During the Romantic period in the 19th century (if this opening sentence scares you, now's the time to move on to the sex ads), rich people tried to keep it real by hiring "hermits" to live on their property and appear humble and tattered. They were given a hermitage, which was usually a charmingly ramshackle little cottage on the grounds with vines growing up it and smoke puffing out of the chimney. The men were required to wear a long beard and were supposed to sit in the yard and look contemplative. I suppose the modern-day equivalent to these land barons' employment of poor people would be celebrities who surround themselves with the less fortunate... More >>>