[Illustration: Book Cover]
[Illustration: 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 most
attractive periods of English History, form the staple of the present
volume. These Pictures are supplemented by Sketches of subordinate
Scenes and Incidents which illustrate great changes in Society, and tend
to show, in different degrees, the Past as the guide for the Present and
the Future.
The value and interest of Archæological studies in bringing home to our
very doors the information required of special localities, and their
former life, have, it is hoped, been made available by the Author of
this work, so far as to render it acceptable as well for the soundness
of its information as for its entertaining character. The antiquary of
old was but, in many instances, "a gatherer of other men's stuff;"
whereas the archæologist of the present day adds to the worth of
antiquarian studies by placing their results in new lights, and thus
extending the utility and amusement which they afford.
The materials for writing English History are inexhaustible; and one of
the aims of this work is to seize upon and group from such stores
leading facts and transitions, and by means of condensation to present
their narratives in a more tangible form than that in which they were
originally written. In this task the Author has brought to bear, from a
variety of accredited sources, evidences of the condition of the English
people--in their "woods and caves, and painted skins"--their homes and
modes of living, in cavern and castle, mansion and cottage; the origin
of their Domestic Inventions and Contrivances in the several stages of
comfort; House-furnishing, Dress and Personal Ornament; Provisions and
Olden Cookery, and Housewifery; Peasant Life, with its curious Customs,
Laws, and Ceremonies; Fairs and Festivals and Amusements. To these
succeed a few Historic Sketches: Traditions of Battle-fields, and other
memorable sites; Mansions and their Families: romantic Narratives,
Portraits of eminent Persons, &c.
The authorities and sources of information conveyed in the following
pages, are fully acknowledged. "Quotation," said Johnson, "is a good
thing; there is a community of mind in it;" although some writers seem
to ride upon their readers, like Pyrrhus on his elephant, forgetting
that "there is not so poor a book in the world, that would not be a
prodigious effort, were it wrought out entirely by a single hand,
without the aid of prior investigation." Real antiquarianism has been
well defined as a lively knowledge of the Past, comprehending the spirit
of a period through the details of its customs, events, and
institutions; the language of its writers, the movements of its sciences
and arts; and, by keeping in view these points, the writer of the
present volume hopes he has succeeded in producing a recreative result
worthy of the acceptance of the reader.