62 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



Old china, dress material in flowered silk or 

 satin, and a few pieces of plate — family heir- 

 looms — found a place in the chest. 



The huge bedsteads in use were of massive 

 oak, with testers of the same substance. The 

 chairs were generally made of clumsy wainscot, 

 and some were fashioned from the trunks of 

 hollow trees— the carpenter completing what 

 time had begun. For table, there stood in the 

 common hall a board of from four to seven 

 yards in length ; the rude stand being furnished 

 with forms or benches along its sides. Upon 

 these the family and guests seated themselves 

 at meals. Maple trenchers supplied the place 

 of plates, and liquids of every description — 

 milk, broth, beer — were served in wooden 

 vessels, made with staves and hoops. 



The protection from cold and wind — which 

 freely found their way into the common hall 

 by the chimney, as well as the badly jointed 

 doors and windows — was provided against by 

 a screen placed in front of the turf fire. In the 

 centre of the hearth stood a square, upright 

 staff, having a row of holes along one of its 

 sides, its lower end fixed into a stout log of 

 wood. This simple contrivance supported the 



