Alexander Stewart

What people wore

Limited wardrobes for the commoners

Many ordinary people owned only one set of clothes for daytime wear and lacked dedicated sleepwear, opting to sleep in their smocks and nightcaps.

Daily life

Schooling for children

Children often started school at age seven, with some wealthy children beginning as early as four using prayer books called primers. Middle-class children sometimes attended school for ten to twelve hours a day to train for trade or administrative careers.

Work

Farming was the most common job

Farming was the primary occupation, with nine out of ten people living in rural villages or small towns.

Music

Paying Minstrels for Parish Festivals

Parish records show that minstrel hire for Whitsuntide festivities was common, with payments reaching up to 8s 4d for a single minstrel in 1533.

At the table

Pottage was the staple daily dish

Pottage was the main daily dish for ordinary people, a thick soup made of cereals, pulses, vegetables, and occasionally meat that was cooked in a cauldron over an open fire.

Getting around

Carts were for cargo, not people

Carts and wagons were used to transport cargo, not people, and passengers who rode in them sat on the floor among straw or baggage. These vehicles were extremely slow and were widely considered an uncomfortable or shameful way for a person to travel.

What it cost

Earnings of Workers and Servants

Unskilled laborers earned between £5 and £10 per year, while skilled workmen typically earned about 6d per day. Farm workers often earned no more than half a shilling (6d) per day, and many servants were paid as little as six shillings annually plus board.