Page:The Annual Register 1758.djvu/280

 not bind up their corn in sheaves, as they do with us, but directly as they have reaped or mowed it, put it into carts, and convey it into their barns.

 

HE English are serious, and, like the Germans, lovers of show; liking to be followed where-ever they go by whole troops of servants, who wear their masters arms in silver, fastened to their left arms; a ridicule they very deservedly lay under. They excel in dancing and music, for they are active and lively, though of a thicker make than the French. They cut their hair close on the middle of the head, letting it grow on either side. They are good sailors, and better pirates, cunning, treacherous, and thievish; above 300 are said to be hanged annually in London. Beheading with them is less infamous than hanging. They give the wall as the place of honour. Hawking is the general sport of the gentry. They are more polite in eating than the French, devouring less bread, but more meat, which they roast in perfection. They put a great deal of sugar in their drink. Their beds are covered with tapestry, even those of farmers. They are often molested with the scurvy, said to have first crept into England with the Norman conquest. Their houses are commonly of two stories, except in London, where they are of three and four, though but seldom of four; they are built of wood, those of the richer sort with bricks; their roofs are low, and where the owner has money, covered with lead.

They are powerful in the field, successful against their enemies, impatient of any thing like slavery; vastly fond of great noises that fill the ear, such as the firing of cannon, drums, and the ringing of bells, so that it is common for a number of them, that have got a glass in their heads, to go up into some belfry, and ring the bells for hours together, for the sake of exercise. If they see a foreigner very well made, or particularly handsome, they will say it is a pity he is not an Englishman.

 

HENRY.

By the King.

E wol and commaunde you to allowe dailly from hensforth, unto our right dere and wel beloved, the Lady Lucy, in- 