PLATE 16.
(Fig. 1): A Norseman’s boat found in a peat bog at Nydam, in South Jutland, in 1863. It is clincher-built of oak, is large, open and pointed at both ends, and is designed only for rowing, as there is no trace of a mast and no arrangement for stepping one. It is 78 ft. between the high points at the stem and the stern, and 10 ft. 9 in. broad amidships. It was rowed with fourteen pairs of oars, which are like those still used in the North, and are 11 ft. 2 in. long. The rudder is narrow, and was fastened to one side of the boat near the stern end. During the latter part of the heathen times, boats were drawn up on land for the winter or when they were not wanted for some time. This boat has holes at the ends for the ropes by which it was hauled up on land. (Montelius’ “Civilization of Sweden.”) (Fig. 2): A Danish vessel reconstructed from a representation of a Danish ship from the MS. of Caedmon Bodl. Junius ii., c. A.D. 1000. It is steered, like the one in Fig. 1, by a rudder fastened near the stern of the ship on the side still called the starboard or steer-board. (Fig. 3): Noah’s Ark. Another drawing from the same MS. The Ark is represented in the form of a Danish ship, showing the dragon’s head at the bows and the stern. It is interesting, also, as it illustrates the fact that when the old illuminators wanted to represent any circumstance—Biblical or classical—pictorially, they made use of the material they saw around them, copying the buildings, the ships, the persons, and the costumes of their own time, so that MSS. form very reliable contemporary evidence of these things. (Fig. 4): A Danish sword found in the River Withalm, very similar in general design and construction to the Saxon sword illustrated on Plate 9. (Fig. 5): A Jutish or Danish shield, made of wood with a bronze rim and a boss or umbo of bronze in the centre, of the period before A.D. 450, found in Jutland.
NORMAN CUSTOMS.
The ordinary costumes of people in early Norman times differed little from that of the Saxons.
At first the Norman warriors were clean-shaven, but after settling in England the courtiers gave way to a love of finery. They wore long, embroidered garments with long white sleeves, and they allowed their hair and beards to grow long so that they incurred the reproach of the clergy, who called them “filthy goats.”
The Norman ladies also changed from the simplicity of their costume to a great extravagance of shape and material. The gowns were very ample, and were sometimes worn with a kind of train.
The general garments of the men were the tunic, the super-tunic, and the mantle.
The upper classes wore a garment next to the skin, under the tunic, called the just-au-corps; but amongst the lower classes the tunic was worn next to the skin. The Tunic was made of linen or cloth, had short sleeves, and reached at first to the knees, but later to the ground. Over this was worn a super-tunic corresponding to the Saxon tunica, with tight sleeves, reaching to the wrist, and subject to the same modification as the tunic.