THE tall frowning keep① and solid walls of the great stone castles, in which the Norman barons lived, betokened an age of violence and suspicion. Beauty gave way to the needs of safety. Girdled with its green and slimy ditch, round the inner edge of which ran a parapeted wall pierced along the top with shot-holes, stood the buildings, spreading often over many acres.
If an enemy managed to cross the moat and force the gateway, in spite of a portcullis② crashing from above, and melted lead pouring in burning streams from the perforated top of the rounded arch, but little of his work was yet done; for the keep lifted its huge angular block of masonry within the inner bailey or court-yard, and from the narrow chinks in its ten-foot wall rained a sharp incessant shower of arrows, sweeping all approaches to the high and narrow stair, by which alone access could be had to its interior.
These loop-holes were the only windows, except in the topmost story, where the chieftain, like a vulture in his rocky nest, watched all the surrounding country. The day of splendid③orielshad not yet come in castle architecture.
Thus a baron in his keep could defy, and often did defy, the king upon his throne. Under his roof, eating daily at his board, lived a throng of armed retainers; and around his castle lay farms tilled by martial franklins,④ who at his call laid aside their implements of husbandry, took up the sword and spear, which they could wield with equal skill, and marched beneath his banner to the war.
With robe ungirt and head uncovered each tenant had done homage and sworn an oath of fe?lty, placing his joined handsPREPARING FOR THE CHASEbetween those of the sitting baron, and humbly saying a s h e k n e l t , " I b e co m e your man f rom this day forward, of life and limb and of earthly worship; and unto you I shall be true and faithful, and bear to you faith for the tenementsyou, saving the faith thatI owe unto our sovereign lordthe king." A kiss from the baron completed the ceremony.
The furniture of a Norman keep was not unlike that of an English house. There was richer ornament-more elaborate carving. A faldestol , the original of our arm-chair, spread its drapery and cushions for the chieftain inhis lounging moods. His bed now boasted curtains and a roof, although, like the English lord, he still lay only upon straw. Chimneys tunnelled the thick walls, and the cupboards glittered with glass and silver. Horn lanterns and the old spiked candlesticks lit up his evening hours, when the chess- board arrayed its clumsy men, carved out of walrus-tusk, then commonly called whale"s-bone. But the baron had an unpleasant trick of breaking the chessboard on his opponent"s head, when he found himself checkmated; which somewhat marred said opponent"s enjoyment of the game. Dice of horn and bone emptied many a purse in Norman England. Tables and draughts were also sometimes played.
Dances and music whiled away the long winter nights; and on summer evenings the castle court-yards resounded with the noise of foot-ball, kayles (a sort of ninepins), wrestling, boxing,leaping, and the fierce joys of the bull-bait. But out of doors, when no fighting was on hand, the hound, the hawk, and the lance attracted the best energies and skill of the Norman gentleman.
Rousing the forest-game with dogs, they shot at it with barbed and feathered arrows. A field of ripening corn never turned the chase aside: it was one privilege of a feudal baron to ride as he pleased over his tenants" crops, and another to quarter his insolent hunting-train in the farm-houses which pleased him best! The elaborate details of woodcraft became an important part of a noble boy"s education; for the numerousbugle calls and the scientific dissection of a dead stag took many seasons to learn.
After the Conquest, to kill a deer or own a hawk came more than ever to be regarded as the special privilege of the aristocracy. The hawk, daintily dressed, as befitted the companion of nobility, with his head wrapped in an embroidered hood, and a peal of silver bells tinkling from his rough legs, sat in state, bound with leathern jesses⑤ to the wrist, which was protected by a thick glove. The ladies and the clergy loved him. By many a mere the abbots ambled on their ponies over the swampy soil, and sweet shrill voices cheered the long-winged hawk, as he darted off in pursuit of the soaring quarry.
The author of "Ivanhoe,"⑥ and kindred pens, have madethe tournament a picture familiar to all readers of romance. It therefore needs no long deion here. It was held in honour of some great event-a coronation, wedding, or victory. Having practised well during squirehood at the quintain ,⑦ theknight, clad in full armour, with visor barred and the colours of his lady on crest and scarf, rode into the lists, for which some level green was chosen and surrounded with a palisade.
For days before, his shield had been hanging in a neighbouring church, as a sign of his intention to compete in this great game of chivalry. If any stain lay on his knighthood, a lady, by touchingthe suspended shield with a wand, could debar him from a share in the jousting. And if, when he had entered the lists, he was rude to a lady, or broke in any way the etiquette of the tilt- yard, he was beaten from the lists with the ashwood lances of the knights.
