Adam Stewart

What people wore

Limited Wardrobes of Laborers

Between 1550 and 1596, a typical English labourer owned only a few garments, such as leather breeches, a coat, a waistcoat, a shirt, stockings, shoes, and a hat, worth only a few shillings to a pound.

Daily life

Learning with the wooden hornbook

Most children did not go to school; instead, many learned to read and write using a hornbook, which was a paper sheet with the alphabet and Lord’s Prayer mounted on wood and protected by a thin slice of animal horn.

Work

Memorable facts about working life

Female servants frequently worked on Sundays, which was often their busiest day for household management, despite the Sabbath prohibition. Additionally, at the end of each workday, hired day labourers were paid their agreed wages publicly on a board to ensure transparency.

Music

Common Instruments for Recreation and Festivals

Commoners commonly enjoyed music and dancing at events like church ales, festivals, and alehouses, where bagpipes and fiddles were the instruments most frequently played for recreation.

At the table

Staple Foods: Pottage and Dark Bread

The daily staple for ordinary families was pottage, a thick porridge-like soup made from vegetables, oats or barley, often cooked in a cauldron over an open fire. Bread made from rye or barley was the primary accompaniment, as finer white wheat bread was expensive and generally reserved for the wealthy.

Getting around

A record-breaking long-distance ride

In an extraordinary feat of endurance, Sir Robert Carey rode 397 miles from London to Edinburgh in just three days following the Queen's death in 1603. Such journeys were physically demanding and could involve dangerous road conditions, including mud and flood-prone paths.

What it cost

Daily wages for workers

Skilled journeymen in cities typically earned up to one shilling per day, while farm laborers and threshers often earned only three pence a day.