The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-03-20
Our Foredathers' Ho,ues.

Broad-minded men, and women also.
are trying to SO house the poor that they
may be tidy and comfortable and healthy
The effort is an illustration of the
good sense which characterizes the phil
anthropy of the age. This characteris-
tic has been impressed upon it by SCI
ence. For it teaches that hygine, or
the promotion and preservation of health
is an indispensable aid in growing good
citizens.
Bad as the dwellings of the poor are in
cities, and in the country also, they are
as a class far superior to those in which
our Anglo-Saxon ancestors lived. Ifa
serf, the Saxon lived in hut not as
genteel as some of our modern pig-styes
and far less comfortable.
If he was gentleman, his home con-
sisted of a hall, with little rooms on the
outside surrounded by an earthwork.
The rude walls of the hall were covered
with some sort Of hangings, on which
were hung arms and trophies of the
chase. The floor was of earth strewn
with rushes. Fire was made in the
middle of the hall and the smoke,
found its way out of little hole in the
roof.
In this rude hall he breakfasted at
nine and dined at three o'clock. It was
considered disgraceful for a gentleman
to dine alone. Everybody was welcomed
with lavish hospitality.
The stranger brought news, no mean
gift to an out-of-the-way country squire,
who had no newspaper and couldn't
have read it if one had been placed
alongside of his breakfast plate, or
rather bread-slice. For they used thick
slices of bread, as plates were then I'M
known, on which to place the portions
OF meat. These slices were called
trenchers, because they were to be carved
upon. Forks were unknown
A Norman baron is reported to have
been so hospitable that he turned the
kings highway through the middle of
the hall of his manor, He did so in
order that no traveller might have an
excuse for passing without partaking of
his hospitality.
Seated on o high wooden seat, the
Anglo Saxon gentleman presided at his
dinner of boiled bacon, which, with
bread and vegetable, mead and beer,
was the principal dish. Quantity made
up for the deficiency in quality.
He and his guests drank heavily.
Drunkenness and sloth marked his daily
life. Drinking-cups were so made as
not to stand upright. They had to be
emptied at q draught. Buckets were
used to carry the mead or oil to the
guests. When the Saxon gentleman or
lady slept, he rested on a bench upon
which sack filed with straw had been
placed. Neither he nor his wife wore
q night-dress.
The change from these rude customs
into more refined style of living was
due to the Norman conquest. It pol
ished the Saxons' manners, and infused
into their sloth the energy characteristic
of the English race. The transition re-
quired time. For a long period the Sax
ons resisted the advance of the refined
Norman manners and customs, as re-
minding them of their servilc condition.
The conquered, however, had his re-
venge--he forced his language upon his
conqueror. The process was simple
but effective. The unmarried Normans
selected their wives from among the
beautiful Saxon maidens, and these
naturally taught children their native
tongue.