Literary by-paths in old England . come and a meal. Perhaps that pictureis a pleasing generalisation of the historic imagi-nation, but St. Cross can claim to furnish concreteproof of its truth in at least one case. For sevencenturies the hungry and the thirsty have nevercalled here to be sent empty away, and hence,even in this era ofenlightenment, whenevery pauper may havehis nights rest and ameal in exchange forlabour, there is stillone hospitable shelterin England whichkeeps its continuity The Dole at St- Cross with the past by giving every caller a horn ofbeer and a slice of bread for nothi
Literary by-paths in old England . come and a meal. Perhaps that pictureis a pleasing generalisation of the historic imagi-nation, but St. Cross can claim to furnish concreteproof of its truth in at least one case. For sevencenturies the hungry and the thirsty have nevercalled here to be sent empty away, and hence,even in this era ofenlightenment, whenevery pauper may havehis nights rest and ameal in exchange forlabour, there is stillone hospitable shelterin England whichkeeps its continuity The Dole at St- Cross with the past by giving every caller a horn ofbeer and a slice of bread for nothing. Of coursethere are many people who drink the beer andeat the bread of St. Cross without having anypressing necessity for either. Emerson and Car-lyle cannot have been distressingly hungry orwholly devoid of cash with which to provide fortheir bodily needs on the day they called their visit has added another association ofinterest to St. Cross, for the silver-mounted cupsand the wooden platter which served the usual391. LITERARY BY-PATHS dole to those notable visitors are now the relics of the place. Nor are theyrelics merely, for the ordinary visitor is privilegedto have his dole handed out in the same cup andon the same platter. Still, a certain distinction ismade between callers at St. Cross. For the use ofthe tramp there is a larger horn, innocent of silvermountings, and with that longer draught of ale issupplied a portion of bread in keeping therewith. Among the show buildings of St. Cross arethe old kitchen, the dining-hall, and the has stood still in that kitchen as well as else-where in this mediaeval retreat. All the appli-ances for cooking are of a long past time, andwould strike the twentieth-century chef as littlebetter than relics of a barbaric age. In thedining-hall it is still the past rather than thepresent which is in evidence — the black leathernjacks, the candlesticks, the salt-cellars, the pew-ter dishes, and the dinn
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Keywords: ., bookauthorshelleyh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1906
