Why Wealthy Britons Paid People to Live Alone in Their Gardens
stick it out: to continue doing something difficult or unpleasant until it is finished
In 18th-century Britain, a strange new trend began among rich landowners. They paid real people to live in their gardens as living decorations. These men were called ornamental hermits, and their job was to give the estate a mood of solitude and wisdom. By 1750, no fashionable garden was complete without one.
At one estate, a man named Mr. Remington signed a seven-year contract to be a hermit. The rules were extreme. He had to live alone in a small hut on the estate. He could not wash his body, cut his hair, or trim his nails. He could not speak to anyone and he could not leave the estate. If he could stick it out for seven years, he would earn about £500. That was enough money to retire on.
Mr. Remington did not stick it out. Just three weeks after he began, he was discovered drinking at a local pub. The owner fired him that same day.
Other hermits took the role more seriously. At another estate, a man called Father Francis was paid to sit at a table with a skull, an hourglass, and a globe. Visitors came to his hut, and he shared calm thoughts about solitude, time, and the meaning of life.
The trend faded by the end of the century. But why did rich people of that age want this? Owning a hermit was a way to look deep and thoughtful. They paid someone else to live the simple, meaningful life they only dreamed about.
Sample sentences
My first year of teaching was miserable, but I decided to stick it out, and it ended up becoming my career.
I hate my new diet, but I am going to stick it out for one full month.
I’m not happy at my new job but I’m going to stick it out for another six months until I can find something better.
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