Vices and Volumes | Navigate Irish and British History's Absurdities from 1800s Books
Episodes
Maynooth 1845 | When a Protestant Queen Blushed for Ireland, Co. Kildare
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Help support the show https://ko-fi.com/vicesandvolumesIn 1845, Britain proposed repairs to a seminary it had built in Co. Kildare. Westminster duly l...
Victorian Men Who Wouldn't Stop Talking | Egotists & Bores, 1878
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1878, Chambers Edinburgh Journal catalogued the Victorian gentleman at his most tedious—while women were forbidden from mentioning themselves at ...
County Tyrone Matchmaker 1845 | Mary Murray's Marriage Schemes
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In William Carleton's 1845 County Tyrone, Mary Murray arrived at farmhouses in a crimson cloak carrying matrimonial schemes that would shape entir...
Victorian Love Letters End with Business Cards | London & Yorkshire 1810
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A Yorkshire manufacturer's 1810 love letter compares himself to "a weeping hermit emerging from a cave" and ends with an advertisement f...
Victorian Perfection Standards | Lady Colin Campbell's Scandal & Etiquette (1884)
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In 1884, Lady Colin Campbell published articles in Cassell's Family Magazine teaching young women how to become "the perfect lady." Two ...
A Dublin Cabman's Tour | Irish Hospitality and Creative Storytelling in 1852
06 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In August 1852, Sir Francis Bond Head arrived in post-Famine Dublin and hired a local cabman as his guide. What followed was a tour where historical a...
Survival Guide to Winter in 1823 | How Victorian Beds Could Kill You!
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered how people survived winter before central heating? Spoiler: they didn't always.This episode takes you inside the Georgian and Victorian ...
The Unruly Member | The Art of Conversation and Never to Speak of Oneself (1888)
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if the two topics you could never, ever mention in polite conversation were yourself and your enemy? Welcome to Victorian feminine conversation, ...
Part 2 | The Book That Started It All: Thoughts on Hunting, Kennel Design, Mercury Poisoning, and the Passionate Heart of Peter Beckford
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two hounds clung to each other all night on a hedge surrounded by freezing floodwater. When the water receded the next morning, they were found "...
Part 1 | The Book That Started It All: Thoughts on Hunting, Peter Beckford's 1781 Masterpiece and a Chance Encounter in Mayo
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the book that inspired the entire podcast. In a Westport bookshop, six American tourists watched Avril read aloud from a 1787 hunting manual—...
The Mutton Chop Test: Choosing a Wife in 1829 William Cobbett's Advice to Young Men How to Judge a Wife by Her Jaws, Footsteps, and Needle Ownership
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How can you tell if a woman will make a good wife? According to William Cobbett's 1829 advice manual, take her out for a mutton chop and watch her...
The Devil's Dominion (Part 2) | Detecting the Devil's Servants From Familiar Spirits to Flying Ointments—The Science of Witch-Hunting
27 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1645, Matthew Hopkins declared himself the "Witch Finder General" and began a reign of terror that executed more people in two years than...
The Devil's Dominion (Part 1) | The Witch-Hunter's Courtroom How Legal Systems Perfected the Art of Supernatural Prosecution
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Enter the darkest chapter of legal history, where witch trials transformed courtrooms into instruments of systematic terror. Part 1 of this two-part s...
Bare Recital | Legends of the Bashee
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How did civilization's greatest achievement—the rule of law—become humanity's most efficient killing machine?In Colonial Salem, 1692, youn...
The Banshee's Midnight Call | Death Omens and Supernatural Warnings in 19th Century Ireland
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A fox screaming at 3 AM outside your window sounds terrifying—but in 18th century Ireland, there was something far more chilling: the Banshee's ...
Wit, Whiskey, and Water How a Perpetual Debtor Became Ireland's Most Famous Fishing Guide
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do you get when a dishonorably discharged soldier, debtor's prison survivor, and perpetual scandal writes a fishing guide? A Victorian bestse...
Vices & Volumes - An introduction to the podcast.
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered what happens when someone with dyslexia, an aggressive browsing habit in vintage bookshops, and absolutely no qualifications in English ...