Part 17 (1/2)
”In every parish was a church house, to which belonged spits, crocks, and other utensils for dressing provisions. Here the housekeepers met.
The young people were there too, and had dancing, bowling, shooting at b.u.t.ts, etc., the ancients [_i.e._ old folks] sitting gravely by, and looking on.”
The churchwardens bought, and received presents of, a large quant.i.ty of malt, which they brewed into beer and sold to the company. Hence these feasts were called ”church ales,” and were held on the feast of the dedication of the church, the proceeds being devoted to the maintenance of the poor. Sometimes they were held at Whitsuntide also, sometimes four times a year, and sometimes as often as money was wanted or a feast desired. An arbour of boughs was erected in the churchyard on these occasions called Robin Hood's Bower, where the maidens collected money for the ”ales,” and ”all went merry as a marriage bell”--rather too merry sometimes, for the ale was strong and the villagers liked it, and the ballad-singer was so merry, and the company so hearty--and was it not all for a good cause, the support of the poor? The character of these festivals deteriorated so much, until at last ”church ales” were prohibited altogether, on account of the excess to which they gave rise.
[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ANCIENT VILLAGE]
There was a large amount of gaiety in the old villages in those days.
Men were not in so great a hurry to grow rich as they are now. The Church authorised many holidays in the course of the year; and what with May Day festivities, Plough Mondays, Hocktide and Shrovetide sports, harvest suppers, fairs, and ”ales,” the villagers had plenty of amus.e.m.e.nt, and their lives certainly could not be described as dull.
Sometimes the village would be enlivened by the presence of a company of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury, or to Holywell, blessed by St. Winifred, in order to be cured of some disease. Although these pilgrims were deemed to be engaged on a religious duty, they certainly were not generally very serious or sad.
Chaucer describes a very joyous pilgrimage in his _Canterbury Tales_, how the company met at the Tabard Inn, in Southwark, including the knight and the abbot, the prioress and the s.h.i.+pman, the squire and the merchant, the ploughman and sompnour (or summoner, ”of whose visage children were sore afeard”), and rode forth gaily in the spring suns.h.i.+ne--
”The holy blissful martyr for to seek, That them hath holpen when that they were sick.”
Pilgrim crosses are numerous all over England, where the pilgrims halted for their devotions by the way, and sometimes we find churches planted on the roadside far from human habitations, with no paris.h.i.+oners near them; and some people wonder why they were so built.
These were pilgrim churches, built for the convenience of the travellers as they wended their way to Canterbury. The villages through which they pa.s.sed must have been much enlivened by the presence of these not very austere companies.
The ordinary lives of the farmers were diversified by the visits to the weekly markets held in the neighbouring town, where they took their fat capons, eggs, b.u.t.ter, and cheese. Here is a curious relic of olden times, an ancient market proclamation, which breathes the spirit of former days, and which was read a few years ago at Broughton-in-Furness, by the steward of the lord of the manor, from the steps of the old market cross. These are the words:--
”O yes, O yes, O yes![10] The lord of the manor of Broughton and of this fair and market strictly chargeth and commandeth on Her Majesty's behalf, that all manners of persons repairing to this fair and market do keep Her Majesty's peace, upon pain of five pounds to be forfeited to Her Majesty, and their bodies to be imprisoned during the lord's pleasure. Also that no manner of person within this fair and market do bear any bill, battle-axe, or other prohibited weapons, but such as be appointed by the lord's officers to keep this fair or market, upon pain of forfeiture of all such weapons and further imprisonment. Also, that no manner of person do pick any quarrel, matter, or cause for any old grudge or malice to make any perturbation or trouble, upon pain of five pounds, to be forfeited to the lord, and their bodies to be imprisoned.
Also, that none buy or sell in corners, back sides, or hidden places, but in open fair or market, upon pain of forfeiture of all such goods and merchandise so bought and sold, and their bodies to imprisonment.
Also, that no manner of persons shall sell any goods with unlawful mete or measures, yards or weights, but such as be lawful and keep the true a.s.size, upon pain of forfeiture of all such goods and further imprisonment. Lastly, if any manner of persons do here find themselves grieved, or have any injuries or wrong committed or done against them, let them repair to the lord or his officers, and there they shall be heard according to right, equity, and justice. G.o.d save the Queen and the lord of the manor!”
And besides the weekly markets there were the great annual fairs, which lasted many days, and were frequented by all cla.s.ses of the population.
These fairs were absolutely necessary for the trade of the country in the days when few people travelled far from their own homesteads, and even the towns with their small number of inhabitants did not afford a sufficient market for the farmer's and trader's stock.
The greatest of all English fairs was held in the little village of Stourbridge, near Cambridge, now almost absorbed by the University town. Hither flocked merchants and traders from all parts of Europe.
Flemish merchants brought their fine linen and cloths from the great commercial cities of Belgium. Genoese and Venetian traders came with their stores of Eastern goods. Spaniards and Frenchmen brought their wines, and the merchants of the Hanse towns of Germany sold furs and flax, ornaments and spices, while in return for all these treasures our English farmers brought the rich fleeces of their sheep, their corn, horses, and cattle. The booths were planted in a cornfield, and the circuit of the fair, which was like a well-governed city, was over three miles. The shops were built in streets or rows, some named after the various nations that congregated there, and others after the kind of goods offered for sale. There were Garlick Row, Bookseller's Row, Cook Row; there were a cheese fair, a hop fair, a wool fair, and every trade was represented, together with taverns, eating-houses, and in later years playhouses of various descriptions. In the eighteenth century one hundred thousand pounds' worth of woollen manufactures was sold in a week in one row alone. A thousand pack-horses were used to convey the goods of the Lancas.h.i.+re merchants to this famous fair. Now railways have supplanted the pack-horses; fairs have had their day; the trade of the country can now be carried on without them; and their relics with their shows and shooting-galleries and steam roundabouts have become a nuisance.
The peaceful life of the villagers was sometimes disturbed by the sounds and sights of conflict. The exciting tales of war are connected with the history of many an English village, and many ”little Wilhelmines” and labouring ”grandsires” have discovered ”something large and round,” traces of these ancient conflicts and ”famous victories.”
”For often when they go to plough The ploughshare turns them out, 'And many thousand men,' quoth he, 'Were slain in that great victory.'”
Many a lance and sword, and gilt spur, beautifully enamelled, which once decked the heel of a n.o.ble knight, have been found in our fields, and remind us of those battles which were fought so long ago.
”The knights are dust, Their good swords rust, Their souls are with the saints, we trust.”
Sometimes the spectres of armed knights and warriors are supposed to haunt these scenes of ancient slaughter, and popular superst.i.tion has handed down the memory of the battles which were fought so long ago. It tells us of the mythical records of the fights of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table by the banks of the River Douglas, which ran with blood for three days, so terrible was the slaughter. It tells us how stubbornly the Britons resisted the Roman armies, so that on one occasion not one Briton was left to tell the tale of their defeat.
When we visit the site of some battle with the history book in our hand, it is possible to imagine the lonely hillside peopled again with the dense ranks of English archers, or hear the clanging of the armour as the men-at-arms charged for ”St. George and merry England”; and the air will be full again of the battle-cries, of the groans of the wounded and the shouts of the victors.
Visit the scene of the battle of Hastings. Here on the high ground, flanked by a wood, stood the brave English, under the leaders.h.i.+p of Harold, with his banner, woven with gold and jewels, s.h.i.+ning conspicuously in the morning sunlight. Here they stood in the form of a wedge; there they turned the Normans, and put them to flight. Then the Normans rallied, pretended to fly, decoyed the brave English from their position, and by stratagem succeeded in defeating them at last.
Or go to the Madingley Windmill, near Cambridge, and see the fifteen miles of rich drained cornfields which intervene between ”Ely's stately fane” and the spot on which you are standing. Here read Kingsley's well-known story of _Hereward; or, The Last of the English_, and instead of the rich cornfields you will see that black abyss of mud and bottomless slime into which sank the flower of Norman chivalry as they tried to cross that treacherous bog to conquer the gallant Hereward and to plunder the monastery of Ely, the last stronghold of the English. On they came, thousands upon thousands, rus.h.i.+ng along the floating bridge which they had formed, until at last it gave way beneath the weight, and the black slime swallowed up the miserable wretches.
Or let us take our stand on the Round Tower, near the summit of the Edge Hill, and see the site of the first battle between the troops of Charles I. and the soldiers of the Parliament. The whole of that green lane was lined with troops. In a cottage which stood at our feet the king breakfasted before the battle; from that mound he surveyed the forces of the enemy. Just as the bells in yonder church had ceased to ring for service on Sunday afternoon the cannon began to roar, and the fight commenced. There Prince Rupert charged with headlong fury, carrying all before him. And so we can follow the fortunes of the fight until the brave Cavaliers retired to rest--
”And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die.”