THE first form of the long seat, afterward developed into the sofa, was the settle, which is found in the earliest inventories in this country, and still earlier in England. The settle oftenest seen in America is of simple construction, usually of pine, and painted; probably the work of a country cabinet-maker, or even a carpenter. It was made to stand by the great fireplace, to keep the draughts out and the heat in, with its tall back, and the front of the seat coming down to the floor; and sadly was it needed in those days when the ink froze in the standish, as the minister sat by the fire to write his sermon. Illustration 201 shows a settle in the Deerfield Museum, in the kitchen. In front of the settle stands a flax-wheel, which kept the housewife busy on winter evenings, spinning by the firelight. Beside the settle is a rudely made light-stand, with a tin lamp, and a brass candlestick with the extinguisher on its top, and snuffers and tray beside it. Upon one side of the settle is fastened a candlestick with an extension frame. Behind the flax-wheel is a banister-back chair, the plain type of the chairs in Illustration 139, and at the right of the picture is a slat-back, flag-bottomed chair such as may be seen in Illustration 143. [Illustration: Illus. 201.—Pine Settle, Eighteenth Century.] Illustration 202 shows a settle of oak, which has upon the back the carved date 1708. The front of the seat has four panels, while the back has five lower panels, with a row of small panels above. The top rail is carved in five groups, the middle design of each group being a crown, and between each small panel is a turned ornament. The arms are like the arms of the wainscot chairs in Illustration 124 and Illustration 125. The top of the seat does not lift up, as was often the case, disclosing a box below, but is fastened to the frame, and probably there were provided for this settle the articles often mentioned in inventories, “chusshings,” “quysyns,” or cushions, which the hard seat made so necessary. This settle belongs to Dwight Blaney, Esq., of Boston. [Illustration: Illus. 202.—Oak Settle, 1708.] The word “settee” is the diminutive of “settle,” and the long seat which corresponded to the chairs with the frame of turned wood was called a settee or small settle, being of so much lighter build than the settle. [Illustration: Illus. 203.—Settee covered with Turkey work, 1670-1680.] Illustration 203 shows a settee owned by the Essex Institute of Salem, and said to have been brought to this country by a Huguenot family about 1686. It is upholstered, like the chairs of the same style, in Turkey work, the colors in which are still bright. Turkey work was very fashionable at that time, rugs being imported from Turkey in shapes to fit the seat and back of chairs or settees.