The wadsetter was frequently a younger brother or near relative of the chief of the clan, who had made money abroad, or in some calling at home. He lent money to the chief, and in return he was secured by deed in the annual rents of certain specified lands.

Men and women laced their arming caps and donned their helmets—tall bassinets, practical kettle hats, or sturdy barbutes. Soldiers always rode out armed from head to foot—but only a novice or an overeager squire rode in his helmet or gauntlets.

[H]e has seen kitchens thrown into turmoil, and he himself has been down in the grey-green hour before dawn, when the brick ovens are swabbed out ready for the first batch of loaves, as carcasses are spitted, pots set on trivets, poultry plucked and jointed.

Descending to the office to buy some postcards, the boys found, lounging about the desk, a stoutish man with a rather dissipated face, puffy under the eyes and heavy about the jaws.