Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/131

Rh from Damascus. A massive fireplace and chimney characterised the parlour, and a coal fire, necessitating the invention of tongs, supplemented the use of logs. Wooden benches, usually to hold three people, were attached to the walls, while the rest of the furniture included a movable wooden chair, a table on trestles, a cupboard, and curtains of "worsted," which material was now being made at the little Norfolk village of that name. This worsted supplied a substitute for the rich tapestry which still helped to keep out draughts from the large hall and added warmth and comfort to the parlour. But perhaps the most important feature of the new room was the large window recess, furnished on either side with goodly benches of stone-work, the windows glazed with small diamond-shaped panes. These recesses formed pleasant retreats for the maiden with her distaff, as also for the young squire or gallant who sought to court her, with all the romantic fervour that characterised the age. From this window, too, could be witnessed those festivities which still made the old halls ring with joyous mirth. The walls of the parlour were usually painted. For some time past it had been considered a luxury to smooth the surface of walls with cement and to panel the