Page:The child's pictorial history of England; (IA childspictorialh00corn).pdf/41

 15. Their cottages were round huts, made of the rough branches of trees, coated with clay, and thatched with straw. They had neither windows nor chimneys; but a hole was made in the roof to let out the smoke from the wood fire, kindled on a hearth in the middle of the room; and they used to bake their barley-cakes, which served them for bread, on these hearths, without any oven.

16. They made a coarse kind of cloth for clothing from the wool of their sheep, a part of which was also given to their lord, and was used to clothe the servants of his household, for the rich people got a finer cloth for themselves, which was brought from other countries.

17. Great men usually wore white cloth tunics that reached to the knee, with broad coloured borders, and belts round the waist. They had short cloaks, linen drawers and black leather shoes, with coloured bands crossed on their legs, instead of stockings. The common people wore tunics of coarse dark cloth, and shoes, but no covering on the legs.

18. But I must tell you something more about these country folks, who, at the time, formed the great mass of the English population. They were, strictly speaking, in bondage, for they could not leave the place where they were born,