aments, then as now it was the privilege of the few to possess
them; but the national sports were enjoyed by all. Hunting, hawking,
boating, swimming, fishing, skating, were in great favor with the
people.

In the winter there were many long hours to be whiled away indoors,
and although spinning and weaving the fabrics for the family wear,
as well as their embroidery and lace work, took up much of the time,
the women still had ample leisure to engage with the members of their
households and, perhaps, the passing guests in the many simple games
that delighted them. Chess was in marked favor, and was played in much
the same manner as now. The exchange of witticisms and the guessing of
conundrums added much to the innocent mirth of a household intent on
making the long evenings pass as pleasantly as possible.

There were itinerant purveyors of amusement who were to be found at
every feast and at many family firesides. These were the wandering
minstrels, or gleemen. Although they were welcomed for the
entertainment they furnished, yet as a social class they were
certainly in slight repute. Their forms of entertainment were not
limited to music. They presented a programme that included the
performances of trained animals, tricks of jugglery, feats of magic,
and other exhibitions of skill and daring. Along with the gleemen went
the glee maidens, who were the dancing and acrobatic girls of the day.
Dancing itself was a very rudimentary performance, but the enthusiasm
of the audience was aroused by the acts of tumbling and contortion
that were introduced into it. Convinced that dancing alone could not
account for the bewitchment of Herod by the daughter of his brother
Philip's wife, the translators into the vernacular of that Biblical
circumstance say of Herodias that she "tumbled" before Herod; and the
illuminations in a prayerbook of the time show Herodias in the act of
tumbling, with the assistance of a female attendant.

Slight protection, either from law or custom, was afforded women
of the lower classes from gross insults. Any female was likely to
be stopped on the road and partially or altogether denuded of her
clothing, and then sent on her way with taunts and jeers. But, despite
the coarseness of the Anglo-Saxon times, sentiment finally made Itself
felt for the correction of such manners. The women were responsible
for the diffusion of notions of greater refinement.

While there was little deserving the name of edu