The Forgotten Mediaeval Habit of ‘Two Sleeps’

For millennia, people slept in two (1) __________ – once in the evening and once in the morning. But why? And how did it work?

It was around 23:00 on 13 April 1699, in a small village in the north of England. Nine-year-old Jane Rowth blinked her eyes open and (2) __________ out into the moody evening shadows. She and her mother had just awoken from a short sleep. Mrs Rowth got up and went over to the fireside of their modest home, where she began smoking a pipe. Just then, two men appeared by the window. They called out and instructed her to get ready to go with them. As Jane later explained to a courtroom, her mother had (3) __________ been expecting the visitors. She went with them freely – but first whispered to her daughter to ‘lye still, and shee would come againe in the morning’. Perhaps Mrs Rowth had some (4) __________ task to complete. Or maybe she was in trouble and knew that leaving the house was a risk. Either way, Jane’s mother didn’t get to keep her promise – she never returned home. That night, Mrs Rowth was brutally murdered, and her body was discovered in the following days. The crime was never solved.

(1) a. turns b. shifts c. spells d. periods

(2) a. ogled b. sighted c. gazed d. squinted

(3) a. evidently b. implausibly c. prudently d. plainly

(4) a. epidermal b. diurnal c. nocturnal d. vernal

Confirm your choices below: