, 1869-05-07
OUR ANCESTORS.

The custom manners, literature, orchitec-
ture, history, everything in fine pertaining
10 England, previous to the seventeenth GEN.
tury, may be regarded as the common an
cestral property of all John Bulls progeny,
wherever scattered over the world. 10 a
large majority of our readers, therefore what
ever throws light upon the olden times Of
Great Britain never ceases to be Of interest.
The October New England Farmer, noticing
a recent publication. Our English Homes,
extracts and comments as follows:
The whale was eaten by the Saxons and
when MEN were lucky enough to get it, it
appeared at ,able late in the fifteenth CEN
tury. In 1916 Henry Ill directed the
Sheriff Of London to purchase a hundred
pieces of whale for his table. Whales found
on the coast were perquisites Of royalty; they
were caugh; and sent to the king kitchens
in carts Edward III. gave a reward of
thirty shiIings to the three mariners who
caught whale near London bridge. Those
found on the banks Of the Thames were
claimed by the Lord Mayor, and added to
the civic f.ust. Pieces Of whale were often
purchased in the fourteenth century for the
table of the Countess Of Leicester, England
was often supplied with this choice dainty
by The fishermen of Normandy, who nude it
al article of commerce. The Normans had
various ways OF cooking it; sometimes it
was roasted and brought to the table on a
spit but the usual way was TO boil and serve
it With peas. Epicures looked out for slice
from the tongue or the tail. The grampus
or the sra-wolf was also highly esteemed !;
but of all the blubber dainties the porSoise
was deemed the most savOry. The Saxons
called it sea swine, und the ecclesiastics of
the middle ages pOrco mdrtn0. Porpoises
were purchased for the table of Henry Ill.
in 1916.
In the reign Of Henry III the whole stock
Of carpenters tools was valued at one shiL.
ling, and consisted of broad, axe, ndze, a
square, and spokr-shave. There were very
few chimncys the FIRE was laid 10 the wall,
and the smoke issued out at the roof or door,
or window, aud the furniture and utensils
were Of wood The people slept on straw
pallets, with log OF wood for a pillow
Even as late as the time of Elizabeth (l55S),
il is stated that apologies were made to visi
tors if they could not be accommodated in
rooms provided with chimneys They had
a few glass windows, and when glass was
introduced it was, for long time, SO scarce
that when people went away, they would
order the windows taken cut and laid up in
safety.
In the fourteenth century, none but the
clergymen wore linen. The household furni
ture, among the wealthy consisted of an
occasional, brass pot, brass cup, q grid.
iron, and a rug or two, aud, perhaps, a towel.
OF chairs and tables VIC hear nothing. Even
the nobility sat upon the chests in which
they kept their clothes. If man, seven
years after marriage, could purchase a loek
bed, and sack of chaff to rest his head upon
he Ihonght himself as we'll lodged as the lord
of the town.
In addition to this poverty OF what seems
to US absolute necessities, the houses aud the
people were exceedingly dirty. Erasmus, a
celebrated scholar OF Holland, who visited
England. complains that the nastiness of the
people was the cause of the frequent plaques
that destroyed them;' and he saws their
doors We're commonly of clay, stteWed with
rushes, under which lie unmolested a collec>
ton OF beer, grease, fragments, bones, spit
tle, excrement of dogs aud cats, and Of every.
thing that is nauseous.
Their tables were as miserably supplied as
their dwellings. They had but little fresh
meat, but sailed most of their cattle and
swine in November, upon which they mostly
depended throughout the winter. Very few
vegetables Of any kind came upon their
tables. II is stated that in the early par, of
the reign of Henry VIII. not q cabbage.
iurNip, carrot, or other edible root grew 10
England.
The averave duration of human lie was.
at that period, not one>hdif as long as at the
present day. Tho constant use of salted
meat, and few or no vegetables, contributed
to the shortening Of human life, to say moth.
ing of the largo number swept away BY pesti.
lence aud famine.