The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1874-01-31
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GOOD OLD TIMES.

decide. That they were very different, /
glance over any Of the old chronicles i
sufficient to convince one. -Four or Eve
hundred years ago almost all the wealth
was in possession Of the king, the nobility,
and the church. The multitude lived i
life Of toll, hardship, and want. Royalty
and nobility were given to ostentations
displays beyond anything we now dream,
Of. In more ways than one the centuries
have brought the rich and poor nearer
together. OF Richard the Second, Stowe
says:-"His royalty was such that where
sOeyer he lay, his person was guarded BY
two hundred Cbeshiremen he had about
him thirteen bishops, beside Knights,
barOns, squires, and Others, insomuch that
ten thousand people came to the house.
bold for meat every day, as appeared by
the messes told out Of the kitchee TO three
hundred servitors-" This king kept two
thousand cooks, and when he celebrated
Christmas at Westminster Hall, the daily
consumption was twenty-eight oxen, three
hundred sheep, and fowls almost without
number When he came to the throne
the city fountains were made to fiow with
wine instead Of water; and the year after,
at his coronation, four different sorts Of
wine were made to how through the public
channels.
The sums spent At some public bsnguets
and festivals were enormous. The banquet
at the coronation Of Edward III. cost
f40, 900, in modern value. Atthe INSTALL
alton Of an abbot at Canterbury In 1909,
5000 guests sat down to 5000 dishes,
costing e45,OOO Of our money. Mar
riages were also grand occasions for display.
At the marriage dinner Of the Earl Of
Cornwall, in London, in 1243, 10000
dishes were served up. OF the marriage
feast Of Alexander Ill, Of Scotland, and
Margaret Of England, in 1881, at York,
Matthew Paris says:-'If ! attempted 70
describe the grandeur of this solemnity,
the number Of the illustrious guests, the
richness and variety Of the dresses, the
sumptuousness Of the feasts, the multitude
Of the minstrels, mimics, and others whose
business It was to amuse and divert the com.
pany my readers would think | was imposing
on their credulity. The Earl lof Lancaster in
1913 expended sum equal to E1O9, ,635
Of our money, as shown BY the household
accounts. The wine consumed in the
earfs establishment that year amounted "a
All pipes, or 5s,34s GALLONS. go
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centu.
ries great extrayagance in dress prevailed
and fashions we're 30 fantastic that law,
were passed TO restrain them, And nc
wonder. @The sqaire endeavored to out
live the knight, the knight the baron, the
baron the earl, and the earl the very king
himself Poor people were forbidden "a
wear silver and gold embroidery on then
dresses; not very needful ordinance, we
should think, as silver and gold in any
form were very little iu the hands Of the
poor. Under Edward III. no subject was
allowed to use foreign cloth. Under
Richard H., however, It appears thai
popular vanity in dress was such that the
rich could not be distinguished from ths
poor, the high from the low, the clergy
from the laity." A dandy Of that age
according 70 Camden, ''wore long pointed
shoes fastened to his knees BY gold or silver
chains hose Of one color ou one leg, and
Of another color on the other. Shori
breeches not reaching to the middle ofthe
thigh coat, one halfwhite, and the othel
half black or blue a long beard q silk
band bussoued under his chin, embroidered
with grotesque figures Of animals, dancing
men, etc, and sometimes ornamcnted with
gold, silver, and precious stones
The women We'd with the men. In the
early part Of the period they wore long
dresses, and on their heads sort Of hood
or cowl, called gorget, which John dc
Meun describes as wrapped two or thres
times round the neck, and then, being
fastened with numerous pins ID was raised
on each side the face as high as the cara
Women wore their gowns 80 long that ,
poet ofthe thirteenth century compares ths
ladies Of his day 70 peacocks and magpies
He says :--aFor the pies naturally beal
feathers Of various colors, 80 the ladies
delight in strange habits and diversity o
ornaments. The pies have long tail,
which trail in the dirt; 80 that the ladies
make their tails 1 Thousand times longei
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