England in the Days of Old

A collection of short studies of social and domestic customs in earlier England, offering illustrated sketches of fashions, household arrangements, food and baking, and municipal ceremonies. It surveys personal adornment and grooming practices such as wigs, hair powdering, and snuff while describing entertainments and pastimes including bear‑baiting, Morris dancing, and state lotteries. Other essays examine funeral practices, detaining the dead for debt, charitable endowments, market and guild traditions, curious civic rituals, and the structure of a noble household, combining anecdote, folklore, and historical commentary to illuminate everyday habits and popular beliefs.