Author's Notes

Hi: I get lots of questions regarding the research for this story and the reasons behind some of the action. I am not including citations just observations on articles I have read or reasons why. Many things can be found if you Google the topics.

Chapter One

When Sybil boards the train and reflects that her reputation will now be ruined is based on Winston Churchill's niece. The real person lost her reputation and was banned from society when she walked across Hyde Park without a chaperone.

Travel first class was common in the time period for brides and fiancées. No man who was decent would ask his bride to travel otherwise. I asked my grandmothers about this when I was young as they had both been post WWI brides and I had heard of the treatment of people in lower classes on the steamships crossing the Atlantic. Even if the man had very little and could only provide a sod house at the end of the trip, the bride traveled first class. Sometimes it took two or three years to save enough to be established and send for their girl friend.

A hand written cookbook was a common gift to a girl setting up house right through the 1960's. Today the parameters have changed somewhat as we would probably scan a recipe or take photos with a cell phone, but it is still a tradition passed through generations.

Chapter Two

The name Miriah means star of the sea. Working passage on a ship was a common practice in costal communities. It seems to have become one more casualty of 9-11. I live in a maritime community and many ships in my country have completely stopped the practice. It is another unfortunate cultural casualty from that awful day.

Sailors are notorious for playing practical jokes, especially on new people. It is harmless stuff. A common one on steam ships was to send the new guy for a bucket of steam. Another more modern trick is to crazy glue a coin to the deck and wait till someone tries to get it.

Freezing in staff quarters or receiving skimpy rations was common for many people in service. There are many accounts of the type of thing I describe here.

Knitting was predominantly a man's activity until well into the mid 20th century. Fishermen wore sweaters with patterns specific to their town or family so when bodies washed ashore families could be notified. It was a tough life full of danger.

Early steam ships actually did belch out the most disgusting black goop as they were fired with coal. It stuck to everything.

Singing is a big part of naval tradition. Even today the same songs are used to raise and lower the sails on sailing ships that do not use electronic motors to hoist the canvas. The entire crew turns out on deck when the sails are raised and lowered and there are specific chants for each activity. Typical songs while working would have been Barret's Privateers, and possibly the Drunken Scotsman. Both of those songs are available on YouTube. I don't know if Irish sailors would have sung Barrett's Privateers, but its an old song from the War of 1812 and would have been common in Atlantic sailing culture at the time.

I will include a link for an image of the type of ship I am describing in this chapter but no idea of the site will allow the text. Fishing schooners were used well into the 1940's when ship's engineering had advanced enough to make engines that were suitable for fishing boats.

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Chapter 3

The Princes Landing Stage was active in Liverpool in 1919 and was the largest floating pier in the world at the time. Coast Line Ferry was an amalgamation of three smaller companies in 1919. They were the forerunner of what is now the Irish Ferry Service. If you Google Belfast SS Classic you will find historic pictures. Classic did 19 knots and was advertised to make the overnight crossing in 8 hours. Today the same trip is 7 hours overnight.

I live in the north pacific and April and October are storm months. Since Titanic sunk on an iceberg in April and the north Atlantic is colder than the Pacific, they would freeze if they stayed on deck during the crossing and April would most likely have storms.

The Imperial Hotel is based on The Cavendish Hotel in Eastborne, UK. It's a hotel that still has the fancy dining room service, giant library and drawing rooms off the lobby.

The description of dating in chapter 3 is from accounts of courting from my own relatives. One of my very old great aunts told me that dating had changed radically from her time. They were peasants in Europe and the accepted form of courtship was to walk home from church with a group of your friends. Also it would be acceptable later in the relationship to sit together in church or visit with families. The girls were scared to death of getting pregnant. My grandmother used to talk about a scandal in her village where two people got caught together. It was a quick trip to the village priest and they were married the same week. I am avoiding any mention of previous relationships. It would not be an acceptable topic of conversation I believe and I spent a lot of time my grandparents who were of that generation and from northern England. I highly doubt previous sexual relationships or even courtships would ever be discussed. It straight out wasn't the honorable thing to do.

I did some research into chauffeur's cottage and most of the ones I found still in existence were huge with five to seven bedrooms. He is a single man therefore I stuck him in a two bedroom. I did find a few in my research but most of the smaller ones were in the US.

Chapter 4

Racism in that time period was rampant and there is a great deal of academic work on the subject. It seems bizarre today to have prejudice based on accent. The book I mention was written in 1854. It is considered pseudo science and was quoted repeatedly as a reason to sustain British rule in Ireland was well as suppression of Celtic people throughout the UK, colonies and America. The entire issue is more complicated than that but the attitude of the desk clerk is taken directly from research. The most disturbing item I found while doing this research was an page of classified ads from a New York, New York newspaper circa 1920 where every ad specified No Irish, even the ones selling used furniture.

I think Sybil had a lot of courage to defy her family and go off with the man she loves. She would also have the training to make the little worm squirm on the hook.

When Tom tells her the type of wife he wants, the scene is based on my own life. I think its why these characters resonate so strongly for me. My husband always said he wanted something different than where he was from. Girls in his culture mostly had the ambition to work at the fish plant, live three doors from Mom and Dad and have children. My other half wanted something different. I don't think I'm all that radical but compared to where he is from I am.

Don't laugh too hard at this, but a few years back my mother and sister in law came for a visit. I was thinking what I could do to amuse them, so I booked pedicure appointments at the spa. A good girly bonding activity or so I thought. I got them to the door and they balked. I had to practically pry them in the door. Once in the door, they liked the spa, but it is just one example of the many differences. I know all about the underhanded insults you get when your in laws don't quite agree with their child's choice. By the way, I have a great husband.

Chapter 5

The trip from York to Dublin even today is a long one unless you fly. I do think sex would have come up on the trip and her reputation would already be done. I also think Tom would be trying to protect Sybil as much as possible and would have booked everything as man and wife. They have been pushed outside the lines of convention in both classes and would have to make up their own rules.

In the show he is an honorable man and to me that means he would make sure she was ok with sleeping with him. Writing in a male voice is hard. I don't really know what men think about. I had to ask for some input on that one. I do think that if his mother or her family found out they were doing the nasty they would be married at the JP so fast it wouldn't have been funny.

Chapter 6

In 1919 there was a huge police riot in Liverpool that lead to the formation of a national governing body for police in the UK. There were also many strikes as people were fed up with the working conditions.

I noticed in the show that sometimes they seem to be joking around with each other and sometimes the conversation is serious. I think it is pretty typical of most couples. I do think Sybil is continuing to grow up over this time period and realizations of other people's living conditions that she lived with all her life would have come up.

The part about not liking potatoes is based on my real life husband. He doesn't like his mother's cooking very much and he pretty much hates the majority of traditional foods she prepares. At a family dinner he said he liked my cooking much better. His comment stopped the room. He got a well-deserved kick under the table from me for that one. Now he chokes it down and smiles regardless of how bad it tastes.

Chapter 7

I think that people in Tom and Sybil's situation would be forced to find friendships and build a support system away from their families and possibly from some unconventional sources. I don't want to hazard a guess as to how it actually went for them in Ireland as I am hoping it will be covered in Season 3.

I do think though that her dad would have shelled out enough so they had a reasonably comfortable existence. As well people who were immigrating to Canada or the US often moved away without their furniture and would sell the entire household at a time if they could. So the probably lived in a fairly decent place without servants, as their beliefs would prevent that. I don't think he would care if she knew how to keep house as if he wanted a housekeeper type wife he would have found that in the first place.

Hope you enjoyed the story and as always please review. I like to hear from you.