Washington Winter Show 2014

49 FESTIVITIES Many of the entertainments enjoyed at Stratford were those typical of the Lees’ Virginia contemporaries. Horse racing, foxhunting, dances, and other social occasions all provided periods of enjoyment throughout the year. Henry Lee IV, the last Lee owner of Stratford, was particularly fond of foxhunting and shared his enthusiasm with his young brother Charles Carter Lee, who “delighted in the hounds, & was especially proud of their superiority to the packs of those of other gentlemen in the neighborourhood.” 16 Music was a pervasive element in the rooms of Stratford and documentation exists for the types of musical instruments that would have been played. A runaway advertisement for indentured servant and musician Charles Love in 1757 includes a list of instruments with which Love has absconded (some belonging to the Lees and some to Love himself). And in 1778, correspondence indicates that Elizabeth Steptoe Lee barters 5 hogsheads of tobacco for a “Harpsichord, stand and all” from neighbor Robert Carter of Nomini Hall. 17 A set of sheet music in the collection further attests to the Lee family’s affinity for music. The flyleaf features a penciled inscription by Mary Custis Lee: “I send this old music book of mine for any one who plays the piano. Aunt Lucy does I know & I think Katherine’s girls are also musical. Mary Custis Lee.” Parts of some signatures were cut off when the music was trimmed for its initial binding, but we can still see that some individual sheet music selections are signed “MC Lee” in top corner; others “M C Lee from her Cousin Markie [Martha Custis Williams]” [Figure 10] or “M C W.” Souvenir d’Ole Bull is signed and dated “M C Lee March 1847.” A music master was employed for daughters Matilda and Flora Lee as documented in the administrator’s accounts of the plantation in the years immediately following Philip Ludwell Lee’s death. In addition to a music master, Stratford’s residents also benefitted from the tutelage of an itinerant dancing master to instruct the young men and women of the area in the latest dances and social graces. In January 1774, during a Twelfth Night celebration, Mr. Christian was employed as the dancing master at Stratford, where he reportedly “danced several Minuets, prodigiously beautiful” when leading a dance for the residents of Stratford and neighboring plantations [Figure 11]. 18 Charles Carter Lee recalled such “dancing schooldays” were followed by evenings made “delightful by the visits of the neighbours, who had a standing invitation then to join in our amusements. The Beverley’s sometimes came in their coach & four, & the Carters in their carriage & pair & the great ornament of these occasions, was my cousin Eliza Carter, who had just returned from Philadelphia...[Dancing master] Mr. Tibbs, himself, used to solicit her hand for a minuet, & display all his grace & agility to save himself from being too much eclipsed by hers.” 19 As illustrated by the memories of Charles Carter Lee, the holiday season in 18th-century Virginia was a time of extended merriment and socializing. Travelers would spend hours or even days traversing treacherous roads to find companionship with family and friends. The Lee family hosted numerous guests over the holiday season, which would begin a few days before Christmas and extend past Twelfth Night. On the occasion of Twelfth Night, the Lees may have hosted a large dance and dinner much like they did in January 1774, complete with a Twelfth Night cake. The Lees and their Virginia contemporaries were familiar with the tradition of Twelfth Night cakes – what we would associate today with an iced fruit cake or panettone. According to the 1775 Stratford household inventory, there was a still in use in the Dairy, possibly for the purpose of distilling floral waters such as the rosewater used in icing recipes. 21 Such special occasions, often taking place throughout the candlelit night, called for special articles of costume and decoration. Waistcoats and dresses could be adorned with plates (sequins) or metallic threads to reflect the candlelight from a chandelier or candelabra. Paste (glass) stone buckles and brooches were extremely popular ornaments in the 18th century and also provided an element of sparkle. These two brooch examples [Figure 12], belonging to members of the Lee family, would have indicated the Figure 11: Hall of main house at Stratford. The Hall was likely used by the Lee family for dances and other special festivities, as well as serving as a secondary dining space, family living space, and library. “We are all preparing to dance. Adieu: I hear the Fidle” —Journal of Lucinda Lee, October 15, 1782 20