New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-01-18

The words Manor House or Memorial Hall
suggest a stately home of lordly dimensions
AS a matter of fact the medieval manor house
was far from being spacious. or even COMFORT
able, according to modern standards OF size or
comfort Nevertheless, a certain degree OF dig
nifty must be conceded to the larger manor
houses which have survived in rural England.
The smaller ones have become farmhouses ana
often compare poorly with farmhouses OF more
modern construction. There are still IN exist
ence many Of these old manor houses some Oh
which date back to the fourteenth century ono
Of them is at Little Hempston, near Iotnes' III
Devonshire TT consists of a quadrangle WIN
buildings all four sides; but the central
court is only about 20 feet by II feet, into
which all the windows look from sunless rooms
The only exception is the hall window, whlcn
has a southern outlook The hall was heated
by brazier in the centre, and the smoke went
out by g. louvre in the roof. There was one
gloomy parlor with fireplace in 1t opening out
of the hall. The rest of the quadrangle was
taken up with kitchen. porter's lodge, cellar
and stable. Upstairs one long dorrnitory.
The lady's bower-familar to readers of Eng
lish fiction of the early nineteenth century-was
not named on account of it's flowers. The deri-
walton of the word Mr.. Hone considers to be
much more prosaic. "a common plan of the
manor house." he writes. was that Of a paral-
telegram, consisting of two rooms-'the hall and
the bower of Chaucer; occasionally there was
an entrance, or houseplace. into which the CEN
trail door opened, used a living room. This
porch or entry. called in old English a trance,
usually separated the hall from the buttery or
storeroom for provisions, wine and ale, above
which the bower or, as it was called IN
the north, the woman's chamber. The etymol-
ogy of the word is interesting BGr in old
Morse meant buttery; and the buttery and
kitchen being on the woman's side of the house.
it is probable that in early times the word was
used for all that portion of the dwelling TIL In
its later form of bower it became the special
designation of the chamber reserved for the fe-
male portion of the household
s Every manor house of any consequence had
its chapel licensed by the bishop for the cele-
bration Of the mass: but the chapel was not
served solely for religious services "A fireplace
is often found in these chapels' writes Mr..
Hone, showing that they used for secular
as well religious purposes; frequent notices
occur in the chronicles of the twelfth and thir-
teenth centuries of secular business being
transacted in the domestic chapel, the sover-
eign often using it when not attending to pub
lie business in the hall or giving audience In
his privy chamber" The most important room
in the manor house was the hall. Here the lord
of the manor, his family. his guests and MS
servants used to dine, above and below the salt,
!
tables were merely boards laid on trestles,
which could readily be removed when not In
use. The seats were forms and stools, and
round the hall against the wall there ran fire.
, duentIy q long narrow seat, on which sat the
poor dependents of the lord patiently waiting
for the scraps after the meal was finished inns
seat was useful other occasions. IN the
hall the lord Of the manor held his courts and
adiudged the case of his tenants and villeins'
and it may well be imagined that when the
court was in session even the larger halls
which might measure as much as thirty-nVe
feet by thirty feet would be filled to their Ut
most capacity.
II was fortunately customary from very
early period for the lords Of the manor, especi-
ally the r1onastic lords, to keep records OF the
proceedings of their courts. Not the least val
uable part Of Mr.. Homes book is the seventy
pages which he devotes TO some OF these ma
noral court rolls. To illustrate the procedure In
the lord of the naanor's court, Mr. Hone quotes
largely from an old treatise written IN Norman
French and entitled LIE Court de Baron" The
cases given in this manuscript are quoted as
presidents. and are given more fully than IS
| usually the case in the manor rolls One OF the
extracts Is headed, "Of taking fish in the lords
nond walter of the Moor il reads, thou
art attached to answer in this court wherefore
by night and against the lords peace thou
didst enter the lords preserve and carried away
all manner Of fish at thy Will, now VIII thou
acuuit thyself or make amends? Fer kno" thsa'
r-are any one to prosecute you, you stand IN
periI of life and limb and therefore be ADVISED
The answer of Walter Of the Moor SHOWS MN
a true son Of. Adam. Sir for Coos SAKE oo
not take il i'll of me-" runs the plea Of the de-
PENDANT eff tell the truth how the other even
went along the bank of the pond and saw
in he
briobt and for the great craving I had for
nerch I laid down the bank OF the ponu
and with my hands only and quite simply took
ora carried AWAY this perch, and will tell the
a,ee of INV covetous desire; my companion
that is NV wife had lain in bed whole nonIh
and never eaten or drank anything she couio
ra,ish and for the craving TO taste perch she
eant me to the bank of the pond to take one
nerch only and that no other hsh was TAKEN
or carried away I am ready TO DO Whatever
thou dost award.
THE entries in the court rolls include, BESIDES
the nenalties inflicted vieins anc tenants
for various breaches of the lords peace the
raoords of appointments and elections TO various
offices. transfer of lands either under wills or
-, aocount of forfeiture, bylaws passed by the
court for the government of the community
a,d MANY cases of damages assessed against
-. for wrongful use either of their indi-
vidual holdings or of the common pasture lands
80 tho iurors say and present that three foul
-oo,s are living at lie Hollide, not flushed TO
tho hurt of the neighbors, by the Butchersnelo-
eide nv default of Thomas Cotes, whom IL Is
commanded by the court TO amend the same
before the feast of the Ascension OF Our Loro
under pain of each not cleansed, fourpehce-
! .a,d that Richard and Thomas Podmores nave
pIoughed up a certain parcel of land called