The mouldings of the _faldestol_ in the cut No. 66 will be recognised as exactly the same which are found on old furniture of a much more recent period, and which, in fact, are those which offer themselves most readily to ordinary turners. The same ornament is seen on the chair represented in our cut No. 67, taken from the same manuscript as the last, in which two men are seated, in a very singular manner. It was not uncommon, however, to have seats which held several persons together, such as the one represented in an Anglo-Saxon illumination given in a former chapter (p. 31), and such as are still to be seen in country public-houses, where they have preserved the Anglo-Saxon name of _settle_. One of these is represented in our cut No. 68. The persons seated in it, in this case, are learned men, and the cross above seems to show that they are monks. One has a table-book, and two of the others have rolls of parchment, which are all evidently the subject of anxious discussion.
[Illustration: _No. 68. An Anglo-Norman Settle._]
Chairs, and even stools, were, as has been already observed, by no means abundant in these early times, and we can easily suppose that it would be a difficult thing to accommodate numerous visitors with seats. To remedy this, when houses were built of stone, it was usual to make, in the public apartments, seats, like benches, in recesses in the wall, or projecting from it, which would accommodate a number of persons at the same time. We find such seats usually in the cloisters of monasteries, as well as in the chapter-houses of our cathedral churches. In the latter they generally run round the room, and are divided by arches into seats which were evidently intended to accommodate two persons each, for the convenience of conversation. This practice is illustrated by our cut No. 69, taken, like the preceding one, from the Cambridge Manuscript; it represents a group of seats of this kind, in which monks (apparently) are seated and conversing two and two.
[Illustration: _No. 69. Seats in the Wall._]
THE NORMAN HALL.--SOCIAL SENTIMENTS UNDER THE ANGLO-NORMANS.--DOMESTIC AMUSEMENTS.--CANDLES AND LANTERNS.--FURNITURE.--BEDS.--OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATIONS.--HUNTING.--ARCHERY.--CONVIVIAL INTERCOURSE AND HOSPITALITY.--TRAVELLING.--PUNISHMENTS.--THE STOCKS.--A NORMAN SCHOOL.--EDUCATION.