278 iVATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 



very ftrong and tranfparent as a bladder. This Siaa, is lifted off 



or put on with a pole, which is reckoned a moft neceffary piece 



of furniture in every farm-houfe. Thofe that come to a farm- 



houfe about any important bufinefs, efpecially courtfhip, rauft lay 



hold of this pole before they utter a word, according to ancient 



fo o g m fwith°. r cuftom. The fmoke pafles through the faid Liur, or lighthole, 



GilrStor* out of tnQjfe kind of rooms which are called Rog-Stuer, to diftin- 



w°Sdowt h g uifll tnem f rom tIie Glar-Stuerne, or houfe with windows. The 



chimney in the former, as in the farm-houfes in Holftein, does 



not go through the cieling, which is arched, and about fix or 



eight feet high in the middle ; fo that the fmoke flies about till it 



finds a vent at the above-mentioned opening. This cuftom ieems 



to be very hurtful to the eyes ; but as the fmoke meets with no 



obftru&ion, it foon rifes fo high as to be above a man's head, and 



it is eafily feen how low it falls by the colour of the walls, which. 



are not fo black in fuch Rog-Stuerne, or fmoke-rooms, as in fome 



that have chimnies. 



Even kings have formerly lived in fuch houfes, nor did they 

 know of any better method till the eleventh century, when king 

 Oluf Kyrre broke that difagreeable cuftom of building fire-places 

 in the middle of the rooms, and ordered chimnies and ftoves to be 

 erected. This muft be underftood of his own palace, and at the 

 houfes of perfons of diftinction ; for to this day ftoves and chim- 

 nies are ufed but in few places by the common peafants in this 

 province. Under the Liuren, or light-hole, generally ftands a long 

 thick table and benches of the fame wood. At the upper-end of 

 the table is the Hoy-Saedet, or high-feat, which belongs to the 

 mafter of the houfe only, who has alfo a little cupboard for his own 

 nfe, in which he locks up all his valuable things. In towns they 

 cover their houfes with tiles; but in the country they lay over the 

 boards the fappy bark of birch-trees, which will not decay in 

 many years. They cover this again with turf, three or four inches 

 thick, which keeps the houfe clofe and warm. Sometimes you 

 may fee fervice-trees, and always good grafs growing upon the 

 turf, which induces the goats to leap about, and climb up there 

 for good pafture ; and many a farmer mows it, and gets a pretty 

 good load of hay from the top of his houfe *. 



SECT. 



* As I have before quoted out of Chev. Chardin's Voyage en Perfe, feveral ex- 

 amples of the Georgians and the Mingrelians agreeing with the Norwegians in 



bread, 



