The Past at Our Doors; Or, The Old in the New Around Us |
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Common terms and phrases
actually ancient Anglo-Saxon appear became blue Britain building built buttons called castle century chief church cloth coat colour common courtesy custom described difference doubt dress earlier early employed England English especially example expression fact fashion formerly France French frequently front garment given hall hand Henry idea instance introduced invented Ireland Irish Italy kilt kind King known ladies latter lived London look meal means meant mentioned modern Norman once originally perhaps period plough present principles Queen races reached recorded reign remarkable resembling Roman rooms round royal Saxon School Scotland seems seen servants shape shoes short showing side skirt smock-frock sometimes stone story street term tower town turned usually various wall wear women wooden worn
Popular passages
Page 51 - Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, have they not sped ? have they not divided the prey ; to every man a damsel or two ; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil...
Page 145 - They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall ! Like phantoms to the iron porch they glide, Where lay the Porter, in uneasy sprawl, With a huge empty...
Page 111 - ... some the same custom is observed to this day ; but, for the most part now, they are brown, most near to the colour of the hadder, to the effect when they lye among the hadders, the bright colour of their plaids shall not bewray them...
Page 54 - Two noble earls, whom if I quote, Some folks might call me sinner, The one invented half a coat, The other half a dinner. The plan was good, as some will say ; And fitted to console one ; Because, in this poor starving day, Few can afford a whole one.
Page 98 - The people here use umbrellas in hot weather to defend them from the sun, and something of the same kind to save them from the snow and rain. I wonder a practice so useful is not introduced in England.
Page 114 - In 1747, a similar act was passed, with these more oppressive and absurd additions, " that neither man nor boy, except such as should be employed as officers and soldiers, should, on any pretence, wear or put on the clothes commonly called Highland clothes, viz., the plaid, philibeg, or little kilt...
Page 60 - Upon which, divers courtiers and gentlemen gave his Majesty gold by way of wager that he would not persist in this resolution.
Page 123 - Whereby it appeareth, that he liked better of our good fare in such coarse cabins, than of their own thin diet in their princely habitations and palaces. The clay with which our houses are commonly empanelled, is either white, red, or blue.
Page 60 - By and by the King and Queen, who looked in this dress (a white laced waistcoat and a crimson short petticoat, and her hair dressed a la negligence) mighty pretty; and the King rode hand in hand with her.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Past at Our Doors; Or, The Old in the New Around Us Readable books in natural history Readable books in natural knowledge |
| Author | Walter William Skeat |
| Edition | 2 |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Company, limited, 1923 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 2 Aug 2006 |
| Length | 198 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |