CHAT. III. Till-: STATE OF Till-: i;<>.\l>s. 



fires knitting, plaiting, and spinning by their light. 

 even in the daytime. Glass had not yet come into 

 general use, and the openings in the wall which served 

 for windows had necessarily to be shut up close to keep 

 out the cold, though at the same time this shut out the 

 light. The chimney, usually of lath and plaster ending 

 overhead in a cone arid funnel for the smoke, was so 

 roomy in the old cottages as to accommodate almost the 

 whole family sitting around the fire of logs piled in the 

 reredosse in the middle, and there they carried on their 

 winter's work. Such was the domestic occupation of 

 women in the rural districts in olden times ; and it may 

 perl raps be questioned whether the revolution in our 

 social system, which has taken out of their hands so many 

 branches of household manufacture and useful domestic 

 employment, be an altogether unmixed blessing. 



Winter at an end, and the roads once more available 

 for travelling, the Fair of the district was looked forward 

 to with interest. Fairs were among the most important 

 institutions of past times, rendered necessary by the then 

 imperfect communications. Every town had its fair, 

 which was also its festival, held under the protection of 

 some patron saint ; and the business as well as the gaiety 

 of the neighbourhood usually centred on the occasion. 

 High courts were held by the Bishop or Lord of the 

 Manor, to accommodate which special buildings were 

 erected, used only at fair time. Royal charters were 

 granted to certain towns authorising them to hold fairs, 

 and granting to them peculiar privileges. 1 Amongst 

 those of the first class were Winchester, St. Botolph's 

 Town (Boston), and St. Ives. We find the great London 



1 Tin- charter of Portsdown Fair, 



held on Portsdown Hill, near Ports- 

 mouth, is said to have been granted 

 on condition that a loaf of bread was 

 |iri'sciitcd to the lord of the manor 

 from wheat that had lieen raised, 



which the fair was held. We are told 



that the ancient ceremony has heen re- 

 cently performed ; but Portsdown Fair, 

 which formerly was a great cloth- 

 market, has now degenerated into a 

 saturnalia of \Vaterlo<>-ilys, merry-go- 



- roii ud, and baked on the ground on | rounds, gin, and gingerbread-nuts. 



