Slavery in the UK was abolished by an act of Parliament in
1833, and with the exceptions of territories in the possession of the East
India Company, the Island of Ceylon and the Island of St Helena it was illegal
to ‘own’ a slave, or indeed to enslave anyone. Many slaves were abducted from
their countries of origin and sold to those who exploited them for whatever purposes
their ‘owners’ deemed fit.
There is a marked difference between a slave and a mistress.
A slave is ‘owned’, but a mistress offers her services willingly. A slave may
not be paid or paid very little for his labour, but generally a
mistress will receive favours from the one with whom she has a relationship.
More often than not there will be a sexual element to the association.
I must state that I’ve never had a real mistress, nor have I ‘owned’ a slave, and there is no way my
wife would ever allow me to treat her as slave; furthermore, I do not 'own' her, but I do have a secret that everyone who reads this blog
knows about. Now that statement contains
a misnomer, because a secret is not a
secret if the subject is commonly known. However, I’ve had many mistresses in
the form of waterborne vessels, mostly with sails and nearly all of them pretty
to look at.
My most recent mistress was ‘Minnow’. She was not the
prettiest, but she had many fine attributes. Note the past tense, which indicates
that our union is no more, because she has been pledged to another. To the best
of my knowledge she is not being sold into slavery, but she willingly goes with
an expectation of a relationship akin to that of a mistress, i.e., she will be
favoured, pampered and maintained.
From the foregoing, you can take it that ‘Minnow’ has been sold and that she is no longer
available for purchase.
Links
Slavery Abolition Act 1883
Mistress (Lover)
Misnomer
