Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-08 00:00:00

A POPULAR

HISTORYOO THE WORKING
CLASSES.
THEIR RISE AND PROGRESS-SOCIAL
AND POLITICAL; *

sokv. the I FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD DOWN TO THE
PRESENT DAY.

saleroom,
Schooner

ength 59
h 10 feet

(Adiressed to the IVorkiny Classes themselves.)

CHAPTER SECOND

1 in Vic--
Amin.lty

CONDITION OF THE MECHANICAL ARTS IN THE
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.—EMPLOYMENT OF THE.
CLERGY.—PECULIAR PRIVILEGES OF SMITHS.
—USE OF THE WARM BATA AMONG THE
SAXONS.
Besides the villeins or agricultural classes, spoken
of in the former chapter, and who were called velleins
regardant, there was another great order of slaves
called villeins in gross. These were at the absolute
disposal of their Lord, and were transferred by deed,
sale, or conveyance like any other property. -
It seems hardly credible—such are the wonder-
working • powers of time, which every man at all
periods, and especially every man who has influ-
ence over the destinies of his fellow-men should
have present to his mind,—it seems hardly credi-
ble, I repeat, that a traffic in human flesh,
in the
purchase and sale of our countrymen. should ever,
in this country, and within what we call the era of
civilisation, have been a commercial practice of
great extent. Yet such was its extent that when
Henry the Second, in the year 1172, conquered
Scotland, such numbers of slaves were sent over to
that country that 'the market was actually glutted,
,and it is recorded 'that, from the time oi' William
the Conqueror to the reign of King John, in the
year 1199, there was scarcely a house in Scotland
'that did not possess an English slave, This is an
.exaggeration no doubt, but one nevertheless which
marks the great 'extent to which the practice was
carried on. %Try of them .were slaves taken in
the Border tram. That there were many, unques-
tionably many, Scotch slaves in England we know,
inasmuch as in the accounts of the various marra.u-
dering expeditions into Cumberland, men are
frequently spoken of as part of 'the booty. In-
clu ed in these two great divisions the villeins
were subordinate classes with distinct occupations '
and names. . Thus we hear •of some called Bor-
darii, whose business it was to pay rent for their
cottages'in the shape of poultry and eggs for their
Lord'stable. Another was that of the Cottarii, or
Cotterelti, who, like the villein regardant, were
attached 'to the soil, and employed in the various
trades of smiths, carpenters, and other handicrafts.
It was chiefly, however, in the class of villeins in
gross, or household Slaves, that the artizans and
mechanics were found. Their skill during this
period was of the lowest description. The mecha-
nical arts were few, and of the rudest character.
Whatever legacy tf knowledge, or expertness in
this way, indeed, may have been left by the
Romans' was ruthlessly swept away by the inroads
of our Saxon ancestors.

day, the
,ateroom,
iirty-two
1-sterned

Dll5 0.X.;
about 120

ed in the
th 58 feet
Apply to
rd-street.

tons
)1' feet ;
Ming at

Fehoir
a Okitfit,
further
rSAIE.D,

length
, 23 fbes
the too

Quebec,

c. doneer
tirely of
she ize
e essett,
ing afl
ek docks•
colonial

LYES.

gagged.
durable
y PumP

)e seen.

Accustomed like the other nations of the North
of Europe, from which they came, to live in
wretched hovels built of wood, or earth, covered
with straw, or branches of trees, they fell with
such 'barbarian fury on all the traces of Roman
civilisation, as completely to efface the noble
constructions which that people left, and whose
partial remains continue even to this day
occasionally to be brought to light. For 'two
hundred years' the Art of Masonry seems almost to
have been lost. The venerable Bede, who wrote
about the beginning of the eighth century, says
there was a time when there was not a stone
church in the land. The first Cathedral erected in
York, was built of wood ; and when Paulinus
caused a stone building-to be reared in its,place, it
was esteemed a prodigy. A prodigy of good
workmanship it certainly was not, 'however, since
vilien Bede wrote it was already 'in ruins.
Unsubstantial as was-the st ructure, it did not fail
to excite profound wonder in the minds of those
who gazed upon it, whilst it produced in the
superstitious a belief that its stones had a healing
power on fill those who approached them.
Agriculture, depending in a certain degree on
the mechanical arts, was in a most wretched state.
So incompetent indeed, at that time were our
labourers to provide for their wants, that famines
were of frequent occurrence, carrying off whole
multitudes-from the want of sufficient food. In the
year 1403,-a quarter of wheat sold for sixty-seven
pennies, a sum containing as much silver as
sixteen or seventeen of their shillings, and might be
equal :to seven or eight pounds of our present
money. You will remark that lam writing of a
time when the population of all England was not
above a million and a-half, less by three-quarters
of a million than the actual population of London.
It is plain to be seen, therefore, that it is not in
superabundance of soil, and scantiness of popula-
tion, that:the sufficiency of food can be found,.but
in the enterprise, the skill, and the industry, be
they few -or many, of the inhabitants of the soil.
England feeds her seventeen millions now With
more certainty than she supplied her million and
a-half eight hundred years ago.
The reason of this is plain. Not only were the
commonest implements of agriculture, in these
days, extremely rude, but they were difficult to be
procured at all. It is related of the Abbot of
Wenmouth, that " being 'a strong man, and of
humble mind, he used to assist his monks in their
rural labours—sometimes in guiding the plough by
the still handle, sometimes in harrowing corn,
sometimes in forging instruments of husbandry
with a hammer upon an anvil." This may be con-
sidered a singular kind of employment for-my Lord
Abbot to have engaged in ; but how well it might
have been for society if such functionaries of the
Church had never been worse engaged. Husband-
men in those days were obliged to forge their own
instruments with their own hands. They were
-blacksmiths and farmers in one, but from all
accounts they were not worth their meal in either
scapacity.

WILT,
THE
E s 1

it AT
DUB.
1 E P

ly use"
:s call
ith the
raciliti

01'
erect t°
at .4°'
;e,fra

In the seventh century our Anglo-Saxon arti-
zans seem to have been unequal to the under-
'takings which the taste of the times promoted.
When the King of Northumberland—(there were
more than one King in England in those

wanted to build a monastery, where do you think
he sent for his masons ? He sent to France for
-them. And his glaziers, where did he get them ?
,From France, too. About the same time, Benedict,
Abbot of Wenmouth, procured men from France to
glaze the windows of the monastery, and to teach
the Anglo-Saxons the art of making window
"I•mPs, drinking vessels, &e. Our forefathers,
how°ver, do not seem to have been very apt
scholars, for in the next century we find another
Abbot writing to a French Bishop thus :—" If there
be any man in your district who can make' a glass
-vessel well, send him to me, or if there is any one
in your diocese in the power of others, 1 beg your
Paternity will persuade him to come to us, for we
are helpless and ignorant in the art • and if it
should happen that any of the glass-makers
should by your diligence, and with the Divine
pleasure, be suffered to eome to us, be assured if I
Outlive, I will receive him with kind courtesy."
A glass-blower evidently was a precious com-
modity at that time, and was as eagerly sought
after, as in this day we might hunt after a Taglioni
or a Jenny Lind.

At this period, and long afterwards, the windows
of houses and churches were filled with linen, or
lattices of wood. As respects Carpentry, it is
probable that some skill was exhibited in the
details of the large wooden buildings erected at
that time. Nevertheless. the houses were ill
built. The rich hangings which covered the walls
of great houses were less luxuries than necessaries
—gorgeous screens often concealing gaping chinks,
and keeping out biting winds. Even with this
precaution, it was not possible to use open lights,
and we find King Arthur, in his palace, obliged
I_° use lanterns, -on account of the wind which
yrove through the crevices. We sometimes have
I.o_
°complain against our joiners in these days, for
not always being so successful as they should in
_e „Ping out the wind, but none of us ice in
_quite
'IQ bad a plight as pow King Alfred was. What-

•
I ever Pir...ploynient there might have been for the
fJarp-eliter, there must have' been very little
demand for the cabinet-maker. The furniture
even of the rich was scanty, mean, and dear. It
is, curious, indeed, to mark the ean description
of goo& carefully disposed. of in the wills of the
rich. An Anglo-Saxon lady, for instance, gives
one of • her children "two chests and their con-
tents ; her best bed-curtains, and all the bed-
clothes." To another child she bequeaths " two
chests, and all the clothes that to one bed belong,"
and to another her pillow of straw ! A drawing
of a Saxon bed is preserved, wherein the pillow
looks as if it were made of platted straw, while
the head and bottom seem to be both boarded. The
demand for ornamental furniture did not, of
course, exist.
There was, however, at this timer one class of
workmen who were in great request. These were
smiths and artificers in iron. Their labours were
required, not so much for the manufacture
• of ploughs and other useful and productive imple-
ments, as to forge arrows and weapons of war.
Every military chief was attended by his smith,
and he (the smith) had many- curious privileges
which marked his importance. • His were guild, for
• instance, was uncommonly large. It is necessary
here to explain, that by the Anglo-Saxon law,
every person had a certain value set upon his life,
according to his position, and whoever killed him
was obliged to pay the amount to his family, if he
were a freeman, and to his master, if he were a
slave. This murder fine was entitled were guild.
I cite it, therefore, as a proof of the estimation in
which the smith' was held, that -it was a more--
expensive luxury, in fact, to kill him than any
other artisan. The chief smith, .indeed, was an
officer of considerable dignity in the English and
Welsh Courts. In the latter he occupied a seat
• at the table next to that of the King's chaplain,
and what no doubt he valued as a far greater

privilege, he was entitled to a draught of any kind
of liquor that came into the hall. .In spite- of all
that temperance has done, it is much to be feared
that there are still many smiths left who would
like very well to be Kings' smith in a Welsh
Court. (1.) -
It is a characteristic feature of this period, .and
one which shows the very rude condition of those

vho constituted the working classes, that while;
In general, none but the raciest kind of labour was
performed 'by them, the more ingenious and
skilful kinds of industry were performed by a body
of men whom, according to modern notions, we
should leapt expect to find a part of the working
I refer -to the clergy. The clergy,
Ind skilful

classes

however, were the

most expert

artificers of these times. Saint Dunstan, the
celebrated Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in the
tenth century, was the great statesman of the day;
is " reported to have- been the best blacksmith,
brazier, goldsmith, and engraver of his time. We
make a vast deal 'Of our Elihu Burritts 'when we
catch them in those days, but the union of
mechanical employments with intellectual occupa-
tions and pursuits was frequent in the -olden time..
The Clergy, in fact, by canon law, were obliged to
learn some mechanical art, and to exercise it in
their leisure hours. Their productions, too, were
distinguished by great excellence. King Alfred
had a. splendid collection of the results of their
ingenious workmanship. A specimen from this
collection was found many years since at Ethingly,
in Somersetshire, where this Prince concealed
himself in his distress,_ancl
_afterwards resided in
his prosperity. A minute account of it is given in
the Philosophical Transactions. It is there
described as a thin plate of gold, enamelled and
exquisitely engraved with various figures, and of
an oblong &am, rather more than two inches long
and one broad. It was probably worn by King
Alfred himself, as it bears upon it this inscription :
" Alfred commanded me to be made." The art of
polishing precious stones was not unknown to
them,- nor, that of gilding and plating. We read of
Stigund, Bishop of Winchester, for instance,
having fabricated a very large crucifix, and two
immense figures,—one of them representing the
Virgin Mary, and the other Saint- John,—and
afterwards covering them with silver and gold.
The English goldsmiths and embroiderers were,
in fact, highly distinguished throughout Europe,
and their fabrics were known by the name of
Opera Anglica, or, in other words, English works.
In the art of embroidery, the Anglo-Saxon ladies
were most expert workers, and -Queens and
Princesses endeavoured -to outshine each other.
The four daughters of -Edward the First were
celebrated for their cunning in spinning, weaving,
and needlework. The arts of dying and dressing
furs, too, were not unknown to the working
classes, and the English cloth-makers were
esteemed even at that day.
Such are some of the facts, then, which serve to
throw a dimlight on the habits and constitution of
the working classes previous to the conquest.
Their skill, as regards the vast mass, was, as must.
readily have been perceived, extremely rude, and
their condition altogether ignominious. Their
diet, like their habitations, was of the coarsest
and meanest description ; and their dress, such as,
in some respects, is now amknown to the most
hopeless poverty. They had no stockings or
coverings on -their legs. But how, indeed, could
this be expected when even the inferior clergy
were in the same plight ? For, in the year seven
hundred and eighty-five, -the Council of Chalcuyth
we find were obliged to issue this ordinance :

" Let no minister of the altar presume to approach
it to celebrate mass with naked legs, lest his filthi-
ness appear and God be offended." A Curate
preacher, or a Priest, who should now attempt to
perform his ministrations with bare legs, like his
Anglo-Saxon predecessors would be considered a
fit candidate for an asylum. Such little particulars
as even these, however, show the vast changes
that take place in the habits and tastes of a peo-

It was probable, too, that it was as much the prac-
tice to go bare footed as well as bare legged. Thus
in.the Bayeaux tapestry in which some events in
the life of the last of our Saxon Kings—Harold,
are•figured, some of the principal men are repre-
sented without shoes. Wooden clogs are in no

very great request at the present day, but in the
eighth and ninth centuries they formed the foot-
gear of Kings.

- There was one custom of universal observance
in those days, to which one cannot help referring
without pleasure, and wishing at the same time
that it was more prevalent among ourselves than
it has even become. I mean the frequent and con-
stant use of the warm bath. It was considered an
indispensable luxury then, as well to the poor as
to the rich. This is amply proved by the Canons
of the Church, which prescribe the by
of cha-
rity. By these we find that people were desired
to give to the poor, meat, mund, or personal
protection while under the roof, fire, fodder, bed-
clothes, and a bath! The poor man, in fact, was
not considered sufficiently provided for unless,
besides other necessaries, he was furnished with
his bath. The custom was so valued, that religious
people, as an act of penance and mortification,
abstained from baths. It is doubtful with some in
those days, whether the penance would. not be the
other way,--that is to say, in not being obliged to
abstain from them, but to use them. It is a just
matter of congratulation, however, that this good
Saxon rule is beginning to revive, and that public
attention everywhere is at length directed to a
practise so necessary, and so essential to the
comfort and health of every one. And so let us
hope, that as we are, in so many respects, superior
to our Saxon ancestors ; as we know so much more
than they did the value of washing and purifying
our houses, so let us trust we shall he ashamed to
be behind them in purifying and washing our
skins.

(1.) In former years, the blacksmiths were in the habit
of doing honour to their patron saint (St. Clement) by
celebrating the day of his martyrdom with a procession.
It appears from a State proclamation, dated July 22nd,
1540, that children were accustomed to be decked and go
about, on St. Clement's Day, in procession. And from
an ancient custom of going about on
.the night of the
festival to beg drink to make merry with, a pot was
formerly marked against the 23rd of November, upon the
old Cloy Almanacs. The custom is now, I believe,
obsolete.
[* These articlei being the Copyright of the Author,
he reserves to himself the right of 'their further publica-
tion or translation.]