The following anecdote is related of Robert de Insula, or Halieland, a man
of low birth, and one of the bishops of Durham:--Having given his mother
an establishment suitable to his own rank, and asking her once, when he
went to see her, how she fared, she answered, "Never worse!"--"What
troubles thee?" said the bishop; "hast thou not men and women enough to
attend thee?"--"Yea," quoth the old woman, "and more than enough! I say to
one--go, and he runs; to another--come hither, fellow! and the varlet
falls down on his knees;--and, in short, all things go on so abominably
smooth, that my heart is bursting for something to spite me, and pick a
quarrel withal!" The ducking-stool may have been a very needful piece of
public furniture in those days, when it was deemed one characteristic of a
notable housewife to be a good scold, and when women of a certain
description sought, in the use of vituperation, that sort of excitement
which they now obtain from a bottle and a glass.
* * * * *
The magnificent bishop of Durham, Antony Beke, once gave forty shillings
for as many fresh herrings; and hearing someone say, "This cloth is so
dear that even bishop Antony would not venture to pay for it," immediately
ordered it to be brought and cut up into horse-cloths.
* * * * *