Firk: “Mum, here comes my dame and my master. She’ll scold, on my life, for loitering this Monday; ...”
Hodge: “Master, I hope you will not suffer my dame to take down your journeyman....”
Eyre: “Peace, Firk; not I, Hodge; ... she shall not meddle with you ... away, queen of clubs; quarrel not with me and my men, with me and my fine Firk; I’ll firk you, if you do.”[[305]]
But the meddling continues to the end of the play.
The same sort of scene is again described in “The Honest Whore,” where Viola, the Linen Draper’s wife, comes into his shop, and says to the two Prentices and George the servant, who are at work,
“Come, you put up your wares in good order, here, do you not, think you? One piece cast this way, another that way! You had need have a patient master indeed.”
George replies (aside) “Ay, I’ll be sworn, for we have a curst mistress.”[[306]]
Comedy is concerned with the foibles of humanity, and so here the faults of the mistress are reflected, but in real life she is often alluded to as her husband’s invaluable lieutenant. There can be no doubt that admission to the world of business and the responsibilities which rested on their shoulders, often developed qualities in seventeenth century women which the narrower opportunities afforded them in modern society have left dormant. The wide knowledge of life acquired by close association with their husbands’ affairs, qualified mothers for the task of training their children; but it was not only the mother who benefited by the incorporation of business with domestic affairs, for while she shared her husband’s experiences he became acquainted with family life in a way which is impossible for men under modern conditions. The father was not separated from his children, but they played around him while he worked, and his spare moments could be devoted to their education. Thus the association of husband and wife brought to each a wider, deeper understanding of human life.
Returning to the position of women in the Craft Gilds and the later Companies, it must be remembered that originally these associations had a three-fold purpose, (a) the performance of religious ceremonies, (b) social functions, (c) the protection of trade interests and the maintenance of a high standard of technical efficiency.
Women are not excluded from membership by any of the earlier charters, which, in most cases expressly mention sisters as well as brothers, but references to them are more frequent in the provisions relating to the social and religious functions of the Gild than in those concerning technical matters. Though after the Reformation the performance of religious ceremonies fell into abeyance, social functions continued to be an important feature of the Companies.