"In fairness to the dukes [the "champion spenders"], it might be remarked that they each spent a fortune looking after the Woodstock villagers, in true feudal fashion. The day's routine at the palace included trips to the poor and needy by the children, who carried baskets of assorted goodies, covered over with imported linen and damask. As the poor and needy were cared for, they became poorer and needier, and others dropped their jobs and joined in, so that eventually the dukes were supporting almost the entire countryside, which entailed a heavy strain on the budget."
Winston Churchill: An Informal Study of Greatness by Robert Lewis Taylor, pp. 27-28, copyright 1952, referring to a time before Winston Churchill's birth in 1874.
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