[Illustration: Book Cover] [Illustration: HORSELYDOWN FAIR, IN THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.--Page 255.] NOOKS AND CORNERS OF ENGLISH LIFE, Past and Present. BY JOHN TIMBS, AUTHOR OF "STRANGE STORIES OF THE ANIMAL WORLD," "THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN," ETC. SECOND EDITION. _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._ LONDON: GRIFFITH AND FARRAN, (_Successors to Newbery and Harris_,) CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. M DCCC LXVII. PREFACE. Pictures of the Domestic Manners of our forefathers, at some of the most attractive periods of English History, form the staple of the present volume. These Pictures are supplemented by Sketches of subordinate Scenes and Incidents which illustrate great changes in Society, and tend to show, in different degrees, the Past as the guide for the Present and the Future. The value and interest of Archæological studies in bringing home to our very doors the information required of special localities, and their former life, have, it is hoped, been made available by the Author of this work, so far as to render it acceptable as well for the soundness of its information as for its entertaining character. The antiquary of old was but, in many instances, "a gatherer of other men's stuff;" whereas the archæologist of the present day adds to the worth of antiquarian studies by placing their results in new lights, and thus extending the utility and amusement which they afford. The materials for writing English History are inexhaustible; and one of the aims of this work is to seize upon and group from such stores leading facts and transitions, and by means of condensation to present their narratives in a more tangible form than that in which they were originally written. In this task the Author has brought to bear, from a variety of accredited sources, evidences of the condition of the English people--in their "woods and caves, and painted skins"--their homes and modes of living, in cavern and castle, mansion and cottage; the origin of their Domestic Inventions and Contrivances in the several stages of comfort; House-furnishing, Dress and Personal Ornament; Provisions and Olden Cookery, and Housewifery; Peasant Life, with its curious Customs, Laws, and Ceremonies; Fairs and Festivals and Amusements. To these succeed a few Historic Sketches: Traditions of Battle-fields, and other memorable sites; Mansions and their Families: romantic Narratives, Portraits of eminent Persons, &c.