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<v Speaker 1>Chapter eighteen of Unknown London, written by Walter George Bell.

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<v Speaker 1>This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Janet,

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<v Speaker 1>Chapter eighteen A London Household of A d. Thirteen thirty seven.

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<v Speaker 1>London has preserved its archives in an unbroken series for

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<v Speaker 1>a longer period, probably than any other city in the world,

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<v Speaker 1>and there is hardly an incident arising in the lives

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<v Speaker 1>of citizens long centuries back which is not illustrated in

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<v Speaker 1>one or other of the vast accumulation of documents at

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<v Speaker 1>guild Hall. I have picked out two or three to

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<v Speaker 1>tell from them the brief life story of Hugh le Beaver.

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<v Speaker 1>The tragedy of it interests me less than the light

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<v Speaker 1>which the parchments throw upon the domestic surroundings of a

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<v Speaker 1>humble household close upon six hundred years ago. Hugh le

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<v Speaker 1>Beaver might have been one of the many skilled craftsmen

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<v Speaker 1>of London, laboring long hours at his trade while daylight lasted,

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<v Speaker 1>and bound to his guild and his master. What that

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<v Speaker 1>trade was, whether sporrier, cutler, glover, Pelterer, I had small

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<v Speaker 1>chance of telling, for he figures only as Felon, but

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<v Speaker 1>with such exemplary completeness are the city records kept that

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<v Speaker 1>I was able to find a will, dated seven years later,

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<v Speaker 1>of another citizen to whom his tenement passed, and therein

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<v Speaker 1>Hugh is described as Mintner. He was living ten years

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<v Speaker 1>after King Edward three had ascended the English throne the

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<v Speaker 1>year thirteen thirty seven, in a house that stood in

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<v Speaker 1>the ward of Candlewick Street, which now we call Cannon Street,

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<v Speaker 1>within the city's encircling wall. Murder was done there. The

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<v Speaker 1>neighbors breaking in, found the wife, Alice, lying stark and

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<v Speaker 1>dead upon the floor. A knife was flung into the corner,

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<v Speaker 1>and Hugh, he was childless and perhaps but recently married,

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<v Speaker 1>crouched beside the corpse. He would say nothing, nor would

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<v Speaker 1>he plead when indicted before the coroner and the sheriffs.

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<v Speaker 1>And why that crime was committed, and whether Hugh le

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<v Speaker 1>Beaver was blood guilty, none to this day can tell.

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<v Speaker 1>The King's justiciars, finding him still obdurate, he refused the

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<v Speaker 1>law of England, committed him to the jail of Newgate

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<v Speaker 1>there in penance to remain until he should be dead. Penance,

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<v Speaker 1>as understood in med evil days, was close and solitary confinement,

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<v Speaker 1>with an unvarying and insufficient ration of bread and water.

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<v Speaker 1>Horrible enough, I grant, but it lacks the revolting torture

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<v Speaker 1>of the press yard introduced in a later and what

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<v Speaker 1>should have been a more refined age, when in that

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<v Speaker 1>same jail of Newgate the practice was to place heavy

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<v Speaker 1>weights upon the body and pressed to death felons who

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<v Speaker 1>sought to defeat the course of the law by refusing

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<v Speaker 1>to plead. I have myself tramped over the press yard

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<v Speaker 1>at the demolition of Dance's prison, then still bearing its

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<v Speaker 1>horrid name. This crime of murder was committed on the

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<v Speaker 1>last days of October thirteen thirty seven, and two months later,

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<v Speaker 1>on the twenty seventh December, Hugh le Beaver was dead. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>the sheriffs had seized his possessions, and these they sold

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<v Speaker 1>first drying up an inventory which sets out, with the

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<v Speaker 1>order of a housekeeper's book, the domestic arrangements of this

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<v Speaker 1>fourteenth century household. The vintner made good money for his

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<v Speaker 1>furniture and clothing were appraised at the value of twelve

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<v Speaker 1>pound eighteen shilling four pence, a sum in the then

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<v Speaker 1>money values far above the competence of any of the

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<v Speaker 1>poorer workers to a mass. The house consisted of two apartments,

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<v Speaker 1>one above the other. The lower room, which was kitchen

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<v Speaker 1>and keeping room. In one had a part partitioned off

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<v Speaker 1>for a hall, and this also contained a larder. It

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<v Speaker 1>had a chimney and a grate. Light came in through

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<v Speaker 1>the one window. An oriel built at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the hall, probably a recess, with a bay window, the

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<v Speaker 1>upper part of which alone was glazed on account of

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<v Speaker 1>the great expense of glass, the remainder being closed by

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<v Speaker 1>a wooden shutter. In the room below the window was

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<v Speaker 1>the high bench some umscamnum. Before the house was a

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<v Speaker 1>single step up to the street door, and a porch

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<v Speaker 1>covering or pent house. A door at the back led

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<v Speaker 1>to the buttery, where stood ranched six casks of wine,

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<v Speaker 1>the value of each cask being one mark. A trestle

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<v Speaker 1>table and two chairs, the last valued at fourpence each

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<v Speaker 1>were the only furniture, but the kitchen was well supplied

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<v Speaker 1>with serviceable utensils. There were eight brass pots, not counting

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<v Speaker 1>one broken andreans, basins, a washing vessel, a tripod, an

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<v Speaker 1>iron cooking spit, a frying pan, a plate, and also

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<v Speaker 1>a small brass plate, a funnel, and two anchors or tubs.

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<v Speaker 1>Two cellars were excavated beneath the floor, opposite one another,

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<v Speaker 1>and there was a cesspool with pipes leading to it.

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<v Speaker 1>Let us hope. Outside the house, a ladder gave access

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<v Speaker 1>to the upper room, entered by a space left open

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<v Speaker 1>in the floor. This was the solar or sleeping room.

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<v Speaker 1>Like the rest of the house, it was timber built,

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<v Speaker 1>but in compliance with the city's regulations, stone walls divided

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<v Speaker 1>the dwelling from the houses on either side. The room

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<v Speaker 1>contained a bed, on which was a mattress, and there

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<v Speaker 1>were three feather beds and two pillows. A great wooden

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<v Speaker 1>coffer stood against the wall. In this were stored six

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<v Speaker 1>blankets and one serge, a torn coverlet with shields of sundale,

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<v Speaker 1>a kind of thin silk, eight linen sheets, and four tablecloths. Alice,

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<v Speaker 1>the newly made wife, may justifiably have looked with pride

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<v Speaker 1>upon her well stored press. The clothes, for which there

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<v Speaker 1>were six chests, were in unexpected plenty. I credit Alice

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<v Speaker 1>with being a careful housewife, for she had kept, rather

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<v Speaker 1>than throw it away, an old fur, though almost consumed

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<v Speaker 1>by moths, which duly figures. In the pathetic little inventory

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<v Speaker 1>of personal effects, there were two robes of purset or

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<v Speaker 1>peach colored cloth, another of medley, a third of scarlet,

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<v Speaker 1>all being furred a coat, then one coat of ray

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<v Speaker 1>or striped cloth, and another with a hood of perset,

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<v Speaker 1>a surcoat, another of worsted, a third with a hood

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<v Speaker 1>of ray, and a green hood of sundale with edging.

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<v Speaker 1>I do not attempt to distinguish the ownership of this

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<v Speaker 1>finery male or female. The London vitner, when he walked

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<v Speaker 1>abroad among his fellow citizens, or attended his guild feast

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<v Speaker 1>depend upon it, was as finely dressed and in colors,

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<v Speaker 1>quite as bright as was his spouse. The ladies alone

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<v Speaker 1>were the one camise, a light loosely fitting dress, and

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<v Speaker 1>eight savenaps or aprons, a candlestick of latone an ombree

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<v Speaker 1>cabinet or small portable cupboard, and an iron hearse or

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<v Speaker 1>frame for candles. Also went to the furnishings of the

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<v Speaker 1>simple household, and for luxury they had curtains to hang

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<v Speaker 1>before the door to keep out the cold, cushions, and

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<v Speaker 1>even a green carpet, while for the husband's use there

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<v Speaker 1>was a hack tone or suit of quilted leather armor

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<v Speaker 1>and an iron headpiece. The personal treasures, gifts may be

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<v Speaker 1>at the marriage or perhaps inheritance, were a cup with

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<v Speaker 1>a foot and cover of silver value thirty shillings, a

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<v Speaker 1>mazar cup and six silver spoons. Hugh had money, too,

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<v Speaker 1>for he had lent to Paul de Butler, a neighbor,

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<v Speaker 1>one mark as security for which were given in pledge,

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<v Speaker 1>a surcoat and also a woman's coat for winter's warmth.

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<v Speaker 1>Hugh le Beaver had stacked a pile of firewood, and

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<v Speaker 1>this the city sold for three shillings. Cole Borne by

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<v Speaker 1>the coasting vessels to London was then much too costly

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<v Speaker 1>for any but rich men to burn. I have taken

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<v Speaker 1>off from the records with one small license. I do

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<v Speaker 1>not know which house in the city ward of Candlewick

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<v Speaker 1>Street was Hugh le Beaver's, but a house exactly as

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<v Speaker 1>has been described, was built by Simon of Canterbury, the carpenter,

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<v Speaker 1>a few years before, and he brought his specifications before

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<v Speaker 1>the mayor and aldermen. The house, which he undertook to

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<v Speaker 1>build from the ground and tire down to the locks,

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<v Speaker 1>was to be paid for by William de Haangingtone citizen

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<v Speaker 1>and peltier in cash and in kind in cash by

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<v Speaker 1>nine pounds five shillings fourpence. Also he was to give

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<v Speaker 1>half a hundred eastern Martin pelts fur for a woman's

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<v Speaker 1>hood of the value of five shillings, and fur likewise

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<v Speaker 1>for a robe for Simon the carpenter. The pelterers or

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<v Speaker 1>skinners were grouped near about Cannon Street ward, and not

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<v Speaker 1>unlikely Hugh le Beaver sold his wine largely to men

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<v Speaker 1>of that trade. Included in the modest sum mentioned for

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<v Speaker 1>house building, a stable with solar above was thrown in

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<v Speaker 1>end of chapter eighteen recording by Janet, end of Unknown

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<v Speaker 1>London by Walter George Bell,