Clashmaclavers:

“Low, idle, scandalous tales.”

from John Mactaggart’s Scottish Gallovidian Encylopedia, 1824.

“A spectacle of disgrace.”

from John Brockett’s Glossary of North Country Words, 1825

Eavesdroppers

Scandal was always a mere breath away in the Regency, when women could lose her reputation in the blink of an eye, either through her own fault or that of another. One never knew who was listening and willing to carry tales to the detriment of many a young miss just out.

My romance, Only Scandal Will Do, while set some years before the Regency, still shows that women could be ruined by gossip and tales spoken by wagging tongues.