“… regular little
Dolly Vardens”
“To me, sand grouse occupy the same relative position
towards birds that Kate Greenaway’s or Caldecott’s children do to the human
family. They are, in very truth, regular little Dolly Vardens in perfection of
outline, beauty and variety of plumage, and in grace and energy of movement,
while their little feather-trowsered legs impart an air of modesty that is most
piquante. Those folks that have crossed the Atlantic have doubtlessly heard ‘bees’
spoken of by our cousins. Now there are several kinds of ‘bees’ in America,
such as quilting ‘bees,’ logging ‘bees’, and husking ‘bees.’ The double-banded
sand grouse has a ‘bee’ of its own, which I will designate a courting ‘bee.’
About midday, in spring, these little pets will assemble, possibly to the
number of a dozen, and dance the most extraordinary and intricate figures, in
which all take a part. From the back of an ant-hill I have often watched them
at this amusement. In it there is none of the poetry of the gliding waltz, but
all the energy and go of the Scotch reel…”
(Parker Gillmore. The
Hunter’s Arcadia. London, Chapman and Hall, 1886)
(For more on
Gillmore, see my blog post (wearing a different hat) on the book collection of
the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia: Xmas
Treats 2014, “Xmas Treats: Mr Silver’s Little Book, & A Helping of
Grouse”.)
Yes, it’s
charming, isn’t it? But the book’s about game hunting in Africa! Why on earth
was a great white hunter tossing off a reference to “Dolly Varden” in the midst
of descriptions of his forays through Africa, gun in hand?
Who Was Dolly Varden?
If you’ve
read Charles Dickens’s early historical novel, Barnaby Rudge, you’ll know this. Dolly Varden was a character in
the book, which centres on the Gordon Riots of 1780 in England. She struck the
fancy of the reading public and became immensely popular over the decades that
followed the book’s first publication, which was in Dickens’s serial, Master Humphrey’s Clock; With Illustrations
by George Cattermole and Hablot Browne (London, Chapman and Hall, 1840-1841).
“…a pretty, laughing, girl; dimpled and fresh, and
healthful—the very impersonation of good-humour and blooming beauty”
Dolly was a working-class
girl, the daughter of a locksmith. She was pretty, merry, and extremely attractive
to the opposite sex. Dickens introduced her as: “a pretty, laughing girl;
dimpled and fresh, and healthful—the very impersonation of good-humour and
blooming beauty.” Whether it was his descriptions or the illustrations that
struck a chord with his readers, it’s impossible to say—both, probably! Here’s
the original illustration of the scene where Dolly delivers a letter to Emma
Haredale, the proper young lady who is the conventional heroine, from her suitor:
(Charles
Dickens. Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ’Eighty.
Project Gutenberg.)
The picture includes the details that were to
characterise the subsequent fashion fad for Dolly Varden outfits, worn even as
normal wear in the 1870s, but more often over several decades as fancy dress: the
tilted flat straw hat, the draped pannier-style overdress, and the muff.
You can read all about this 19th-century
fashion fad in “A
Brief History of the Dolly Varden Dress Craze”, by Natalie Ferguson, on the
web site A Frolic Through Time.
Dolly Varden in
Art
The Dolly
Varden fad started early; quite possibly it was this 1842 painting by Dickens’s
friend, William Powell Frith, which helped spark it.
A Household Word
The fact that
Parker Gillmore throws in the casual reference to “regular little Dolly Vardens”
in his 1886 book about game hunting in Africa is an indicator of how Dolly
Varden had become a household word during the 19th century. There was no need
for him to explain: his readers would immediately have grasped the reference.
“Short quilted
skirt; bodice and bunched-up tunic of flowered chintz … Straw hat with cherry-colored
ribbons, or muslin cap …”
At around the
same time, Dolly Varden dresses having become the rage for the popular fancy-dress
dances, Ardern Holt tells us ladies how to get ourselves up as Dolly:
DOLLY
VARDEN (Barnaby Rudge). Short quilted skirt; bodice and bunched-up tunic of
flowered chintz, the former low and laced across; a muslin kerchief inside;
sleeves to elbow with frill; correctly speaking the hair should not be
powdered, as she did not belong to the upper classes. Straw hat with
cherry-colored ribbons, or muslin cap and apron; high-heeled shoes and bows;
colored stockings; mittens.
(Ardern Holt.
Fancy Dresses Described, or, What to Wear at Fancy Balls. 6th ed.,
London, Debenham & Freebody, 1896)
One of the attractions of the style would undoubtedly
have been that it allowed the ladies of the time a daring show of dainty ankles—much
appreciated by the gentlemen of the time!
Contemporary illustrations abounded; and there
were Dolly Varden songs and dances as well as dresses and hats. Below we see
just two examples of how Dolly was depicted on sheet music. Note the dainty
ankles!
The fervour
for the fancy dress gradually died out, but aspects of the Dolly Varden craze persisted
well into the 20th century. The article in Wikipedia on “Dolly Varden (costume)”,
largely sourced from Natalie Ferguson’s “A
Brief History of the Dolly Varden Dress Craze”, notes: “Even in the late
1930s, chintz patterned fashions might still have the name ‘Dolly Varden’
attached to them.” The “Dolly Varden hat”, likewise, was still around: a flat
hat, worn tilted, as in the earliest illustrations.
Having Your
Dolly Varden And Eating It, Too?
In the first
half of the 20th century the “Dolly Varden Cake” was an established favourite. Don’t
rush off and do an Internet search: the references will lead you to the modern Australian
version of the cake—nothing like it. The recipe subsisted well into the 1950s.
It was characterised by at least two different-coloured layers—presumably inspired
by the double layers of Dolly’s skirt as depicted in the earliest illustrations.
One was typically plain and lemon-flavoured, the other typically flavoured with
spices and dotted with currants or sultanas, sometimes also containing cocoa.
Variants could have three layers: two light, sandwiching the darker one.
By the time these three versions were published
the cake had already been popular for many years:
** Version (1):
Dolly Varden Cake, by Miss Rehn, W.C.T.U., Adelaide.
(Green and Gold
Cookery Book. 15th ed. (rev.), Adelaide,
R.M. Osborne, circa 1949)
3 layers: 2
plain, 1 “brown by adding spice, peel and currants”; sandwiched with pink cream;
pink-tinted coconut added to icing.
** Version (2):
Dolly Varden Cake, by E. Norman, Kadina.
(Green and Gold
Cookery Book. 15th ed. (rev.), circa 1949)
2 layers: 1
plain, flavoured with lemon essence, 1 “dark” with spice, lemon peel, sultanas;
sandwiched with butter icing.
** Version (3):
Dolly Vardon [sic] Cake, by Mrs. F. Densley (Bordertown), variant by Mrs. R.P.
Wood (Owen).
(Calendar of
Cakes. [4th ed.], Adelaide, South
Australian Country Women's Association, [1951?])
2 layers: 1
plain, flavoured with lemon essence, 1 with cocoa, cinnamon, currants; sandwiched
with jam; icing.
Curiouser and
Curiouser…
By the end of
the 20th century the traditional Dolly Varden cake had disappeared. In Australia
it’s been replaced by an extraordinary revival of the name—why, I can’t discover:
possibly someone’s brilliant perversion of a recipe name she got off her granny,
possibly merely a commercial venture in order to sell fancy cake tins. This new
“Dolly Varden” cake consists of a wide skirt shape as the base, topped with a doll.
No kidding. I’d take a bet most of the lady bakers who make this very fancy cake for special birthdays don’t
have a clue where the name originated!
You can find a typical example, “Australian
Women's Weekly Dolly Varden Cake”, at the Australian Women’s Weekly website. It
uses a packet cake mix.
I love the idiocy of the description:
“This iconic children’s birthday cake was inspired by the
character, Dolly, in one of Charles Dickens’ novels. A special baking pan, in
the shape of her dress has been created just for this cake and you’ll need one
of them for this recipe.”
Do they even know what the word “iconic”
means? They certainly don’t know what the possessive of “Dickens” is. And note
the looseness of the derivation!
To finish (finish you off?), here is the cake,
in all its terrifying glory:
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