Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1892-07-15
OLD TIME RETAINERS.
SERVANTS WERE BADLY
ED IN ENGLAND.
The Condition of the Serfs and DOmest1cs
In the Middle Ages-When the
Master and Mistress Used
the Birch.

servants were undoubtedly treated
very badly. There was perhaps
something pleasant in the character
OF prefeudal household which de-
prived domestic servitude of some of
its worst features. TO the present
generation the custom of high and
low. young and old. sitting round the
long oaken table at meals may serve
to conjure up pleasing picture; and
the fashion of all parties gathering
round the fire on winter evenings car
olling songs and going into ecstacies
OF laughter at the wit of the minstrel
or the drollery of the juggler may
serve rs an illustration in favor of the
good old times"
But the fact that servants very often
ties that awaited recaptured de
serter proves that the condition of
tho retainors was not all that our
fancy paints it. In feudal times. when
the position and security of man Of
rank depended upon the extent of his
household, servants were in no better
position.
Every groom and footboy was con
verted into a soldier says the Satur-
day Evening Post, and until private
warfare grew obsolete. every man was
liable to be called upon to fight As
to tho lowest class of serfs they took
rank with the oxen and the swine
which they tended. and could be sold
with the land upon which they
worked.
Like many other great changes
sorfdom died out by degrees. and it
was not ext nguished in England for
great many years. Hume. indeed
says that some instance of bondage
may be traced to the reign of Eliza
beth. In Scotland. serfdom existed
| among colliers and salters down to
nearly the end of tho last century
In the time of Shakespeare domestic
service was in a state of transition:
the old system was decaying the new
one spriuging into life; and il one
may be allowed to judge from casual
references scattered throughout the
plays of the poet the new order does
not appear to have been altogether
satisfactory. In king Lear" II to
take one example-Kent denounces
Oswald. the stew ard. as 'knave,
rascal an eater of broken meats; a
base, proud. shallow. beggarly three
suited hundred-pound worsted- stock
ing knaven
From Shakespeare's play it further
appears that the servants of the
period were companions and con-
fidants of their MASTER and that they
were generally sly ana pilfering. and
players of practical jokes. In great
families it was customary for servants
TO take an oath of fidelity on their
entrance into Office.
In addition to fines master and mis-
tresses had power to chastise refrac.
tory servants. as Is evident from
references in Acts of Parliament In
u long and somewhat amusing treatise
in William Gouge's Whole Armor OF
Gold. published in 1927. the correc-
ton of servants for trivial offences
is justified by scriptural references.
1t is clear moreover. that the servants
of the time bargained for and expected
to be beaten, and took their punish
ment in good part and without any
sense of degradation.
The characteristics OF the domestic
of this period may be briefly summed
up by saying that although he was
| full OF tricks. he was less treacherous
than his predecessors and was quite
| willing to fight valiantly on behalf OF
his master. In the days of Addison
| and Steele-to pass on to later
period tho gentleman's gentleman.
| and still more the livcried domestic of
whom johnson discoursed might not
have been quite so trusty retainer
as the stubborn bluecoat OF Elizabeth:
but he was as has been pointed out
moro prone to use his inventive facul-
ties for his master than against him.
Before this time however great
changes had taken place in the rela-
tions between employer and en-
ployed. The first Act OF Parliament
for regulating servants wages was
passed so early rs the year 1851.
proceeding consequent upon the great
plague of 1919 by VIII ch labor was
rendered scarce Two years pre-
viously, an act had been passed that
all able bodied persons having no
evident means of subsistence should
offer themselves rs laborers to any
that hire them. From these two acts.
therefore, sprang the gu tom OF
justices meeting once year TO regu-
late wages. aud also the establ sh-
ment OF the hiring fairs or -mops."
which are still common il. some parts
of England and of which there Is q
representation in Isaac Il ckerstaff's
love in IA Village.
1t should be noted however hat
whether the origin of laborers stand
ing Tor hire is due to the act OF 1919
IL open to question. In ancient Rome
there were particular spots in which
servants applied for hire; and the
establishment OF such a custom in
England is noteworthy. as showing
the demand for labor Although the
position Of servants ut this period was