offered him. When the meats were removed, and the guests were warmed with wassail, it was the custom, as we are informed by Bede, to bring in a harp, which was sent round the company, and each man was expected to play and sing in turn for the amusement of the rest. Thus it was even in Athens in the days of Themistocles and Pericles. But in spite of the charms of music and poetry, these Saxon feastings were so gross, and the drinking was so excessive, as frequently to be followed with fatal consequences: in this way Hardicanute, after a life of gluttony, died of an over-abundant dinner; and Edmund I. was assassinated at table, because his nobles and attendants were too drunk to defend him. This style of living, especially among the great, was at last so exaggerated, that at court four abundant meals were served up daily-a profusion which an historian of the twelfth century regretfully contrasts with the single daily dinner introduced by the Normans, as if the spirit of hospitality and social intercourse had been banished by the change. As the Anglo-Saxons were still more notorious for their drinking than eating propensities, an account of their principal beverages demands full notice. And first in the list must be mentioned ale, which had been their favourite liquor before they left the shores of Germany. This we are informed by Tacitus, who describes the chief drink of the German tribes as a distillation from barley "corrupted into a likeness of wine." Besides ale, they used mead, which probably they had learned to make from the Britons, as this constituted for centuries afterwards the national beverage of the Welsh. The Saxons also knew the art of making cider, which they may have acquired after their settlement in England. Pigment and morat were in use among them, but probably more sparingly than the other liquors, on account of their superior richness and costliness, the former being a composition of wine, honey, and various spices, and the latter of honey diluted with the juice of mulberries. As wine was not a native produce, and imported at great expense, its use in England before the Conquest was limited to the higher classes. Of the immense spilth of these liquors at the great festivals, or even common revelries of the AngloSaxons, and the vociferous mirth and desperate excesses which they occasioned, the continued history of the people makes frequent mention; and the following extract, from a translation of the Saxon poem of Judith, was no doubt a faithful picture of the noble and even royal banquets of the author's own day: "Then was Holofernes Enchanted with the wine of men: In the hall of the guests He laughed and shouted, He roared and dinned, That the children of men might hear afar, How the sturdy one Stormed and clamoured, Animated and elated with wine; He admonished amply The stern dispenser of wealth; All his nobility As they were death slain, Approached the children of men." This national vice of inebriety, however it might be indulged uncensured among the worshippers of Thor and Woden, was too flagrant for the toleration of a Christian priesthood, and the statutes of the church were both frequent and severe against the prevailing tendency. That no one, also, might be ignorant of the mark at which he should stop short, the following specification of the crime was given in one of the canons: "This is drunkenness, when the state of the mind is changed, the tongue stammers, the eyes are disturbed, the head is giddy, the belly is swelled, and pain follows." But as such definitions are only found useful to those who do not need them, a more tangible corrective was devised by Edgar the Peaceable, at the suggestion, it is said, of St. Dunstan. As it was discovered that one great source of the excess arose from the practice of handing round a large vessel at the table, while each guest vied with the others in the amplitude of his draught, these vessels were ordered by royal statute to be made with knobs or pins of brass placed at regular distances, while each drinker was only to go from one mark to another. But it was easy to elude such a formal restriction; and the phrase, "He is in a merry pin," came to designate a person who had transgressed the graduated scale of temperance, or, in common parlance, 'got more than enough." It is probable, also, that the penances imposed by the church on such transgressors were frequently commuted or overlooked, as the Anglo-Saxon clergy were too much addicted to the same excesses. This we learn from the decrees of different councils, in which the incentives to intemperance were strictly prohibited-gambling, dancing, and singing in the monasteries, to the very middle of the night;" while every priest was forbid to have harpers or any music, or to permit jokes or plays to be performed in his presence; and every monastery was debarred even from being a haunt of practisers of the sportive | These shoes, not only in material and colour, arts; that is- -as the decree particularly indicates but also in form, resembled those of the present them-poets, harpers, musicians, and buffoons. day, having an opening at the top to receive the foot, which opening was fastened by two thwangs or thongs. The usual covering for the head was a cap or cowl, shaped like a Phrygian bonnet. Thus attired, we can form a distinct idea of the appearance of the English peasantry of this period, while travelling on the highway or engaged in the labours of the field. To these we can add other articles of dress belonging to the better classes, but which were also probably used by the common people upon particular occasions. The first of these was a short cloak or mantle, thrown over the tunic, and fastened either across the breast or shoulder with a buckle. Next came a pair of drawers, which begin to make their appearance in the pictures of the ninth century. It is difficult to ascertain the national costume of the Saxons at the period of their arrival in England, and until the time of their conversion to Christianity. But that it largely partook of barbarism is testified by the fact that they sometimes tattooed their bodies, like the primitive Britons; and although this practice was condemned in the year 785, it was not wholly rooted out of England till after the Norman conquest. The church, also, that set itself against this practice of skin-engraving, as a relic of the former heathenism, was equally zealous against their earlier clothing, from the same cause, and endeavoured to have it wholly set aside. This is evident from the rebuke addressed to the people, who still adhered in whole or in part to the costume of their ancestors, by the council of Cealhythe, A.D. 787. "You put on," it said, "your garments in the manner of pagans, whom your fathers expelled from the world; an astonishing thing that you imitate those whose life you always hated." At this time, as we learn from Paulus Diaconus, the dress of the Christianized Anglo-Saxons was similar to that of the Lombards, of whom he says, "Their garments were loose and flowing, and chiefly made of linen, adorned with broad borders, woven or embroidered with various colours." Fortunately we are enabled, from the many illuminated MSS. of the eighth and ninth centuries, to specify the particular parts of this briefly described costume, and ascertain with distinctness how our ancestors were dressed in the days of Alfred, Canute, and William the Con queror. First of all, then, we should mention the shirt, which was made of linen, and was in general use among the Anglo-Saxons so early as the eighth century. Over this was a tunic of linen or woollen, which was worn by all classes, from the sovereign to the peasant. This garment-of fine or coarse texture according to the means of the wearer-descending no lower than the knee, appears to have formed the outer covering of the common people when employed in their usual avocations, and was probably the origin of the English smock-frock. It was open at the neck, and occasionally at the sides also, while the sleeves, which descended to the wrists, were either close and tight, or puckered into small folds. If ornamented, it was generally with needle-work of different colours, round the border and collars. This garment was usually girded round the waist with a sash or belt. Last in the article of a working man's costume was the shoe, which appears to have been in common use, even among those who otherwise went bare-legged. ARMED MAN.-Benedictional of St. Ethelwold. These were either of linen or woollen, and at first were so short that they were fastened above the knee; but in process of time they were elon gated into trousers, or rather pantaloons, where drawers and stockings composed one piece of attire. In addition to this, the stocking was frequently bandaged from ankle to knee with strips of cloth or leather; and as the colour and arrangement of such strips gave ample scope to the love of finery and display, we can imagine that not a few Malvolios of the period were "cross-gartered most villainously. Sometimes, instead of this cross-gartering, a half-stocking or sock was worn over the drawers, supposed to have been made of woollen, and ornamented with fringes. In this progress of addition, and perhaps of improvement in the common national costume, we shall do well to take into account, first, the settlement of the Danes in England, who were distinguished, modern carman or coal-heaver, as may be seen even beyond the Saxons, for their love of finery in the coins of Cunobelinus. But the Saxons SAXON KING AND EOLDERMAN-Cotton MS. Claud. B. IV. and display; and afterwards, the introduction of Norman fashions into the court of Edward the Confessor. These causes, it is probable, tended to make the dress of the people not only more complete, but also more elegant. We now ascend to the costume of the rich and the noble, which mainly consisted of certain additional garments that were used on public or state occasions. The first of these was a long tunic, that descended below the knee; the second a kind of surcoat, that had short wide sleeves, and an aperture at the top to admit the head. These, which were frequently made of silk, after the eighth century had introduced the use of that luxury into the court of England, were also ornamented with rich embroideries of gold and silver, and silk thread of various colours, and lined with the fur of the beaver, sable, or fox. Such are the chief distinctions in costume of princes and nobles in the illuminated MSS. of the times. Except when the regal crown appears, no distinctive head-dress occurs, beyond the Phrygian shaped bonnet, which was worn by all classes, but in the case of the higher ranks, improved, as may be supposed, in texture, colour, and ornament. Indeed, in all these delineations we find nothing in the form of a hat, an article which was worn among the Britons, in shape similar to that of a VOL. I. were independent of this head-covering, in consequence of the long hair they wore, and of which they were not a little proud. This was parted on either side from the middle of the head, and flowed, waving or in ringlets, to the shoulders; and such was either the time they consumed in dressing this ornament of nature, so prized by all the Teutonic tribes, or the superstitious veneration attached to it, that the English clergy inveighed against it with a vehemence equal to that of Prynne himself, when he so terribly denounced the "unloveliness of love-locks." But the long fair hair of our ancestors remained unshorn, and even unshaken, amidst the clerical tempest. The beard, however, was more mutable in its character; and the first change it underwent was by the shaving of the upper and lower lip, so that it became a continuation of the whiskers, terminating below the chin in two forked points. Afterwards, the beard was shaven away, and the mustaches left entire the former being resigned wholly to the clergy-and hence the ridiculous error of the English spies whom Harold sent to the camp of William the Conqueror, when they mistook the Norman soldiers for priests, because they wore short hair, and shaved the upper lip. In the articles of rich ornament, the AngloSaxons were not behind the other nations of appropriated the costliest share to themselves. ment, and as it was worn on the finger of the These were chiefly bracelets, brooches, and buckles made of gold, silver, and ivory; chains, armlets, and crosses, made of gold and silver, and set with jewels; sword-belts, mounted with the о right hand next to the little one, this was called the "gold finger." This distinct badge of the wearer's rank could at all times be recognized, as gloves, which were a Norman innovation, were not worn by the Anglo-Saxons until the twelfth century. NECKLACE AND PIN, from a tumulus at Callige Lowe, Derbyshire; In advancing to the more difficult subject of female costume, it may be premised that the dress of the Anglo-Saxon ladies was not only splendid and graceful, but in strict accordance with the most rigid modesty. The outer garment (gunna or gown) was a long tunic, the skirts of which nearly reached the ground, while the sleeves, that were loose and wide, reached only to the elbows. It was of various colours, but generally white, probably being made of linen, and was bound at the waist with a girdle. As this garment was a fair groundwork, upon which the wearer's taste and skill in embroidery could be exhibited to best advantage, we find it in the illuminated MSS. frequently adorned with needlework of variegated stripes, or small this, ladies of rank appear to have worn a cloak or mantle, probably for visiting or travelling. Under same rich accompaniments; and fillets or coro- | sprigs, diverging gracefully from a centre. Over nets by whose lustre an additional brightness was imparted to their long flowing hair. As might have been expected among a people essentially warlike, the hilts and sheaths of their weapons second of them has been gilt. The brooch was found near the turnpike road at Folkestone Hill, between Folkestone and Dover. The body is of bronze, gilt; the central band has been ornamented with slices of garnet, one of which remains at the bottom in a silver rim; the upper part has also been set with stones, or some kind of glass. 1 The necklace is composed of gold drops, set with garnets, and is probably of late Roman workmanship. The jewelled hair-pin was found in the grave of a woman, at Wingham, Kent. The rings are of gold; one of them has been formed to encircle HEADS, from the Saxon Cross of Rothbury, Northumberland.- the gown was worn a more succinct tunic, perhaps the finger in a series of elastic hoops.-Akerman's Pagan Saxondom. 2 The top of this cross, which is greatly fractured, shows fragments of the crucified figure of our Saviour. The group of heads is from one side of the base, and is supposed to represent the spectators who assembled to witness the crucifixion. This illustration is given to show the manner of the Anglo-Saxon women in wearing the hair rolled back, or parted and confined by a fillet, with an ornament over the forehead, like that shown on some Roman coins. to the wrist. The head-dress was a kerchief or veil of linen or silk, which, being fastened near the top of the forehead, or wrapped round the head and neck, enveloped the shoulders, and fell on either side as low as the knees. Shoes, of which the colour is always black, form part of a lady's dress in the AngloSaxon delineations; and although, from the length of her gownskirts, we are unable to perceive any token of stockings or socks, yet we may presume that such a useful article of dress, which was worn by the men, was common to the women also. Although the veil or head-rail, which we have already described, must 3 have concealed the greater part of the head, yet we learn from Aldhelm, that the Anglo-Saxon ladies, at the close of the eighth century, were at least as careful of their hair as the other sex; and he describes them as wearing it artificially dressed, and delicately curled with irons. From the same authority we are informed of another practice by which among every race of mankind, from the naked savage girl, who plasters her face with chalk or ochre, to the fashionable court belle, who deli the ladies endeavoured to heighten their BEADS OF GLASS, AND OF COLOURED PASTE, found at Little Wilbraham. beauty, that was scarcely so commendable-it was the painting of their cheeks with the red colour of stibium. This practice, how 1, 2, half size; 3, 4, 5, full size.-Neville's Saxon Obsequies. cately tints her cheek with more than the bloom of youth. In the enumeration of female orna ments, we find that they chiefly consisted of golden half-circles or fillets for the head, ear-rings, necklaces, beads, jewelled neck-crosses, rings, girdles adorned with gold or precious stones, a bulla, and a golden fly beautifully set with gems. Having thus endeavoured to describe the broad outlines of an English home and its inmates, before they were modified or altered by the Norman conquest, we proceed to add a few minute particulars, by which the picture will become more complete. While the master and mistress were thus attired in full costume, the servants of the household are represented as waiting upon them bareheaded and barefooted. Within doors, the master generally wore his bonnet; but on leaving the house, his covering was laid aside, and he went NECKLACE OR BRACELET,' from a grave near Stamford; and BEADS, found forth bareheaded. A practice which he at Syston Park, Lincolnshire.-British Museum. had perhaps derived from his warlike ancestors, made him always carry his weapons with him wherever he went; but even when England was most settled, there was too little cause to discontinue the habit. Thus equipped, with sword or spear, or both weapons together, he repaired to the social meeting or the market-place, ready equally to kiss his friend or chastise his enemy, as the case might require. Besides the possession of good dress and ornaments, and the full pleasures of the table, the Anglo-Saxon loved the en |