The cottages and the village life of rural England . piskies, or pixies, to come in and out as they pleased. Lest we become pixie-led, a dangerous form of lettingones wits go wool-gathering, let us look at the door itself. Ifit is old, it is probably made of oak and studded with nails, likeone of the doors of the cottage at Small Hythe, near there is a thumb-latch. The string-latch, which RedRiding-Hood was directed by the wolf to pull, has departed ;but we have stayed in an old abbey which has been restored byits present owner, who has introduced the string-latch for all t
The cottages and the village life of rural England . piskies, or pixies, to come in and out as they pleased. Lest we become pixie-led, a dangerous form of lettingones wits go wool-gathering, let us look at the door itself. Ifit is old, it is probably made of oak and studded with nails, likeone of the doors of the cottage at Small Hythe, near there is a thumb-latch. The string-latch, which RedRiding-Hood was directed by the wolf to pull, has departed ;but we have stayed in an old abbey which has been restored byits present owner, who has introduced the string-latch for all theinner doors of his house ; and it works admirably. At night manyof these old doors were fastened by a heavy wooden bar passingacross their whole length and fitting into holes in the walls of thehouse. Even the poor cottager was not always safe from midnightmarauders and the lower ranks of highwaymen, and a good stoutbar gave a sense of security. If we are in a stone-bearing districtwe shall find many good doorways which retain Gothic features. 78. LIFE OF RURAL ENGLAND The arch is fashioned in the Tudor style and has moulded sides anda hood-moulding. On the door-post of a cottage I have detected a little votivecross rudely carved on the moulded timber. It is not usual tofind such inscribed on the door-post of a domestic dwelling, thoughyou may see many on nearly every mediaeval church, if scrapingand restoration have not removed these tender memories of simplefaith. It was not unusual for a man when about to undertake ajourney to scratch or carve a little cross on the stone or woodworkof his church door, at the same time registering a vow that if hislife were spared and he was permitted to return to his home inpeace and safety he would make some offering to God who hadpreserved him. Such crosses were called votive crosses. Butthey are seldom seen on cottage door-posts, and possibly thismoulded beam may have been brought from the neighbouringchurch during some of those terribl
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcottage, bookyear1912
