We came to the house
We came to the house, and it is an old house, full of great chimneys where wood is burnt on ancient dogs upon the hearth, and grim portraits (some of them with grim legends, too) lower distrustfully from the oaken panels of the walls. ~ A Christmas Tree by Charles Dickens
What does Dickens mean by “ancient dogs upon the hearth”?
Dickens isn’t talking about animals. “Fire-dogs,” also called andirons, are metal supports used to hold burning logs in a fireplace. The expression was familiar in Dickens’s time but can sound very strange to modern readers.
