CONTENTS.
| Anglo-Saxon Period. | |
|---|---|
| [CHAPTER I.] | |
| PAGE | |
| Introductory—the Anglo-Saxons before their conversion—generalarrangement of a Saxon house | 1 |
| [CHAPTER II.] | |
| In-door life among the Anglo-Saxons—the hall and its hospitality—theSaxon meal—provisions and cookery—after-dinner occupations—drunkenbrawls | 18 |
| [CHAPTER III.] | |
| The chamber and its furniture—beds and bed-rooms—infancy andchildhood among the Anglo-Saxons—character and manners ofthe Anglo-Saxon ladies—their cruelty to their servants—theiramusements—the garden; love of the Anglo-Saxons forflowers—Anglo-Saxon punishments—almsgiving | 40 |
| [CHAPTER IV.] | |
| Out-of-door amusements of the Anglo-Saxons—hunting and hawking—horsesand carriages—travelling—money-dealings | 63 |
| Anglo-Norman Period. | |
| [CHAPTER V.] | |
| The early Norman period—luxuriousness of the Normans—advancein domestic architecture—the kitchen and the hall—provisionsand cookery—bees—the dairy—meal-times and divisions of theday—furniture—the faldestol—chairs and other seats | 80 |
| [CHAPTER VI.] | |
| The Norman hall—social sentiments under the Anglo-Normans—domesticamusements—candles and lanterns—furniture—beds—out-of-doorrecreations—hunting—archery—convivial intercourseand hospitality—travelling—punishments—the stocks—aNorman school—education | 98 |
| The English Middle Ages. | |
| [CHAPTER VII.] | |
| Early English houses—their general form and distribution | 120 |
| [CHAPTER VIII.] | |
| The old English hall—the kitchen, and its circumstances—thedinner-table—minstrelsy | 141 |
| [CHAPTER IX.] | |
| The minstrel—his position under the Anglo-Saxons—the Normantrouvere, menestrel, and jougleur—their condition—Rutebeuf—differentmusical instruments in use among the minstrels—theBeverley minstrels | 175 |
| [CHAPTER X.] | |
| Amusements after dinner—gambling—the game of chess—its history—dice—tables—draughts | 194 |
| [CHAPTER XI.] | |
| Domestic amusements after dinner—the chamber and its furniture—petanimals—occupations and manners of the ladies—supper—candles,lamps, and lanterns | 226 |
| [CHAPTER XII.] | |
| The bed and its furniture—the toilette; bathing—chests andcoffers in the chamber—the hutch—uses of rings—compositionof the family—freedom of manners—social sentiments, anddomestic relations | 256 |
| [CHAPTER XIII.] | |
| Occupations out of doors—the pleasure-garden—the love of flowers,and the fashion of making garlands—formalities of the promenade—gardeningin the middle ages | 283 |
| [CHAPTER XIV.] | |
| Amusements—performing bears—hawking and hunting—riding—carriages—travelling—innsand taverns—hospitality | 304 |
| [CHAPTER XV.] | |
| Education—literary men and scribes—punishments; the stocks;the gallows | 338 |
| [CHAPTER XVI.] | |
| Old English cookery—history of “gourmandise”—English cookeryof the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—bills of fare—greatfeasts | 347 |
| The Fifteenth Century. | |
| [CHAPTER XVII.] | |
| Slow progress of society in the fifteenth century—enlargementof the houses—the hall and its furniture—arrangement of thetable for meals—absence of cleanliness—manners at table—theparlour | 359 |
| [CHAPTER XVIII.] | |
| In-door life and conversation—pet animals—the dance—rere-suppers—illustrationsfrom the “Nancy” tapestry | 379 |
| [CHAPTER XIX.] | |
| The chamber and its furniture and uses—beds—hutches and coffers—thetoilette; mirrors | 399 |
| [CHAPTER XX.] | |
| State of society—the female character—greediness in eating—characterof the mediæval servants—daily occupations in thehousehold: spinning and weaving; painting—the garden andits uses—games out of doors; hawking, etc.—travelling, andmore frequent use of carriages—taverns; frequented by women—educationand literary occupations; spectacles | 415 |
| England after the Reformation. | |
| [CHAPTER XXI.] | |
| Changes in English domestic manners during the period betweenthe reformation and the commonwealth—the country gentleman’shouse—its hall—the fireplace and fire—utensils—cookery—usualhours for meals—breakfast—dinner, and itsforms and customs—the banquet—custom of drinking healths | 441 |
| [CHAPTER XXII.] | |
| Household furniture—the parlour—the chamber | 471 |
| [CHAPTER XXIII.] | |
| Occupations of the ladies—games and enjoyments—roughness ofEnglish sports at this period—the hot-houses, or baths—theordinaries—domestic pets—treatment of children—methods oflocomotion—conclusion | 482 |
HISTORY
OF
DOMESTIC MANNERS AND SENTIMENTS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.—THE ANGLO-SAXONS BEFORE THEIR CONVERSION.—GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF A SAXON HOUSE.
Much has been written at different times on the costume and some other circumstances connected with the condition of our forefathers in past times, but no one has undertaken with much success to treat generally of the domestic manners of the middle ages. The history of domestic manners, indeed, is a subject, the materials of which are exceedingly varied, widely scattered, and not easily brought together; they, of course, vary in character with the periods to which they relate, and at certain periods are much rarer than at others. But the interest of the subject must be felt by every one who appreciates art; for what avails our knowledge of costume unless we know the manners, the mode of living, the houses, the furniture, the utensils, of those whom we have learnt how to clothe? and, without this latter knowledge, history itself can be but imperfectly understood.
In England, as in most other countries of western Europe, at the period of the middle ages when we first become intimately acquainted with them, the manners and customs of their inhabitants were a mixture of those of the barbarian settlers themselves, and of those which they found among the conquered Romans; the latter prevailing to a greater or less extent, according to the peculiar circumstances of the country. This was certainly the case in England among our Saxon forefathers; and it becomes a matter of interest to ascertain what were really the types which belonged to the Saxon race, and to distinguish them from those which they derived from the Roman inhabitants of our island.
We have only one record of the manners of the Saxons before they settled in Britain, and that is neither perfect, nor altogether unaltered—it is the romance of Beowulf, a poem in pure Anglo-Saxon, which contains internal marks of having been composed before the people who spoke that language had quitted their settlements on the Continent. Yet we can hardly peruse it without suspecting that some of its portraitures are descriptive rather of what was seen in England than of what existed in the north of Germany. Thus we might almost imagine that the “street variegated with stones” (stræt wœs stân-fáh), along which the hero Beowulf and his followers proceeded from the shore to the royal residence of Hrothgar, was a picture of a Roman road as found in Britain.