We mentioned about the commencement of the chapter that marl was in general use as a manure in the Anglo-Saxon era, and here it is perhaps hardly necessary to state that this substance, so rich in lime and so adapted for giving consistency to the sandy soils, is still occasionally had recourse to by the husbandman. Guano was first introduced into this country about the year 1842, but it is probable that it was not commonly used in our district until the beginning of 1845, when a cargo was imported from Ichaboe to Fleetwood by Messrs. Kemp and Co., and offered for sale to the farmers of the neighbourhood. Other cargoes followed. Subjoined are arranged some tables showing the average market values of certain productions of the Fylde in the two years given:—
| 1847. Inclusive. | 1867. Inclusive. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. to June. | July to Dec. | Jan. to June. | July to Dec. | |||||
| Wheat, per windle | 39s. | 6d. | 25s. | 6d. | 31s. | 8d. | 32s. | 6d. |
| Meal, per load | 52s. | 6d. | 41s. | 6d. | 37s. | 0d. | 37s. | 6d. |
| Beans, per windle | 25s. | 6d. | 22s. | 6d. | ||||
| Oats, per bushel | 5s. | 10½d. | 4s. | 8d. | 4s. | 5d. | 4s. | 6d. |
| Potatoes, per windle | 21s. | 6d.[54] | 7s. | 0d. | 12s. | 8d. | 11s. | 6d. |
| Butter, per pound | 1s. | 1d. | 1s. | 1½d. | 1s. | 5d. | 1s. | 3d. |
| Eggs, per dozen | 0s. | 10d. | 0s. | 10d. | 0s. | 11d. | 1s. | 0d. |
| Pork, per pound | 0s. | 6d. | 0s. | 6d. | 0s. | 5½d. | 0s. | 6d. |
| Beef ” | 0s. | 6½d. | 0s. | 7½d. | 0s. | 7¾d. | 0s. | 6¾d. |
| Mutton ” | 0s. | 6¾d. | 0s. | 8½d. | 0s. | 8d. | 0s. | 7d. |
| Geese ” | 0s. | 6¾d.[55] | ||||||
CHAPTER V.
COSTUMES, COUNTRY, RIVERS, AND SEA.
The history of the dresses and costumes of the inhabitants of the Fylde is interesting not only on account of the multifarious changes and peculiarities which it exhibits, but also as a sure indication of the progress in civilisation, wealth, and taste, made in our section at different eras. To Julius Cæsar we are indebted for our earliest knowledge of the scanty dress worn by the aborigines of this district, and from that warrior it is learnt that a slight covering of roughly prepared skins, girded about the loins, and the liberal application of a blue dye, called woad, to the rest of the body constituted the sole requisites of their primitive toilets. Cæsar conjectures that the juice or dye of woad was employed by the people to give them a terror-striking aspect in battle, but here he seems to have fallen into error, for the wars engaged in by the Setantii would be confined to hostilities with neighbouring tribes, stained in a similar manner, and it is scarcely reasonable to suppose that either side would hope to intimidate the other by the use of a practice common to both. A more probable explanation of the custom is, that it was instituted for the ornamental qualities it possessed in the eyes of the natives. Such a view is supported by the remarks of Solinus, a Roman author, who informs us that the embellishments usually consisted of the figures of animals, “which grew with the growth of the body”; and from this it is evident that before the frame had arrived at maturity, in either youth or childhood, the skin was subjected to the painful and laborious process of tattooing, for such according to Isidore, appears to have been the nature of the operation. The latter asserts that the staining was accomplished by squeezing out the juice of the plant on to the skin, and puncturing it in with sharp needles. When the Romans established a station at Kirkham, and opened out the Fylde by means of a good road-way to the coast, the Setantii modified their wild uncultivated habits, and, taking pattern from the more civilised garb of their conquerors, adopted a covering for the lower limbs, called brachæ, hence the modern breeches, whilst many of the chiefs were not long before they strutted about in all the pride of a toga, or gown. About four hundred years later, when the Anglo-Saxons had taken possession of the soil of the Fylde, and had either appropriated the deserted settlements and renamed them, or reared small and scattered groups of dwellings of their own, a marked change became visible in the nationality, character, and costumes of the people. No longer the semi-civilised and half-clad Briton was lord of the domain, but the more refined Saxon with his linen shirt, drawers, and stockings, either of linen or woollen, and bandaged crosswise from the ankle to the knee with strips of leather; over these a tunic of the same material as the stockings was thrown, and reached as low as the knees, being plain or ornamented according to the means or rank of the wearer. This garment was open at the neck and for a short distance over the chest; the sleeves, extending to the wrists, were generally tight, and a girdle frequently, but not universally, confined the gown round the waist. In addition a small cloak was worn for out-door purposes over the tunic, and fastened on the breast or shoulder with brooches or clasps. The shoes of the Saxon settlers were open down the instep, where they were laced or tied with two thongs. Even the very lowest of the population, although poverty might reduce them to miserable straits, seldom, if ever, went barefooted. Caps, on the contrary, were not in great request, and rarely to be seen, unless on the heads of some of the more affluent. Our female ancestors at that era were habited in a close-fitting dress, falling to the feet and furnished with tight sleeves, reaching as far as the wrists, over which was placed a shorter gown with loose open sleeves. Their head-dress was simply a strip of linen of sufficient length to wrap round the temples and fall on the neck. Amongst the wealthiest of the nation a flowing mantle, ornaments of precious metal, and sable, beaver, and fox furs were common, but the inhabitants of the Fylde, being of less exalted social standing, were obliged to content themselves with the skins of lambs and cats by way of adornment. The inferior farm servants, called serfs, amongst whom many of the vanquished Britons would be classed, were seldom indulged by their masters with more than a coat, a pair of drawers, and sandals, the shirt, we presume, being deemed ill suited to their positions of servitude and dependence.
The colonisation of the Danes, whatever effect it may have had upon the habits and condition of the people, exercised no lasting influence upon their dress, and it was not until half a century after the Norman baron, Roger de Poictou, had parcelled out the land amongst his tenants, that the bulk of the males were induced, by the example of the new-comers, to display their taste in the choice of a head-covering. Many varieties were daily open to their inspection on the brows of the Norman landholders and servants, but the diffidence, let us hope, of the now humbled Saxons suggested the adoption of an exceedingly plain flat species of bonnet, which speedily became the common cap of the district. The ladies, however, with a greater aptitude for rising superior to disappointment and affliction, were not dilatory in benefitting by the superior style of the fair partners of their conquerors, and soon, putting aside all semblance of depression, appeared in long cuffs, hanging to the ground from their upper dress sleeves and tied in a large knot; their kerchiefs, also, whose modest proportions had formerly served only to encircle the forehead, were now extravagantly lengthened and fastened in a similar manner. As years rolled on and fashion began to assert her sway with a greater show of authority, the shoes of the men underwent certain changes, becoming more neat in workmanship and having the toes somewhat elongated and pointed, whilst the richer of the gentry, chiefly Normans, wore short boots reaching a little distance up the calf. In the early part of the thirteenth century the female head-dresses consisted of nets, made from various materials, in which the hair was confined; and the trains of the gowns were lengthened. Later in the same era cowls or hoods, twisted and pinned in fanciful shapes, adorned the heads of the ladies, and formed the main feature of their walking costumes. Aprons also came up at that period. The dress of the men underwent no alteration of any moment until the first half of the fourteenth century, when the manorial lords of the neighbourhood, and others of the inhabitants, discarded the cloaks and tunics of their forefathers, and substituted in their stead a close-fitting outer garment of costly and handsome material, scarcely covering the hips, immediately above which it was surrounded by a girdle. The sleeves usually terminated at the elbows, and from there long white streamers depended, whilst the sleeves of an under dress reached to the wrists, and were ornamented with rows of buttons. A long cape and cowl was the general overcoat. The most characteristic dress of the ladies was a habit cut away at the sides so as to expose the under skirt, which was invariably of rich and fine texture. The long white streamers, just alluded to, were part of the female as well as the male attire, and the borders of the habit were bound with fur or velvet. We may mention that an English beau of that era wore long pointed shoes, the toes of which were connected with the knees by gold or silver chains, a long stocking of different colour on each leg, short trowsers, barely extending to the middle of the thigh, a coat, half of which was white and the other blue or some equally bright colour, and a silken hood or bonnet, fastened under the chin, embroidered with grotesque figures of animals, and occasionally decked with gold and precious stones. Lest, however, the reputations of our ancestors should suffer in the eyes of the present generation from the existence in their age of the absurdity here pictured, it is our duty and pleasure to assure all readers that such parodies on manhood were strictly confined to the populous cities, and that there is no probability of even a solitary specimen ever having desecrated the modest soil of the Fylde.
During the greater portion of the succeeding cycle of a hundred years a species of cloth turban was much in favour amongst the male sex of the middle and upper classes, from one side of which a length of the same material hung down below the waist, and was either thrust between the girdle and the coat, or wrapped round the neck as a protection from cold. Faces were cleanly shaved, and hair cut as close to the scalp as possible; hitherto, from about the date of the first arrival of the Normans, the practice had been to allow the latter to grow long and to wear the beard. The hose were long and tight. The boots were either short, or reached half-way up the thighs, both kinds being long toed. Occasionally a single feather relieved the plainness of the turban-shaped cap. The ordinary dress of the gentlewomen was a full trained robe or gown, made high in the neck, and sometimes, with a fur or velvet turn-over collar, its folds at the short-waist being confined by means of a simple band and buckle. Coiffures were mostly heart-shaped, but in some rare instances horned. The sleeves of the above costume were, shortly after its institution, lengthened and widened to a ridiculous extent. Towards the end of the particular era of which we are writing trains were discontinued, and broad borders of fur substituted, whilst round tapering hats, two feet in height, with loose kerchiefs floating from the apex, came much into favour. The last few years of the fifteenth and the earliest ones of the sixteenth centuries were marked by great changes in the male attire; the Butlers, Cliftons, Carletons, Westbys, Allens, Molyneux, and many others of the gentry of the neighbourhood, figured at that period in fine shirts of long lawn, embroidered with silk round the collar and wristbands, a doublet with sleeves open at the elbows to allow the shirt to protrude, a stomacher, over which the doublet was laced; a long gown or cloak, with loose or hanging sleeves and broad turn-over collar of fur or velvet; long hose or stockings; broad-toed shoes for ordinary use, and high boots, reaching to the knees, for riding purposes; and broad felt hats, or variously shaped caps of fur or velvet, adorned with ostrich or other feathers. The hair was permitted to grow enormously long and fall down the back and over the shoulders, but the face was still cleanly shaved, with the exception of military and aged persons, who wore mustaches or beards. The wives and daughters, belonging to such families as those alluded to, were habited in upper garments, cut square at the neck, and stomachers, belts, and buckles, or costly girdles with long pendants in front. The sleeves were slit at the elbows in a manner similar to those of the men. High head-dresses were abandoned, and a cap or caul of gold net or embroidery, which allowed the hair to flow beneath it half way to the ground, took their place. Turbans, also, were fashionable for a brief season. The females of a humbler sphere wore plain grey cloth gowns, ornamented with lambs’ skin or wool, and cloaks of Lincoln green; the appearance of such an one upon a holiday is described by Skelton, the laureate of Henry VII., as under:—