One of the pleasantest features of the country life of the period was the garden. The English women of to-day are no fonder of outdoor recreation and exercise than were their predecessors of the fifteenth century. Alone, or in parties of their own sex, or with male company, they wandered over the fields, gathering wild flowers and picnicking in the woods, spreading upon the grass their lunch of bread, wine, fish, and pigeon pies. They rode on horseback, and went hunting, hawking, and rabbit chasing. Their presence at the tournament gave it its greatest interest, and the successful contestants considered the awards that were made them by their ladies doubly valuable, as indicating at once their prowess upon the field and their conquests in that no less interesting sphere of sentiment where Cupid bestows the favors.
Perhaps at no other time in English history have ladies shown such fondness for pets as in the fifteenth century. There are frequent references to them in the literature of the day, and they appear in many of the illustrations; parrots, magpies, jays, and various singing birds are often mentioned among domestic pets. Various kinds of small animals were also tamed and kept in the house, either loose or in cages, squirrels being especially in favor because of their liveliness and activity. Gambling was one of the most popular vices of the day. It was not until after the middle of the fifteenth century that cards came into very general use, but by the beginning of the following century card playing had passed from the stage of fad and become a passion. After the table was removed, one of the servants would bring in a silver bowl full of dice and cards, and the company would be invited to play. So general and widespread was the practice that early in the reign of Henry VIII. an attempt was made to restrict the use of cards to the Christmas holidays. Women were hardly less inveterate devotees of this and other games of chance than the men, although it is not to be concluded that they took such games as seriously or risked as large sums as did the other sex. Dinner was served at noon, and the games, along with dancing, usually occupied the time of the leisure classes until supper, which seems to have been served at six o'clock. There was, of course, no other form of amusement that was so well adapted to polite circles, or that could be participated in with as much pleasure by the ladies, as dancing. Many new dances had been introduced and become fashionable, and these were much more lively than those of the earlier period, some so spirited, indeed, as to scandalize the moralists of the time. After supper the amusements were resumed, and continued until a late hour, when a second, or, as it was called, a "rere-supper," was served.
After the members of the household and the guests were surfeited with amusements, or the lateness of the hour made sleep welcome, they retired to rest in the upper chambers. These bedrooms were much more private than they had formerly been. In the poem Lady Bessy, when the Earl of Derby is represented as plotting with Lady Bessy in aid of the Earl of Richmond, he tells her that he will repair secretly to her chamber:
"'We must depart (separate), lady,' the earl said then;
Wherefore, keep this matter secretly,
And this same night, betwixt nine and ten,
In your chamber I think to be.
Look that you make all things ready,
Your maids shall not our councell hear,
For I will bring no man with me