The Shooting Party in Regency England

In England, during the Regency period (1811-1820), when the London Season ended in mid August, the season of house parties in the country began. They could last from a weekend up to several weeks. Included in the activities for the invited nobility and gentry would be shooting of game birds and fox hunting. (Fox hunting, or “riding to hounds” began after the first frost and ended after the last frost.) Shooting parties extended over the fall and winter and shooting was regarded not only as a sport but exercise, an antidote to gout.

If you'd like to see my post on this major event in the social life of the upper classes, see more here. And if you'd like to read a story that takes you through Christmas and show you a shooting party up close, try my story of The Twelfth Night Wager !