The art of Butling and Valeting has all but gone by the wayside and men like Jeeves are a dying breed. Those of you who recall Wodehouse's satires about the hapless Bertie Wooster and his faithful (and long-suffering) valet, Jeeves may understand the usefulness and elegance that a gentleman's gentleman provides. They were the forerunner to the P.A. and took care of the necessary quotidian tasks to ensure one could go about one's business with ease, comfort and style.
A valet is not to be confused with a butler, who was the chief of staff of a household, corraling herds of footmen, under-butlers, and other sundry staff into timely action.
A valet's duties were many...
Oh for a gentleman's gentleman...
would be such a luxury, wouldn't it? I got the entire series of upstairs/downstairs on dvd for christmas, speaking of butlers and help -I can't wait to dive into the series AGAIN!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
I really could use some of that staff this spring.
ReplyDeleteThis post made me think of that movie with Anthony Hopkins,
the Butler. Can't remember the name of the movie.
It was an interesting post. Good start for the new year.
yvonne
You have sussed out exactly how things are done in our stately home. However, we fear that Stephen Fry may not be sufficiently reliable for domestic service in our design partnership!! Great blog as always. Happy New Year to you both,
ReplyDeleteRobert and Lesley (The Hegarty Webber Partnership)
ReplyDeleteHello David,
Agreed, a delightful post as always, Thank you for sharing. I especially like the video clips with Hugh Laurie. I had not seen them before so they were great to see.
And yes, help, good help is, highly regarded, and rightfully so ...
ReplyDeleteHello again David,
Just dropping you a line to let you know you have been nominated for a “Kreativ Blogger” Award, please see my recent post for more details.
Best Regards
Country clothing and more available online. Also wellies for this time of the year.
ReplyDeleteor a lady's maid...
ReplyDeleteCame visiting from reggiedarling and love your blog so much have added it to my blogroll!