The Great Room in Kirby Hall in Northamptonshire. Part of the English Heritage Trust, Kirby Hall is mostly a ruin of a grand Elizabethan mansion, with a few restored parts. The Great Hall is decorated here as it would have appeared in the time of "Turnspit" (1599). As a writer, it was far easier to look at a mansion from the correct time period that was mostly empty and use it as my fictional setting than to take a mansion that was still being lived in, one that had changed "styles" a dozen times over the centuries. Many 16th and 17th manor homes are open to the public in England today, but most have been restored to a later period in history (later than 1599) on the inside.

From Barr's Buffon (1792) as reprinted in "Dogs and their History and Development," by Edward C. Ash, 1927. This engraving shows dog breeds as they existed in 1792. Top row (l to r): Water-Dog; Turnspit; King Charles Dog; middle row (l to r) Spaniel, Siberian Dog, Pug; bottom row (l to r) Bulldog; Lion-Dog; Shock-Dog. Most of these dogs still exist today, but have different names. Only the Turnspit has disappeared entirely. Turnspits were used into the early 20th century in backwoods area to power butter churns, corn grinders, and even washing machines.