Friends of Coughton Court

Hope Proudfoot, a young woman of lowly station, was dressed in a straight-laced gown as befitted her virtue.

Her head was covered with a cap to prevent nits getting into her hair.

As a pedlar she walked from town to town in Worcestershire and traded as far as Brittany and Normandy.

She carried her wealth on her belt to protect it from cutpurses.

Hope traded many things which seem strange today.

Brock skins provided bristles to clean the new printing presses.

Coney fur was used for lining clothes in cold weather.

She carried a spoon and a blade - there were as yet no forks.

Pewter spoons were for those of high rank. She could sell them but was unable to use them. Lower ranks used spoons of horn or wood.

The pedlar carried nit or knot combs to care for hair.

To trade, the pedlar had to carry a permit written in Latin.

Hope brought her chest of goods which included cures for maladies, rose water for sore throats and relied for the French pox.

There were herbs to aid conception and rare spices from Egypt to improve a man's physique.

There were tussy mussies of herbs to ward off the evil smells which caused disease.

The rich had pomanders of oranges spiked with rare cloves from the east. The pedlar also carried charms to protect against evils such as the plague.

There were lace and buckles - but not buttons as these came later.

Cloth was dyed using plants.

The colours were usually sombre as bright colours were difficult to obtain, and were therefore expensive.

There were leather soles to replace worn ones but the show uppers were used for many years.

Hope carried song sheets. (Here her audience gave a spirited rendering of Summer is ycommin in, Lhude sing cookoo.)

There were playing cards used mainly by men in the alehouses on dark evenings when no work could be done.

In those days women were mere chattels, possessions of their husbands.

It was their duty to produce (preferably male) children so the pedlar carried charms to increase fertility.

There were also charms to protect people from death which was never far away, creeping in through the window or under the door.

Teeth were often attacked by the tooth worm which bored holes into the teeth.

Cloves were expensive but they would make the worm come out and ease the pain.

From Normandy came a wondrous thing, cock's teeth, which could be sold to the gullible for lots of money!

Wax tablets were used for writing as they could be warmed, smoothed and re-used.

Paper was expensive.

Few women learned to read and write although some were taught by their husbands so they could help with the business.

Hope ended her talk by teaching a song, Rose, Rose, which was soon learned and sung as a round.

The next meeting of the Friends of Coughton Court in today at 7.30pm.

This meeting is the AGM and will be followed by a talk on Worcester Porcelain by Professor Bob Davies.

Meetings take place in the restaurant at Coughton Court, entrance via Coughton Fields Lane.

New members are always welcome.