Life at the hall and elsewhere...

The Cook - Rhoda's Friend

As Rhoda showed her commitment to her job, her duties increased and she was given various other duties.  These varied from the downright scary to downright fun.  I'll tell you about one of them.  The first was being playmate and and servant, to the Master and Mistress's two sons.  From what I've been told that they were two scamps, but didn't have a bad bone in their bodies.

They'd been bought a pony.  Rhoda thought the pony was a miniature but the butler informed her, that it was bought with the whole idea, to prepare the boys for riding in the local hunt, when they got older.  What they loved to do was to get any servant that wasn't busy, to come outside and ride the pony.  The thing is that the pony was barrel chested and when the servant mount it, their legs could reach the floor.  Most servants were not keen because as the pony trotted in a circle, their legs would be going at the same speed.

They called the thing "Merrylegs", and that was probably because the servants' legs were going like "merry hell" in a circle.  The day came, when they pestered Rhoda to ride "Merrylegs".  She argued against it, as she was a poor horsewoman.  They pestered and pestered until Rhoda decided to do it, as it made them both very happy.

They stood there in the warm Summer sun and looked like two angels.  They smiled as Rhoda mounted the pony and promised that they wouldn't do anything.  Rhoda didn't have to use any mounting stool, as "Merrylegs" was so small, she could just throw her right leg over the pony and get comfortable in the saddle.  She turned to the boys, and they smiled sweetly at her.   The groom gave the order to "trot on" and kept the reins firmly gripped in his hand.

Rhoda had pulled her legs up for as long as she could and on the third circle she was getting a little tired.  It was then the children stroke.  The eldest one crept up to "Merrylegs" and slapped it on the rump.  The pony, startled took off like a scalded cat, tearing the reins out of the grooms hands and off down the long drive.

Rhoda hung on for dear life and hoped and prayed that the little pony would tire. The trees flashed by and they were heading towards the gate.  Her muscles in her legs were shaking, and then from the left of her, there appeared a miracle.  It was the groom on a bicycle.  He managed to pass the deranged pony and reach for the reins.   Rhoda never knew how he did it but he managed to stop "Merrylegs" and Rhoda fell out of the saddle and kissed the earth.

The boys were apologetic and they couldn't look Rhoda in the eye.  Later that night, Rhoda was bought to the Master's study and he'd got his two sons to formally apologise.  He pointed out that not only "Rhoda could have been seriously hurt, but so could "Merrylegs"".  From that day forward, Rhoda stopped being the boys maid but they were most respectful to her and the other servants.

The upper classes...

Rhoda but not THE hat

As I said before, Mum fitted into her job, like a well oiled cog.  She got on with everybody and she knew her place.  It got to the point where her responsibilities broadened and while there was no increase in wages, it made her life more interesting.

Being a parlour maid, meant for three weeks to a month in the year, she and a skeleton staff were left behind to "mothball"  the hall, while the family moved to warmer climes.  This was a enjoyable period of Mum's life as she and the rest of the staff had it easy.  The Housekeeper told them, that as long as they did there jobs, she didn't mind if it got a little lax.  This meant that Mum and her friends could examine the rooms in the great house.

They knew it was more than their job's worth, to go into the master and mistress's rooms, but in the attics, they found treasure troves.  There was suitcases loaded up with dresses and suits of the families and also diaries and love letters.  Mum and her pals, used to hurry through their work, to rush up into the attics.   There, they would try on the dresses, and read the diaries and imagine that they were the ancestors.  They found out all the indiscretions, skeletons and let their imaginations run wild.  The Housekeeper knew all this, for she'd been with the family for years and also been in the attics.  So, in a way, Mum and her pals were following a staff tradition.

The family of the house, would hold  hold dinner parties and overnight guests would bring their staff with them to not only augment the house staff, but also have servants to look after their needs.  This was a mixed blessing for Mum as she'd be roped in to serve at mealtimes, but fortunately, she was taught by the butler.  She never actually described these occasions in detail, but what she did describe was, that with the extra staff, came  extra gossip.  This was frowned upon by the managing staff but the maids used to chat before bed.

She found out all sorts of things.  There was many a time she found out, that the lord or gentleman that arrived (fashionably late) had also arrived with a fashionably high class prostitute.  She knew if any couple were not getting on and the master of the house, was spending time at his club...  It was an underground intelligence and it really made Mum think that "they" were probably as bad as any commoner.

OK going to close, with another Mum tale.  On the eve of the family's return to the house, Mum was informed that because of a chambermaid being ill (She remained in Halifax  (I'm assuming she was in Hospital)  Mum would be promoted to chambermaid for the mistress of the house, for a few days until the other chambermaid got well.  Mum didn't mind this, as long as it wasn't a permanent position, as the mistress tended to be a little overtaxing.

The mistress arrived home with plenty of luggage and Mum laid out her mistress's formal gown and garments for her to change into for dinner.  (OK getting fed up with typing "Mum" all the while, so going to call her by her given name. so everybody, meet "Rhoda")  Now, as the mistress left the room, Rhoda was expected to tidy the bedroom, put the mistress's clothes away for washing and pick up anything else, strewn around the bedroom.  She'd got most away and picking up the mistress's traveling hat, she tried it on.  She liked how it looked, and so, she placed it into it's hat box and put it on top of the cupboard with all of the mistress's other hats.

Rhoda (and the rest of the staff) had 1 weekend in every month off (it was staggered so that there'd always be  enough staff to cope).  So, Rhoda and one of the cooks went to Halifax.  The cook's family lived there and they invited Rhoda to stop.  Now Rhoda hadn't forgotten about the hat, and how good she looked in it.  She'd told the cook , and so the very next day, the cook and Rhoda searched the town.  Disappointed that they hadn't found it, they were returning to the cook's family home, when Rhoda had an idea.  They stopped in a Haberdashery and sure enough, there was a pattern for the hat.  Rhoda bought the pattern and fabric and the cook and her returned home.

The weeks went by and each night, Rhoda committed a small amount of time making this hat.  It was of great felt and it had a peacock's feather in it.  She finally finished the hat, and then she had a brainwave about the feather.  She got hold of the boot boy, and persuaded him, to chase one of the hall's peacocks towards the gate of the hall's walled garden.  He knew he was going to make sixpence out of it and so, the game was afoot.

Rhoda and the boot boy woke early, and in that misty dawn, they both went in search of the peacocks.  Sure enough, they found one and the chase was on.  The peacock ducked and dived and cried out but the boot boy had the measure of it, and chased it towards the open gate.  It shot through the gate, like "Shit off a shovel" and to it's surprise, Rhoda was waiting behind the wall to pull a feather out of it's bum.  With an indignant cry, the peacock flounced off and Rhoda and the boot boy exchanged the money, both smiling happily.

On Rhoda's next weekend off, the hat received it's grand showing.   On the way out, Rhoda heard the mistress of the house call her back.  "Rhoda, who gave you permission to wear MY traveling hat?",  she said.  "No one, Ma'am" Rhoda replied. "But it's not your hat", Rhoda said.  "Nonsense", the mistress said, and with that she ordered another maid to fetch the hatbox, with her hat in (Fully expecting it to be empty).  The maid returned, and with a flourish, the mistress flung open the lid, only to see her hat (an exact copy on Rhoda's head) lying there.

She hastily apologised to Rhoda and asked her where she'd got it.  Rhoda told her.  "And how much did it cost you?" she asked.  Rhoda said, " 3 shillings and sixpence" (3 shillings for the fabric and pattern and sixpence for the boot boy).  The mistress look astonished, "I purchased mine for 12 guineas">  With that, Rhoda curtsied and went her merry way.


1 guinea = £1-1s-0d ( £1/1/- ) = one pound and one shilling = 21 shillings
(which is £1.05 in todays money)

shilling (which is 5p in todays money)  

It was a dark and Stormy night...

Mum

When my Mum trudged down the lane to the hall, she saw that the main gate was large and wooden.  It was also resting with it's base in a pool of water, that reflected the drizzle of rain.  She was soaked and while she was confident on her ability to do her job, she just wanted to get out of the rain.  She wasn't the only one who had the same thoughts, as down the lane came a mass of rats.  It was like a living carpet of fur, and it caused her to open the small door, that she'd noticed, barely in time and step through onto the main drive of the hall.

She saw the hall for the first time, in the moonlight that broke through the rain clouds.  She enjoyed a good book and it reminded her of the heroine, who would arrive at the creepy hall owned by her uncle.  The only difference was, that the heroine would arrive at the front door in a carriage, and she, Mum, would have to trudge to the rear of this grand house, to the servant's quarters.

She took to her job, like a duck to water and being a palour maid meant that she'd be up early to make sure that the rooms she was assigned to were spick and span before the family of the house were awake.  This was when she was caught up with a moral dilemma.  She was doing her best to clean her room when she noticed something sparkling on the floor, tucked underneath the corner of the carpet.  Wondering what it was, she bent down to take a look.  It was a half-crown coin.  Now to mum, a half-crown was quite a bit of money but something seemed not right.

She went and fetched another maid, who told her it was a test to see whether she was honest, trustworthy and able to do a good job.  If the coin was gone the next morning, then the family would assume, being as it was Mum's room, she'd took it and so, she would be dismissed as being dishonest.  If it was still there, then it would be telling as Mum didn't polish the floor to the standard that was required.  It was virtually a "catch 22" situation. What she did, she finished off the room, to the best of her ability and fetched the house keeper to inspect her work.

The house keeper, could to see how well Mum had done her job, but must have been disappointed to see that the half-crown was missing.  She turned to Mum to dismiss her, but before she had a chance, Mum pulled out the half-crown placed it in the house keeper's hand and said, "I  know I'm an unknown but I do not appreciate being placed in a situation where I might be called a thief, or my ability to clean is questioned.  I hope you'll pass this on to the master and mistress of the house. I don't take what isn't mine".  She curtsied and left the room   

OK, I may have altered slightly, as I can't find the tape...  I remember her saying that she confronted the mistress with the coin, but more likely, being the new girl...  it probably went down how I put.

I'm going to finish...  Next post...  Life upstairs