Lord Byron vs. Lady Lamb | History's Worst Breakups

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, History, Education, Sex, Scandal

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sending a lock of hair to your lover has fallen a little out of fashion. Sending a lock of pubic hair to your ex-lover ... well, we aren't sure that was ever in fashion.

This is just one of the things that Lady Caroline Lamb is alleged to have done when her heart was broken by Lord Byron.

For this episode, Kate is joined by Professor Paul Douglass to discuss the affair between Byron and Lamb, how it ended, and whether Lamb has been unfairly treated in the telling of this story.

Paul is Professor Emeritus of English and American Literature at San Jose State University, and the author and editor of ‘Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography’ and a selection of Lady Caroline Lamb's letters, ‘The Whole Disgraceful Truth’.

This episode was edited by Hannah Feoderov. The producer was Sophie Gee. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.

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Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, my lovely betwixters. I'm just jumping in here real quick to remind you that if you wanted to come and see betwixt the sheets live and in the flesh, you can do so in May. We have got two live events. One in Edinburgh on the 23rd of May and one in London Town on the 25th of May. There will be guests,
0:23.4	there will be games, there will be smutty history, a plenty. Tickets are available now at
0:29.1	Fane.com.uk. That's F-A-N-E.com.uk. And just search for betwixt. And we will see you there.
0:40.4	Hello, my lovely Betwixters. It's me, Cade Lister. Thank you for coming back once again to
0:45.6	Betwix the Sheets. Welcome, welcome, come in, come in. We are so happy that you are here.
0:51.0	But before we can go any further together, I do have to tell you,
0:57.8	and I will keep telling you. This is an adult podcast, welcome by adults to other adults about adulty things in an adulty way, covering a range of adults, subjects, and you should be a adult
1:00.9	too. God, do you feel safer? I feel safer. Right, let's crack on.
1:16.5	There are many recommended routes to finding peace and happiness after a breakup.
1:20.7	Going no contact, that's an important one. I would recommend that one. Go no contact.
1:23.6	Just block them. You don't need to see them. You don't need to see their social media.
1:45.3	Just block them right now. Then there's the ice cream route. You can just sit on your sofa for a few months, eating nothing but Ben and Jerry's. You don't even need a bowl. You don't even need a spoon. Do it with your hands. Then there's people who decide to get back into shape in a big way. They have the ultimate breakup glow up. Then there is my grandmother's favourite advice, which is that you'll get over someone by getting under someone else.
1:48.3	You know, all pretty run-of-the-mill stuff.
1:55.0	But then, then you could, if you really wanted to, burn an effigy of your ex in your garden as local children dance around reciting poems that you've written about how awful they were.
2:01.1	Does that sound tempting?
2:02.7	Does that sound like something anyone would want to do?
2:06.1	Well, somebody did, and that somebody was Caroline Lamb,
2:11.5	after her notorious affair with Lord Byron came to an end.
2:16.5	Oh dear, oh dear. Hello and welcome back to Petwix O'Sheets, The History of Sex Scandal and Society with me, Kate Lister.
2:46.6	It's February, the most romantic month of the year, So here we are discussing the absolute worst breakups in history.
2:54.0	Now, we have spoken about Lord B a fair bit on betwixt the sheets before.
2:59.9	I mean, come on.
	...

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