When Dwellings cluster
An abode, a place called home; one’s property or where one resides, be that temporarily or more permanent. A dwelling is defined as a self-contained 'substantial' unit of accommodation that takes numerous forms but which cannot be constructed from cloth, a tepee, for instance, being considered insubstantial.
Social beings that they are, humans have long clustered said dwellings. The Saxons liked a cluster, and across England dwellings began to extend across and bridge together fields, creating the first neighbour, or "one who lives near another," Middle English neighebor, from Old English neahgebur (West Saxon), nehebur (Anglian) "one who dwells nearby”.
There were many reasons to make friends with the people down the lane, or across the field. Procreation beyond one’s immediate family was important, and sometimes getting help with the hunt made for more wild boar sausages, which in turn could be ‘sold’ or exchanged. Advanced negotiators could barter many sausages for a bride
And so, villages became a thing: Neolithic villagers got together to afford themselves greater protection against marauders, other, later settlements (or clusters of dwellings) evolved to support the creation of the ‘villa economy’, sometimes with people from Rome, who were very good with their swords.
By the 18th century, wealthy people who often lived in a manor, took it upon themselves and their religious beliefs, to get involved: they began to be built around greens, with ornamental additions as taste evolved, later taking more articulated form with the appointing of dirt tracks with street names. Said rich people took it one step further and often named the pub after themselves in a pique of arrogance, and a village really needed to have at least one pub, a post office, and of course, an idiot to be a fully recognised village.
The village idiot is essentially someone of little sense, being stereotypically silly or indeed rather ignorant. Back in the day, every village had one, and furthermore, it seemed an acceptable social role adding to the social fabric of the clustered dwellings and offering everyone the opportunity to be (usually) cruel, long before social media allowed you to do this anonymously from the comfort of your own private dwelling, thus avoiding a slapping.
A quote that the internet provided for this essay goes further… ‘the idiot is a part of the old village system with a vital role to play in the modern rural society, because there is this very real need, in society, for someone who almost anyone can look down on and ridicule’.
It is interesting to consider that London was once a village; I recall a quote from Nostradamus who in 1555 predicted that ‘come the millennium, month 12, in the home of the greatest power, the village idiot will come forth to be the acclaimed leader’. Idiocy seemed therefore to have real potential for success.
It would be unnecessary to point out that the people of little England, awarded Boris Johnson his premiership in December.
Social beings that they are, humans have long clustered said dwellings. The Saxons liked a cluster, and across England dwellings began to extend across and bridge together fields, creating the first neighbour, or "one who lives near another," Middle English neighebor, from Old English neahgebur (West Saxon), nehebur (Anglian) "one who dwells nearby”.
There were many reasons to make friends with the people down the lane, or across the field. Procreation beyond one’s immediate family was important, and sometimes getting help with the hunt made for more wild boar sausages, which in turn could be ‘sold’ or exchanged. Advanced negotiators could barter many sausages for a bride
And so, villages became a thing: Neolithic villagers got together to afford themselves greater protection against marauders, other, later settlements (or clusters of dwellings) evolved to support the creation of the ‘villa economy’, sometimes with people from Rome, who were very good with their swords.
By the 18th century, wealthy people who often lived in a manor, took it upon themselves and their religious beliefs, to get involved: they began to be built around greens, with ornamental additions as taste evolved, later taking more articulated form with the appointing of dirt tracks with street names. Said rich people took it one step further and often named the pub after themselves in a pique of arrogance, and a village really needed to have at least one pub, a post office, and of course, an idiot to be a fully recognised village.
The village idiot is essentially someone of little sense, being stereotypically silly or indeed rather ignorant. Back in the day, every village had one, and furthermore, it seemed an acceptable social role adding to the social fabric of the clustered dwellings and offering everyone the opportunity to be (usually) cruel, long before social media allowed you to do this anonymously from the comfort of your own private dwelling, thus avoiding a slapping.
A quote that the internet provided for this essay goes further… ‘the idiot is a part of the old village system with a vital role to play in the modern rural society, because there is this very real need, in society, for someone who almost anyone can look down on and ridicule’.
It is interesting to consider that London was once a village; I recall a quote from Nostradamus who in 1555 predicted that ‘come the millennium, month 12, in the home of the greatest power, the village idiot will come forth to be the acclaimed leader’. Idiocy seemed therefore to have real potential for success.
It would be unnecessary to point out that the people of little England, awarded Boris Johnson his premiership in December.
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