Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen of Unknown London, written by Walter George Bell.
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Janet,
Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen A London Household of A d. Thirteen thirty seven.
Speaker 1: London has preserved its archives in an unbroken series for
Speaker 1: a longer period, probably than any other city in the world,
Speaker 1: and there is hardly an incident arising in the lives
Speaker 1: of citizens long centuries back which is not illustrated in
Speaker 1: one or other of the vast accumulation of documents at
Speaker 1: guild Hall. I have picked out two or three to
Speaker 1: tell from them the brief life story of Hugh le Beaver.
Speaker 1: The tragedy of it interests me less than the light
Speaker 1: which the parchments throw upon the domestic surroundings of a
Speaker 1: humble household close upon six hundred years ago. Hugh le
Speaker 1: Beaver might have been one of the many skilled craftsmen
Speaker 1: of London, laboring long hours at his trade while daylight lasted,
Speaker 1: and bound to his guild and his master. What that
Speaker 1: trade was, whether sporrier, cutler, glover, Pelterer, I had small
Speaker 1: chance of telling, for he figures only as Felon, but
Speaker 1: with such exemplary completeness are the city records kept that
Speaker 1: I was able to find a will, dated seven years later,
Speaker 1: of another citizen to whom his tenement passed, and therein
Speaker 1: Hugh is described as Mintner. He was living ten years
Speaker 1: after King Edward three had ascended the English throne the
Speaker 1: year thirteen thirty seven, in a house that stood in
Speaker 1: the ward of Candlewick Street, which now we call Cannon Street,
Speaker 1: within the city's encircling wall. Murder was done there. The
Speaker 1: neighbors breaking in, found the wife, Alice, lying stark and
Speaker 1: dead upon the floor. A knife was flung into the corner,
Speaker 1: and Hugh, he was childless and perhaps but recently married,
Speaker 1: crouched beside the corpse. He would say nothing, nor would
Speaker 1: he plead when indicted before the coroner and the sheriffs.
Speaker 1: And why that crime was committed, and whether Hugh le
Speaker 1: Beaver was blood guilty, none to this day can tell.
Speaker 1: The King's justiciars, finding him still obdurate, he refused the
Speaker 1: law of England, committed him to the jail of Newgate
Speaker 1: there in penance to remain until he should be dead. Penance,
Speaker 1: as understood in med evil days, was close and solitary confinement,
Speaker 1: with an unvarying and insufficient ration of bread and water.
Speaker 1: Horrible enough, I grant, but it lacks the revolting torture
Speaker 1: of the press yard introduced in a later and what
Speaker 1: should have been a more refined age, when in that
Speaker 1: same jail of Newgate the practice was to place heavy
Speaker 1: weights upon the body and pressed to death felons who
Speaker 1: sought to defeat the course of the law by refusing
Speaker 1: to plead. I have myself tramped over the press yard
Speaker 1: at the demolition of Dance's prison, then still bearing its
Speaker 1: horrid name. This crime of murder was committed on the
Speaker 1: last days of October thirteen thirty seven, and two months later,
Speaker 1: on the twenty seventh December, Hugh le Beaver was dead. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the sheriffs had seized his possessions, and these they sold
Speaker 1: first drying up an inventory which sets out, with the
Speaker 1: order of a housekeeper's book, the domestic arrangements of this
Speaker 1: fourteenth century household. The vintner made good money for his
Speaker 1: furniture and clothing were appraised at the value of twelve
Speaker 1: pound eighteen shilling four pence, a sum in the then
Speaker 1: money values far above the competence of any of the
Speaker 1: poorer workers to a mass. The house consisted of two apartments,
Speaker 1: one above the other. The lower room, which was kitchen
Speaker 1: and keeping room. In one had a part partitioned off
Speaker 1: for a hall, and this also contained a larder. It
Speaker 1: had a chimney and a grate. Light came in through
Speaker 1: the one window. An oriel built at the end of
Speaker 1: the hall, probably a recess, with a bay window, the
Speaker 1: upper part of which alone was glazed on account of
Speaker 1: the great expense of glass, the remainder being closed by
Speaker 1: a wooden shutter. In the room below the window was
Speaker 1: the high bench some umscamnum. Before the house was a
Speaker 1: single step up to the street door, and a porch
Speaker 1: covering or pent house. A door at the back led
Speaker 1: to the buttery, where stood ranched six casks of wine,
Speaker 1: the value of each cask being one mark. A trestle
Speaker 1: table and two chairs, the last valued at fourpence each
Speaker 1: were the only furniture, but the kitchen was well supplied
Speaker 1: with serviceable utensils. There were eight brass pots, not counting
Speaker 1: one broken andreans, basins, a washing vessel, a tripod, an
Speaker 1: iron cooking spit, a frying pan, a plate, and also
Speaker 1: a small brass plate, a funnel, and two anchors or tubs.
Speaker 1: Two cellars were excavated beneath the floor, opposite one another,
Speaker 1: and there was a cesspool with pipes leading to it.
Speaker 1: Let us hope. Outside the house, a ladder gave access
Speaker 1: to the upper room, entered by a space left open
Speaker 1: in the floor. This was the solar or sleeping room.
Speaker 1: Like the rest of the house, it was timber built,
Speaker 1: but in compliance with the city's regulations, stone walls divided
Speaker 1: the dwelling from the houses on either side. The room
Speaker 1: contained a bed, on which was a mattress, and there
Speaker 1: were three feather beds and two pillows. A great wooden
Speaker 1: coffer stood against the wall. In this were stored six
Speaker 1: blankets and one serge, a torn coverlet with shields of sundale,
Speaker 1: a kind of thin silk, eight linen sheets, and four tablecloths. Alice,
Speaker 1: the newly made wife, may justifiably have looked with pride
Speaker 1: upon her well stored press. The clothes, for which there
Speaker 1: were six chests, were in unexpected plenty. I credit Alice
Speaker 1: with being a careful housewife, for she had kept, rather
Speaker 1: than throw it away, an old fur, though almost consumed
Speaker 1: by moths, which duly figures. In the pathetic little inventory
Speaker 1: of personal effects, there were two robes of purset or
Speaker 1: peach colored cloth, another of medley, a third of scarlet,
Speaker 1: all being furred a coat, then one coat of ray
Speaker 1: or striped cloth, and another with a hood of perset,
Speaker 1: a surcoat, another of worsted, a third with a hood
Speaker 1: of ray, and a green hood of sundale with edging.
Speaker 1: I do not attempt to distinguish the ownership of this
Speaker 1: finery male or female. The London vitner, when he walked
Speaker 1: abroad among his fellow citizens, or attended his guild feast
Speaker 1: depend upon it, was as finely dressed and in colors,
Speaker 1: quite as bright as was his spouse. The ladies alone
Speaker 1: were the one camise, a light loosely fitting dress, and
Speaker 1: eight savenaps or aprons, a candlestick of latone an ombree
Speaker 1: cabinet or small portable cupboard, and an iron hearse or
Speaker 1: frame for candles. Also went to the furnishings of the
Speaker 1: simple household, and for luxury they had curtains to hang
Speaker 1: before the door to keep out the cold, cushions, and
Speaker 1: even a green carpet, while for the husband's use there
Speaker 1: was a hack tone or suit of quilted leather armor
Speaker 1: and an iron headpiece. The personal treasures, gifts may be
Speaker 1: at the marriage or perhaps inheritance, were a cup with
Speaker 1: a foot and cover of silver value thirty shillings, a
Speaker 1: mazar cup and six silver spoons. Hugh had money, too,
Speaker 1: for he had lent to Paul de Butler, a neighbor,
Speaker 1: one mark as security for which were given in pledge,
Speaker 1: a surcoat and also a woman's coat for winter's warmth.
Speaker 1: Hugh le Beaver had stacked a pile of firewood, and
Speaker 1: this the city sold for three shillings. Cole Borne by
Speaker 1: the coasting vessels to London was then much too costly
Speaker 1: for any but rich men to burn. I have taken
Speaker 1: off from the records with one small license. I do
Speaker 1: not know which house in the city ward of Candlewick
Speaker 1: Street was Hugh le Beaver's, but a house exactly as
Speaker 1: has been described, was built by Simon of Canterbury, the carpenter,
Speaker 1: a few years before, and he brought his specifications before
Speaker 1: the mayor and aldermen. The house, which he undertook to
Speaker 1: build from the ground and tire down to the locks,
Speaker 1: was to be paid for by William de Haangingtone citizen
Speaker 1: and peltier in cash and in kind in cash by
Speaker 1: nine pounds five shillings fourpence. Also he was to give
Speaker 1: half a hundred eastern Martin pelts fur for a woman's
Speaker 1: hood of the value of five shillings, and fur likewise
Speaker 1: for a robe for Simon the carpenter. The pelterers or
Speaker 1: skinners were grouped near about Cannon Street ward, and not
Speaker 1: unlikely Hugh le Beaver sold his wine largely to men
Speaker 1: of that trade. Included in the modest sum mentioned for
Speaker 1: house building, a stable with solar above was thrown in
Speaker 1: end of chapter eighteen recording by Janet, end of Unknown
Speaker 1: London by Walter George Bell,