creations in which our village ancestors took part. On the old village
green, which in too many of our villages has been inclosed and become a
thing of the past, many of these sports and pastimes once took place.
There stood the village stocks, in which the refractory paid the penalty
of their misdeeds; and sometimes, too, a pillory was added, which held
fast the head, arms, and legs of the culprit, while the villagers, rude
vindicators of the law, threw stones, rotten eggs, and other missiles at
the unhappy victim. At the edge of the pond you might have seen a long
plank which turned on a swivel, with a chair at the end overhanging the
water. This was called a "cucking-stool," and was used to duck scolds or
brawlers. The culprit was placed in the chair, and the other end of the
plank was raised several times, so that the ardour of the culprit was
effectually cooled by frequent immersions. These were rough methods of
administering justice, but often very effectual in checking vice.

The social customs which formerly existed in each village, the sports
and pastimes associated with the village green, the May Day festivals,
and the Christmas carollings were of great value, inasmuch as they
tended to infuse some poetical feeling into the minds of the people,
softened the rudeness of rustic manners, and gave the villagers simple
pleasures which lightened their labours. They prevented them from
growing hard, grasping, and discontented with their lot. They promoted
good feeling between the farmers and their labourers. The customs of
the town were a poor exchange for the ancient country manners and
amusements; and it was a sad day for our country when the villagers
lost their simplicity and the power of appreciating the primitive
pleasures of rural England.

[Illustration: OLD STOCKS AND WHIPPING POST]

CHAPTER XXII

THE VILLAGE INN

Monastic inns--Village inns--Highwaymen--Inn signs--Famous inns--
Man-traps.

In almost every village in England there is an inn. Before the
Reformation there were very few of these hostelries, as travellers
were always accommodated at the monasteries, each of which, as we have
seen, had a hospitium, or guest-house, where their wants were attended
to by special officers appointed for the purpose, and where they could
remain for several days. But the destruction of the monasteries
produced many changes in the condition of the country; it introduced
the necessity of a poor law, for the