Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-02-07

Did you ever try to imagine when you
were studying the beginnings Of English his
tory, what kind of people these old Anglo
SaNons wcrr and how they lived? They
were our far-Oh ancestors. and our language
for the most part was made from theirs; in
fact, W are called Aug!o-Saxons ourselves ;
SO We ought to be- interested in them.
They were rude people in many respects,
and lived III a rude way. compared with ours
How would you ike windows which had no
glass in them, very smull windows. too
but had oiled paper or sheets of horn inst, ad {;
OF course the rooms must have been dark and
dismal, you will say. And what wou!d You
think Of houses without chimucys on any
thing we should call chiuurys; But matt, rs
were really not much better, even in king 's
houses, about ten hundred years ago.
The most important room in those days
was called the hall ; and it was large enough
to accommodate the family, the great compa-
ny of servants, aud all the guests who chose
to come. They ute there, sat there, and
most of them slept there, on rough benches,
or rolled up in skins on the floor 1t was
open to every chance traveller, to the wander
ing harpers to brggars, and everybody else,
The fire was built aguiust clay or stone
arrangement, answering for Fireplace, at
one end, or on an immense stone hearth in
the middle and the smoke, after floating up
overhead, found its way out through an
opening or II kind of turrrt in the roof At
dark they heNp,d high the logs and fagots,
and happy WAS he who ON stormy night
could get near the blaze. When supper
time came servants stood behind those at tt-
Bile and held torches over their heads till the
meal was over; aud whru bedtime came,
the guests who had any other place than the
hall to sleep in were lighted to it in the same
way.
As for the king, he was more privileged
than that though just what they first used
for lights, and Just when lamps became COM
mon among the Anglo SaNons, it is not easy
to find out We see in some very old pict-
urcs simple little lamp shaped perhaps like
II saucer, hung by chains at thu side Of the
room, and holding, no doubt, piece of wax
or some kind of oil, with u strip of cloth in it
for wick. Sometimes, IN the royal cham
bers, for Il very long time after King Alfrrd's
day, a light was kept by means of II cake Of
wax in a silver basin.
They knew how to make candles, however :;
but instead Of putting one in caudlcstick, it
was put OR it, The canllsstick had a point
at the top, calleda spike, aud the candle was
made hollow ut the bottom, and slipped down
over the spike one so fixed was known as a
''pricket"
There is, among some illustrations of old
customs, picture of a candlestick, which is
very queer though very elegant, and looks
like little piece of furniture 1t is tall
stem rising from IA three-foOted, three-comer-
ed stand, very much ornameuted il comes
to "a point at the top, and little way below
is u plate 10 hold thu taliow or wax that might
run dnNn. We do not know that King Al
fred had anything like this but he had what
nobody hHI ever seen hrforr in that country,
L. .t..l l,.t
tern.
This good king was a very busy man the
people around him might be willing to idle
away their days over the fire, listening to the
harpcrs, telling stories, and playing with the
hounds, but he felt that he had great work
to do. lie wanted TO make his subjccts more
civilized, to teach them useful arts and he
had not an hour to waste. He built towns,
lie built ships; he read, and studied, aud
wrote, and that was wonderful, indeed, in
those days when there were but few books,
and when even princes could not write their
own names. lie was the best, the wisest,
aud the most learned king that the Saxons
had ever had.
lie used to carry in his bosom "memoran-
dun leaves, in which he made collections
from his studies, and this journal he was in
the habit of examining so much that
'he called it his haHd-bOOk." And perhaps,
that is where the word "hand-bo came
from. OF course, he read far into the night,
but lac soon found two troubles, there was
no way to mark the time, for there were no
clocks nor watches then, and he could not
keep a steady light, because the houses were
so open thnt the wind came in from every
quarter, He had noon-marks, but those
amounted to nothing on rainy days; and ev-
erybOdy knows what country England is
for rain.