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was brought up before the magistrate, and it was charged that he aported andplayed and by indecent
gestures and wry faces caused laughter and and misbehavior in the beholders. the girls were just as wicked;
they slammed down the pew seats. tabath margus of norwich prophaned the lords daye by her rude
and indecent behaviour in laughing and playing in ye tyme of service. on long island godless boys ran
raesses on the sabbath and talked of vane things, and as for albany children, they played hookey and
coasted down hill on sunday to the scandal of every one evidently, except theirparents. when the boys
were separated and families sat in pews together, all became orderly in meeting.the deacons sat in a
deacons pue just in front of the pulpit; sometimes also there was a deal pue infront for those who were
hard of hearing. after choirs were established the singers seats were usually inthe gallery; and high
up under the beams in a loft sat the negroes and indians. if any person seated himself in any place

which was not assigned to him, he had to pay a fine, usually of several shillings, for each offence. but
in old newbury men were fined as high as twently seven pounds each for persistent and sitting in
seats belonging to other members. the churches were all unheated. few had stovesuntil the middle of
this century. the chill of the damp buildings, never heated from autumn to spring, and closed and dark
throughout the week, was hard for every one to bear. in some of the early log built meting houses, fur
bags made of wolfskins were nailed to the seats; and in some of the early log built meeting houses, fur
them. dogs, too, were permitted to enter the meeting house and lie on their mast

ers feet. dog whippers
or dog pelters were appointed to control and expel them when they became unrulyor unbearable.
women and children usually carried foot stoves, which were little pierced metalboxes that stood on
wooden legs, and held hot coals. during the noon intermission the half frozen church attendants went to
a neighboring house or tavern, or to a noon house to get warm. a noon house or sabba day house, as
it was often called, was a long low building built near the meeting house, withhouse stalls at one end
and a chimney at the other. in it the farmers kept, says one church record, their duds and horses. a

great fire of logs was built there each sunday, and before its cheerful blaze noonday luncheons of
brown bread, doughnuts, or gingerbread were eaten, and foot stoves were filled.boys and girls were not
permitted to indulge in idle talk in those noon houses, much less to play. oftentwo or there families
built a noon house together, or the church built a society house, and there thechildren had a sermon
read to them by a deacon during the nooning; sometimes the children had to explain aloud the notes

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they had taken during the sermon in the morning. thus they throve, as a ministerwrote, on the good
fare of brown bread and the gospel. there was no nearer approach to a sunday school until this
century. the services were not shortened because the churches were uncomfortable. by the side of the
pulpit stood a brass bound hour glass which was turned by the tithing man or clerk, but it did not
hasten the closing of the sermom. sermons two or three hours long were customary, and prayers from
one to two hours in length. when the first church in woburn was dedicated, the minister preached a
sermon nearly five hours long. a dutch traveller recorded a prayer four hours long on a fast day. many
prayers were two hours long. the doors were closed and watched by the tithing man, and none could
leave even if tired or restless unless with good excuse. the singing of the psalms was tedious and
unmusical, just as it was in churches of all denominations both in americe and england at that date.
singing was by ear and very uncertain, and the congregation had no notes, and many had no psalm
books, and hence no words. so the psalms were lined or deaconed; that is, a linewas read by the

deacon, and then sung by the congregation. some psalms when lined and sung occupied half an hour,
during which the congregation stood. there were but eight or nine tunes in general use, and even these
were often sung incorrectly. there were no church organs to help keep the singers together, but
sometimes pitch pipes were used to set the key. bass viols, clarionets, and flutes were played upon at a
later date in meeting to help the singing. violins were too associated with dance music to be thought
decorous for church music. still the new england churches clung to and loved their poor confused psalm
singing as one of their few delights, and whenever a puritan, even in road or fi

eld, heard the distant