ifferent tasks
required of him under feudal rights, either by his proper lord, or by the
sovereign; for the villain was liable to be called upon to undertake
every kind of work of this sort.

His dress consisted of a blouse of cloth or skin fastened by a leather
belt round the waist, an overcoat or mantle of thick woollen stuff, which
fell from his shoulders to half-way down his legs; shoes or large boots,
short woollen trousers, and from his belt there hung his wallet and a
sheath for his knife (Figs. 66 and 71). He generally went bareheaded, but
in cold weather or in rain he wore a sort of hat of similar stuff to his
coat, or one of felt with a broad brim. He seldom wore _mouffles_, or
padded gloves, except when engaged in hedging.

A small kitchen-garden, which he cultivated himself, was usually attached
to the cottage, which was guarded by a large watch-dog. There was also a
shed for the cows, whose milk contributed to the sustenance of the
establishment; and on the thatched roof of this and his cottage the wild
cats hunted the rats and mice. The family were never idle, even in the bad
season, and the children were taught from infancy to work by the side of
their parents (Fig. 65).

If, then, we find so much resemblance between the abodes of the villains
of the thirteenth century and those of the inhabitants of the poorest
communes of France in the present day, we may fairly infer that there must
be a great deal which is analogous between the inhabitants themselves of
the two periods; for in the chateaux as well as in the towns we find the
material condition of the dwellings modifying itself conjointly with that
of the moral condition of the inhabitants.

[Illustration: Fig. 67.--The egotistical and envious Villain.--From a
Miniature in "Proverbes et Adages, &c.," Manuscript of the La Valliere
Fund, in the National Library of Paris, with this legend:

"Attrapez y sont les plus fins:
Qui trop embrasse mal estraint."

("The cleverest burn their fingers at it,
And those who grasp all may lose all.")
]

Another little poem entitled, "On the Twenty-four Kinds of Villains,"
composed about the same period as the one above referred to, gives us a
graphic description of the varieties of character among the feudal
peasants. One example is given of a man who will not tell a traveller the
way, but merely in a surly way answers, "You know it better than I" (Fig.
67). Another, sitting at his door on a Sunday, lau