HORSELYDOWN FAIR, IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.—Page 255.NOOKS AND CORNERS
OF
ENGLISH LIFE,
Past and Present.
BY
JOHN TIMBS,
AUTHOR OF "STRANGE STORIES OF THE ANIMAL WORLD,"
"THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN," ETC.
SECOND EDITION.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
LONDON:
GRIFFITH AND FARRAN,
(Successors to Newbery and Harris,)
CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.
M DCCC LXVII.
PREFACE.
Pictures of the Domestic Manners of our forefathers, at some of the mostattractive periods of English History, form the staple of the presentvolume. These Pictures are supplemented by Sketches of subordinateScenes and Incidents which illustrate great changes in Society, and tendto show, in different degrees, the Past as the guide for the Present andthe Future.
The value and interest of Archæological studies in bringing home to ourvery doors the information required of special localities, and theirformer life, have, it is hoped, been made available by the Author ofthis work, so far as to render it acceptable as well for the soundnessof its information as for its entertaining character. The antiquary ofold was but, in many instances, "a gatherer of other men's stuff;"whereas the archæologist of the present day adds to the worth ofantiquarian studies by placing their results in new lights, and thusextending the utility and amusement which they afford.
The materials for writing English History are inexhaustible; and one ofthe aims of this work is to seize upon and group from such storesleading facts and transitions, and by means of condensation to presenttheir narratives in a more tangible form than that in which they wereoriginally written. In this task the Author has brought to bear, from avariety of accredited sources, evidences of the condition of the Englishpeople—in their "woods and caves, and painted skins"—their homes andmodes of living, in cavern and castle, mansion and cottage; the originof their Domestic Inventions and Contrivances in the several stages ofcomfort; House-furnishing, Dress and Personal Ornament; Provisions andOlden Cookery, and Housewifery; Peasant Life, with its curious Customs,Laws, and Ceremonies; Fairs and Festivals and Amusements. To thesesucceed a few Historic Sketches: Traditions of Battle-fields, and othermemorable sites; Mansions and their Families: romantic Narratives,Portraits of eminent Persons, &c.
The authorities and sources of information conveyed in the followingpages, are fully acknowledged. "Quotation," said Johnson, "is a goodthing; there is a community of mind in it;" although some writers seemto ride upon their readers, like Pyrrhus on his elephant, forgettingthat "there is not so poor a book in the world, that would not be aprodigious effort, were it wrought out entirely by a single hand,without the aid of prior investigation." Real antiquarianism has beenwell defined as a lively knowledge of the Past, comprehending the spiritof a period through the details of its customs, events, andinstitutions; the language of its writers, the movements of its sciencesand arts; and, by keeping in view these points, the writer of thepresent volume hopes he has su