queen Mary 1691. I love Baroque music because I am a contralto (not many of us are left) and there are a lot of parts for deeper-voiced women to play, particularly those originally  written for castrati.
• Fashion history, from periwigs to panniers to... Oops, I ran out of things beginning with P! Incidentally, the Macaronis just happen to be my favourite fashion movement, hence the name of the blog. See the background for an idea of the typical macaroni look.
• Age of Sail - the thing that first interested me in the 18th century in the first place. I have another blog (www.hmshinchinbrook.weebly.com) run jointly with a friend (I'm Rosie, she's Rae-Rae) that you can check out for much more info on that.
• Poetry -the Romantic movement in particular. I absolutely worship the 'holy trinity' of Keats, Shelley and Byron and Byron's 'Don Juan' is my absolute favourite poem of all time.
• Art - I love the portraits of the time, particularly those of the middle 18th century with the fabulously huge dresses and also the extremely dramatic sea battle scenes of the later 18th/early 19th century
• Whatever else! If it's even remotely connected to the Long Eighteenth Century, expect it to pop up here at any time!

Anyway, I hope that this has made you want to keep reading and I look forward to writing more in future! I'm currently in Year 10 so I have a lot of homework but I'll try to update as often as I can!

'If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad.' - Lord Byron (1788-1824)