---

“What have you found to excite your curiosity there, Susan?” said Mr. Wilmot, observing her eyes fixed upon the full-length picture of a gentleman attired in the costume of the reign of Henry the Eighth.

“I am looking, Sir,” she replied, “at the singular dress of this gentleman.”

“At no period, perhaps, of our national history,” continued Mr. Wilmot, “was extravagance in dress carried to a higher pitch, than in this and the succeeding reign. The various modes of wearing the hair, and cutting the beard, seem to have afforded much umbrage to Holinshed, who lived at this time; and he enumerates, with amusing gravity, the variety and diversity which prevailed with respect to the latter. Ear-rings of gold, stones, or pearls, were in use amongst the courtiers. ‘But never,’ he mournfully observes, ‘was it merrier with England, than when an Englishman was known abroad by his own cloth; and contented himself at home with his kersey hose, his plain slops; (or small clothes;) his coat, gown, or cloak, of brown, blue, or puke; with some pretty furniture of velvet or fur, and a doublet of sad tawny, or black velvet, or other comely silk; without such cuts or gaudy colours as are worn in these days, and never brought in but by consent of the French, who think themselves the gayest men when they have most change of jaggs, and variety of colours about them. Certainly, of all ranks,’ he continues, ‘our merchants have the least altered their attire, and are, therefore, the most to be commended; for, although what they wear is very fine and costly, yet it still represents the ancient gravity suitable for citizens and burgesses.’

“It was very unusual to see any young men above the age of eighteen or twenty, without a dagger either by his side, or at his back; and even burgesses and aged magistrates, whose occupations are generally supposed to be peaceful, were also thus armed. The nobility commonly wore swords or rapiers with their daggers, as did also every servant following his master. Others carried two daggers, or two rapiers in a sheath, always about them; and, when quarrels arose, the consequences were frequently dreadful. These warlike implements were much longer than those used in any other country. In travelling, some carried with them, on their shoulders, staves, some of which were twelve or thirteen feet long, besides the pike of twelve inches; but I must tell you, that these were mostly suspicious characters.

“To such an excess had this love of dress arisen in the reign of Elizabeth, that it was thought necessary to check it by a proclamation, issued in October, 1559. It was, indeed, felt as a serious evil at this period, when the manufactures of England were in so rude a state, that almost every article for the use of the higher classes, was imported from Flanders, France, or Italy, in exchange for the raw commodities of the country, or, perhaps, for money.

“The invectives of divines have placed upon lasting records some transient follies, which might otherwise have sunk into oblivion; and the sermon of bishop Pilkington, a warm polemic of this time, may be quoted as a kind of commentary on the proclamation. He reproves ‘fine-fingered rufflers, with their sable about their necks, corked slippers, trimmed buskins, and warm mittens. These tender Parnels,’ he says, ‘must have one gown for the day, another for the night; one long, another short; one for winter, another for summer; one furred through, another but faced; one for the workday, another for the holiday; one of this colour, another of that; one of cloth, another of silk and damask: change of apparel, one afore dinner, another after; one of Spanish fashion, another of Turkey; and, to be brief, never content with enough, but always devising new fashions and strange.”

‘Yea, a ruffian will have more in his ruff and his hose, than he should spend in a year. He, which ought to go in a russet coat, spends as much on apparel for him and his wife, as his father would have kept a good house with.”

“Miss Aikin conjectures, that the costly furs here mentioned, had probably become fashionable, since a direct intercourse had been opened, in Henry the Eighth’s reign, with Russia; from which country ambassadors had arrived, whose barbaric splendours had astonished the eyes of the good people of London. The affectation of wearing, in turns, the costume of all nations in Europe, with which the queen herself was not a little infected, may be traced partly to the practice of importing articles of dress from those nations, and that of employing foreign tailors in preference to native ones; and partly to the taste for travelling, which, since the revival of letters, had become laudably prevalent among the young nobility and gentry of England.

“In the reign of Elizabeth, also, we find an order of the lord mayor and common council, regulating the dress of apprentices, and directing that they shall not presume to wear any apparel than that received from their masters. It was enacted, that ‘apprentices shall wear no hat, but a woollen cap: they shall not wear ruffles, cuffs, loose collars, nor any thing more than a ruff at the collar, and that not more than a yard and a half long. They must wear no doublets but what are made of canvass, fustian, sackcloth, English leather, or woollen, without any gold, silver, or silk trimmings. They must wear hose of cloth and kersey; but of no other colour than white, blue, or russet. Their breeches must be of the same materials as their doublets, and neither stitched, laced, nor bordered. Their upper coat must be of cloth or leather, without stitching, pinking, edging, or silk trimming. They shall wear no other surtout than a cloth gown or cloak, lined or faced with cotton, cloth, or baize, with a plain, round, fixed collar. No pumps, shoes, or slippers, to be allowed them, but of English leather, without being pinked, edged, or stitched. No girdles or garters to be worn, but what are made of crewel, woollen, thread, or leather. They must wear neither sword nor dagger; but a knife only. All jewels, rings, gold, silver, or silk, are forbidden in any part of their dress. Neither shall they frequent any dancing, fencing, or musical schools, under severe penalties; one of which was, to be publicly whipped at the hall of their company.’”

“During the reign of Henry the Eighth, luxury seems to have increased rapidly,” remarked Mrs. Spencer. “The furniture of the houses, the style of living, and even gardening, appear alike to have undergone a progressive improvement.”

“Yes,” answered Mr. Wilmot: “we find that, about this time, the walls of the houses were either hung with tapestry, arras work, or painted cloths, on which were represented birds, beasts, herbs, &c. Wainscotting with oak, or wood imported from the east, began now to be generally used, and rendered the rooms much more comfortable than formerly. Stoves were not much used, though they began to appear in the houses of the nobility and the wealthy citizens.

“But expensive furniture was most prevalent. ‘Not only,’ says Holinshed, ‘is it not rare to see abundance of arras, rich hangings of tapestry, silver vessels, and such other plate as would furnish several cupboards, to the sum oftentimes of a thousand or two thousand pounds at the least; but the rest of the house was proportionably furnished. In the abodes of knights, gentlemen, merchants, and some other wealthy citizens, it is not unusual to behold a great profusion of tapestry, Turkish work, pewter, brass, fine linen, and costly cupboards of plate, worth five or six hundred or a thousand pounds.’ But the tide of luxury invaded even the lower orders. ‘The inferior artificers, and main farmers, who, by virtue of their old, not of their new leases, (says the chronicler,) learned to garnish also their cupboards with plate, their joined beds with tapestry and silk hangings, and their tables with carpets and fine linen. There are old men yet dwelling in the village where I remain,’ says Holinshed, ‘which have noted three things to be marvellously altered in England, within their sound remembrance; and other three things too, too much increased. One is the multitude of chimneys lately erected: whereas, in their young days, there were not above two or three, if so many, in most up-landish towns of the realms, (the religious houses, and manor places of their lords always excepted, and, peradventure, some great personages,) but each one made his fire against a reredosse in the hall, where he dined and dressed his meat. The second, is the great (although not general) amendment of lodging; for, said they, our fathers, yea, and we also ourselves, have lain full oft on straw pallets, or rough mats, covered only with a sheet or coverlets, made of dagswain^[3] or hop-harlots^[4]; and a good round log under their heads, instead of a bolster and pillow. If our forefathers had, within seven years after their marriage, purchased a mattress or flock-bed, and added thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he considered himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, who, probably, himself, seldom lay on a bed of down, or whole feathers; so contented were they with simple fare. Indeed, even now^[5], in some parts of Bedfordshire, and elsewhere farther in the south, the same plans are pretty much pursued. Pillows were only for an indulgence to the sick. As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well; for rarely had they any thing under their bodies, to protect them from the pricking straws, which often found their way through the canvass of the pallet. The third thing they speak of, is the exchange of vessels; as pewter for treen^[6] platters, and silver or tin spoons, for wooden ones; for so common were all sorts of treen ware in old times, that a person could hardly find four pieces of pewter, including the salt-cellar, in a good farmer’s house; and yet, in spite of this frugality, they were scarcely able to live, and pay their rents, without selling a cow, or a horse, or more, although they paid but four pounds, at the uttermost, by the year.’

“It is impossible not to smile at Holinshed’s enumeration of the evils attendant upon the introduction of chimneys. Colds, catarrhs, &c. are included; whilst he gravely assures us, that whilst they had only reredosses, their heads were free from pain. Smoke being considered not only a sufficient hardener of the timber in the house, but the best medicine to keep the good man and his family from the quack, or catarrhs, which were then but little known.”

Mrs. Spencer smilingly remarked, that she supposed our forefathers would willingly have acquiesced in the observation, that, “Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” “But,” she added, “I believe they took their meals at much earlier hours than are at present in fashion.”

“Yes,” answered Mr. Wilmot: “the nobility and gentry dined at eleven o’clock before noon, and supped at five, or between five and six o’clock in the evening. The merchants seldom dined or supped before twelve at noon, or six at night, especially in London. The husbandmen dined at high noon, and supped at seven or eight; but out of term, in our universities, the scholars dined at ten.

“Great silence was observed at the tables of the ‘honourable and wise;’ and it seems that a curious custom prevailed amongst artificers and husbandmen, of each guest bringing his own dish, or so many with him, as his wife and he could agree upon.

“Abundance and unbounded liberality, prevailed at the entertainments of the great. The cooks, at this period, seem to have been mostly Frenchmen, or strangers. Besides the usual meats, and the delicacies that the season afforded, red deer is particularly enumerated. It was usual to reserve the beginning of every dish for the greatest personage sitting at table, to whom it was handed up by the waiters, as order required; from whom it again descended to the lower end, so that every guest tasted of it. Unexpected and numerous visitors flocked to the mansions of the nobility and gentry, and rendered it necessary not only to retain a large retinue of servants, but a very ample supply of provisions.

“The chief part of the food was brought in before them, chiefly on silver vessels, if they were of the degree of barons, bishops, and upwards, and placed on their tables. What was left, was sent down to their serving-men and waiters; and their reversion was bestowed upon the poor, who waited in flocks at their gates to receive the bounty.

“A daily allowance was appointed for their halls, where the chief officers and household servants, (for all were not permitted by custom to sit with their lord,) with such inferior guests as were not high enough to associate with the nobleman himself, took their meals.

“In the houses of the nobles, pots, goblets, jugs of silver, with Venice glasses of all shapes, were commonly in use. In inferior habitations, ‘pots of earth, of various colours and moulds, many of them garnished with silver, were in requisition; and pewter supplied the place of more costly utensils, amongst the still lower ranks. When any one had drank, he made the cup clean by pouring out what remained, and restoring the vessel to the cupboard again. Gentlemen and merchants maintained about an equality at their tables, varying the number of dishes according to the resort of strangers; yet even these maintained an ordinary for their servants, independent of what was left by the family.’ Venison appears to have been with them a favourite, and by no means rare dish; and at certain feasts given by them, they appear to have rivalled the haughty barons, in the variety and sumptuousness of the dishes prepared. Butchers’ meat was rejected with disdain; and some very minute particulars have reached us, of the ornamental parts of these entertainments. Amongst them, jellies of various colours and forms are named. ‘Marchpain wrought with no small curiosity, tarts of various hues and sundry denominations, conserves of old fruits and home bred, suckets, sugar-bread, ginger-bread florentines, with several outlandish confections, altogether seasoned with sugar,’ seem to have borne a conspicuous part.

“We are as ignorant of the excellence of some of these highly-extolled dishes,” said Mr. Wilmot, as he paused for a few moments, “as our ancestors were of many of those fruits and vegetables, which are now familiar to the lowest class. I allude to melons, pompions, gourds, cucumbers, radishes, skirrets, parsnips, turnips, carrots, cabbages, and all kinds of salad herbs. These, from the time of Henry the Fourth, to the latter end of Henry the Seventh, and beginning of Henry the Eighth’s reign, were not only unknown, but were considered as food suitable alone for hogs and other animals. After this period, they not only became plentiful among the higher orders, who were in the habit of sending abroad yearly for new seeds, but found their way commonly to the inferior classes.

“At the same era, gardening received a new impulse; and the ingenuity and care of the florist, is spoken of in terms of high eulogium, together with some little appearance of incredulity, as relates to the practicability of the theories advanced; theories which are now comprehended by the most humble individual. It may also surprise you to learn, that the culture of medicinal herbs formed a very important and useful branch of the gardener’s calendar, at this time; and noblemen and gentlemen devoted to them large plots of ground, and mingled them with the flowers which adorned their parterres.

“The varieties of fruit which were likewise introduced at this epoch, are mentioned with a tone of exultation, that may cause a similar feeling of surprise on your part, my little cousins,” said Mr. Wilmot, “accustomed as you are to regard them as the natural produce of autumn.

“‘Delicate apples, plums, pears, walnuts, and filberts,’ are included in this catalogue; whilst apricots, peaches, almonds, and figs, are spoken of as strange fruit, introduced within the last forty years of the author’s account, and cultivated only in the orchards of the nobility.”

“The word comfortable,” said Mrs. Spencer, “understood in no other country so well as in England, could not, I think, have been applied, as characteristic of the mode of living practised by our ancestors.”

“Not according to our modern ideas,” answered Mr. Wilmot; “but I will relate a few more anecdotes, descriptive of ancient customs and manners.

“Previous to the time of Elizabeth, instead of glass, the windows of houses in the country were composed either of lattice made of wicker, or of spars of oak placed in chequer; but in the reign of the ‘maiden queen,’ glass becoming cheaper, this mode of admitting light fell into disuse.”

“I do not wonder that they were glad to exchange,” said Susan: “it must have rendered the houses cold and comfortless.”

“But you forget,” said Mr. Wilmot, “they must have formed nice avenues for the smoke to escape, when there were not any chimneys. But I have omitted to mention a curious fashion, which took its rise from some learned divine, previous to the reign of Henry the Fourth, and which continued long after that of the sixth Henry. It was no other than that of taking away the father’s surname, however honourable or ancient, and substituting that of the town in which the individual was born. Thus, Richard Nottingham, a celebrated friar, was named from an island where he was born, near Gloucester. William Barton, a famous doctor, and chancellor of Oxford in Richard the Second’s reign, from Barton in Lincolnshire. Walter Disse, of Disse in Suffolk, a Carmelite friar, and confessor to the duke and duchess of Lancaster, in Henry the Fourth’s reign. Richard Hampoole, from a town in Yorkshire, a zealous doctor, and afterwards a virtuous hermit, in Henry the Sixth’s days. Hundreds of others followed this example, among whom may be enumerated William Wainfleet, bishop of Winchester, lord chancellor of England, and founder of Magdalen College, Oxford. His original name was Paten; but he altered it to the name of the town of which he was a native. To this whimsical notion may be traced many of our present surnames, such as German, or Germin, which was assumed out of affection to Germany, the country from which their forefathers came. Jute, Jud, and Chute, from the tribe of Judes, one of the German nations who came over with Hengist and Horsa; and Calthrop, Caltrap, and Caltrop, were all but for Caldthorp, signifying a cold town. Paten, Patten, or Patent, is likewise derived from the Saxon word Pate, the sole of the foot, and therefrom Patan, signifying flat-footed.

“Before the Reformation, there were very few free-schools in England. Latin was generally taught to the youths at the monasteries. In the nunneries were taught needle-work, confectionery, surgery, and physic, (surgeons and apothecaries being then very rare,) writing, drawing, &c.

“Before the civil wars, in gentlemen’s houses, at Christmas, the first dish that was brought to table, was a boar’s head with a lemon in its mouth. The first dish that was brought to table on Easter-day, was a red herring, riding away on horseback; that is, a herring served up by the cook in a corn-salad, to look like a man on horseback. A gammon of bacon was eaten at Easter, to show the abhorrence of Judaism, at that solemn commemoration of our Lord’s resurrection.

“In 1486, the reign of Henry the Seventh, a certain number of archers, and other strong, active persons, were constituted by this monarch yeomen of the guard, and were in daily attendance upon his person. This was the first English monarch that instituted a bodyguard; and it was generally thought that he took his precedent from France.

“In 1568, noblemen’s and gentlemen’s coats were made in the same fashion as those of yeomen of the guard; and in 1678, the benchers of the inns of Court still maintained that fashion in the making of their gowns.

“The Normans brought with them civility into England. In those days, upon any occasion of bustle of business, great lords sounded their trumpets, and summoned all those that they held under them. Sir Walter Long, of Draycott, kept a trumpeter, and rode with thirty servants and retainers; from whence took the rise of the sheriff’s trumpets.

“Gentlemen carried prodigious fans, with very long handles: with these their daughters were often corrected. The lord chief justice, Sir Edward Coke, rode the circuit with a fan of this description: the earl of Manchester also used a fan; and both fathers and mothers slashed their daughters with them, when they were grown up women. At Oxford and Cambridge, the rod was frequently used by the tutors and deans; and Dr. Potter, of Trinity College, in the year 1669, or thereabouts, whipped his pupil who had a sword by his side.

“The conversation and habits of these times were starched and formal: gravity often passed for wisdom, and quibbles for wit, even in clergymen’s sermons. The gentry and citizens had little learning of any kind; and their way of bringing up their children was suitable to all the rest. They were as severe as schoolmasters to them, and the schoolmasters were as severe as governors of houses of correction. The child, consequently, dreaded the sight of his parents. Gentlemen of thirty and forty years of age, stood like mutes and bare-headed before them; and the daughters, when grown young women, stood at the cupboard-side, during the whole time of the proud mother’s visit, unless, as the fashion then was, leave was requested that a cushion might be given them to kneel upon, when they had done sufficient penance by standing, and which was brought them by a serving-man.

“Learning seems to have advanced much during Elizabeth’s reign. ‘It was rare to find a courtier unacquainted with any language but his own. The ladies studied Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian. The more elderly among them exercised themselves, some with the needle, some with caul-work, (probably netting,) divers in spinning silk; some in continual reading, either of the Holy Scriptures, or of histories either of their own or foreign countries; divers in writing volumes of their own, or translating the works of others into Latin or English: whilst the younger ones, in the meantime, applied to their lutes, citharmes, pricksong, and all kinds of music. Many of the more ancient, were also skilful in surgery and distillation of waters, besides sundry artificial practices pertaining to the ornature and commendation of their bodies. This,’ adds our author, ‘I will generally say of them all, that, as each of them are cunning in something whereby they keep themselves occupied in the court; there is, in manner, none of them, but when they be at home, can help to supply the ordinary want of the kitchen, with a number of delicate dishes of their own contriving: wherein the portingal is their chief counsellor, as some of them are most commonly with the clerk of the kitchen, &c.’

“‘Every office at court,’ says the same author, (Holinshed,) ‘had a Bible, or the book of the Acts and Monuments of the Church of England, or both; besides some histories and chronicles lying therein, for the exercise of such as come into the same.’”

Mrs. Spencer smiled and said, that the praise bestowed upon the ladies of Elizabeth’s reign, was no small commendation. Learned, accomplished, and domestic, they seemed the very acmÉ of excellence.

The bell now announced company. Susan and Ann quitted the gallery with reluctance; and not before they had obtained a promise from Mr. Wilmot, that they should visit it on the following day.