coln, also a well-known example, has the princi- | one preceding it. All these appear to have pal room on the upper story, in which is the fire- | been well executed, and some of them are enplace. The house is small, and appears to have had only two rooms; but this cannot now be ascertained, the original divisions of the interior being destroyed. This arrangement of having a large common hall was in use in the time of the Saxons, from whom the name is derived, and it was continued with little modification throughout the middle ages. The hall is sometimes called the domus, or house; and in the north of England we find the term house-place applied to the common sitting room in ordinary dwelling-houses, which have usually a house-place (or sometimes only house), parlour, and kitchen, thus showing that the same idea of the uses and arrangements of the rooms has been continued to our own time, and in all descriptions of dwellings. It is probable that the hall was warmed by a fire in the middle of the floor, with an opening or louvre in the roof over it, to allow the escape of smoke; but we have many fire-places and chimneys of this period still remaining, as at the Jews' House, Lincoln; a house at Christ

riched with ornamental carvings and mouldings. Many are evidently executed in the turning-lathe. The doors, shutters for the windows, chests, &c., exhibit in their hinges, bolts, and locks, specimens of ornamental ironwork; and their curtains are held up by rods and rings, as in modern houses. The lesser houses, the dwellings of the common people, both in town and country, seem to have been built of wood and plaster, and thatched with reeds and straw, but of these there are of course no examples remaining.

As might be expected, the strongholds of the Normans were of a more stately and imposing character than the straggling low-roofed granges in which the Saxon thanes had hitherto dwelt in safety; but still, they were built with a reference more to the means of resistance than those of elegance or comfort. The first defence of a castle was

It

We have but few materials for judging how the houses were furnished, our chief authorities being the illuminated MSS. of the time. seems certain that in large houses tapestry was used to cover the walls, but this must refer to the "solar" only. The hall had probably only tables, benches, and seats. The bed must have been in the solar, or private. These, in the illuminations, have more the appearance of modern couches than beds; they are without hangings or testers, but they have pillows and bed-clothes. In some of the Saxon MSS. the beds have four posts, with head and foot boards, and are very similar to our modern French beds. The pillows are ornamented with various patterns, probably in embroidery. We also find stools, seats, and arm-chairs, of various designs, in common use, both in this century and the

NORMAN CASTLE. From a drawing in Grose's Military Antiquities.-1, The Donjon-keep. 2, Chapel. 3, Stables. 4, Inner Ballium. 5, Outer Ballium. 6, Barbican. 7, Mount, supposed to be the court-hill or tribunal, and also the place where justice was executed. 8, Soldiers' Lodgings.

the moat or ditch, that sometimes comprised several acres; and behind it was the outer wall, generally of great height and thickness, strengthened with towers at regular distances, and pierced with loop-holes through which missiles could be discharged at the assailants. Within these defences were three divisions, consisting of the outer ballium or lower court, the inner ballium or upper

And in the first place, who was that happy individual who paraded himself before the admiring crowd with such pomp and glitter? Had he been Tom, or Dick, or Harry, he would have been nothing, as these simple epithets might have belonged to any one; and he chose an addition to his one name, that the world might perceive he was somewhat. It was usually from the dis

court, and the keep; while the main entrance ing. through the outer wall was protected by the barbican, with its narrow archway, and strong gates and portcullis. It was no wonder that with such a net-work of walls, division of courts, and multiplied means for the defenders both of safety and annoyance, the dislodgment of an obnoxious magnate should have been so hard a task even when the royal banner marched against him.trict in which he was born, or the estate which While so much was done for security and resist- his ancestors had inherited, and hence the foreign ance, nothing was left for domestic comfort but places that were so often incorporated in the dethe keep, which formed the residence of the signations of our old English nobility. He thus showed that he had come from somewhere, and been the son of somebody, even before he fought his way to wealth and distinction at Hastings. If he held a place at court, this circumstance was equally good; and by using its title in addition to his Christian name, all the world could know that he was stabler or door-keeper to the sove reign, and therefore not a person to be overlooked. In this way, the dapifers were the chief nobles, and afterwards the Kings of Scotland. Or, if he had the good chance to be the son of an illustrious personage, even though it should be illegitimately, he added his father's name to his own, with the prefix of Fitz, and thus shone by the reflected light of his princely parentage. This distinction of a twofold appellation was so important, that when Henry I., by his right of royal wardship, resolved to bestow the hand of a rich and noble heiress upon his illegitimate son Robert, the lady flatly refused the match. "My father, and my grandfather," said the pouting beauty, "had each two names, and foul shame it were in me to marry a man who has only one." The king soon removed her scruples by giving his son the surname of Fitz-Roy, and the fortunate bridegroom was afterwards that illustrious Earl of Gloucester who so gallantly upheld the cause of Matilda in the reign of Stephen. Another mode of being known and distinguished was by the insignia of heraldry. As the different parts of defensive armour continued to increase until the wearer was completely covered from head to heel, it was generally impossible to recognize him in the confusion of conflict; and as no one cares to do brave deeds anonymously, the difficulty was removed by the adoption of some cognizance from which the champion could be recognized both by friend and enemy. In this case, some trivial ornament at first was thought enough; and thus the illustrious descendants of that count who wore a sprig of broom in his helmet, were afterwards famed throughout Europe for centuries under the name of Plantagenet. Sometimes the cognizance was a favourite warcry by which a leader animated his followers, or summoned them to the rescue. Sometimes it was an animal or other figure painted upon the shield,

baron and his family. This was the innermost of all the buildings, to which the defenders retreated only in the last extremity, and was so strongly constructed, that in the ruins of castles it generally survives as a recording monument of departed greatness. A domicile erected on such a principle must, according to our modern ideas, have been sufficiently comfortless, where every window was a shot-hole, and every apartment a battery, and where light could not be admitted without also inviting an enemy. But such as it was, it was the constant home of lordly knights and high-born dames; and, therefore, their taste and ingenuity as well as their resources were employed to make the most of it. But if the homes of the period still continued to be uncomfortable, all this mattered little with a people who cared not for domestic life, and whose happiness was to be found in action and open display. A large hall in which a crowd could be banquetted, rich armour, splendid dress, and a numerous retinue, constituted the chief insignia of distinction as well as source of happiness for a people who would have found an indoor life a very weariness. In these, therefore, the noble and wealthy of England were not want

which, like a sign-board, announced the resident | generally composed of strange materials. As of the iron mass behind it. In this way, quartered inns were out of the question at this time throughout England, all the necessaries for an encampment or a bivouac had to be carried along with them; and thus waggons of provisions, ale, dress, and furniture accompanied the march. As feuds were frequent, and robber-barons to be found in every county, this singular retinue was defended in front, flank, and rear, by knights, squires, and spearmen, who were ready for the worst, though each mile should bring them a fresh encounter. And finally, as such a kind of travelling was rather dull without the resources of amusement, jesters, dancers, mimics, and dicers, and sometimes still more questionable characters, formed part of the procession. All this upon a large scale was exhibited in the royal progresses of Henry II., as we learn from the letters of Peter of Blois; and we can easily conjecture how in such cases royalty was imitated by nobility.

20000000

But it was in dress that the Norman aristocracy of England chiefly showed their rank, wealth, and taste; and in this they resembled their ancestors the Danes, whose love of gay clothing and rich ornaments was almost equal to their craving for

SHIELD BEARING BADGE, HELMET, SWORD, AND BANNER. From bloodshed and plunder. A liking of this nature

a MS. in the Bibliotheque de Mans.

shields and embroidered surcoats, and crests and mottoes, grew into notice, and expanded into the

SHIELDS BEARING BADGES.-1, From a MS. Bible in the Bibliotheque Imperiale, Brussels, Depôt des Cordeliers. 2, From a Psalter in the same collection.

complicated science of heraldry. Besides these different modes, the nobility of the period sought distinction in the throng of their followers; and these trains, especially in a long journey, were

could not well exist without capricious mutations, and therefore the changes in fashion from the time of William the Conqueror to that of Henry III., were so many, that it becomes difficult as well as tiresome to follow them. At one time the hair of the men was shorn closely behind, and the upper lip shaved; at another, the hair was worn of such effeminate length that the church took the alarm; and while the practice was denounced by edicts, the long flowing locks of the male part of a congregation were often menaced by shears and razor, which the preachers plucked from their sleeves, when they arrived at the practical application of their sermons. Nay, on one occasion of this kind, when long beards were the order of the day, the Bishop of Sees, after declaiming against them before Henry I. and his courtiers, descended at the end of the discourse, and with his scissors cropped off the beards both of king and congregation. After such clerical rebukes, it is no wonder if, at the close of this period, we sometimes find the pictures of men without beard or mustachio-more especially as monks were the limners. Even when the hair was not sufficiently long for the exquisite taste of the wearer, he sometimes enriched it with false locks, and thus flaunted a streamer that equalled the gayest. But what country or generation has been free of such headfopperies, from the ancient Egyptian periwig in the glass case of the British Museum, to the pigtail that still languidly lingers between the shoulders of the octogenarian? As for the gene

ral articles of dress at this period, they consisted | could endure the heat of a Syrian campaign under of a hood, or a cap, shaped like a Scottish bonnet, a heavy load of armour, and fight gallantly from a cloak, a tunic, a pair of long tight hose, leg ban-morning to night upon a fair field! dages, and shoes or short boots. All this, however, was but the ground-work, which fashion over

In all these fopperies, the male sex appear to have so completely anticipated the ladies, that little change can be found to have taken place in female costume and ornament. The gown and kerchief were still the principal articles of outer clothing, while the hair, which was worn long, was at one time plaited, and at another inclosed in a silken case, or bound with a ribbon. The under garment or tunic, where the front was given to view, was laced up, while its sleeves were so long that they were sometimes knotted up to pre

GENTLEMEN OF THE TIME OF JOHN.-From an enamelled cup, presented by King John to vent them from trailing on the

the town of Lynn.

laid or transmuted at pleasure. In this way, the
cloaks became long or short; the sleeves of the
tunic were sometimes so lengthened, that the hand
was overlapped and concealed; while the boots and
shoes, instead of being adapted to the
shape of the foot, and the convenience of
walking or riding, were curled up at the
points like rams' horns, and sometimes
were fastened to the knee with a gold
chain. To such extravagance was this
fashion, which seems to have been an
European one, afterwards carried in Ger-
many, that the Austrian men-at-arms were
unable to charge the Swiss at the battle
of Sempach, until they had hewn off their
boot points, which were so plentiful, the
ballad informs us, that they would have
filled a waggon. The costliness of the stuff
of which these different articles of dress
were made, and the richness with which
they were befurred and embroidered, was

ground- and the same was the case with the kerchiefs or veils, which would otherwise have dragged behind like a train. But these exaggerations were abandoned during the reign of Henry II., when a better taste dis

From a Psalter in Douce's Collection.

a matter of great import; and William SLEEVE OF TWELFTH CENTURY, AND FEMALE WITH LONG KNOTTED SLEEVER Rufus on one occasion threw away a new pair of hose, because they cost only three shillings, declaring that a king should wear nothing so cheap. He seems to have been of a different opinion from King Stephen, that "worthy peer," who thought his hose too dear at half-a-crown. Towards the close of this period, the bonnet was sometimes discarded, that the hair might be more fully seen and admired; and in this case, the exquisites of the time of King John wreathed their long locks into ringlets with curling-tongs, and bound them with gay ribbons. At other times, a streamer was attached to the hood, of such preposterous length that it nearly reached the middle of the leg. And yet, these were the men who

carded the long knotted sleeves and skirts for a more succinct and graceful costume. In this case, the gown was gathered closely to the waist with a girdle, and the veil demurely fastened beneath the chin, so that the whole head was covered. Sometimes the younger ladies wore their hair short and curled, while the elder ones appear with a hood, furnished with a long streamer be hind, like that of the gentlemen. The female ornaments of gold and articles of jewellery may be presumed to have been nearly or altogether the same as in the former period, as rings, chains, and brooches are adapted to every taste, and not liable to the mutations of more flexible or transitory articles

In turning to the domestic style of life which now prevailed in England, we find that, with all

general regulations in the daily routine of a household may be learned from the following rhyme of the period, which had probably all the authority of a well-established proverb:

"Lever a cinque, diner a neuf,

Souper a cinque, coucher a neuf,
Fait vivre d'ans nonante et neuf."

To rise at five, to dine at nine,

To sup at five, to bed at nine,

Makes a man live to ninety and nine.

Here we have a four hours' morning fast before the first meal, followed by eight hours of endurance before the second and last succeeded. This, and only two meals a-day, was perhaps the most marked change effected by the Conquest, when the four, and sometimes five heavy Saxon meals per diem of the preceding period are taken into account. Another striking change was in the new nomenclature imposed upon the articles of diet. While feeding and rearing, the animals suited to the table retained their Saxon names,

LONG TRESSES AND FEMALE COSTUME.-From sculptures on the but as soon as they were killed they became,

Port de Macons, Rouen Cathedral.

the additional splendour which was introduced, little improvement was as yet made in the sub

to all intents, Norman. Thus, a cow became beef, a calf veal, a sheep mutton, a sow pork, a deer venison, and a fowl a pullet. Amidst these

transitions it is somewhat significant that bacon remained unaltered. We formerly noticed the large droves of swine that constituted the principal live stock of the Anglo-Saxon farmers. Their conquerors were probably too proud, as well as too dainty, to meddle with such fare, and had therefore left it untouched, as only fitted for the vanquished.

Of the style of cookery during the Norman period we only know that rich spices were in plentiful use, and that the Normans themselves were not only moderate

LADIER OF THE TIME OF JOHN.-From an enamelled cup, presented by King John but also dainty eaters-epicures

stantial comforts of a home. The floor was still carpeted, or rather littered, with rushes, however lordly might be the hall; and as these rushes appear to have been seldom renewed, they must have been plentiful receptacles both of damp and dust. On this account Fitz-Stephen quotes it as an instance of the princely magnificence of Thomas à Becket when chancellor, that he caused the floor of his dining-room to be covered every morning with clean straw or hay in winter, and green branches of trees in summer. The historian, however, adds a startling fact which we could not otherwise have surmised, and it is that all this was for the comfort of those guests who were obliged at dinner to sit upon the floor, from no room being found for them at table! The VOL. I.

in the best sense of the term, in contrast to the Saxons, who, we must confess, were sheer gluttons in comparison. We learn the names of several choice dishes in Blount's Ancient Tenures, such as diligrout, karumpie, maupigirnum, but of what they consisted, or how they were prepared, we are left wholly in the dark. At solemn feasts the boar's head-that long after continued to be the chief ornament of the baronial hall and Christmas festival-was already a dainty dish, and as such was brought in at the coronation of Prince Henry, eldest son and junior king to Henry II., amidst a loud blare of trumpets. The peacock, in like manner, was such a cherished ornament of the table that either already, or soon after, kings, knights, and nobles, were wont to swear solemnly over it before they ate it, when

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