The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1882-06-07
THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.


How many blessings are enjoyed in our
lay, that seem so much matters of course
that we fail even to be thankful for them
Some of You, children, will find II hard to
believe that only three hundred years age
even rich people lived in mud huts, while
kings and cardinals knew nothing Of The
luxury Of glazed windows, and elegant furn-
iture, even in beautiful. wealthy England,
whence many OF our ancestors came and
from which, not only our language, but
nearly all our laws and customs have been
obtained. In our bright, CHEEKY homes, we
fail to realize the utter dreariness of the rude
shanties where our ancestors of only a few
centuries back used to live. In place of our
downy carpets, their earthen floors were
strewn with hay instead of gaslight, they
had only torches or lamps of the rudest
make; and even chimneys were unknown in
England until the thirteenth century. Pre-
vious to that period the blazing logs were
/ piled on a stone in the center of the chief
apartments, while the smoke made its es-
cape through a hole in the roof The man
ufacture of glass for windows was first intro
duced in 1867, plates of horn being made to
supply its place until then. Beckett, the
archbishop of Canterbury, was charged with
effeminacy, because he had clean straw
spread over the floor of his dining-room
every morning in winter, and fresh bulrushes
or green branches in summer, in order that
such of his guests as could not find room on
the benches, might sit down on the floor
and eat comfortably. The royal bed of even
the third Henry, consisted merely of a litter
of loose rushes and leather, without either
sheets, pillows, or counterpane and it was
not until the close of the fifteenth century
that straw was discarded from the sleeping
apartments of the monarchs of England
We are told by veritable historians, that
Henry the Third was the first English king
who ever wore shirt; and even the luxu-
rious Henry the Eighth knew nothing of the
comforts of real stockings their place being
supplied by cloth hose" not very unlike
the Chinese stockings of the present day,
which were simply ill-shapen bags for the
feet, composed OF unbleached shifting. As
these bags" possess no elasticity they
cannot be fitted to the foot or ankle, but
must be made double the size of an ordina.
ry stocking, in order to be pulled over the
heel and instep.
Those were emphatically the days OF
straw beds and bare floors, of smoky cell.
ings and unglazed windows; days of leath-
en doublets in place of linen Shirts of
wooden shoes and no stockings, while such
conyeniences as forks and glasses, watches,
bonnets, books, and coaches, and even soap
was almost unknown Tables were not
used TO eat on, but only board, brought
out when needed, and laid aside when the
meal was over. The family and guests
were called together by the sound of a horn,
and tho cloth, which was until the reign of
Elizabeth only piece of tapestry or coarse
carpet, was not spread on the board until
all were seated. Rude wooden bowls and
crockery about as elegant as our f6 6sHaizise
tiles, were the chief tableware known in
England, till the art Of glazing crockery was
discovered by Palissey, about the middle Of
the sixteenth century Horns were also
used for drinking, and as they could not
stand upright it became necessary to swal
low the whole contents as soon as they were
filed. Hence originated our word "tumb-
ler," as applied to drinking glass, and
hence may also have been acquired the hab-
ii Of drinking to excess for which our Saxon
ancestors were noted 1t would be well if
this habit had not been handed down so
faithfully to some of their descendants.
Each man usually had his own horn, which
he carried about with him wherever he went.
They were sometimes deliberately carved
and ornamented with gold or silver, and in
such cases were considered OF sufficient val
ne to be left by viii to a favorite heir, just
as we would bequeath valuable jewels or
costly plate. Another use made of the
drinking horn in these early days, was to
give it in pledge of contract or conveyance
of IN estate, in .he way we nos witness by
seal; ana one family are said to have held
their land from Canute the Dane, with no
other proof than the possession of his drink
ing-horn.
S.sDs-S