Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The pernicious effects on the servant class of reading the wrong sort of literature and what you can do about it.
The article I read out is from The British Ensign, Wednesday, 6 January 1864, p. 5. The same piece, with variations, appeared in many periodicals as a piece of 'scissors and paste journalism'. The list seems to have originated in a periodical called The Inquirer.
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#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything
The pernicious effects on the servant class of reading the wrong sort of literature and what you can do about it.
The article I read out is from The British Ensign, Wednesday, 6 January 1864, p. 5. The same piece, with variations, appeared in many periodicals as a piece of 'scissors and paste journalism'. The list seems to have originated in a periodical called The Inquirer.
********
This channel is informal chat about books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything
![Sherlock Holmes: canon chimps & lost TV
Holmes is Where the Heart Is event created by Jim at @MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn
Dedicated to the memory of host Shawn D. Standfast
Hosts :
Mark at @BookTimewithElvis @BookTimewithElvis
Randy Ray at @LiterateTexan
Greg @anotherbibliophilereads
Alan @AlansReads
Allen @hardbooks770
Scott @jscottphillips503
and me
There are four prompts for this years event:
1. Read any Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Read a non-fiction book about Holmes, the stories, or Arthur Conan Doyle.
3. Read any pastiche novel with Sherlock Holmes as the main character.
4. Read any mystery with a character inspired by Sherlock Holmes.
To take part you can do all or any combination of the above and read as much or as little as youd like.
Group read: Prisoner of the Devil by Michael Hardwick
*******
This channel is informal chat about old books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Sherlock Holmes: canon chimps & lost TV](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PsuSt--jP0Q/mqdefault.jpg)

![Six Shooting June on the Range Tag
Original tag by Kevin @KevinTowleReads designed specifically for BookTubers and readers participating in June on the Range. I was tagged by @GhostReadersintheSky
These 6 Western Themed Questions are broad enough to work with all Westerns and Western-adjacent stories. So saddle up!
1. The Fastest Gun in the West:
What is the fastest-paced Western you’ve ever read?
2. The Trusted Trail Companion:
Who is your favorite Western sidekick, partner, or traveling companion?
3. The Frontier Town:
Which Western setting would you most like to visit? Could be a ranch,
mining camp, frontier town, desert outpost, or any memorable
location from a Western story.
4. High Noon Showdown:
Choose two Western characters from different books to face off in a duel. Who wins and why?
5. The Campfire Tale:
What Western book would you recommend to someone who has never read a Western before?
And maybe one if time is of no consequence?
6. Ride Into the Sunset:
What is your favorite ending in a Western novel or short story?
It can be an ending which stuck with you long after the final page,
whether triumphant, bittersweet, tragic, or hopeful.
Tag Others
“Time to prove youre not Yellow...tag some Cowpokes, Ranchers, Rustlers and Card Cheats!”
*June on the Range*
Creator Michael K. Vaughan
/ @michaelk.vaughan8617
Rest of the Posse
Steve Donoghue
/ @saintdonoghue
Another Bibliophile Reads
/ @anotherbibliophilereads
Reading This Life
/ @M-J
Randy Ray
/ @LiterateTexan
Mystery and Mayhem
/ @MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn
Books Songs and Other Magic
/ @bookssongsandothermagic
Jeff’s Cave of Cool Books
/ @JeffsCaveofCoolBooks
Genre Books
/ @GenreBooks23
McNulty’s Book Corral
/ @thewestisthebest
Ghost Readers in the Sky
/ @GhostReadersintheSky
The Wild Digest
/ @WildDieWoodard
and me
This channel is informal chat about old books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Six Shooting June on the Range Tag](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QO8CwRQgnp4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Bookish Wombling ORIGINAL TAG
The Wombles are a race of creatures, invisible to humans, who clean up our litter and make it into useful things. Originally appearing in books by Elisabeth Beresford, a series of animated stop-motion TV episodes in the 1970s made them part of the fabric of British life. Pop songs, Annuals, a movie and a vast range of merch extended their furry-pawed reach still further.
The books are still in print and full episodes can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/@thewomblesclassics .
Jessie Reacts @fiddle2202 has been making some great videos where
she watches some of the episodes and music videos for the first time! https://www.youtube.com/@fiddle2202
This tag uses concepts for the Wombles as prompts for talking about books. These can be any books, not necessarily kids’ ones.
1. *The Wombles are mascots of environmental awareness and conservation.*
Tell us about a book which features the environment as a theme.
2. *The Wombles are well-loved whimsical characters.*
Is there a whimsical book or series in your reading life?
3. *The Wombles find things that the everyday folk leave behind.*
Have you ever found a book just lying around for you to take? Or found a secondhand book that was amazingly cheap?
4. *The Wombles upcycle unwanted items.*
Tell us about a book that improves on a well-established trope or updates a classic story.
5. *The Wombles stay out of sight.*
Tell us about a book that features a hidden or invisible person or group.
6. *The Wombles are named after real places.*
Tell us about a book with a real-world placename in the title.
7. *The Wombles live on Wimbledon Common, a large green space in London.*
Nature meets the city! Tricky one this – can you tell us about a story (in any medium) in which natural and urban environments co-exist or clash?
8. *The Wombles carry Tidy Bags to collect their finds.*
Do you have a favourite bag or other Device of Carrying for use when book shopping?
9. *Remember You’re a Womble!*
Have you ever read a book featuring a fictional band or musician that is actually good?
10. Tag people who you would like to see Wombling bookishly.
I tag
@fiddle2202
@BookChatWithPat8668
@CriminOllyBlog
@jenniferlovesbooks
@meliinthemargins
@bookssongsandothermagic
@ChattieTheMadChatter
@booksimnotreading
@GenreBooks23
@scallydandlingaboutthebooks
@RaynorReadsStuff
@TheAccidentalBookseller
...not listed? No worries, everyone is tagged!
UPDATE
The Wombles have asked me to invite those self-identified pariahs ;) @saintdonoghue @WildDieWoodard into the Burrow ❤️
FURTHER UPDATE
@abbyreads1 you might like this
My answers
1. New York 2140, Kim Stanley Robinson
2. Edward Eager ‘Magic’ series
3. Ritual in the Dark, Colin Wilson
4. Beauty, Sheri S. Tepper
5. She, H Rider Haggard
6. Mother London, Michael Moorcock
7. The Unlimited Dream Company, J G Ballard
8. Carharrt WIP ‘Bayfield’ Tote
9. Foot of the Rainbow, Tony Warren
Lots of terrible ones
Foot of the Rainbow Tony Warren
10. Tag others
********
This channel is informal chat about books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Bookish Wombling ORIGINAL TAG](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QlzoC6PvKr4/mqdefault.jpg)
![My Weekend in 1966 | joys and horrors of my early reads
My brush with Initial Teaching Alphabet... 60s Utopias... Superboy vs Super Bear... Bri-Nylon!
********
This channel is informal chat about books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything My Weekend in 1966 | joys and horrors of my early reads](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RBfDckPPKnY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Recent Reads + Gift Package
Everything I read this week, plus a lovely package from a viewer.
Mainly detectives...
The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange, Anna Katharine Green
Breaking the Dark (Jessica Jones), Lisa Jewell
...with some Jane Austen
*PI July*
Created by Jim @MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn
Specially trained operatives listed below:
Michael @michaelk.vaughan8617
Steve @saintdonoghue
Alan @AlansReads
Greg @GhostReadersintheSky
Annie @ObscureBookAdventures
@M-J @M-J
Jeff @JeffsCaveofCoolBooks
and myself.
*Jane Austen July*
Katie @katiejlumsden
Marissa @BlatantlyBookish and
Claudia @SpinstersLibrary
This channel is informal chat about old books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My personal Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Recent Reads + Gift Package](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RGeDyXEKos4/mqdefault.jpg)
![Dime Novels that Blazed the Western Trail
A ramble about Dime Novels with reading plans for both June on the Range and Neglected Victorian Bestsellers.
Books mentioned:
Malaeska, Ann S. Stephens
Seth Jones
Dashing Diamond Dick and Other Classic Dime Novels (Penguin)
( original pulp on Internet Archive )
*Neglected Victorian Bestsellers introduction video*
https://youtu.be/W2CgKbTOrV0?si=6eCULUSjiyKBMVvo
*June on the Range details*
June on the Range Creator
Michael K. Vaughan
/ @michaelk.vaughan8617
Rest of the Posse
Steve Donoghue
/ @saintdonoghue
Another Bibliophile Reads
/ @anotherbibliophilereads
Reading This Life
/ @M-J
Randy Ray
/ @LiterateTexan
Mystery and Mayhem
/ @MysteryandMayhem-gr7nn
Books Songs and Other Magic
/ @bookssongsandothermagic
Jeff’s Cave of Cool Books
/ @JeffsCaveofCoolBooks
Genre Books
/ @GenreBooks23
McNulty’s Book Corral
/ @thewestisthebest
Ghost Readers in the Sky
/ @GhostReadersintheSky
The Wild Digest
/ @WildDieWoodard
and me
This channel is informal chat about old books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Dime Novels that Blazed the Western Trail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RKgfcgBeA9Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![Lay of the Trilobite by May Kendall | Victorian satire #poetrythursday
Jennie reads *Lay of the Trilobite* by May Kendall
Armstrong, I., Bristow, J. and Sharrock, C. (1996) *Nineteenth-century women poets : an Oxford anthology*. Oxford, New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press.
A mountain’s giddy height I sought,
Because I could not find
Sufficient vague and mighty thought
To fill my mighty mind;
And as I wandered ill at ease,
There chanced upon my sight
A native of Silurian seas,
An ancient Trilobite.
So calm, so peacefully he lay,
I watched him even with tears:
I thought of Monads far away
In the forgotten years.
How wonderful it seemed and right,
The providential plan,
That he should be a Trilobite,
And I should be a Man!
And then, quite natural and free
Out of his rocky bed,
That Trilobite he spoke to me
And this is what he said:
‘I don’t know how the thing was done,
Although I cannot doubt it;
But Huxley – he if anyone
Can tell you all about it;
‘How all your faiths are ghosts and dreams,
How in the silent sea
Your ancestors were Monotremes –
Whatever these may be;
How you evolved your shining lights
Of wisdom and perfection
From Jelly-Fish and Trilobites
By Natural Selection.
‘You’ve Kant to make your brains go round,
Hegel you have to clear them,
You’ve Mr Browning to confound,
And Mr Punch to cheer them!
The native of an alien land
You call a man and brother,
And greet with hymn-book in one hand
And pistol in the other!
‘You’ve Politics to make you fight
As if you were possessed:
You’ve cannon and you’ve dynamite
To give the nations rest:
The side that makes the loudest din
Is surest to be right,
And oh, a pretty fix you’re in!’
Remarked the Trilobite.
‘But gentle, stupid, free from woe
I lived among my nation,
I didn’t care – I didn’t know
That I was a Crustacean.*
I didn’t grumble, didn’t steal,
I never took to rhyme:
Salt water was my frugal meal,
And carbonate of lime.’
Reluctantly I turned away,
No other word he said;
An ancient Trilobite, he lay
Within his rocky bed.
I did not answer him, for that
Would have annoyed my pride:
I merely bowed, and raised my hat,
But in my heart I cried: –
‘I wish our brains were not so good,
I wish our skulls were thicker,
I wish that Evolution could
Have stopped a little quicker;
For oh, it was a happy plight,
Of liberty and ease,
To be a simple Trilobite
In the Silurian seas!’
(Public domain)
#horrormayhem
********
This channel is informal chat about old books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Lay of the Trilobite by May Kendall | Victorian satire #poetrythursday](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S9AOz6PMV54/mqdefault.jpg)

![OUIDA Neglected Victorian Bestseller
Why Im excited to read Under Two Flags by Ouida next month...
Part of my Neglected Victorian Bestsellers project
Intro video: https://youtu.be/W2CgKbTOrV0?si=T5G9uNqiQC9gJkRH
Project Discord https://discord.gg/D9atnBqe6S
Other works mentioned
Wildes Women, Eleanor Fitzsimmons
Ouida: A Study in Ostentation, Yvonne ffrench
The Agricultural Irish Girl, 1885; https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/agricultural-irish-girl-the/
Ouidaite website from @OUIDAITE6516
https://ouidaotaku.weebly.com/
All the books:
Under Two Flags, Ouida (Dec 25)
The Heir of Redclyffe, Charlotte M. Yonge (Jan 26)
The Blood of the Vampire, Florence Marryat (Feb 26)
A Romance of Two Worlds, Marie Corelli (March 26)
Lost Sir Massingberd, James Payn (April 26)
Brotherhood of the Seven Kings, L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace (May 26)
Malaeska, Ann S. Stephens (June 26)
Diamond Dick and the Tigers of Tombstone (June 26)
A Detective’s Triumphs, as by Dick Donovan (July 26)
The Mysteries of London, George W. M. Reynolds (August 26)
In Luck at Last, Walter Besant (Sept 26)
The Fate of Fenella, various (Oct 26)
Two Years Before the Mast, R. H. Dana (Nov 26)
A Strange Story, Bulwer-Lytton (Dec 26)
Series credit music from Luis_Humanoide via Pixabay
********
This channel is informal chat about books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything OUIDA Neglected Victorian Bestseller](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/T_HroseYAYk/mqdefault.jpg)
![Short Story Summer Shelf Safari
A chaotic shakeycam rummage through various short story collections lurking in my home.
Short Story Summer 2026
Created by Randy Ray @LiterateTexan
List of co-hosts and their YouTube handles:
Brandy @TheBookclectic
Crystal @fiberartsyreads
Greg @anotherbibliophilereads
Hannah @HannahsBooks
James @JamesRuchala
Nicky @MyMessyBookshelf
Roy - hey thats me!
Steve @saintdonoghue
Google doc bingo board: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/13gsf7rZApqNXmrVPiyLvZjMLojzM9biw/mobilebasic
Canva Bingo Board: https://canva.link/ok2jh6ydoixhsqv
PROMPTS
1. Genres
1. Science Fiction
2. Fantasy
3. Mystery
4. Horror
5. Historical Fiction
6. Literary Fiction
2. Time Periods
1. 19th Century
2. 1900–1949
3. 1950–1979
4. 1980–1999
5. 2000–2019
6. 2020s
3. Around the World
1. North America
2. Europe
3. South America
4. Asia
5. Africa
6. Translated Story
4. Story Elements
1. Twist Ending
2. Child Protagonist
3. Unreliable Narrator
4. First-Person Narrator
5. Journey or Quest
6. Supernatural Element
5. Reader Challenges
1. Award Winner
2. New-to-You Author
3. Adapted to Film or TV
4. Under 10 Pages
5. Over 30 Pages
6. Read Any Short Story
********
This channel is informal chat about books and other reading, unaffiliated to any entity.
My Discord server: https://discord.gg/VaVQBmJwbd
If you want to support the channel, please like and subscribe.
I have an Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/HJ8WB0DVYTRZ
So does Jennie!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2D9INI62HXMC7
Buy me a coffee should you so wish https://ko-fi.com/roy65583
Email royabayfield [at] gmail.com
#royreadsanything #royreadseverything #RoyWhoReadsAnything Short Story Summer Shelf Safari](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TqEO8GahU0w/mqdefault.jpg)