Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/336

 324 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE varied under the different reigns and with the various races. The houses of the Franconians were built with the dwelling, stable, barn, and sheds all in a close square, so that the owner could easily go from one to the other without setting foot outside his own walls. The houses of the Suabian peasants consisted of two storeys ; the stable was on the ground floor, and the sheds were under the same roof. In the Saxon peasant house the hearth was built in the middle, and the peasant's wife from her seat behind it could keep an eye on the whole establishment at once — children, servants, horses and cows, garret, cellar and dwelling-rooms. The seat by the hearth was the best in the house. The fire was kept burning on the hearth all day long, and smouldered on through the night, only being put out, according to old custom, at the death of the head of the house. 1 The very walls gave evidence of the deep devotion of the peasant to his home ; the frescoed ploughshare, sickle, sheaf, or the vine-hoe, told how proud the owner was of his work. ' The Book of Fruits ' says : ' The true peasant has no greater blessing than his house and wife and children. He loves his work and holds his calling in high esteem, for God Himself instituted it in Paradise.' A popular song ran thus : ' The knight said, "I am born of a noble race." The peasant spoke : " I cultivate the corn ; that is the better part. Did I not work you could not exist on your heraldry," &c.' The tiller of the soil played an important part in the communal organisation which regulated the duties and rights of each member. Each associate was called 1 These customs still exist among the well-to-do peasants in Schleswick and of Oldenburg (Rhiel, Familic, p. 213).