Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-12-05
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Our AncestOrs-Cur Facts i'm
Regard to- Their, O Living and
A'oing'h2 s-sILga} 10 19dnem uT9f5Doa
The customs, manners, literature, ar
chitecture, history, everything IN fine
pertaining to- England, previous to the
seventeenth century. may be regarded
as the common ancestral property of
all John Bulls progeny, wherever scat
tered over1the world. To a1large major
ityIof our readers, therefore, whatever
throws light on the rolden times of Great
Britainl-cann never cease to be of inter-
est.io The October Neu England Farmer
Noticing a recent publication, g OuriEng-
lish Homes" extracts and comments as
The whale was eaten BY the Saxons
and when men were lucky enough to get
it, it appeared at table late in the fif1l
teenth century. In 1916, Henry Ell
directed the Sheriff Of London to pur-
chase one hundred pieces Of whale for
his table. Whales found on the coast
were perquisites of royalty; and they
were caught and sent to the. Kings
kitchen. Edward II, gave reward of
thirty qshillings to three mariners who
caught whale near London bridges
Those found on the banks of the
Thames were claimed by the Lord May
or, and added to the civic FEAST Pieces
oflwhale were often purchased in. the
nineteenth century for the table of the
Countess of Leicester. England was
often supplied with this choice dainty
by the fishermen of Normandy who
made it an articleoof commerce. The
Normans had various. ways of cooking
it; sometimes, it & was roasted and
brought to thestable ON a spit = but, the
usual way was to boil it and serve it
with peas. Epicures-leoked out for
slice from the tongue or the tail. The
grampus or the sea wolf was also highly
esteemed; but of all the blubber. dain-
ties the porpoise was deemed the most
savory. The Saxons called it sea-
swine, and the ecclesiastics Of the mid
die ages proco marino!! 'Porpoises were
purchased for the table of Henry III, in
1916. ;-ifs 81 h9ijH y
In the reign of Henry II, the whole
stock of carpenters tools was valued at
one shilling, and consisted of a broad
axe, adze, a square and a spoke shave.
There were a very few chimneys; the
fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke
issued out at the roof or door, or win
dow, and the 'furniture and utensils were
Of wood. The people slept on straw
pallets, with log Of wood for pillow.
Even as late as the time Of Elizabeth,
1858, it is stated that apologies We're
made to visitors if they could not be ac-
comodated in rooms provided with chim-
neys. They had few glass windows,
and when glass was introduced it was
for long time so scarcesthat when peo-
pie went away they would. order the
windows taken out and laid up in safety.
In the fourteenth century nene- but
the cleEgymen wore inen.o The house,
hold furniture among the wealthy, con-,
sisted of an occasionally a, brass pot, a.
brass cup, a grid iron, and rug or two,
and perhaps az towel. Of chairs and
tables we hear nothing. Even the no.
ebility sat Eupon chests in which they;
kept their clothes. If a man in seven
years after marriage could purchase a
flock, bed and sack of chat, orest his
head upon, he thought himself as. well
lodged as the lord of the town. - reoo
In addition to this poverty Of, what
seems to us. absolute necessities. the
houses and the people were exceedingly
dirty. Erastus, celebrated scholar Of
Holland, who visited England COM
plains that "the nastiness of the people
was the cause of f'the frequent plaques
which destroyed them !" and he"says
their doors are commonly of clay,
strewed with rushes, under whiehLlie unH
molested collection of beer, grease,
fragments, bones, spittle, excrements' of
dogs and cats, and-of everything that is
'nauseous. ndaeSoHi 7uo' ~ hsd ,s5CiHse
Their tables were as miserablyl sup,
piled as their dwellings. They had
little fresh meat, but salted most of their
cattle and swine in November, upon
which they mostly depended through the
winter Very few vegetables of any
kind came upon their tables. It is
stated that in the early part of the
reign of Henry VIII. not ia cabbage,
turnip, carrot or other edible grew in
England. Of r' -g7a2l mq-. alIei 1ue
9 The average duration of humana life,
was at that period, not one half as long
as that of the, present day.. The con
stant use of salted meat, and few OF no
vegetables, contributed to the Shortening
of life, to say nothing Of the large mum
Der swept away BY pestilence and fam al i
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