Charles H. Pearson, Esq., M.A.,
FELLOW OF ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD,
LATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY
AT KING’S COLLEGE, LONDON,
IN ADMIRATION OF HIS LEARNING
AND
IN GRATITUDE FOR HIS HELP,
BY THE EDITOR
Notice. The Russell and De Worde of this work were issued, with Rhodes’s Boke of Nurture, to the Roxburghe Club, in 4to, in 1867. The whole of the work (except p. 361), with Rhodes, and some short poems in English, French, and Latin, was issued to the Early English Text Society, in 8vo, in 1868, with the title The Babees Book, &c. (Manners and Meals in Olden Time).
[FOREWORDS.]
“The naturall maister Aristotell saith that euery body be the course of nature is enclyned to here & se all that refressheth & quickeneth the spretys of man[1] / wherfor I haue thus in this boke folowinge[2]” gathered together divers treatises touching the Manners & Meals of Englishmen in former days, & have added therto divers figures of men of old, at meat & in bed,[3] to the end that, to my fellows here & to come, the home life of their forefathers may be somewhat more plain, & their own minds somewhat rejoiced.
The treatises here collected consist of a main one—John Russell’s Boke of Nurture, to which I have written a separate preface[4]—extracts and short books illustrating Russell, like the Booke of Demeanor and Boke of Curtasy, and certain shorter poems addressed partly to those whom Cotgrave calls “Enfans de famille, Yonkers of account, youthes
of good houses, children of rich parents (yet aliue),” partly to carvers and servants, partly to schoolboys, partly to people in general, or at least those of them who were willing to take advice as to how they should mend their manners and live a healthy life.
EDWARD THE FOURTH’S HENCHMEN
The persons to whom the last poems of the present collection are addressed, the
yonge Babees, whome bloode Royalle
Withe grace, feture, and hyhe habylite
Hathe enourmyd,
the “Bele Babees” and “swete Children,” may be likened to the “young gentylmen, Henxmen,—VI Enfauntes, or more, as it shall please the Kinge,”—at Edward the Fourth’s Court; and the authors or translators of the Bokes in this volume, somewhat to that sovereign’s Maistyr of Henxmen, whose duty it was
“to shew the schooles[5] of urbanitie and nourture of Englond, to lerne them to ryde clenely and surely; to drawe them also to justes; to lerne them were theyre barneys; to haue all curtesy in wordes, dedes, and degrees; dilygently to kepe them in rules of goynges and sittinges, after they be of honour. Moreover to teche them sondry languages, and othyr lerninges vertuous, to harping, to pype, sing, daunce, and with other honest and temperate behaviour and patience; and to kepe dayly and wekely with these children dew convenity, with corrections in theyre chambres, according to suche gentylmen; and eche of them to be used to that thinge of vertue that he shall be moste apt to lerne, with remembraunce dayly of Goddes servyce accustumed. This maistyr sittith in the halle, next unto these Henxmen, at the same boarde, to have his respecte unto theyre demeanynges, howe manerly they ete and drinke, and to theyre communication and other formes curiall, after the booke of urbanitie.” (Liber Niger in Household Ordinances, p. 45.)
That these young Henxmen were gentlemen, is expressly stated,[6]
and they had “everyche of them an honest servaunt to keepe theyre chambre and harneys, and to aray hym in this courte whyles theyre maisters he present in courte.” I suppose that when they grew up, some became Esquires, and then their teaching would prove of use, for
“These Esquiers of houshold of old [were] accustumed, wynter and sumer, in aftyrnoones and in eveninges, to drawe to lordes chambres within courte, there to kepe honest company aftyr theyre cunnynge, in talkyng of cronycles of Kings and of other polycyes, or in pypeyng or harpyng, synging, or other actes martialles, to help occupy the courte, and accompany straungers, tyll the tyme require of departing.”
But that a higher station than an Esquier’s was in store for some of these henchmen, may be known from the history of one of them. Thomas Howard, eldest son of Sir John Howard, knight (who was afterwards Duke of Norfolk, and killed at Bosworth Field), was among these henchmen or pages, ‘enfauntes’ six or more, of Edward IV.’s. He was made Duke of Norfolk for his splendid victory over the Scots at Flodden, and Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were his granddaughters. Among the ‘othyr lerninges vertuous’ taught
him at Edward’s court was no doubt that of drawing, for we find that ‘He was buried with much pomp at Thetford Abbey under a tomb designed by himself and master Clarke, master of the works at King’s College, Cambridge, & Wassel a freemason of Bury S. Edmund’s.’ Cooper’s Ath. Cant., i. p. 29, col. 2.
RICH MEN’S EDUCATION IN EARLY ENGLAND.
[The question of] the social rank of these Bele Babees[6a], children, and Pueri who stood at tables, opens up the whole subject of upper-class education in early times in England. It is a subject that, so far as I can find, has never yet been separately treated[7], and I therefore throw together such few notices as the kindness of friends[8] and my own chance grubbings have collected; these as a sort of stopgap till the appearance of Mr Anstey’s volume on early Oxford Studies in the Chronicles and Memorials, a volume which will, I trust, give us a complete account of early education in our land. If it should not, I hope that Mr Quick will carry his pedagogic researches past Henry VIII.’s time, or that one of our own members will take the subject up. It is worthy of being thoroughly worked out. For convenience’ sake, the notices I have mentioned are arranged under six heads:
[1.] Education in Nobles’ houses.
[2.] At Home and at Private Tutors’, p. xvii. ([Girls], p. xxv.)
[3.] At English Universities, p. xxvi.
[4.] At Foreign Universities, p. xl.
[5.] At Monastic and Cathedral Schools, p. xli.
[6.] At Grammar Schools, p. lii.
One consideration should be premised, that manly exercises, manners and courtesy, music and singing, knowledge of the order of precedency of ranks, and ability to carve, were in early times more important than Latin and Philosophy. ‘Aylmar þe kyng’ gives these directions to Athelbrus, his steward, as to Horn’s education:
Stiwarde, tak nu here
Mi fundlyng for to lere
Of þine mestere,
Of wude and of riuere;
And tech him to harpe
Wiþ his nayles scharpe;
Biuore me to kerue,
And of þe cupe serue;
Þu tech him of alle þe liste (craft, AS. list)
Þat þu eure of wiste;
[And] his feiren þou wise (mates thou teach)
Into oþere seruise.
Horn þu underuonge,
And tech him of harpe and songe.
King Horn, E. E. T. Soc., 1866, ed. Lumby, p. 7.[9]
So in Romances and Ballads of later date, we find
The child was taught great nurterye;
a Master had him vnder his care,
& taught him curtesie.
Tryamore, in Bp. Percy’s Folio MS. vol. ii. ed. 1867.
It was the worthy Lord of learen,
he was a lord of hie degree;
he had noe more children but one sonne,
he sett him to schoole to learne curtesie.
Lord of Learne, Bp. Percy’s Folio MS. vol. i. p. 182, ed. 1867.
Chaucer’s Squire, as we know, at twenty years of age
hadde ben somtyme in chivachie,
In Flaundres, in Artoys, and in Picardie,
And born him wel, as in so litel space,
In hope to stonden in his lady grace ...
Syngynge he was, or flowtynge, al the day ...
Wel cowde he sitte on hors, and wel cowde ryde.
He cowde songes wel make and endite,
Justne and eek daunce, and wel purtray and write ...
Curteys he was, lowly, and servysable,
And carf beforn his fadur at the table.[10]
Which of these accomplishments would Cambridge or Oxford teach? Music alone.[10a] That, as Harrison says, was one of the Quadrivials,
‘arithmetike, musike, geometrie, and astronomie.’ The Trivium was grammar, rhetoric, and logic.
HOUSES OF NOBLES AND CHANCELLORS WERE SCHOOLS.
[1.] The chief places of education for the sons of our nobility and gentry were the houses of other nobles, and specially those of the Chancellors of our Kings, men not only able to read and write, talk Latin and French themselves, but in whose hands the Court patronage lay. As early as Henry the Second’s time (A.D. 1154-62), if not before[11], this system prevailed. A friend notes that Fitz-Stephen says of Becket:
“The nobles of the realm of England and of neighbouring kingdoms used to send their sons to serve the Chancellor, whom he trained with honourable bringing-up and learning; and when they had received the knight’s belt, sent them back with honour to their fathers and kindred: some he used to keep. The king himself, his master, entrusted to him his son, the heir of the realm, to be brought up; whom he had with him, with many sons of nobles of the same age, and their proper retinue and masters and proper servants in the honour due.” —Vita S. Thomæ, pp. 189, 190, ed. Giles.
Roger de Hoveden, a Yorkshireman, who was a clerk or secretary to Henry the Second, says of Richard the Lionheart’s unpopular chancellor, Longchamps the Bishop of Ely:
“All the sons of the nobles acted as his servants, with downcast looks, nor dared they to look upward towards the heavens unless it so happened that they were addressing him; and if they attended to anything else they were pricked with a goad, which their lord held in his hand, fully mindful of his grandfather of pious memory, who, being of servile condition in the district of Beauvais, had, for his occupation, to guide the plough and whip up the oxen; and who at length, to gain his liberty, fled to the Norman territory.” (Riley’s Hoveden, ii. 232, quoted in The Cornhill Magazine, vol. xv. p. 165.)[12]
All Chancellors were not brutes of this kind, but we must remember that young people were subjected to rough treatment in early days. Even so late as Henry VI.’s time, Agnes Paston sends to London on the 28th of January, 1457, to pray the master of her son of 15, that if the boy “hath not done well, nor will not amend,” his master Greenfield “will truly belash him till he will amend.” And of the same lady’s treatment of her marriageable daughter, Elizabeth, Clere writes on the 29th of June, 1454,
“She (the daughter) was never in so great sorrow as she is now-a-days, for she may not speak with no man, whosoever come, ne not may see nor speak with my man, nor with servants of her mother’s, but that she beareth her on hand otherwise than she meaneth; and she hath since Easter the most part been beaten once in the week or twice, and sometimes twice on a day, and her head broken in two or three places.” (v. i. p. 50, col. 1, ed. 1840.)
The treatment of Lady Jane Grey by her parents was also very severe, as she told Ascham, though she took it meekly, as her sweet nature was:
“One of the greatest benefites that God ever gave me, is, that he sent me so sharpe and severe Parentes, and so jentle a scholemaster. For when I am in presence either of father or mother, whether I speake, kepe silence, sit, stand, or go, eate, drinke, be merie or sad, be sewyng, plaiyng, dauncing, or doing anie thing els, I must do it, as it were, in soch weight, mesure, and number, even so perfitelie as God made the world, or els I am so sharplie taunted, so cruellie threatened; yea presentlie some tymes, with pinches, nippes, and bobbes, and other waies which I will not name for the honor I beare them, so without measure misordered, that I thinke my self in hell till tyme cum that I must go to M. Elmer, who teacheth me so jentlie, so pleasantlie, with soch faire allurementes to learning, that I thinke all the tyme nothing whiles I am with him. And when I am called from him, I fall on weeping.” —The Scholemaster, ed. Mayor.
The inordinate beating[13] of boys by schoolmasters—whom he
calls in different places ‘sharp, fond, & lewd’[14]—Ascham denounces strongly in the first book of his Scholemaster, and he contrasts their folly in beating into their scholars the hatred of learning with the practice of the wise riders who by gentle allurements breed them up in the love of riding. Indeed, the origin of his book was Sir Wm. Cecil’s saying to him “I have strange news brought me this morning, that divers scholars of Eton be run away from the school for fear of beating.”
Sir Peter Carew, says Mr Froude, being rather a troublesome boy, was chained in the Haccombe dog-kennel till he ran away from it.
But to return to the training of young men in nobles’ houses. I take the following from Fiddes’s Appendix to his Life of Wolsey:
John de Athon, upon the Constitutions of Othobon, tit. 23, in respect to the Goods of such who dyed intestate, and upon the Word Barones, has the following Passage concerning Grodsted Bishop of Lincoln[15] (who died 9th Oct., 1253),—
BP. GROSSETETE TAUGHT NOBLES’ SONS.
“Robert surnamed Grodsted of holy memory, late Bishop of Lincoln, when King Henry asked him, as if in wonder, where he learnt the Nurture in which he had instructed the sons of nobles (&) peers of the Realm, whom he kept about him as pages (domisellos[16]),—since he was not descended from a noble lineage, but from humble (parents)—is said to have answered fearlessly, ‘In the house or guest-chambers
of greater kings than the King of England’; because he had learnt from understanding the scriptures the manner of life of David, Solomon, & other Kings[15].”
Reyner, in his Apostol. Bened. from Saunders acquaints us, that the Sons of the Nobility were placed with Whiting Abbot of Glastenbury for their Education, who was contemporary with the Cardinal, and which Method of Education was continued for some Time afterward.
There is in the Custody of the present Earl of Stafford, a Nobleman of the greatest Humanity and Goodness, an Original of Instructions, by the Earl of Arundell, written in the Year 1620, for the Benefit of his younger Son, the Earl of Stafford’s Grandfather, under this Title;
Instructions for you my Son William, how to behave your self at Norwich.
In these Instructions is the following paragraph, “You shall in all Things reverence honour and obey my Lord Bishop of Norwich, as you would do any of your Parents, esteeminge whatsoever He shall tell or Command you, as if your Grandmother of Arundell, your Mother, or my self, should say it; and in all things esteem your self as my Lord’s Page; a breeding which youths of my house far superior to you were accustomed unto, as my Grandfather of Norfolk, and his Brother my good Uncle of Northampton were both bred as Pages with Bishopps, &c.”
Sir Thomas More, who was born in 1480, was brought up in the house of Cardinal Morton. Roper says that he was
“received into the house of the right reverend, wise, and learned prelate Cardinal Morton, where, though he was young of years, yet would he at Christmas-tide suddenly sometimes step in among the players, and never studying for the matter make a part of his own there presently among them, which made the lookers on more sport than all the players beside. In whose wit and towardness the Cardinal much delighting would say of him unto the nobles that divers times dined with him, This child here waiting at the table, Whosoever shall live to see it, will prove a marvellous man. Whereupon for his better furtherance in learning he placed him at Oxford, &c.” (Roper’s Life of More, ed. Singer, 1822, p. 3.)
Cresacre More in his Life of More (ed. 1828, p. 17) states the same thing more fully, and gives the remark of the Cardinal more accurately, thus:— “that that boy there waiting on him, whoever should live to see it, would prove a marvellous rare man.”[17]
YOUNG NOBLES IN WOLSEY’S HOUSEHOLD.
Through Wolsey’s household, says Professor Brewer, almost all the
Officials of Henry the Eighth’s time passed. Cavendish, in his Life of Wolsey (vol. i. p. 38, ed. Singer, 1825) says of the Cardinal, “And at meals, there was continually in his chamber a board kept for his Chamberlains, and Gentlemen Ushers, having with them a mess of the young Lords, and another for gentlemen.” Among these young Lords, we learn at p. 57, was
“my Lord Percy, the son and heir of the Earl of Northumberland, [who] then attended upon the Lord Cardinal, and was also his servitor; and when it chanced the Lord Cardinal at any time to repair to the court, the Lord Percy would then resort for his pastime unto the queen’s chamber, and there would fall in dalliance among the queen’s maidens, being at the last more conversant with Mistress Anne Boleyn than with any other; so that there grew such a secret love between them that, at length they were insured together, intending to marry[18].”
Among the persons daily attendant upon Wolsey in his house, down-lying and up-rising, Cavendish enumerates “of Lords nine or ten, who had each of them allowed two servants; and the Earl of Derby had allowed five men” (p. 36-7). On this Singer prints a note, which looks like a guess, signed Growe, “Those Lords that were placed in the great and privy chambers were Wards, and as such paid for their board and education.” It will be seen below that he had a particular officer called “Instructor of his Wards” (Cavendish, p. 38, l. 2). Why I suppose the note to be a guess is, because at p. 33 Cavendish has stated that Wolsey “had also a great number daily attending upon him, both of noblemen and worthy gentlemen, of great estimation and possessions,—with no small number of the tallest yeomen that he could get in all his realm; in so much that well was that nobleman and gentleman that might prefer any tall and comely yeoman unto his service.”
In the household of the Earl of Northumberland in 1511 were “..yong gentlemen at their fryndes fynding,[19] in my lords house for
the hoole yere” and “Haunsmen ande Yong Gentlemen at thir Fryndes fynding v[j] (As to say, Hanshmen iij. And Yong Gentlemen iij” p. 254,) no doubt for the purpose of learning manners, &c. And that such youths would be found in the house of every noble of importance I believe, for as Walter Mapes (? ab. 1160-90 A.D.) says of the great nobles, in his poem De diversis ordinibus hominum, the example of manners goes out from their houses, Exemplar morum domibus procedit eorum. That these houses were in some instances only the finishing schools for our well-born young men after previous teaching at home and at College is possible (though the cases of Sir Thomas More and Ascham are exactly the other way), but the Lord Percy last named had a schoolmaster in his house, “The Maister of Graimer j”, p. 254; “Lyverays for the Maister of Gramer[20] in Housholde: Item Half a Loof of Houshold Breide, a Pottell of Beere, and two White Lyghts,” p. 97. “Every Scolemaister techyng Grammer in the Hous C s.” (p. 47, 51). Edward IV.’s henxmen were taught grammar; and if the Pastons are to be taken as a type of their class, our nobles and gentry at the end of the 15th century must have been able to read and write freely. Chaucer’s Squire could write, and though the custom of sealing deeds and not signing them prevailed, more or less, till Henry VIII.’s time, it is doubtful whether this implied inability of the sealers to write. Mr Chappell says that in Henry VIII.’s time half our nobility were then writing ballads. Still, the bad spelling and grammar of most of the letters up to that period, and the general ignorance of our upper classes were, says Professor Brewer, the reason why the whole government of the country was in the hands of ecclesiastics. Even in Henry the Eighth’s
time, Sir Thomas Boleyn is said to have been the only noble at Court who could speak French with any degree of fluency, and so was learned enough to be sent on an embassy abroad. But this may be questioned. Yet Wolsey, speaking to his Lord Chamberlain and Comptroller when they
KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH.
“showed him that it seemed to them there should be some noblemen and strangers [Henry VIII. and his courtiers masked] arrived at his bridge, as ambassadors from some foreign prince. With that, quoth the Cardinal, ‘I shall desire you, because ye can speak French, to take the pains to go down into the hall to encounter and to receive them, according to their estates, and to conduct them into this chamber’ (Cavendish, p. 51). Then spake my Lord Chamberlain unto them in French, declaring my Lord Cardinal’s mind (p. 53).”
The general[21] opinion of our gentry as to the study of Letters, before and about 1500 A.D., is probably well represented by the opinion of one of them stated by Pace, in his Prefatory Letter to Colet, prefixed to the former’s De Fructu[22].
It remains that I now explain to you what moves me to compile and publish a treatise with this title. When, two years ago, more or less, I had returned to my native land from the city of Rome, I was present at a certain feast, a stranger to many; where, when enough had been drunk, one or other of the guests—no fool, as one might infer from his words and countenance—began to talk of educating his children well. And, first of all, he thought that he must search out a good teacher for them, and that they should at any rate attend school. There happened to be present one of those whom we call gentle-men (generosos), and who always carry some horn hanging at their backs, as though they would hunt during dinner. He, hearing letters praised, roused with sudden anger, burst out furiously with these words. “Why do you talk nonsense, friend?” he said; “A curse on those stupid letters! all learned men are beggars: even Erasmus, the most learned of all, is a beggar (as I hear), and in a certain letter of his calls τήν κατάρατον πενίαν (that is, execrable poverty) his wife, and vehemently complains that he cannot shake her off his shoulders right into βαθυκήτεα πόντον, that is, into the deep sea. I swear by God’s body I’d rather that my son should hang than study letters. For it becomes the sons of gentlemen to blow the horn nicely (apte), to hunt skilfully, and elegantly carry and train a hawk. But the study of letters should be left to the sons of rustics.” At this point I could not restrain myself from answering something to this most talkative man, in defence of good letters. “You do not seem to me, good man,” I said, “to think rightly. For if any foreigner were to come to the king, such as the ambassadors (oratores) of princes are, and an answer had to be given to him, your son, if he were educated as you wish, could only blow his horn, and the learned sons of rustics would be called to answer, and would be far preferred to your hunter or fowler son; and they, enjoying their learned liberty, would say to your face, ‘We prefer to be learned, and, thanks to our learning, no fools, than boast of our fool-like nobility.’” Then he upon this, looking round, said, “Who is this person that is talking like this? I don’t know the fellow.” And when some one whispered in his ear who I was, he muttered something or other in a low voice to himself; and finding a fool to listen to him, he then caught hold of a cup of wine. And when he
could get nothing to answer, he began to drink, and change the conversation to other things. And thus I was freed from the disputing of this mad fellow,—which I was dreadfully afraid would have lasted a long time,—not by Apollo, like Horace was from his babbler, but by Bacchus.
APPRENTICESHIP IN HENRY VII.’S TIME.
On the general subject it should be noted that Fleta mentions nothing about boarders or apprentices in his account of household economy; nor does the Liber Contrarotulatoris Garderobæ Edw. Imi mention any young noblemen as part of the King’s household. That among tradesmen in later times, putting out their children in other houses, and apprenticeships, were the rule, we know from many statements and allusions in our literature, and “The Italian Relation of England” (temp. Hen. VII.) mentions that the Duke of Suffolk was boarded out to a rich old widow, who persuaded him to marry her (p. 27). It also says
The want of affection in the English is strongly manifested towards their children; for after having kept them at home till they arrive at the age of 7 or 9 years at the utmost, they put them out, both males and females, to hard service in the houses of other people, binding them generally for another 7 or 9 years. And these are called apprentices, and during that time they perform all the most menial offices; and few are born who are exempted from this fate, for every one, however rich he may be, sends away his children into the houses of others, whilst he, in return, receives those of strangers into his own. And on inquiring their reason for this severity, they answered that they did it in order that their children might learn better manners. But I, for my part, believe that they do it because they like to enjoy all their comforts themselves, and that they are better served by strangers than they would be by their own children. Besides which, the English being great epicures, and very avaricious by nature, indulge in the most delicate fare themselves and give their household the coarsest bread, and beer, and cold meat baked on Sunday for the week, which, however, they allow them in great abundance. That if they had their own children at home, they would be obliged to give them the same food they made use of for themselves. That if the English sent their children away from home to learn virtue and good manners, and took them back again when their apprenticeship was over, they might, perhaps, be excused; but they never return, for the girls are settled by their patrons, and the boys make the best marriages they can, and, assisted by their patrons, not by their fathers, they also open a house and strive diligently by this means to make some fortune for themselves; whence it proceeds that, having no hope of their paternal inheritance, that all become so
greedy of gain that they feel no shame in asking, almost “for the love of God,” for the smallest sums of money; and to this it may be attributed, that there is no injury that can be committed against the lower orders of the English, that may not be atoned for by money. —A Relation of the Island of England (Camden Society, 1847), pp. 24-6.
“This evidently refers to tradesmen.[23] The note by the Editor[24] however says it was the case with the children of the first nobility, and gives the terms for the Duke of Buckingham’s children with Mrs Hexstall. The document only shows that Mrs Hexstall boarded them by contract ‘during the time of absence of my Lord and my Ladie.’”
The Earl of Essex says in a letter to Lord Burleigh, 1576, printed in Murdin’s State Papers, p. 301-2.
“Neverthelesse, uppon the assured Confidence, that your love to me shall dissend to my Childrenne, and that your Lordship will declare yourself a Frend to me, both alive and dead, I have willed Mr Waterhouse to shew unto you how you may with Honor and Equity do good to my Sonne Hereford, and how to bind him with perpetual Frendship to you and your House. And to the Ende I wold have his Love towardes those which are dissended from you spring up and increase with his Yeares, I have wished his Education to be in your Household, though the same had not bene allotted to your Lordship as Master of the Wardes; and that the whole Tyme, which he shold spend in England in his Minority, might be devided in Attendance uppon my Lord Chamberlayne and you, to the End, that as he might frame himself to the Example of my Lord of Sussex in all the Actions of his Life, tending either to the Warres, or to the Institution of a Nobleman, so that he might also reverence your Lordship for your Wisdome and Gravyty, and lay up your Counsells and Advises in the Treasory of his Hart.”
GIRLS SENT OUT TO LADIES’ HOUSES.
That girls, as well as boys, were sent out to noblemen’s houses for their education, is evident from Margaret Paston’s letter of the 3rd of April, 1469, to Sir John Paston, “Also I would ye should purvey for your sister [? Margery] to be with my Lady of Oxford, or with my Lady of Bedford, or in some other worshipful place whereas ye think best, and I will help to her finding, for we be either of us weary of other.” Alice Crane’s Letter, in the Paston Letters, v. i.
p. 35, ed. 1840, also supports this view, as does Sir John Heveningham’s to Margaret Paston, asking her to take his cousin Anneys Loveday for some time as a boarder till a mistress could be found for her. “If that it please you to have her with you to into the time that a mistress may be purveyed for her, I pray you thereof, and I shall content you for her board that ye shall be well pleased.” Similarly Anne Boleyn and her sister were sent to Margaret of Savoy, aunt of Charles V., who lived at Brussels, to learn courtesy, &c., says Prof. Brewer. Sir Roger Twysden says that Anne was “Not above seven yeares of age, Anno 1514,” when she went abroad. He adds:
“It should seeme by some that she served three in France successively; Mary of England maryed to Lewis the twelfth, an. 1514, with whome she went out of England, but Lewis dying the first of January following, and that Queene (being) to returne home, sooner than either Sir Thomas Bullen or some other of her frendes liked she should, she was preferred to Clauda, daughter to Lewis XII. and wife to Francis I. then Queene (it is likely upon the commendation of Mary the Dowager), who not long after dying, an. 1524, not yet weary of France she went to live with Marguerite, Dutchess of Alançon and Berry, a Lady much commended for her favor towards good letters, but never enough for the Protestant religion then in the infancy—from her, if I am not deceived, she first learnt the grounds of the Protestant religion; so that England may seem to owe some part of her happyness derived from that Lady.” (Twysden’s Notes quoted by Singer in his ed. of Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, 1825, p. 57.)
As Henry VIII. fell in love with his wife’s maid of honour,—“began to kindle the brand of amours” at the light of Anne Boleyn’s beauty, “her excellent gesture and behaviour,”—so we find in later times rich young men became enamoured of poor young women staying in the same house with them. Mr Bruce sends me an instance:
“the young lady was niece, you will perceive, to a well-beneficed clergyman, and a thriving gentleman well-advanced in the public service. She had lost her mother, and her father was in debt and difficulties. She was therefore placed by the influence of her uncles in a well-known family in Wiltshire.”
State Papers. Dom. Car. I. Vol. ccclii. No. 29. Dr Matthew Nicholas, afterwards Dean of St Paul’s, to Edward Nicholas, Clerk of the Council, and afterwards Secretary of State. Dated, West Dean, April 4, 1637.
“I have spoken with Miss Evelyn since I wrote last unto you, and enquired of her the cause which moued her to displace my coson
Hunton. She told me much accordinge to what she had sayd unto my coson Hunton, with this addition, that she had respect in it as well unto her good as her owne convenience, for hauinge nowe noe employment for her but her needle, she founde that sittinge still at her worke made her sickly, and therefore thought she might doe better in another seruice where she might haue the orderinge of an huswifely charge, for which (she told me) she had made her very able. I expressed myselfe tender of the disgrace which would lay uppon my coson in beinge displaced in such a manner by warninge giuen, wherof whatsoeuer were the cause, it would be imagined by all that knowe it not, to be in her ill carriage, and wished she had done me that fauour as to haue acquainted me with her intents in such time as I might haue taken some course to haue disposed of her before it had bin knowne that she was to leaue her: she slubbered it ouer with a slight excuse that she had acquainted my wife ... but for my satisfaction she told me that she would be as mindfull of her when God should call her as if she were with her, and in testimony of her good likinge of her seruice she would allowe her forty shillings yearly towarde her maintainance as longe as herself should liue. I am soe well acquainted with what she hath as yet disposed to her by will, and soe little value forty shillings to my coson Hunton’s credit, as I gaue her noe thankes. Mr Downes (I heare) is sent for home by his father with an intent to keepe him with him, but I doe imagine that when my coson Hunton shall be other where disposed off, he shall returne; for my conceit is stronge that the feare of his beinge match’d to his disadvantage, who was placed with Mr Evelyn a youth to be bred for his preferment, hath caused this alteration; howsoever there be noe wordes made of it. I confess that when I have bin told of the good will that was obserued betweene my coson Hunton and Mr Downes, I did put it by with my coson Huntons protestation to the contrary, and was willinge by that neglect to have suffered it to have come to pass (if it mought have bin) because I thought it would haue bin to her aduantage, but nowe that the busines is come to this issue (as whatsoeuer be pretended I am confident this is the cause of my cosons partinge) I begin to quæstion my discretion.... Good brother, let me haue your aduise what to do.”
PRIVATE TUITION IN EARLY ENGLAND.
[2.] Home and Private Education. Of these, more or less must have been going on all over England, by private tutors at home, or in the houses of the latter. “In five years (after my baptism) I was handed over by my father to Siward, a noble priest, to be trained in letters, to whose mastery I was subdued during five years learning the first rudiments. But in the eleventh year of my age I was given up by my own father for the love of God, and destined to enter the service of the eternal King.” —Orderic, vol. ii. p. 301, ed. Prevost.
From Adam de Marisco’s Letters, 53, we find that Henry and Almeric, the eldest and youngest sons of the Earl of Montfort, were put under Grosseteste for tuition, he being then a Bishop. At Paris, John of Salisbury (who died in 1180) gained a living by teaching the sons of noblemen,—(instruendos susceperam, ? took them in to board). —Metalogicus, lib. 11, c. 10.
Henry of Huntingdon says, “Richard, the king’s (Henry I.’s) bastard son, was honourably brought up (festive nutritus) by our Bishop Robert (Blote of Lincoln), and duly reverenced by me and others in the same household I lived in.” —Anglia Sacra, vol. ii. p. 696. Giraldus Cambrensis speaks of beating his coætanei et conscolares terræ suæ, of being reproved for idleness by his uncle, the Bishop of St David’s, and of being constantly chaffed by two of his uncle’s chaplains, who used to decline durus and stultus to him. Also he alludes to the rod. Probably there was some sort of school at either Pembroke or St David’s[24a].—De Rebus a se Gestis, lib. 1, c. 2.[25]
The Statutes of a Gild of young Scholars formed to burn lights in honour of some saint or other, and to help one another in sickness, old age, and to burial, will be printed for us by Mr Toulmin Smith in the Early English Text Society’s books this year.
Under this head of Private Tuition we may class the houses of Abbots, where boys of good birth were educated. In his History of English Poetry, section 36, vol. iii. p. 9, ed. 1840, Warton says:
“It appears to have been customary for the governors of the most considerable convents, especially those that were honoured with the mitre, to receive into their own private lodgings the sons of the principal families of the neighbourhood for education. About the year 1450, Thomas Bromele, abbot of the mitred monastery of Hyde near Winchester, entertained in his own abbatial house within that monastery eight young gentlemen, or gentiles pueri, who were placed there for the purpose of literary instruction, and constantly dined at the abbot’s table. I will not scruple to give the original words, which are more particular and expressive, of the obscure record which preserves this curious anecdote of monastic life. ‘Pro octo gentilibus pueris apud dominum abbatem studii causa perhendinantibus, et ad mensam domini victitantibus, cum garcionibus suis ipsos comitantibus, hoc anno, xviil. ixs. Capiendo pro[26]...’” This, by the way,
was more extraordinary, as William of Wykeham’s celebrated seminary was so near. And this seems to have been an established practice of the abbot of Glastonbury, “whose apartment in the abbey was a kind of well-disciplined court, where the sons of noblemen and young gentlemen were wont to be sent for virtuous education, who returned thence home excellently accomplished.[27]” Richard Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury, who was cruelly executed by the king, during the course of his government educated near three hundred ingenuous youths, who constituted a part of his family; beside many others whom he liberally supported at the universities.[28] Whitgift, the most excellent and learned archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was educated under Robert Whitgift his uncle, abbot of the Augustine monastery of black canons at Wellhow in Lincolnshire, “who,” says Strype, “had several other young gentlemen under his care for education.” (Strype’s Whitgift, v. i. ch. i. p. 3.)
Of Lydgate—about 1420-30 A.D. I suppose—Prof. Morley says in his English Writers, vol. ii. Pt. I. p. 423:
“After studying at Oxford, Paris, and Padua, and after mastering with special delight the writings of such poets as Dante, Boccaccio, and Alain Chartier, Lydgate opened at his monastery of Bury St Edmund’s a school of rhetoric in which he taught young nobles literature and the art of versifying!”
Richard Pace says in his De Fructu, 1517:
“Now the learning of music too demands its place, especially from me whom it distinguished when a boy amongst boys. For Thomas Langton, bishop of Winchester (the predecessor of him who is now living), whose secretary I was, when he had marked that I was making a proficiency in music far beyond my age (as himself—perchance from his too great affection for me—would point out and repeatedly say), ‘The talent of this lad,’ he said, ‘is born for greater things,’ and a few days afterwards he sent me, to pursue the study of literature, into Italy, to the school at Padua, which then was at its greatest prime, and benevolently supplied the annual expenses, as he showed wonderful favour to all men of letters, and in his day played the part of a second Mecænas, well remembering (as he ofttimes said) that he had been advanced to the episcopal dignity on account of his learning. For he had gained, with the highest commendation, the distinctions of each law[29] (as they say now-a-days). Also he so highly prized the study of Humanity[30] that he had boys and youths
instructed in it at a school in his house; And he was vastly delighted to hear the scholars repeat to him at night the lessons given them by the teacher during the day. In this competition he who had borne himself notably went away with a present of something suitable to his character, and with commendation expressed in the most refined language; for that excellent governor had ever in his mouth the maxim that merit grows with praise.”[31]
EDUCATION AT HOME AND AT TUTORS’.
Palsgrave in 1530 speaks of “maister Petrus Vallensys, scole maister to his [Charles, Duke of Suffolk’s] excellent yong sonne the Erle of Lyncolne.”
Roger Ascham, author of the Scholemaster, &c., born in 1515,
“was received at a very youthful age into the family of Sir Antony Wingfield, who furnished money for his education, and placed Roger, together with his own sons, under a tutor whose name was Bond. The boy had by nature a taste for books, and showed his good taste by reading English in preference to Latin, with wonderful eagerness. This was the more remarkable from the fact that Latin was still the language of literature, and it is not likely that the few English books written at that time were at all largely spread abroad in places far away from the Universities and Cathedral towns. In or about the year 1530, Mr Bond the domestic tutor resigned the charge of young Roger, who was now about fifteen years old, and by the advice and pecuniary aid of his kind patron Sir Antony, he was enabled to enter St John’s College, Cambridge, at that time the most famous seminary of learning in all England ... he took his bachelor’s degree in 1531, Feb. 18, in the 18th year of his age [“being a boy, new bachelor of art,” he says himself,] a time of life at which it is now more common to enter the University than to take a degree, but which, according to the modes of education
then in use, was not thought premature. On the 23rd of March following, he was elected fellow of the College.” Giles’s Life of Ascham, Works, vol. i. p. xi-xiv.
Dr Clement and his wife were brought up in Sir T. More’s house. Clement was taken from St Paul’s school, London, appointed tutor to More’s children, and afterwards to his daughter Margaret, p. 402, col. 1.
What a young nobleman learnt in Henry the Eighth’s time may be gathered from the following extracts (partly given by Mr Froude, Hist., v. i. p. 39-40) from the letters of young Gregory Cromwell’s tutor, to his father, the Earl of Essex, the King’s Chief Secretary.
“The order of his studie, as the houres lymyted for the Frenche tongue, writinge, plaienge att weapons, castinge of accomptes, pastimes of instruments, and suche others, hath bene devised and directed by the prudent wisdome of Mr Southwell; who with a ffatherly zeale and amitie muche desiringe to have hime a sonne worthy suche parents, ceasseth not aswell concerninge all other things for hime mete and necessary, as also in lerninge, t’expresse his tendre love and affection towardes hime, serchinge by all meanes possible howe he may moste proffitte, dailie heringe hime to rede sumwhatt in thenglishe tongue, and advertisenge hime of the naturell and true kynde of pronuntiacõn therof, expoundinge also and declaringe the etimologie and native signification of suche wordes as we have borowed of the Latines or Frenche menue, not evyn so comonly used in our quotidiene speche. Mr Cheney and Mr Charles in lyke wise endevoireth and emploieth themselves, accompanienge Mr Gregory in lerninge, amonge whome ther is a perpetuall contention, strife, and conflicte, and in maner of an honest envie who shall do beste, not oonlie in the ffrenche tongue (wherin Mr Vallence after a wonderesly compendious, facile, prompte, and redy waye, nott withoute painfull delegence and laborious industrie doth enstructe them) but also in writynge, playenge at weapons, and all other theire exercises, so that if continuance in this bihalf may take place, whereas the laste Diana, this shall (I truste) be consecrated to Apollo and the Muses, to theire no small profecte and your good contentation and pleasure. And thus I beseche the Lord to have you in his moste gratious tuition.
At Reisinge in Norff[olk] the last daie of Aprill.
Your faithfull and most bounden servaunte
Henry Dowes.
To his right honorable maister Mr Thomas Crumwell
chief Secretary vnto the King’s Maiestie.”
Ellis, Original Letters. Series I. vol. i. p. 341-3.
STUDIES OF YOUTHS, TEMP. HEN. VIII. AND ELIZABETH.
The next Letter gives further details of Gregory’s studies—
“But forcause somer was spente in the servyce of the wylde goddes, it is so moche to be regarded after what fashion yeouth is educate and browght upp, in whiche tyme that that is lerned (for the moste parte) will nott all holelie be forgotten in the older yeres, I thinke it my dutie to asserteyne yor Maistershippe how he spendith his tyme.... And firste, after he hath herde Masse he taketh a lecture of a Diologe of Erasmus Colloquium, called Pietas Puerilis, whereinne is described a veray picture of oone that sholde be vertuouselie brought upp; and forcause it is so necessary for hime, I do not onelie cause him to rede it over, but also to practise the preceptes of the same, and I have also translated it into Englishe, so that he may conferre theime both to-githers, whereof (as lerned men affirme) cometh no smalle profecte[32] ... after that, he exerciseth his hande in writing one or two houres, and redith uppon Fabian’s Chronicle as longe; the residue of the day he doth spende uppon the lute and virginalls. When he rideth (as he doth very ofte) I tell hime by the way some historie of the Romanes or the Greekes, whiche I cause him to reherse agayn in a tale. For his recreation he useth to hawke and hunte, and shote in his long bowe, which frameth and succedeth so well with hime that he semeth to be therunto given by nature.”
Ellis, i. 343-4.
Of the course of study of ‘well-bred youths’ in the early years of Elizabeth’s reign we have an interesting account by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, father of the great Bacon, in a Paper by Mr J. Payne Collier in the Archæologia, vol. 36, Part 2, p. 339, Article xxxi.[33] “Before he became Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon had been Attorney of that Court” [the Court of Wards and Liveries] “a most lucrative appointment; and on the 27th May, 1561, he addressed a letter to Sir William Cecil, then recently (Jan., 1561) made Master of the Wards, followed by a paper thus entitled:—’Articles devised for the bringing up in vertue and learning of the Queenes Majesties Wardes, being heires males, and whose landes, descending in possession and coming to the Queenes Majestie, shall amount to the cleere yearly value of c. markes, or above.’” Sir Nicholas asks the new Master of Wards to reform what he justly calls most “preposterous” abuses in the department:—“That the proceeding hath bin preposterous, appeareth by this: the chiefe thinge, and most of price, in wardeship, is the wardes mynde; the next to that, his bodie; the
last and meanest, his land. Nowe, hitherto the chiefe care of governaunce hath bin to the land, being the meaneste; and to the bodie, being the better, very small; but to the mynde, being the best, none at all, which methinkes is playnely to sett the carte before the horse” (p. 343). Mr Collier then summarises Bacon’s Articles for the bringing up of the Wards thus: “The wards are to attend divine service at six in the morning: nothing is said about breakfast,[34] but they are to study Latin until eleven; to dine between 11 and 12; to study with the music-master from 12 till 2; from 2 to 3 they are to be with the French master; and from 3 to 5 with the Latin and Greek masters. At 5 they are to go to evening prayers; then they are to sup; to be allowed honest pastimes till 8; and, last of all, before they go to bed at 9, they are again to apply themselves to music under the instruction of the master. At and after the age of 16 they were to attend lectures upon temporal and civil law, as well as de disciplinâ militari. It is not necessary to insert farther details; but what I have stated will serve to show how well-bred youths of that period were usually brought up, and how disgracefully the duty of education as regards wards was neglected.... It may appear singular that in these articles drawn up by Sir Nicholas, so much stress is laid upon instruction in music[35]; but it only serves to confirm the notion that the science was then most industriously cultivated by nearly every class of society.” Pace in 1517 requires that every one should study it, but should join with it some other study, as Astrology or Astronomy. He says also that the greatest part of the art had perished by men’s negligence; “For all that our musicians do now-a-days, is almost trivial if compared with what the old ones (antiqui) did, so that now hardly one or two (unus aut alter) can be found who know what harmony is, though the word is always on their tongue.” (De Fructu, p. 54-5.) Ascham, while lamenting in 1545 (Toxophilus, p. 29) ‘that the laudable custom of
England to teach children their plain song and prick-song’ is ‘so decayed throughout all the realm as it is,’ denounces the great practise of instrumental music by older students: “the minstrelsy of lutes, pipes, harps, and all other that standeth by such nice, fine, minikin fingering, (such as the most part of scholars whom I know use, if they use any,) is far more fit, for the womanishness of it, to dwell in the Court among ladies, than for any great thing in it which should help good and sad study, to abide in the University among scholars.”
[ NEGLECT OF EDUCATION BY MOTHERS.]
By 1577 our rich people, according to Harrison, attended properly to the education of their children. After speaking “of our women, whose beautie commonlie exceedeth the fairest of those of the maine,” he says:
“This neuerthelesse I vtterlie mislike in the poorer sort of them, for the wealthier doo sildome offend herein: that being of themselues without competent wit, they are so carelesse in the education of their children (wherein their husbands also are to be blamed,) by means whereof verie manie of them neither fearing God, neither regarding either manners or obedience, do oftentimes come to confusion, which (if anie correction or discipline had beene vsed toward them in youth) might haue prooued good members of their common-wealth & countrie, by their good seruice and industrie.” —Descr. of Britaine, Holinshed, i. 115, col. 2.
This is borne out by Ascham, who says that young men up to 17 were well looked after, but after that age were turned loose to get into all the mischief they liked:
“In deede, from seven to seventene, yong jentlemen commonlie be carefullie enough brought up: But from seventene to seven and twentie (the most dangerous tyme of all a mans life, and most slipperie to stay well in) they have commonlie the rein of all licens in their owne hand, and speciallie soch as do live in the Court. And that which is most to be merveled at, commonlie the wisest and also best men be found the fondest fathers in this behalfe. And if som good father wold seek some remedie herein, yet the mother (if the household of our Lady) had rather, yea, and will to, have her sonne cunnyng and bold, in making him to lyve trimlie when he is yong, than by learning and travell to be able to serve his Prince & his countrie, both wiselie in peace, and stoutlie in warre, whan he is old.
“The fault is in your selves, ye noble mens sonnes, and therfore ye deserve the greater blame, that commonlie the meaner mens children cum to be the wisest councellours, and greatest doers, in the weightie affaires of this realme.” —Scholemaster, ed. Mayor, p. 39-40.
Note lastly, on this subject of private tuition, that Mulcaster in
his Elementarie, 1582, complains greatly of rich people aping the custom of princes in having private tutors for their boys, and withdrawing them from public schools where the spirit of emulation against other boys would make them work. The course he recommends is, that rich people should send their sons, with their tutors, to the public schools, and so get the advantage of both kinds of tuition.
[Girls’ Home Education.] The earliest notice of an English Governess that any friend has found for me is in “the 34th Letter of Osbert de Clare in Stephen’s reign, A.D. 1135-54. He mentions what seems to be a Governess of his children, ‘quædam matrona quæ liberos ejus (sc. militis, Herberti de Furcis) educare consueverat.’ She appears to be treated as one of the family: e.g. they wait for her when she goes into a chapel to pray. I think a nurse would have been ‘ancilla quæ liberos ejus nutriendos susceperat.’” Walter de Biblesworth was the tutor of the “lady Dionysia de Monchensi, a Kentish heiress, the daughter of William de Monchensi, baron of Swanescombe, and related, apparently[35a], to the Valences, earls of Pembroke, and wrote his French Grammar, or rather Vocabulary[36], for her. She married Hugh de Vere, the second son of Robert, fifth earl of Oxford. (Wright.) Lady Jane Grey was taught by a tutor at home, as we have seen. Palsgrave was tutor to Henry VIII.’s “most dere and most entirely beloved suster, quene Mary, douagier of France,” and no doubt wrote his Lesclaircissement de la Langue Francoise mainly for her, though also “desirous to do some humble service unto the nobilitie of this victorious realme, and universally unto all other estates of this my natyfe country.” Giles Du Guez, or as Palsgrave says to Henry VIII., “the synguler clerke, maister Gyles Dewes, somtyme instructor to your noble grace in this selfe tong, at the especiall instaunce and request of dyvers of your highe estates and noble men, hath also for his partye written in this matter.” His book is entitled “An Introductorie for to lerne to rede, to pronounce & to speke French trewly: compyled for the Right high, excellent, and most vertuous lady The Lady Mary of
Englande, doughter to our most gracious soverayn Lorde Kyng Henry the Eight.”
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN EARLY ENGLAND.
[3.] English University Education. In early days Cambridge and Oxford must be looked on, I suppose, as mainly the great schools for boys, and the generality of scholars as poor men’s children,[37] like Chaucer’s ‘poore scolares tuo that dwelten in the soler-halle of Cantebregge,’ his Clerk of Oxenford, and those students, gifts to whom are considered as one of the regular burdens on the husbandman, in “God speed the Plough.” Mr Froude says, Hist. of England, I. 37:
“The universities were well filled, by the sons of yeomen chiefly. The cost of supporting them at the colleges was little, and wealthy men took a pride in helping forward any boys of promise[38,] [38a] (Latimer’s Sermons, p. 64). It seems clear also, as the Reformation drew nearer, while the clergy were sinking lower and lower, a marked change for the better became perceptible in a portion at least of the laity.”
But Grosseteste mentions a “noble” scholar at Oxford (Epist. 129), and Edward the Black Prince and Henry V. are said to have been students of Queen’s College, Oxford. Wolsey himself was a College tutor at Oxford, and had among his pupils the sons of the Marquess of Dorset, who afterwards gave him his first preferment, the living of Lymington. (Chappell.)
The legend runs that the first school at Oxford was founded by King Alfred[39], and that Oxford was a place of study in the time of Edward the Confessor (1041-66). If one may quote a book now considered to be ‘a monkish forgery and an exploded authority,’ Ingulfus, who was Abbot of Croyland, in the Isle of Ely, under William the Conqueror, says of himself that he was educated first at Westminster, and then passed to Oxford, where he made proficiency in such books of Aristotle as were then accessible to students,[40] and in the first two books of Tully’s Rhetoric.—Malden, On the Origin of Universities, 1835, p. 71.
In 1201 Oxford is called a University, and said to have contained 3000 scholars; in 1253 its first College (University) is founded. In 1244, Hen. III. grants it its first privileges as a corporate body, and confirms and extends them in 1245. In his reign, Wood says the number of scholars amounted to 30,000, a number no doubt greatly exaggerated.
In the reign of Stephen, we know that Vacarius, a Lombard by birth, who had studied the civil law at Bologna, came into England, and formed a school of law at Oxford[41] ... he remained in England in the reign of Henry II. On account of the difficulty and expense of obtaining copies of the original books of the Roman law, and the poverty of his English scholars, Vacarius [ab. 1149, A.D.] compiled an abridgment of the Digests and Codex, in which their most essential parts were preserved, with some difference of arrangement, and illustrated from other law-books.... It bore on its title that it was “pauperibus presertim destinatus;” and hence the Oxford students of law obtained the name of Pauperists.—Malden, p. 72-3.
POVERTY OF UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS.
Roger Bacon (who died 1248[41a]) speaks of a young fellow who came
to him, aged 15, not having wherewithal to live, or finding proper masters: “because he was obliged to serve those who gave him necessaries, during two years found no one to teach him a word in the things he learned.” —Opus Tertium, cap. xx. In 1214 the Commonalty of Oxford agreed to pay 52s. yearly for the use of poor scholars, and to give 100 of them a meal of bread, ale, and pottage, with one large dish of flesh or fish, every St Nicholas day.—Wood’s An. i. 185. Wood’s Annals (ed. Gutch, v. i. p. 619-20) also notes that in 1461 A.D. divers Scholars were forced to get a license under the Chancellor’s hand and seal (according to the Stat. 12 Ric. II., A.D. 1388, Ib., p. 519) to beg: and Sir Thos. More says “then may wee yet, like poor Scholars of Oxford, go a begging with our baggs & wallets, & sing salve Regina at rich mens dores.” On this point we may also compare the Statutes of Walter de Merton for his College at Oxford, A.D. 1274, ed. Halliwell, 1843, p. 19:
Cap. 13. De admissione scholarium.
Hoc etiam in eadem domo specialiter observari volo et decerno, ut circa eos, qui ad hujusmodi eleemosinæ participationem admittendi fuerint, diligenti solicitudine caveatur, ne qui præter castos, honestos, pacificos, humiles, indigentes, ad studium habiles ac proficere volentes, admittantur. Ad quorum agnitionem singulis, cum in dicta societate fuerint admittendi sustentationis gratia in eadem, ad annum unum utpote probationis causa primitus concedatur, ut sic demum si in dictis conditionibus laudabiliter se habuerint, in dictam congregationem admittantur.
See also cap. 31, against horses of scholars being kept.
Lodgings were let according to the joint valuation of 2 Magistri (scholars) and two townsmen (probi et legales homines de Villa). Wood, i. 255. An. 15 Hen. III. A.D. 1230-1.
In the beginning of the 15th century it had become the established rule that every scholar must be a member of some college or hall. The scholars who attended the public lectures of the university, without entering themselves at any college or hall, were called chamber dekyns, as in Paris they were called martinets; and frequent enactments were made against them.—Malden, p. 85, ref. to Woods Annals, 1408, -13, -22, and 1512, &c.
The following are the dates of the foundations of the different Colleges at [Oxford] as given in the University Calendar:—
| University College, 1253-80[42] | Corpus Christi College | 1516 | ||
| Balliol College, betw. 1263 & 1268 | Christ Church College | 1526 | ||
Merton College, founded at Maldon, in Surrey, in1264, removed to Oxford in | Trinity College | 1554 | ||
| St John’s College | 1555 | |||
| Jesus College | 1571 | |||
| 1274 | Wadham College | 1613 | ||
| Exeter College | 1314 | Pembroke College | 1624 | |
| Oriel College | 1326 | Worcester College | 1714 | |
| The Queen’s College | 1340 | HALLS | ||
| New College | 1386 | |||
| Lincoln College | 1427 | St Edmund Hall | 1317 | |
| All Souls College | 1437 | St Mary’s Hall | 1333 | |
| Magdalen College | 1458 | New Inn Hall | 1438 | |
The King’s Hall and College of Brasenose | 1509 | Magdalen Hall | 1487 | |
| St Alban Hall | after 1547 | |||
UNDERGRADUATE’S EXPENSES AT OXFORD, 1478.
‘The Paston Letters’ do not give us much information about studies or life at Oxford, but they do give us material for estimating the cost of a student there (ii. 124[43]); they show us the tutor reporting to a mother her son’s progress in learning (ii. 130), and note the custom of a man, when made bachelor, giving a feast: “I was made bachelor ... on Friday was se’nnight (18 June, 1479), and I made my feast on the Monday after (21 June). I was promised venison against my feast, of my Lady Harcourt, and of another person too, but I was deceived of both; but my guests held them pleased with such meat as they had, blessed be God.” The letter as to the costs is dated May 19, 1478.
“I marvel sore that you sent me no word of the letter which I sent to you by Master William Brown at Easter. I sent you word that time that I should send you mine expenses particularly; but as at this time the bearer hereof had a letter suddenly that he should come home, & therefore I could have no leisure to send them to you on that wise, & therefore I shall write to you in this letter the whole sum of my expenses since I was with you till Easter last past, and
also the receipts, reckoning the twenty shillings that I had of you to Oxon wards, with the bishop’s finding:—
| £ | s. | d. | |
| The whole sum of receipts is | 5 | 17 | 6 |
| And the whole sum of expenses is | 6 | 5 | 5¾ |
| And that [= what] cometh over my receipts & my expenses I have borrowed of Master Edmund, & it draweth to | 8 | 0 |
and yet I reckon none expenses since Easter; but as for them, they be not great.”
On this account Fenn says,
“he (Wm. Paston) had expended £6 5s. 5¾d. from the time he left his mother to Easter last, which this year fell on the 22nd March, from which time it was now two months, & of the expenses ‘since incurred’ he says ‘they be not great.’ We may therefore conclude the former account was from the Michaelmas preceding, and a moderate one; if so, we may fairly estimate his university education at £100 a-year of our present money. I mean that £12 10s. 11½d. would then procure as many necessaries and comforts as £100 will at this day.”
What was the basis of Fenn’s calculation he does not say. In 1468, the estimates for the Duke of Clarence’s household expenses give these prices, among others:
| s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | |||
| Wheat, a quarter | 6 | 0 | now, say | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ale, a gallon | 1½ | „ | 1 | 0 | |||
| Beves, less hide and tallow, each | 10 | 0 | „ | 15 | 0 | 0* | |
| Muttons „ „ | 1 | 4 | „ | 2 | 10 | 0* | |
| Velys „ „ | 2 | 6 | „ | 4 | 0 | 0* | |
| Porkes „ „ | 2 | 0 | „ | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rice, a pound | 3 | „ | 5 | ||||
| Sugar „ | 6 | „ | 6 | ||||
| Holland, an ell (6d., 8d., 16d.) | 10 | „ | 1 | 3 | |||
| Diapre „ | 4 | 6 | „ | 3 | 0 | ||
| Towelles „ | 1 | 8 | „ | 1 | 6 | ||
| Napkyns, a dozen, 12s., £1, £2, | 17 | 4 | „ | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| £2 | 7 | 0½ | £31 | 17 | 8 | ||
* Poor ones.
This sum would make the things named nearly 14 times as dear now as in 1468, and raise Fenn’s £100 to about £180; but no reliance can be placed on this estimate because we know nothing of the condition of the beves, muttons, veles, and porkys, then, as contrasted
with ours. Possibly they were half the size and half the weight. Still, I have referred the question to Professor Thorold Rogers, author of the History of Prices 1250-1400 A.D., and he says:
“In the year to which you refer (1478) bread was very dear, 50 per cent. above the average. But on the whole, wheat prices in the 15th century were lower than in the 14th. Fenn’s calculation, a little below the mark for wheat, is still less below it in most of the second necessaries of life. The multiple of wheat is about 9, that of meat at least 24, those of butter and cheese nearly as much. But that of clothing is not more than 6, that of linen from 4 to 5. Taking however one thing with another, 12 is a safe general multiplier.”
This would make the cost of young Paston’s university education £150 11s. 6d. a year.
Mr Whiston would raise Fenn’s estimate of £100 to £200. He says that the rent of land in Kent in 1540 was a shilling or eighteenpence an acre,—see Valor Ecclesiasticus,—and that the tithes and glebes of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester, which were worth about £480 a-year in 1542, are now worth £19,000.
The remaining Oxford letter in the Paston volumes seems to allude to the students bearing part of the expenses of the degree, or the feast at it, of a person related to royal family.
“I supposed, when that I sent my letter to my brother John, that the Queen’s brother should have proceeded at Midsummer, and therefore I beseeched her to send me some money, for it will be some cost to me, but not much.”
The first school at [Cambridge] is said to have been founded by Edward the Elder, the son of Alfred, but on no good authority. In 1223 the term University was applied to the place. The dates of the foundations of its Colleges, as given in its Calendar, are:
| St Peter’s | 1257 | St Catherine’s Hall | 1473 |
| (date of charter, 1264) | Jesus | 1496 | |
| Clare Hall | 1326 | Christ’s | 1505 |
| Pembroke | 1347 | St John’s | 1511 |
| Caius | 1349 | Magdalene | 1519 |
| Trinity Hall | 1350 | Trinity | 1546 |
| Corpus Christi | 1351 | Emmanuel | 1584 |
| King’s | 1441 | Sidney | 1598 |
| Queen’s | 1446 | Downing | 1800 |
| (refounded 1465) | |||
FEW NOBLEMEN AT CAMBRIDGE.
Lord Henry Brandon, son of the Duke of Suffolk, died of the
sweating sickness then prevalent in the University, on the 16th July, 1551, while a student of Cambridge. His brother, Lord Charles Brandon, died on the same day. Their removal to Buckden was too late to save them (Ath. Cant., i. 105, 541). Of them Ascham says, ‘two noble Primeroses of Nobilitie, the yong Duke of Suffolke and Lord H. Matrevers were soch two examples to the Courte for learnyng, as our tyme may rather wishe, than look for agayne.’—Scholemaster, ed. Mayor, p. 62. Besides these two young noblemen, the first 104 pages of Cooper’s Athenæ Cantabrigienses disclose only one other, Lord Derby’s son, and the following names of sons of knights:[44]
CAMBRIDGE MEN.
Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, Lord Essex, was at Trinity College, Cambridge. See his letter of May 13, from there, in Ellis, series II. v. iii. p. 73; the furniture of his room, and his expenses, in the note p. 73-4; and his Tutor’s letter asking for new clothes for ‘my Lord,’ or else ‘he shall not onely be thrid bare, but ragged.’
Archbp. Whitgift[45], when B.D. at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, A.D. 1563, “bestowed some of his time and abilities in the instruction of ingenious youth, sent to the college for education, in good learning and Christian manners. And among such his pupils, were two noblemen’s sons, viz. the Lord Herbert, son and heir to the Earl of Pembroke; and John, son and heir to the Lord North.” (Life, by Strype, ed. 1822, vol. i. p. 14.)
While Whitgift was Master of Trinity, Strype says he had bred up under him not only several Bishops, but also “the Earls of Worcester and Cumberland, the Lord Zouch, the Lord Dunboy of Ireland, Sir Nicolas and Sir Francis Bacon. To which I may add one more, namely, the son of Sir Nicolas White, Master of the Rolls in Ireland, who married a Devereux.” (Life, i. 157, ed. 1822.)
NOBLES AND GENTLEMEN AT OXFORD.
A search through the whole of the first volume of Wood’s Athenæ Oxonienses, comprising a period of nearly 100 years, has resulted in the following meagre list of men of noble or knightly birth who distinguished themselves. There are besides many men of “genteel
parents,” some of trader-ones, many friars, some Winchester men, but no Eton ones, educated at Oxford.
| 1478 | Edmund Dudley, son of John Dudley, Esq., 2nd son of John Lord Dudley, of Dudley Castle in Staffordshire. |
| ab. 1483 | John Colet, the eldest son of Sir Henry Colet, twice lord mayor of London ... was educated in grammaticals, partly in London or Westminster. |
| „ | Nicholas Vaux, son of Sir Will. Vaux of Harwedon in Northamptonshire (not the Poet, Lord Vaux). |
| end of Edw. IV. | John Bourchier, Lord Berners, eldest son of Sir John Bourchier, knight, Lord Berners of Hertfordshire ... was instructed in several sorts of learning in the university in the latter end of K. Edw. IV.; in whose reign, and before, were the sons of divers of the English nobility educated in academical literature in Baliol Coll.,[46] wherein, as ’tis probable, this our author was instructed also. |
| 1497 | Thomas More, son of Sir John More, knight. (The Sir Thomas More.) |
| ? ab. 1510 | George Bulleyn, son and heir of Sir Tho. Bullen, and brother of Anne Bulleyn. |
| ? „ | Henry Parker, son of Sir William Parker, knight. |
| 1515 | Christopher Seintgerman, son of Sir Henry Seintgerman, knight. |
| ? ab. 1520 | Thomas Wyatt, son of Henry Wyatt of Alington Castle in Kent, knight and baronet, migrated from St John’s, Cambridge.[47] |
| 1538[48] | John Heron, a Kentish man born, near of kin to Sir John Heron, knight. |
| ? ab. 1520 | Edward Seymoure, son of Sir John Seymoure, or St Maure of Wolf-hall in Wilts, knight, was educated in trivials, and partly in quadrivials for some time in this university. He was Jane Seymour’s brother, and afterwards Duke of Somerset, and was beheaded on Jan. 22, 1552-3. |
| 1534 | John Philpot, son of Sir Pet. Philpot, knight of the Bath. Fellow of New Coll. |
| ab. 15— | Henry Lord Stafford (author of the Mirror for Magistrates), the only son of Edward, Duke of Bucks, ‘received his education in both the universities, especially in that of Cambridge, to which his father had been a benefactor.’ |
| 1515 | Reynold Pole (the Cardinal), a younger son of Sir Rich. Pole. |
| ? ab. 1530 | Anthony Browne, son of Sir Weston Browne, of Abbesroding and of Langenhoo in Essex, knight. |
| ab. 1574 | Patrick Plunket, baron of Dunsary in Ireland, son of Rob. Plunket, baron of the same place. |
| ab. 1570 | Philip Sidney (the poet), son of Sir Henry Sidney. |
| ? | John Smythe, son of Sir Clem. Smythe. |
| (Peter Levens or Levins, our Manipulus or Rhyming-Dictionary man, became a student in the university, an. 1552, was elected probationer-fellow of Mag. Coll. into a Yorkshire place, 18 Jan. 1557, being then bach. of arts, and on the 19th Jan. 1559 was admitted true and perpetual fellow. In 1560 he left his fellowship. Ath. Ox. p. 547, col. 2.) | |
| ? ab. 1570 | Reynolde Scot, a younger son of Sir John Scot of Scotshall, near to Smeeth in Kent. |
| 1590 | Hayward Townshend, eldest son of Sir Henry Townshend, knight. |
| ab. 1587 | Francis Tresham (of Gunpowder Plot notoriety), son of Sir Thomas Tresham, knight. |
The number of friars and monks at the Universities before the Reformation, and especially at Oxford, must have been large. Tanner says,
In our universities ... were taught divinity and canon law (then, t. Hen. III., much in vogue), and the friers resorting thither in great numbers and applying themselves closely to their studies, outdid the monks in all fashionable knowledge. But the monks quickly perceived it, and went also to the universities and studied hard, that they might not be run down by the friers.[49] And as the
friers got houses in the universities, the monks also got colleges founded and endowed there[50] for the education of their novices, where they were for some years instructed in grammar, philosophy, and school divinity, and then returning home, improved their knowledge by their private studies, to the service of God and the credit of their respective societies. So that a little before the Reformation, the greatest part of the proceeders in divinity at Oxford were monks and Regular canons.
FAVOURITISM OF THE RICH IN THE UNIVERSITIES.
By Harrison’s time, A.D. 1577[51], rich men’s sons had not only pressed into the Universities, but were scrooging poor men’s sons out of the endowments meant only for the poor, learning the lessons that Mr Whiston so well shows our Cathedral dignitaries have carried out
with the stipends of their choristers, boys and men. “Les gros poissons mangent les menus. Pro. Poore men are (easily) supplanted by the rich, the weake by the strong, the meane by the mighty.”[52] (Cotgrave, u. manger.) The law of “natural selection” prevails. Who shall say nay in a Christian land professing the principles of the great “Inventor of Philanthropy”? Whitgift for one, see his Life of Strype, Bk. I. chap. xiii. p. 148-50, ed. 1822. In 1589 an act 31 Eliz. c. 6, was passed to endeavour to prevent the abuse, but, like modern Election-bribery Acts with their abuse, did not do it.
“at this present, of one sort & other, there are about three thousand students nourished in them both (as by a late serveie it manifestlie appeared). They [the Colleges at our Universities] were created by their founders at the first, onelie for pore men’s sons, whose parents were not able to bring them up unto learning: but now they have the least benefit of them, by reason the rich do so incroch upon them. And so farre hath this inconvenence spread itself, that it is in my time an hard matter for a pore man’s child to come by a fellowship (though he be neuer so good a scholer & worthie of that roome.) Such packing also is used at elections, that not he which best deserveth, but he that hath most friends, though he be the worst scholer, is alwaies surest to speed; which will turne in the end to the overthrow of learning. That some gentlemen also, whose friends have been in times past benefactors to certeine of those houses, doe intrude into the disposition of their estates, without all respect of order or statutes devised by the founders, onelie thereby to place whome they think good (and not without some hope of gaine) the case is too too evident, and their attempt would soone take place, if their superiors did not provide to bridle their indevors. In some grammar schooles likewise, which send scholers to these universities, it is lamentable to see what briberie is used; BAD EXAMPLE OF RICH MEN AT COLLEGE. for yer the scholer can be preferred, such briberye is made, that pore men’s children are commonly shut out, and the richer sort received (who in times past thought it dishonour to live as it were upon almes) and yet being placed, most of them studie little other than histories, tables, dice & trifles, as men that make not the living by their studie the end of their purposes; which is a lamentable bearing. Besides this, being for the most part either gentlemen, or rich men’s sonnes, they oft bring the universities into much slander.[53] For
standing upon their reputation and libertie, they ruffle and roist it out, exceeding in apparell, and hanting riotous companie (which draweth them from their bookes into an other trade). And for excuse, when they are charged with breach of all good order, thinke it sufficient to saie, that they be gentlemen, which grieveth manie not a little. But to proceed with the rest.
“Everie one of these colleges haue in like manner their professors or readers of the tongs and severall sciences, as they call them, which dailie trade up the youth there abiding privatlie in their halles, to the end they may be able afterwards (when their turne commeth about, which is after twelve termes) to show themselves abroad, by going from thence into the common schooles and publike disputations (as it were In aream) there to trie their skilles, and declare how they have profited since their coming thither.
“Moreover in the publike schooles of both the universities, there are found at the prince’s charge (and that verie largelie) five professors & readers, that is to saie, of divinitie, of the civill law, physicke, the Hebrew and the Greek tongues. And for the other lectures, as of philosophie, logike, rhetorike and the quadriuials, although the latter (I mean, arithmetike, musike, geometrie and astronomie, and with them all skill in the perspectives are now smallie regarded in either of them) the universities themselves do allowe competent stipends to such as reade the same, whereby they are sufficiently provided for, touching the maintenance of their estates, and no less encouraged to be diligent in their functions.”
On the introduction of the study of Greek into the Universities, Dr S. Knight says in his Life of Colet:
“As for Oxford, its own History and Antiquities sufficiently confess, that nothing was known there but Latin, and that in the most
depraved Style of the School-men. Cornelius Vitellius, an Italian, was the first who taught Greek in that University[54]; and from him the famous Grocyne learned the first Elements thereof.
“In Cambridge, Erasmus was the first who taught the Greek Grammar. And so very low was the State of Learning in that University, that (as he tells a Friend) about the Year 1485, the Beginning of Hen. VII. Reign, there was nothing taught in that publick Seminary besides Alexander’s Parva Logicalia, (as they called them) the old Axioms of Aristotle, and the Questions of John Scotus, till in Process of time good Letters were brought in, and some Knowledge of the Mathematicks; as also Aristotle in a new Dress, and some Skill in the Greek Tongue; and, by Degrees, a Multitude of Authors, whose Names before had not been heard of.[55]
“It is certain that even Erasmus himself did little understand Greek, when he came first into England, in 1497 (13 Hen. VII.), and that our Countryman Linacer taught it him, being just returned from Italy with great Skill in that Language: Which Linacer and William Grocyne were the two only Tutors that were able to teach it.” Saml. Knight, Life of Dr John Colet, pp. 17, 18.
The age at which boys went up to the University seems to have varied greatly. When Oxford students were forbidden to play marbles they could not have been very old. But in “The Mirror of the Periods of Man’s Life” (? ab. 1430 A.D.), in the Society’s Hymns to the Virgin and Christ of this year, we find the going-up age put at twenty:
Quod resoun, in age of .XX. ȝeer,
Goo to oxenford, or lerne lawe[56].
This is confirmed by young Paston’s being at Eton at nineteen (see below, [p. lvi]). In 1612, Brinsley (Grammar Schoole, p. 307) puts the age at fifteen, and says,
“such onely should be sent to the Vniuersities, who proue most ingenuous and towardly, and who, in a loue of learning, will begin to
take paines of themselues, hauing attained in some sort the former parts of learning; being good Grammarians at least, able to vnderstand, write and speake Latine in good sort.
“Such as haue good discretion how to gouerne themselues there, and to moderate their expenses; which is seldome times before 15 yeeres of age; which is also the youngest age admitted by the statutes of the Vniuersity, as I take it.”
FOREIGN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION.
[4.] Foreign University Education. That some of our nobles sent their sons to be educated in the French universities (whence they sometimes imported foreign vices into England[57]) is witnessed by some verses in a Latin Poem “in MS. Digby, No. 4 (Bodleian Library) of the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th century,” printed by Mr Thomas Wright in his Anecdota Literaria, p. 38.
Filii nobilium, dum sunt juniores,
Mittuntur in Franciam fieri doctores;
Quos prece vel pretio domant corruptores,
Sic prætaxatos referunt artaxata mores.
An English nation or set of students of the Faculty of Arts at Paris existed in 1169; after 1430 the name was changed to the German nation. Besides the students from the French provinces subject to the English, as Poictou, Guienne, &c, it included the English, Scottish, Irish, Poles, Germans, &c. —Encyc. Brit. John of Salisbury (born 1110) says that he was twelve years studying at Paris on his own account. Thomas a Becket, as a young man, studied at Paris. Giraldus Cambrensis (born 1147) went to Paris for education; so did Alexander Neckham (died 1227). Henry says,
“The English, in particular, were so numerous, that they occupied several schools or colleges; and made so distinguished a figure by their genius and learning, as well as by their generous manner of living, that they attracted the notice of all strangers. This appears from the following verses, describing the behaviour of a stranger on
his first arrival in Paris, composed by Negel Wircker, an English student there, A.D. 1170:—
The stranger dress’d, the city first surveys,
A church he enters, to his God he prays.
Next to the schools he hastens, each he views,
With care examines, anxious which to chuse.
The English most attract his prying eyes,
Their manners, words, and looks, pronounce them wise.
Theirs is the open hand, the bounteous mind;
Theirs solid sense, with sparkling wit combin’d.
Their graver studies jovial banquets crown,
Their rankling cares in flowing bowls they drown.[58]
Montpelier was another University whither Englishmen resorted, and is to be remembered by us if only for the memory of Andrew Borde, M.D., some bits of whose quaintness are in the notes to Russell in the present volume.
Padua is to be noted for Pace’s sake. He is supposed to have been born in 1482.
Later, the custom of sending young noblemen and gentlemen to Italy—to travel, not to take a degree—was introduced, and Ascham’s condemnation of it, when no tutor accompanied the youths, is too well known to need quoting. The Italians’ saying, Inglese Italianato è un diabolo incarnato, sums it up.[59]
MONASTIC AND CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS.
[5.] Monastic and Cathedral Schools. Herbert Losing, Bp. of [Thetford], afterwards Norwich, between 1091 and 1119, in his 37th Letter restores his schools at Thetford to Dean Bund, and directs that no other schools be opened there.
Tanner (Not. Mon. p. xx. ed. Nasmith), when mentioning “the use and advantage of these Religious houses”—under which term
“are comprehended, cathedral and collegiate churches, abbies, priories, colleges, hospitals, preceptories (Knights Templars’ houses), and frieries”—says,
“Secondly, They were schools of learning & education; for every convent had one person or more appointed for this purpose; and all the neighbours that desired it, might have their children taught grammar and church musick without any expence to them.[60]
In the nunneries also young women were taught to work, and to read English, and sometimes Latin also. So that not only the lower rank of people, who could not pay for their learning, but most of the noblemen and gentlemen’s daughters were educated in those places.”[61]
LYDGATE’S TRICKS AT SCHOOL.
As Lydgate (born at Lydgate in Suffolk, six or seven miles from Newmarket) was ordained subdeacon in the Benedictine monastery of Bury St Edmunds in 1389[62], he was probably sent as a boy to a monastic school. At any rate, as he sketches his early escapades—apple-stealing, playing truant, &c.,—for us in his Testament[63], I shall quote the youth’s bit of the poem here:—
Harleian MS. 2255, fol. 60.
In my boyhood,
Duryng the tyme / of this sesoun ver
I meene the sesoun / of my yeerys greene
Gynnyng fro childhood / strecchithe vp so fer
to þe yeerys / accountyd ful Fifteene
bexperience / as it was weel seene
The gerisshe sesoun / straunge of condiciouns
Dispoosyd to many vnbridlyd passiouns
strecchithe] strecched.
(These collations are from Harl. 218, fol. 65, back.)
¶ Voyd of resoun / yove to wilfulnesse
Froward to vertu / of thrift gaf litil heede
loth to lerne / lovid no besynesse
Sauf pley or merthe / straunge to spelle or reede
Folwyng al appetites / longyng to childheede
lihtly tournyng wylde / and seelde sad
Weepyng for nouht / and anoon afftir glad
gaf] toke.
¶ For litil wroth / to stryve with my felawe
As my passiouns / did my bridil leede
Of the yeerde somtyme / I Stood in awe
to be scooryd / that was al my dreede
loth toward scole / lost my tyme in deede
lik a yong colt / that ran with-owte brydil
Made my freendys / ther good to spend in ydil /
scooryd] skoured.
¶ I hadde in custom / to come to scole late
Nat for to lerne / but for a contenaunce
with my felawys / reedy to debate
to Iangle and Iape / was set al my plesaunce
wherof rebukyd / this was my chevisaunce
to forge a lesyng / and therupon to muse
whan I trespasyd / my silven to excuse
¶ To my bettre / did no reverence
Of my sovereyns / gaf no fors at al
wex obstynat / by inobedience
Ran in to garydns / applys ther I stal
To gadre frutys / sparyd hegg nor wal
to plukke grapys / in othir mennys vynes
Was moor reedy / than for to seyn matynes
hegg] nedir hegge. seyn] sey.
¶ My lust was al / to scorne folk and iape
Shrewde tornys / evir among to vse
to Skoffe and mowe / lyk a wantoun Ape
whan I did evil / othre I did accuse
My wittys five / in wast I did abuse
Rediere chirstoonys / for to telle
Than gon to chirche / or heere the sacry belle
mowe] mowen. did] koude. abuse] alle vse.
to] cheristones to. sacry] sacryng.
¶ Loth to ryse / lother to bedde at eve
with vnwassh handys / reedy to dyneer
My pater noster / my Crede / or my beleeve
Cast at the Cok / loo this was my maneer
Wavid with eche wynd / as doth a reed speer
Snybbyd of my frendys / such techchys fortamende
Made deff ere / lyst nat / to them attende
handys] hondes. the] atte.
Snybbyd] Snybbyng. fortamende] tamende.
¶ A child resemblyng / which was nat lyk to thryve
Froward to god / reklees in his servise
loth to correccioun / slouhe my sylf to shryve
Al good thewys / reedy to despise
Cheef bellewedir / of feyned trwaundise
this is to meene / my silf I cowde feyne
Syk lyk a trwaunt / felte no maneer peyne
reklees] rekkes. feyned] froward. felte] and felt.
¶ My poort my pas / my foot alwey vnstable
my look my eyen / vnswre and vagabounde
In al my werkys / sodeynly chaungable
To al good thewys / contrary I was founde
Now ovir sad / now moornyng / now iocounde
Wilful rekles / mad stertyng as an hare
To folwe my lust / for no man wold I spare.
mad] made.
At these monastic schools, I suppose, were educated mainly the boys whom the monks hoped would become monks, cleric or secular; mostly the poor, the Plowman’s brother who was to be the Parson, not often the ploughman himself. Once, though, made a scholar and monk there, and sent by the Monastery to the University, the workman’s, if not the ploughman’s, son, might rule nobles and
sit by kings, nay, beard them to their face. Thomas a Becket, himself the son of poor parents[63a], was sent to be brought up in the “religious house of the Canons of Merton.”
In 1392 the writer of Piers Plowman’s Crede sketches the then state of things thus:
Now every cobbler’s son and beggar’s brat turns writer, then Bishop,
Now mot ich soutere hys sone · seten to schole,
And ich a beggeres brol · on the book lerne,
And worth to a writere · and with a lorde dwelle,
Other falsly to a frere · the fend for to serven;
So of that beggares brol · a [bychop[64]] shal worthen,
Among the peres of the lond · prese to sytten,
And lordes sones[65] lowly · to tho losels alowte,
Knyghtes crouketh hem to · and cruccheth ful lowe;
And his syre a soutere · y-suled in grees,
His teeth with toylyng of lether · tatered as a sawe.
Here I might stop the quotation, but I go on, for justice has never yet been done[66] to this noble Crede and William’s Vision as pictures of the life of their times,—chiefly from the profound ignorance of us English of our own language; partly from the grace, the freshness, and the brilliance of Chaucer’s easier and inimitable verse:—
Lords
Alaas! that lordes of the londe · leveth swiche wreechen,
And leveth swych lorels · for her lowe wordes.
They shulden maken [bichopes[64]] · her owen bretheren childre,
Other of som gentil blod · And so yt best semed,
And fostre none faytoures[64] · ne swich false freres,
To maken fat and fulle · and her flesh combren.
For her kynde were more · to y-clense diches
Than ben to sopers y-set first · and served with sylver.
A grete bolle-ful of benen · were beter in hys wombe,
And with the bandes of bakun · his baly for to fillen
Than pertryches or plovers · or pecockes y-rosted,
And comeren her stomakes · with curiuse drynkes
That maketh swyche harlotes · hordom usen,
And with her wikkid word · wymmen bitrayeth.
God wold her wonyynge · were in wildernesse,
And fals freres forboden · the fayre ladis chaumbres;
For knewe lordes her craft · treuly I trowe
They shulden nought haunten her house · so ho[m]ly[64] on nyghtes,
Ne bedden swich brothels · in so brode shetes,
But sheten her heved in the stre · to sharpen her wittes.
bandes] ? randes. Sk.
[ EDUCATION OF FIELD LABOURERS.]
There is one side of the picture, the workman’s son turned monk, and clerk to a lord. Let us turn to the other side, the ploughman’s son who didn’t turn monk, whose head was ‘shet’ in the straw, who delved and ditched, and dunged the earth, eat bread of corn and bran, worts fleshless (vegetables, but no meat), drank water, and went miserably (Crede, l. 1565-71). What education did he get? To whom could he be apprenticed? What was his chance in life? Let the Statute-Book answer:—
A.D. 1388. 12º Rich. II., Cap. v.
Item. It is ordained & assented, That he or she which used to labour at the Plough and Cart, or other Labour or Service of Husbandry till they be of the Age of Twelve Years, that from thenceforth they shall abide at the same Labour, without being put to any Mystery or Handicraft; and if any Covenant or Bond of Apprentie (so) be from henceforth made to the Contrary, the same shall be holden for none.
A.D. 1405-6. 7º Henri IV., Cap. xvii.
. . . . . And Whereas in the Statutes made at Canterbury among other Articles it is contained That he or she that useth to labour at the Plough or Cart, or other Labour or Service of Husbandry, till he be of the age of Twelve Years, that from the same time forth he shall abide at the same Labour, without being put to any Mystery or Handicraft; and if any Covenant or Bond be made from that time forth to the contrary, it shall be holden for none: Notwithstanding which Article, and the good Statutes afore made through all parts of the Realm, the Infants born within the Towns and Seignories of Upland, whose Fathers & Mothers have no Land nor Rent nor other Living, but only their Service or Mystery, be put by their said Fathers and Mothers and other their Friends to serve, and bound Apprentices, to divers Crafts within the Cities and Boroughs of the said Realm sometime at the Age of Twelve Years, sometime within the said Age, and that for the Pride of Clothing and other evil Customs that Servants do use in the same; so that there is so great Scarcity of Labourers and other Servants of Husbandry that the Gentlemen and other People of the Realm be greatly impoverished for the Cause aforesaid: Our Sovereign Lord the King considering the said Mischief, and willing thereupon to provide Remedy, by the advice & assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and at the request of the said Commons, hath ordained and stablished, That no Man nor Woman, of what Estate or Condition they be, shall put their Son or Daughter, of whatsoever Age he or she be, to Serve as Apprentice to no Craft nor other Labour within any City or Borough in the Realm, except he have Land or Rent to the Value of Twenty Shillings by the Year at
the least, but they shall be put to other labours as their Estates doth require, upon Pain of one Year’s Imprisonment, and to make Fine and Ransom at the King’s Will. And if any Covenant be made of any such Infant, of what Estate that he be, to the contrary, it shall be holden for none. Provided Always, that every Man and Woman, of what Estate or Condition that he be, shall be free to set their Son or Daughter to take Learning at any manner School that pleaseth them within the Realm.
A most gracious saving clause truly, for those children who were used to labour at the plough and cart till they were twelve years old[67]. Let us hope that some got the benefit of it!
These Acts I came across when hunting for the Statutes referred to by the Boke of Curtasye as fixing the hire of horses for carriage at fourpence a piece, and they caused me some surprise. They made me wonder less at the energy with which some people now are striving to erect “barriers against democracy” to prevent the return match for the old game coming off.—However improving, and however justly retributive, future legislation for the rich by the poor in the spirit of past legislation for the poor by the rich might be, it could hardly be considered pleasant, and is surely worth putting up the true barrier against, one of education in each poor man’s mind. (He who americanizes us thus far will be the greatest benefactor England has had for some ages.)—These Statutes also made me think how the old spirit still lingers in England, how a friend of my own was curate in a Surrey village where the kind-hearted squire would allow none of the R’s but Reading to be taught in his school; how another clergyman lately reported his Farmers’ meeting on the school question: Reading and Writing might be taught, but Arithmetic not; the boys would be getting to know too
much about wages, and that would be troublesome; how, lastly, our gangs of children working on our Eastern-counties farms, and our bird-keeping boys of the whole South, can almost match the children of the agricultural labourer of 1388.
NO BONDSMAN’S SON TO BE AN APPRENTICE.
The early practice of the Freemasons, and other crafts, refusing to let any member take a bondsman’s son as an apprentice, was founded on the reasonable apprehension that his lord would or might afterwards claim the lad, make him disclose the trade-secrets, and carry on his art for the lord’s benefit. The fourth of the ‘Fyftene artyculus or fyftene poyntus’ of the Freemasons, printed by Mr Halliwell (p. 16), is on this subject.
Articulus quartus (MS. Bibl. Reg. 17 A, Art. I., fol. 3, &c.)
The fowrthe artycul thys moste be,
That the mayster hym wel be-se
That he no bondemon prentys make,
Ny for no covetyse do hym take;
For the lord that he ys bond to,
May fache the prentes whersever he go.
Ȝef yn the logge he were y-take,
Muche desese hyt myȝth ther make,
And suche case hyt myȝth befalle
That hyt myȝth greve summe or alle;
For alle the masonus that ben there
Wol stonde togedur hol y-fere.
Ȝef suche won yn that craft schulde dwelle,
Of dyvers desesys ȝe myȝth telle.
For more ȝese thenne, and of honesté,
Take a prentes of herre degré.
By olde tyme, wryten y fynde
That the prentes schulde be of gentyl kynde;
And so sumtyme grete lordys blod
Toke thys gemetry that ys ful good.
herre] higher.
I should like to see the evidence of a lord’s son having become a working mason, and dwelling seven years with his master ‘hys craft to lurne.’
In the following section, the attribution of quotes is sometimes obscure. The text layout has been kept as close as possible to the original.
POST-REFORMATION CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS.
Cathedral Schools. About the pre-Reformation Schools I can find only the extract from Tanner given above, p. xlii. On the post-Reformation Schools I refer readers to Mr Whiston’s Cathedral Trusts, 1850. He says:
“The Cathedrals of England are of two kinds, those of the old and those of the new foundation: of the latter, Canterbury (the old archiepiscopal see) and Carlisle, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, and Worcester, old episcopal sees, were A.D. 1541-2 refounded, or rather reformed, by Henry VIII. ... Besides these, he created five other cathedral churches or colleges, in connexion with the five new episcopal sees of Bristol, Chester, Gloucester, Oxford, and Peterborough. He further created the see of Westminster, which was ... subsequently (A.D. 1560) converted to a deanery collegiate by Queen Elizabeth ... (p. 6). The preamble of the Act 31 Henry VIII. c. 9, for founding the new cathedrals, preserved in Henry’s own handwriting, recites that they were established ‘To the intente that Gods worde myght the better be sett forthe, cyldren broght up in lernynge, clerces nuryshyd in the universities, olde servantes decayed, to have lyfing, allmes housys for pour folke to be sustayned in, Reders of grece, ebrew, and latyne to have good stypende, dayly almes to be mynistrate, mending of hyght wayes, and exhybision for mynisters of the chyrche.’”
“A general idea of the scope and nature of the cathedral establishments, as originally planned and settled by Henry VIII., may be formed from the first chapter of the old statutes of Canterbury, which is almost identical with the corresponding chapter of the statutes of all the other cathedrals of the new foundation. It is as follows:
“On[68] the entire number of those who have their sustentation (qui sustentantur) in the cathedral and metropolitical church of Canterbury:
“First of all we ordain and direct that there be for ever in our aforesaid church, one dean, twelve canons, six preachers, twelve minor canons, one deacon, one subdeacon, twelve lay-clerks, one master of the choristers, ten choristers, two teachers of the boys in grammar, one of whom is to be the head master, the other, second master, fifty boys to be instructed in grammar,[69] twelve poor men to be maintained at the costs and charges of the said church, two vergers, two subsacrists (i.e., sextons), four servants in the church to ring the bells, and arrange all the rest, two porters, who shall also be barber-tonsors, one caterer,[70] one butler, and one under butler, one cook, and one under-cook, who, indeed, in the number prescribed, are to serve in our church every one of them in his own order, according to our statutes and ordinances.”
In the Durham statutes, as settled in the first year of Philip and Mary, the corresponding chapter is as follows:
On[71] the total number of those who have their sustentation (qui sustentantur) in the cathedral church of Durham.
“We direct and ordain that there be for ever in the said church, one dean, twelve prebendaries, twelve minor canons, one deacon, one sub-deacon, ten clerks, (who may be either clerks or laymen,) one master of the choristers, ten choristers, two teachers of the boys in grammar, eighteen boys to be instructed in grammar, eight poor men to be maintained at the costs of the said church, two subsacrists, two vergers, two porters, one of whom shall also be barber-tonsor, one butler, one under-butler, one cook, and one under-cook.”
“The monastic or collegiate character of the bodies thus constituted, is indicated by the names and offices of the inferior ministers above specified, who were intended to form a part of the establishment of the Common Hall, in which most of the subordinate members, including the boys to be instructed in grammar, were to take their meals. There was also another point in which the cathedrals were meant to resemble and supply the place of the old religious houses, i.e., in the maintenance of a certain number of students at the universities.”
Rt. Whiston, Cathedral Trusts and their Fulfilment, p. 2–4.
“The nature of these schools, and the desire to perpetuate and improve them, may be inferred from ‘certein articles noted for the reformation of the cathedral churche of Excestr’, submitted by the commissioners of Henry VIII., unto the correction of the Kynges Majestie,’ as follows:
The tenth Article submitted. “That ther may be in the said Cathedral churche a free songe scole, the scolemaster to have yerly of the said pastor and prechars xx. marks for his wages, and his howss free, to teache xl. children frely, to rede, to write, synge and playe upon instruments of musike, also to teache ther A. B. C. in greke and hebrew. And every of the said xl. children to have wekely xiid. for ther meat and drink, and yerly vis viiid. for a gowne; they to be bownd dayly to syng and rede within the said Cathedral churche such divine service as it may please the Kynges Majestie to allowe; the said childre to be at comons alltogether, with three prests hereaffter to be spoke off, to see them well ordered at the meat and to reforme their manners.”
Article the eleventh, submitted. “That ther may be a fre grammer scole within the same Cathedral churche, the scole-master to have xxli. by yere and his howss fre, the ussher xli. & his howss
fre, and that the said pastor and prechars may be bound to fynd xl. children at the said grammer scole, giving to every oon of the children xiid. wekely, to go to commons within the citie at the pleasour of the frendes, so long to continew as the scolemaster do se them diligent to lerne. The pastor to appointe viii. every prechar iiii. and the scolemaster iiii.; the said childre serving in the said churche and going to scole, to be preferred before strangers; provided always, that no childe be admitted to thexhibicion of the said churche, whose father is knowne to be worthe in goodes above cccli., or elles may dispend above xlli. yerly enheritance.” —Ibid., p. 10–12.
“Now £300 at that time was worth about £5,000 now, so that these schools were designed for the lower ranks of society, and open to the sons of the poorer gentry.
“An interesting illustration of this [and of the class-feeling in education at this time] is supplied,” says Mr Whiston, “by the narrative of what took place—
“when the Cathedral Church of Canterbury was altered from monks to secular men of the clergy, viz.: prebendaries or canons, petty-canons, choristers and scholars. At this erection were present, Thomas Cranmer, archbishop, with divers other commissioners. And nominating and electing such convenient and fit persons as should serve for the furniture of the said Cathedral church according to the new foundation, it came to pass that, when they should elect the children of the Grammar school, there were of the commissioners more than one or two who would have none admitted but sons or younger brethren of gentlemen. As for other, husbandmen’s children, they were more meet, they said, for the plough, and to be artificers, than to occupy the place of the learned sort; so that they wished none else to be put to school, but only gentlemen’s children. POOR MEN’S SONS HAVE HEADS AS WELL AS RICH ONES’. Whereunto the most reverend father, the Archbishop, being of a contrary mind, said, ‘That he thought it not indifferent so to order the matter; for,’ said he, ‘poor men’s children are many times endued with more singular gifts of nature, which are also the gifts of God, as, with eloquence, memory, apt pronunciation, sobriety, and such like; and also commonly more apt to apply their study, than is the gentleman’s son, delicately educated.’ Hereunto it was on the other part replied, ‘that it was meet for the ploughman’s son to go to plough, and the artificer’s son to apply the trade of his parent’s vocation; and the gentleman’s children are meet to have the knowledge of government and rule in the commonwealth. For we have,’ said they, ‘as much need of ploughmen as any other state; and all sorts of men may not go to school.’ ‘I grant,’ replied the Archbishop, ‘much of your meaning herein as needful in a commonwealth; but yet utterly to exclude the ploughman’s son and the poor man’s son from the benefits of learning, as though they were unworthy to have
the gifts of the Holy Ghost bestowed upon them as well as upon others, is as much to say, as that Almighty God should not be at liberty to bestow his great gifts of grace upon any person, nor nowhere else but as we and other men shall appoint them to be employed, according to our fancy, and not according to his most goodly will and pleasure, who giveth his gifts both of learning, and other perfections in all sciences, unto all kinds and states of people indifferently. Even so doth he many times withdraw from them and their posterity again those beneficial gifts, if they be not thankful. If we should shut up into a strait corner the bountiful grace of the Holy Ghost, and thereupon attempt to build our fancies, we should make as perfect a work thereof as those that took upon them to build the Tower of Babel; for God would so provide that the offspring of our first-born children should peradventure become most unapt to learn, and very dolts, as I myself have seen no small number of them very dull and without all manner of capacity. And to say the truth, I take it, that none of us all here, being gentlemen born (as I think), but had our beginning that way from a low and base parentage; and through the benefit of learning, and other civil knowledge, for the most part all gentlemen ascend to their estate.’ Then it was again answered, that the most part of the nobility came up by feats of arms and martial acts. ‘As though,’ said the Archbishop, ‘that the noble captain was always unfurnished of good learning and knowledge to persuade and dissuade his army rhetorically; who rather that way is brought unto authority than else his manly looks. To conclude; the poor man’s son by pains-taking will for the most part be learned when the gentleman’s son will not take the pains to get it. And we are taught by the Scriptures that Almighty God raiseth up from the dunghill, and setteth him in high authority. And whensoever it pleaseth him, of his divine providence, he deposeth princes unto a right humble and poor estate. Wherefore, if the gentleman’s son be apt to learning, let him be admitted; if not apt, let the poor man’s child that is apt enter his room.’ With words to the like effect.”
R. Whiston, Cathedral Trusts, p. 12-14.
The scandalous way in which the choristers and poor boys were done out of their proportion of the endowments by the Cathedral clergy, is to be seen in Mr Whiston’s little book.
[6.] Endowed Grammar Schools. These were mainly founded for citizens’ and townsmen’s children. Winchester (founded 1373) was probably the only one that did anything before 1450 for the education of our gentry. Eton was not founded till 1440. The following [list of endowed schools] founded before 1545, compiled for me by
Mr Brock from Carlisle’s Concise Description, shows the dates of all known to him.
| BEFORE 1450 A.D. | |
bef. 1162 Derby. Free School. 1195 St Alban’s. Free Grammar School. 1198 St Edmund’s, Bury. Fr. Sch. 1328 Thetford. Gr. Sch. ? 1327 Northallerton. Gr. Sch. 1332 Exeter. Gr. Sch. 1343 Exeter. High School. bef. 1347 Melton Mowbray. Schools. 1373 Winchester College. 1384 Hereford. Gr. Sch. | 1385 Wotton-under-Edge. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1395 or 1340 Penrith. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1399-1413 (Hen. IV.) Oswestry. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1418 Sevenoaks. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1422 Higham Ferrers. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1422-61 (Hen. VI.) Ewelme. Gr. Sch. 1440 Eton College. 1447 London. Mercers’ School, but founded earlier. |
| SCHOOLS FOUNDED 1450–1545A.D. | |
1461-83 (Edw. IV.) Chichester. The Prebendal School. bef. 1477 Ipswich.[72] Gr. Sch. 1484 Wainfleet. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1485-1509 (Hen. VII.) or before. Kibroorth, near Market Harborough.Fr. Gr. Sch. bef. 1486 Reading. Gr. Sch. 1486 Kingston upon Hull. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1487 Stockport. Gr. Sch. 1487 Chipping Campden. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1491 Sudbury. Fr. Gr. Sch. bef. 1495 Lancaster. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1497 Wimborne Minster. Fr. Gr. Sch. time of Hen. VII., 1485-1509 King’s Lynn. Gr. Sch. 1502-52 Macclesfield. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1503 Bridgenorth. Fr. Sch. 1506 Brough or Burgh under Stainmore. Fr. Sch. 1507 Enfield. Gr. Sch. 1507 Farnworth, in Widnes, near Prescot. Fr. Gr. Sch. ab. 1508 Cirencester. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1509 Guildford. Royal Gr. Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Peterborough. Gr. Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Basingstoke. Gr Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Plymouth. Gr. Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Warwick. College or Gr. Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Earl’s Colne, near Halsted. Fr. Gr. Sch. t. Hen. VIII. 1509-47 Carlisle. Gr. Sch. 1512 Southover and Lewes. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1513 Nottingham. Fr. Sch. 1515 Wolverhampton. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1517 Aylesham. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1512-18 London.[73] St Paul’s Sch. 1520 Bruton or Brewton. Fr. Gr. Sch. ab. 1520 Rolleston, nr. Burton-upon-Trent. Fr. Gr. Sch. | bef. 1521 Tenterden. Fr. Sch. 1521 Milton Abbas, near Blandford. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1522 Taunton. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1522 Biddenden, near Cranbrook. Free Latin Gr. Sch. bef. 1524-5 Manchester. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1524 Berkhampstead. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1526 Pocklington. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1526 Childrey, near Wantage. Fr. Sch. bef. 1528 Cuckfield. Fr. Gr. Sch. 001528 Gloucester. Saint Mary de Crypt. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1528 Grantham. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1530 Stamford, or Stanford. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1530 Newark-upon-Trent. Fr. Gr. Sch. bef. Reform. Norwich. Old Gr. Sch. t. Ref. Loughborough. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1532 Horsham. Fr. Sch. 1533 Bristol. City Fr. Gr. Sch. ab. 1533 Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Royal Gr. Sch. ab. 1535 Stoke, near Clare. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1541 Brecknock. Gr. Sch. 1541 Ely. Fr. Sch. 1541 Durham. Gr. Sch. 1541-2 Worcester. The King’s [t.i. Cathedral Grammar] or CollegeSchool. 1542 Canterbury. The King’s School. 1542 Rochester. The King’s Sch.[74] 1542 Findon, properly Thingdon, near Wellingborough. Fr. Sch. 1542 Northampton. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1543 Abergavenny. Fr. Gr. Sch. 1544 Chester. [Cathedral] Gr., or King’s School. 1544 Sutton Coldfield. Gr. Sch. bef. 1545 Gloucester. Cathedral [t.i. King’s], or College School. 1545 St Mary of Ottery. Gr. Sch. bef. 1547 Wisbech. Gr. Sch. bef. 1549 Wellington. Gr. Sch. |
About 1174 A.D., Fitzstephen speaks of the London schools and scholars thus:—I use Pegge’s translation, 1772, to which Mr Chappell referred me,—
“The three principal churches in London[75] are privileged by grant and ancient usage with schools, and they are all very flourishing. Often indeed through the favour and countenance of persons eminent in philosophy, more schools are permitted. On festivals, at those churches where the Feast of the Patron Saint is solemnized, the masters convene their scholars. The youth, on that occasion, dispute, some in the demonstrative way, and some logically. These produce their enthymemes, and those the more perfect syllogisms. Some, the better to shew their parts, are exercised in disputation, contending with one another, whilst others are put upon establishing some truth by way of illustration. Some sophists endeavour to apply, on feigned topics, a vast heap and flow of words, others to impose upon you with
false conclusions. As to the orators, some with their rhetorical harangues employ all the powers of persuasion, taking care to observe the precepts of art, and to omit nothing opposite to the subject. The boys of different schools wrangle with one another in verse; contending about the principles of Grammar, or the rules of the Perfect Tenses and Supines. Others there are, who in Epigrams, or other compositions in numbers, use all that low ribaldry we read of in the Ancients; attacking their school-masters, but without mentioning names, with the old Fescennine licentiousness, and discharging their scoffs and sarcasms against them; touching the foibles of their school-fellows, or perhaps of greater personages, with true Socratic wit, or biting them more keenly with a Theonine tooth: The audience, fully disposed to laugh,
‘With curling nose ingeminate the peals.’”
Of the sports of the boys, Fitzstephen gives a long description. On Shrove-Tuesday, each boy brought his fighting cock to his master, and they had a cock-fight all morning in the school-room.[76] After dinner, football in the fields of the suburbs, probably Smithfield. Every Sunday in Lent they had a sham-fight, some on horseback, some on foot, the King and his Court often looking on. At Easter they played at the Water-Quintain, charging a target, which if they missed, souse they went into the water. ‘On holidays in summer the pastime of the youths is to exercise themselves in archery, in running, leaping, wrestling, casting of stones, and flinging to certain distances, and lastly with bucklers.’ At moonrise the maidens danced. In the winter holidays, the boys saw boar-fights, hog-fights, bull and bear-baiting, and when ice came they slid, and skated on the leg-bones of some animal, punting themselves along with an iron-shod pole, and charging one another. A set of merry scenes indeed.
“In general, we are assured by the most learned man of the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon, that there never had been so great an appearance of learning, and so general an application to study, in so many different faculties, as in his time, when schools were erected in every city, town, burgh, and castle.” (Henry’s Hist. of England, vol. iv. p. 472-3.)
In the twenty-fifth year of Henry VI., 1447, four Grammar schools were appointed to be opened in London[77] for the education of
the City youth (Carlisle). But from the above lists it will be seen that Grammar Schools had not much to do with the education of our nobility and gentry before 1450 A.D.
AN ETON BOY IN A.D. 1478.
Of Eton studies, the Paston Letters notice only Latin versifying, but they show us a young man supposed to be nineteen, still at school, having a smart pair of breeches for holy days, falling in love, eating figs and raisins, proposing to come up to London for a day or two’s holiday or lark to his elder brother’s, and having 8d. sent him in a letter to buy a pair of slippers with. William Paston, a younger brother of John’s, when about nineteen years old, and studying at Eton, writes on Nov. 7, 1478, to thank his brother for a noble in gold, and says,
“my creanser (creditor) Master Thomas (Stevenson) heartily recommendeth him to you, and he prayeth you to send him some money for my commons, for he saith ye be twenty shillings in his debt, for a month was to pay for when he had money last; also I beseech you to send me a hose cloth, one for the holy days of some colour, and another for working days (how coarse soever it be, it maketh no matter), and a stomacher and two shirts, and a pair of slippers: and if it like you that I may come with Alweder by water”—would they take a pair-oar and pull down? (the figs and raisins came up by a barge;)—“and sport me with you at London a day or two this term-time, then ye may let all this be till the time that I come, and then I will tell you when I shall be ready to come from Eton by the grace of God, who have you in his keeping.” Paston Letters, modernised, vol. 2, p. 129.
This is the first letter; the second one about the figs, raisins, and love-making (dated 23 Feb. 1478-9) is given at vol. ii. p. 122-3.
Tusser, who was seized as a Singing boy for the King’s Chapel, lets us know that he got well birched at Eton.
“From Paul’s I went · to Eton sent
To learn straightways · the Latin phrase
When fifty-three · stripes given to me
At once I had:
For fault but small · or none at all
It come to pass · thus beat I was.
See, Udall,[78] see · the mercy of thee
To me poor lad!”
I was rather surprised to find no mention of any Eton men in the first vol. of Wood’s Athenæ Oxonienses (ed. Bliss) except two, who had first taken degrees at Cambridge, Robert Aldrich and William Alley, the latter admitted at Cambridge 1528 (Wood, p. 375, col. 2). Plenty of London men are named in Wood, vol. 1. No doubt in early times the Eton men went to their own foundation, King’s (or other Colleges at) Cambridge, while the Winchester men went to their foundation, New College, or elsewhere at Oxford. In the first volume of Bliss’s edition of Wood, the following Winchester men are noticed:
p. 30, col. 2, William Grocyn, educated in grammaticals in Wykeham’s school near Winchester.
p. 78, col. 2, William Horman, made fellow of New Coll. in 1477. Author of the Vulgaria Puerorum, &c. (See also Andrew Borde, [p. xxxiv, above, note].)
p. 379, col. 2, John Boxall, Fellow of New Coll. 1542.
402, col. 2, Thomas Hardyng„ „ „1536.
450, col. 2, Henry Cole „ „ „1523.
469, col. 1, Nicholas Saunders „ „ „1548.
678, col. 2, Richard Haydock„ „ „1590.
POST-REFORMATION GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.
That the post-Reformation Grammar Schools did not at first educate as many boys as the old monastic schools is well known. Strype says,
“On the 15th of January, 1562, Thomas Williams, of the Inner Temple, esq. being chosen speaker to the lower house, was presented to the queen: and in his speech to her ... took notice of the want of schools; that at least an hundred were wanting in England which before this time had been, [being destroyed (I suppose he meant) by the dissolution of monasteries and religious houses, fraternities and colleges.] He would have had England continually flourishing with ten thousand scholars, which the schools in this nation formerly brought up. That from the want of these good schoolmasters sprang up ignorance: and covetousness got the livings by impropriations; which was a decay, he said, of learning, and by it the tree of knowledge
grew downward, not upward; which grew greatly to the dishonour, both of God and the commonwealth. He mentioned likewise the decay of the universities; and how that great market-towns were without schools or preachers: and that the poor vicar had but 20l. [or some such poor allowance,] and the rest, being no small sum, was impropriated. And so thereby, no preacher there; but the people, being trained up and led in blindness for want of instruction, became obstinate: and therefore advised that this should be seen to, and impropriations redressed, notwithstanding the laws already made [which favoured them].—Strype, Annals of the Reformation, vol. i. p. 437.
Of the Grammar Schools in his time (A.D. 1577) Harrison says:
Besides these universities, also there are a great number of Grammer Schooles throughout the realme, and those verie liberallie endued for the better relief of pore scholers, so that there are not manie corporate townes, now under the queene’s dominion that have not one Gramer Schole at the least, with a sufficient living for a master and usher appointed to the same.
There are in like manner divers collegiat churches, as Windsor, Wincester, Eaton, Westminster (in which I was sometime an unprofitable Grammarian under the reverend father, master Nowell, now dean of Paules) and in those a great number of pore scholers, dailie maintained by the liberality of the founders, with meat, bookes, and apparell; from whence after they have been well entered in the knowledge of the Latine and Greek tongs, and rules of versifying (the triall whereof is made by certain apposers, yearlie appointed to examine them), they are sent to certain especiall houses in each universitie[79], where they are received & trained up in the points of higher knowledge in their privat halls till they be adjudged meet to show their faces in the schooles, as I have said alreadie.
Greek was first taught at a public school in England by Lillye soon after the year 1500. This was at St Paul’s School in London, then newly established by Dean Colet, and to which Erasmus alluded as the best of its time in 1514, when he said that he had in three years taught a youth more Latin than he could have acquired in any school in England, ne Liliana quidem excepta, not even Lillye’s excepted. (Warton, iii. 1.) The first schoolmaster who stood up for the study of English was, I believe, Richard Mulcaster, of King’s College, Cambridge, and Christ Church, Oxford. In 1561 he was appointed the first head-master of Merchant-Taylors School in London, then just founded as a feeder or pro-seminary for St John’s
College, Oxford (Warton, iii. 282). In his Elementarie, 1582, he has a long passage on the study of English, the whole of which I print here, at Mr Quick’s desire, as it has slipt out of people’s minds, and Mulcaster deserves honour for it:—
STUDY OF ENGLISH RECOMMENDED IN 1582-1612.
“But bycause I take vpon me in this Elementarie, besides som frindship to secretaries for the pen, and to correctors for the print, to direct such peple as teach childern to read and write English, and the reading must nedes be such as the writing leads vnto, thererfor, (sic) befor I medle with anie particular precept, to direct the Reader, I will thoroughlie rip vp the hole certaintie of our English writing, so far furth and with such assurance, as probabilitie can make me, bycause it is a thing both proper to my argument, and profitable to my cuntrie. For our naturall tung being as beneficiall vnto vs for our nedefull deliuerie, as anie other is to the peple which vse it: & hauing as pretie, and as fair obseruations in it, as anie other hath: and being as readie to yield to anie rule of Art, as anie other is: why should I not take som pains to find out the right writing of ours, as other cuntrimen haue don to find the like in theirs? & so much the rather, bycause it is pretended, that the writing thereof is meruellous vncertain, and scant to be recouered from extreme confusion, without som change of as great extremitie? I mean therefor so to deall in it, as I maie wipe awaie that opinion of either vncertaintie for confusion, or impossibilitie for direction, that both the naturall English maie haue wherein to rest, & the desirous st[r]anger maie haue whereby to learn. For the performance whereof, and mine own better direction, I will first examin those means, whereby other tungs of most sacred antiquitie haue bene brought to Art and form of discipline for their right writing, to the end that by following their waie, I maie hit vpon their right, and at the least by their president deuise the like to theirs, where the vse of our tung, & the propertie of our dialect will not yeild flat to theirs. That don, I will set all the varietie of our now writing, & the vncertaine force of all our letters, in as much certaintie, as anie writing can be, by these senen precepts,— 1. Generall rule, which concerneth the propertie and vse of ech letter: 2. Proportion which reduceth all words of one sound to the same writing: 3. Composition, which teacheth how to write one word made of mo: 4. Deriuation, which examineth the ofspring of euerie originall: 5. Distinction which bewraieth the difference of sound and force in letters by som writen figure or accent: 6. Enfranchisment, which directeth the right writing of all incorporat foren words: 7. Prerogatiue, which declareth a reseruation, wherein common vse will continew hir precèdence in our En[g]lish writing, as she hath don euerie where else, both for the form of the letter, in som places, which likes the pen better: and for the difference in writing, where som particular caueat will chek a common rule. In all these seuen I will so examin the particularities of our tung, as either nothing shall
seme strange at all, or if anie thing do seme, yet it shall not seme so strange, but that either the self same, or the verie like vnto it, or the more strange then it is, shal appear to be in, those things, which ar more familiar vnto vs for extraordinarie learning, then required of vs for our ordinarie vse. And forasmuch as the eie will help manie to write right by a sene president, which either cannot vnderstand, or cannot entend to vnderstand the reason of a rule, therefor in the end of this treatis for right writing, I purpos to set down a generall table of most English words, by waie of president, to help such plane peple, as cannot entend the vnderstanding of a rule, which requireth both time and conceit in perceiuing, but can easilie run to a generall table, which is readier to their hand. By the which table I shall also confirm the right of my rules, that theie hold thoroughout, & by multitude of examples help som maim (so) in precepts. Thus much for the right writing of our English tung, which maie seme (so) for a preface to the principle of Reading, as the matter of the one is the maker of the other.—1582. Richd. Mulcaster. The First Part of the Elementarie, pp. 53-4.
Brinsley follows Mulcaster in exhorting to the study of English:
“there seemes vnto mee, to bee a verie maine want in all our Grammar schooles generally, or in the most of them; whereof I haue heard som great learned men to complain; That there is no care had in respect, to traine vp schollars so as they may be able to expresse their minds purely and readily in our owne tongue, and to increase in the practice of it, as well as in the Latine or Greeke; whereas our chiefe indeuour should bee for it, and that for these reasons. 1. Because that language which all sorts and conditions of men amongst vs are to haue most vse of, both in speech & writing, is our owne natiue tongue. 2. The purity and elegancie of our owne language is to be esteemed a chiefe part of the honour of our nation: which we all ought to aduance as much as in vs lieth. As when Greece and Rome and other nations haue most florished, their languages also haue beene most pure: and from those times of Greece & Rome, wee fetch our chiefest patterns, for the learning of their tongues. 3. Because of those which are for a time trained vp in schooles, there are very fewe which proceede in learning, in comparison of them that follow other callings.
John Brinsley, The Grammar Schoole, p. 21, 22.
His “Meanes to obtaine this benefit of increasing in our English tong, as in the Latin,” are
1. Daily vse of Lillies rules construed.
2. Continuall practice of English Grammaticall translations.
3. Translating and writing English, with some other Schoole exercises.
Ibid., side-notes, p. 22, 23.
On this question of English boys studying English, let it be remembered that in this year of grace 1867, in all England there is
just one public school at which English is studied historically—the City of London School—and that in this school it was begun only last year by the new Head-Master, the Rev. Edwin A. Abbot, all honour to him. In every class an English textbook is read, Piers Plowman being that for the highest class. This neglect of English as a subject of study is due no doubt to tutors’ and parents’ ignorance. None of them know the language historically; the former can’t teach it, the latter don’t care about it; why should their boys learn it? Oh tutors and parents, there are such things as asses in the world.
A GRAMMAR-SCHOOL BOY’S DAY IN A.D. 1612.
Of the school-life of a Grammar-school boy in 1612 we may get a notion from Brinsley’s p. 296, “chap. xxx. Of Schoole times, intermissions and recreations,” which is full of interest. ‘1. The Schoole-time should beginne at sixe: all who write Latine to make their exercises which were giuen ouernight, in that houre before seuen’.—To make boys punctual, ‘so many of them as are there at sixe, to haue their places as they had them by election[80] or the day before: all who come after six, euery one to sit as he commeth, and so to continue that day, and vntill he recouer his place againe by the election of the fourme or otherwise.... If any cannot be brought by this, them to be noted in the blacke Bill by a speciall marke, and feele the punishment thereof: and sometimes present correction to be vsed for terrour.... Thus they are to continue vntill nine [at work in class], signified by Monitours, Subdoctour or otherwise. Then at nine ... to let them to haue a quarter of an houre at least, or more, for intermission, eyther for breakefast ... or else for the necessitie of euery one, or their honest recreation, or to prepare their exercises against the Masters comming in. [2.] After, each of them to be in his place in an instant, vpon the knocking of the dore or some other sign ... so to continue vntill eleuen of the clocke, or somwhat after, to counteruaile the time of the intermission at nine.
(3.) To be againe all ready, and in their places at one, in an instant; to continue vntill three, or halfe an houre after: then to haue another quarter of an houre or more, as at nine for drinking and necessities; so to continue till halfe an houre after fiue: thereby in
that halfe houre to counteruaile the time at three; then to end so as was shewed, with reading a peece of a Chapter, and with singing two staues of a Psalme: lastly with prayer to be vsed by the Master.’
To the objectors to these intermissions at nine and three, who may reproach the schoole, thinking that they do nothing but play, Brinsley answers,— ‘2. By this meanes also the Schollars may bee kept euer in their places, and hard to their labours, without that running out to the Campo (as the[y] tearme it) at school times, and the manifolde disorders thereof; as watching and striuing for the clubbe,[81] and loytering then in the fields; some hindred that they cannot go forth at all. (5.) it is very requisite also, that they should have weekly one part of an afternoone for recreation, as a reward of their diligence, obedience and profiting; and that to be appointed at the Masters discretion, eyther the Thursday, after the vsuall custom; or according to the best opportunity of the place.... All recreations and sports of schollars, would be meet for Gentlemen. Clownish sports, or perilous, or yet playing for money, are no way to be admitted.’
On the age at which boys went to school, Brinsley says, p. 9,
“For the time of their entrance with vs, in our countrey schooles, it is commonly about 7. or 8. yeares olde: six is very soone. If any begin so early, they are rather sent to the schoole to keepe them from troubling the house at home, and from danger, and shrewd turnes, then for any great hope and desire their friends haue that they should learne anything in effect.”
THE GOOD OLD TIMES OF SMOKE AND FILTH.
[To return from this digression on Education.] Enough has been said to show that the progress of Education, in our sense of the word, was rather from below upwards, than from above downwards; and I conclude that the young people to whom the Babees Boke, &c., were addressed, were the children of our nobility, knights, and squires, and that the state of their manners, as left by their home training, was such as to need the inculcation on them of the precepts contained in the Poems. If so, dirty, ill-mannered, awkward young gawks, must most of these hopes-of-England have been, to modern notions. The directions for personal cleanliness must have been much needed when one considers the small stock of linen and clothes that men not
rich must have had; and if we may judge from a passage in Edward the Fourth’s Liber Niger, even the King himself did not use his footpan every Saturday night, and would not have been the worse for an occasional tubbing:—
“This barbour shall have, every satyrday at nyght, if it please the Kinge to cleanse his head, legges, or feet, and for his shaving, two loves, one picher wyne. And the ussher of chambre ought to testyfye if this is necessaryly dispended or not.”
So far as appears from Edward the Fourth’s Liber Niger Domus, soap was used only for washing clothes. The yeoman lavender, or washerman, was to take from the Great Spicery ‘as muche whyte soape, greye, and blacke, as can be thought resonable by proufe of the Countrollers,’ and therewith ‘tenderly to waysshe ... the stuffe for the Kinges propyr persone’ (H. Ord. p. 85); but whether that cleansing material ever touched His Majesty’s sacred person (except doubtless when and if the barber shaved him), does not appear. The Ordinances are considerate as to sex, and provide for “weomen lavendryes” for a Queen, and further that “these officers oughte to bee sworne to keepe the chambre counsaylle.” But it is not for one of a nation that has not yet taken generally to tubbing and baths, or left off shaving, to reproach his forefathers with want of cleanliness, or adherence to customs that involve contradiction of the teachings of physiologists, and the evident intent of Nature or the Creator. Moreover, reflections on the good deeds done, and the high thoughts thought, by men of old dirtier than some now, may prevent us concluding that because other people now talk through their noses, and have manners different from our own, they and their institutions must be wholly abominable; that because others smell when heated, they ought to be slaves; or that eating peas with a knife renders men unworthy of the franchise. The temptation to value manners above morals, and pleasantness above honesty, is one that all of us have to guard against. And when we have held to a custom merely because it is old, have refused to consider fairly the reasons for its change, and are inclined to grumble when the change is carried out, we shall be none the worse for thinking of the people, young and old, who, in the time of Harrison and Shakspere, the “Forgotten Worthies”[82]
and Raleigh, no doubt ‘hated those nasty new oak houses and chimnies,’ and sighed for the good old times:
“And yet see the change, for when our houses were builded of willow, then had we oken men; but now that our houses are come to be made of oke, our men are not onlie become willow, but a great manie through Persian delicacie crept in among vs, altogither of straw, which is a sore alteration.... Now haue we manie chimnies, and yet our tenderlings complaine of rheumes, catarhs and poses. Then had we none but reredosses, and our heads did neuer ake.[83] For as the smoke in those daies was supposed to be a sufficient hardning for the timber of the house; so it was reputed a far better medicine to keepe the goodman and his familie from the quack or pose, wherewith as then verie few were oft acquainted.” Harrison, i. 212, col. 1, quoted by Ellis.
If rich men and masters were dirty, poor men and servants must have been dirtier still. William Langlande’s description of Hawkyn’s one metaphorical dress in which he slept o’ nightes as well as worked by day, beslobbered (or by-moled, bemauled) by children, was true of the real smock; flesh-moths must have been plentiful, and the sketch of Coveitise, as regards many men, hardly an exaggeration:
... as a bonde-man of his bacon · his berd was bi-draveled,
With his hood on his heed · a lousy hat above,
And in a tawny tabard · of twelf wynter age
Al so torn and baudy · and ful of lys crepyng,
But if that a lous[84] couthe · han lopen the bettre,
She sholde noght han walked on that welthe · so was it thred-bare.
(Vision, Passus V. vol. 1, l. 2859-70, ed. Wright.)
In the Kinge and Miller, Percy Folio MS., p. 236 (in vol. ii. of the print), when the Miller proposes that the stranger should sleep with their son, Richard the son says to the King,
“Nay, first,” quoth Richard, “good fellowe, tell me true,
hast thou noe creepers in thy gay hose?
art thou not troabled with the Scabbado?”
The colour of washerwomen’s legs was due partly to dirt, I suppose. The princess or queen Clarionas, when escaping with the laundress as her assistant, is obliged to have her white legs reduced to the customary shade of grey:
Right as she should stoupe a-douñ,
The quene was tukked wel on high;
The lauender perceiued wel therbigh
Hir white legges, and seid “ma dame,
Youre shin boones might doo vs blame;
Abide,” she seid, “so mot I thee,
More slotered thei most be.”
Asshes with the water she menged,
And her white legges al be-sprenged.
ab. 1440 A.D., Syr Generides, p. 218, ll. 7060-8.
NAKED SCULLIONS AND DIRTY STREETS.
If in Henry the Eighth’s kitchen, scullions lay about naked, or tattered and filthy, what would they do elsewhere? Here is the King’s Ordinance against them in 1526:
“And for the better avoydyng of corruption and all uncleannesse out of the Kings house, which doth ingender danger of infection, and is very noisome and displeasant unto all the noblemen and others repaireing unto the same; it is ordeyned by the Kings Highnesse, that the three master cookes of the kitchen shall have everie of them by way of reward yearly twenty marks, to the intent they shall prouide and sufficiently furnish the said kitchens of such scolyons as shall not goe naked or in garments of such vilenesse as they now doe, and have been acustomed to doe, nor lie in the nights and dayes in the kitchens or ground by the fireside; but that they of the said money may be found with honest and whole course garments, without such uncleannesse as may be the annoyance of those by whom they shall passe”...
That our commonalty, at least, in Henry VIII.’s time did stink (as is the nature of man to do) may be concluded from Wolsey’s custom, when going to Westminster Hall, of
“holding in his hand a very fair orange, whereof the meat or substance within was taken out, and filled up again with the part of a sponge, wherein was vinegar, and other confections against the pestilent airs; the which he most commonly smelt unto, passing among the press, or else when he was pestered with many suitors.” (Cavendish, p. 43.)
On the dirt in English houses and streets we may take the testimony of a witness who liked England, and lived in it, and who was not likely to misrepresent its condition,—Erasmus. In a letter to Francis, the physician of Cardinal Wolsey, says Jortin,
“Erasmus ascribes the plague (from which England was hardly ever free) and the sweating-sickness, partly to the incommodious form and bad exposition of the houses, to the filthiness of the streets, and to the sluttishness within doors. The floors, says he, are commonly of clay, strewed with rushes, under which lies unmolested an ancient collection of beer, grease (?), fragments, bones, spittle, excrements [t.i. urine] of dogs and cats [t.i. men,] and every thing that is nasty, &c.” (Life of Erasmus, i. 69, ed. 1808, referred to in Ellis, i. 328, note.)
The great scholar’s own words are,
Tum sola fere sunt argilla, tum scirpis palustribus, qui subinde sic renovantur, ut fundamentum maneat aliquoties annos viginti, sub se fovens sputa, vomitus, mictum canum et hominum, projectam cervisiam, et piscium reliquias, aliasque sordes non nominandas. Hinc mutato cœlo vapor quidam exhalatur, mea sententia minime salubris humano corpori.
After speaking also De salsamentis (rendered ‘salt meat, beef,
pork, &c.,’ by Jortin, but which Liber Cure Cocorum authorises us in translating ‘Sauces’[85]), quibus vulgus mirum in modum delectatur, he says the English would be more healthy if their windows were made so as to shut out noxious winds, and then continues,
“Conferret huc, si vulgo parcior victus persuaderi posset, ac salsamentorum moderatior usus. Tum si publica cura demandaretur Ædilibus, ut viæ mundiores essent a cœno, mictuque: Curarentur et ea quæ civitati vicina sint. Jortin’s Life of Erasmus, ed. 1808, iii. 44 (Ep. 432, C. 1815), No. VIII. Erasmus Rot. Francisco. Cardinalis Eboracencis Medico, S.
If it be objected that I have in the foregoing extracts shown the dark side of the picture, and not the bright one, my answer is that the bright one—of the riches and luxury in England—must be familiar to all our members, students (as I assume) of our early books, that the Treatises in this Volume sufficiently show this bright side, and that to me, as foolometer of the Society, this dark side seemed to need showing. But as The Chronicle of May 11, 1867, in its review of Mr Fox Bourne’s English Merchants, seems to think otherwise, I quote its words, p. 155, col. 2.
“All the nations of the world, says Matthew of Westminster, were kept warm by the wool of England, made into cloth by the men of Flanders. And while we gave useful clothing to other countries, we received festive garments from them in return. For most of our information on these subjects we are indebted to Matthew Paris, who tells us that when Alexander III. of Scotland was married to Margaret, daughter of Henry III., one thousand English knights appeared at the wedding in cointises of silk, and the next day each knight donned a new robe of another kind. This grand entertainment was fatal to sixty oxen, and cost the then Archbishop of York no less a sum than 4000 marks. Macpherson remarks on this great display of silk as a proof of the wealth of England under the Norman kings, a point which has not been sufficiently elaborated. In 1242 the streets of London were covered or shaded with silk, for the reception of Richard, the King’s brother, on his return from the Holy Land. Few Englishmen
are aware of the existence of such magnificence at that early period; while every story-book of history gives us the reverse of the picture, telling us of straw-covered floors, scarcity of body linen, and the like. Long after this, in 1367, it is recorded, as a special instance of splendour of costume, that 1000 citizens of Genoa were clothed in silk; and this tale has been repeated from age to age, while the similar display, at an earlier date, in England, has passed unnoticed.”
[For a notice of the several pieces in the present volume], I refer the reader to the Preface to Russell’s Boke of Nurture, which follows here.
It only remains for me to say that the freshness of my first interest in the poems which I once hoped to re-produce in these Forewords, has become dulled by circumstances and the length of time that the volume has been in the press—it having been set aside (by my desire) for the Ayenbite, &c.;—and that the intervention of other work has prevented my making the collection as complete as I had desired it to be. It is, however, the fullest verse one that has yet appeared on its subject, and will serve as the beginning of the Society’s store of this kind of material.[86] If we can do all the English part of the work, and the Master of the Rolls will commission one of his Editors to do the Latin part, we shall then get a fairly complete picture of that Early English Home which, with all its shortcomings, should be dear to every Englishman now.
3, St George’s Square, N.W.,
5th June, 1867.
General Preface: Footnotes
[1.] The first sentence of Aristotle’s Metaphysics is ‘All men by nature are actuated by the desire of knowledge.’ Mr Skeat’s note on l. 78 of Partenay, p. 228.
[2.] Lawrens Andrewe. The noble lyfe & natures of man, of bestes, &c. Johñes Desborrowe. Andewarpe.
[3.] The woodcuts are Messrs Virtue’s, and have been used in Mr Thomas Wright’s History of Domestic Manners and Customs, &c.
[4.] If any one thinks it a bore to read these Prefaces, I can assure him it was a much greater bore to have to hunt up the material for them, and set aside other pressing business for it. But the Boke of Curtasye binding on editors does not allow them to present to their readers a text with no coat and trowsers on. If any Members should take offence at any expressions in this or any future Preface of mine, as a few did at some words in the last I wrote, I ask such Members to consider the first maxim in their Boke of Curtasye, Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Prefaces are gift horses; and if mine buck or shy now and then, I ask their riders to sit steady, and take it easy. On the present one at least they’ll be carried across some fresh country worth seeing.
[5.] scholars?
[6.] Sir H. Nicolas, in his Glossary to his Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VIII., p. 327, col. 2, says, “No word has been more commented upon than ‘Henchmen’ or Henxmen. Without entering into the controversy, it may be sufficient to state, that in the reign of Henry the Eighth it meant the pages of honour. They were the sons of gentlemen, and in public processions always walked near the monarch’s horse: a correct idea may be formed of their appearance from the representation of them in one of the pictures in the meeting room of the Society of Antiquarians. It seems from these entries (p. 79,* 125, 182, 209, 230, 265) that they lodged in the house of Johnson, the master of the king’s barge, and that the rent of it was 40s. per annum. Observations on the word will be found in Spelman’s Etymol., Pegge’s Curialia, from the Liber Niger, Edw. IV., Lodge’s Illustrations, vol. i. p. 359, the Northumberland Household Book, Blount’s Glossary.”
The Promptorium has “Heyncemann (henchemanne) Gerolocista, duorum generum, (gerolocista),” and Mr Way in his note says, “The pages of distinguished personages were called henxmen, as Spelman supposes, from Ger. hengst, a war-horse, or according to Bp. Percy, from their place being at the side or haunch of their lord.” See the rest of Mr Way’s note. He is a most provokingly careful editor. If ever you hit on a plum in your wanderings through other books you are sure to find it afterwards in one of Mr Way’s notes when you bethink yourself of turning to the Promptorium.
In Lord Percy’s Household (North. H. Book, p. 362) the Henchemen are mentioned next to the Earl’s own sons and their tutor (?) in the list of “Persones that shall attende upon my Lorde at his Borde Daily, ande have no more but his Revercion Except Brede and Drynk.”
My Lordes Secounde Son to serve as Kerver.
My Lordes Thurde Son as Sewer.
A Gentillman that shall attende upon my Lord’s Eldest Son in the rewarde, and appoynted Bicause he shall allwayes be with my Lord’s Sonnes for seynge the Orderynge of them.
My Lordes first Hauneshman to serve as Cupberer to my Lorde.
My Lords ijde Hanshman to serve as Cupberer to my Lady.
See also p. 300, p. 254, The Hansmen to be at the fyndynge of my Lord, p. 47
* p. 79, Item the same daye paied to Johnson the mayster of the kingis barge for the Rent of the house where the henxe men lye xl s.
[6a.] ‘Your Bele Babees are very like the Meninos of the Court of Spain, & Menins of that of France, young nobles brought up with the young Princes.’ H. Reeve. [Corrigenda]
[7.] When writing this I had forgotten Warton’s section on the Revival of Learning in England before and at the Reformation, Hist. English Poetry, v. iii. ed. 1840. It should be read by all who take an interest in the subject. Mr Bruce also refers to Kynaston’s Museum Minervæ. P.S.—Mr Bullein and Mr Watts have since referred me to Henry, who has in each volume of his History of England a regular account of learning in England, the Colleges and Schools founded, and the learned men who flourished, in the period of which each volume treats. Had I seen these earlier I should not have got the following extracts together; but as they are for the most part not in Henry, they will serve as a supplement to him.
[8.] First of these is Mr Charles H. Pearson, then the Rev. Prof. Brewer, and Mr William Chappell.
[9.] Mr Wm. Chappell gave me the reference.
[10.] In the Romance of Blonde of Oxford, Jean of Dammartin is taken into the service of the Earl of Oxford as escuier, esquire. He waits at table on knights, squires, valets, boys and messengers. After table, the ladies keep him to talk French with them.
[10a] This is not intended to confine the definition of Music as taught at Oxford to its one division of Harmonica, to the exclusion of the others, Rythmica, Metrica, &c. The Arithmetic said to have been studied there in the time of Edmund the Confessor is defined in his Life (MS. about 1310 A.D.) in my E. E. Poems & Lives of Saints, 1862, thus,
Arsmetrike is a lore: þat of figours al is
& of drauȝtes as me draweþ in poudre: & in numbre iwis.
[11.] It was in part a principle of Anglo-Saxon society at the earliest period, and attaches itself to that other universal principle of fosterage. A Teuton chieftain always gathered round him a troop of young retainers in his hall who were voluntary servants, and they were, in fact, almost the only servants he would allow to touch his person. T. Wright.
[12.] Compare Skelton’s account of Wolsey’s treatment of the Nobles, in Why come ye not to Courte (quoted in Ellis’s Letters, v. ii. p. 3).
—“Our barons be so bolde,
Into a mouse hole they wold
Runne away and creep
Like a mainy of sheep:
Dare not look out a dur
For drede of the maystife cur,
For drede of the boucher’s dog
“For and this curre do gnarl,
They must stande all afar
To holde up their hand at the bar.
For all their noble bloude,
He pluckes them by the hood
And shakes them by the eare,
And bryngs them in such feare;
He bayteth them lyke a beare,
Like an Ox or a Bul.
Their wittes, he sayth, are dul;
He sayth they have no brayne
Their estate to maintaine:
And make to bowe the knee
Before his Majestie.”
[13.] Compare also the quotation from Piers Plowman’s Crede, under No. 5, p. xlv, and Palsgrave, 1530 A.D., ‘I mase, I stonysshe, Je bestourne. You mased the boye so sore with beatyng that he coulde not speake a worde.’ See a gross instance of cruelty cited from Erasmus’s Letters, by Staunton, in his Great Schools of England, p. 179-80.
[14.] “And therfore do I the more lament that soch [hard] wittes commonlie be either kepte from learning by fond fathers, or bet from learning by lewde scholemasters,” ed. Mayor, p. 19. But Ascham reproves parents for paying their masters so badly: “it is pitie, that commonlie more care is had, yea and that emonges verie wise men, to finde out rather a cunnynge man for their horse than a cunnyng man for their children. They say nay in worde, but they do so in deede. For, to the one they will gladlie give a stipend of 200. Crounes by yeare, and loth to offer to the other, 200. shillinges. God, that sitteth in heauen, laugheth their choice to skorne, and rewardeth their liberalitie as it should: for he suffereth them to have tame and well ordered horse, but wilde and unfortunate Children.” Ib. p. 20
[15-15.] Sanctæ memoriæ Robertum Cognominatum Grodsted dudum Lincolniendem Episcopum, Regi Henrico quasi admirando, cum interrogavit, ubi Noraturam didicit, quâ Filios Nobilium Procerum Regni, quos secum habuit Domisellos, instruxerat, cum non de nobili prosapia, sed de simplicibus traxisset Originem, fertur intrepide respondisse, In Domo seu Hospitio Majorum Regum quam sit Rex Angliæ; Quia Regum, David, Salomonis, & aliorum, vivendi morem didicerat ex Intelligentia scripturarum.
[16.] Domicellus, Domnicellus, diminutivum a Domnus. Gloss. antiquæ MSS.: Heriles, Domini minores, quod possumus aliter dicere Domnicelli, Ugutio: Domicelli et Domicellas dicuntur, quando pulchri juvenes magnatum sunt sicut servientes. Sic porro primitus appellabant magnatum, atque adeo Regum filios. Du Cange.
[17.] Mr Bruce sends me the More extracts.
[18.] How Wolsey broke off the insurance is very well told. Mistress Anne was “sent home again to her father for a season; whereat she smoked”; but she “was revoked unto the Court,” and “after she knew the king’s pleasure and the great love that he bare her in the bottom of his stomach, then she began to look very hault and stout, having all manner of jewels or rich apparel that might be gotten with money” (p. 67).
[19.] Under the heading “Gentylmen of Houshold, viz. Kervers, Sewars, Cupberers, and Gentillmen Waiters” in the North. Household Book, p. 40, we find
Item, Gentillmen in Housholde ix, Viz. ij Carvers for my Loords Boorde, and a Servant bitwixt theym both, except thai be at their frendis fyndyng, and than ather of theym to have a Servant.—Two Sewars for my Lordis Boorde, and a Servant bitwixt theym, except they be at their Frendis fyndynge, and than ather of theym to have a Servant.—ij Cupberers for my Lorde and my Lady, and a Servant allowed bitwixt theym, except they be at their Frendis fyndynge, And than ather of theym to have a Servant allowid.
Under the next heading “My Lordis Hansmen at the fyndynge of my Lorde, and Yonge Gentyllmen at there Frendys fyndynge,” is
Item, my Lordis Hansmen iij. Yonge Gentyllmen in Houshold at their Frendis fyndynge ij = v.
[20.] Grammar usually means Latin. T. Wright.
[21.] The exceptions must have been many and marked.
[22.] Richardi Pacei, invictissimi Regis Angliæ primarii Secretarii, eiusque apud Elvetios Oratoris, De Fructu qui ex Doctrinæ percipitur, Liber.
Colophon. Basileae apud Io. Frobenium, mense VIII. bri. an. M.D.XVII.
Restat ut iam tibi explicem, quid me moueat ad libellum hoc titulo conscribendum et publicandum. Quum duobus annis plus minus iam præteritis, ex Romana urbe in patriam redijssem, inter-fui cuidam conuiuio multis incognitus. Vbi quum satis fuisset potatum, unus, nescio quis, ex conuiuis, non imprudens, ut ex uerbis uultuque conijcere licuit, cœpit mentionem facere de liberis suis bene instituendis. Et primum omnium, bonum præceptorem illis sibi quærendum, & scholam omnino frequentandam censuit. Aderat forte unus ex his, quos nos generosos uocamus, & qui semper cornu aliquod a tergo pendens gestant, acsi etiam inter prandendum uenarentur. Is audita literarum laude, percitus repentina ira, furibundus prorupit in hæc uerba. Quid nugaris, inquit, amice? abeant in malam rem istæ stultæ literæ, omnes docti sunt mendici, etiam Erasmus ille doctissimus (ut audio) pauper est, & in quadam sua epistola vocat την καράρατον πενιαν uxorem suam, id est, execrandam paupertatem, & uehementer conqueritur se son posse illam humeris suis usque in βαθυκήτεα πόντον, id est, profundum mare excutere. (Corpus dei iuro) uolo filius meus pendeat potius, quam literis studeat. Decet enim generosorum filios, apte inflare cornu, perite uenari, accipitrem pulchre gestare & educare. Studia uero literarum, rusticorum filiis sunt relinquenda. Hic ego cohibere me non potui, quin aliquid homini loquacissimo, in defensionem bonarum literarum, responderem. Non uideris, inquam, mihi bone uir recte sentire, nam si ueniret ad regem aliquis uir exterus, quales sunt principum oratores, & ei dandum esset responsum, filius tuus sic ut tu uis, institutus, inflaret duntaxat cornu, & rusticorum filij docti, ad respondendum nocarentur, ac filio tuo uenatori uel aucupi longe anteponerentur, & sua erudita (usi libertate, tibi in faciem dicerent, Nos malumus docti esse, & per doctrinam non imprudentes, quam stulta gloriari nobilitate. Tum ille hincinde circumspiciens, Quis est iste, inquit, qui hæc loquitur? hominem non cognosco. Et quum diceretur in aurem ei quisnam essem, nescio quid submissa uoce sibimet susurrans, & stulto usus auditore, illico arripuit uini poculum. Et quum nihil haberet respondendum, cœpit bibere, & in alia sermonem transferre. Et sic me liberauit, non Apollo, ut Horatium a garrulo, sed Bacchus a uesani hominis disputatione, quam diutius longe duraturam uehementer timebam.
Professor Brewer gives me the reference.)
[23.] As to agricultural labourers and their children A.D. 1388-1406, see below, [p. xlvi].
[24.] Readers will find it advisable to verify for themselves some of the statements in this Editor’s notes, &c.
[24a.] The regular Cathedral school would have existed at St David’s. [Corrigenda]
[25.] The foregoing three extracts are sent me by a friend.
[26.] From a fragment of the Computus Camerarii Abbat. Hidens. in Archiv. Wulves. apud Winton. ut supr. (? Hist. Reg. Angl. edit. Hearne, p. 74.)
[27.] Hist. and Antiq. of Glastonbury. Oxon. 1722, 8vo, p. 98.
[28.] Reyner, Apostolat. Benedict. Tract. 1, sect. ii. p. 224. Sanders de Schism. page 176.
[29.] utriusque juris, Canon and Civil.
[30.] Lit. humaniores. Latin is still called so in Scotch, and French* (I think), universities. J. W. Hales.
* “There are no French universities, though we find every now and then some humbug advertising himself in the Times as possessing a degree of the Paris University. The old Universities belong to the time before the Deluge—that means before the Revolution of 1789. The University of France is the organized whole of the higher and middle institutions of learning, in so far as they are directed by the State, not the clergy. It is an institution more governmental, according to the genius of the country, than our London University, to which, however, its organization bears some resemblance. To speak of it in one breath with Oxford or Aberdeen is to commit the ... error of confounding two things, or placing them on the same line, because they have the same name.” —E. Oswald, in The English Leader, Aug. 10, 1867. [Corrigenda]
[31.] (Pace de Fructu, p. 27.) Exigit iam suum musica quoque doctrina locum, a me præsertim, quem puerum inter pueros illustravit. Nam Thomas Langton Vyntoniensis episcopus, decessor huius qui nunc [1517 A.D.] uiuit, cui eram a manu minister, quum notasset me longe supra ætatem (ut ipse nimis fortasse amans mei iudicabat, & dictitabat) in musicis proficere, Huius, inquit, pueri ingenium ad maiora natum est. & paucos post dies in Italiam ad Patauinum gymnasium, quod tunc florentissimum erat, ad bonas literas discendas me misit, annuasque impensas benigne suppeditauit, ut omnibus literatis mirifice fauebat, & ætate sua alterum Mecenatem agebat, probe memor (ut frequenter dictitabat) sese doctrinæ causa ad episcopalem dignitatem prouectum. Adeptus enim fuerat per summam laudem, utriusque iuris (ut nunc loquuntur) insignia. Item humaniores literas tanti æstimabat, ut domestica schola pueros & iuuenes illis erudiendos curarit. Et summopere oblectabatur audire scholasticos dictata interdiu a præceptore, sibi nocta reddere. In quo certamine qui præclare se gesserat, is aliqua re personæ suæ accommodata, donatus abibat, & humanissimis uerbis laudatus. Habebet enim semper in ore ille optimus Præsul, uirtutem laudatam crescere.
[32.] Ascham praises most the practice of double translation, from Latin into English, and then back from English into Latin.—Scholemaster, p. 90, 178, ed. Giles.
[33.] Mr Wm. Chappell gives me the reference, and part of the extract.
[34.] When did breakfast get its name, and its first notice as a regular meal? I do not remember having seen the name in the early part of Household Ordinances, or any other work earlier than the Northumberland Household Book.
[35.] On Musical Education, see the early pages of Mr Chappell’s Popular Music, and the note in Archæol., vol. xx, p. 60-1, with its references. ‘Music constituted a part of the quadrivium, a branch of their system of education.’
[35a.] “The first William de Valence married Joan de Monchensi, sister-in-law to one Dionysia, and aunt to another.” The Chronicle, Sept. 21, 1867. [Corrigenda]
[36.] Le treytyz ke moun sire Gauter de Bibelesworthe fist à ma dame Dyonisie de Mounchensy, pur aprise de langwage.
[37.] Later on, the proportions of poor and rich changed, as may be inferred from the extract from Harrison below. In the ‘exact account of the whole number (2920) of Scholars and Students in the University of Oxford taken anno 1612 in the Long Vacation, the Studentes of Christ Church are 100, the Pauperes Scholares et alii Servientes 41; at Magdalene the latter are 76; at New College 18, to 70 Socii; at Brasenose (Æneasense Coll.) the Communarii are 145, and the Pauperes Scholares 17; at Exeter, the latter are 37, to 134 Communarii; at St John’s, 20 to 43; at Lincoln the Communarii are 60, to 27 Batellatores et Pauperes Scholares.’ Collectanea Curiosa, v. i. p. 196-203.
[38.] Was this in return for the raised rents that Ascham so bitterly complains of the new possessors of the monastic lands screwing out of their tenants, and thereby ruining the yeomen? He says to the Duke of Somerset on Nov. 21, 1547 (ed. Giles, i. p. 140-1),
Qui auctores sunt tantæ miseriæ?... Sunt illi qui hodie passim, in Anglia, prædia monasteriorum gravissimis annuis reditibus auxerunt. Hinc omnium rerum exauctum pretium; hi homines expilant totam rempublicam. Villici et coloni universi laborant, parcunt, corradunt, ut istis satisfaciant.... Hinc tot familiæ dissipatæ, tot domus collapsæ.... Hinc, quod omnium miserrimum est, nobile illud decus et robur Angliæ, nomen, inquam, Yomanorum Anglorum, fractum et collisum est ... Nam vita, quæ nunc vivitur a plurimis, non vita, sed miseria est.
When will these words cease to be true of our land? They should be burnt into all our hearts.
[38a.] One of the inquiries ordered by the Articles issued by Archbishop Cranmer, in A.D. 1548, is, “Whether Parsons, Vicars, Clerks, and other beneficed men, having yearly to dispend an hundred pound, do not find, competently, one scholar in the University of Cambridge or Oxford, or some grammar school; and for as many hundred pounds as every of them may dispend, so many scholars likewise to be found [supported] by them; and what be their names that they so find.” Toulmin Smith, The Parish, p. 95. Compare also in Church-Wardens Accompts of St Margaret’s, Westminster (ed. Jn. Nichols, p. 41).
| 1631. | Item, to Richard Busby, a king’s scholler of Westminster, towards enabling him to proceed master of arts at Oxon, by consent of the vestrie | £6. 13. 4. |
| 1628. | Item, to Richard Busby, by consent of the vestry, towards enabling him to proceed bachelor of arts | £5. 0. 0. |
Nichols, p. 38. See too p. 37. [Corrigenda]
[39.] “He placed Æthelweard, his youngest son, who was fond of learning, together with the sons of his nobility, and of many persons of inferior rank, in schools which he had established with great wisdom and foresight, and provided with able masters. In these schools the youth were instructed in reading and writing both the Saxon and Latin languages, and in other liberal arts, before they arrived at sufficient strength of body for hunting, and other manly exercises becoming their rank.” Henry, History of England, vol. ii. pp. 354-5 (quoted from Asser).
[40.] None were so. T. Wright.
[41.] Gervaise of Canterbury says, in his account of Theobald in the Acts of the Archbishops, “quorum primus erat magister Vacarius. Hic in Oxonefordiâ legem docuit.”
Note deleted in [Corrigenda] and replaced with following paragraph:
‘The truth is that, in his account of Oxford and its early days, Mr Hallam quotes John of Salisbury, not as asserting that Vacarius taught there, but as making “no mention of Oxford at all”; while he gives for the statement about the law school no authority whatever beyond his general reference throughout to Anthony Wood. But the fact is as historical as a fact can well be, and the authority for it is a passage in one of the best of the contemporary authors, Gervaise of Canterbury. “Tunc leges et causidici in Angliam primo vocati sunt,” he says in his account of Theobald in the Acts of the Archbishops, “quorum primus erat magister Vacarius. Hic in Oxonefordiâ legem docuit.”’ E. A. F.
[41a.] Roger Bacon died, perhaps, 11 June, 1292, or in 1294. Book of Dates. [Corrigenda]
[42.] This College is said to have been founded in the year 872, by Alfred the Great. It was restored by William of Durham, said to have been Archdeacon of Durham; but respecting whom little authentic information has been preserved, except that he was Rector of Wearmouth in that county, and that he died in 1249, bequeathing a sum of money to provide a permanent endowment for the maintenance of a certain number of “Masters.” The first purchase with this bequest was made in 1253, and the first Statutes are dated 1280.— Oxford Univ. Calendar, 1865, p. 167.
[43.] I refer to the modernized edition published by Charles Knight in two volumes.
[44.] Other well-born men, in the Ath. Cant., then connected with the University, or supposed to be, were,
| 1504 | Sir Roger Ormston, knight, died. Had been High Steward of theUniversity. |
| 1504 | Sir John Mordaunt, High Steward. |
| 1478 | George Fitzhugh, 4th son of Henry lord Fitzhugh, admittedB.A. |
| 1488 | Robert Leyburn, born of a knightly family, Fellow ofPembroke-hall, and proctor. |
| 1457 | John Argentine, of an ancient and knightly family, was electedfrom Eton to King’s. |
| 1504 | Robert Fairfax, of an ancient family in Yorkshire, took thedegree of Mus. Doc. |
| 1496 | Christopher Baynbrigg, of a good family at Hilton, near Appleby,educated at and Provost of Queen’s, Oxford, incorporated ofCambridge. |
| 1517 | Sir Wm. Fyndern, knight, died, and was a benefactor to ClareHall, in which it is supposed he had been educated. |
| 1481 | Robert Rede, of an ancient Northumbrian family, was sometime ofBuckingham College, and the Fellow of King’s-hall (?), and was autumnreader at Lincoln’s Inn in 1481. |
| ab. 1460 | Marmaduke Constable, son of Sir Robert Constable, knight,believed to have been educated at Cambridge. |
| „ | So, Edward Stafford, heir of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham,is also believed to have been educated at Cambridge, because his fatherwas a munificent patron of the University, constantly maintaining, orassisting to maintain, scholars therein. |
| „ | So, Thomas Howard, son of Sir John Howard, knight, and afterwardsDuke of Norfolk, who defeated the Scots at Flodden, is believed,&c. |
| 1484 | John Skelton, the poet, probably of an ancient Cumberlandfamily. |
| 1520? | Henry Howard, son of Lord Thomas Howard, ultimately Duke ofNorfolk. Nothing is known as to the place of his education. If it wereeither of the English Universities, the presumption is in favour ofCambridge. |
| The only tradesman’s son mentioned is, | |
| 1504 | Sir Richard Empson, son of Peter Empson, a sieve-maker,High-Steward. |
[45.] Whitgift himself, born 1530, was educated at St. Anthony’s school, then sent back to his father in the country, and sent up to Cambridge in 1548 or 1549.
[46.] No proof of this is given.
[47.] Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, son and heir of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, ‘was for a time student in Cardinal Coll. as the constant tradition has been among us.’ p. 153, col. 1.
[48.] Andrew Borde, who writes himself Andreas Perforatus, was born, as it seems, at Pevensey, commonly called Pensey [now Pemsey], in Sussex, and not unlikely educated in Wykeham’s school near to Winchester, brought up at Oxford (as he saith in his Introduction to Knowledge, cap. 35), p. 170, col. 2, and note.
[49.] See Mat. Paris, p. 665, though he speaks there chiefly of monks* beyond sea.
* As appears from Wood’s Fasti Oxon.
The following names of Oxford men educated at monkish or friars’ schools, or of their bodies, occur in the first volume of Wood’s Athenæ Oxon., ed. Bliss:
| p. 6, col. 2. | William Beeth, educated among the Dominicans or Black Friers from his youth, and afterwards their provincial master or chief governor. |
| p. 7, col. 2. | Richard Bardney, a Benedictine of Lincolnshire. |
| p. 11, col. 2. | John Sowle, a Carme of London. |
| p. 14, col. 1. | William Galeon, an Austin friar of Lynn Regis. |
| p. 18, col. 2. | Henry Bradshaw, one of the Benedictine monks of St Werberg’s, Chester. |
| p. 19, col. 1. | John Harley, of the order of the Preaching or Dominican, commonly called Black, Friars |
| p. 54, col. 2. | Thomas Spenser, a Carthusian at Henton in Somersetshire; ‘whence for a time he receded to Oxford (as several of his order did) to improve himself, or to pass a course, in theology.’ |
| p. 94, col. 2. | John Kynton, a Minorite or Grey-friar |
| p. 101, col. 1. | John Rycks, „ „ |
| p. 107, col. 1. | John Forest, a Franciscan of Greenwich. |
| p. 189, col. 1. | John Griffen, a Cistercian. |
| p. 278, col. 2. | Cardinal Pole, educated among the Carthusians, and Carmelites or ‘White-fryers.’ |
| p. 363, col. 2. | William Barlowe, an Austin of St Osith in Essex. |
| p. 630, col. 2. | Henry Walpoole and Richard Walpoole, Jesuits. |
The 5th Lord Percy, he of the Household Book, in the year 1520 founded an annual stipend of 10 marcs for 3 years, for a Pedagogus sive Magister, docens ac legens Grammaticam et Philosophiam canonicis et fratribus of the monastery of Alnwick (Warton, ii. 492).
[50.] It was customary then at Oxford for the Religious to have schools that bore the name of their respective orders; as the Augustine, Benedictine, Carmelite, and Franciscan schools; and there were schools also appropriated to the benefit of particular Religious houses, as the Dorchester and Eynsham schools, &c. The monks of Gloucester had Gloucester convent, and the novices of Pershore an apartment in the same house. So likewise the young monks of Canterbury, Westminster, Durham, St Albans, &c. Kennet’s Paroch. Antiq., p. 214. So also Leland saith, Itin. vol. vi. p. 28, that at Stamford the names of Peterborough Hall, Semplingham, and Vauldey yet remain, as places whither the Religious of those houses sent their scholars to study. Tanner, Notitia Monastica, Preface, p. xxvi. note w.
[51.] The abuse was of far earlier date than this. Compare Mr Halliwell’s quotation in his ‘Merton Statutes,’ from his edition of ‘the Poems of John Awdelay, the blind poet of Haghmon Monastery in the 14th century,’
Now ȝif a pore mon set hys son to Oxford to scole,
Bothe the fader and the moder hyndryd they schal be;
And ȝif ther falle a benefyse, hit schal be ȝif a fole,
To a clerke of a kechyn, ore into the chaunceré . .
Clerkys that han cunyng,
. . thai mai get no vaunsyng
Without symony.
[52.] Compare Chaucer: ‘wherfore, as seith Senek, ther is nothing more covenable to a man of heigh estate than debonairté and pité; and therfore thise flies than men clepen bees, whan thay make here king, they chesen oon that hath no pricke wherwith he may stynge.’—Persones Tale, Poet. Works, ed. Morris, iii. 301.
[53.] Ascham complains of the harm that rich men’s sons did in his time at Cambridge. Writing to Archbp. Cranmer in 1545, he complains of two gravissima impedimenta to their course of study: (1.) that so few old men will stop up to encourage study by their example; (2.) “quod illi fere omnes qui hue Cantabrigiam confluunt, pueri sunt, divitumque filii, et hi etiam qui nunquam inducunt animum suum, ut abundanti aliqua perfectaque eruditione perpoliantur, sed ut ad alia reipublicæ munera obeunda levi aliqua et inchoata cognitione paratiores efficiantur. Et hic singularis quædam injuria bifariam academiæ intentata est; vel quia hoc modo omnis expletæ absolutæque doctrinæ spes longe ante messem, in ipsa quasi herbescenti viriditate, præciditur; vel quia omnis pauperum inopumque expectatio, quorum ætates omnes in literarum studio conteruntur, ab his fucis eorum sedes occupantibus, exclusa illusaque præripitur. Ingenium, enim, doctrina, inopia judicium, nil quicquam domi valent, ubi gratia, favor, magnatum literæ, et aliæ persimiles extraordinariæ illegitimæque rationes vim foris adferunt. Hinc quoque illud accedit incommodum, quod quidam prudentes viri nimis ægre ferunt partem aliquam regiæ pecuniæ in collegiorum socios inpartiri; quasi illi non maxime indigeant, aut quasi ulla spes perfectæ eruditionis in ullis aliis residere potest, quam in his, qui in perpetuo literarum studio perpetuum vitæ suæ tabernaculum collocarunt.” Ed. Giles, i. p. 69-70. See also p. 121-2.
[54.] Antea enim Cornelius Vitellius, homo Italus Corneli, quod est maritimum Hetruriæ Oppidum, natus nobili Prosapia, vir optimus gratiosusque, omnium primus Oxonii bonas literas docuerat. [Pol. Verg. lib. xxvi.]
[55.] Ante annos ferme triginta, nihil tradebatur in schola Cantabrigiensi, præter Alexandri Parva Logicalia, ut vocant, & vetera illa Aristotelis dictata, Scoticasque Quæstiones. Progressu temporis accesserunt bonæ literæ; accessit Matheseos Cognitio; accessit novus, aut certe novatus, Aristoteles; accessit Græcarum literarum peritia; accesserunt Autores tam multi, quorum olim ne nomina quidem tenebantur, &c. [Erasmi Epist. Henrico Bovillo, Dat. Roffæ Cal. Sept. 1516.]
[56.] Sir John Fortescue’s description of the study of law at Westminster and in the Inns of Chancery is in chapters 48-9 of his De laudibus legum Angliæ.
Mores habent barbarus, Latinus et Græcus;
Si sacerdos, ut plebs est, cæcum ducit cæcus:
Se mares effeminant, et equa fit equus,
Expectes ab homine usque ad pecus.
Et quia non metuunt animæ discrimen,
Principes in habitum verterunt hoc crimen,
Varium viro turpiter jungit novus hymen,
Exagitata procul non intrat fœmina limen.
Pixus et ablutus tandem progressus in urbem,
Intrat in ecclesiam, vota precesque facit.
Inde scholas adiens, secum deliberat, utrum
Expediat potius illa vel ista schola.
Et quia subtiles sensu considerat Anglos,
Pluribus ex causis se sociavit iis.
Moribus egregii, verbo vultuque venusti,
Ingenio pollent, consilioque vigent.
Dona pluunt populis, et detestantur avaros,
Fercula multiplicant, et sine lege bibunt.
A. Wood, Antiq. Oxon., p. 55, in Henry’s Hist. of Eng., vol. iii. p. 440-1.
[59.] That Colet used his travels abroad, A.D. 1493-7, for a different purpose, see his life by Dr Knight, pp. 23-4.
[60.] Fuller, book vi. p. 297. Collier, vol. ii. p. 165. Stillingfleet’s Orig. Britan. p. 206. Bishop Lloyd of Church Government, p. 160. This was provided for as early as A.D. 747, by the seventh canon of council of Clovesho, as Wilkins’s Councils, vol. i. p. 95. See also the notes upon that canon, in Johnson’s Collection of canons, &c. In Tavistock abbey there was a Saxon school, as Willis, i. 171. Tanner. (Charlemagne in his Capitularies ordained that each Monastery should maintain a School, where should be taught ‘la grammaire, le calcule, et la musique.’ See Démogeot’s Histoire de la Littérature Française, p. 44, ed. Hachette. R. Whiston.) Henry says “these teachers of the cathedral schools were called The scholastics of the diocess; and all the youth in it who were designed for the church, were intitled to the benefit of their instructions.* Thus, for example, William de Monte, who had been a professor at Paris, and taught theology with so much reputation in the reign of Henry II., at Lincoln, was the scholastic of that cathedral. By the eighteenth canon of the third general council of Lateran, A.D. 1179, it was decreed, That such scholastics should be settled in all cathedrals, with sufficient revenues for their support; and that they should have authority to superintend all the schoolmasters of the diocess, and grant them licences, without which none should presume to teach. The laborious authors of the literary history of France have collected a very distinct account of the scholastics who presided in the principal cathedral-schools of that kingdom in the twelfth century, among whom we meet with many of the most illustrious names for learning of that age.... The sciences that were taught in these cathedral schools were such as were most necessary to qualify their pupils for performing the duties of the sacerdotal office, as Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Theology, and Church-Music.” —Ibid. p. 442.
* Du Cange, Gloss. voc. Scholasticus.
[61.] Fuller and Collier, as before; Bishop Burnet (Reform, vol. i. p... ) saith so of Godstow. Archbishop Greenfield ordered that young gentlewomen who came to the nunneries either for piety or breeding, should wear white veils, to distinguish them from the professed, who wore black ones, 11 Kal. Jul. anno pontif. 6. M. Hutton. ex registr. ejus, p. 207. In the accounts of the cellaress of Carhow, near Norwich, there is an account of what was received “pro prehendationibus,” or the board of young ladies and their servants for education “rec. de domina Margeria Wederly prehendinat, ibidem xi. septimanas xiii s. iv d. ... pro mensa unius famulæ dictæ Margeriæ per iii. septimanas viii d. per sept.” &c. Tanner.
[62.] Morley’s English Writers, vol. ii. Pt. I. p. 421.
[63.] Edited by Mr Halliwell in his ‘Selection from the Minor Poems of Dan John Lydgate.’ Percy Society, 1840, quoted by Prof. Morley.
[63a.] ‘Fitz-Stephen says on the parents of St Thomas, “Neque fœnerantibus neque officiose negotiantibus, sed de redditibus suis honorifice viventibus.”’ E. A. F. [Corrigenda]
[64.] Mr Skeat’s readings. The abbot and abbots of Mr Wright’s text spoil the alliteration.
[65.] Compare the previous passages under heading 1, p. vi.
[66.] May Mr Skeat bring the day when it will be done!
[67.] Later on, men’s games were settled for them as well as their trades. In A.D. 1541, the 33 Hen. VIII., cap. 9, § xvi., says,
“Be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no manner of Artificer or Craftsman of any Handicraft or Occupation, Husbandman, Apprentice, Labourer, Servant at Husbandry, Journeyman or Servant of Artificer, Mariners, Fishermen, Watermen or any Serving man, shall from the said feast of the Nativity of St John Baptist play at the Tables, Tennis, Dice, Cards, Bowls, Clash, Coyting, Logating, or any other unlawful Game out of Christmas, under the Pain of xx s. to be forfeit for every Time; (2) and in Christmas to play at any of the said Games in their Master’s Houses, or in their Master’s Presence; (3) and also that no manner of persons shall at any time play at any Bowl or Bowls in open places out of his Garden or Orchard, upon the Pain for every Time so offending to forfeit vi s. viiii d.” (For Logating, &c., see Strutt.)
[68.] Translated from the Latin copy in the British Museum, MS. Harl. 1197, art. 15, folio 319 b.
[69.] Duodecim pauperes de sumptibus dictæ Ecclesiæ alendi.
[70.] Duo unus Pincernæ, et unus subpincerna, duo unus cociquus, et unus subcoquus. Sic in MS
[71.] MS. No. 688 in Lambeth Library. MS. Harl. cod. 1594, art. 38, in Brit. Mus.
Farewell, in Oxford my college cardynall!
Farewell, in Ipsewich, my schole gramaticall!
Yet oons farewell! I say, I shall you never see!
Your somptious byldyng, what now avayllethe me?
Metrical Visions [Wolsey.] by George Cavendish, in his Life of Wolsey, (ed. Singer, ii. 17). Wolsey’s Letter of Directions about his school should be consulted. It is printed.
[73.] Colet’s Statutes for St Paul’s School are given in Howard Staunton’s Great Schools of England, p. 179-85.
[74.] ‘That there was a school at Rochester before Henry VIII.’s time is proved by our Statutes, which speak of the Schola Grammaticalis as being ruinosa & admodum deformis.’ R. Whiston.
[75.] Pegge concludes these to have been St Paul’s, Bow, and Martin’s le Grand.
[76.] The custom of boys bringing cocks to masters has left a trace at Sedburgh, where the boys pay a sum every year on a particular day (Shrove-Tuesday?) as “cock-penny.” Quick.
[77.] On the London Schools, see also Sir George Buc’s short cap. 36, “Moore of other Schooles in London,” in his Third Vniuersitie of England (t.i. London). He notices the old schools of the monasteries, &c., ‘in whose stead there be some few founded lately by good men, as the Merchant Taylors, and Thomas Sutton, founder of the great new Hospitall in the Charter house, [who] hath translated the Tenis court to a Grammar Schoole ... for 30 schollers, poore mens children.... There be also other Triuiall Schooles for the bringing up of youth in good literature, viz., in S. Magnus, in S. Michaels, in S. Thomas, and others.’
[78.] Udall became Master of Eton about 1534. He was sent to prison for sodomy.
[79.] The perversion of these elections by bribery is noticed by Harrison in the former extract from him on the Universities.
[80.] See p. 273-4, ‘all of a fourme to name who is the best of their fourme, and who is the best next him’.
[81.] ? key of the Campo, see pp. 299 and 300, or a club, the holder of which had a right to go out.
[82.] See Mr Froude’s noble article in The Westminster Review, No. 3, July, 1852 (lately republished by him in a collection of Essays, &c.).
[83.] Their eyes must have smarted. The natives’ houses in India have (generally) no chimneys still, and Mr Moreshwar says the smoke does make your eyes water.
[84.] Mouffet is learned on the Louse.
“In the first beginning whilest man was in his innocency, and free from wickednesse, he was subject to no corruption and filth, but when he was seduced by the wickednesse of that great and cunning deceiver, and proudly affected to know as much as God knew, God humbled him with divers diseases, and divers sorts of Worms, with Lice, Hand-worms, Belly-worms, others call Termites, small Nits and Acares ... a Lowse ... is a beastly Creature, and known better in Innes and Armies then it is wellcome. The profit it bringeth, Achilles sheweth, Iliad I. in these words: I make no more of him then I doe of a Lowse; as we have an English Proverb of a poor man, He is not worth a Lowse. The Lice that trouble men are either tame or wilde ones, those the English call Lice, and these Crab-lice; the North English call them Pert-lice, that is, a petulant Lowse comprehending both kindes; it is a certain sign of misery, and is sometimes the inevitable scourge of God.” Rowland’s Mouffet’s Theater of Insects, p. 1090, ed. 1658 (published in Latin, 1634). By this date we had improved. Mouffet says, “These filthy creatures ... are hated more than Dogs or Vipers by our daintiest Dames,” ib. p. 1093; and again, p. 1097, “Cardan, that was a fancier of subtilties, writes that the Carthusians are never vexed with Wall-lice, and he gives the cause, because they eat no flesh.... He should rather have alledged their cleanliness, and the frequent washing of their beds and blankets, to be the cause of it, which when the French, the Dutch, and Italians do less regard, they more breed this plague. But the English that take great care to be cleanly and decent, are seldom troubled with them.” Also, on p. 1092, he says, ‘As for dressing the body: all Ireland is noted for this, that it swarms almost with Lice. But that this proceeds from the beastliness of the people, and want of cleanly women to wash them is manifest, because the English that are more careful to dress themselves, changing and washing their shirts often, having inhabited so long in Ireland, have escaped that plague.... Remedies. The Irish and Iseland people (who are frequently troubled with Lice, and such as will fly, as they say, in Summer) anoint their shirts with Saffron, and to very good purpose, to drive away the Lice, but after six moneths they wash their shirts again, putting fresh Saffron into the Lye.’ Rowland’s Mouffet (1634), Theater of Insects, p. 1092, ed. 1658.
[85.] Prof. Brewer says that Erasmus, rejecting the Mediæval Latin and adopting the Classical, no doubt used salsamenta in its classical sense of salt-meat, and referred to the great quantity of it used in England during the winter, when no fresh meat was eaten, but only that which had been killed at the annual autumn slaughtering, and then salted down. Stall-fattening not being practised, the autumn was the time for fat cattle. Salsamentum, however, is translated in White and Riddle’s Dictionary, “A. Fish-pickle, brine; B. Salted or pickled fish (so usually in plural).”
[86.] If any member or reader can refer me to any other verse or prose pieces of like kind, unprinted, or that deserve reprinting, I shall be much obliged to him, and will try to put them in type.
[PREFACE TO RUSSELL.]
Though this Boke of Nurture by John Russell is the most complete and elaborate of its kind, I have never seen it mentioned by name in any of the many books and essays on early manners and customs, food and dress, that have issued from the press. My own introduction to it was due to a chance turning over, for another purpose, of the leaves of the MS. containing it. Mr Wheatley then told me of Ritson’s reference to it in his Bibliographica Poetica, p. 96; and when the text was all printed, a reference in The Glossary of Domestic Architecture (v. III. Pt. I. p. 76, note, col. 2) sent me to MS. Sloane 1315[1]—in the Glossary stated to have been written in 1452—which proved to be a different and unnamed version of Russell. Then the Sloane Catalogue disclosed a third MS., No. 2027[2], and the earliest of the three, differing rather less than No. 1315 from Russell’s text, but still anonymous. I have therefore to thank for knowledge of the MSS. that special Providence which watches over editors as well as children and drunkards, and have not on this occasion to express gratitude to Ritson and Warton, to whom every lover of Early English Manuscripts is under such deep obligations, and whose guiding hands (however faltering) in Poetry have made us long so often for the like in Prose. Would that one of our many Historians of English Literature had but conceived the idea of cataloguing the materials for his History before sitting down to write it! Would that a wise Government would commission another Hardy to do for English Literature what the Deputy-Keeper of the Public Records is now doing for English History—
give us a list of the MSS. and early printed books of it! What time and trouble such a Catalogue would save!
But to return to John Russell and his Boke. He describes himself at the beginning and end of his treatise as Usher and Marshal to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, delighting in his work in youth, quitting it only when compelled by crooked age, and then anxious to train up worthy successors in the art and mystery of managing a well-appointed household. A man evidently who knew his work in every detail, and did it all with pride; not boastful, though upholding his office against rebellious cooks[3], putting them down with imperial dignity, “we may allow and disallow; our office is the chief!” A simple-minded religious man too,—as the close of his Treatise shows,—and one able to appreciate the master he served, the “prynce fulle royalle,” the learned and munificent Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, the patron of Lydgate, Occleve, Capgrave, Withamstede, Leonard Aretine, Petrus Candidus, Petrus de Monte, Tito Livio, Antoyne de Beccara, &c. &c., the lover of Manuscripts, the first great donor to the Oxford University Library which Bodley revived[4], “that prince peerless,” as Russell calls him, a man who, with all his faults, loved books and authors, and shall be respected by us as he was by Lydgate. But our business is with the Marshal, not the Master, and we will hear what John Russell says of himself in his own verse,
an vsshere y Am / ye may beholde / to a prynce of highe degre,
þat enioyethe to enforme & teche / alle þo thatt wille thrive & thee,
Of suche thynges as here-aftur shalle be shewed by my diligence
To them þat nought Can / with-owt gret exsperience;
Therfore yf any mañ þat y mete withe, þat for fawt of necligence,
y wylle hym enforme & teche, for hurtynge of my Conscience.
To teche vertew and connynge, me thynketh hit charitable,
for moche youthe in connynge / is bareñ & fulle vnable. (l. 3-9.)
At the end of his Boke he gives us a few more details about himself and his work in life:
Now good soñ, y haue shewed the / & brought þe in vre,
to know þe Curtesie of court / & these þow may take in cure,
In pantry / botery / or cellere / & in kervynge a-fore a sovereyne demewre,
A sewer / or a mershalle: in þes science / y suppose ye byñ sewre,
Which in my dayes y lernyd withe a prynce fulle royalle,
with whom̅ vschere in chambur was y, & mershalle also in halle,
vnto whom̅ alle þese officeres foreseid / þey euer entende shalle,
Evir to fulfille my commaundement wheñ þat y to þem calle:
For we may allow & dissalow / oure office is þe cheeff
In cellere & spicery / & the Cooke, be he loothe or leeff. (l. 1173-82.)
Further on, at line 1211, he says,
“Moore of þis connynge y Cast not me to contreve:
my tyme is not to tary, hit drawest fast to eve.
þis tretyse þat y haue entitled, if it ye entende to preve,
y assayed me self in youthe with-outeñ any greve.
while y was yonge y-noughe & lusty in dede,
y enioyed þese maters foreseid / & to lerne y toke good hede;
but croked age hathe compelled me / & leue court y must nede.
þerfore, sone, assay thy self / & god shalle be þy spede.”
And again, at line 1227,
“Now, good soñ, thy self, with other þat shalle þe succede,
whiche þus boke of nurture shalle note / lerne, & ouer rede,
pray for the sowle of Iohñ Russelle, þat god do hym mede,
Som tyme seruaunde with duke vmfrey, duc of Glowcetur in dede.
For þat prynce pereles prayethe / & for suche other mo,
þe sowle of my wife / my fadur and modir also,
vn-to Mary modyr and mayd / she fende us from owre foe,
and brynge vs alle to blis wheñ we shalle hens goo. AMEN.”
duc] The duc has a red stroke through it, probably to cut it out.
As to his Boke, besides what is quoted above, John Russell says,
Go forthe lytelle boke, and lowly þow me commende
vnto alle yonge gentilmeñ / þat lust to lerne or entende,
and specially to þem þat han exsperience, praynge þe[m] to amende
and correcte þat is amysse, þere as y fawte or offende.
And if so þat any be founde / as þrouȝ myñ necligence,
Cast þe cawse oñ my copy / rude / & bare of eloquence,
whiche to drawe out [I] haue do my besy diligence,
redily to reforme hit / by resoñ and bettur sentence.
As for ryme or resoñ, þe forewryter was not to blame,
For as he founde hit aforne hym̅, so wrote he þe same,
and þaughe he or y in oure matere digres or degrade,
blame neithur of vs / For we neuyre hit made;
Symple as y had insight / somwhat þe ryme y correcte;
blame y cowde no mañ / y haue no persone suspecte.
Now, good god, graunt vs grace / oure sowles neuer to Infecte!
þañ may we regne in þi regioun / eternally with thyne electe. (l. 1235-50.)
If John Russell was the writer of the Epilogue quoted above, lines 1235-50, then it would seem that in this Treatise he only corrected and touched up some earlier Book of Norture which he had used in his youth, and which, if Sloane 2027 be not its original, may be still extant in its primal state in Mr Arthur Davenport’s MS., “How to serve a Lord,” said to be of the fourteenth century[5], and now supposed to be stowed away in a hayloft with the owner’s other books, awaiting the rebuilding and fitting of a fired house. I only hope this MS. may prove to be Russell’s original, as Mr Davenport has most kindly promised to let me copy and print it for the Society. Meantime it is possible to consider John Russell’s Book of Norture as his own. For early poets and writers of verse seem to have liked this fiction of attributing their books to other people, and it is seldom that you find them acknowledging that they have imagined their Poems on their own heads, as Hampole has it in his Pricke of Conscience, p. 239, l. 8874 (ed. Morris, Philol. Soc.). Even Mr Tennyson makes believe that Everard Hall wrote his Morte d’ Arthur, and some Leonard his Golden Year. On the other hand, the existence of the two Sloane MSS. is more consistent with Russell’s own statement (if it is his own, and not his adapter’s in the Harleian MS.) that he did not write his Boke himself, but only touched up another man’s. Desiring to let every reader judge for himself on this point, I shall try to print in a separate text[6], for convenience of comparison, the Sloane MS. 1315, which differs most from Russell, and which the Keeper of the MSS. at the British Museum considers rather earlier (ab. 1440-50 A.D.) than the MS. of Russell (ab. 1460-70 A.D.), while of the earliest of the three, Sloane MS. 2027 (ab. 1430-40 A.D.), the nearer to Russell in phraseology, I shall give a collation of all important variations. If any reader of the
present text compares the Sloanes with it, he will find the subject matter of all three alike, except in these particulars:
| Sloane 1315. | Sloane 2027. |
| Omits lines 1-4 of Russell. | Contains these lines. |
| Inserts after l. 48 of R. a passage about behaviour which it nearly repeats, where Russell puts it, at l. 276, Symple Condicions. | Inserts and omits as Sl. 1315 does, but the wording is often different. |
| Omits Russell’s stanza, l. 305-8, about ‘these cuttid galauntes with their codware.’ | |
| Omits a stanza, l. 319-24, p. 21. | Contains this stanza (fol. 42, b.). |
| Contracts R.’s chapter on Fumositees, p. 23-4. | Contracts the Fumositees too (fol. 45 and back). |
| Omits R.’s Lenvoy, under Fried Metes, p. 33-4. | Has one verse of Lenvoy altered (fol. 45 b.). |
| Transfers R.’s chapters on Sewes on Fische Dayes and Sawcis for Fishe, l. 819-54, p. 55-9, to the end of his chapter on Kervyng of Fishe, l. 649, p. 45. | Transfers as Sl. 1315 does (see fol. 48). |
| Gives different Soteltes (or Devices at the end of each course), and omits Russell’s description of his four of the Four Seasons, p. 51-4; and does not alter the metre of the lines describing the Dinners as he does, p. 50-5. | Differs from R., nearly as Sl. 1315 does. |
| Winds up at the end of the Bathe or Stewe, l. 1000, p. 69, R., with two stanzas of peroration. As there is no Explicit, the MS. may be incomplete, but the next page is blank. | Has 3 winding-up stanzas, as if about to end as Sloane 1315 does, but yet goes on (omitting the Bathe Medicinable) with the Vssher and Marshalle, R. p. 69, and ends suddenly, at l. 1062, p. 72, R., in the middle of the chapter. |
In occasional length of line, in words and rhymes, Sloane 1315 differs far more from Russell than Sloane 2027, which has Russell’s long lines and rhymes throughout, so far as a hurried examination shows.
But the variations of both these Sloane MSS. are to me more like those from an original MS. of which our Harleian Russell is a copy, than of an original which Russell altered. Why should the earliest Sloane 2027 start with
“An vsschere .y. am / as ye may se : to a prynce Of hyghe degre”
if in its original the name of the prince was not stated at the end, as Russell states it, to show that he was not gammoning his readers? Why does Sloane 1315 omit lines in some of its stanzas, and words in some of its lines, that the Harleian Russell enables us to fill up? Why does it too make its writer refer to the pupil’s lord and sovereign, if in its original the author did not clench his teaching by asserting, as Russell does, that he had served one? This Sloane 1315 may well have been copied by a man like Wynkyn de Worde, who wished not to show the real writer of the treatise. On the whole, I incline to believe that John Russell’s Book of Norture was written by him, and that either the Epilogue to it was a fiction of his, or was written by the superintender of the particular copy in the Harleian MS. 4011, Russell’s own work terminating with the Amen! after line 1234.
But whether we consider Russell’s Boke another’s, or as in the main his own,—allowing that in parts he may have used previous pieces on the subjects he treats of, as he has used Stans Puer (or its original) in his Symple Condicions, [l. 277-304],—if we ask what the Boke contains, the answer is, that it is a complete Manual for the Valet, Butler, Footman, Carver, Taster, Dinner-arranger, Hippocras-maker, Usher and Marshal of the Nobleman of the time when the work was written, the middle of the fifteenth century.—For I take the date of the composition of the work to be somewhat earlier than that of the MS. it is here printed from, and suppose Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, “imprisoned and murdered 1447,” to have been still alive when his Marshal penned it.—Reading it, we see “The Good Duke” rise and dress[7], go to Chapel and meals, entertain at feasts in Hall, then undress and retire to rest; we hear how his head was combed with an ivory comb, his stomacher warmed, his petycote put on, his slippers brown as the waterleech got ready, his privy-seat
prepared, and his urinal kept in waiting; how his bath was made, his table laid, his guests arranged, his viands carved, and his salt smoothed[8]; we are told how nearly all the birds that fly, the animals that walk the earth, the fish that swim in river and sea, are food for the pot: we hear of dishes strange to us[9], beaver’s tail, osprey, brewe, venprides, whale, swordfish, seal, torrentyne, pety perveis or perneis, and gravell of beef[10]. Bills of fare for flesh and fish days are laid before us; admired Sotiltees or Devices are described; and he who cares to do so may fancy for himself the Duke and all his brilliant circle feasting in Hall, John Russell looking on, and taking care that all goes right.[11] I am not going to try my hand at the sketch, as I do not write for men in the depths of that deducated Philistinism which lately made a literary man say to one of our members on his printing a book of the 15th century, “Is it possible that you care how those barbarians, our ancestors, lived?” If any one who takes up this tract, will not read it through, the loss is his; those who do work at it will gladly acknowledge their gain. That it is worthy of the
attention of all to whose ears tidings of Early England come with welcome sound across the wide water of four hundred years, I unhesitatingly assert. That it has interested me, let the time its notes have taken on this, a fresh subject to me, testify. If any should object to the extent of them[12], or to any words in them that may offend his ear, let him excuse them for the sake of what he thinks rightly present. There are still many subjects and words insufficiently illustrated in the comments, and for the names venprides ([l. 820]); sprotis, (? sprats, as in Sloane 1315), and torrentille ([l. 548]); almond iardyne ([l. 744]); ginger colombyne, valadyne, and maydelyne ([l. 132]-3); leche dugard, &c., I have not been able to find meanings. Explanations and helps I shall gladly receive, in the hope that they may appear in another volume of like kind for which I trust soon to find more MSS. Of other MSS. of like kind I also ask for notice.
The reason for reprinting Wynkyn de Worde’s Boke of Keruynge, which I had not at first thought of, was because its identity of phrase and word with many parts of Russell,—a thing which came on me with a curious feeling of surprise as I turned over the leaves,—made it certain that de Worde either abstracted in prose Russell’s MS., chopping off his lines’ tails,—adding also bits here[13], leaving out others there,—or else that both writers copied a common original. The most cursory perusal will show this to be the case. It was not alone by happy chance that when Russell had said
O Fruture viant / Fruter sawge byñ good / bettur is Frutur powche;
Appulle fruture / is good hoot / but þe cold ye not towche (l. 501-2)
Wynkyn de Worde delivered himself of
“Fruyter vaunte, fruyter say be good; better is fruyter pouche;
apple fruyters ben good good hote / and all colde fruters, touche
not,”
altering not’s place to save the rhyme; or that when Russell had said of the Crane
The Crane is a fowle / that stronge is with to fare;
þe whynges ye areyse / fulle large evyñ thare;
of hyre trompe in þe brest / loke þat ye beware
Wynkyn de Worde directed his Carver thus: “A crane, reyse the wynges fyrst, & beware of the trumpe in his brest.” Let any one compare the second and third pages of Wynkyn de Worde’s text with lines 48-137 of Russell, and he will make up his mind that the old printer was either one of the most barefaced plagiarists that ever lived, or that the same original was before him and Russell too. May Mr Davenport’s hayloft, or some learned antiquarian, soon decide the alternative for us! The question was too interesting a “Curiosity of Literature” not to be laid before our Members, and therefore The Boke of Keruynge was reprinted—from the British Museum copy of the second edition of 1513—with added side-notes and stops, and the colophon as part of the title.
Then came the necessary comparison of Russell’s Boke with the Boke of Curtasye, edited by Mr Halliwell from the Sloane MS. 1986 for the Percy Society. Contrasts had to be made with it, in parts, many times in a page; the tract was out of print and probably in few Members’ hands; it needed a few corrections[14], and was worthy of a thousand times wider circulation than it had had; therefore a new edition from the MS. was added to this volume. Relying on Members reading it for themselves, I have not in the notes indicated all the points of coincidence and difference between this Boke and Russell’s. It is of wider scope than Russell’s, takes in the duties of outdoor officers and servants as well as indoor, and maybe those of a larger household; it has also a fyrst Boke on general manners, and a Second Book on what to learn at school, how to behave at church, &c., but it does not go into the great detail as to Meals and Dress which is the special value of Russell’s Boke, nor is it associated with a writer who tells us something of himself, or a noble who in all our English Middle Age has so bright a name on which we can look back
as “good Duke Humphrey.” This personality adds an interest to work that anonymity and its writings of equal value can never have; so that we may be well content to let the Curtasye be used in illustration of the Nurture. The MS. of the Curtasye is about 1460 A.D., Mr Bond says. I have dated it wrongly on the half-title.
The Booke of Demeanor was “such a little one” that I was tempted to add it to mark the general introduction of handkerchiefs. Having printed it, arose the question, ‘Where did it come from?’ No Weste’s Schoole of Vertue could I find in catalogues, or by inquiring of the Duke of Devonshire, Mr W. C. Hazlitt, at the Bodleian, &c. Seager’s Schoole of Vertue was the only book that turned up, and this I accordingly reprinted, as Weste’s Booke of Demeanor seemed to be little more than an abstract of the first four Chapters of Seager cut down and rewritten. We must remember that books of this kind, which we look on as sources of amusement, as more or less of a joke, were taken seriously by the people they were written for. That The Schoole of Vertue, for instance—whether Seager’s or Weste’s—was used as a regular school-book for boys, let Io. Brinsley witness. In his Grammar Schoole of 1612, pp. 17, 18, he enumerates the “Bookes to bee first learned of children”:— 1. their Abcie, and Primer. 2. The Psalms in metre, ‘because children wil learne that booke with most readinesse and delight through the running of the metre, as it is found by experience. 3. Then the Testament.’ 4. “If any require any other little booke meet to enter children; the Schoole of Vertue is one of the principall, and easiest for the first enterers, being full of precepts of ciuilitie, and such as children will soone learne and take a delight in, thorow the roundnesse of the metre, as was sayde before of the singing Psalmes: And after it the Schoole of good manners[15], called, the new Schoole of Vertue, leading the childe as by the hand, in the way of all good manners.”
I make no apology for including reprints of these little-known books in an Early English Text. Qui s’excuse s’accuse; and if these Tracts do not justify to any reader their own appearance here, I believe the fault is not theirs.
A poem on minding what you say, which Mr Aldis Wright has kindly sent me, some Maxims on Behaviour, &c., which all end in -ly, and Roger Ascham’s Advice to his brother-in-law on entering a nobleman’s service, follow, and then the Poems which suggested the Forewords on Education in Early England, and have been partly noticed in them, p. i-iv. I have only to say of the first, The Babees Boke, that I have not had time to search for its Latin original, or other copies of the text. Its specialty is its attributing so high birth to the Bele Babees whom it addresses, and its appeal to Lady Facetia to help its writer. Of the short alphabetic poems that follow,—The A B C of Aristotle,—copies occur elsewhere; and that in the Harleian Manuscript 1304, which has a different introduction, I hope to print in the companion volume to this, already alluded to. Vrbanitatis, I was glad to find, because of the mention of the booke of urbanitie in Edward the Fourth’s Liber Niger (p. ii. above), as we thus know what the Duke of Norfolk of “Flodden Field” was taught in his youth as to his demeanings, how mannerly he should eat and drink, and as to his communication and other forms of court. He was not to spit or snite before his Lord the King, or wipe his nose on the table-cloth. The next tracts, The Lytylle Chyldrenes Lytil Boke or Edyllys Be[16] (a title made up from the text) and The Young Children’s Book, are differing versions of one set of maxims, and are printed opposite one another for contrast sake. The Lytil Boke was printed from a later text, and with an interlinear French version, by Wynkyn de Worde in ‘Here begynneth a lytell treatyse for to lerne Englisshe and Frensshe.’ This will be printed by Mr Wheatley in his Collection of Early Treatises on Grammar for the Society, as the copy in the Grenville Library in the Brit. Mus. is the only one known. Other copies of this Lytil Boke are at Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Oxford. Of two of these Mr David Laing and Mr Henry Bradshaw have kindly given me collations, which are printed at the end of this Preface. Of the last Poem, Stans Puer ad Mensam, attributed to Lydgate—
as nearly everything in the first half of the 15th century was— I have printed two copies, with collations from a third, the Jesus (Cambridge) MS. printed by Mr Halliwell in Reliquiæ Antiquæ, v. 1, p. 156-8, and reprinted by Mr W. C. Hazlitt in his Early Popular Poetry, ii. 23-8. Mr Hazlitt notices 3 other copies, in Harl. MS. 4011, fol. 1, &c.; Lansdowne MS. 699; and Additional MS. 5467, which he collated for his text. There must be plenty more about the country, as in Ashmole MS. 61, fol. 16, back, in the Bodleian.[17] Of old printed editions Mr Hazlitt notes one “from the press of Caxton, but the only copy known is imperfect. It was printed two or three times by Wynkyn de Worde. Lowndes mentions two, 1518, 4to, and 1524, 4to; and in the public library at Cambridge there is said by Hartshorne (Book Rarities, 156) to be a third without date. It is also appended to the various impressions of the Boke of Nurture by Hugh Rhodes.” This Boke has been reprinted for the Early English Text Society, and its Stans Puer is Rhodes’s own expansion of one of the shorter English versions of the original Latin[18].
The woodcuts Messrs Virtue have allowed me to have copies of for a small royalty, and they will help the reader to realize parts of the text better than any verbal description. The cuts are not of course equal to the beautiful early illuminations they are taken from, but they are near enough for the present purpose. The dates of those from British Museum MSS. are given on the authority of trustworthy officers of the Manuscript Department. The dates of the non-Museum MSS. are copied from Mr Wright’s text. The line of description under the cuts is also from Mr Wright’s text, except in one instance where he had missed the fact of the cut representing the Marriage Feast at Cana of Galilee, with its six water-pots.
The MS. of Russell is on thick folio paper, is written in a close—and seemingly unprofessional—hand, fond of making elaborate capitals to the initials of its titles, and thus occasionally squeezing up into a corner the chief word of the title, because the T of The preceding
has required so much room.[19] The MS. has been read through by a corrector with a red pen, pencil, or brush, who has underlined all the important words, touched up the capitals, and evidently believed in the text. Perhaps the corrector, if not writer, was Russell himself. I hope it was, for the old man must have enjoyed emphasizing his precepts with those red scores; but then he would hardly have allowed a space to remain blank in line 204, and have left his Panter-pupil in doubt as to whether he should lay his “white payne” on the left or right of his knives. Every butler, drill-serjeant, and vestment-cleric, must feel the thing to be impossible. The corrector was not John Russell.
To all those gentlemen who have helped me in the explanations of words, &c.,—Mr Gillett, Dr Günther, Mr Atkinson, Mr Skeat, Mr Cockayne, Mr Gibbs, Mr Way, the Hon. G. P. Marsh—and to Mr E. Brock, the most careful copier of the MS., my best thanks are due, and are hereby tendered. Would that thanks of any of us now profiting by their labours could reach the ears of that prince of Dictionary-makers, Cotgrave, of Frater Galfridus, Palsgrave, Hexham, Philipps, and the rest of the lexicographers who enable us to understand the records of the past! Would too that an adequate expression of gratitude could reach the ears of the lost Nicolas, and of Sir Frederic Madden, for their carefully indexed Household Books,—to be contrasted with the unwieldy mass and clueless mazes of the Antiquaries’ Household Ordinances, the two volumes of the Roxburghe Howard Household Books, and Percy’s Northumberland Household Book[20]!—They will be spared the pains of the special place of torment reserved for editors who turn out their books without glossary or index. May that be their sufficient reward!
3, St George’s Square, N.W.
16 Dec., 1866.
[ HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER.]
Mr C. H. Pearson has referred me to a most curious treatise on the state of Duke Humphrey’s body and health in 1404 (that is, 1424, says Hearne), by Dr Gilbert Kymer, his physician, part of which (chapters 3 and 19, with other pieces) was printed by Hearne in the appendix to his Liber Niger, v. ii. p. 550 (ed. alt.), from a MS. then in Sir Hans Sloane’s Collection, and now Sloane 4 in the British Museum. It begins at p. 127 or folio 63, and by way of giving the reader a notion of its contents, I add here a copy of the first page of the MS.
Incipit dietarium de sanitatis custodia preinclitissimo principi ac metuendissimo domino, domino humfrido, duci Gloucestrie, Alijsque preclaris titulis insignito, Scriptum & compilatum, per venerabilem doctorem, Magistrum Gilbertum Kymer, Medicinarum professorem, arcium ac philosophie Magistrum & in legibus bacallarium prelibati principis phisicum, Cuius dietarij colleccionem (?) dilucidancia & effectum viginti sex existunt capitula, quorum consequenter hic ordo ponitur Rubricarum.
dietarij colleccionem] The letters are to me more like cł, or coll than anything else, but I am not sure what they are.
Rubricarum] The MS. runs on without breaks.
The first note marker is printed at the end of “dietarij”, but must be intended for the following word.
Capitulum 1m est epistola de laude sanitatis & vtilitate bone diete.
Capitulum 2m est de illis in quibus consistit dieta.
Capitulum 3m de tocius co[r]poris & parcium disposicione.
Capitulum 4m est de Ayere eligendo & corrigendo.
Capitulum 5m de quantitate cibi & potus sumenda.
Capitulum 6m de ordine sumendi cibum & potum.
Capitulum 7m de tempore sumendi cibum & potum.
Capitulum 8m de quantitate cibi & potus sumendorum.
Capitulum 9m de pane eligendo.
Capitulum 10m de generibus potagiorum sumendis.
Capitulum 11m de carnibus vtendis & vitandis.
Capitulum 12m de ouis sumendis.
Capitulum 13m de lacticinijs vtendis.
Capitulum 14m de piscibus vtendis & vitandis.
Capitulum 15m de fructibus sumendis.
Capitulum 16m de condimentis & speciebus vtendis.
Capitulum 17m de potu eligendo.
Capitulum 18m de regimine replecionis & inanicionis.
Capitulum 19m de vsu coitus.
Capitulum 20m de excercicio & quiete.
Capitulum 21m de sompni & vigilie regimine.
Capitulum 22m de vsu accidencium anime.
Capitulum 23m de bona consuetudine diete tenenda.
Capitulum 24m de medicinis vicissim vtendis.
Capitulum 25m de aduersis nature infortunijs precauendis.
Capitulum 26m de deo semper colendo vt sanitatem melius tueatur.
Sharon Turner (Hist. of England, v. 498, note 35) says euphemistically of the part of this treatise printed by Hearne, that “it implies how much the Duke had injured himself by the want of self-government. It describes him in his 45th year, as having a rheumatic affection in his chest, with a daily morning cough. It mentions that his nerves had become debilitated by the vehemence of his laborious exercises, and from an immoderate frequency of pleasurable indulgences. It advises him to avoid north winds after a warm sun, sleep after dinner, exercise after society, frequent bathings, strong wine, much fruit, the flesh of swine, and the weakening gratification to which he was addicted. The last (chapter), ‘De Deo semper colendo, ut sanitatem melius tueatur,’ is worthy the recollection of us all.” It is too late to print the MS. in the present volume, but in a future one it certainly ought to appear.
Of Duke Humphrey’s character and proceedings after the Pope’s bull had declared his first marriage void, Sharon Turner further says:
“Gloucester had found the rich dowry of Jacqueline wrenched from his grasp, and, from so much opposition, placed beyond his attaining, and he had become satiated with her person. One of her
attendants, Eleanor Cobham, had affected his variable fancy; and tho’ her character had not been spotless before, and she had surrendered her honour to his own importunities, yet he suddenly married her, exciting again the wonder of the world by his conduct, as in that proud day every nobleman felt that he was acting incongruously with the blood he had sprung from. His first wedlock was impolitic, and this unpopular; and both were hasty and self-willed, and destructive of all reputation for that dignified prudence, which his elevation to the regency of the most reflective and enlightened nation in Europe demanded for its example and its welfare. This injudicious conduct announced too much imperfection of intellect, not to give every advantage to his political rival the bishop of Winchester, his uncle, who was now struggling for the command of the royal mind, and for the predominance in the English government. He and the duke of Exeter were the illegitimate brothers of Henry the Fourth, and had been first intrusted with the king’s education. The internal state of the country, as to its religious feelings and interest, contributed to increase the differences which now arose between the prelate and his nephew, who is described by a contemporary as sullying his cultivated understanding and good qualities, by an ungoverned and diseasing love of unbecoming pleasures. It is strange, that in so old a world of the same continuing system always repeating the same lesson, any one should be ignorant that the dissolute vices are the destroyers of personal health, comfort, character, and permanent influence.”[21]
After narrating Duke Humphrey’s death, Turner thus sums up his character:—
“The duke of Gloucester, amid failings that have been before alluded to, has acquired the pleasing epithet of The Good; and has been extolled for his promotion of the learned or deserving clergy. Fond of literature, and of literary conversation, he patronized men of talent and erudition. One is called, in a public record, his poet and orator; and Lydgate prefaces one of his voluminous works, with a panegyric upon him, written during the king’s absence on his French
coronation, which presents to us the qualities for which, while he was living, the poet found him remarkable, and thought fit to commend him.”
These verses are in the Royal MS. 18 D 4, in the British Museum, and are here printed from the MS., not from Turner:—
[Fol. 4.]
Eek in this lond—I dar afferme a thyng—
Ther is a prince Ful myhty of puyssaunce,
A kynges sone, vncle to the kynge
Henry the sexte which is now in fraunce,
And is lieftenant, & hath the gouernaunce
Off our breteyne; thoruh was discrecion
He hath conserued in this regioun
Duryng his tyme off ful hihe prudence
Pes and quiete, and sustened rihte.
Ȝit natwithstandyng his noble prouydence
He is in deede prouyd a good knyht,
Eied as argus with reson and forsiht;
Off hihe lectrure I dar eek off hym telle,
And treuli deeme that he dothe excelle
hihe, rihte] These e-s represent the strokes through the h-s.
In vndirstondyng all othir of his age,
And hath gret Ioie with clerkis to commune;
And no man is mor expert off language.
Stable in studie alwei he doth contune,
Settyng a side alle chaunges of fortune;
And wher he louethe, ȝiff I schal nat tarie,
Witheoute cause ful lothe he is to varie.
chaunges] MS. thaunges.
Duc off Gloucestre men this prince calle;
And natwithstandyng his staat & dignyte,
His corage neuer doth appalle
To studie in bookis off antiquite;
Therin he hathe so gret felicite
Vertuousli hym silff to ocupie,
Off vicious slouth to haue the maistrie.[22]
And with his prudence & wit his manheed
Trouthe to susteyne he fauour set a side;
And hooli chirche meyntenyng in dede,
That in this land no lollard dar abide.
As verrai support, vpholdere, & eek guyde,
Spareth non, but makethe hym silff strong
To punysshe alle tho that do the chirche wrong.
Thus is he both manly & eek wise,
Chose of god to be his owne knyhte;
And off o thynge he hath a synguler price,
That heretik dar non comen in his sihte.
In cristes feithe he stant so hol vpriht,
Off hooli chirche defence and [c]hampion
To chastise alle that do therto treson.
synguler] The l is rubbed.
And to do plesance to oure lord ihesu
He studieht euere to haue intelligence.
Reedinge off bookis bringthe in vertu,—
Vices excludyng, slouthe & necligence,—
Makethe a prince to haue experience
To know hym silff in many sundry wise,
Wher he trespaseth, his errour to chastise.
studieht] So in MS.
After mentioning that the duke had considered the book of ‘Boccasio, on the Fall of Princes,’ he adds, ‘and he gave me commandment, that I should, after my conning, this book translate him to do plesance.’ MS. 18 D 4.—Sharon Turner’s History of England, vol. vi. pp. 55—7.
P. S. When printing the 1513 edition of Wynkyn de Worde’s Boke of Keruynge, I was not aware of the existence of a copy of the earlier edition in the Cambridge University Library. Seeing this copy afterwards named in Mr Hazlitt’s new catalogue, I asked a friend to compare the present reprint with the first edition, and the result follows.
[ NOTE ON THE 1508 EDITION OF
The Boke of Keruynge,]
BY THE REV. WALTER SKEAT, M.A.
The title-page of the older edition, of 1508, merely contains the words, “¶ Here begynneth the boke of Keruynge;” and beneath them is—as in the second edition of 1513—a picture of two ladies and two gentlemen at dinner, with an attendant bringing a dish, two servants at a side table, and a jester. The colophon tells us that it was “Enprynted by wynkyn de worde at London in Flete strete at the sygne of the sonne. The yere of our lorde M.CCCCC.VIII;” beneath which is Wynkyn de Worde’s device, as in the second edition.
The two editions resemble each other very closely, running page for page throughout, and every folio in the one begins at the same place as in the other. Thus the word “moche” is divided into mo-che in both editions, the “-che” beginning Fol. A. ii. b. Neither is altogether free from misprints, but these are not very numerous nor of much importance. It may be observed that marks of contraction are hardly ever used in the older edition, the word “ye” being written “the” at length, and instead of “hãged” we find “hanged.” On the whole, the first edition would seem to be the more carefully printed, but the nature of the variations between them will be best understood by an exact collation of the first two folios (pp. 151-3 of the present edition), where the readings of the first edition are denoted by the letter A. The only variations are these:—
It will be readily seen that these variations are chiefly in the spelling, and of a trivial character. The only ones of any importance are, on p. 151, lyste (which is a misprint) for lyft, and trassene for transsene (cp. Fr. transon, a truncheon, peece of, Cot.); on p. 152, goot for good is well worth notice (if any meaning can be assigned to goot), as the direction to beware of good strawberries is not obvious; on p. 153, we should note lesynge for lessynge, and hange for ren, the latter being an improvement, though ren makes sense, as basins hung by cords on a perch may, like curtains hung on a rod, be said to run on it. The word ren was probably caught up from the line above it in reprinting.
The following corrections are also worth making, and are made on the authority of the first edition:—
| P. 155, | l. 10, For treachour read trenchour. l. 23. For so read se. l. 24. For se’ read se. |
| P. 156, | l. 1. ony] on A. l. 7. For it read is. l. 15. ye so] and soo A. (No doubt owing to confusion between & and ye.) l. 16. your] you A. l. 29. For bo read be. |
| P. 157, | l. 20. For wich read with. |
| P. 158, | l. 3. For fumosytces read fumosytees. l. 7. For pygous read pynyons (whence it appears that the pinion-bones, not pigeon’s-bones, are meant). l. 25. The word “reyfe” is quite plain. |
P. 160, ll. 18, &c. There is some variation here; the first edition has, after the word souerayne, the following:—“laye trenchours before hym / yf he be a grete estate, lay fyue trenchours / & he be of a lower degre, foure trenchours / & of an other degre, thre trenchours,” &c. This is better; the second edition is clearly wrong about five trenchers. This seems another error made in reprinting, the words lower degre being wrongly repeated.
Nearly all the above corrections have already been made in the side-notes. Only two of them are of any importance, viz. the substitution of pynyons on p. 158, and the variation of reading on p. 160; in the latter case perhaps neither edition seems quite right, though the first edition is quite intelligible.
In our Cambridge edition (see [p. 170, l. 5]) this line about the pope is carefully struck out, and the grim side-note put “lower down”, with tags to show to what estate he and the cardinal and bishops ought to be degraded!
[ NOTE TO] [p. xxiv. l. 10], “OUR WOMEN,” AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES, [p. xxv-vi].
“I might here (if I would, or had sufficient disposition of matter conceiued of the same) make a large discourse of such honorable ports, of such graue councellors, and noble personages, as giue their dailie attendance vpon the quéenes maiestie there. I could in like sort set foorth a singular commendation of the vertuous beautie, or beautifull vertues of such ladies and gentlewomen as wait vpon hir person, betweene whose amiable countenances and costlinesse of attire, there séemeth to be such a dailie conflict and contention, as that it is verie difficult for me to gesse, whether of the twaine shall beare awaie the preheminence. This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here in England, English courtiers the best learned & the worst liuers. that there are verie few of them, which haue
not the vse and skill of sundrie speaches, beside an excellent veine of writing before time not regarded. Would to God the rest of their liues and conuersations were correspondent to these gifts! for as our common courtiers (for the most part) are the best lerned and indued with excellent gifts, so are manie of them the worst men when they come abroad, that anie man shall either heare or read of. Trulie it is a rare thing with vs now, to heare of a courtier which hath but his owne language. [Ladies learned in languages.] And to saie how many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that beside sound knowledge of the Gréeke and Latine toongs, are thereto no lesse skilfull in the Spanish, Italian, and French, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me: sith I am persuaded, that as the noble men and gentlemen doo surmount in this behalfe, so these come verie little or nothing at all behind them for their parts; which industrie God continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting!
“Beside these things I could in like sort set downe the waies and meanes, wherby our ancient ladies of the court doo shun and auoid idlenesse, some of them exercising their fingers with the needle, other in caul-worke, diuerse in spinning of silke, some in continuall reading either of the holie scriptures, or histories of our owne or forren nations about vs, and diuerse in writing volumes of their owne, or translating of other mens into our English and Latine toong, [Young ladies’ recreations.] whilest the yoongest sort in the meane time applie their lutes, citharnes, prickesong, and all kind of musike, which they vse onelie for recreation sake, when they haue leisure, and are frée from attendance vpon the quéenes maiestie, or such as they belong vnto. [Old ladies’ skill in surgery, &c.] How manie of the eldest sort also are skilfull in surgerie and distillation of waters, beside sundrie other artificiall practises perteining to the ornature and commendations of their bodies,
I might (if I listed to deale further in this behalfe) easilie declare, but I passe ouer such maner of dealing, least I should séeme to glauer, and currie fauour with some of them. Neuerthelesse this I will generallie saie of them all, [All are cunning that as ech of them are cuning in somthing wherby they kéepe themselues occupied in the court, so there is in maner none of them, but when they be at home, can helpe to supplie the ordinarie want of the kitchen with a number of delicat dishes of their owne deuising, in cookery, helped by the Portuguese.] wherein the Portingall is their chéefe counsellor, as some of them are most commonlie with the clearke of the kitchen, who vseth (by a tricke taken vp of late) [Introduction of the Carte, to giue in a bréefe rehearsall of such and so manie dishes as are to come in at euerie course throughout the whole seruice in the dinner or supper while: which bill some doo call a Memorial, Billet or Fillet.] memoriall, other a billet, but some a fillet, bicause such are commonlie hanged on the file, and kept by the ladie or gentlewoman vnto some other purpose. But whither am I digressed?” —1577, W. Harrison, in Holinshed’s Chronicles, vol. I. p. 196, ed. 1586.
Preface to Russell: Footnotes
[1.] This MS. contains a copy of “The Rewle of the Moone,” fol. 49-67, which I hope to edit for the Society.
[2.] The next treatise to Russell in this MS. is “The booke off the gouernaunce off Kyngis and Pryncis,” or Liber Aristotiles ad Alexandrum Magnum, a book of Lydgate’s that we ought to print from the best MS. of it. At fol. 74 b. is a heading,—
Here dyed this translatour and noble poette Lidgate and the yong follower gan his prolog on this wys.
[3.] One can fancy that a cook like Wolsey’s (described by Cavendish, vol. i. p. 34), “a Master Cook who went daily in damask satin, or velvet, with a chain of gold about his neck” (a mark of nobility in earlier days), would be not leef but loth to obey an usher and marshal.
[4.] Warton, ii. 264-8, ed. 1840. For further details about the Duke see the [Appendix to this Preface].
[5.] See one MS., “How to serve a Lord,” ab. 1500 A.D., quoted in the notes to the Camden Society’s Italian Relation of England, p. 97.
[6.] For the Early English Text Society.
[7.] I have put figures before the motions in the dress and undress drills, for they reminded me so of “Manual and Platoon: by numbers.”
[8.] Mr Way says that the planere, l. 58, is an article new to antiquarians.
[9.] Randle Holme’s tortoise and snails, in No. 12 of his Second Course, Bk. III., p. 60, col. 1, are stranger still. “Tortoise need not seem strange to an alderman who eats turtle, nor to a West Indian who eats terrapin. Nor should snails, at least to the city of Paris, which devours myriads, nor of Ulm, which breeds millions for the table. Tortoises are good; snails excellent.” Henry H. Gibbs.
[10.] “It is nought all good to the goost that the gut asketh” we may well say with William who wrote Piers Ploughmon, v. 1, p. 17, l. 533-4, after reading the lists of things eatable, and dishes, in Russell’s pages. The later feeds that Phylotheus Physiologus exclaims against* are nothing to them: “What an Hodg-potch do most that have Abilities make in their Stomachs, which must wonderfully oppress and distract Nature: For if you should take Flesh of various sorts, Fish of as many, Cabbages, Parsnops, Potatoes, Mustard, Butter, Cheese, a Pudden that contains more then ten several Ingredents, Tarts, Sweet-meats, Custards, and add to these Churries, Plums, Currans, Apples, Capers, Olives, Anchovies, Mangoes, Caveare, &c., and jumble them altogether into one Mass, what Eye would not loath, what Stomach not abhor such a Gallemaufrey? yet this is done every Day, and counted Gallent Entertainment.”
* Monthly Observations for the preserving of Health, 1686, p. 20-1.
[11.] See descriptions of a dinner in Parker’s Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages, iii. 74-87 (with a good cut of the Cupboard, Dais, &c.), and in Wright’s Domestic Manners and Customs. Russell’s description of the Franklin’s dinner, l. 795-818, should be noted for the sake of Chaucer’s Franklin, and we may also notice that Russell orders butter and fruits to be served on an empty stomach before dinner, l. 77, as a whet to the appetite. Modus Cenandi serves potage first, and keeps the fruits, with the spices and biscuits, for dessert.
[12.] The extracts from Bulleyn, Borde, Vaughan, and Harington are in the nature of notes, but their length gave one the excuse of printing them in bigger type as parts of a Text. In the same way I should have treated the many extracts from Laurens Andrewe, had I not wanted them intermixed with the other notes, and been also afraid of swelling this book to an unwieldy size.
[13.] The Termes of a Kerver so common in MSS. are added, p. 151, and the subsequent arrangement of the modes of carving the birds under these Termes, p. 161-3. The Easter-Day feast (p. 162) is also new, the bit why the heads of pheasants, partridges, &c., are unwholesome—’for they ete in theyr degrees foule thynges, as wormes, todes, and other suche,’ p. 165-6—and several other pieces.
[14.] do the, l. 115, is clothe in the MS.; grayne, l. 576 (see too ll. 589, 597,) is grayue, Scotch greive, A.S. gerefa, a kind of bailiff; resceyne, ll. 547, 575, is resceyue, receive; &c.
[15.] This is doubtless a different book from Hugh Rhodes’s Booke of Nurture & Schoole of Good Manners, p. 71, below.
[16.] What this Edyllys Be means, I have no idea, and five or six other men I have asked are in the same condition. A.S. æþel is noble, æþeling, a prince, a noble; that may do for edyllys. Be may be for A B C, alphabet, elementary grammar of behaviour.
[17.] P.S. Mr Hazlitt, iv. 366, notices two others in MS. Ashmole 59, art. 57, and in Cotton MS. Calig. A II. fol. 13, the latter of which and Ashmole 61, are, he says, of a different translation.
[18.] See Hazlitt, iv. 366.
[19.] The MS. has no title. The one printed I have made up from bits of the text.
[20.] Still one is truly thankful for the material in these unindexed books.
[21.] Sharon Turner’s History of England, vol. v. pp. 496-8.
[22.] This is the stanza quoted by Dr Reinhold Pauli in his Bilder aus Alt-England, c. xi. p. 349:
“Herzog von Glocester nennen sie den Fürsten,
Der trotz des hohen Rangs und hoher Ehren
Im Herzen nährt ein dauerndes Gelüsten
Nach Allem, was die alten Bücher lehren;
So glücklich gross ist hierin sein Begehren,
Dass tugendsam er seine Zeit verbringt
Und trunkne Trägheit männiglich bezwingt.”
The reader should by all means consult this chapter, which is headed “Herzog Humfrid von Glocester. Bruchstück eines Fürstenlebens im fünfzehnten Jahrhunderte” (Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. Sketch of the life of a prince in the fifteenth century). There is an excellent English translation of this book, published by Macmillan, and entitled “Pictures of Old England.” —W. W. Skeat.
Ten fresh pieces relating more or less to the subjects of this volume having come under my notice since the Index was printed and the volume supposed to be finished, I have taken the opportunity of the delay in its issue—caused by want of funds—to add nine of the new pieces as a Postscript, and the tenth at p. 264*. An 11th piece, Caxton’s Book of Curtesye, in three versions, too important to be poked into a postscript, will form No. 3 of the Early English Text Society’s Extra Series, the first Text for 1868.
[POSTSCRIPT, 1894.]
[18 Oct. 1894. Much has been done for the history of Education since I put the foregoing notes together: see Arthur Leach’s articles in the Contemp. Review, Sept. 1892, Nov. 1894; Fortnightly Review, Nov. 1892; Westminster Gazette, 26 July, 1894; and National Observer, Sept. 1, 1894. Also Herbert Quick’s books, J. Bass Mullinger’s, Maria Hackett’s (1814, 1816, &c.), and Foster Watson’s forthcoming Writers on Education in England, 1500—1660.[1] See too Foss’s Lives of the Judges; Jn. Smith’s Lives of the Berkeleys; the Life of William of Wykeham; Lupton’s Life of Colet; articles in Thomassin’s Ecclesiastica Disciplina, Vetus et Nova; Dr. P. Alford’s Abbots of Tavistock, p. 119-120; R. N. Worth’s Calendar of the Tavistock Parish Records (1588-9), p. 37, 39, &c.; Dugdale, i. 82, ii. 142, iii. 10, iv. 404-5; Leland, Collectanea, vol. i, pt. 2, p. 302; Ellis, Orig. Let., 3rd Series, i. 333, ii. 243; Marston’s Scourge of Villanie (1599), Works, ed. 1856, iii. 306; Cavendish’s Life of Wolsey, Kelmscott Press, 1893, p. 24; John of Salisbury, Epist. XIX, ed. Giles; Churchwardens’ Accounts, Somerset Record Soc. (1890), p. xix; Glastonbury Abbey Accounts, p. 249; Engl. Hist. Rev., Jan. 1891, p. 24; Songs & Carols, Warton Club, 1855, p. 10; Dr. Woodford’s Report on National Education in Scotland, 1868; Macmillan’s Mag., July 1870 (Scotch at Oxford); Essays on Grammar Schools, by members of the Free Kirk in Scotland; Stevenson’s Nottingham Boro’ Records, iv. 272, 299, 302; Dr. Buelbring’s Introduction to Defoe’s Compleat English Gentleman; Bradshaw on the A B C as a School-book, Cambr. Antiq. Soc., vol. iii.; &c., &c.
Much of my Forewords above, appeard in two numbers of the Quarterly Journal of Education, no. 2, Aug. 1867, vol. i, p. 48-56, and no. 3, Nov. 1867, p. 97-100. —F. J. F.]
The friend to whom this book was dedicated, C. H. Pearson, died, alas, this year (1894) after his return from Melbourne, where he had organised free education thro’ the whole State, and done much other good work.
[1.] Department of Education, Washington, U.S.A.
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[CONTENTS.]
[ COLLATIONS.]
These are given as a warning to other editors either to collate in foot-notes or not at all. The present plan takes up as much room as printing a fresh text would, and gives needless trouble to every one concerned.
This section is included for completeness. The collations have also been incorporated into their respective texts.
[p. 260.] The A B C of Aristotle, Harl. MS. 1706, fol. 94, collated by Mr Brock, omits the prologue, and begins after l. 14 with, “Here be-gynnethe Arystoles A B C. made be mayster Benett.”
A, for argue not read Angre the
B, omit ne; for not to large read thou nat to brode
D, „ „ ; for not read thow nat
E, „ „ ; for to eernesful read ne curyons
F, for fers, famuler, freendli, read Ferde, familier, frenfulle
G, omit to; for & gelosie þou hate, read Ne to galaunt never
H, for in þine read off
I, for iettynge read Iocunde; for iape not to read Ioye thow nat
K, omit to and &; for knaue read knaves
L, for for to leene read ne to lovyng; for goodis read woordys
M, for medelus read Mellous; for but as mesure wole it meeue read ne to besynesse vnleffulle
N, for ne use no new iettis read ne noughte to neffangle
O, for ouerþwart read ouertwarthe; for & ooþis þou hate read Ne othez to haunte
Q, for quarelose read querelous; for weel ȝoure souereyns read men alle abowte
R, omit the second to; for not to rudeli read thou nat but lyte
S, for ne straungeli to stare read Ne starte nat abowte
T, for for temperaunce is best read But temperate euere
V, for ne &c. read ne violent Ne waste nat to moche
W, for neiþer &c. read Ne to wyse deme the
¶ for is euere þe beste of read ys best for vs
Add X Y Z x y wyche esed & per se.
Tytelle Tytelle Tytelle thañ Esta Amen.
| p. 265, | [The Lytylle Childrenes Lytil Boke], with part of the Advocates Library MS., fol. 84, back (collated by Mr David Laing). l. 1, for children̄ read childur l. 2, dele þat l. 3 dele For l. 6, for with mary, read oure Lady l. 7, for arn̄ read byn l. 9, prefix Forst to Loke and for wasshe read wasshyd l. 12, for tylle read to l. 13, prefix And to Loke l. 14, is, To he yt reweleth ye howse ye bytt l. 16, put the that between loke and on l. 17, for without any faylys read withowtte fayle l. 18, for hungery aylys read empty ayle l. 20, for ete esely read etett eysely |
| p. 267, |
l. 25, for mosselle read morsselle
l. 26, for in read owt of
l. 30, for Into thy read nor in the
for thy salte read hit
l. 31, for fayre on þi read on a
l. 32, for The byfore read Byfore the
and dele þyne
ll. 33-4, are Pyke not yi tethe wyth yi
knyfe Whyles yu etyst be yi lyfe |
The poem in the Advocates’ MS. has 108 lines, and fills 5 pages of the MS. (Wynkyn de Worde’s version ends with this, after l. 105, ‘And in his laste ende wyth the swete Ihesus. Amen. Here endeth the boke of curtesye.’)
| p. 265. | [The Lytylle Childrenes Lytil Boke] collated with the Cambridge University MS., by Mr Henry Bradshaw. Hem is always written for him in this MS., and so with other words. l. 2, for wrytyne read brekeyd l. 6, for Elizabeth read cortesey l. 7, for closide read clodyd l. 10, for on read yn l. 11, 12, for þou read ye l. 14, for hous the bydde read hall þe beyt l. 15, for þe read they l. 16, for on read no l. 17, for any faylys read fayle l. 18, for aylys read heydyt l. 19, for Ete ... hastely read yet ... hastey l. 20, prefix Bot to Abyde for esely read all yesley |
| p. 267, | l. 23, for Kerue not thy brede read Kot they bred not l. 24, is Ne to theke bat be-tweyn l. 25, for mosselle read mossels for begynnysse to read dost l. 26, for in read owt of l. 27, for on read yn |
| ll. 28-30, are Ne yn they met, feys, ne fleys. Put not thy mete yn þey salt seleyr l. 32, is Be-fore the, that ys worschep l. 33, for ne read nother l. 34, for If read And for come read comest l. 35, for And read Seche put the is before yn l. 37, for Ete ... by read Kot ... yn l. 38, prefix And to Fylle; omit done l. 40, is Weyles thou hetys, bey they leyffe l. 42, for þow put read take owt l. 43, for Ne read Nether l. 44, is For no cortesey het ys not habell l. 45, for Elbowe ... fyst read Elbowhes ... fystys l. 46, for whylis þat read wheyle l. 47, is Bolk not as a bolle yn the crofte l. 48, for karle þat read charle for cote read cotte l. 50, for of hyt or þou art read the or ye be l. 51, for sterke read lowde | |
| p. 269, | l. 52, is all of curtesy loke ye carpe l. 53, for at read all omit loke þou l. 54, for Loke þou rownde not read And loke ye l. 55, omit thy for and read ne l. 56, for doo read make l. 57, for laughe not read noþer laughe l. 58, for with moche speche read thow meche speke; for mayst read may l. 59, for first ne read ner and for the second ne read not l. 60, for fayre and stylle read stere het not l. 61, for thy read the l. 66, omit a l. 67, for I rede of read of j redde þe of l. 68, for neþer read neuer omit yn þi before drynk l. 69, for þat read they l. 73, for þou see read be saye l. 76, for þou read yow for thow art read yow ar l. 77, for forthe read before yow l. 78, omit þow not l. 79, for ynto read yn |
| p. 271, | l. 83, for ende read hendyng l. 84, for wasshen read was l. 85, for worthy read wortheyor l. 86, for to- read be- omit & for þi prow read gentyll cortesey ll. 87, 88, 89, are omitted. l. 90, for nether read not for ne read ne with l. 91, omit þi for the hede read they lorde l. 92, for hyghly read mekeley l. 93, for togydre ynsame read yn the same manere |
| l. 95, for therafter read hereafter l. 96, after that add he ys for was heere read þere aftyr l. 97, omit And for dispiseth read dispise l. 99, for Nether read neuer l. 100, for Ner read ne l. 101, after for add sent l. 102, for Louyth this boke read Loren this lesen l. 103, omit and for made read wret l. 106, is omitted. | |
| p. 273, | l. 107, before vs put hem and l. 108, for the first Amen read Sey all for the Explicit &c. read Expleycyt the Boke of cortesey. |
[ CORRIGENDA, ADDITIONAL NOTES, &c.]
This section is included for completeness. Where possible, the changes noted have been made in the original text, or added as footnotes numbered in the form “10a”. The bracketed paragraph, following, is from the original text.
[A few corrections of letters and figures have been made in this Reprint.]
[p. iv. l. 6.] ‘Your Bele Babees are very like the Meninos of the Court of Spain, & Menins of that of France, young nobles brought up with the young Princes.’ H. Reeve.
[p. v. last line.] This is not intended to confine the definition of Music as taught at Oxford to its one division of Harmonica, to the exclusion of the others, Rythmica, Metrica, &c. The Arithmetic said to have been studied there in the time of Edmund the Confessor is defined in his Life (MS. about 1310 A.D.) in my E. E. Poems & Lives of Saints, 1862, thus,
Arsmetrike is a lore: þat of figours al is
& of drauȝtes as me draweþ in poudre: & in numbre iwis.
[p. xviii. l. 16.] The regular Cathedral school would have existed at St David’s.
[p. xix., note 4.] “There are no French universities, though we find every now and then some humbug advertising himself in the Times as possessing a degree of the Paris University. The old Universities belong to the time before the Deluge—that means before the Revolution of 1789. The University of France is the organized whole of the higher and middle institutions of learning, in so far as they are directed by the State, not the clergy. It is an institution more governmental, according to the genius of the country, than our London University, to which, however, its organization bears some resemblance. To speak of it in one breath with Oxford or Aberdeen is to commit the ... error of confounding two things, or placing them on the same line, because they have the same name.” —E. Oswald, in The English Leader, Aug. 10, 1867.
p. xxiv. l. 9, for 1574 read 1577. Corrected in reprint.
[p. xxv. l. 17], related apparently. “The first William de Valence married Joan de Monchensi, sister-in-law to one Dionysia, and aunt to another.” The Chronicle, Sept. 21, 1867.
[p. xxvi.] One of the inquiries ordered by the Articles issued by Archbishop Cranmer, in A.D. 1548, is, “Whether Parsons, Vicars, Clerks, and other beneficed men, having yearly to dispend an hundred pound, do not find, competently, one scholar in the University of Cambridge or Oxford, or some grammar school; and for as many hundred pounds as every of them may dispend, so many scholars likewise to be found [supported] by them; and what be their names that they so find.” Toulmin Smith, The Parish, p. 95. Compare also in Church-Wardens Accompts of St Margaret’s, Westminster (ed. Jn. Nichols, p. 41).
Nichols, p. 38. See too p. 37.
[p. xxvii., last line.] Roger Bacon died, perhaps, 11 June, 1292, or in 1294. Book of Dates.
[p. xxvii.], dele note 3. ‘The truth is that, in his account of Oxford and its early days, Mr Hallam quotes John of Salisbury, not as asserting that Vacarius taught there, but as making “no mention of Oxford at all”; while he gives for the statement about the law school no authority whatever beyond his general reference throughout to Anthony Wood. But the fact is as historical as a fact can well be, and the authority for it is a passage in one of the best of the contemporary authors, Gervaise of Canterbury. “Tunc leges et causidici in Angliam primo vocati sunt,” he says in his account of Theobald in the Acts of the Archbishops, “quorum primus erat magister Vacarius. Hic in Oxonefordiâ legem docuit.”’ E. A. F.
p. xxxiii. note, l. 1, for St Paul’s read St Anthony’s Corrected in reprint.
p. xxxiv., for sister read brother
Corrected in reprint. The word “brother” appears twice on this page: “brother of Anne Bulleyn” and “Jane Seymour’s brother”.
[p. xlv. l. 2], for poor read independent. ‘Fitz-Stephen says on the parents of St Thomas, “Neque fœnerantibus neque officiose negotiantibus, sed de redditibus suis honorifice viventibus.”’ E. A. F.
p. liii. Thetford. See also p. xli.
Author’s intention unclear. [List on page liii] shows Thetford grammar school, founded 1328. [Page xli text] has “between 1091 and 1119 ... schools at Thetford”.
p. lxxix. last line. A Postscript of nine fresh pieces has been since added, on and after p. 349, with ‘The Boris hede furst’ at p. 264*. Section rewritten for reprint.
[p. 6, l. 77], for the note on plommys, damsons, see p. 91, note on l. 177.
Note corrected from “177” to “77” in reprint; note moved in e-text.
p. 7, l. 2 of notes, for Houeshold read Household Corrected in reprint.
[p. 27, l. 418, Areyse]. Compare, “and the Geaunte pulled and drough, but he myght hym not a-race from the sadell.” Merlin, Pt. II. p. 346 (E. E. T. Soc. 1866).
p. 35, note 3 (to l. 521), for end of this volume read p. 145 Corrected in reprint.
[p. 36, l. 536.] Pepper. “The third thing is Pepper, a sauce for vplandish folkes: for they mingle Pepper with Beanes and Peason. Likewise of toasted bread with Ale or Wine, and with Pepper, they make a blacke sauce, as if it were pap, that is called pepper, and that they cast vpon theyr meat, flesh and fish.” Reg. San. Salerni, p. 67.
[p. 58, l. 851]; p. 168, l. 13, 14. Green sauce. There is a herb of an acid taste, the common name for which ... is green-sauce ... not a dozen miles from Stratford-on-Avon. Notes & Queries, June 14, 1851, vol. iii. p. 474. “of Persley leaues stamped withe veriuyce, or white wine, is made a greene sauce to eate with roasted meat ... Sauce for Mutton, Veale and Kid, is greene sauce, made in Summer with Vineger or Verjuyce, with a few spices, and without Garlicke. Otherwise with Parsley, white Ginger, and tosted bread with Vineger. In Winter, the same sawces are made with many spices, and little quantity of Garlicke, and of the best Wine, and with a little Verjuyce, or with Mustard.” Reg. San. Salerni, p. 67-8.
[p. 62, l. 909], ? perhaps a comma should go after hed, and ‘his cloak or cape’ as a side-note. But see cappe, p. 65, l. 964.
[p. 66, l. 969.] Dogs. The nuisance that the number of Dogs must have been may be judged of by the following payments in the Church-Wardens’ Accounts of St Margaret’s, Westminster, in Nichols, p. 34-5.
| 1625 | Item paid to the dog-killer for killing of dogs | 0. 9. 8. |
| 1625 | Item paid to the dog-killer more for killing 14 dozen and 10 dogs in time of visitacion | 1. 9. 8. |
| 1625 | Item paid to the dog-killer for killing of 24 dozen of dogs | 1. 8. |
See the old French satire on the Lady and her Dogs, in Rel. Ant. i. 155.
p. 67, last line of note, for Hoss read Hog’s Corrected in reprint.
p. 71, side-note 12, for King’s read chief Corrected in reprint.
[p. 84, note to l. 51.] Chipping or paring bread. “Non comedas crustam, colorem quia gignit adustam ... the Authour in this Text warneth vs, to beware of crusts eating, because they ingender a-dust cholor, or melancholly humours, by reason that they bee burned and dry. And therefore great estates the which be [orig. the] chollerick of nature, cause the crustes aboue and beneath to be chipped away; wherfore the pith or crumme should be chosen, the which is of a greater nourishment then the crust.” Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, ed. 1634, p. 71. Fr. chapplis, bread-chippings. Cotgrave.
[p. 85, note to l. 98], Trencher, should be to l. 52. Line number corrected in reprint; note moved in e-text.
p. 91, last note, on l. 177, should be on l. 77. See above under [“p. 6”].
[p. 92, l. 6], goddes good. This, and barme, and bargood (= beer-good) are only equivalents for ‘yeast.’ Goddes-good was so called ‘because it cometh of the grete grace of God’: see the following extract, sent me by Mr Gillett, from the Book of the Corporate Assembly of Norwich, 8 Edw. IV.:
“The Maior of this Cite commaundeth on the Kynges bihalve, yt alle maner of Brewers yt shall brewe to sale wtynne this Cite, kepe ye assise accordyn to ye Statute, & upon peyne ordeyned. And wheras berme, otherwise clepid goddis good, wtoute tyme of mynde hath frely be goven or delyvered for brede, whete, malte, egges, or other honest rewarde, to ye valewe only of a ferthyng at ye uttermost, & noon warned, bicause it cometh of ye grete grace of God, Certeyn persons of this Cite, callyng themselves common Brewers, for their singler lucre & avayll have nowe newely bigonne to take money for their seid goddis good, for ye leest parte thereof, be it never so litle and insufficient to serve the payer therefore, an halfpeny or a peny, & ferthermore exaltyng ye price of ye seid Goddis good at their proper will, ageyns the olde & laudable custome of alle Englande, & specially of this Cite, to grete hurte & slaunder of ye same Cite. Wherefore it is ordeyned & provided, That no maner of brewer of this Cite shall from this time foorth take of eny person for lyvering, gevyng, or grauntyng of ye sd goddis good, in money nor other rewarde, above ye valewe of a ferthyng. He shall, for no malice feyned ne sought, colour, warne, ne restregne ye sd goddis good to eny persone yt will honestly & lefully aske it, & paye therefore ye valewe of a ferthyng, &c.”
[p. 161, l. 4]. Flawnes. ‘Pro Caseo ad flauns qualibet die . panis j’ (allowance of). Register of Worcester Priory, fol. 121 a. ed. Hale, 1865.
p. 296, col. 2, Clof. Can it be “cloth”?
The citation is the Index entry for a word occurring on p. 192.
[p. 181, l. 144], Croscrist. La Croix de par Dieu. The Christs-crosse-row; or, the hornebooke wherein a child learnes it. Cotgrave. The alphabet was called the Christ-cross-row, some say because a cross was prefixed to the alphabet in the old primers; but as probably from a superstitious custom of writing the alphabet in the form of a cross, by way of charm. This was even solemnly practised by the bishop in the consecration of a church. See Picart’s Religious Ceremonies, vol. i. p. 131. Nares.
p. 185, l. 267, for be, falle, read be-falle (it befalls, becomes)
[p. 189, l. 393, side-note], Hall, should be Hall. Fires in Hall lasted to Cena Domini, the Thursday before Easter: see l. 398. Squires’ allowances of lights ended on Feb. 2, I suppose. These lights, or candle of l. 839, would be only part of the allowances. The rest would continue all the year. See Household Ordinances & North. Hous. Book. Dr Rock says that the holyn or holly and erbere grene refer to the change on Easter Sunday described in the Liber Festivalis:—“In die paschẽ. Good friends ye shall know well that this day
is called in many places God’s Sunday. Know well that it is the manner in every place of worship at this day to do the fire out of the hall; and the black winter brands, and all thing that is foul with smoke shall be done away, and there the fire was, shall be gaily arrayed with fair flowers, and strewed with green rushes all about, showing a great ensample to all Christian people, like as they make clean their houses to the sight of the people, in the same wise ye should cleanse your souls, doing away the foul brenning (burning) sin of lechery; put all these away, and cast out all thy smoke, dusts; and strew in your souls flowers of faith and charity, and thus make your souls able to receive your Lord God at the Feast of Easter.” —Rock’s Church of the Future, v. iii. pt. 2, p. 250. “The holly, being an evergreen, would be more fit for the purpose, and makes less litter, than the boughs of deciduous trees. I know some old folks in Herefordshire who yet follow the custom, and keep the grate filled with flowers and foliage till late in the autumn.” —D. R. On Shere-Thursday, or Cena Domini, Dr Rock quotes from the Liber Festivalis—“First if a man asked why Sherethursday is called so, ye may say that in Holy Church it is called ‘Cena Domini,’ our Lord’s Supper Day; for that day he supped with his disciples openly.... It is also in English called Sherethursday; for in old fathers’ days the people would that day sheer their heads and clip their beards, and poll their heads, and so make them honest against Easter-day.” —Rock, ib., p. 235.
[p. 192], l. 462-4, cut out . after hete; put ; after sett, and , after let; l. 468-9, for sett, In syce, read sett In syce; [l. 470], ? some omission after this line.
[p. 200, l. 677], side-note, steel spoon is more likely spoon handle
[p. 215, l. 14.] The T of T the is used as a paragraph mark in the MS.
[p. 274, l. 143-4], ? sense, reading corrupt.
[p. 275], Lowndes calls the original of Stans Puer ad Mensam the Carmen Juvenile of Sulpitius.
[p. 312, col. 2, Holyn]. Bosworth gives A.S. holen, a rush; Wright’s Vocab., holin, Fr. hous; and that Cotgrave glosses ‘The Hollie, Holme, or Huluer tree.’ Ancren Riwle, 418 note *, and Rel. Ant., ii. 280, have it too. See Stratmann’s Dict. In General Index.
[p. 317, col. 2], The extract for Lopster should have been under creuis or crao. In General Index.
[p. 318, col. 1], Lorely may be lorel-ly, like a lorel, a loose, worthless fellow, a rascal. In General Index.
[p. 339, col. 1], Syles is strains. Sile, v., to strain, to purify milk through a straining dish; Su.-Got. sila, colare.—Sile, s., a fine sieve or milk strainer; Su.-Got. sil, colum. Brockett. See quotations in Halliwell’s Gloss., and Stratmann, who gives Swed. sîla, colare. In General Index.
On the general subject of diet in olden time consult “Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, with an Introduction by Sir Alex. Croke, Oxford, 1830.” H. B. Wheatley. On manners, consult Liber Metricus Faceti Morosi. J. E. Hodgkin.
[ Collected Sidenotes]
This section was added by the transcriber. It contains the editor’s summaries as given in his sidenotes, and can be read as a condensed version of the full text.
[ Russell’s Boke of Nurture]
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, God keep me! I am an Usher to a Prince, and delight in teaching the inexperienced.
It is charitable to teach ignorant youths.
If any such won’t learn, give them a toy.
One May I went to a forest, and by the Forester’s leave walked in the woodland, where I saw three herds of deer in the sunshine.
A young man with a bow was going to stalk them, but I asked him to walk with me, and inquired whom he served.
‘No one but myself, and I wish I was out of this world.’
‘Good son, despair is sin; tell me what the matter is. When the pain is greatest the cure is nearest!’
‘Sir, I’ve tried everywhere for a master; but because I know nothing, no one will take me.’
‘Will you learn if I’ll teach you? What do you want to be?’
‘A Butler, Sir, Panter, Chamberlain, and Carver. Teach me the duties of these.’
‘I will, if you’ll love God and be true to your master.’
A Panter or Butler must have three knives:
1 to chop loaves, 1 to pare them, 1 to smooth the trenchers.
Give your Sovereign new bread, others one-day-old bread; for the house, three-day bread; for trenchers four-day bread; Have your salt white, and your salt-planer of ivory, two inches broad, three long.
Have your table linen sweet and clean, your knives bright, spoons well washed, two wine-augers some box taps, a broaching gimlet, a pipe and bung.
To broach a pipe, pierce it with an auger or gimlet, four fingers- breadth over the lower rim, so that the dregs may not rise.
Serve Fruit according to the season, figs, dates, quince-marmalade, ginger, &c.
Before dinner, plums and grapes after, pears, nuts, and hard cheese.
After supper, roast apples, &c.
In the evening don’t take cream, strawberries, or junket, unless you eat hard cheese with them.
Hard cheese keeps your bowels open.
Butter is wholesome in youth and old age, anti-poisonous, and aperient.
Milk, Junket, Posset, &c., are binding.
Eat hard cheese after them.
Beware of green meat; it weakens your belly.
For food that sets your teeth on edge, eat almonds and cheese, but not more than half an ounce.
If drinks have given you indigestion, eat a raw apple.
Moderation is best sometimes, at others abstinence.
Look every night that your wines don’t ferment or leak Always carry a gimlet, adze, and linen cloths; and wash the heads of the pipes with cold water.
If the wine boil over, put to it the lees of red wine, and that will cure it.
Romney will bring round sick sweet wine.
The names of Sweet Wines.
Recipe for making Ypocras.
Take spices thus, Cinnamon, &c., long Pepper.
Have three basins and three straining-bags to them; hang ’em on a perch.
Let your ginger be well pared, hard, not worm-eaten, (Colombyne is better than Valadyne or Maydelyne); your sticks of Cinnamon thin, hot and sweet; Canel is not so good.
Cinnamon is hot and dry, Cardamons are hot and moist.
Take sugar or sugar candy, red wine, graines, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, spice, and turnesole, and put each powder in a bladder by itself.
Hang your straining-bags so that they mayn’t touch,--first bag a gallon, others a pottle.
Put the powders in two or three gallons of red wine; then into the runner, the second bag, (tasting and trying it now and then), and the third vessel.
If it’s not right, add cinnamon, ginger, or sugar, as wanted.
If it’s not right, add cinnamon, ginger, or sugar, as wanted.
Mind you keep tasting it.
Strain it through bags of fine cloth, hooped at the mouth, the first holding a gallon, the others a pottle, and each with a basin under it.
The Ypocras is made.
Use the dregs in the kitchen.
Put the Ypocras in a tight clean vessel, and serve it with wafers.
The Buttery.
Keep all cups, &c., clean.
Don’t serve ale till it’s five days old.
Be civil and obliging, and give no one stale drink.
To lay the cloth, &c.
Wipe the table.
Put a cloth on it (a cowche); you take one end, your mate the other; lay the fold of the second cloth(?) on the outer edge of the table, that of the third cloth(?) on the inner.
Cover your cupboard with a diaper towel, put one round your neck, one side on your left arm with your sovereign’s napkin; on that, eight loaves to eat, and three or four trencher loaves: in your left the salt-cellar.
In your right hand, spoons and knives.
Put the Salt on the right of your lord; on its left, a trencher or two; on their left, a knife, then white rolls, and beside them a spoon folded in a napkin.
Cover all up.
At the other end set a Salt and two trenchers.
How to wrap up your lord’s bread in a stately way.
Cut your loaves all equal.
Take a towel two and a half yards long by the ends, fold up a handful from each end, and in the middle of the folds lay eight loaves or buns, bottom to bottom; put a wrapper on the top, twist the ends of the towel together, smooth your wrapper, and quickly open the end of it before your lord.
After your lord’s lay the other tables.
Deck your cupboard with plate, your washing-table with basins, &c.
Have plenty of napkins, &c., and your pots clean.
Make the Surnape with a cloth under a double napkin.
Fold the two ends of your towel, and one of the cloth, a foot over, and lay it smooth for your lord to wash with.
The marshal must slip it along the table, and pull it smooth.
Then raise the upper part of the towel, and lay it even, so that the Sewer (arranger of dishes) may make a state.
When your lord has washed, take up the Surnape with your two arms, and carry it back to the Ewery.
Carry a towel round your neck.
Uncover your bread; see that all diners have knife, spoon, and napkin.
Bow when you leave your lord.
Take eight loaves from the bread-cloth, and put four at each end.
Lay for as many persons as the Sewer has set potages for, and have plenty of bread and drink.
Be lively and soft-spoken, clean and well dressed.
Don’t spit or put your fingers into cups.
Stop all blaming and backbiting, and prevent complaints.
General Directions for Behaviour.
Don’t claw your back as if after a flea; or your head, as if after a louse.
See that your eyes are not blinking and watery.
Don’t pick your nose, or let it drop, or blow it too loud, or twist your neck.
Don’t claw your cods, rub your hands, pick your ears, retch, or spit too far.
Don’t tell lies, or squirt with your mouth, gape, pout, or put your tongue in a dish to pick dust out.
Don’t cough, hiccup, or belch, straddle your legs, or scrub your body.
Don’t pick your teeth, cast stinking breath on your lord, fire your stern guns, or expose your codware before your master.
Many other improprieties a good servant will avoid.’
‘Sir, pray teach me how to carve, handle a knife, and cut up birds, fish, and flesh.’
‘Hold your knife tight, with two fingers and a thumb, in your midpalm.
Do your carving, lay your bread, and take off trenchers, with two fingers and thumb.
Never touch others’ food with your right hand, but only with the left.
Don’t dirty your table or wipe your knives on it.
Take a loaf of trenchers, and with the edge of your knife raise a trencher, and lay it before your lord; lay four trenchers four-square, and another on the top.
Take a loaf of light bread, pare the edges, cut the upper crust for your lord, and don’t touch it after it’s trimmed.
Keep your table clean.
Indigestibilities.
You must know what meat is indigestible, and what sauces are wholesome.
These things are indigestible: Fat and Fried, Raw and Resty, Salt and Sour, also sinews, skin, hair, feathers, crops, heads, pinions, &c., legs, outsides of thighs, skins; these destroy your lord’s rest.’
‘Thanks, father, I’ll put your teaching into practice, and pray for you.
But please tell me how to carve fish and flesh.’
Carving of Meat.
Cut brawn on the dish, and lift slices off with your knife; serve it with mustard.
Venison with furmity.
Touch Venison only with your knife, pare it, cross it with 12 scores, cut a piece out, and put it in the furmity soup.
Touch with your left hand, pare it clean, put away the sinews, &c.
Partridges, &c.: take up by the pinion, and mince them small in the sirrup.
Larger roast birds, as the Osprey, &c., raise up [? cut off] the legs, then the wings, lay the body in the middle, with the wings and legs round it, in the same dish.
Capons: take off the wings and legs; pour on ale or wine, mince them into the flavoured sauce.
Give your lord the left wing, and if he want it, the right one too.
Pheasants, &c.: take off the wings, put them in the dish, then the legs.
Woodcocks, Heronshaws, Brew, &c.
Cut off the legs, then the wings, lay the body between them.
Crane: take off the wings, but not the trompe in his breast.
Peacocks, &c.: carve like you do the Crane, keeping their feet on.
Quails, larks, pigeons: give your lord the legs first.
Fawn: serve the kidney first, then a rib.
Pick the fyxfax out of the neck.
Pig:
1. shoulder,
2. rib.
Rabbit: lay him on his back; pare off his skin; break his haunch bone, cut him down each side of the back, lay him on his belly, separate the sides from the chine, put them together again, cutting out the nape of the neck; give your lord the sides.
Sucking rabbits: cut in two, then the hind part in two; pare the skin off, serve the daintiest bit from the side.
Such is the way of carving gross meats.
Cut each piece into four slices (?) for your master to dip in his sauce.
Of large birds’ wings, put only three bits at once in the sauce.
Of small birds’ wings, scrape the flesh to the end of the bone, and put it on your lord’s trencher.
How to carve Baked Meats.
Open hot ones at the top of the crust, cold ones in the middle.
Take Teal, &c., out of their pie, and mince their wings, stir the gravy in; your lord may eat it with a spoon.
Cut Venison, &c., in the pasty.
Custard: cut in squares with a knife.
Dowcets: pare away the sides; serve in a sawcer.
Payne-puff: pare the bottom, cut off the top.
Fried things are indigestible.
Poached-egg (?) fritters are best.
Tansey is good hot.
Don’t eat Leessez.
Cooks are always inventing new dishes that tempt people and endanger their lives: Syrups Comedies, Jellies, that stop the bowels.
Some dishes are prepared with unclarified honey.
Cow-heels and Calves’ feet are sometimes mixed with unsugared leches and Jellies.
Furmity with venison, mortrewes, jussell, &c., are good.
Other out-of-the-way soups set aside.
Such is a flesh feast in the English way.
Sauces.
Sauces provoke a fine appetite.
Have ready Mustard for brawn, &c.,
Verjuice for veal, &c.,
Chawdon for cygnet and swan, Garlic, &c., for beef and goose, Ginger for fawn, &c.,
Mustard and sugar for pheasant, &c.,
Gamelyn for heronsew, &c.,
Sugar and Salt for brew, &c.,
Gamelyn for bustard, &c.,
Salt and Cinnamon for woodcock, thrushes, &c., and quails, &c.
How to carve Fish.
With pea soup or furmity serve a Beaver’s tail, salt Porpoise, &c.
Split up Herrings, take out the roe and bones, eat with mustard.
Take the skin off salt fish, Salmon, Ling, &c., and let the sauce be mustard, but for Mackarel, &c., butter of Claynes or Hackney (?) Of Pike, the belly is best, with plenty of sauce.
Salt Lampreys, cut in seven gobbets, pick out the backbones, serve with onions and galentine.
Plaice: cut off the fins, cross it with a knife, sauce with wine, &c.
Gurnard, Chub, Roach, Dace, Cod, &c., split up and spread on the dish.
Soles, Carp, &c., take off as served.
Whale, porpoise, congur, turbot, Halybut, &c., cut in the dish, and also Tench in jelly.
On roast Lamprons cast vinegar, &c., and bone them.
Crabs are hard to carve: break every claw, put all the meat in the body-shell, and then season it with vinegar or verjuice and powder.
(?) Heat it, and give it to your lord.
Put the claws, broken, in a dish.
The sea Crayfish: cut it asunder, slit the belly of the back part, take out the fish, clean out the gowt in the middle of the sea Crayfish’s back; pick it out, tear it off the fish, and put vinegar to it; break the claws and set them on the table.
Treat the back like the crab, stopping both ends with bread.
The fresh-water Crayfish: serve with vinegar and powder.
Salt Sturgeon: slit its joll, or head, thin.
Whelk: cut off its head and tail, throw away its operculum, mantle, &c., cut it in two, and put it on the sturgeon, adding vinegar.
Carve Baked Lampreys thus: take off the piecrust, put thin slices of bread on a Dish, pour galentyne over the bread, add cinnamon and red wine.
Mince the lampreys, lay them on the sauce, &c., on a hot plate, serve up to your lord.
White herrings fresh; the roe must be white and tender serve with salt and wine.
Shrimps picked, lay them round a sawcer, and serve with vinegar.”
“Thanks, father, I know about Carving now, but I hardly dare ask you about a Sewer’s duties, how he is to serve.”
The Duties of a Sewer.
“Son, since you wish to learn, I will gladly teach you.
Let the Sewer, as soon as the Master begins to say grace, hie to the kitchen.
I. Ask the Panter for fruits (as butter, grapes, &c.), if they are to be served.
II. Ask the cook and Surveyor what dishes are prepared.
III. Let the Cook serve up the dishes, the Surveyor deliver them and you, the Sewer, have skilful officers to prevent any dish being stolen.
IV. Have proper servants, Marshals, &c., to bring the dishes from the kitchen.
V. You set them on the table yourself.
A Meat Dinner.
First Course.
1. Mustard and brawn.
2. Potage.
3. Stewed Pheasant and Swan, &c.
4. Baked Venison.
5. A Device of Gabriel greeting Mary.
Second Course.
1. Blanc Mange (of Meat).
2. Roast Venison, &c.
3. Peacocks, heronsew, egrets, sucking rabbits, larks, bream, &c.
4. Dowcets, amber Leche, poached fritters.
5. A Device of an Angel appearing to three Shepherds on a hill.
Third Course.
1. Almond cream.
2. Curlews, Snipes, &c.
3. Fresh-water crayfish, &c.
4. Baked Quinces, Sage fritters, &c.
5. Devices: The Mother of Christ, presented by the Kings of Cologne.
Dessert.
White apples, caraways, wafers and Ypocras.
Clear the Table.
A Fish Dinner.
First Course.
1. Minnows, &c.
2. Porpoise and peas.
3. Fresh Millwell.
4. Roast Pike.
5. A Divice: A young man piping on a cloud, and called Sanguineus, or Spring.
Second Course.
1. Dates and Jelly,
2. Doree in Syrup,
3. Turbot, &c.
4. Eels, Fritters,
5. A Device: A Man of War, red and angry called Estas, or Summer.
Third Course.
1. Almond Cream, &c.,
2. Sturgeon, Whelks, Minnows,
3. Shrimps, &c.,
4. Fritters.
5. A Device: A Man with a Sickle, tired, called Harvest.
Fourth Course.
Hot apples, Ginger, Wafers, Ypocras.
The last Device, Yemps or Winter, with grey locks, sitting on a stone.
These Devices represent the Ages of Man:
Sanguineus, the 1st age, of pleasure.
Colericus, the 2nd, of quarrelling.
Autumpnus the 3rd, of melancholy.
Winter, the 4th, of aches and troubles.
These Devices give great pleasure, when shown in a house.
Inscriptions for the Devices.
Spring. Loving, laughing, singing, benign.
Summer. Prickly, angry, crafty, lean.
Autumn. Sleepy, dull, sluggish, fat, white-faced.
Winter. Envious, sad, timid, yellow-coloured.
A Franklin’s Feast.
Brawn, bacon and pease, beef and boiled chickens, roast goose, capon, and custade.
Second Course.
Mortrewes, veal, rabbit, chicken, dowcettes, fritters, or leche, spiced pears, bread and cheese, spiced cakes, bragot and mead.
Dinners on Fish-days.
Gudgeons, minnows, venprides (?) musclade (?) of almonds, oysters dressed, porpoise or seal, pike cullis, jelly, dates, quinces, pears, houndfish, rice, mameny.
If you don’t like these potages, taste them only.
Fish Sauces.
Mustard for salt herring, conger, mackerel, &c.
Vinegar for salt porpoise, swordfish, &c.
Sour wine for whale, with powder.
Wine for plaice.
Galantine for lamprey.
Verjuice for mullet.
Cinnamon for base, carp, and chub.
Garlic, verjuice, and pepper, for houndfish, stockfish, &c.
Vinegar, cinnamon, and ginger, for fresh-water crayfish, fresh porpoise, sturgeon, &c.
Green Sauce for green fish (fresh ling): Mustard is best for every dish.
Other sauces are served at grand feasts, but the above will please familiar guests.”
“Fair fall you, father! You have taught me lovesomely; but please tell me, too, the duties of a Chamberlain.”
The Chamberlain’s Duties.
He must be diligent, neatly dressed, clean-washed, careful of fire and candle, attentive to his master, light of ear, looking out for things that will please.
The Chamberlain must prepare for his lord a clean shirt, under and upper coat and doublet, breeches, socks, and slippers as brown as a water-leech.
In the morning, must have clean linen ready, warmed by a clear fire.
When his lord rises, he gets ready the foot-sheet; puts a cushioned chair before the fire, a cushion for the feet, and over all spreads the foot-sheet: has a comb and kerchief ready, and then asks his lord to come to the fire and dress while he waits by.
1. Give your master his under coat,
2. His doublet,
3. Stomacher well warmed,
4. Vampeys and socks,
5. Draw on his socks, breeches, and shoes,
6. Pull up his breeches,
7. Tie ’em up,
8. Lace his doublet,
9. Put a kerchief round his neck,
10. Comb his head with an ivory comb,
11. Give him warm water to wash with,
12. Kneel down and ask him what gown he’ll wear:
13. Get the gown,
14. Hold it out to him;
15. Get his girdle,
16. His Robe.
17. His hood or hat.
18. Before he goes brush him carefully.
Before your lord goes to church, see that his pew is made ready, cushion, curtain, &c.
Return to his bedroom, throw off the clothes, beat the featherbed, see that the fustian and sheets are clean.
Cover the bed with a coverlet, spread out the bench covers and cushions, set up the headsheet and pillow, remove the urinal and basin, lay carpets round the bed, and with others dress the windows and cupboard, have a fire laid.
Keep the Privy sweet and clean, cover the boards with green cloth, so that no wood shows at the hole; put a cushion there, and have some blanket, cotton, or linen to wipe on; have a basin, jug, and towel, ready for your lord to wash when he leaves the privy.
In the Wardrobe take care to keep the clothes well, and brush ’em with a soft brush at least once a week, for fear of moths.
Look after your Drapery and Skinnery.
If your lord will take a nap after his meal, have ready kerchief, comb, pillow and headsheet (don’t let him sleep too long), water and towel.
When he goes to bed,
1. Spread out the footsheet,
2. Take off your lord’s Robe and put it away.
3. Put a cloak on his back,
4. Set him on his footsheet,
5. Pull off his shoes, socks, and breeches,
6. Throw the breeches over your arm,
7. Comb his head,
8. Put on his kerchief and nightcap,
9. Have the bed, and headsheet, &c., ready,
10. Draw the curtains,
11. Set the night-light,
12. Drive out dogs and cats,
13. Bow to your lord,
14. Keep the night-stool and urinal ready for whenever he calls, and take it back when done with.
How to prepare a Bath.
Hang round the roof, sheets full of sweet herbs, have five or six sponges to sit or lean on, and one great sponge to sit on with a sheet over and a sponge under his feet.
Mind the door’s shut.
With a basinful of hot herbs, wash him with a soft sponge, throw rose-water on him; let him go to bed.
Put his socks and slippers on, stand him on his footsheet, wipe him dry, take him to bed to cure his troubles.
To make a Medicinal Bath.
Boil together hollyhock centaury, herb-benet, scabious, withy leaves; throw them hot into a vessel, set your lord on it; let him bear it as hot as he can, and whatever disease he has will certainly be cured, as men say.
The Duties of an Usher and Marshal.
He must know the rank and precedence of all people.
I.
1. The Pope.
2. Emperor.
3. King.
4. Cardinal.
5. Prince.
6. Archbishop.
7. Royal Duke.
II. Bishop, &c.
III.
1. Viscount.
2. Mitred abbot.
3. Three Chief Justices.
4. Mayor of London.
IV. (The Knight’s rank.)
1. Cathedral Prior, Knight Bachelor.
2. Dean, Archdeacon.
3. Master of the Rolls.
4. Puisné Judge.
5. Clerk of the Crown.
6. Mayor of Calais.
7. Doctor of Divinity.
8. Prothonotary.
9. Pope’s Legate.
V. (The Squire’s rank.)
1. Doctor of Laws.
2. Ex-Mayor of London.
3. Serjeant of Law.
4. Masters of Chancery.
5. Preacher.
6. Masters of Arts.
7. Other Religious.
8. Parsons and Vicars.
9. Parish Priests.
10. City Bailiffs.
11. Serjeant at Arms.
12. Heralds (the chief Herald has first place),
13. Merchants,
14. Gentlemen,
15. Gentlewomen may all eat with squires.
I have now told you the rank of every class, and now I’ll tell you how they may be grouped at table.
I. Pope, King, Prince, Archbishop and Duke.
II. Bishop, Marquis, Viscount, Earl.
III. The Mayor of London, Baron, Mitred Abbot, three Chief Justices, Speaker, may sit together, two or three at a mess.
IV. The other ranks (three or four to a mess) equal to a Knight, unmitred Abbot, Dean, Master of the Rolls, under Judges, Doctor of Divinity, Prothonotary, Mayor of Calais.
V. Other ranks equal to a Squire, four to a mess.
Serjeants of Law, ex-Mayor of London, Masters of Chancery, Preachers and Parsons, Apprentices of Law, Merchants and Franklins.
Each estate or rank shall sit at meat by itself, not seeing another.
The Bishop of Canterbury shall be served apart from the Archbishop of York, and the Metropolitan alone.
The Bishop of York must not eat before the Primate of England.
Sometimes a Marshal is puzzled by Lords of royal blood being poor, and others not royal being rich; also by a Lady of royal blood marrying a knight, and vice versâ.
The Lady of royal blood shall keep her rank; the Lady of low blood shall take her husband’s rank.
Property is not so worthy as royal blood, so the latter prevails over the former, for royal blood may become King.
The parents of a Pope or Cardinal must not presume to equality with their son, and must not want to sit by him, but in a separate room.
A Marshal must look to the rank of every estate, and do honour to foreign visitors and residents.
A well-trained Marshal should think beforehand where to place strangers at the table.
If the King sends any messenger to your Lord receive him one degree higher than his rank.
The King’s groom may dine with a Knight or Marshal, A Marshal must also understand the rank of County and Borough officers, and that a Knight of blood and property is above a poor Knight, the Mayor of London above the Mayor of Queenborough, the Abbot of Westminster above the poor Abbot of Tintern, the Prior of Canterbury above the Prior of Dudley, the Prior who is Prelate of a Cathedral Church above any Abbot or Prior of his diocese, a Doctor of 12 years’ standing above one of 9 (though the latter be the richer), the old Aldermen above the young ones, and
1. the Master of a craft,
2. the ex-warden.
Before every feast, then, think what people are coming, and settle what their order of precedence is to be.
If in doubt, ask your lord or the chief officer, and then you’ll do wrong to no one, but set all according to their birth and dignity.
Now I have told you of Court Manners, how to manage in Pantry, Buttery, Carving, and as Sewer, and Marshal, as I learnt with a Royal Prince whose Usher and Marshal I was.
All other officers have to obey me.
Our office is the chief, whether the Cook likes it or not.
All these offices may be filled by one man, but a Prince’s dignity requires each office to have its officer, and a servant under him, (all knowing their duties perfectly) to wait on their Lord and please his guests.
Don’t fear to serve a prince; take good heed to your duties, watch, and you need not fear.
Tasting is done only for those of royal blood, as a Pope, King, Duke, and Earl: not below.
Tasting is done for fear of poison; therefore keep your room secure, and close your safe, for fear of tricks.
A Prince’s Steward and Chamberlain have the oversight of all offices and of tasting, and they must tell the Marshal, Sewer, and Carver how to do it.
I don’t propose to write more on this matter.
I tried this treatise myself, in my youth, and enjoyed these matters, but now age compels me to leave the court; so try yourself.”
“Blessing on you, Father, for this your teaching of me! Now I shall dare to serve where before I was afraid. I will try, and shall learn by practice. May God reward you for teaching me!”
“Good son, and all readers of this Boke of Nurture, pray for the soul of me, John Russell, (servant of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester;) also for the Duke, my wife, father, and mother, that we may all go to bliss when we die.”
Little book, commend me to all learners, and to the experienced, whom I pray to correct its faults.
Any such, put to my copying, which I have done as I best could.
The transcriber is not to blame; he copied what was before him, and neither of us wrote it, I only corrected the rhyme.
God! grant us grace to rule in Heaven with Thine elect!
[ Andrewe, Extracts on Fish]
Eel. Is of no sex; is best roasted.
Herring. Is delicious when fresh, or salted. Dies when it feels the air.
Whale? Shipmen cast anchor on him, and make a fire on him. He swims away, and drowns them.
Ahuna. When the Ahuna is in danger, he puts his head in his belly, and eats a bit of himself.
Balena. (The woodcut is a big Merman. ? Whale.) Are seen most in winter; breed in summer. In rough weather Balena puts her young in her mouth.
Crevice (Sea and Fresh Water Crayfish). How they engender, and hybernate. How the Crayfish manages to eat Oysters.
Fresh-Water Crayfish is hard to digest.
Carp. Is difficult to net.
Whale. Likes Harmony. Gets harpooned, rubs the harpoon into himself, and slays himself.
Phocas. Kills his wife and gets another.
Halata. Takes her young out of her womb to look at ’em.
Pike: eats venomous beasts; is begotten by a West Wind.
Sea-Mouse Musculus is the cock of Balena.
Lamprey. Must be boiled in wine.
Mulus: has 2 beards.
Orchun. Is Balene’s deadly enemy.
Pecten: winks.
Pinna. How he catches small fishes.
Serra. Cuts through ships with his fins.
Siren. Siren is like an eagle below, sings sweet songs to mariners, and tears them to pieces.
Sturgeon. Eats no food, has no mouth, grows fat on east wind. Has no bones in his body.
[ Wilyam Bulleyn on Boxyng & Neckeweede]
For saucy louts, the best cure is Boxing.
The names of Hemp.
Neckweed (a halter) is good for thievish apprentices, for swashbucklers past grace, and all scamps.
Also for young spendthrifts who after their parents’ death waste their all with harlots and in gambling which makes men beggars, or thieves.
A life of reckless debauchery and robbery ends with Hemp.
The use of Hemp to the Sailor, Plowman, Fisher and Archer.
[ Andrew Borde on Sleep, Rising, and Dress]
After Dinner, sleep standing against a cupboard.
Before bedtime be merry.
Have a fire in your bedroom, but stand a good way off it.
Shut your windows.
Lie first on your left side.
To sleep groveling on the belly, is bad; on the back upright, is worse.
Wear a scarlet nightcap.
Have a flock bed over your featherbed.
On rising, remember God, brush your breeches, put on your hose, stretch, go to stool.
Truss your points, comb your head, wash your hands and face, take a stroll, pray to God.
Play at tennis, or wield weights.
At meals, eat only of 2 or 3 dishes; let supper-dishes be light.
Wear a scarlet petycote.
Line a jacket with white and black lambskin sewn diamond-wise.
Keep your neck warm.
Wear goatskin gloves.
Don’t stand long on grass or stones.
Don’t sleep in ratty rooms.
Don’t take cold in your feet.
[ William Vaughan’s Fifteen Directions to preserve Health]
1. Stretch yourself.
2. Rub yourself.
3. Go to stool.
4. Put on your clothes.
5. Comb your head.
6. Clean your teeth.
(How to keep the teeth sound and the breath sweet. Use Vaughan’s Water made after this recipe. It’s better than 1000 Dentrifices.)
7. Wash. The best remedy for dim sight.
8. Say your Prayers.
9. Set to work. Be honest.
10. Eat only three meals a day. Eat light food before heavy. Drink hinders digestion. Use silver cups.
11. Don’t work directly after meals, but talk, wash, and clean your teeth.
12. Undress by the fire in winter.
13. Before bed, chew Mastic, and
14. Pray to God. Look at your water in a Urinal. Have a hole in your nightcap.
15. Against rheums, eat white pepper.
[ Harington, The Dyet for every Day.]
Stretch your limbs, rub your body and head; protect yourself from cold; dress, washing in Summer, warming yourself in Winter.
In Summer wear deer’s and calves’ skins, in Winter, wolf and fox skins.
Comb your head 40 times, wash your face, clean your eyelids, rub your neck well.
[ Harington, On Rising, Diet, and Going to Bed.]
On rising, empty your bladder and belly, nose and lungs.
Cleanse your whole body.
Say your Prayers.
Walk gently, go to stool.
Work in the forenoon.
Always wear a precious stone in a ring; hold a crystal in your mouth; for the virtue of precious stones is great.
Eat only twice a day.
Don’t drink between dinner and supper.
Don’t have one fixed hour for your meals.
In Winter eat in hot well-aired places.
Fast for a day now and then.
Eat more at supper than dinner.
After meals, wash your face, and clean your teeth, chat and walk soberly.
Don’t sit up late.
Before bed, rub your body gently.
Undress by a fire in Winter, and warm your garments well Put off your cares with your clothes, and take them up again in the morning.
[ The Boke of Keruynge]
The Book of Carving and Arranging; and the Dishes for all the Feasts in the year.
Terms of a Carver:
Slice brawn, spoil a hen, unbrace a mallard, untache a curlew, border a pasty, thigh small birds, splat a pike, fin a chub, barb a lobster.
The Butler has 3 knives:
1. a squarer, 2. a chipper, 3. a smoother.
Trencher-bread must be 4 days old; the Salt-Planer of ivory; table cloths kept in a chest, or hung on a perch.
To broach a Pipe, have 2 augers, funnels, and tubes, and pierce the Pipe 4 inches from the bottom.
Always have ready fruits and hard cheese.
Beware of cow cream.
Hard cheese is aperient, and keeps off poison.
Milk and Junket close the Maw.
For food that sets your teeth on edge, eat an almond and hard cheese.
A raw apple will cure indigestion.
See every night that your wines don’t boil over or leak.
You’ll know their fermenting by their hissing.
Names of Wines
Campolet, Rhenish, &c
To make Ypocras.
Take spices; put 6 bags on a perch, 6 pewter basins under, ginger and cinnamon.
(Of the qualities of spices.) Pound each spice separately, put ’em in bladders, and hang ’em in your bags, add a gallon of red wine to ’em, stir it well, run it through two bags, taste it, pass it through 6 runners, and put it in a close vessel.
Keep the dregs for cooking.
Have your Compost clean, and your ale 5 days old, but not dead.
To lay the Cloth.
Put on a couch, then a second cloth, the fold on the outer edge; a third, the fold on the inner edge.
Cover your cupboard, put a towel round your neck, one side lying on your left arm; on that, 7 loaves of eating bread and 4 trencher loaves.
In your left hand a saltcellar, in your right the towel.
Set the saltcellar on your lord’s right, and trenchers on the left of it.
Lay knives, bread, spoons, napkins, and cover ’em up.
To wrap your Lord’s bread stately.
Square the loaves; take a Reynes towel 2½ yards long by the ends; put it on the table, pinch up a handful of one end, and lay it between 2 towels, and on it lay your 6 or 7 loaves bottom to bottom.
Put salt, cups, &c., on the other tables.
See that your Ewery is properly supplied, and your ale-pots kept clean.
To arrange the Surnape.
Put a cloth under a double towel, hold 3 ends together, fold them in a foot-broad pleat, and lay it smooth.
After washing, the Marshal must carry the surnape out.
Leave out half a yard to make estate.
When your lord has washed, remove the Surnape.
When he is seated, salute him, uncover your bread, kneel on your knee till 8 loaves are served out (?) Provide as many cups as dishes.
The Sewer or arranger of dishes must ascertain what dishes and fruits are prepared daily for dinner; and he must have people ready to carry up the dishes.
The Succession of Dishes.
1. Brawn, &c.
2. Pheasant, &c.
3. Meat Fritters, &c
4. For a standard, a peacock with his tail.
5. Doucettes, Paynpuff, Brew, Snipe, Petyperuys and Fayge,
Caraways, &c.
Clear the table
Keruynge of Flesshe.
Your hands must be clean; only two fingers and a thumb should be put on your knife, or on fish, flesh, or fowl.
Wipe your knife on your napkin.
Lay 4 trenchers for your lord, with 2 or 4 on them and the upper crust of a fine loaf.
Give heed to what is indigestible, as resty, fat things, feathers, heads, legs, &c.
Keruynge of Flesshe.
How to carve Brawn, Venison, (cut it in 12 bits and slice it into the furmity,) Pheasant, Stockdoves, (mince the wings into the syrup,) Goose, Teal, &c., (take off the legs and wings,) Capon, (mince the wing with wine or ale,) Plover, Lapwing, Bittern, Egret.
How to carve a Crane, (mind the trump in his breast,) Shoveler, Quail, Martins, Swallow, Fawn, Kid, Roast Venison, Cony, (lay him on his belly with his two cut-off sides, on each side of him.) Cut 4 strips to each bit of meat, for your lord to pick it up by.
Open hot Meat-Pies at the top; cold in the middle.
Cut Custards in inch blocks.
Doucettes, pare off sides and bottom.
Fritters hot are good, cold bad.
Tansey is good.
Jelly, Blanche Manger, Charlet, &c., are good, and no other potages.
Sauces for all maner of Fowles.
Mustard for beef; Verjuice for boiled chickens; Cawdrons for swans; Garlick, &c., for beef.
Ginger for lamb; Gamelyne for heronsewe, &c.; Salt, Sugar and Water of Tame for brew, &c.
White salt for lapwings, &c.
Cinnamon and salt for thrushes &c.
The Dinner Courses from Easter to Whitsunday.
From Easter to Pentecost, set bread, trenchers and spoons:
6 or 8 trenchers for a great lord, 3 for one of low degree.
Then cut bread for eating.
For Easter-day Feast: First Course: A Calf, boiled and blessed; boiled Eggs and green sauce; Potage, with beef, saffron-stained Capons.
Second Course: Mameny, Pigeons, Chewets, Flawnes.
Supper: Chickens, Veal, roast Kid, Pigs’-Feet, a Tansey fried.
Green Sauces of sorrel or vines, for the first course.
Keruyng of all maner of Fowles.
How to carve a Capon. Sauce: green sauce or verjuice.
Swan. Chawdron is the sauce for him.
Pheasant. No sauce but Salt.
Partridge. Sauce for Partridges.
How to carve a Quail. Sauce: salt.
Crane. Sauce: ginger, mustard, vinegar, and salt.
Heron. Sauce as before.
Rittern. Salt, the sauce.
Egret. Salt, the sauce.
Curlew. Salt, as sauce.
Brew. Salt, as sauce.
Cony (or Rabbit.) Sauce: vinegar and ginger.
Sarcel or Teal.
Plover.
Snipe.
Woodcock.
Sauces for the Second Course.
First Course: Beef and Capons.
How to sauce and carve a Roast capon: lay him out as if ready to fly.
Second Course: Potage, Charlet, young Geese, Payne Puff, &c.
How to carve a Goose.
Goose must be eaten with green garlic or verjuice.
Dinner Courses from the Nativity of St John the Baptist, (June 24,) to Michaelmas.
First Course: soups, vegetables, legs of Pork, &c.
Second Course: roast Mutton, glazed Pigeons, Fritters, &c.
Serve a Pheasant dry, with salt and ginger: a Heronsewe with salt and powder (blanche?) Treat open-clawed birds like capons.
Dinner Courses from Michaelmas to Christmas.
First Course: legs of Pork, &c.
Second Course: Widgeon, Fieldfares, Chewets, Beef, with sauces Gelopere and Pegyll.
Cut the skin off boiled meats.
Carve carefully for Ladies; they soon get angry.
Carve Goose and Swan like other birds.
The skin of cloven-footed birds is unwholsome; of whole-footed birds wholesome, because the water washes all corruption out of ’em.
Chicken’s skin is not so pure, because their nature is not to enter into the river.
River birds cleanse their foul stink in the river.
Take off the heads of all field birds, for they eat worms, toads, and the like.
Sewynge of Fysshe.
First Course: Musculade. Salens, &c., baked Gurnet.
Second Course: Jelly, dates, &c. For a standard, Mullet, Chub, Seal, &c.
Third Course: Bream, Perch, Whelks; and pears in sugar candy. Figs, dates capped with minced ginger, &c.
All over! Clear the table.
Carving and Dressing of Fish
Put tails and livers in the pea broth and furmity.
How to carve Seal Turrentyne, baked Herring, white Herring, Green Fish, Merling, Hake, Pike, salt Lamprey, Plaice.
Gurnard, Bream, Roach, Whiting, Codling.
Carp, Trout, Conger, Thornback, Halibut, Tench, and Crab.
How to dress and serve up a Crab.
How to dress and carve a Crayfish, a Joll of Sturgeon, a fresh Lamprey, pasty. (sauce, Galentyne with red wine and powdered cinnamon.) Fresh Herring, &c.
Sprats, Musculade in worts, Oysters.
Dates, pears, Mortrewes of Dogfish.
Sauces for Fish.
Mustard for Salmon, &c.; Vinegar for salt Whale, &c.; Galentyne for Lamprey; Verjuice for Roach, &c.; Cinnamon for Chub, &c.; Green Sauce for Halibut, &c.
The Duties of a Chamberlain.
He must be cleanly, and comb his hair; see to his Lord’s clothes, and brush his hose; in the morning warm his shirt, and prepare his footsheet; warm his petycote, &c.; put on his shoes, tie up his hose, comb his head, wash his hands, put on the robe he orders.
Make ready his Closet in the Church or Chapel, then come home to his Bed-chamber, take off the bed-clothes.
Make his lord’s bed again with clean sheets, and lay hangings round the bed, and windows, &c.
Keep the privy clean, and the board covered with green cloth, and provide down or cotton for wiping.
When he goes to bed, let him wash; put him on a mantle, take off his shoes, &c.
Comb his head, put on his night-cap, draw the curtains round him, drive out the dogs and cats, set the urinal near, and then take leave.
Of the Marshal and Usher.
He must know the orders of precedence of all ranks.
A Cardinal before a Prince.
The Mayor of London ranks with the 3 Chief Justices.
The Knight’s equals.
The ex-Mayor of London.
The Esquire’s equals. Who must dine alone, who 2 together, who 2 or 3, who 3 or 4. The Marshall must know who are of royal blood, for that has the reverence. He must take heed of the King’s officers, do honour to strangers, and receive a Messenger from the King as if one degree higher than he is, for a King’s groom may sit at a Knight’s table.
[ The Boke of Curtasye]
In this book you may learn Courtesy. Every one needs it.
On reaching a Lord’s gate, give the Porter your weapon, and ask leave to go in.
If the master is of low degree, he will come to you: if of high, the Porter will take you to him.
At the Hall-door, take off your hood and gloves, greet the Steward, &c., at the dais, bow to the Gentlemen on each side of the hall both right and left; notice the yeomen, then stand before the screen till the Marshal or Usher leads you to the table.
Be sedate and courteous if you are set with the gentlemen.
Cut your loaf in two, the top from the bottom; cut the top crust in 4, and the bottom in 3. cut the top crust in 4, and the bottom in 3.
Put your trencher before you, and don’t eat or drink till your Mess is brought from the kitchen, lest you be thought starved or a glutton.
Have your nails clean.
Don’t bite your bread, but break it.
Don’t quarrel at table, or make grimaces.
Don’t cram your cheeks out with food like an ape, for if any one should speak to you, you can’t answer, but must wait.
Don’t eat on both sides of your mouth.
Don’t laugh with your mouth full, or sup up your potage noisily.
Don’t leave your spoon in the dish or on its side, but clean your spoon.
Let no dirt off your fingers soil the cloth.
Don’t put into the dish bread that you have once bitten.
Dry your mouth before you drink.
Don’t call for a dish once removed, or spit on the table: that’s rude.
Don’t scratch your dog.
If you blow your nose, clean your hand; wipe it with your skirt or put it through your tippet.
Don’t pick your teeth at meals, or drink with food in your mouth, as you may get choked, or killed, by its stopping your wind.
Tell no tale to harm or shame your companions.
Don’t stroke the cat or dog.
Don’t dirty the table cloth with your knife.
Don’t blow on your food, or put your knife in your mouth, or wipe your teeth or eyes with the table cloth.
If you sit by a good man, don’t put your knee under his thigh.
Don’t hand your cup to any one with your back towards him.
Don’t lean on your elbow, or dip your thumb into your drink, or your food into the salt cellar: That is a vice.
Don’t spit in the basin you wash in or loosely (?) before a man of God.
If you go to school you shall learn:
1. Cross of Christ,
2. Pater Noster,
3. Hail Mary and the Creed,
4. In the name of the Trinity,
5. of the Apostles,
6. the Confession.
Seek the kingdom of God, and worship Him.
At church, take holy water; pray for all Christian companions; kneel to God on both knees, to man only on one.
At the Altar, serve the priest with both hands.
Speak gently to your father and mother, and honour them.
Do to others as you would they should do to you.
Don’t be foolishly meek.
The seed of the righteous shall never beg or be shamed.
Be ready forgive, and fond of peace.
If you cannot give an asker goods, give him good words.
Be willing to help every one.
Give your partner his fair share.
Go on the pilgrimages (?) you vow to saints, lest God take vengeance on you.
Don’t believe all who speak fair: the Serpent spoke fair words (to Eve).
Be cautious with your words, except when angry.
Don’t lie, but keep your word.
Don’t laugh too often, or you’ll be called a shrew or a fool.
Man’s 3 enemies are: the Devil, the Flesh, and the World.
Destroy these, and be sure of heaven.
Don’t strive with your lord, or bet or play with him.
In a strange place don’t be too inquisitive or fussy.
If a man falls, don’t laugh, but help him up: your own head may fall to your feet.
At the Mass, if the priest doesn’t please you, don’t blame him.
Don’t tell your secrets to a shrew.
Don’t beckon, point, or whisper.
When you meet a man, greet him, or answer him cheerily if he greets you: don’t be dumb, lest men say you have no mouth.
Never speak improperly of women, for we and our fathers were all born of women.
A wife should honour and obey her husband, and serve him.
Try to reconcile brothers if they quarrel.
At a gate, let your equal precede you; go behind your superior and your master unless he bids you go beside him.
On a pilgrimage don’t be third man: 3 oxen can’t draw a plough.
Don’t drink all that’s in a cup offered you; take a little.
If you sleep with any man, ask what part of the bed he likes, and lie far from him.
If you journey with any man, find out his name, who he is, where he is going.
With friars on a pilgrimage, do as they do.
Don’t put up at a red (haired and faced) man or woman’s house.
Answer opponents meekly, but don’t tell lies.
Before your lord at table, keep your hands, feet, and fingers still.
Don’t stare about, or at the wall, or lean against the post.
Don’t pick your nose, scratch your arm, or stoop your head.
Listen when you’re spoken to.
Never harm child or beast with evil eye (?) Don’t blush when you’re chaffed, or you’ll be accused of mischief.
Don’t make faces.
Wash before eating.
Sit where the host tells you; avoid the highest place unless you’re told to take it.
Of the Officers in Lords’ Courts.
Four bear rods; three wands:
1. Porter, the longest,
2. Marshal,
3. Usher, the shortest,
4. Steward, a staff, a finger thick, half a yard long.
Of the Porter.
He keeps the Gate and Stocks, takes charge of misdoers till judged, also of clothes, and warns strangers.
He is found in meat and drink.
On his lord’s removing, he hires horses at 4d. a piece, the statute price.
Of the Marshal of the Hall
How long Squires shall have allowances, and Fire shall burn in the Hall.
He shall arrest rebels, when the steward is away.
Yeoman-Usher and Groom are under him.
The Groom gets fuel for the fire, and makes one in Hall for every meal; looks after tables, trestles, forms, the cup-board, and hangings of the Hall.
Fires last from Allsaints’ Day to Candlemas Eve, (Nov. 1 to Feb. 2.) and thus long, Squires receive their daily candle?
The Marshal shall seat men in the Hall.
Of the Butler, Panter, and Cooks serving him.
They are the Marshal’s servants.
He shall score up all messes served, and order bread and ale for men, but wine for gentlemen.
Each mess shall be reckoned at 6d. and be scored up to prevent the cook’s cheating.
If bread runs short, the Marshal orders more, ‘a reward.’
Of the Butler’s duties.
He shall put a pot and loaf to each mess.
He is the panter’s mate.
The Marshal shall see to men’s lodging.
The Lord’s Chamber and Wardrobe are under the Usher of the Chamber.
Of the Usher and Grooms of the Chamber.
1. Usher,
2. Yeoman-usher,
3. Two grooms and a Page.
The Duties of the Grooms of the Chamber. They shall make palets of litter 9 ft. long, 7 broad, watered, twisted, trodden, with wisps at foot and side, twisted and turned back; from the floor-level to the waist.
For lords, 2 beds, outer and inner, hung with hangings, hooks and eyes set on the binding; the valance hanging on a rod (?), four curtains reaching to the ground; these he takes up with a forked rod.
The counterpane is laid at the foot, cushions on the sides, tapestry on the floor and sides of the room.
The Groom gets fuel, and screens.
The Groom keeps the table, trestles, and forms for dinner; and water in a heater.
He puts 3 wax-lights over the chimney, all in different syces.
The Usher of the Chamber walks about and sees that all is served right, orders the table to be set and removed, takes charge of the Wardrobe and Bedchamber, bids the Wardroper get all ready before the fire, nightgown, carpet, 2 cushions, a form with a footsheet over it; on which the lord changes his gown.
The Usher orders what’s wanted from the Buttery: a link from the Chandler, and ale and wine.
(No meat shall be assayed except for King, Prince, Duke or Heirs-apparent.)
From the Pantry the Usher takes fine and coarse bread, and a wax-light that burns all night in a basin.
(The Yeoman-Usher removes the torches.)
The Usher puts lights on the Bedroom door, brings bread and wine, (the lord washing first,) offers the drink kneeling; puts his lord to bed, and then goes home himself.
The Yeoman-Usher sleeps at the Lord’s door.
Of the Steward.
Few are true, but many false.
He, the clerk, cook and surveyor consult over their Lord’s dinner.
Any dainty that can be had, the Steward buys.
Before dishes are put on, the Steward enters first, then the Server.
The Steward shall post into books all accounts written on tablets, and add them up.
Of the Controller.
He puts down the receipt and consumption of every day.
Of the Surveyor.
He, the steward, and controller, receive nothing, but see that all goes straight.
The Controller checks daily the Clerk of the kitchen’s account.
Of the Clerk of the Kitchen.
He shall keep account of all purchases, and payments, and wages, shall preside at the Dresser, and keep the spices, stores, &c., and the clothes of the officers.
Of the Chancellor.
He looks after the servants’ clothes, and horses, seals patents, and grants of land, &c., for life, or during the lord’s pleasure.
He oversees the land too, and is a great man.
Of the Treasurer.
He takes from the Receiver what is collected from bailiff and grieve, courts and forfeits.
He gives the Kitchen clerk money to buy provisions with, and the clerk gives some to the baker and butler.
The Treasurer pays all wages.
He, the Receiver, Chancellor, Grieves, &c., account once a year to the Auditor, from whom they can appeal to a Baron of the Exchequer.
Of the Receiver of Rents.
He gives receipts, and gets a fee of 6d.
He pays fees to park-keepers, and looks after castles and manor-houses.
Of the Avener.
He shall give the horses in the stable two armsful of hay and a peck of oats, daily.
A Squire is Master of the Horse; under him are Avener and Farrier, (the Farrier has a halfpenny a day for every horse he shoes,) and grooms and pages hired at 2d. a day, or 3 halfpence, and footmen who run by ladies’ bridles.
Of the Baker.
Out of a London bushel he shall bake 20 loaves, fine and coarse.
Of the Huntsman and his Hounds.
He gets a halfpenny a day for every hound.
The Feuterer 2 lots of bread if he has 2 leash of Greyhounds, and a bone for each, besides perquisites of skins, &c.
Of the Ewerer or Water-bringer.
He has all the candles and cloths and gives water to every one.
Who may wash his hands, and where.
The bringer of Water shall kneel down.
The Ewerer shall cover the lord’s table with a double cloth, the lower with the selvage to the lord’s side; the upper cloth shall be laid double, the upper selvage turned back as if for a towel.
He shall put on cleaners for every one.
Of the Panter.
He carries 3 loaves cut square for trenchers, and the covered Saltcellar, 2 Carving-knives, and sets the 3rd, and a spoon to his lord.
Of the Lord’s Knives, (Bread, and Washing.)
The hafts of 2 are laid outwards, that of the 3rd inwards, and the spoon handle by it.
More trencher loaves are set, and wine served to the Duchess.
2 Trencher-loaves, and salt, to the lord’s son; and 1 loaf and saltcellar set at the end of the table.
Then 3 loaves of white bread are brought, and 1 coarse loaf is put in the Alms-dish.
To assay bread, the Panter kneels, the Carver cuts him a slice, and he eats it.
The Ewerer strains water into his basins, on the upper one of which is a towel folded dodgily.
Then the water is assayed in a cup of white wood.
The Carver takes up the basins; a knight takes down the towel, and wipes the cup, into which the Carver pours water; the knight hands it to him; he assays it, and empties the cup.
Two knights hold the towel before the lord’s sleeves, and hold the upper basin while the Carver pours water into the lower; then he puts the lower into the upper, and empties both, takes them to the Ewerer, returns to the lord’s table, lays 4 trenchers for him, with 1 above.
The Carver takes 3 to cut the lord’s messes on, and has a cloth round his neck to wipe his knives on.
Of the Almoner.
He says grace, sets down the Alms-dish, and the Carver puts the first loaf in it.
The other loaves he pares round, cuts one in two, and gives the upper half in halves to him.
The Almoner has a staff in his hand.
He keeps the broken food and wine left, for poor men at the gate, and is sworn to give it all to them.
He distributes silver as he rides.
Of the Sewer (or setter-on of Dishes).
The Cook assays the meat before it’s dished.
The Sewer puts the cover on it, and the cover must never be raised for fear of treason.
(A Dodge: If the silver dish burns you, put bits of bread under it.)
The Sewer assays all the food: potage with a piece of bread; fish or flesh, he eats a piece; baked meats hot, he lifts up the crust, and dips bread in the gravy; baked meats cold, he eats a bit.
The meat-bearer stands or kneels as the Sewer does.
When bread is wanted, the Butler puts one loaf on the table, the other on the cupboard.
The Butler assays all the wine.
What is left in the lord’s cup goes to the Alms-dish.
The Carver fills the empty cup, assays it, and gives it the lord or puts it down.
He carves the lord’s meat, and lays it on his trencher, putting a piece of every thing in the Alms-dish, except any favourite piece or potage sent to a stranger.
(To say more about the Carver would require another section, so I pass it over.)
After dinner the Sewer brings the Surnape, a broad towel and a narrow, and slides it down.
The Usher takes one end of the broad one, the Almoner the other, and when it is laid, he folds the narrow towel double before his lord and lady.
After grace removes them, lays the table on the floor, and takes away the trestles.
Of the Chandler.
He can make all kinds of candles, little and big, and mortars of wax.
He snuffs them with short scissors.
In bed-chambers wax lights only shall be burnt; in hall, Candles of Paris, each mess having one from Nov. 1 to Feb. 2 (see l. 393), and squires one too.
The Butler shall give Squires their daily bread and ale all the year, and Knights their wine.
May Christ bring us to His dwelling-place. Amen!
[ Bp. Grossetest’s Household Statutes.]
All servants should serve truly God and their Master; doing fully all that their Master orders, without answering.
The upper servants must be honest and diligent, and engage no untrusty or unfit man.
iv. Dishonest, quarrelsome, and drunken servants must be turned out.
v. All must be of one accord, vi. obedient to those above them, vii. dress in livery, and not wear old shoes.
viii. Order your Alms to be given to the poor and sick.
ix. Make all the household dine together in the Hall.
x. Let no woman dine with you.
Let the Master show himself to all.
Don’t allow grumbling.
xi. Let your servants go to their homes.
xii. Tell your Panter and Butler to come to the table before grace.
Tell off three yeomen to wait at table.
xiii. Tell the Steward to keep good order in the Hall, and serve every one fairly.
xiv. Have your dish well filled that you may help others to it.
xv. Always admit your special friends, and show them you are glad to see them.
xvi. Talk familiarly to your Bailiffs, ask how your tenants and store do.
xvii. Allow no private meals; only those in Hall.
[ Stanzas and Couplets of Counsel]
Never mistrust or fail your friend.
Don’t talk too much.
Spare your master’s goods as your own.
A lawless youth, a despised old age.
A Gentleman says the best he can of every one.
[ The schoole of Vertue]
First, say this prayer: “O God! enable us to follow virtue. Defend us this day. Let us abound with virtues, flee from vice, and go forward in good doing to our live’s end.”
Repeat the Lord’s Prayer night and morning.
How to wash and dress yourself.
Don’t sleep too long.
Rise early; cast up your bed, and don’t let it lie.
Go down, salute your parents, wash your hands, comb your head, brush your cap and put it on.
Tie on your shirt-collar, fasten your girdle, rub your breeches, clean your shoes, wipe your nose on a napkin, pare your nails, clean your ears, wash your teeth.
Have your torn clothes mended, or new ones obtained.
Get your satchell and books, and haste to School, taking too pen, paper, and ink, which are necessary for use at school.
Then start off.
How to behave going to, and at, School.
Take off your cap to those you meet; give way to passers by.
Call your playmates on your road.
At School salute your master, and the scholars.
Go straight to your place, undo your satchell, take out your books and learn your lesson; stick well to your books.
If you don’t work, you’ll repent it when you grow up.
Who could now speak of famous deeds of old, had not Letters preserved them?
Work hard then, and you’ll be thought worthy to serve the state.
Men of low birth win honour by Learning, and then are doubly happy.
When you doubt, ask to be told.
Wish well to those who warn you.
On your way home walk two and two orderly (for which men will praise you); don’t run in heaps like a swarm of bees like boys do now.
Don’t whoop or hallow as in fox-hunting don’t chatter, or stare at every new fangle, but walk soberly, taking your cap off to all, and being gentle.
Do no man harm; speak fair words.
On reaching home salute your parents reverently.
How to wait at table.
Look your parents in the face, hold up your hands, and say Grace before meate.
Grace before Meat.
Make a low curtesy; wish your parents’ food may do ’em good.
If you are big enough, bring the food to table.
Don’t fill dishes so full as to spill them on your parents’ dress, or they’ll be angry.
Have spare trenchers ready for guests.
See there’s plenty of everything wanted.
Empty the Voiders often.
Be at hand if any one calls.
When the meat is over, clear the table:
1. cover the salt,
2. have a tray by you to carry things off on,
3. put the trenchers, &c., in one Voider,
4. sweep the crumbs into another,
5. set a clean trencher before every one,
6. put on Cheese, Fruit, Biscuits, and
7. serve Wine, Ale or Beer.
When these are finished, clear the table, and fold up the cloth.
Then spread a clean towel, bring bason and jug, and when your parents are ready to wash, and when your parents are ready to wash, pour out the water.
Clear the table; make a low curtsey.
How to behave at your own dinner.
Let your betters sit above you.
See others served first, then wait a while before eating.
Take salt with your knife, cut your bread, don’t fill your spoon too full, or sup your pottage.
Have your knife sharp.
Don’t smack your lips or gnaw your bones: avoid such beastliness.
Keep your fingers clean, wipe your mouth before drinking.
Don’t jabber or stuff.
Silence hurts no one, and is fitted for a child at table.
Don’t pick your teeth, or spit too much.
Behave properly.
Don’t laugh too much.
Learn all the good manners you can.
They are better than playing the fiddle, though that’s no harm, but necessary; yet manners are more important.
How to behave at Church.
Pray kneeling or standing.
Confess your sins to God.
He knows your disease.
Ask in faith, and what you ask you shall have; He is more merciful than pen can tell.
Behave nicely in church, and don’t talk or chatter.
Behave reverently; the House of Prayer is not to be made a fair.
Avoid dicing and carding.
Delight in Knowledge, Virtue, and Learning.
Happy is he who cultivates Virtue.
Cursed is he who forsakes it.
Let reason rule you, and subdue your lusts.
These ills come from gambling: strife, murder, theft, cursing and swearing.
How to behave when conversing.
Understand a question before you answer it; let a man tell all his tale.
Then bow to him, look him in the face, and answer sensibly, not staring about or laughing, but audibly and distinctly, your words in due order, or you’ll straggle off, or stutter, or stammer, which is a foul crime.
Always keep your head uncovered.
Better unfed than untaught.
How to take a Message.
Listen to it well; don’t go away not knowing it.
Then hurry away, give the message; get the answer, return home, and tell it to your master exactly as it was told to you.
Against Anger, &c.
The slave of Anger must fall.
Anger’s deeds are strange to wise men.
A hasty man is always in trouble.
Take no revenge, but forgive.
Envy no one.
An ill body breeds debate.
The Fruits of Charity, &c.
Charity seeketh not her own, but bears patiently.
Charity seeketh not her own, but bears patiently.
Love incites to Mercy.
Patience teaches forbearance.
Pray God to give thee Charity and Patience, to lead thee to Virtue’s School, and thence to Eternal Bliss.
Against Swearing.
Take not God’s name in vain, or He will plague thee.
Beware of His wrath, and live well in thy vocation.
What is the good of swearing?
It kindles God’s wrath against thee.
God’s law forbids swearing, and so does the counsel of Philosophers.
Against filthy talking.
Never talk dirt.
For every word we shall give account at the Day of Doom, and be judged according to our deeds.
Let lewd livers then fear.
Keep your tongue from vain talking.
Against Lying.
To speak the truth needs no study, therefore always practise it and speak it.
Shame is the reward of lying.
Always speak the truth.
Who can trust a liar?
If a lie saves you once, it deceives you thrice.
A bedward Prayer.
God of mercy, take us into Thy care.
Forgive us our sins.
Deliver us from evil, and our enemy the Devil.
Assist us to conquer him and ascribe all honour to Thee.
Each one’s Duty.
The Duty of Princes, Judges, Prelates, Parents, Children, Masters, Servants, Husbands.
The Duty of Wives, Parsons and Vicars, Men of Law, Craftsmen, Landlords, Merchants, Subjects, Rich Men, Poor Men, Magistrates, Officers, The Duty of all Men.
God grant us all to live and die well!
[ Whate-ever thow sey, avyse thee welle!]
A man must mind what he says; hearts are fickle and fell.
Take care what you say. A false friend may hear it, and after a year or two will repeat it.
Hasty speech hurts hearer and speaker. In the beginning, think on the end.
You tell a man a secret, and he’ll betray it for a drink of wine. Mind what you say.
Avoid backbiting and flattering; refrain from malice, and bragging.
A venomous tongue causes sorrow. When words are said, regret is too late.
Mind what you say.
Had men thought of this, many things done in England would never have been begun.
To speak aright observe six things:
1. what; 2. of whom; 3. where; 4. to whom; 5. why; 6. when.
In every place mind what you say.
Almighty God, grant me grace to serve Thee!
Mary, mother, send me grace night and day!
[ A Dogg Lardyner, & a Sowe Gardyner]
A dog in a larder, a sow in a garden, a fool with wise men, are ill matcht.
[ Roger Ascham’s Advice to Lord Warwick’s Servant]
Fear God, serve your lord faithfully, be courteous to your fellows.
Despise no poor man.
Carry no tales.
Tell no lies.
Don’t play at dice or cards.
Take to your lord’s favourite sport.
Beware of idleness.
Always be at hand when you’re wanted.
Diligence will get you praise.
God be with you!
[ The Babees Book]
My God, support me while I translate this treatise from Latin. It shall teach those of tender age.
To know and practise virtues is the most profitable thing in the world.
Young Babies, adorned with grace, I call on you to know this book (for Nurture should accompany beauty), and not on aged men expert therein.
Why add pain to hell, water to the sea, or heat to fire?
Babies, my book is for you only, and so I hope no one will find fault with it, but only amend it.
The only reward I seek is that my book may please all and improve you.
If you don’t know any word in it, ask till you do, and then keep hold of it.
And do not wonder at this being in metre.
I must first describe how you Babies who dwell in households should behave at meals, and be ready with lovely and benign words when you are spoken to.
Lady Facetia, help me! Thou art the Mother of all Virtue.
Help the ignorance of me untaught!
Fair Babies, when you enter your lord’s place, say “God speed,” and salute all there.
Kneel on one knee to your lord.
If any speak to you, look straight at them, and listen well till they have finished; do not chatter or let your eyes wander about the house.
Answer sensibly, shortly, and easily.
Many words are a bore to a wise man.
Stand till you are told to sit: keep your head, hands, and feet quiet: don’t scratch yourself, or lean against a post, or handle anything near.
Bow to your lord when you answer.
If any one better than yourself comes in, retire and give place to him.
Turn your back on no man.
Be silent while your lord drinks, not laughing, whispering, or joking.
If he tells you to sit down, do so at once.
Then don’t talk dirt, or scorn any one, but be meek and cheerful.
If your better praises you, rise up and thank him heartily.
When your lord or lady is speaking about the household, don’t you interfere, but be always ready to serve at the proper time, to bring drink, hold lights, or anything else, and so get a good name.
The best prayer you can make to God is to be well mannered.
If your lord offers you his cup, rise up, take it with both hands, offer it to no one else, but give it back to him that brought it.
At Noon, when your lord is ready for dinner, some pour water on him, some hold the towel for him till he has finished, and don’t leave till grace is said.
Stand by your lord till he tells you to sit, then keep your knife clean and sharp to cut your food.
Be silent, and tell no nasty stories.
Cut your bread, don’t break it.
Lay a clean trencher before you, and eat your broth with a spoon, don’t sup it up.
Don’t leave your spoon in your dish.
Don’t lean on the table, or dirty the cloth.
Don’t hang your head over your dish, or eat with a full mouth, or pick your nose, teeth, and nails, or stuff your mouth so that you can’t speak.
Wipe your mouth when you drink, and don’t dirty the cup with your hands.
Don’t dip your meat in the salt-cellar, or put your knife in your mouth.
Taste every dish that’s brought to you, and when once your plate is taken away, don’t ask for it again.
If strangers dine with you, share all good food sent to you with them.
It’s not polite to keep it all to yourself.
Don’t cut your meat like field labourers, who have such an appetite they don’t care how they hack their food.
Sweet children, let your delight be courtesy, and eschew rudeness.
Have a clean trencher and knife for your cheese, and eat properly.
Don’t chatter either, and you shall get a good repute for gentleness.
When the meal is over, clean your knives, and put them in their places; keep your seats till you’ve washed; then rise up without laughing or joking, and go to your lord’s table.
Stand there till grace is said.
Then some of you go for water, some hold the towel, some pour water over his hands.
Other things I shall not put in this little Report, but skip over, praying that no one will abuse me for this work.
Let readers add or take away: I address it to every one who likes to correct it.
Sweet children, I beseech you know this book, and may God make you so expert therein that you may attain endless bliss.
[ Lerne or be Lewde]
Don’t be too loving or angry, bold or busy, courteous or cruel or cowardly, and don’t drink too often, or be too lofty or anxious, but friendly of cheer.
Hate jealousy, be not too hasty or daring; joke not too oft; ware knaves’ tricks.
Don’t be too grudging or too liberal, too meddling, too particular, new-fangled, or too daring.
Hate oaths and flattery.
Please well thy master.
Don’t be too rackety, or go out too much.
Don’t be too revengeful or wrathful, and wade not too deep.
The middle path is the best for us all.
[ Urbanitatis]
When you come before a lord take off your cap or hood, and fall on your right knee twice or thrice.
Keep your cap off till you’re told to put it on; hold up your chin; look in the lord’s face; keep hand and foot still; don’t spit or snot; get rid of it quietly; behave well.
When you go into the hall, don’t press up too high.
Don’t be shamefaced.
Wherever you go, good manners make the man.
Reverence your betters, but treat all equally whom you don’t know.
See that your hands are clean, and your knife sharp.
Let worthier men help themselves before you eat.
Don’t clutch at the best bit.
Keep your hands from dirtying the cloth, and don’t wipe your nose on it, or dip too deep in your cup.
Have no meat in your mouth when you drink or speak; and stop talking when your neighbour is drinking.
Scorn and reprove no man.
Keep your fingers from what would bring you to grief.
Among ladies, look, don’t talk.
Don’t laugh loud, or riot with ribalds.
Don’t repeat what you hear.
Words make or mar you.
If you follow a worthier man, let your right shoulder follow his back, and don’t speak till he has done.
Be austere (?) in speech; don’t stop any man’s tale.
Christ gives us all wit to know this, and heaven as our reward.
Amen!
[ The Lytylle Childrenes Lytil Boke or Edyllys be]
Clerks say that courtesy came from heaven when Gabriel greeted our Lady.
All virtues are included in it.
See that your hands and nails are clean.
Don’t eat till grace is said, or sit down till you’re told.
First, think on the poor; the full belly wots not what the hungry feels.
Don’t eat too quickly.
Touch nothing till you are fully helped.
Don’t break your bread in two, or put your pieces in your pocket, your fingers in the dish, or your meat in the salt-cellar.
Don’t pick your ears or nose, or drink with your mouth full, or cram it full.
Don’t pick your teeth with your knife.
Take your spoon out when you’ve finished soup.
Don’t spit over or on the table, that’s not proper.
Don’t put your elbows on the table, or belch as if you had a bean in your throat.
Be careful of good food; and be courteous and cheerful.
Don’t whisper in any man’s ear.
Take your food with your fingers, and don’t waste it.
Don’t grin, or talk too much, or spill your food.
Keep your cloth before you.
Cut your meat, don’t bite it.
Don’t open your mouth too wide when you eat, or blow in your food.
If your lord drinks, always wait till he has done.
Keep your trencher clean.
Drink behind no man’s back.
Don’t rush at the cheese, or throw your bones on the floor.
Sit still till grace is said and you’ve washed your hands, and don’t spit in the basin.
Rise quietly, don’t jabber, but thank your host and all the company, and then men will say, ‘A gentleman was here!’
He who despises this teaching isn’t fit to sit at a good man’s table.
Children, love this little book, and pray that Jesus may help its author to die among his friends, and not be troubled with devils, but be in joy for ever.
Amen!
[ The Young Children’s Book]
Whoever will thrive, must be courteous, and begin in his youth.
Courtesy came from heaven, and contains all virtues, as rudeness does all vices.
Get up betimes; cross yourself; wash your hands and face; comb your hair; say your prayers; go to church and hear Mass.
Say ‘Good Morning’ to every one you meet.
Then have breakfast, first crossing your mouth.
Say grace, thank Jesus for your food, and say an Ave for the souls in pain.
Then set to work, and don’t be idle.
Scripture tells you, if you work, you must eat what you get with your hands.
Be true in word and deed; truth keeps a man from blame.
Mercy and Truth are the two ways to heaven, fail not to go by them.
Make only proper promises, and keep them without falsehood.
Love God and your neighbours, and so fulfil all the Law.
Meddle only with what belongs to you.
Scorn not the poor; flatter no one; oppress (?) not servants.
Be meek, and wait till your better has spoken.
When you speak to a man, keep still, and look him in the face.
Don’t be a tale-bearer.
Thank all who speak well of you.
Use few words; don’t swear or lie in your dealings.
Earn money honestly, and keep out of debt.
Try to please; seek peace; mind whom you speak to and what you say.
Wherever you enter, say “God be here;” and speak courteously to master and man.
Stand till you are told to sit at meat, and don’t leave your seat before others.
Sit upright; be sociable, and share with your neighbours.
Take salt with a clean knife; talk no scandal, but speak well of all.
Hear and see; don’t talk.
Be satisfied with what’s set before you.
Wipe your mouth before you drink; keep your fingers and lips clean.
Don’t speak with your mouth full.
Praise your food for whether it’s good or bad, it must be taken in good part.
Mind where you spit, and put your hand before your mouth.
Keep your knife clean, and don’t wipe it on the cloth.
Don’t put your spoon in the dish, or make a noise, like boys, when you sup.
Don’t put meat off your plate into the dish, but into a voider.
If your superior hands you a cup, drink, but take the cup with two hands.
When he speaks to you, doff your cap and bend your knee.
Don’t scratch yourself at table, wipe your nose, or play with your spoon, &c.
This book is for young children who don’t stay long at school.
God grant them grace to be virtuous!
[ Stans Puer ad Mensam (both versions).]
When you stand before your sovereign, speak not recklessly, and keep your hands still.
Don’t stare about, lean against a post, look at the wall, pick your nose, or scratch yourself.
When spoken to, don’t lumpishly look at the ground.
Walk demurely in the streets, and don’t laugh before your lord.
Clean your nails and wash your hands.
Sit where you’re told to, and don’t be too hasty to begin eating.
Don’t grin, shout, or stuff your jaws with food, or drink too quickly.
Keep your lips clean, and wipe your spoon.
Don’t make sops of bread, or drink with a dirty mouth.
Don’t dirty the table linen, or pick your teeth with your knife.
Don’t swear or talk ribaldry, or take the best bits; share with your fellows.
Eat up your pieces, and keep your nails clean.
It’s bad manners to bring up old complaints.
Don’t play with your knife, or shuffle your feet about.
Don’t spill your broth on your chest, or use dirty knives, or fill your spoon too full. Be quick to do whatever your lord orders.
Take salt with your knife; don’t blow in your cup, or begin quarrels.
Interrupt no man in his story.
Drink wine and ale in moderation.
Don’t talk too much, but keep a middle course.
Be gentle and tractable, but not too soft.
Children must not be revengeful; their anger is appeased with a bit of apple.
Children’s quarrels are first play, then crying; don’t believe their complaints; give ’em the rod.
Spare that, and you’ll spoil all.
Young children, pray take heed to my little ballad, which shall lead you into all virtues.
My mistakes I submit to correction.
[ Ffor to serve a lord.]
1. Have your table-cloths and napkins ready, also trenchers, salts, &c.
2. Bring your cloths folded, lay them on the table, then cover the cupboard, the side-table, and the chief table.
3. Bring out the chief salt-cellar, and pared loaves, and hold the carving-knives in your right hand.
4. Put your chief salt-cellar before the chief person’s seat, his bread by it, and his trenchers before it.
5. Put the second salt-cellar at the lower end. If wooden trenchers are used, bring them on.
6. Put salt-cellars on the side-tables.
7. Bring out your basins, &c., and set all your plate on the cupboard.
8. Let the chief servants have basins, &c., ready, and after Grace, hold the best basin to the chief lord, with the towel under; and then let his messmates wash.
9. The chief lord takes his seat, then his messmates theirs; then the lower-mess people theirs. (When Grace begins, the bread cover is to be taken away.)
10. The Carver takes 4 trenchers on his knife-point, and lays them before the chief lord, (one to put his salt on,) and 3 or 2 before the less people.
11. The Butler gives each man a spoon and a napkin.
12. The Carver pares 2 loaves, lays 2 before his lord, and 2 or 1 to the rest.
13. Serve brawn, beef, swan, pheasant, fritters. As a change for beef, have legs or chines of pork, or tongue of ox or hart.
14. Clear away the 1st course, crumbs, bones, and used trenchers.
15. Serve the Second Course: Small birds, lamb, kid, venison, rabbits, meat pie, teal, woodcock. Great birds.
16. Fill men’s cups and remove their trenchers.
17. Collect the spoons.
18. Take up the lowest dishes at the side-tables, and then clear the high table.
19. Sweep all the bits of bread, trenchers, &c., into a voyder.
20. Take away the cups, &c., from all the messes, putting the trenchers,
21. Serve wafers in towels laid on the table, and sweet wine. In holiday time serve cheese, or fruit; in winter, roast apples.
22. Clear away all except the chief salt-cellar, whole bread, and carving-knives; take these to the pantry.
23. Lay a fresh cloth all along the chief table.
24. Have ready basons and jugs with hot or cold water; and after Grace, hand basins and water to the first mess, then the second.
25. Take off and fold up the towels and cloth, and give ’em to the
Panter.
26. Clear away tables, trestles, forms; and put cushions on other seats.
27. Butler, put the cups, &c., back into your office.
28. Serve knights and ladies with bread and wine, kneeling.
29. Conduct strangers to the Chamber.
30. Serve them with dainties: junket, pippins, or green ginger; and sweet wines. How to carve a Swan, Goose, Wild-fowl, Crane, Heronsew,
Bittern, Egret, Partridge, Quail, Pheasant.
[ A Bridal Feast.]
First Course. Boar’s head, and a Device of Welcome. Venison and Custard, with a Device of Meekness.
Second Course.
Venison, Crane, &c., and a Device of Gladness and Loyalty.
Third Course.
Sweets, &c., Game, with a Device of Thankfulness.
Fourth Course.
Cheese and a cake with a Device of Child-bearing and a promise of babies.
[ Latin Graces.]
A general Grace.
The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord. Glory be to the Father, &c. Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, bless us. Make us partakers of the heavenly table.
Grace after Dinner.
May the God of peace be with us! We thank thee, O Lord, for thy benefits. Lord, have mercy upon us! Christ, have mercy upon us! I will bless the Lord alway. May the name of the Lord be blessed for ever! Hail, Queen of Heaven, flower of virgins! pray thy Son to save the faithful!
Grace on Fish-Days.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied. Glory be to the Father, &c. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.
In Lent.
Break thy bread to the hungry, and take the wanderer to thy home.
Grace after Dinner.
Four Short Graces.
1. Before Dinner.
2. After Meals.
Bless the Lord for this meal. Mary, pray for us!
3. Before Supper.
Giver of all, sanctify this supper.
4. After Supper.
The Lord is holy in all his works. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
On Easter-Eve.
Christ, have mercy upon us! Seek those things that are above.
Grace after Dinner.
God of Peace, We give thee thanks, O Lord. Pour into us thy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
On Easter-Day.
This is the day which the Lord hath made: Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Bless us, O Lord! Our passover is slain, even Christ.
After Dinner.
Of thy resurrection, Christ, the heavens and the earth are glad. Thanks be to God!
Before Supper.
After Supper.
This is the day, &c. Hallelujah. Let us bless the Lord!
[ Symon’s Lesson of Wysedome for all Maner Chyldryn.]
Children, attend.
You’d be better unborn than untaught.
You mustn’t have your own way always.
Tell the truth, don’t be froward, hold up your head, take off your hood when you’re spoken to.
Wash your hands and face.
Be courteous.
Don’t throw stones at dogs and hogs.
Mock at no one.
Don’t swear.
Eat what’s given you, and don’t ask for this and that.
Honour your father and mother: kneel and ask their blessing.
Keep your clothes clean.
Don’t go bird’s-nesting, or steal fruit, or throw stones at men’s windows, or play in church.
Don’t chatter.
Get home by daylight.
Keep clear of fire and water, and the edges of wells and brooks.
Take care of your book, cap, and gloves, or you’ll be birched on your bare bottom.
Don’t be a liar or thief, or make faces at any man.
When you meet any one, lower your hood and wish ’em “god speed.” Be meek to clerks.
Rise early, go to school, and learn fast if you want to be our bishop.
Attend to all these things, for a good child needs learning, and he who hates the child spares the rod.
As a spur makes a horse go, so a rod makes a child learn and be mild.
So, children, do well, and you’ll not get a sound beating.
May God keep you good!
[ The Birched School-Boy]
Learning is strange work; the birch twigs are so sharp.
I’d sooner go 20 miles than go to school on Mondays.
My master asks where I’ve been.
‘Milking ducks,’ I tell him, and he gives me pepper for it.
I only wish he was a hare, and my book a wild cat, and all his books dogs.
Wouldn’t I blow my horn!
Don’t I wish he was dead!
Contents
[Title-Page Text]
[ CONTENTS.]
(Line numbers added by transcriber.)
[Harl. MS. 4011, Fol. 171.]
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, God keep me!
I n [nomine patris], god kepe me / et filij for charite,
Et spiritus sancti, where that y goo by lond or els by see!
an vsshere y Am / ye may beholde / to a prynce of highe degre,
þat enioyethe to enforme & teche / alle þo thatt wille thrive & thee[1],
Of suche thynges as here-aftur shalle be shewed by my diligence
[ To] them þat nought Can / with-owt gret exsperience;
Therfore yf any mañ þat y mete withe, þat[2] for fawt of necligence,
y wylle hym enforme & teche, for hurtynge of my Conscience.
To teche vertew and connynge, me thynkethe hit charitable,
for moche youthe in connynge / is bareñ & fulle vnable;
[ þer-fore] he þat no good cañ / ne to nooñ wille be agreable.
he shalle neuer y-thryve / þerfore take to hym a babulle.
[As y rose owt of my bed, in a mery sesoun of may],
to sporte me in a forest / where sightes were fresche & gay,
y met with þe forster / y prayed hym to say me not nay,
þat y mygh[t] walke in to his lawnde[3] where þe deere lay.
as y wandered weldsomly[4] / in-to þe lawnd þat was so grene,
þer lay iij. herdis of deere / a semely syght for to sene;
y behild oñ my right hand / þe soñ þat shoñ so shene;
y saw where walked / a semely yonge mañ, þat sklendur was & leene;
his bowe he toke in hand toward þe deere to stalke;
y prayed hym his shote to leue / & softely with me to walke.
þis yonge mañ was glad / & louyd with me to talke,
he prayed þat he myȝt withe me goo / in to som herne[5] or halke[6];
þis yonge mañ frayned[7] / with hoom þat he wonned þañ,
“So god me socoure,” he said / “Sir, y serue myself / & els nooñ oþer mañ.”
“is þy gouernaunce good?” y said, / “soñ, say me ȝiff þow cañ.”
“y wold y were owt of þis world” / seid he / “y ne rouȝt how sone whañ.”
“Sey nought so, good soñ, beware / me thynkethe þow menyst amysse;
for god forbedithe wanhope, for þat a horrible synne ys,
þerfore Soñ, opeñ thyñ hert / for peraveñture y cowd the lis[8];
“wheñ bale is hext / þañ bote is next” / good sone, lerne welle þis.”
“In certeyñ, sir / y haue y-sought / Ferre & nere many a wilsom way
to gete mete[9] a mastir; & for y cowd nouȝt / euery mañ seid me nay,
y cowd no good, ne nooñ y shewde /where euer y ede day by day
but wantouñ & nyce, recheles & lewde / as Iangelynge as a Iay.”
“Now, son, ȝiff y the teche, wiltow any thynge lere?
wiltow be a seruaunde, plowȝmañ, or a laborere,
Courtyour or a clark / Marchaund / or masoun, or an artificere,
Chamburlayn, or buttillere / pantere or karvere?”
[“The office of buttiler, sir, trewly / pantere or chamburlayne],
The connynge of a kervere, specially / of þat y wold lerne fayne
alle þese connynges to haue / y say yow in certayñ,
y shuld pray for youre sowle nevyr to come in payne.”
“Son, y shalle teche þe withe ryght a good wille,
So þat þow loue god & drede / for þat is ryght and skylle,
and to þy mastir be trew / his goodes þat þow not spille,
but hym loue & drede / and hys commaundementȝ dew / fulfylle.
[ The] furst yere, my soñ, þow shalle be pantere or buttilare,
þow must haue iij. knyffes kene / in pantry, y sey the, euermare:
[ Oñ] knyfe þe loves to choppe, anothere them for to pare,
the iij. sharpe & kene to smothe þe trenchurs and square.[10]
alwey thy soueraynes bred thow choppe, & þat it be newe & able;
se alle oþer bred a day old or þou choppe to þe table;
alle howsold bred iij. dayes old / so it is profitable;
and trencher bred iiij. dayes is convenyent & agreable.
loke þy salte be sutille, whyte, fayre and drye,
and þy planere for thy salte / shalle be made of yverye /
þe brede þerof ynches two / þen þe length, ynche told thrye;
and þy salt sellere lydde / towche not thy salt bye.
Good soñ, loke þat þy napery be soote / & also feyre & clene,
bordclothe, towelle & napkyñ, foldyñ alle bydene.
bryght y-pullished youre table knyve, semely in syȝt to sene;
and þy spones fayre y-wasche / ye wote welle what y meene.
looke þow haue tarrers[11] two / a more & lasse for wyne;
[ wyne] canels[12] accordynge to þe tarrers, of box fetice & fyne;
also a gymlet sharpe / to broche & perce / sone to turne & twyne,
with fawcet[13] & tampyne[14] redy / to stoppe when ye se tyme.
So wheñ þow settyst a pipe abroche / good [sone,] do aftur my lore:
iiij fyngur ouer / þe nere chyne[15] þow may percer or bore;
with tarrere or gymlet perce ye vpward þe pipe ashore[16],
and so shalle ye not cawse þe lies vp to ryse, y warne yow euer more.
Good sone, alle maner frute / þat longethe for sesoñ of þe yere,
[ Fygges] / reysons / almandes, dates / buttur, chese[17] / nottus, apples, & pere,
[ Compostes][18] & confites, chare de quynces / white & grene gyngere;
and ffor aftur questyons, or þy lord sytte / of hym þow know & enquere.
[ Serve] fastynge / plommys / damsons / cheries / and grapis to plese;
[ aftur] mete / peeres, nottys / strawberies, wȳneberies,[19] and hardchese,
[ also] blawnderelles,[20] pepyns / careawey in comfyte / Compostes[21] ar like to þese.
aftur sopper, rosted apples, peres, blaunche powder,[22] your stomak for to ese.
[ Bewar] at eve / of crayme of cowe & also of the goote, þauȝ it be late,
[ of] Strawberies & hurtilberyes / with the cold Ioncate,[23]
[ For] þese may marre many a mañ changynge his astate,
but ȝiff he haue aftur, hard chese / wafurs, with wyne ypocrate.[24]
[ hard] chese hathe þis condicioun in his operacioun:
Furst he wille a stomak kepe in the botom opeñ,[25]
the helthe of euery creature ys in his condicioun;
yf he diete hym̅ thus dayly / he is a good conclusioun.
[ buttir] is an holsom mete / furst and eke last,[26]
For he wille a stomak kepe / & helpe poyson a-wey to cast,
also he norishethe a mañ to be laske / and evy humerus to wast,
and with white bred / he wille kepe þy mouthe in tast.
[ Milke,] crayme, and cruddes, and eke the Ioncate,[27]
[ þey] close a mannes stomak / and so dothe þe possate;
þerfore ete hard chese aftir, yef ye sowpe late,
and drynk romney modoun,[28] for feere of chekmate.[29]
beware of saladis, grene metis, & of frutes rawe
for þey make many a mañ haue a feble mawe.
Þerfore, of suche fresch lustes set not an hawe,
For suche wantoun appetites ar not worth a strawe.
alle maner metis þat þy tethe oñ egge doth sette,
take almondes þerfore; & hard chese loke þou not for-gette.
hit wille voide hit awey / but looke to moche þerof not þou ete;
for þe wight of half an vnce with-owt rompney is gret.
[ Ȝiff] dyuerse drynkes of theire fumosite haue þe dissesid,
Ete an appulle rawe, & his fumosite wille be cesed;
mesure is a mery meene / whañ god is not displesed;
abstynens is to prayse what body & sowle ar plesed.
[ Take] good hede to þe wynes / Red, white / & swete,
looke euery nyȝt with a Candelle þat þey not reboyle / nor lete;
euery nyȝt with cold watur washe þe pipes hede, & hit not forgete,
& alle-wey haue a gymlet, & a dise,[30] with lynneñ clowtes smalle or grete.
Ȝiff þe wyne reboyle / þow shalle know by hys syngynge;
þerfore a pipe of coloure de rose[31] / þou kepe þat was spend in drynkynge
the reboyle to Rakke to þe lies of þe rose / þat shalle be his amendynge.
Ȝiff swete wyne be seeke or pallid / put in a Rompney for lesynge.[32]
[ Swete Wynes.][33]
[ The] namys of swete wynes y wold þat ye them knewe:
[ Vernage,] vernagelle, wyne Cute, pyment, Raspise, Muscadelle of grew,
Rompney of modoñ, Bastard, Tyre, Oȝey, Torrentyne of Ebrew.
Greke, Malevesyñ, Caprik, & Clarey whañ it is newe.
[ Ypocras.]
Good soñ, to make ypocras, hit were gret lernynge,
[ and] for to take þe spice þerto aftur þe proporcionynge,
[ Gynger,] Synamome / Graynis, Sugur / Turnesole, þat is good colourynge;
For commyñ peple / Gynger, Canelle / longe pepur / hony aftur claryfiynge.
look ye haue of pewtur basons ooñ, two, & thre,
For to kepe in youre powdurs / also þe licour þerin to renne wheñ þat nede be;
to iij. basouns ye must haue iij bagges renners / so clepe ham we,
& hange þem̅ oñ a perche, & looke þat Sure they be.
Se þat youre gynger be welle y-pared / or hit to powder ye bete,
and þat hit be hard / with-owt worme / bytynge, & good hete;
[ For] good gynger colombyne / is best to drynke and ete;
Gynger valadyne & maydelyñ ar not so holsom in mete.
looke þat your stikkes of synamome be thyñ, bretille, & fayre in colewre,
and in youre mowthe, Fresche, hoot, & swete / þat is best & sure,
For canelle is not so good in þis crafte & cure.
Synamome is hoot & dry in his worchynge while he wille dure.
Graynes of paradise,[35] hoote & moyst þey be:
Sugre of .iij. cute[36] / white / hoot & moyst in his
propurte;
Sugre Candy is best of alle, as y telle the,
and red wyne is whote & drye to tast, fele, & see,
[ Graynes][35] / gynger, longe pepur, & sugre / hoot & moyst in worchynge;[37]
Synamome / Canelle[38] / red wyne / hoot & drye in þeire doynge;
Turnesole[39] is good & holsom for red wyne colowrynge:
alle þese ingredyentes, þey ar for ypocras makynge.
Good soñ, youre powdurs so made, vche by þam self in bleddur laid,
hange sure youre perche & bagges þat þey from yow not brayd,
& þat no bagge touche oþer / do as y haue yow saide;
þe furst bag a galoun / alle oþer of a potelle, vchoñ by oþer teied.
Furst put in a basoun a galoun ij. or iij. wyne so red;
þeñ put in youre powdurs, yf ye wille be sped,
and aftyr in-to þe rennere so lett hym be fed,
þañ in-to þe second bagge so wold it be ledde.
loke þou take a pece in þyne hand euermore amonge,
and assay it in þy mouthe if hit be any thynge stronge,
and if þow fele it welle boþe with mouthe & tonge,
þañ put it in þe iij. vesselle / & tary not to longe.
And þañ ȝiff þou feele it be not made parfete,
þat it cast to moche gynger, with synamome alay þat hete;
and if hit haue synamome to moche, with gynger of iij. cute;
þañ if to moche sigure þer be / by discressioun ye may wete.
Thus, son, shaltow make parfite ypocras, as y the say;
but with þy mowthe to prove hit, / be þow tastynge alle-way;
let hit renne in iiij. or vj bagges[40]; gete þem, if þow may,
of bultelle clothe[41], if þy bagges be þe fynere with-owteñ nay.
Good soñ loke þy bagges be hoopid at þe mothe a-bove,
þe surere mayst þow put in þy wyne vn-to þy behoue,
þe furst bag of a galoun / alle oþer of a potelle to prove;
hange þy bagges sure by þe hoopis; do so for my loue;
And vndur euery bagge, good soñ, a basoun clere & bryght;
and now is þe ypocras made / for to plese many a wight.
[ þe] draff of þe spicery / is good for Sewes in kychyn diȝt;
and ȝiff þow cast hit awey, þow dost þy mastir no riȝt.
Now, good son, þyne ypocras is made parfite & welle;
y wold þan ye put it in staunche & a clene vesselle,
and þe mouthe þer-off y-stopped euer more wisely & felle,
and serue hit forth with wafurs boþe in chambur & Celle.
[ The botery.]
Thy cuppes / þy pottes, þou se be clene boþe with-in & owt;
[ [T]hyne] ale .v. dayes old er þow serue it abowt,
for ale þat is newe is wastable with-owteñ dowt:
And looke þat alle þynge be pure & clene þat ye go abowt.
Be fayre of answere / redy to serue / and also gentelle of chere,
and þañ meñ wille sey ‘þere gothe a gentille officere.’
be ware þat ye geue no persone palled[42] drynke, for feere
hit myȝt brynge many a man in dissese / durynge many a ȝere.
[ Son, hit is tyme of þe day / þe table wold be layde.]
Furst wipe þe table with a clothe or þat hit be splayd,
þañ lay a clothe oñ þe table / a cowche[43] it is called & said:
take þy felow ooñ ende þerof / & þou þat othere that brayde,
Thañ draw streight þy clothe, & ley þe bouȝt[44] oñ þe vttur egge of þe table,
take þe vpper part / & let hyt hange evyñ able:
þanñ take þe .iij. clothe, & ley the bouȝt oñ þe Inner side plesable,
and ley estate with the vpper part, þe brede of half fote is greable.
Cover þy cuppeborde of thy ewery with the towelle of diapery;
[ take] a towelle abowt thy nekke / for þat is curtesy,
lay þat ooñ side of þe towaile oñ þy lift arme manerly,
an oñ þe same arme ley þy soueraignes napkyñ honestly;
þañ lay oñ þat arme viij. louys bred / with iij. or iiij. trenchere lovis;
Take þat oo ende of þy towaile / in þy lift hand, as þe maner is,
and þe salt Sellere in þe same hand, looke þat ye do this;
þat oþer ende of þe towaile / in riȝt hand with spones & knyffes y-wis;
[ Set] youre salt oñ þe right side / where sittes youre soverayne,
oñ þe lyfft Side of youre salt / sett youre trencher oon & twayne,
oñ þe lifft side of your trenchoure lay youre knyffe synguler & playñ;
and oñ þe . . . . side of youre knyffes / ooñ by oñ þe white payne;
youre spone vppoñ a napkyñ fayre / ȝet foldeñ wold he be,
besides þe bred it wold be laid, soñ, y telle the:
Cover your spone / napkyñ, trencher, & knyff, þat no mañ hem se.
at þe oþer ende of þe table / a salt with ij. trenchers sett ye.
[ Sir, ȝeff þow wilt wrappe þy soueraynes bred stately,]
Thow must square & proporcioun þy bred clene & evenly,
and þat no loof ne bunne be more þañ oþer proporcionly,
and so shaltow make þy wrappe for þy master manerly;
[ þañ] take a towaile of Raynes,[45] of ij. yardes and half wold it be,
take þy towaile by the endes dowble / and faire oñ a table lay ye,
þañ take þe end of þat bought / an handfulle in hande, now here ye me:
wrap ye hard þat handfulle or more it is þe styffer, y telle þe
Þañ ley betwene þe endes so wrapped, in myddes of þat towelle,
viij loves or bonnes, botom to botom̅, forsothe it wille do welle,
and wheñ þe looffes ar betweñ, þañ wrappe hit wisely & felle;
and for youre enformacioun more playnly y wille yow telle,
ley it oñ þe vpper part of þe bred, y telle yow honestly;
take boþe endis of þe towelle, & draw þem straytly,
and wrythe an handfulle of þe towelle next þe bred myghtily,
and se þat thy wrappere be made strayt & evyñ styffely.
wheñ he is so y-graithed,[46] as riȝt before y haue saide,
þeñ shalle ye opeñ hym thus / & do hit at a brayd,
opeñ þe last end of þy wrappere before þi souerayne laid,
and youre bred sett in maner & forme: þeñ it is honestly arayd.
Soñ, wheñ þy souereignes table is drest in þus array,
kouer alle oþer bordes with Saltes; trenchers & cuppes þeroñ ye lay;
þan emperialle þy Cuppeborde / with Siluer & gild fulle gay,
þy Ewry borde with basons & lauour, watur hoot & cold, eche oþer to alay.
loke pat ye haue napkyns, spones, & cuppis euer y-nowe
to your soueraynes table, youre honeste for to allowe,
also þat pottes for wyne & ale be as clene as þey mowe;
be euermore ware of flies & motes, y telle þe, for þy prowe.
[ The] surnape[47] ye shulle make with lowly curtesye
with a clothe vndir a dowble of riȝt feire napry;
take thy towailes endes next yow with-out vilanye,
and þe ende of þe clothe oñ þe vttur side of þe towelle bye;
Thus alle iij. endes hold ye at onis, as ye welle may;
now fold ye alle there at oonys þat a pliȝt passe not a fote brede alle way,
þañ lay hyt fayre & evyñ þere as ye cañ hit lay;
þus aftur mete, ȝiff yowre mastir wille wasche, þat he may.
at þe riȝt ende of þe table ye must it owt gyde,
þe marchalle must hit convey alonge þe table to glide;
So of alle iij clothes vppeward þe riȝt half þat tide,
and þat it be draw strayt & evyñ boþe in lengthe & side.
Then must ye draw & reyse / þe vpper parte of þe towelle,
Ley it with-out ruffelynge streiȝt to þat oþer side, y þe telle;
þañ at euery end þerof convay half a yarde or an elle,
þat þe sewere may make a state / & plese his mastir welle.
[ whan] þe state hath wasche, þe surnap drawne playne,
þeñ must ye bere forþe þe surnape before youre souerayne,
and so must ye take it vppe withe youre armes twayne,
and to þe Ewery bere hit youre silf agayne.
[ a-bowt youre nekke a towelle ye bere, so to serue youre lorde,]
þañ to hym make curtesie, for so it wille accorde.
vnkeuer youre brede, & by þe salt sette hit euyñ oñ þe borde;
looke þere be knyfe & spone / & napkyñ with-outy[n] any worde.
Euer whañ ye departe from youre soueraigne, looke ye bowe your knees;
[ to] þe port-payne[48] forthe ye passe, & þere viij. loues ye leese:
Set at eiþur end of þe table .iiij. loofes at a mese,
þañ looke þat ye haue napkyñ & spone euery persone to plese.
wayte welle to þe Sewere how many potages keuered he;
keuer ye so many personis for youre honeste.
þañ serve forthe youre table / vche persone to his degre,
and þat þer lak no bred / trenchoure, ale, & wyne / euermore ye se.
be glad of chere / Curteise of kne / & soft of speche,
Fayre handes, clene nayles / honest arrayed, y the teche;
Coughe not, ner spitte, nor to lowd ye reche,
ne put youre fyngurs in the cuppe / mootes for to seche.
yet to alle þe lordes haue ye a sight / for groggynge & atwytynge[49]
of fellows þat be at þe mete, for þeire bakbytynge;
Se þey be serued of bred, ale, & wyne, for complaynynge,
and so shalle ye haue of alle meñ / good loue & praysynge.
[ Symple condicions.]
[ Symple] Condicyons of a persone þat is not taught,
y wille ye eschew, for euermore þey be nowght.
youre hed ne bak ye claw / a fleigh as þaughe ye sought,
ne youre heere ye stryke, ne pyke / to pralle[50] for a flesche mought.[51]
Glowtynge[52] ne twynkelynge with youre yȝe / ne to heuy of chere,
watery / wynkynge / ne droppynge / but of sight clere.
pike not youre nose / ne þat hit be droppynge with no peerlis clere,
Snyff nor snitynge[53] hyt to lowd / lest youre souerayne hit here.
wrye not youre nek a doyle[54] as hit were a dawe;
put not youre handes in youre hoseñ youre codware[55] fer to clawe,
nor pikynge, nor trifelynge / ne shrukkynge as þauȝ ye wold sawe;
your hondes frote ne rub / brydelynge with brest vppoñ your crawe;
with youre eris pike not / ner be ye slow of herynge;
areche / ne spitt to ferre / ne haue lowd laughynge;
Speke not lowd / be war of mowynge[56] & scornynge;
be no lier with youre mouthe / ne lykorous, ne dryvelynge.
with youre mouthe ye vse nowþer to squyrt, nor spowt;
be not gapynge nor ganynge, ne with þy mouth to powt
lik not with þy tonge in a disch, a mote to haue owt.
Be not rasche ne recheles, it is not worth a clowt.
with youre brest / sighe, nor cowghe / nor brethe, youre souerayne before;
be yoxinge,[57] ne bolkynge / ne gronynge, neuer þe more;
with youre feet trampelynge, ne settynge youre leggis a shore[58];
with youre body be not shrubbynge[59]; Iettynge[60] is no loore.
Good soñ, þy tethe be not pikynge, grisynge,[61] ne gnastynge[62];
ne stynkynge of brethe oñ youre souerayne castynge;
with puffynge ne blowynge, nowþer fulle ne fastynge;
and alle wey be ware of þy hyndur part from gunnes blastynge.
These Cuttid[63] galauntes with theire codware; þat is añ vngoodly gise;—
Other tacches[64] as towchynge / y spare not to myspraue aftur myne avise,—
wheñ he shalle serue his mastir, before hym̅ oñ þe table hit lyes;
Euery souereyne of sadnes[65] alle suche sort shalle dispise.
Many moo condicions a mañ myght fynde / þañ now ar named here,
þerfore Euery honest seruand / avoyd alle thoo, & worshippe lat hym leere.
Panter, yomañ of þe Cellere, butlere, & Ewere,
y wille þat ye obeye to þe marshalle, Sewere, & kervere.[66]’
[ “Good syr, y yow pray þe connynge of kervynge ye wille me teche,]
and þe fayre handlynge of a knyfe, y yow beseche,
and alle wey where y shalle alle maner fowles / breke, vnlace, or seche,[67]
and with Fysche or flesche, how shalle y demene me with eche.”
“Soñ, thy knyfe must be bryght, fayre, & clene,
and þyne handes faire wasche, it wold þe welle be sene.
hold alwey thy knyfe sure, þy self not to tene,
and passe not ij. fyngurs & a thombe oñ thy knyfe so kene;
In mydde wey of thyne hande set the ende of þe haft Sure,
Vnlasynge & mynsynge .ij. fyngurs with þe thombe / þat may ye endure.
kervynge / of bred leiynge / voydynge / of cromes & trenchewre,
with ij. fyngurs and a thombe / loke ye haue þe Cure.
Sett neuer oñ fysche nor flesche / beest / nor fowle, trewly,
Moore þañ ij. fyngurs and a thombe, for þat is curtesie.
Touche neuer with youre right hande no maner mete surely,
but with your lyft hande / as y seid afore, for þat is goodlye.
Alle-wey with youre lift hand hold your loof with myght,
and hold youre knyfe Sure, as y haue geue yow sight.
enbrewe[68] not youre table / for þañ ye do not ryght,
ne þer-vppoñ ye wipe youre knyffes, but oñ youre napkyñ plight.
Furst take a loofe of trenchurs in þy lifft hande,
þañ take þy table knyfe,[69] as y haue seid afore hande;
with the egge of þe knyfe youre trenchere vp be ye reysande
as nyghe þe poynt as ye may, to-fore youre lord hit leyande;
right so .iiij. trenchers ooñ by a-nothur .iiij. square ye sett,
and vppoñ þo trenchurs .iiij. a trenchur sengle with-out lett;
þañ take youre loof of light payne / as y haue said ȝett,
and with the egge of þe knyfe nyghe your hand ye kett.
Furst pare þe quarters of the looff round alle a-bowt,
þañ kutt þe vpper crust / for youre souerayne, & to hym alowt.
Suffere youre parelle[70] to stond stille to þe botom / & so nyȝe y-spend owt,
so ley hym of þe cromes a quarter of þe looff Sauncȝ dowt;
Touche neuer þe loof aftur he is so tamed,
put it, [on] a platere or þe almes disch þer-fore named.
Make clene youre bord euer, þañ shalle ye not be blamed,
þañ may þe sewere his lord serue / & neythur of yow be gramed[71]
[ Fumositees.]
Of alle maner metes ye must thus know & fele
þe fumositees of fysch, flesche, & fowles dyuers & feele,
And alle maner of Sawces for fische & flesche to preserue your lord in heele;
to yow it behouyth to knew alle þese euery deele.”
“Syr, hertyly y pray yow for to telle me Certenle
of how many metes þat ar fumose in þeire degre.”
“In certeyñ, my soñ, þat sone shalle y shew the
by letturs dyuers tolde by thries thre,
F, R, and S / in dyuerse tyme and tyde
[ F is þe furst] / þat is, Fatt, Farsed, & Fried;
R, raw / resty, and rechy, ar comberous vndefied;
S / salt / sowre / and sowse[72] / alle suche þow set a-side,
with other of the same sort, and lo thus ar thay,
Senowis, skynnes / heere / Cropyns[73] / yonge fedurs for certeñ y say,
heedis / pynnyns, boonis / alle þese pyke away,
Suffir neuer þy souerayne / to fele þem, y the pray /
Alle maner leggis also, bothe of fowle and beestis,
the vttur side of the thyghe or legge of alle fowlis in feestis,
the fumosite of alle maner skynnes y promytt þee by heestis,
alle þese may benym[74] þy souerayne / from many nyghtis restis.”
“Now fayre befalle yow fadur / & welle must ye cheve,[75]
For these poyntes by practik y hope fulle welle to preve,
and yet shalle y pray for yow / dayly while þat y leue /
bothe for body and sowle / þat god yow gyde from greve;
Praynge yow to take it, fadur / for no displesure,
yf y durst desire more / and þat y myghte be sure
to know þe kervynge of fische & flesche / aftur cockes cure:
y hed leuer þe sight of that / thañ A Scarlet hure.”[76]
[ Kervyng of flesh:]
“Son, take þy knyfe as y taught þe while ere,
[ kut] bravne in þe dische riȝt as hit liethe there,
and to þy souereynes trenchoure / with þe knyfe / ye hit bere:
pare þe fatt þer-from / be ware of hide & heere.
Thañ whan ye haue it so y-leid / oñ þy lordes trenchoure,
[ looke] ye haue good mustarde þer-to and good licoure;
Fatt venesoun with frumenty / hit is a gay plesewre
youre souerayne to serue with in sesoun to his honowre:
Towche not þe venisoun with no bare hand
but withe þy knyfe; þis wise shalle ye be doande,
withe þe fore part of þe knyfe looke ye be hit parand,
xij. draughtes with þe egge of þe knyfe þe venison crossande.
Thañ whañ ye þat venesoun so haue chekkid hit,
with þe fore parte of youre knyfe / þat ye hit owt kytt,
In þe frumenty potage honestly ye convey hit,
in þe same forme with pesyñ & bakeñ whañ sesoun þer-to dothe sitt.
[ Withe] youre lift hand touche beeff / Chyne[77] / motoun, as is a-fore said,
& pare hit clene or þat ye kerve / or hit to your lord be layd;
and as it is showed afore / beware of vpbrayde;
alle fumosite, salt / senow / Raw / a-side be hit convayde.
[ In] sirippe / partriche / stokdove / & chekyns, in seruynge,
with your lifft hand take þem by þe pynoñ of þe whynge,
& þat same with þe fore parte of þe knyfe be ye vp rerynge,
Mynse hem smalle in þe siruppe: of fumosite algate be ye feerynge.
[ Good] soñ, of alle fowles rosted y telle yow as y Cañ,
[ Every] goos / teele / Mallard / Ospray / & also swanne,
reyse vp þo leggis of alle þese furst, y sey the thañ,
afftur þat, þe whynges large & rownd / þañ dare blame þe no man;
Lay the body in myddes of þe dische / or in a-nodur chargere,
of vche of þese with whynges in myddes, þe legges so aftir there.
of alle þese in .vj. lees[78] / if þat ye wille, ye may vppe arere,
& ley þem̅ betwene þe legges, & þe whynges in þe same platere.
[ Capoñ,] & hen of hawt grees[79], þus wold þey be dight:—
Furst, vn-lace þe whynges, þe legges þan in sight,
Cast ale or wyne oñ þem̅, as þer-to belongeth of ryght,
& mynse þem̅ þañ in to þe sawce with powdurs kene of myght.
Take capoun or heñ so enlased, & devide;
take þe lift whynge; in þe sawce mynce hit eueñ beside,
and yf youre souerayne ete sauerly / & haue þerto appetide,
þañ mynce þat oþur whynge þer-to to satisfye hym̅ þat tyde.
Feysaunt, partriche, plouer, & lapewynk, y yow say,
areyse[80] þe whynges furst / do as y yow pray;
In þe dische forthe-withe, boþe þat ye ham lay,
þañ aftur þat / þe leggus / without lengur delay.
[ wodcok] / Betowre[81] / Egret[82] / Snyte[83] / and Curlew,
[ heyrounsew][84] / resteratiff þey ar / & so is the brewe;[85]
þese .vij. fowles / must be vnlaced, y telle yow trew,
breke þe pynons / nek, & beek, þus ye must þem shew.
Thus ye must þem vnlace / & in thus manere:
areyse þe leggis / suffire þeire feete stille to be oñ there,
þañ þe whynges in þe dische / ye may not þem forbere,
þe body þañ in þe middes laid / like as y yow leere.
The Crane is a fowle / þat stronge is with to fare;
þe whynges ye areyse / fulle large evyñ thare;
of hyre trompe[86] in þe brest / loke þat ye beware.
towche not hir trompe / euermore þat ye spare.
Pecok / Stork / Bustarde / & Shovellewre,
ye must vnlace þem in þe plite[87] / of þe crane prest & pure,
so þat vche of þem̅ haue þeyre feete aftur my cure,
and euer of a sharpe knyff wayte þat ye be sure.
[ Of] quayle / sparow / larke / & litelle / mertinet,
pygeoun / swalow / thrusche / osulle / ye not forgete,
þe legges to ley to your souereyne ye ne lett,
and afturward þe whyngus if his lust be to ete.
Off Foweñ / kid / lambe, / þe kydney furst it lay,
Þañ lifft vp the shuldur, do as y yow say,
Ȝiff he wille þerof ete / a rybbe to hym̅ convay;
but in þe nek þe fyxfax[88] þat þow do away.
venesoun rost / in þe dische if youre souerayne hit chese,
þe shuldir of a pigge furst / þañ a rybbe, yf hit wille hym plese;
þe cony, ley hym oñ þe bak in þe disch, if he haue grece,
while ye par awey þe skyñ oñ vche side / & þañ breke hym̅ or y[e] sece
[ betwene] þe hyndur leggis breke þe canelle booñ,[89]
þañ with youre knyfe areyse þe sides alonge þe chyne Alone;
so lay your cony wombelonge vche side to þe chyne / by craft as y conne,
betwene þe bulke, chyne, þe sides to-gedure lat þem be dooñ;
The .ij. sides departe from þe chyne, þus is my loore,
þen ley bulke, chyne, & sides, to-gedire / as þey were yore.
Furst kit owte þe nape in þe nek / þe shuldurs before;
with þe sides serve youre soueranyne / hit state to restore.
[ Rabettes] sowkers,[90] þe furþer parte from þe hyndur, ye devide;
þañ þe hyndur part at tweyñ ye kut þat tyde,
pare þe skyñ away / & let it not þere abide,
þañ serue youre souerayne of þe same / þe deynteist of þe side.
The maner & forme of kervynge of metes þat byñ groos,
afftur my symplenes y haue shewed, as y suppose:
yet, good soñ, amonge oþer estates euer as þow goose,
as ye se / and by vse of youre self / ye may gete yow loos.
But furþermore enforme yow y must in metis kervynge;
Mynse ye must iiij lees[91] / to ooñ morselle hangynge,
þat youre mastir may take with .ij. fyngurs in his sawce dippynge,
and so no napkyñ / brest, ne borclothe[92], in any wise enbrowynge.
Of gret fowle / in to þe sawce mynse þe whynge this wise;
pas not .iij. morcelles in þe sawce at onis, as y yow avise;
To youre souerayne þe gret fowles legge ley, as is þe gise,
and þus mowe ye neuer mysse of alle connynge seruise.
Of alle maner smale bryddis, þe whyngis oñ þe trencher leyinge,
with þe poynt of youre knyfe / þe flesche to þe booñ end ye brynge,
and so conveye hit oñ þe trenchere, þat wise your souerayne plesynge,
and with faire salt & trenchoure / hym̅ also oft renewynge.
[ Bake metes.][93]
Almanere bakemetes þat byñ good and hoot,
Opeñ hem aboue þe brym of þe coffyñ[94] cote,
and alle þat byñ cold / & lusteth youre souereyñ to note,
alwey in þe mydway opeñ hem ye mote.
Of capoñ, chikeñ, or teele, in coffyñ bake,
[ Owt] of þe pye furst þat ye hem take,
In a dische besyde / þat ye þe whyngus slake,
thynk[95] y-mynsed in to þe same with your knyfe ye slake,
And stere welle þe stuff þer-in with þe poynt of your knyfe;
Mynse ye thynne þe whyngis, be it in to veele or byffe;
with a spone lightely to ete your souerayne may be leeff,
So with suche diet as is holsom he may lengthe his life.
Venesoun bake, of boor or othur venure,
Kut it in þe pastey, & ley hit oñ his trenchure.
Pygeoñ bake, þe leggis leid to youre lord sure,
Custard,[96] chekkid buche,[97] square with þe knyfe; þus is þe cure
Þañ þe souerayne, with his spone whañ he lustethe to ete.
of dowcetes,[98] pare awey the sides to þe botom̅, & þat ye lete,
In a sawcere afore youre souerayne semely ye hit sett
whañ hym̅ likethe to atast: looke ye not forgete.
Payne Puff,[99] pare þe botom nyȝe þe stuff, take hede,
Kut of þe toppe of a payne puff, do thus as y rede;
Also pety perueys[100] be fayre and clene / so god be youre spede.
off Fryed metes[101] be ware, for þey ar Fumose in dede.
[ Fried metes.]
[ O Fruture] viant[102] / Frutur sawge,[102] byñ good / bettur is Frutur powche;[102]
Appulle fruture[103] / is good hoot / but þe cold ye not towche.
[ Tansey][104] is good hoot / els cast it not in youre clowche.
alle maner of leesseȝ[105] / ye may forbere / herbere in yow none sowche.
| L e n - v o y | Cookes with þeire neweconceytes, choppynge / stampynge, &gryndynge, Many new curies / alle day þey ar contryvynge& Fyndynge þat provokethe þe peple toperelles of passage / þrouȝ peyne soorepyndynge, [508]& þrouȝ nice excesse of suche receytes / of þe life tomake a endynge. | Cooks are always inventing new dishes that tempt people and endanger their lives: |
Some with Sireppis[106] / Sawces / Sewes,[107] and soppes,[108] Comedies / Cawdelles[109] cast inCawdrons / ponnes, or pottes, [leesses] / Ielies[110] / Fruturs / friedmete þat stoppes [512]and distemperethe alle þe body, bothe bak, bely, &roppes:[111] | Syrups Comedies, Jellies, that stop the bowels. | |
Some maner cury of Cookes crafft Sotelly y haueespied, how þeire dischmetes ar dressid with honynot claryfied. [Cow] heelis / and Calves fete / ar dere y-bouȝt some tide [516]To medille amonge leeches[112] & Ielies / whañ sugershalle syt a-side. | Some dishes are prepared with unclarified honey. Cow-heels and Calves’ feet are sometimes mixed with unsugared leches and Jellies. |
[ Potages.][113]
[ Wortus] with an henne / Cony / beef, or els añ haare,
Frumenty[114] with venesoun / pesyñ with bakoñ, longe wortes not spare;
[ Growelle] of force[115] / Gravelle of beeff[116] / or motoun, haue ye no care;
Gely, mortrows[117] / creyme of almondes, þe mylke[118] þer-of is good fare.
[ Iusselle][119], tartlett[120], cabages[121], & nombles[122] of vennure,
alle þese potages ar good and sure
of oþer sewes & potages þat ar not made by nature,
alle Suche siropis sett a side youre heere to endure.
Now, soñ, y haue yow shewid somewhat of myne avise,
þe service of a flesche feest folowynge englondis gise;
Forgete ye not my loore / but looke ye bere good yȝes
vppoñ oþur connynge kervers: now haue y told yow twise.
[ Diuerce Sawces.][123]
Also to know youre sawces for flesche conveniently,
hit provokithe a fyne apetide if sawce youre mete be bie;
to the lust of youre lord looke þat ye haue þer redy
suche sawce as hym likethe / to make hym glad & mery.
[ Mustard][124] is meete for brawne / beef, or powdred[125] motoun;
verdius[126] to boyled capoun / veel / chikeñ /or bakoñ;
[ And] to signet / & swañ, convenyent is þe chawdoñ[127];
Roost beeff / & goos / with garlek, vinegre, or pepur[127a], in conclusioun.
Gynger sawce[128] to lambe, to kyd / pigge, or fawñ / in fere;
to feysand, partriche, or cony / Mustard with þe sugure;
Sawce gamelyñ[129] to heyroñ-sewe / egret / crane / & plovere;
also / brewe[130] / Curlew / sugre & salt / with watere of þe ryvere;
[ Also] for bustard / betowre / & shovelere,[131] gamelyñ[132] is in sesoun;
[ Wodcok] / lapewynk / Mertenet / larke, & venysoun,
[ Sparows] / thrusches / alle þese .vij. with salt & synamome:
Quayles, sparowes, & snytes, whañ þeire sesoun com,[133]
Thus to provoke an appetide þe Sawce hathe is operacioun.
[ Kervyng of fische.][134]
[ Now,] good soñ, of kervynge of fysche y wot y must þe leere:
To pesoñ[135] or frumeñty take þe tayle of þe bevere,[136]
or ȝiff ye haue salt purpose[137] / ȝele[138] / torrentille[139], deynteithus fulle dere,
ye must do afture þe forme of frumenty, as y said while ere.
Bakeñ herynge, dressid & diȝt with white sugure;
þe white herynge by þe bak a brode ye splat hym̅ sure,
bothe roughe & boonus / voyded / þeñ may youre lorde endure
to ete merily with mustard þat tyme to his plesure.
Of alle maner salt fische, looke ye pare awey the felle,
[ Salt] samoun / Congur[140], grone[141] fische / boþe lynge[142] & myllewelle[143],
& oñ youre soueraynes trencheur ley hit, as y yow telle.
þe sawce þer-to, good mustard, alway accordethe welle.
[ Saltfysche,] stokfische[144] / merlynge[145] / makerelle, buttur ye may
[ with] swete buttur of Claynos[146] or els of hakenay,
þe boonus, skynnes / & fynnes, furst y-fette a-way,
þeñ sett youre dische þere as youre souereyn may tast & assay.
Pike[147], to youre souereyñ y wold þat it be layd,
þe wombe is best, as y haue herd it saide,
Fysche & skyñ to-gedir be hit convaied
with pike sawce y-noughe þer-to / & hit shalle not be denayd.
The salt lamprey, gobeñ hit a slout[148] .vij. pecis y assigne;
þañ pike owt þe boonus nyȝe þe bak spyne,
and ley hit oñ your lordes trenchere wheþer he sowpe or dyne,
[ & ]þat ye haue ssoddyñ ynons[149] to meddille with galantyne.[150]
Off playce,[151] looke ye put a-way þe watur clene,
afftur þat þe fynnes also, þat þey be not sene;
Crosse hym þeñ with your knyffe þat is so kene;
wyne or ale / powder þer-to, youre souerayñ welle to queme.
Gurnard / roche[152] / breme / chevyñ / base / melet / in her kervynge,
[ Perche] / rooche[153] / darce[154] / Makerelle, & whitynge,
Codde / haddok / by þe bak / splat þem̅ in þe dische liynge,
[ pike] owt þe boonus, clense þe refett[155] in þe bely bydynge;
Soolus[156] / Carpe / Breme de mere,[157] & trowt,
þey must be takyñ of as þey in þe dische lowt,
bely & bak / by gobyñ[158] þe booñ to pike owt,
so serve ye lordes trenchere, looke ye welle abowt.
Whale / Swerdfysche / purpose / dorray[159] / rosted wele,
Bret[160] / samoñ / Congur[161] / sturgeoun / turbut, & ȝele,
þornebak / thurle polle / hound fysch[162] / halybut, to hym þat hathe heele,
alle þese / cut in þe dische as youre lord etethe at meele.
Tenche[163] in Iely or in Sawce[164] / loke þere ye kut hit so,
and oñ youre lordes trenchere se þat it be do.
Elis & lampurnes[165] rosted / where þat euer ye go,
Cast vinegre & powder þeroñ / furst fette þe bonus þem̅ fro.
Crabbe is a slutt / to kerve / & a wrawd[166] wight;
breke euery Clawe / a sondur / for þat is his ryght:
In þe brode shelle putt youre stuff / but furst haue a sight
þat it be clene from skyñ / & senow / or ye begyñ to dight.
And what[167] ye haue piked / þe stuff owt of euery shelle
with þe poynt of youre knyff, loke ye temper hit welle,
put vinegre / þerto, verdjus, or ayselle,[168]
Cast þer-oñ powdur, the bettur it wille smelle.
Send þe Crabbe to þe kychyñ / þere for to hete,
agayñ hit facche to þy souerayne sittynge at mete;
breke þe clawes of þe crabbe / þe smalle & þe grete,
In a disch þem̅ ye lay / if hit like your souerayne to ete.
Crevise[169] / þus wise ye must them dight:
Departe the crevise a-sondire euyñ to youre sight,
Slytt þe bely of the hyndur part / & so do ye right,
and alle hoole take owt þe fische, like as y yow behight.
Pare awey þe red skyñ for dyuers cawse & dowt,
and make clene þe place also / þat ye calle his gowt,[170]
hit lies in þe myddes of þe bak / looke ye pike it owt;
areise hit by þe þyknes of a grote / þe fische rownd abowt.
put it in a dische leese by lees[171] / & þat ye not forgete
to put vinegre to þe same / so it towche not þe mete;
breke þe gret clawes youre self / ye nede no cooke to trete,
Set þem̅ oñ þe table / ye may / with-owt any maner heete.
The bak of þe Crevise, þus he must be sted:
array hym̅ as ye dothe / þe crabbe, if þat any be had,
and boþe endes of þe shelle / Stoppe them fast with bred,
& serue / youre souereyñ þer with / as he likethe to be fedd.
Of Crevis dewe douȝ[172] Cut his bely a-way,
þe fische in A dische clenly þat ye lay
with vineger & powdur þer vppoñ, þus is vsed ay,
þañ youre souerayne / whañ hym semethe, sadly he may assay.
[ The] Iolle[173] of þe salt sturgeoun / thyñ / take hede ye slytt,
& rownd about þe dische dresse ye musteñ hit.
Þe whelke[174] / looke þat þe hed / and tayle awey be kytt,
his pyntill[175] & gutt / almond & mantille,[176] awey þer fro ye pitt;
Theñ kut ye þe whelk asondur, eveñ pecis two,
and ley þe pecis þerof / vppoñ youre sturgeoun so,
rownd all abowt þe disch / while þat hit wille go;
put vinegre þer-vppoñ / þe bettur þañ wille hit do.
[ Fresche] lamprey bake[177] / þus it must be dight:
[ Opeñ] þe pastey lid, þer-in to haue a sight,
Take þeñ white bred þyñ y-kut & liȝt,
lay hit in a chargere / dische, or plater, ryght;
[ with] a spone þeñ take owt þe gentille galantyne,[178]
In þe dische, oñ þe bred / ley hit, lemmañ myne,
þeñ take powdur of Synamome, & temper hit with red wyne:
þe same wold plese a pore mañ / y suppose, welle & fyne.
Mynse ye þe gobyns as thyñ as a grote,
þañ lay þem̅ vppoñ youre galantyne stondynge oñ a chaffire hoote:
þus must ye diȝt a lamprey owt of his coffyñ cote,
and so may youre souerayne ete merily be noote.
White herynge in a dische, if hit be seaward & fresshe,
your souereyñ to ete in seesoun of yere / þer-aftur he wille Asche.
looke he be white by þe booñ / þe roughe white & nesche;
with salt & wyne serue ye hym̅ þe same / boldly, & not to basshe.
Shrympes welle pyked / þe scales awey ye cast,
Round abowt a sawcer / ley ye þem in hast;
þe vinegre in þe same sawcer, þat youre lord may attast,
þañ with þe said fische / he may fede hym̅ / & of þem make no wast.”
“Now, fadir, feire falle ye / & crist yow haue in cure,
For of þe nurture of kervynge y suppose þat y be sure,
but yet a-nodur office þer is / saue y dar not endure
to frayne yow any further / for feere of displesure:
For to be a sewere y wold y hed þe connynge,
þañ durst y do my devoire / with any worshipfulle to be wonnynge;
señ þat y know þe course / & þe craft of kervynge,
[ y] wold se þe siȝt of a Sewere[179] / what wey he / shewethe in seruynge.”
[ Office of a sewer.][180]
“Now sen yt is so, my son / þat science ye wold fayñ lere,
drede yow no þynge daungeresnes; þus y shalle do my devere
to enforme yow feithfully with ryght gladsom chere,
& yf ye wolle lysteñ my lore / somewhat ye shalle here:
Take hede whañ þe worshipfulle hed / þat is of any place
hath wasche afore mete / and bigynnethe to sey þe grace,
Vn-to þe kechyñ þañ looke ye take youre trace,
Entendyng & at youre commaundynge þe seruaundes of þe place;
Furst speke with þe pantere / or officere of þe spicery
For frutes a-fore mete to ete þem fastyngely,
as buttur / plommes / damesyns, grapes, and chery,
Suche in sesons of þe yere / ar served / to make meñ mery,
Serche and enquere of þem̅ / yf suche seruyse shalle be þat day;
þan commyñ with þe cooke / and looke what he wille say;
þe surveyoure & he / þe certeynte telle yow wille þay,
what metes // & how many disches / þey dyd fore puruay.
And whañ þe surveoure[181] & þe Cooke / with yow done accorde,
þen shalle þe cook dresse alle þynge to þe surveynge borde,
þe surveoure sadly / & soburly / with-owteñ any discorde
Delyuer forthe his disches, ye to convey þem̅ to þe lorde;
And wheñ ye bithe at þe borde / of seruyce and surveynge,
se þat ye haue officers boþe courtly and connynge,
For drede of a dische of youre course stelynge[181],
whyche myght cawse a vileny ligtly in youre seruice sewynge.
And se þat ye haue seruytours semely / þe disches for to bere,
Marchalles, Squyers / & sergeauntes of armes[182], if þat þey be there,
þat youre lordes mete may be brought without dowt or dere;
to sett it surely oñ þe borde / youre self nede not feere.
[ A dynere of flesche.][183]
[ The Furst Course.]
[ Furst] set forthe mustard / & brawne / of boore,[184] þe wild swyne,
Suche potage / as þe cooke hathe made / of yerbis / spice / & wyne,
Beeff, motoñ[185] / Stewed feysaund / Swañ[186] with the Chawdwyñ,[187]
[ Capoun,] pigge / vensoun bake, leche lombard[188] / fruture viaunt[189] fyne;
| A Sotelte | And þan a Sotelte: Maydoñ mary þat holy virgyne, [692] And Gabrielle gretynge hur / with an Ave. |
5. A Device of Gabriel greeting Mary. |
[ The Second Course.]
Two potages, blanger mangere,[190] & Also Iely[191]:
[ For] a standard / vensoun rost / kyd, favne, or cony,
[ bustard,] stork / crane / pecok in hakille ryally,[192]
heiron-sew or / betowre, with-serue with bred, yf þat drynk be by;
Partriche, wodcok / plovere / egret / Rabettes sowkere[193];
[ Gret] briddes / larkes / gentille breme de mere,
dowcettes,[194] payne puff, with leche / Ioly[195] Ambere,
Fretoure powche / a sotelte folowynge in fere,
[ þe] course for to fullfylle,
An angelle goodly kañ appere,
and syngynge with a mery chere,
Vn-to .iij. sheperdes vppoñ añ hille.
[ The iijd Course.]
“Creme of almondes, & mameny, þe iij. course in coost,
[ Curlew] / brew / snytes / quayles / sparows / mertenettes rost,
Perche in gely / Crevise dewe douȝ / pety perueis[196] with þe moost,
Quynces bake / leche dugard / Fruture sage / y speke of cost,
and soteltees fulle soleyñ:
þat lady þat conseuyd by the holygost
hym̅ þat distroyed þe fendes boost,
presentid plesauntly by þe kynges of coleyñ.
[ Afftur] þis, delicatis mo.
Blaunderelle, or pepyns, with carawey in confite,
Waffurs to ete / ypocras to drynk with delite.
now þis fest is fynysched / voyd þe table quyte
Go we to þe fysche fest while we haue respite,
& þañ with goddes grace þe fest wille be do.
[ A Dinere of Fische.][197]
[ The Furst Course.]
“Musclade or[198] menows // with þe Samoun bellows[199]// eles, lampurns in fere;
Pesoñ with þe purpose // ar good potage, as y suppose //
as fallethe for tyme of þe yere:
Bakeñ herynge // Sugre þeroñ strewynge //
grene myllewelle, deyntethe & not dere;
pike[200] / lamprey / or Soolis // purpose rosted oñ coles[201] //
gurnard / lampurnes bake / a leche, & a friture;
a semely sotelte folowynge evyñ þere.
A galaunt yonge mañ, a wanton wight,
pypynge & syngynge / lovynge & lyght,
Standynge oñ a clowd, Sanguineus he hight,
[ þe] begynnynge of þe sesoñ þat cleped is ver.”
[ The second course.]
“Dates in confyte // Iely red and white //
þis is good dewynge[202];
Congur, somoñ, dorray // In sirippe if þey lay //
with oþer disches in sewynge.
Brett / turbut[203] / or halybut // Carpe, base / mylet, or trowt //
Cheveñ,[204] breme / renewynge;
[ Ȝole] / Eles, lampurnes / rost// a leche, a fryture, y make now bost //
þe second / sotelte sewynge.
A mañ of warre semynge he was,
A roughe, a red, angry syre,
An hasty mañ standynge in fyre,
As hoot as somer by his attyre;
his name was þeroñ, & cleped Estas.
[ The thrid course.]
Creme of almond[205] Iardyne // & mameny[206] // good & fyne //
Potage for þe .iijd seruyse.
Fresch sturgeñ / breme de mere // Perche in Iely / oryent & clere //
[ whelkes,] menuse; þus we devise:
Shrympis / Fresch herynge bryled // pety perueis may not be exiled,
leche fryture,[207] a tansey gyse //
The sotelte / a mañ with sikelle in his hande, In a ryvere of watur stande /
wrapped in wedes in a werysom wyse,
hauynge no deynteithe to daunce:
þe thrid age of mañ by liklynes;
hervist we clepe hym̅, fulle of werynes
ȝet þer folowythe mo þat we must dres,
regardes riche þat ar fulle of plesaunce.
[ The .iiij. course of frute.]
Whot appuls & peres with sugre Candy,
[ Withe] Gyngre columbyne, mynsed manerly,
Wafurs with ypocras.
Now þis fest is fynysched / for to make glad chere:
and þaughe so be þat þe vse & manere
not afore tyme be seyñ has,
Neuerthelese aftur my symple affeccioñ
y must conclude with þe fourth compleccioñ,
‘yemps’ þe cold terme of þe yere,
Wyntur / with his lokkys grey / febille & old,
Syttynge vppoñ þe stone / bothe hard & cold,
Nigard in hert & hevy of chere.
The furst Sotelte, as y said, ‘Sanguineus’ hight
[T]he furst age of mañ / Iocond & light,
þe springynge tyme clepe ‘ver.’
¶ The second course / ‘colericus’ by callynge,
Fulle of Fyghtynge / blasfemynge, & brallynge,
Fallynge at veryaunce with felow & fere.
¶ The thrid sotelte, y declare as y kan,
‘Autumpnus,’ þat is þe .iijd age of mañ,
With a flewische[208] countenaunce.
¶ The iiijth countenaunce[209], as y seid before,
is wyntur with his lokkes hoore,
þe last age of mañ fulle of grevaunce.
These iiij. soteltees devised in towse,[210]
[ wher] þey byñ shewed in an howse,
hithe dothe gret plesaunce
with oþer sightes of gret Nowelte
þañ hañ be shewed in Rialle feestes of solempnyte,
A notable cost þe ordynaunce.
[ The superscripcioun of þe sutiltees aboue specified, here folowethe Versus]
| Spring. | ||
| Sanguineus. | Largus, amans, hillaris, ridens, rubei que coloris, [788]Cantans, carnosus,satis audax, atque benignus. | Loving, laughing, singing, benign. |
| ¶ Estas | Summer. | |
| Colericus. | [Fol. 183.] Hirsutus, Fallax / irascens / prodigus, satisaudax, Astutus, gracilis / Siccus / crocei que coloris. | Prickly, angry, crafty, lean. |
| ¶ Autumpnus | Autumn. | |
| Fleumaticus. | Hic sompnolentus / piger, in sputamine multus, [792]Ebes hinc sensus / pinguis, faciecolor albus. | Sleepy, dull, sluggish, fat, white-faced. |
| ¶ yemps | Winter. | |
| Malencolicus. | Invidus et tristis / Cupidus / dextre que tenacis, Non expers fraudis, timidus, lutei que coloris. | Envious, sad, timid, yellow-coloured. |
[ A fest for a franklen.]
“A Frankleñ may make a feste Improberabille,
brawne with mustard is concordable,
bakoñ serued with pesoñ,
beef or motoñ stewed seruysable,
[ Boyled] Chykoñ or capoñ agreable,
convenyent for þe sesoñ;
Rosted goose & pygge fulle profitable,
[ Capoñ] / Bakemete, or Custade Costable,
[ wheñ] eggis & crayme be gesoñ.
Þerfore stuffe of household is behoveable,
Mortrowes or Iusselle[211] ar delectable
for þe second course by resoñ.
Thañ veel, lambe, kyd, or cony,
Chykoñ or pigeoñ rosted tendurly,
bakemetes or dowcettes[212] with alle.
þeñ followynge, frytowrs & a leche lovely;
[ Suche] seruyse in sesoun is fulle semely
To serue with bothe chambur & halle.
Theñ appuls & peris with spices delicately
Aftur þe terme of þe yere fulle deynteithly,
with bred and chese to calle.
Spised cakes and wafurs worthily
[ withe] bragot[213] & methe,[214] þus meñ may meryly
plese welle bothe gret & smalle.”
[ Sewes on fishe dayes.]
“Flowndurs / gogeons, muskels,[215] menuce in sewe,
Eles, lampurnes, venprides / quyk & newe,
Musclade in wortes / musclade[216] of almondes for states fulle dewe,
Oysturs in Ceuy[217] / oysturs in grauey,[218] your helthe to renewe,
The baly of þe fresche samoñ / els purpose, or seele[219],
Colice[220] of pike, shrympus[221] / or perche, ye know fulle wele;
Partye gely / Creme of almondes[222] / dates in confite / to rekeuer heele,
Quinces & peris / Ciryppe with parcely rotes / riȝt so bygyñ your mele.
Mortrowis of houndfische[223] / & Rice standynge[224] white,
Mameny,[225] mylke of almondes, Rice rennynge liquyte,—
þese potages ar holsom for þem þat hañ delite
[ þerof] to ete / & if not so / þeñ taste he but a lite.”
[ Sawce for fishe.][226]
“Yowre sawces to make y shalle geue yow lerynge:
Mustard is / is metest with alle maner salt herynge,
Salt fysche, salt Congur, samoun, with sparlynge,[227]
Salt ele, salt makerelle, & also withe merlynge.[228]
Vynegur is good to salt purpose & torrentyne,[229]
Salt sturgeoñ, salt swyrd-fysche savery & fyne.
Salt Thurlepolle, salt whale,[230] is good with egre wyne,
withe powdur put þer-oñ shalle cawse ooñ welle to dyne.
[ Playce] with wyne; & pike withe his reffett;
þe galantyne[231] for þe lamprey / where þey may be gete;
verdius[232] to roche / darce / breme / soles / & molett;
[ Baase,] flow[n]durs / Carpe / Cheveñ / Synamome ye þer-to sett.
[ Garlek] / or mustard, vergeus þerto, pepur þe powderynge—
For þornebak / houndfysche / & also fresche herynge,
[ hake][233], stokfyshe[234], haddok[235] / cod[236] / & whytynge—
ar moost metist for thes metes, as techithe vs þe wrytynge.
Vinegre / powdur withe synamome / and gyngere,
to rost Eles / lampurnes / Creveȝ dew douȝ, and breme de mere,
For Gurnard / for roche / & fresche purpose, if hit appere,
Fresche sturgeoñ / shrympes / perche / molett / y wold it were here.
Grene sawce[237] is good with grene fisch[238], y here say;
botte lynge / brett[239] & fresche turbut / gete it who so may.
yet make moche of mustard, & put it not away,
For with euery dische he is dewest / who so lust to assay.
Other sawces to sovereyns ar serued in som solempne festis,
but these will plese them fulle welle / þat ar but hoomly gestis.
Now have y shewyd yow, my soñ, somewhat of dyuerse Iestis
þat ar remembred in lordes courte / þere as all rialte restis.”
“Now fayre falle yow fadir / in faythe y am full fayñ,
For louesomly ye han lered me þe nurtur þat ye han sayñ;
plesethe it you to certifye me with ooñ worde or twayñ
þe Curtesy to conceue conveniently for euery chamburlayñ.”
[ The office off a chamburlayne.][240]
“The Curtesy of a chamburlayñ is in office to be diligent,
Clenli clad, his cloþis not all to-rent;
handis & face wascheñ fayre, his hed well kempt;
& war euer of fyre and candille þat he be not neccligent.
[ To] youre mastir looke ye geue diligent attendaunce;
be curteyse, glad of chere, & light of ere in euery semblaunce,
euer waytynge to þat thynge þat may do hym plesaunce:
to these propurtees if ye will apply, it may yow welle avaunce.
Se that youre souerayne haue clene shurt & breche,
a petycote,[241] a dublett, a longe coote, if he were suche,
his hosyñ well brusshed, his sokkes not to seche,
his shoñ or slyppers as browne as is þe waturleche.
In þe morow tyde, agaynst youre souerayne doth ryse,
wayte hys lynnyñ þat hit be clene; þeñ warme hit in þis wise,
by a clere fyre withowt smoke / if it be cold or frese,
and so may ye youre souerayñ plese at þe best asise.
[ Agayne] he riseth vp, make redy youre fote shete
in þis maner made greithe / & þat ye not forgete
furst a chayere a-fore þe fyre / or som oþer honest sete
Withe a cosshyñ þer vppoñ / & a noþur for the feete
aboue þe coschyñ & chayere þe said shete ouer sprad
So þat it keuer þe fote coschyñ and chayere, riȝt as y bad;
Also combe & kercheff / looke þere bothe be had
youre souereyñ hed to kymbe or he be graytly clad:
Than pray youre souereyñ with wordus mansuetely
to com to a good fyre and aray hym ther by,
and there to sytt or stand / to his persone plesauntly,
and ye euer redy to awayte with maners metely.
Furst hold to hym a petycote aboue youre brest and barme,
his dublet þañ aftur to put in boþe hys arme,
his stomachere welle y-chaffed to kepe hym fro harme,
his vampeys[242] and sokkes, þañ all day he may go warme;
Theñ drawe oñ his sokkis / & hosyñ by the fure,
his shoñ laced or bokelid, draw them̅ oñ sure;
Strike his hosyñ vppewarde his legge ye endure,
þeñ trusse ye them vp strayte / to his plesure,
Then lace his dublett euery hoole so by & bye;
oñ his shuldur about his nek a kercheff þere must lye,
and curteisly þañ ye kymbe his hed with combe of yvery,
and watur warme his handes to wasche, & face also clenly.
Than knele a dowñ oñ youre kne / & þus to youre souerayñ ye say
“Syr, what Robe or govñ pleseth it yow to were to day?”
Suche as he axeth fore / loke ye plese hym to pay,
þañ hold it to hym̅ a brode, his body þer-in to array;
his gurdelle, if he were, be it strayt or lewse;
Set his garment goodly / aftur as ye know þe vse;
take hym̅ hode or hatt / for his hed[242a] cloke or cappe de huse;
So shalle ye plese hym̅ prestly, no nede to make excuse
Wheþur hit be feyre or foule, or mysty alle withe reyñ.
Or youre mastir depart his place, afore þat þis be seyñ,
to brusche besily about hym̅; loke all be pur and playñ
wheþur he were sateñ / sendell, vellewet, scarlet, or greyñ.
[ Prynce] or prelate if hit be, or any oþer potestate,
or he entur in to þe churche, be it erly or late,
perceue all þynge for his pewe þat it be made preparate,
boþe cosshyñ / carpet / & curteyñ / bedes & boke, forgete not that.
Thañ to youre souereynes chambur walke ye in hast;
all þe cloþes of þe bed, them aside ye cast;
þe Fethurbed ye bete / without hurt, so no feddurs ye wast,
Fustiañ[243] and shetis clene by sight and sans ye tast.
Kover with a keuerlyte clenly / þat bed so manerly made;
þe bankers & quosshyns, in þe chambur se þem̅ feire y-sprad,
boþe hedshete & pillow also, þat þe[y] be saaff vp stad,
the vrnelle & basoñ also that they awey be had.
Se the carpettis about þe bed be forth spred & laid,
wyndowes & cuppeborde with carpettis & cosshyns splayd;
Se þer be a good fyre in þe chambur conveyed,
with wood & fuelle redy þe fuyre to bete & aide.
Se þe privehouse for esement[244] be fayre, soote, & clene,
& þat þe bordes þer vppoñ / be keuered withe clothe feyre & grene,
& þe hoole / hym self, looke þer no borde be sene,
þeroñ a feire quoschyñ / þe ordoure no mañ to tene
looke þer be blanket / cotyñ / or lynyñ to wipe þe neþur ende[245];
and euer wheñ he clepithe, wayte redy & entende,
basoun and ewere, & oñ your shuldur a towelle, my frende[246];
In þis wise worship shalle ye wyñ / where þat euer ye wende
[ The [!-- last letter? --] warderober.][247]
IN þe warderobe ye must muche entende besily
the robes to kepe well / & also to brusche þem̅ clenly;
[ with] the ende of a soft brusche ye brusche þem clenly,
and yet ouer moche bruschynge werethe cloth lyghtly.
lett neuer wollyñ cloth ne furre passe a seuenyght
to be vnbrossheñ & shakyñ / tend þerto aright,
[ for] moughtes be redy euer in þem to gendur & aliȝt;
þerfore to drapery / & skynnery euer haue ye a sight.
youre souerayñ aftir mete / his stomak to digest
yef he wille take a slepe / hym self þere for to rest,
looke bothe kercheff & combe / þat ye haue þere prest,
bothe pillow & hedshete / for hym̅ þe[y] must be drest;
yet be ye nott ferre hym fro, take tent what y say,
For moche slepe is not medcynable in myddis of þe day.
wayte þat ye haue watur to wasche / & towelle alle way
aftur slepe and sege / honeste will not hit denay.
Whañ youre souerayne hathe supped / & to chambur takithe his gate,
þañ sprede forthe youre fote shete / like as y lered yow late;
thañ his gowne ye gadir of, or garment of his estate,
by his licence / & ley hit vpp in suche place as ye best wate.
vppoñ his bak a mantell ye ley / his body to kepe from cold,
Set hym̅ oñ his fote shete[248] / made redy as y yow told;
his shoñ, sokkis, & hosyñ / to draw of be ye bolde;
þe hosyñ oñ youre shuldyr cast / oñ vppoñ your arme ye hold;
youre souereynes hed ye kembe / but furst ye knele to ground;
þe kercheff and cappe oñ his hed / hit wolde be warmely wounde;
his bed / y-spred / þe shete for þe hed / þe pelow prest þat stounde,
þat wheñ youre souereyñ to bed shall go / to slepe þere saaf & sounde,
The curteyns let draw þem̅ þe bed round about;
se his morter[249] with wax or perchere[250] þat it go not owt;
[ dryve] out dogge[250a] and catte, or els geue þem̅ a clovt;
[ Of] youre souerayne take no leue[251]; / but low to hym̅ alowt.
looke þat ye haue þe basoñ for chambur & also þe vrnalle
redy at alle howres wheñ he wille clepe or calle:
his nede performed, þe same receue agayñ ye shalle,
& þus may ye haue a thank / & reward wheñ þat euer hit falle.
[ A bathe or stewe so called.]
Ȝeff youre souerayne wille to þe bathe, his body to wasche clene,
hang shetis round about þe rooff; do thus as y meene;
euery shete full of flowres & herbis soote & grene,
and looke ye haue sponges .v. or vj. peroñ to sytte or lene:
looke þer be a gret sponge, þer-oñ youre souerayne to sytt;
þeroñ a shete, & so he may bathe hym̅ þere a fytte;
vndir his feete also a sponge, ȝiff þer be any to putt;
and alwey be sure of þe dur, & se þat he be shutt.
[ A] basyñ full in youre hand of herbis hote & fresche,
& with a soft sponge in hand, his body þat ye wasche;
Rynse hym̅ with rose watur warme & feire vppoñ hym flasche,
þeñ lett hym̅ go to bed / but looke it be soote & nesche;
[ but] furst sett oñ his sokkis, his slyppers oñ his feete,
þat he may go feyre to þe fyre, þere to take his fote shete,
þañ withe a clene clothe / to wype awey all wete;
thañ brynge hym̅ to his bed, his bales there to bete.”
[ The makyng of a bathe medicinable.][252]
[ “Holy] hokke / & yardehok[253] / peritory[254] / and þe brown fenelle,[255]
walle wort[256] / herbe Iohñ[257] / Sentory[258] / rybbewort[259] / & camamelle,
hey hove[260] / heyriff[261] / herbe benet[262] / bresewort[263] / & smallache,[264]
broke lempk[265] / Scabiose[266] / Bilgres[267] / wildflax / is good for ache;
[ wethy] leves / grene otes / boyled in fere fulle soft,
Cast þem̅ hote in to a vesselle / & sett youre soverayñ alloft,
and suffire þat hete a while as hoot as he may a-bide;
se þat place be couered welle ouer / & close oñ euery side;
and what dissese ye be vexed with, grevaunce ouþer peyñ,
þis medicyne shalle make yow hoole surely, as meñ seyñ.”
[The office of ussher & marshalle.][268]
my lorde, my master, of lilleshulle abbot
“The office of a connynge vschere or marshalle with-owt fable
must know alle estates of the church goodly & greable,
and þe excellent estate of a kynge with his blode honorable:
hit is a notable nurture / connynge, curyouse, and commendable.
| T h e s t a t e o f f a | Emperowre is nex hym euery where; Kynge corespondent; þus nurture shalle yowlere. [1008]highe Cardynelle, þe dignyte dotherequere; | 2. Emperor. 3. King. 4. Cardinal. |
Kyngis soñe, prynce ye hym Calle; Archebischoppe is to hym peregalle. Duke of þe blode royalle, [1012]bishoppe / Marques / & erle / coequalle. | 5. Prince. 6. Archbishop. 7. Royal Duke. II. Bishop, &c. | |
Vycount / legate / baroune /suffrigañ / abbot with mytur feyre, barovñ of þeschekere / iij. þe cheff Iusticeȝ / of londoñ þemeyre; Pryoure Cathedralle, mytur abbotwithout / a knyght bachillere [1016]Prioure / deane / archedekoñ / a knyght / þe bodyEsquyere, | III. 1. Viscount. 2. Mitred abbot. 3. Three Chief Justices. 4. Mayor of London. IV. (The Knight’s rank.) 1. Cathedral Prior, Knight Bachelor. 2. Dean, Archdeacon. | |
| T h e s t a t e o f f a | Mastir of the rolles / riȝt þus rykeñ y, Vndir Iustice may sitte hym by: Clerke of the crowne / & theschekereConvenyently [1020]Meyre of Calice ye may preferreplesauntly. | 3. Master of the Rolls. 4. Puisné Judge. 5. Clerk of the Crown. 6. Mayor of Calais. |
| [Fol. 186 b.] Provyncialle, & doctur diuyne, Prothonotur, apertli to-gedur þey may dyne. Þe popes legate or collectoure,to-gedur ye assigne, [1024]Doctur of bothe lawes, beynge in science digne. | 7. Doctor of Divinity. 8. Prothonotary. 9. Pope’s Legate. V. (The Squire’s rank.) 1. Doctor of Laws. | |
Hym þat hath byñ meyre / &a londynere, Sargeaunt of lawe / he may with hym compere; The mastirs of the Chauncery with comford &chere, [1028]Þe worshipfulle prechoure ofpardoun in þat place to appere. | 2. Ex-Mayor of London. 3. Serjeant of Law. 4. Masters of Chancery. 5. Preacher. |
The clerkes of connynge that hañ takeñ degre,
And alle othur ordurs of chastite chosyñ, & also of pouerte,
alle parsons & vicaries þat ar of dignyte,
parische prestes kepynge cure, vn-to þem loke ye se.
For þe baliffes of a Cite purvey ye must a space,
A yemañ of þe crowne / Sargeaunt of armes with mace,
A herrowd of Armes as gret a dygnyte has,
Specially kynge harrawd / must haue þe principalle place;
Worshipfulle merchaundes and riche artyficeris,
Gentilmeñ welle nurtured & of good maneris,
With gentilwommen / and namely lordes nurrieris,
alle these may sit at a table of good squyeris.
Lo, soñ, y haue shewid the aftur my symple wytte
euery state aftir þeire degre, to þy knowleche y shalle commytte,
and how þey shalle be serued, y shalle shew the ȝett,
in what place aftur þeire dignyte how þey owght to sytte:
|
Thestate of a | Pope, Emperowre / kynge or cardynalle, Prynce with goldyñ rodde Royalle, Archebischoppe / vsyñg to were þe palle, [1048] Duke / alle þese of dygnyte owȝt not kepe þe halle. | I. Pope, King, Prince, Archbishop and Duke. |
Bisshoppes, Merques, vicount, Erle goodly,
May sytte at .ij. messeȝ yf þey be lovyngely.
þe meyre of londoñ, & a baroñ, an abbot myterly,
the iij. chef Iusticeȝ, þe spekere of þe parlement, propurly
alle these Estates ar gret and honorable,
þey may sitte in Chambur or halle at a table,
.ij. or els iij. at a messe / ȝeff þey be greable:
þus may ye in youre office to euery mañ be plesable.
Of alle oþer estates to a messe / iij. or iiij. þus may ye sure,
And of alle estatis þat ar egalle with a knyght / digne & demure,
Off abbot & prioure sauncȝ mytur, of convent þey hañ cure;
Deane / Archedecoñ, mastur of þe rolles, aftur youre plesure,
Alle the vndirIusticeȝ and barounes of þe kynges Eschekiere,
a provincialle / a doctoure devine / or boþe lawes, þus yow lere,
A prothonotur apertli, or þe popis collectoure, if he be there,
Also þe meyre of þe stapulle / In like purpose þer may appere.
Of alle oþur estates to a messe ye may sette foure / & foure,
as suche persones as ar peregalle to a squyere of honoure:
Sargeaundes of lawe / & hym̅ þat hath byñ meyre of londoñ aforne,
and þe mastyrs of þe chauncery, þey may not be forborne.
Alle prechers / residencers / and persones þat ar greable,
Apprentise of lawe In courtis pletable,
Marchaundes & Frankloñȝ, worshipfulle & honorable,
þey may be set semely at a squyers table.
These worthy Estates a-foreseid / high of renowne,
Vche Estate syngulerly in halle shalle sit a-downe,
that none of hem se othure / at mete tyme in feld nor in towne,
but vche of þem̅ self in Chambur or in pavilowne.
Yeff þe bischoppe of þe provynce of Caunturbury
be in þe presence of the archebischoppe of yorke reuerently,
þeire seruice shalle be kouered / vche bisshoppe syngulerly,
and in þe presence of þe metropolytane none oþer sicurly.
yeff bischopps of yorke provynce be fortune be syttynge
In þe presence of þe primate of Englond þañ beynge,
þey must be couered in alle þeyre seruynge,
and not in presence of þe bischoppe of yorke þere apperynge.
Now, soñ, y perceue þat for dyuerse cawses / as welle as for ignoraunce,
a merchalle is put oft tymes in gret comberaunce
For som lordes þat ar of blod royalle / & litelle of lyvelode per chaunce,
and some of gret lyvelode / & no blode royalle to avaunce;
And som knyght is weddid / to a lady of royalle blode,
and a poore lady to blod ryalle, manfulle & myghty of mode:
þe lady of blod royalle shalle kepe þe state / þat she afore in stode,
the lady of low blode & degre / kepe her lordis estate, y make hit good.
The substaunce of lyvelode is not so digne / as is blode royalle,
Þerfore blode royalle opteyneth þe souereynte in chambur & in halle,
For blode royalle somtyme tiȝt to be kynge in palle;
of þe whiche matere y meve no more: let god gouerne alle!
There as pope or cardynalle in þeire estate beynge,
þat hañ fadur & modur by theire dayes lyvynge,
þeire fadur or modir ne may in any wise be presumynge
to be egalle with theire soñ standynge ne sittynge:
Therfore fadir ne moder / þey owe not to desire
to sytte or stond by þeyre son / his state wille hit not require,
but by þem self / a chambur assigned for them sure,
Vn-to whom vche office ought gladly to do plesure.
To the birthe of vche estate a mershalle must se,
and þeñ next of his lyne / for þeyre dignyte;
þen folowynge, to officers afftere þeire degre,
As chauncelere, Steward / Chamburleyñ / tresorere if he be:
More ouer take hede he must / to aliene / commers straungeres,
and to straungers of þis land, resi[d]ent dwelleres,
and exalte þem to honoure / if þe be of honest maneres;
þeñ alle oþer aftur þeire degre / like as cace requeres.
In a manerable mershalle þe connynge is moost commendable
to haue a fore sight to straungers, to sett þem at þe table;
For if þey haue gentille chere / & gydynge manerable,
þe mershalle doth his souereyñ honoure / & he þe more lawdable.
¶ Ȝeff þow be a mershalle to any lord of þis land,
yff þe kynge send to þy souereyñ eny his seruand by sand,
|
[Yeff] he be a |
knyght Squyere yomañ of þe crowñ grome page Childe | receve hym as a |
barouñ honorand knyght with hand Squyere yemañ in manere grome goodly in fere grome gentille lernere. | receive him one degree higher than his rank. |
¶ hit rebuketh not a knyght / þe knyges grome to sytte at his table,
no more hit dothe a mershalle of maners plesable;
and so from̅ þe hiest degre / to be lowest honorable,
if þe mershalle haue a sight þerto, he is commendable.
¶ Wisdom wolle a mershalle manerabely þat he vndirstand
alle þe worshipfulle officers of the comunialte of þis land,
of Shires / Citees / borowes; like as þey ar ruland,
þey must be sett aftur þeire astate dewe in degre as þey stand.
[ ¶ hit belongethe to a mershalle to haue a fore sight]
of alle estatis of þis land in euery place pight,
For þestate of a knyght of blode, lyvelode, & myght,
is not peregalle to a symple & a poouere knyght.
¶ Also þe meyre of londoñ, notable of dignyte,
and of queneborow[269] þe meire, no þynge like in degre,
at one messe þey owght in no wise to sitt ne be;
hit no þynge besemethe / þerfore to suche semble ye se /
¶ Also þe abbote of Westmynstere, þe hiest of þis lande /
The abbot of tynterne[270] þe poorest, y vndirstande,
þey ar boþe abbotes of name, & not lyke of fame to fande;
ȝet Tynterne with Westmynster shalle nowþer sitte ne stande.
¶ Also þe Pryoure of Caunturbury,[271] a cheff churche of dignyte,
And þe prioure of Dudley,[272] no þynge so digne as he:—
ȝet may not þe prioure of dudley, symple of degre,
Sitte with þe prioure of Caunturbury: þer is why, a dyuersite.
¶ And remembre euermore / añ rule þer is generalle:
A prioure þat is a prelate of any churche Cathedralle,
above abbot or prioure with-in the diocise sitte he shalle,
In churche / in chapelle / in chambur / & in halle.
¶ Right so reuerend docturs, degre of xij. yere, þem ye must assigne
to sitte aboue hym / þat commensed hath but .ix.
and þaughe þe yonger may larger spend gold red & fyne,
ȝet shalle þe eldur sitte aboue / wheþur he drynke or dyne.
¶ like wise the aldremen, ȝef þey be eny where,
þe yongere shalle sitte or stande benethe þe elder riȝt þere;
and of euery crafft þe mastir aftur rule & manere,
and þeñ þe eldest of þem, þat wardeñ was þe fore yere.
¶ Soche poyntes, with many oþer, belongethe to a mershall;
þerfore whensoeuer youre sovereyñ a feest make shall,
demeene what estates shalle sitte in the hall,
þañ resoñ with youre self lest youre lord yow calle;
¶ Thus may ye devise youre marshallynge, like as y yow lere,
þe honoure and worshippe of youre souereyñ euery where;
And ȝeff ye haue eny dowt / euer looke þat ye enquere,
Resorte euer to youre souereyne / or to þe cheff officere;
¶ Thus shalle ye to any state / do wronge ne preiudice,
to sette euery persone accordynge with-owteñ mys,
as aftur þe birthe / livelode / dignite / a-fore y taught yow this,
alle degrees of highe officere, & worthy as he is.
[¶ Now good soñ], y haue shewed the / & brought þe in vre,
to know þe Curtesie of court / & these þow may take in cure,
In pantry / botery / or cellere / & in kervynge a-fore a sovereyne demewre,
A sewer / or a mershalle: in þes science / y suppose ye byñ sewre,
¶ Which in my dayes y lernyd withe a prynce fulle royalle,
with whom̅ vschere in chambur was y, & mershalle also in halle,
vnto whom̅ alle þese officeres foreseid / þey euer entende shalle,
Evir to fulfille my commaundement wheñ þat y to þem calle:
For we may allow & dissalow / oure office is þe cheeff
In cellere & spicery / & the Cooke, be he loothe or leeff.[273]
¶ Thus þe diligences of dyuerse officeȝ y haue shewed to þe allone,
the which science may be shewed & dooñ by a syngeler[274] persone;
but þe dignyte of a prince requirethe vche office must haue ooñ
to be rewlere in his rome / a seruand hym̅ waytynge oñ.
¶ Moore-ouer hit requirethe euerich of þem in office to haue perfite science,
For dowt and drede doynge his souereyñ displicence,
hym to attende, and his gestis to plese in place where þey ar presence,
that his souereyñ þroughe his seruice may make grete congaudence.
¶ For a prynce to serue, ne dowt he not / and god be his spede!
Furþer þañ his office / & þer-to let hym̅ take good hede,
and his warde wayte wisely // & euermore þer-in haue drede;
Þus doynge his dewte dewly, to dowte he shalle not nede.
¶ Tastynge and credence[275] longethe to blode & birth royalle,[276]
As pope / emperoure / Emperatrice, and Cardynalle,
kynge / queene / prynce / Archebischoppe in palle,
Duke / Erle and no mo / þat y to remembraunce / calle.
¶ Credence is vsed, & tastynge, for drede of poysenynge,
To alle officers y-sworne / and grete othe by chargynge;
þerfore vche mañ in office kepe his rome sewre, closynge
Cloos howse / chest / & gardevyañ[277], for drede of congettynge.
¶ Steward and Chamburlayñ of a prince of royalte,
þey haue / knowleche of homages, seruice, and fewte;
so þey haue ouersight of euery office / aftur þeire degre,
by wrytynge þe knowleche / & þe Credence to ouerse;
¶ Therfore in makynge of his credence, it is to drede, y sey,
To mershalle / sewere[278] and kervere þey must allowte allwey,
to teche hym̅ of his office / þe credence hym to prey:
þus shalle he not stond in makynge of his credence in no fray.
[ ¶ Moore of þis connynge y Cast not me to contreve:]
my tyme is not to tary, hit drawest fast to eve.
þis tretyse þat y haue entitled, if it ye entende to preve,
y assayed me self in youthe with-outeñ any greve.
while y was yonge y-noughe & lusty in dede,
y enioyed þese maters foreseid / & to lerne y toke good hede;
but croked age hathe compelled me / & leue court y must nede.
þerfore, sone, assay thy self / & god shalle be þy spede.”
“Now feire falle yow, fadur / & blessid mote ye be,
For þis comenynge / & þe connynge / þat y[e] haue here shewed me!
now dar y do seruice diligent / to dyuers of dignyte,
where for scantnes of connynge y durst no mañ y-se.
So perfitely sethe y hit perceue / my parte y wolle preue and assay; /
boþe by practike and exercise / yet som good lerne y may:
and for youre gentille lernynge / y am bound euer to pray
that oure lorde rewarde you in blis that lasteth aye.”
“Now good soñ, thy self with other þat shalle þe succede,
whiche þus boke of nurture shalle note / lerne, & ouer rede,
pray for the sowle of Iohñ Russelle, þat god do hym mede,
Som tyme seruaunde with duke vmfrey, duc of Glowcetur in dede.
For þat prynce pereles prayethe / & for suche other mo,
þe sowle of my wife / my fadur and modir also,
vn-to Mary modyr and mayd / she fende us from owre foe,
and brynge vs alle to blis wheñ we shalle hens goo.
AMEN.”
[Go forthe lytelle boke], and lowly þow me commende
vnto alle yonge gentilmeñ / þat lust to lerne or entende,
and specially to þem þat han exsperience, praynge þe[m] to amende
and correcte þat is amysse, þere as y fawte or offende.
¶ And if so þat any be founde / as þrouȝ myñ necligence,
Cast þe cawse oñ my copy / rude / & bare of eloquence,
whiche to drawe out [I] haue do my besy diligence,
redily to reforme hit / by resoñ and bettur sentence.
¶ As for ryme or resoñ, þe forewryter was not to blame,
For as he founde hit aforne hym̅, so wrote he þe same,
and þaughe he or y in oure matere digres or degrade,
blame neithur of vs / For we neuyre hit made;
¶ Symple as y had insight / somwhat þe ryme y correcte;
blame y cowde no mañ / y haue no persone suspecte.
Now, good god, graunt vs grace / oure sowles neuer to Infecte!
þañ may we regne in þi regioun / eternally with thyne electe.
[Some word or words in large black letter have been cut off at the bottom of the page.]
[NOTES.]
Numbering of linenotes does not always correspond exactly to a word’s place in the main text. References that are off by only a line or two have not been corrected.
[l. 11-12.] John Russell lets off his won’t-learns very easily. Willyam Bulleyn had a different treatment for them. See the extract from him on [“Boxyng & Neckweede”] after these Notes.
[l. 49.] See the interesting “Lord Fairfax’s Orders for the Servants of his Houshold” [after the Civil Wars], in Bishop Percy’s notes to the Northumberland Household Book, p. 421-4, ed. 1827.
[l. 51.] Chip. ‘other .ij. pages ... them oweth to chippe bredde, but not too nye the crumme.’ H. Ord. p. 71-2. The “Chippings of Trencher-Brede” in Lord Percy’s household were used “for the fedyinge of my lords houndis.” Percy H. Book, p. 353.
“Non comedas crustam, colorem quia gignit adustam ... the Authour in this Text warneth vs, to beware of crusts eating, because they ingender a-dust cholor, or melancholly humours, by reason that they bee burned and dry. And therefore great estates the which be [orig. the] chollerick of nature, cause the crustes aboue and beneath to be chipped away; wherfore the pith or crumme should be chosen, the which is of a greater nourishment then the crust.” Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, ed. 1634, p. 71. Fr. chapplis, bread-chippings. Cotgrave. [Corrigenda]
[l. 52.] Trencher. The College servant ‘Scrape Trencher,’ R. Holme, Bk. III., Chap. iv., p. 099 [199], notes the change of material from bread to wood. [Corrigenda]
[l. 56.] Trencher bread. Item that the Trencher Brede be maid of the Meale as it cummyth frome the Milne. Percy Household Book, p. 58.
[l. 66.] Cannell, a Spout, a tap, a cocke in a conduit. Epistomium. Vne canelle, vn robinet. Baret.
[l. 68.] Faucet. Also he [the yeoman of the Butler of Ale] asketh allowaunce for tubbys, treyes, and faucettes, occupied all the yeare before. H. Ord. p. 77.
[l. 74.] Figs. A. Borde, Introduction, assigns the gathering of figs to “the Mores whych do dwel in Barbary,” ... “and christen men do by them, & they wil be diligent and wyl do al maner of seruice, but they be set most comonli to vile things; they be called slaues, thei do gader grapes and fygges, and with some of the fygges they wyl wip ther tayle, & put them in the frayle.” Figs he mentions under Judæa. “Iury is called ye lande of Iude, it is a noble countre of ryches, plenty of wine & corne ... Figges and Raysions, & all other frutes.” In his Regyment, fol. M. iii., Borde says of ‘Fygges ... They doth stere a man to veneryous actes, for they doth auge and increase the seede of generacion. And also they doth prouoke a man to sweate: wherfore they doth ingendre lyce.’
[ll. 74-95.] Chese. ‘there is iiij. sortes of Chese, which is to say, grene Chese, softe chese, harde chese, or spermyse. Grene chese is not called grene by ye reason of colour, but for ye newnes of it, for the whay is not half pressed out of it, and in operacion it is colde and moyste. Softe chese not to new nor to olde, is best, for in operacion it is hote and moyste.
Harde chese is hote and drye, and euyll to dygest. Spermyse is a Chese the whiche is made with curdes and with the Iuce of herbes.... Yet besydes these .iiij natures of chese, there is a chese called a Irweue [rewene, ed. 1567] chese, the whiche, if it be well ordered, doth passe all other cheses, none excesse taken.’ A. Borde, Reg. fol. I. i. See [note on l. 85].
[l. 77.] In his chapter Of Prunes and Damysens, Andrew Borde says, Syxe or seuen Damysens eaten before dyner, be good to prouoke a mannes appetyde; they doth mollyfie the bely, and be abstersyue, the skynne and the stones must be ablated and cast away, and not vsed. Regyment, N. i. b. [Corrigenda]
[l. 78], [83]. The Bill-berry or Windberry, R. Holme, Bk. II., p. 52, col. 1; p. 79, col. 1; three Wharl Berries or Bill-Berries ... They are termed Whortle Berries or Wind Berries, p. 81, col. 2. § xxviii. See the prose Burlesques, Reliq. Antiq., v. 1, p. 82. Why hopes thu nott for sothe that ther stode wonus a coke on Seynt Pale stepull toppe, and drewe up the strapuls of his brech. How preves thu that? Be all the .iiij. doctors of Wynbere hylles, that is to saye, Vertas, Gadatryme, Trumpas, and Dadyltrymsert.
[l. 79.] Fruits. These officers make provysyons in seasons of the yere accordynge for fruytes to be had of the Kinges gardynes withoute prises; as cherryes, peares, apples, nuttes greete and smalle, for somer season; and lenten, wardens, quinces and other; and also of presentes gevyn to the Kinge; they be pourveyours of blaundrelles, pepyns, and of all other fruytes. H. Ord. p. 82.
[l. 80.] Mr Dawson Turner’s argument that the “ad album pulverem” of the Leicester Roll, A.D. 1265, was white sugar pounded (Pref. to Household Expenses, ed. 1841, p. li., proves only that the xiiij lib. Zucari there mentioned, were not bought for making White powder only.
[ll. 81-93.] Crayme. ‘Rawe crayme undecocted, eaten with strawberyes, or hurttes, is a rurall mannes banket. I haue knowen such bankettes hath put men in ieobardy of theyr lyues.’ A. Borde, Regyment, fol. I. ij.
[l. 82], [l. 93]. Junket. The auncient manner of grateful suitors, who, hauing prevailed, were woont to present the Judges, or the Reporters, of their causes, with Comfets or other Jonkets. Cotgrave, w. espice.
[l. 85.] Cheese. Whan stone pottes be broken, what is better to glew them againe or make them fast, nothing like the Symunt made of Cheese; know therfore it will quickly build a stone in a drie body, which is ful of choler adust. And here in Englande be diuers kindes of Cheeses, as Suff. Essex, Banburie .&c. according to their places & feeding of their cattel, time of ye yere, layre of their Kine, clenlinesse of their Dayres, quantitie of their Butter; for the more Butter, the worse Cheese. Bullein, fol. lxxxv.
[l. 89.] Butter. A. Borde, Introduction, makes the Flemynge say,
Buttermouth Flemyng, men doth me call.
Butter is good meate, it doth relent the gall.
[l. 94.] Posset is hot Milk poured on Ale or Sack, having Sugar, grated Bisket, Eggs, with other ingredients boiled in it, which goes all to a Curd. R. Holme.
[l. 94.] Poset ale is made with hote mylke and colde ale; it is a temperate drynke. A. Borde, Reg. G. iij.
[Note on line 52] was originally printed here, labeled “[l. 98]”.
[l. 105.] Hot wines & sweet or confectioned with spices, or very strong Ale or Beere, is not good at meales, for thereby the meat is rather corrupted then digested, and they make hot and stinking vapours to ascend vp to the braines. Sir Jn. Harrington. Pres. of Health, 1624, p. 23.
[l. 109.] Reboyle. ‘If any wynes be corrupted, reboyled, or unwholsome for mannys body, then by the comtroller it to be shewed at the counting bourde, so that by assent all suche pypes or vesselles defectife be dampned and cast uppon the losses of the seyd chiefe Butler.’ H. Ord. p. 73.
[l. 109.] Lete, leek. ‘Purveyours of Wyne ... to ride and oversee the places there as the Kinges wynes be lodged, that it be saufely kept from peril of leeking and breaking of vessels, or lacke of hoopinge or other couperage, and all other crafte for the rackinge, coynynge, rebatinge, and other salvations of wynes, &c.’ H. Ord. p. 74.
[ SWETE WYNES], p. 8, [l. 118-20].*
Halliwell gives under Piment the following list of wines from MS. Rawlinson. C. 86.
Malmasyes, Tires, and Rumneys,
With Caperikis, Campletes†, and Osueys,
Vernuge, Cute, and Raspays also,
Whippet and Pyngmedo, that that ben lawyers therto;
And I will have also wyne de Ryne,
With new maid Clarye, that is good and fyne,
Muscadell, Terantyne, and Bastard,
With Ypocras and Pyment comyng afterwarde.
MS. Rawl. C. 86.
And under Malvesyne this:
Ye shall have Spayneche wyne and Gascoyne,
Rose coloure, whyt, claret, rampyon,
Tyre, capryck, and malvesyne,
Sak, raspyce, alycaunt, rumney,
Greke, ipocrase, new made clary,
Suche as ye never had.
Interlude of the Four Elements (no date).
* See Maison Rustique or The Country Farme, p. 630-1, as to the qualities of Sweet Wines.
† See [Campolet] in “The Boke of Keruyng.”
Of the wine drunk in England in Elizabeth’s time, Harrison (Holinshed’s Chron. v. 1, p. 167, col. 2, ed. 1586) says, “As all estates doo exceed herin, I meane for strangenesse and number of costlie dishes, so these forget not to vse the like excesse in wine, in so much as there is no kind to be had (neither anie where more store of all sorts than in England, although we have none growing with us, but yearlie to the proportion of 20,000 or 30,000 tun and vpwards, notwithstanding the dailie restreincts of the same brought over vnto vs) wherof at great meetings there is not some store to be had. Neither do I meane this of small wines onlie, as Claret, White, Red, French,
&c., which amount to about fiftie-six sorts, according to the number of regions from whence they come: but also of the thirtie kinds of Italian, Grecian, Spanish, Canarian, &c., whereof Vernage, Cate, pument, Raspis, Muscadell, Romnie, Bastard, Tire, Oseie, Caprike, Clareie, and Malmesie, are not least of all accompted of, bicause of their strength and valure. For as I haue said in meat, so the stronger the wine is, the more it is desired, by means wherof in old time, the best was called Theologicum, because it was had from the cleargie and religious men, vnto whose houses manie of the laitie would often send for bottels filled with the same, being sure that they would neither drinke nor be serued of the worst, or such as was anie waies mingled or brued by the vintener: naie the merchant would haue thought that his soule should haue gone streight-waie to the diuell, if he should haue serued them with other than the best.”
On Wine, see also Royal Rolls, B.M. 14 B. xix.
[ β. Specially:] The following extracts are from Henderson’s History of Ancient and Modern Wines, 1824, except where otherwise stated:—
[1.] Vernage was a red wine, of a bright colour, and a sweetish and somewhat rough flavour, which was grown in Tuscany and other parts of Italy, and derived its name from the thick-skinned grape, vernaccia (corresponding with the vinaciola of the ancients), that was used in the preparation of it (See Bacci. Nat. Vinor. Hist., p. 20, 62). It is highly praised by Redi.*
* Vernage was made in the Genoese territory. The best was grown at San Gemignano, and in Bacci’s time was in great request at Rome. The wine known as Vernaccia in Tuscany was always of a white or golden colour. Henderson, p. 396.
[2.] Vernagelle is not mentioned by Henderson. The name shows it to have been a variety of Vernage.
[3.] [l. 118.] Cute. “As for the cuit named in Latin Sapa, it commeth neere to the nature of wine, and in truth nothing els it is, but Must or new wine boiled til one third part and no more do remain; & this cuit, if it be made of white Must is counted the better.” Holland’s Plinies Nat. Hist., p. 157. “(of the dried grape or raisin which they call Astaphis).... The sweet cuit which is made thereof hath a speciall power and virtue against the Hæmorrhois alone, of all other serpents,” p. 148. “Of new pressed wine is made the wine called Cute, in Latin, Sapa; and it is by boiling the new pressed wine so long, as till that there remaine but one of three parts. Of new pressed wine is also made another Cute, called of the Latines Defrutum, and this is by boiling of the new wine onely so long, as till the halfe part be consumed, and the rest become of the thicknesse of honey.” Maison Rustique, p. 622. ‘Cute. A.S. Cæren, L. carenum, wine boiled down one-third, and sweetened.’ Cockayne, Gloss. to Leechdoms.
[4.] Pyment. In order to cover the harshness and acidity common to the greater part of the wines of this period, and to give them an agreeable flavour, it was not unusual to mix honey and spices with them. Thus compounded they passed under the generic name of piments,† probably because they were
originally prepared by the pigmentarii or apothecaries; and they were used much in the same manner as the liqueurs of modern times. Hend. p. 283.
† See the recipe for making Piment in Halliwell’s Dictionary, s.v.
The varieties of Piment most frequently mentioned are the
Hippocras & Clarry. The former was made with either white or red wine, in which different aromatic ingredients were infused; and took its name from the particular sort of bag, termed Hippocrates’s Sleeve, through which it was strained.... Clarry, on the other hand, which (with wine of Osey) we have seen noticed in the Act 5 Richard II. (St. 1, c. 4, vin doulce, ou clarre), was a claret or mixed wine, mingled with honey, and seasoned in much the same way, as may be inferred from an order of the 36th of Henry III. respecting the delivery of two casks of white wine and one of red, to make Clarry and other liquors for the king’s table at York (duo dolia albi vini et garhiofilacum et unum dolium rubri vini ad claretum faciendum). Henderson, p. 284. Hippocras, vinum Aromaticum. Withals. “Artificiall stuffe, as ypocras & wormewood wine.” Harrison, Descr. Brit., p. 167, col. 2, ed. 1586.
[ 5.] Raspice. “Vin Rapé,” says Henderson, p. 286, note y, “a rough sweetish red wine, so called from its being made with unbruised grapes, which, having been freed from the stalks, are afterwards fermented along with them and a portion of other wine.”* Ducange has Raspice. Raspaticium, Ex racemis vinum, cujus præparationem tradit J. Wecker. Antidot. special. lib. 2, § 6, page 518 et 519. Paratur autem illud ex raspatiis et vinaceis, una cum uvis musto immissis. Raspatia itaque sunt, quæ Varroni et Columellæ scopi, scopiones, si bene legitur; unde nostrum Raste. Ducange, ed. 1845. Raspecia ...Sed ex relato longiori contextu palam est, Raspeciam nihil aliud esse quam vinum mixtis acinis aliisve modis renovatum, nostris vulgo Râpé; hujuscemodi enim vinum alterationi minus obnoxium est, ut hic dicitur de Raspecia. Vide mox Raspetum, Vinum recentatum, Gallis Raspé. Charta Henrici Ducis Brabantiæ pro Communia Bruxellensi ann. 1229: Qui vinum supra uvas habuerit, quod Raspetum vocatur, in tavernis ipsum vendere non potest. Vide Recentatum. Ducange, ed. 1845.
* Besides this meaning of rapé (same as raspé), Cotgrave gives first “A verie small wine comming of water cast uppon the mother of grapes which have been pressed!”
The highly-praised Raspatum of Baccius, p. 30-2, of which, after quoting what Pliny says of secondary wines, he declares, “id primùm animaduerti volumus à nostra posteritate, quod Lora Latinorum, quam deuterium cum Græcis, et secundarium Vinum dixit Plinius, δευτερία, seu ποτιμὸν Dioscorides, quodque τρυγὸν vocauit Galenus, cum Aquatis quibus hodie vtimur in tota Italia, & cum nouo genere, quod à delectabili in gustu asperitate, Rasputum vocat; similem omnes hæ Voces habent significantiam factitii .s. ex aqua Vini. p. 30. Quod uini genus in Italia, ubi alterius uini copia non sit, parari simpliciter consuevit colore splendido rubentis purpuræ, sapore austero, ac dulcacido primis mensibus mox tamen exolescente, p. 31-2, &c.” Raspice was also a name for Raspberries. Item, geuene to my lady Kingstone seruaunte bringing Strawberes and Respeces to my ladys grace xij d. Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, p. 31; and in his Glossary to this
book Sir F. Madden says, ‘In a closet for Ladies 12mo. London, 1654, is a receipt “To preserve Raspices,” and they are elsewhere called “Raspisberries.” See “Delights for Ladies,” 12mo. 1654.’
[6.] Muscadelle of Grew: Bastard: Greke: Malvesyn. “The wines which Greece, Languedoc, and Sapine doe send vs, or rather, which the delicacie and voluptuousnesse of our French throats cause to be fetched from beyond the Sea, such as are Sacks, Muscadels of Frontignan, Malmesies, Bastards (which seeme to me to be so called, because they are oftentimes adulterated and falsified with honey, as we see wine Hydromell to be prepared) and Corsick wines, so much vsed of the Romanes, are very pernicious unto vs, if we vse them as our common drinke. Notwithstanding, we proue them very singular good in cold diseases ... but chiefly and principally Malmesey.” Stevens and Liebault’s Maison Rustique, or The Countrey Farme, by R. Surflet, reviewed by Gerv. Markham, 1616. Muscadell, vinum apianum. Withals. Mulsum, wine and honie sodden together, swiete wine, basterde or Muscadell. Withals. William Vaughan says, “Of Muscadell, Malmesie, and browne Bastard. These kindes of wines are onely for maried folkes, because they strengthen the back.” Naturall and Artificial Directions for Health, 1602, p. 9.
Andrewe Borde, of Physicke, Doctor, in his Regyment or Dyetary of helth made in Mountpylior, says, “Also these hote wynes, as Malmesey, wyne corse, wyne greke, Romanyke, Romney, Secke, Alygaune, Basterde, Tyre, Osaye, Muscadell, Caprycke, Tynt, Roberdany, with other hote wynes, be not good to drynke with meate, but after mete and with Oysters, with Saledes, with fruyte, a draughte or two may be suffered ... Olde men may drynke, as I sayde, hygh wynes at theyr pleasure. Furthermore all swete wynes, and grose wynes, doth make a man fatte.”
[7.] Rompney. Henderson, p. 288, says, “Another of the above-mentioned wines (in the Squire of Low Degree) designated by the name of the grape, was the Romenay, otherwise Romenay, Rumney, Romaine, or Romagnia. That it could not be the produce of the Ecclesiastical State, as the two last corruptions of the word would seem to imply, may be safely averred; for at no period, since the decline of the empire, has the Roman soil furnished any wines for exportation; and even Bacci, with all his partiality, is obliged to found his eulogy of them on their ancient fame, and to confess that, in his time, they had fallen into disrepute.” He argues also against the notion that this wine came from Romana in Aragon, and concludes that it was probably a Greek wine, as Bacci (Nat. Vin. Hist. p. 333) tells us that the wine from the Ioinan Islands and adjoining continent was called in Italian Romania,—from the Saracen Rum-ili. Now this is all very well, but how about the name of Rompney of Modene or Modena, just outside the Western boundary of the Romagna,—not Meudon, in France, “amongst all the wines which we use at Paris, as concerning the red, the best are those of Coussy, Seure, Vaunes, and Meudon.” Maison Rustique, p. 642.—Who will hold to John Russell, and still consider Romney an Italian wine? Rumney, vinum resinatum. Withals.
[8.] Bastard. Henderson argues against the above-quoted (No. 6) supposition of Charles Etienne’s (which is supported by Cotgrave’s Vin miellé, honied wine, bastard, Metheglin, sweet wine), and adopts Venner’s account (Via Recta ad Vitam Longam), that “Bastard is in virtue somewhat like to muskadell, and may also in stead thereof be used; it is in goodness so much inferiour to muskadell, as the same is to malmsey.” It took its name, Henderson thinks, from the grape of which it was made, probably a bastard species of muscadine. “One of the varieties of vines now cultivated in the Alto Douro, and also in Madeira, is called bastardo, and the must which it yields is of a sweetish quality.” Of the Bastard wine there were two sorts,—white and brown (brown and white bastard, Measure for Measure, Act iii. sc. 2), both of them, according to Markham’s report, “fat and strong; the tawny or brown kind being the sweetest.” In The Libelle of Englysch Polycye, A.D. 1436 (Wright’s Political Songs, v. 2, p. 160), ‘wyne bastarde’ is put among the commodyetees of Spayne.
[9.] Tire, if not of Syrian growth, was probably a Calabrian or Sicilian wine, manufactured from the species of grape called tirio. Tyre, vinum Tyrense, ex Tyro insula. Withals.
[10.] Ozey. Though this is placed among the “commodities of Portugal” in some verses inserted in the first volume of Hackluyt’s Voyages, p. 188—Her land hath wine, osey, waxe, and grain,—yet, says Henderson, “a passage in Valois’ Description of France, p. 12, seems to prove, beyond dispute, that oseye was an Alsatian wine; Auxois or Osay being, in old times, the name constantly used for Alsace. If this conjecture is well-founded, we may presume that oseye was a luscious-sweet, or straw-wine, similar to that which is still made in that province. That it was a rich, high-flavoured liquor is sufficiently shown by a receipt for imitating it, which may be seen in Markham (English Housewife, 1683, p, 115), and we learn from Bacci p. 350) that the wines which Alsace then furnished in great profusion to England as well as different parts of the continent, were of that description. In the ‘Bataille des Vins’ we find the ‘Vin d’Aussai’ associated with the growths of the Moselle.” Osey is one ‘Of the commoditees of Portingalle,’ Libelle, p. 163.
[11.] Torrentyne of Ebrew. Is this from Tarentum, Tarragon, or Toledo? Whence in Ebrew land did our forefathers import wine? Mr G. Grove says, “I should at first say that Torrentyne referred to the wine from some wady (Vulgate, torrens) in which peculiarly rich grapes grew, like the wady of Eschcol or of Sorek; but I don’t remember any special valley being thus distinguished as ‘The Torrent’ above all others, and the vineyards are usually on hill-sides, not in vallies.”
[12.] Greke Malevesyñ. “The best dessert wines were made from the Malvasia grape; and Candia, where it was chiefly cultivated, for a long time retained the monopoly,” says Henderson. He quotes Martin Leake to explain the name. Monemvasia is a small fortified town in the bay of Epidaurus Limera. “It was anciently a promontory called Minoa, but is now an island connected with the coast of Laconia by a bridge. The name of
Monemvasia, derived from the circumstances of its position (μόνη ἐμβασία, single entrance), was corrupted by the Italians to Malvasia; and the place being celebrated for the fine wines produced in the neighbourhood, Malvasia changed to Malvoisie in French, and Malmsey in English came to be applied to many of the rich wines of the Archipelago, Greece, and other countries.” (Researches in Greece, p. 197.) Maulmsey, vinum creticum, vel creteum. Withals.
[13.] Caprik may have been a wine from the island of Capri, or Cyprus.
[14.] Clarey. See above under [Pyment], and the elaborate recipe for making it, in Household Ordinances, p. 473, under the heading “Medicina optima et experta pro Stomacho et pro Capite in Antiquo hominem.” Claret Wine, vinum sanguineum subrubrum, vel rubellum. Withals. “The seconde wine is pure Claret, of a cleare Iacent, or Yelow choler; this wine doth greatly norish and warme the body, and it is an holsome wine with meate.” Bullein, fol. xj.
[l. 122.] Spice; [l. 171.] Spicery. Of “The commoditees and nyoetees of Venicyans and Florentynes,” the author of the Libelle says, p. 171,
The grete galees of Venees and Florence
Be wel ladene wyth thynges of complacence,
Alle spicerye and of grocers ware,
Wyth swete wynes, alle maners of cheffare,
Apes, and japes, and marmusettes taylede,
Nifles, trifles, that litelle have availede,
And thynges wyth which they fetely blere oure eye,
Wyth thynges not enduryng that we bye.
[l. 123.] Turnsole. Newton’s Herbal, plate 49, gives Yellow Turnsole G(erarde), the Colouring Turnsole P(arkinson).
[l. 123.] Tornesole. Achillea tormentosa, A.S. Solwherf. ‘This wort hath with it some wonderful divine qualities, that is, that its blossoms turn themselves according to the course of the sun, so that the blossoms when the sun is setting close themselves, and again when he upgoeth, they open and spread themselves.’ Leechdoms, ed. Cockayne, v. 1, p. 155.
[l. 123], [141.] Granes are probably what are now called “Granes of Paradise,” small pungent seeds brought from the East Indies, much resembling Cardamum seeds in appearance, but in properties approaching nearer to Pepper. See Lewis’s Materia Medica, p. 298; in North. H. Book.
[l. 131-2.] I cannot identify these three sorts of Ginger, though Gerarde says: “Ginger groweth in Spaine, Barbary, in the Canary Islands, and the Azores,” p. 6. Only two sorts of Ginger are mentioned in Parkinson’s Herbal, p. 1613. ‘Ginger grows in China, and is cultivated there.’ Strother’s Harman, 1727, v. 1, p. 101.
[l. 141.] Peper. “Pepir blake” is one of the commoditees of the Januays (or Genoese). Libelle, p. 172.
[Note on line 77] was originally printed here, labeled “[l. 177]”.
[l. 178.] Ale. See the praise of the unparalleled liquor called Ale, Metheglin, &c., in Iohn Taylor’s Drink and Welcome, 1637. In his Regiment, A. Borde says, “Ale is made of malte and water; and they the whiche do put any other thynge to ale than is rehersed, except yest, barme, or goddes good,*† doth sophysticall there ale. Ale for an Englysshe man is a naturall drynke. Ale muste haue these properties, it must be fresshe and cleare, it muste not be ropy, nor smoky, nor it muste haue no werte nor tayle. Ale shulde not be dronke under .v. dayes olde. Newe Ale is vnholsome for all men. And sowre ale, and dead ale, and ale the whiche doth stande a tylte, is good for no man. Barly malte maketh better Ale than Oten malte or any other corne doth: it doth ingendre grose humours: but it maketh a man stronge.
Beere is made of malte, of hoppes, and water. It is a naturall drynke for a doche man. And nowe of late dayes [1557 ?] it is moche vsed in England to the detryment of many Englysshe men; specyally it kylleth them the whiche be troubled with the Colycke and the stone, and the strayne coylyon; for the drynke is a cold drynke. Yet it doth make a man fatte, and doth inflate the belly, as it doth appere by the doche mennes faces and belyes.” A. Borde, Regyment, fol. G. ii.
* Halliwell says it means yeast. It cannot do so here.
† This, and barme, and bargood (= beer-good) are only equivalents for ‘yeast.’ Goddes-good was so called ‘because it cometh of the grete grace of God’: see the following extract, sent me by Mr Gillett, from the Book of the Corporate Assembly of Norwich, 8 Edw. IV.:
“The Maior of this Cite commaundeth on the Kynges bihalve, yt alle maner of Brewers yt shall brewe to sale wtynne this Cite, kepe ye assise accordyn to ye Statute, & upon peyne ordeyned. And wheras berme, otherwise clepid goddis good, wtoute tyme of mynde hath frely be goven or delyvered for brede, whete, malte, egges, or other honest rewarde, to ye valewe only of a ferthyng at ye uttermost, & noon warned, bicause it cometh of ye grete grace of God, Certeyn persons of this Cite, callyng themselves common Brewers, for their singler lucre & avayll have nowe newely bigonne to take money for their seid goddis good, for ye leest parte thereof, be it never so litle and insufficient to serve the payer therefore, an halfpeny or a peny, & ferthermore exaltyng ye price of ye seid Goddis good at their proper will, ageyns the olde & laudable custome of alle Englande, & specially of this Cite, to grete hurte & slaunder of ye same Cite. Wherefore it is ordeyned & provided, That no maner of brewer of this Cite shall from this time foorth take of eny person for lyvering, gevyng, or grauntyng of ye sd goddis good, in money nor other rewarde, above ye valewe of a ferthyng. He shall, for no malice feyned ne sought, colour, warne, ne restregne ye sd goddis good to eny persone yt will honestly & lefully aske it, & paye therefore ye valewe of a ferthyng, &c.” [Corrigenda]
[l. 194.] Neck-towel. The neck-towelles of the pantrey, ewerye, confectionarye, comters, hangers, liggers, and all that is the Kinges stuffe. H. Ord. p. 85.
[l. 201.] Salts. Other two groomes in this office [of Panetry] to help serve the hall, or other lordes, in absence of the yoman, and to cutte trenchours, to make saltes, &c. H. Ord., p. 71.
[l. 213.] Raynes. Towelles of raygnes, towelles of worke, and of playne clothe. H. Ord., pp. 72, 84.
[l. 237.] The Surnape. In the Articles ordained by King Henry VII. for the Regulation of his Household, 31 Dec., 1494, are the following directions, p. 119.
As for the Sewer and Usher, and laying of the Surnape.
The sewer shall lay the surnape on the board-end whereas the bread and salte standeth, and lay forth the end of the same surnape and towell; then the usher should fasten his rodd in the foresaid surnape and towell, and soe drawing it downe the board, doeing his reverence afore the Kinge till it passe the board-end a good way, and there the sewer kneeling at the end of the board, and the usher at the other, stretching the said surnape and towell, and soe the usher to laie upp the end of the towell well on the boarde, and rise goeing before the Kinge, doeing his reverence to the King on the same side the surnape bee gone uppon, and on that side make an estate with his rodd; and then goeing before the Kinge doeing his reverence, and soe make another estate on the other side of the King, and soe goeing to the boards end againe, kneele downe to amend the towell, that there bee noe wrinkles
save the estates; and then the usher doeing his due reverence to the King; goeing right before the Kinge with his rodd, the side of the same towell there as the bason shall stand; and doeing his reverence to the Kinge, to goe to the boards end againe; and when the King hath washed, to bee ready with his rodd to putt upp the surnape and meete the sewer against the Kinge, and then the sewer to take it upp. (The French name was Serre-nape.)
[l. 253.] State. Divers Lords and Astates, p. 155; divers astates and gentils, p. 160. Wardrobe Accounts of King Edward IV.
[l. 262.] The Pauntry Towells, Purpaynes, Coverpaynes, Chipping-knyffs. Percy or Northumberland Hd. Book, p. 387.
[l. 277.] Symple Condicions. Compare these modern directions to a serving man: “While waiting at dinner, never be picking your nose, or scratching your head, or any other part of your body; neither blow your nose in the room; if you have a cold, and cannot help doing it, do it on the outside of the door; but do not sound your nose like a trumpet, that all the house may hear when you blow it; still it is better to blow your nose when it requires, than to be picking it and snuffing up the mucus, which is a filthy trick. Do not yawn or gape, or even sneeze, if you can avoid it; and as to hawking and spitting, the name of such a thing is enough to forbid it, without a command. When you are standing behind a person, to be ready to change the plates, &c., do not put your hands on the back of the chair, as it is very improper; though I have seen some not only do so, but even beat a kind of tune upon it with their fingers. Instead of this, stand upright with your hands hanging down or before you, but not folded. Let your demeanour be such as becomes the situation which you are in. Be well dressed, and have light shoes that make no noise, your face and hands well washed, your finger-nails cut short and kept quite clean underneath; have a nail-brush for that purpose, as it is a disgusting thing to see black dirt under the nails. Let the lapels of your coat be buttoned, as they will only be flying in your way.” 1825. T. Cosnett. Footman’s Directory, p. 97-8. Lord A. Percy’s Waiters were changed every quarter. See the lists of them in the Percy Household Book, p. 53-4.
[l. 280.] Lice. See Thomas Phaire’s Regiment of Life, The boke of Chyldren, H. h. 5; and A. Borde’s Introduction, of the Irishe man,
Pediculus other whyle do byte me by the backe,
Wherfore dyvers times I make theyr bones cracke.
And of the people of Lytle Briten,
Although I iag my hosen & my garment round abowt,
Yet it is a vantage to pick pendiculus owt.
Line note “67/991”, originally printed here, has been renamed “l. 991” and moved to the [appropriate location].
[l. 300.] Jet.
Rogue why Winkest thou,
Jenny why Jettest thou.
are among R. Holme’s Names of Slates, Bk. III. ch. v. p. 265, col. 1.
[l. 328.] Forks were not introduced into England till Coryat’s time. See his Crudities p. 90-1, 4to. London, 1611, on the strange use of the Fork in Italy. “I observ’d a custom in all those Italian Cities and Townes through the which I passed, that is not used in any other country that I saw in my travels, neither do I thinke that any other nation of Christendome doth use it, but only Italy. The Italian and also most Strangers that are comorant in Italy, doe always at their meals use a Little Forke when they cut their meat.” Percy’s notes, p. 417-18, North. H. Book.
[l. 348-9.] Fumositees. But to wash the feete in a decoction of Baye leaues, Rosemary, & Fenel, I greatly disalow not: for it turneth away from the head vapours & fumes dimming and ouercasting the mynde. Now the better to represse fumes and propulse vapours from the Brain, it shalbe excellent good after Supper to chaw with the teeth (the mouth being shut) a few graynes of Coriander first stieped in veneiger wherin Maioram hath bin decocted, & then thinly crusted or couered ouer with Sugar. It is scarrce credible what a special commoditye this bringeth to ye memory. No lesse vertuous & soueraign is the confection of Conserue of Quinces. Quinces called Diacidonion, if a prety quantity thereof be likewise taken after meate. For it disperseth fumes, & suffreth not vapours to strike vpwarde, T. Newton, Lemnie’s Touchstone, ed. 1581, fol. 126. See [note on l. 105] here.
[l. 358.] Forced or Farced, a Forced Leg of Mutton, is to stuff or fill it (or any Fowl) with a minced Meat of Beef, Veal, &c., with Herbs and Spices. Farcing is stuffing of any kind of Meats with Herbs or the like; some write it Forsing and Farsing. To Farce is to stuff anything. R. Holme.
[l. 378.] Brawn. In his chapter on Pygge, Brawne, Bacon, Andrew Borde says of bacon as follows: “Bacon is good for Carters, and plowe men, the which be euer labouryng in the earth or dunge; but & yf they haue the stone, and vse to eate it, they shall synge ‘wo be to the pye!’ Wherefore I do say that coloppes and egges is as holsome for them as a talowe candell is good for a horse mouth, or a peece of powdred Beefe is good for a blere eyed mare. Yet sensuall appetyde must haue a swynge at all these thynges, notwithstandynge.” Regyment, fol. K. iii. b.
[l. 382] & [l. 515.]Venison. I extract part of Andrewe Borde’s chapter on this in his Regyment, fol. K. 4, b.
¶ Of wylde Beastes fleshe.
¶ I haue gone rounde about Chrystendome, and ouerthwarte Chrystendome, and a thousande or two and moore myles out of Chrystendome, Yet there is not so moche pleasure for Harte and Hynde, Bucke and Doe, and for Roo-Bucke and Doe, as is in Englande lande: and although the flesshe be dispraysed in physicke, I praye God to sende me parte of flesshe to eate, physicke notwithstanding . . all physicions (phyon suchons, orig.) sayth
that Venson . . doth ingendre colorycke humours; and of trueth it doth so: Wherefore let them take the skynne, and let me haue the flesshe. I am sure it is a Lordes dysshe, and I am sure it is good for an Englysheman, for it doth anymate hym to be as he is: whiche is stronge and hardy. But I do aduertyse euery man, for all my wordes, not to kyll and so to eate of it, excepte it be lawfully, for it is a meate for great men. And great men do not set so moche by the meate, as they doth by the pastyme of kyllynge of it.
[l. 393.] Chine, the Back-bone of any Beast or Fish. R. Holme.
[l. 397.] Stock Dove, Columba œnas, Yarrell ii. 293.
Doues haue this propertie by themselues, to bill one another and kisse before they tread. Holland’s Plinie, v. 1, p. 300.
[l. 401.] Osprey or Fishing Hawk (the Mullet Hawk of Christchurch Bay), Pandion Haliæëtus, Y. i. 30.
[l. 401], [482]. Teal, Anas crecca, Y. iii. 282.
[l. 402.] Mallard or Wild Duck, Anas boschas, Y. iii. 265.
[l. 421], [542]. Betowre. Bittern, the Common, Botaurus stellaris, Y. ii. 571. In the spring, and during the breeding season, the Bittern makes a loud booming or bellowing noise, whence, probably, the generic term Botaurus was selected for it; but when roused at other times, the bird makes a sharp, harsh cry on rising, not unlike that of a Wild Goose. Yarrell, ii. 573. The Bittern was formerly in some estimation as an article of food for the table; the flesh is said to resemble that of the Leveret in colour and taste, with some of the flavour of wild fowl. Sir Thomas Browne says that young Bitterns were considered a better dish than young Herons ... ii. 574. ‘Hearon, Byttour, Shouelar. Being yong and fat, be lightlier digested then the Crane, & ye Bittour sooner then the Hearon.’ Sir T. Eliot, Castell of Health, fol. 31.
[l. 422.] Heron. Holland (Plinie, p. 301) gives—1. A Criell or dwarfe Heron; 2. Bittern; 3. Carion Heron, for Pliny’s—1. Leucon; 2. Asterias; 3. Pellon.
[l. 437.] Martins are given in the Bill of Fare of Archbp. Nevill’s Feast, A.D. 1466, 3rd Course. R. Holme, p. 78.
[l. 449.] Cannell Bone. ‘Susclavier. Vpon the kannell bone; whence Veine susclaviere. The second maine ascendant branch of the hollow veine.’ Cot.
[l. 457.] Compare Rabbet Ronners 1 doz., 2 s., temp. Hen. VIII., ao 33. H. Ord. p. 223.
[l. 492.] Custard, open Pies, or without lids, filled with Eggs and Milk; called also Egg-Pie. R. Holme.
See the Recipes for ‘Crustade Ryal,’ ‘Crustade’ (with Chikonys y-smete or smal birdys), and ‘Crustade gentyle’ (with ground pork or veal), fol. 43, Harl. MS. 279. The Recipe for Crustade Ryal is, “Take and pike out þe marow of bonys as hool as þou may. þen take þe bonys an seþe hem in Watere or þat þe broþe be fat y-now. þen take Almaundys & wayssche hem clene & bray hem, & temper hem vppe with þe fat broþe; þan wyl þe mylke be broun. þen take pouder Canelle, Gyngere, & Suger, & caste þer-on. þen take Roysonys of coraunce & lay in þe cofynne, & taylid Datys
& kyt a-long. þen take Eyroun a fewe y-straynid, & swenge among þe Milke þe ȝolke. þen take the botmon of þe cofynne þer þe Marow schal stonde, & steke þer gret an long gobettys þeron vppe ryȝt. & lat bake a whyle. þen pore in comade þer-on halful, & lat bake, & whan yt a-rysith, it is ynow, þen serue forth.”
Sir F. Madden in his note on Frees pasties, in his Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary, p. 131, col. 1, says, “The different species of Confectionary then in vogue are enumerated by Taylor the Water Poet, in his Tract intitled ‘The Great Eater, or part of the admirable teeth and stomack’s exploits of Nicholas Wood,’ &c., published about 1610. ‘Let any thing come in the shape of fodder or eating-stuffe, it is wellcome, whether it be Sawsedge, or Custard, or Eg-pye, or Cheese-cake, or Flawne, or Foole, or Froyze,* or Tanzy, or Pancake, or Fritter, or Flap iacke,† or Posset, or Galleymawfrey, Mackeroone, Kickshaw, or Tantablin!’”
[* ]Froize, or pancake, Fritilla, Frittur, rigulet. Baret. Omlet of Eggs is Eggs beaten together with Minced suet, and so fried in a Pan, about the quantity of an Egg together, on one side, not to be turned, and served with a sauce of Vinegar and Sugar. An Omlet or Froise. R. Holme.
[† ]Flapjack is “a fried cake made of butter, apples, &c.” Jennings. It is not a pancake here, evidently. “Untill at last by the skill of the cooke, it is transform’d into the forme of a flapjack, which in our translation is cald a pancake.” Taylor’s Jack-a-lent, i. p. 115, in Nares.
[l. 500], [706], [730]. Pety Perueis. Perueis should be Perneis, as the Sloane MS. 1985 shows. Alter text accordingly. Under the head of bake Metis or Vyaunde Furneȝ, in Harl. MS. 279, fol. 40 b, we have No. xiiij Pety Pernollys. Take fayre Floure Cofyns. þen take ȝolkys of Eyroun & trye hem fro þe whyte. & lat þe ȝolkys be al hole & noȝt to-broke. & ley .iij. or .iiij. ȝolkys in a cofyn. and þan take marow of bonys, to or .iij. gobettys, & cowche in þe cofynn. þen take pouder Gyngere, Sugre, Roysonys of coraunce, & caste a-boue, & þan kyuere þin cofyn with þe same past. & bake hem & frye hem in fayre grece & serve forth.
xx Pety Peruaaunt. Take fayre Flowre, Sugre, Safroun, an Salt. & make þeroffe fayre past & fayre cofyngis. þan take fayre y-tryid ȝolkys Raw & Sugre an pouder Gyngere, & Raysonys of Coraunce, & myncyd Datys, but not to small. þan caste al þis on a fayre bolle, & melle al to-gederys, & put in þin cofyn, & lat bake oþer Frye in Freyssche grece. Harl. MS. 279.
[l. 501], [701]. Powche. I suppose this to be poached-egg fritters; but it may be the other powche; ‘Take the Powche and the Lynour [? liver] of haddok, codlyng, and hake.’ Forme of Cury, p. 47. Recipe 94.
[l. 501.] Fritters are small Pancakes, having slices of Apples in the Batter. R. Holme. Frutters, Fruter Napkin, and Fruter Crispin, were dishes at Archbp. Nevill’s Feast, 7 Edw. IV. 1467-8 A.D.
[l. 503.] Tansy Cake is made of grated Bread, Eggs, Cream, Nutmeg, Ginger, mixt together and Fried in a Pan with Butter, with green Wheat and Tansy stamped. R. Holme. ‘To prevent being Bug-bitten. Put a sprig or two of tansey at the bed head, or as near the pillow as the smell may be agreeable.’ T. Cosnett’s Footman’s Directory, p. 292.
[l. 504], [511], &c. Leach, a kind of Jelly made of Cream, Ising-glass, Sugar, and Almonds, with other compounds (the later meaning, 1787). R. Holme.
[l. 517-18.] Potages. All maner of liquyde thynges, as Potage, sewe and all other brothes doth replete a man that eteth them with ventosyte. Potage is not so moche vsed in all Chrystendome as it is vsed in Englande. Potage is made of the licour in the whiche flesshe is sod in, with puttynge to, chopped herbes, and Otmell and salte. A. Borde, Reg. fol. H. ii.
[l. 517], [731]. Jelly, a kind of oily or fat liquor drawn from Calves or Neats feet boiled. R. Holme.
[l. 519.] Grewel is a kind of Broth made only of Water, Grotes brused and Currans; some add Mace, sweet Herbs, Butter and Eggs and Sugar: some call it Pottage Gruel. R. Holme.
[l. 521.] Cabages. ’Tis scarce a hundred years since we first had cabbages out of Holland; Sir Anthony Ashley, of Wiburg St Giles, in Dorsetshire, being, as I am told, the first who planted them in England. Jn. Evelyn, Acetaria, § 11. They were introduced into Scotland by the soldiers of Cromwell’s army. 1854. Notes and Queries, May 6, p. 424, col. 1.
[l. 533.] Powdered is contrasted with fresh in Household Ordinances: ‘In beef daily or moton, fresh, or elles all poudred is more availe, 5d.’ H. Ord. p. 46. In Muffett (p. 173) it means pickled, ‘As Porpesses must be baked while they are new, so Tunny is never good till it have been long pouldred with salt, vinegar, coriander, and hot spices.’ In p. 154 it may be either salt or pickled; ‘Horne-beaks are ever lean (as some think) because they are ever fighting; yet are they good and tender, whether they be eaten fresh or poudred.’ Powdered, says Nicolas, meant sprinkled over, and “powdered beef” i.e. beef sprinkled with salt, is still in use. Privy Purse expenses of Elizabeth of Yorke, &c., p. 254, col. 1. See [note to l. 378], [689], here.
[l. 535-688.] Chaudoun. MS. Harl. 1735, fol. 18, gives this Recipe. ‘¶ Chaudon sauz of swannes. ¶ Tak ye issu of ye swannes, & wasche hem wel, skoure ye guttys with salt, sethz al to-gidre. Tak of ye fleysche; hewe it smal, & ye guttys with alle. Tak bred, gyngere & galingale, Canel, grynd it & tempre it vp with bred; colour it with blood ore with brent bred, seson it vp with a lytyl vinegre; welle it al to-gydere.’ And see the Chaudoun potage of Pygys, fol. 19, or p. 37.
[l. 540.] Crane, the Common, Crus cinerea, Y. ii. 530.
[l. 540.] Egret, or Great White Heron, Ardea alba Y. ii. 549. (Buff-coloured, Buff-backed, and Little Egret, are the varieties.)
[l. 540.] Hernshaw or Common Heron, Ardea cinerea. Y. ii. 537 (nine other varieties).
[l. 541.] Plover, the Great (Norfolk Plover and Stone Curlew), Ædicnemus crepitans, Y. ii. 465 (10 other varieties).
[l. 541.] Curlew the Common, Numenius arquata, Y. ii. 610 (there are other varieties).
[l. 542.] Bustard, the Great, Otis tarda, Y. ii. 428; the Little (rare here) ii. 452.
[l. 542.] Shoveler (blue-winged, or Broad-Bill), Anas clypeata, Y. iii. 247. Snipe, the Common, Scolopax gallinago, Y. iii. 38 (11 other sorts).
[l. 543.] Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola, Y. iii. 1.
[l. 543.] Lapwing or Peewit, Vanellus cristatus, ii. 515.
[l. 543.] The Martin, or House Martin, Hirundo urbica, Y. ii. 255; the Sand or Bank Martin, Hirundo riparia, ii. 261.
[l. 544.] Quail, the Common, Coturnix vulgaris, Y. ii. 413.
[l. 546.] On Fish wholesome or not, see Bullein, fol. lxxxiij., and on Meats, fol. 82.
[l. 548.] Torrentille: Mr Skeat suggests ‘? Torrent-eel.’ Though the spelling of Randle Holme’s A Sandile or a Sandeele (Bk. II., p. 333), and Aldrovandi’s (p. 252 h.) “De Sandilz Anglorum” may help this, yet, as Dr Günther says, eels have nothing to do with torrents. Torrentille may be the Italian Tarentella: see [note on Torrentyne, l. 835] below.
[l. 555.] Ling. There shall be stryken of every Saltfische called a Lyng Fische vj Stroks after iij Strooks in a Side. Percy Household Book, p. 135.
[l. 558.] Stockfish. Vocatur autem ‘Stockfisch’ à trunco, cui hic piscis aridus tundendus imponitur. ariditate enim ita riget, ut nisi præmaceratus aqua, aut prætunsus, coqui non possit. Gesner, p. 219. ‘Ie te frotteray à double carillon. I will beat thee like a stockfish, I will swinge thee while I may stand ouer thee.’ Cotgrave. ‘The tenne chapitule’ of ‘The Libelle of Englysch Polycye’ is headed ‘Of the coundius stokfysshe of Yselonde,’ &c., &c., and begins
Of Yseland to wryte is lytille nede,
Save of stockfische.
A. Borde, in his Introduction to Knowledge, under Islond, says,
And I was borne in Islond, as brute as a beest;
Whan I ete candels ends I am at a feest;
Talow and raw stockefysh I do loue to ete,
In my countrey it is right good meate.
... In stede of bread they do eate stocfyshe, and they wyll eate rawe fyshe & fleshe; they be beastly creatures, vnmannered and vntaughte. The people be good fyshers; muche of theyr fishe they do barter with English men for mele, lases, and shoes & other pelfery. (See also under Denmarke.)
[l. 559.] Mackerel. See Muffett’s comment on them, and the English and French ways of cooking them, p. 157.
[l. 569.] Onions. Walnuts be hurtfull to the Memory, and so are Onyons, because they annoy the Eyes with dazeling dimnesse through a hoate vapour. T. Newton, Touchstone, ed. 1581, fol. 125 b.
[l. 572.] A Rochet or Rotbart is a red kind of Gurnard, and is so called in the South parts of England; and in the East parts it is called a Curre, and a Golden polle. R. Holme.
[l. 575.] A Dace or a Blawling, or a Gresling, or a Zienfische, or Weyfisch; by all which the Germans call it, which in Latin is named Leucorinus. And the French Vengeron, which is English’d to me a Dace, or Dace-fish. R. Holme.
[l. 577.] Refett. “I thought it clear that refett was roe, and I do not yet give it up. But see P. P., Refeccyon, where the editor gives ‘refet of fisshe K., refet or fishe H., reuet P.,’ from other manuscripts, and cites in a note Roquefort from Fr. reffait (refait) as meaning a fish, the rouget, &c., &c. The authority of Roquefort is not much, and he gives no citation. If, however, in K. H. and P. these forms are used instead of the spelling refeccyon, and defined refectio, refectura, it rather embarrasses the matter. Halliwell cites no authority for rivet, roe.” G. P. Marsh. See [note to l. 839] here, p. 108.
[l. 580.] Gobbin, or Gobbet, or Gubbins: Meat cut in large peeces, as large as an Egg. R. Holme.
[l. 584.] A Thornbacke, soe called from the Sharp Crooked Pricks set on Studs, all down the middle of the Back. R. Holme.
[l. 584.] Hound Fysch. A Sow-Hound-Fish ... So it is called from its resemblance of a Dog, and its fatness like to a Swine: though most term it a Dog-Fish. It hath a small Head, great Eyes; wide Mouth, rough, sharp and thick skinned. R. Holme.
[l. 584], [l. 830.]Thorlepolle. Aldrovandi, describing the Balæna vera Rondel[etii] says: Hec belua Anglis, (vt dixi) Hore vocatur, & alio nomine Horlepoole & VVirlepoole etiam, ni fallor, earum nimirum omnium significatione, quòd impetuo suo & flatu vorticosas in mari tanquam palude procellas excitet. Oleum ex ea colligi aiunt. p. 677. See Holland’s Plinie on the Whales and Whirlepooles called Balænæ, which take up in length as much as foure acres or arpens of land, v. 1, p. 235, &c.
Thornback, Raja. Thornback, which Charles Chester merily and not unfitly calleth Neptune’s beard, was extolled by Antiphanes in Athenæus history for a dainty fish; indeed it is of a pleasant taste, but of a stronger smell than Skate, over-moist to nourish much, but not so much as to hinder lust, which it mightily encreaseth. Muffett, p. 172.
[l. 596.] Verjuice is the juice of Crabs or sour Apples. R. Holme.
[l. 622.] Jole of Sturgion or Salmon is the two quarters of them, the head parts being at them. R. Holme.
[l. 630.] Lamprey pie. In the Hengrave Household Accounts is this entry “for presenting a lamprey pye vj d.” “Item. the xiiij day of January [1503] to a servant of the Pryour of Lanthony in reward for brynging of two bakyn laumpreys to the Quene v s. Nicolas’s Elizabeth of York, p. 89, and Glossary.”
Under ‘[How several sorts of Fish are named], according to their Age or Growth,’ p. 324-5, R. Holme gives
An Eel, first a Fauser, then a Grigg, or Snigg, then a Scaffling, then a little Eel; when it is large, then an Eel, and when very large, a Conger.
A Pike, first a Hurling pick, then a Pickerel, then a Pike, then a Luce or Lucie.
A Smelt or Sparling, first a Sprat, then a small Sparling, then a Sparling.
A Codd, first a Whiting, then a Codling, then a Codd.
A Lamprey, first a Lampron Grigg, then a Lampret, then a Lamprell, then a Lamprey.
A Lampron, first a Barle, than a Barling, then a Lamprell, and then a Lamprey or Lampron.
A Crevice, first a Spron Frey, then a Shrimp, then a Sprawn, and when it is large, then called a Crevice.
The curious Burlesques, pp. 81-2, 85-6, vol. 1 of Reliquiæ Antiquæ, contain a great many names of fish.
[l. 631.] Pasty is paste rouled broad, and the Meat being laid in Order on it, it is turned over, and made up on three sides, with garnishes about. R. Holme.
[l. 634, note.] Galingale. Harman (ed. Strother, 1727) notices three varieties, Cyperus rotundus, round Galingal; Galanga major, Galingal; Galanga minor, lesser Galingal.
Gallinga, Lat. Galanga, says Bp Percy, is the root of a grassy-leaved plant brought from the East Indies, of an aromatic smell and hot biting bitterish Taste, anciently used among other Spices, but now almost laid aside. Lewis, Mat. Med. p. 286. See Mr Way’s note 4 in Pr. Parv. p. 185.
‘Galendyne is a sauce for any kind of roast Fowl, made of Grated Bread, beaten Cinnamon and Ginger, Sugar, Claret-wine, and Vinegar, made as thick as Grewell.’ Randle Holme, Bk. III., chap. III., p. 82, col. 2. See also Recipes in Markham’s Houswife, the second p. 70, and the first p. 77.
[l. 657.] A sewer, appositor ciborum. Appono, to sette vpon the table. Withals.
[l. 686.] See Randle Holme’s ‘relation of the Feast made by George Nevill, Arch-Bishop of York, at the time of his Consecration, or Installation, 7. Edw. IV. 1467-8,’ and his other Bills of Fare, p. 77-81, Book III. Chap. III.
[l. 686.] Mustard is a kind of sharp biting sauce, made of a small seed bruised and mixed with Vinegar. R. Holme.
[l. 686.] Dynere. Compare the King’s dinner in The Squyr of Lowe Degree.
The Squyer
He toke a white yeard in his hande,
Before the kynge than gane he stande,
And sone he sat hym on his knee,
And serued the kynge ryght royally
With deynty meates that were dere,
With Partryche, Pecocke, and Plouere,
With byrdes in bread ybake,
The Tele, the Ducke, and the Drake,
The Cocke, the Corlewe, and the Crane,
With Fesauntes fayre, theyr ware no wane,
Both Storkes and Snytes ther were also,
And venyson freshe of Bucke and Do,
And other deyntés many one,
For to set afore the kynge anone.
l. 312-27, E. Popular Poetry, v. 2, p. 36.
Several of the names of the dishes in Russell are used burlesquely in the
Feest of the Turnament of Tottenham, E. Pop. P., v. 3, pp. 94-6, “saduls sewys, mashefatts in mortrewys, mylstones in mawmary, iordans in iussall, chese-crustis in charlett,” &c.
[l. 688], Swan. “Cap. xxviij. The Swanne is veri a fayr birde, with whyte feders / & it hath a blacke skinne & flesshe / the mariner seeth hym gladly / for whan he is mery, the mariner is without sorowe or daunger; & all his strengthe is in his wynges / and he is coleryke of complexion / & whan they will engender, than they stryke wyth theyr nebbys togeder, and cast theyr neckes ouer eche other as yf thei wolden brace eche other; so come they togeder, but the male doth hurt the female; & as sone as he beknoweth that he hathe hurte her, than he departeth frome her compani in all the haste possible / and she pursueth after for to reuenge it / but the anger is sone past, & she wassheth her with her bylle in the water / and clenseth herselfe agayne.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe. Pt. II. sign. m. 1.
[l. 688], Feysaund. “Cap. xlvi. Fascianus is a wyld cocke or a fesant cocke that byde in the forestes, & it is a fayre byrde with goodly feders. but he hath no commbe as other cockes haue / and they be alway alone except whane they wylle be by the henne. and they that will take this bird / and in many places the byrders doth thus, they paynte the figure of this fayre byrde in a cloth, & holdeth it before hym / & whan this birde seeth so fayr a figure of hym selfe / he goeth nother forward nor bacwarde / but he standeth still, staringe vpon his figure / & sodenly commeth another, and casteth a nette ouer his hede, and taketh hym. Thys byrde morneth sore in fowle weder, & hideth hym from the rayne vnder the busshes. Towarde the morninge and towardes night, than commeth he out of the busshe, and is oftentimes so taken, & he putteth his hede in the ground, & he weneth that all his boddy is hyden / and his flessh is very light and good to disiest.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe. Pt. II. (m. 4.)
[l. 689.] Vensoun bake, or Venison Pasty. Of the Hart and Hinde, Topsel says, “The flesh is tender, especially if the beast were libbed before his horns grew: yet is not the juice of that flesh very wholesome, and therefore Galen adviseth men to abstain as much from Harts flesh as from Asses, for it engendereth melancholy; yet it is better in Summer then in Winter. Simeon Sethi, speaking of the hot Countries, forbiddeth to eat them in Summer, because then they eat Serpents, and so are venemous; which falleth not out in colder Nations, and therefore assigneth them rather to be eaten in Winter time, because the concoctive powers are more stronger through plenty of inward heat; but withal admonisheth, that no man use to eat much of them, for it will breed Palsies and trembling in mans body, begetting grosse humors, which stop the Milt and Liver: and Auicen proveth, that by eating thereof men incur the quartane Ague; wherefore it is good to powder them with salt before the dressing, and then seasoned with Peper and other things, known to every ordinary Cook and woman, they make of them Pasties in most Nations,” p. 103, ed. 1658.
[l. 694.] Blanchmanger, a made dish of Cream, Eggs, and Sugar, put into an open puff paste bottom, with a loose cover. Blamanger, is a Capon roast
or boile, minced small, planched (sic) Almonds beaten to paste, Cream, Eggs, Grated Bread, Sugar and Spices boiled to a pap. R. Holme.
[l. 694.] Po = tage is strong Broth of Meat, with Herbs and Spices Boiled. Pottage is the Broth of Flesh or Fowl, with Herbs and Oatmeal boiled therein. R. Holme.
[l. 694], Vensoun; and l. 696, Heironsew.
But many men byn nowe so lekerous
That they can not leve by store of howse,
As brawne, bakyn, or powderd beef;
Such lyvelod now ys no man leef,
But venyson, wyldfowle or heronsewes,
So newfanggell be these men of her thewes;
Moche medlyd wyne all day men drynke;
j haue wyste wyldfowle sum tyme stynke.
Piers of Fullham, ll. 171-8, p. 8, v. 2, of Early Popular Poetry, ed. Hazlitt, 1866.
[l. 695], Bustard. “Cap. xv. The Bistarda is a birde as great as an egle, of the maner of an egle, and of suche colour, saue in the winges & in the tayle it hath some white feders; he hath a crooked byll, & longe talants. and it is slowe of flight / & whan he is on the grownde, than must he ryse .iij. or iiij. tymes or he can come to any fulle flight. he taketh his mete on the erth; for .v. or .vi. of them togeder be so bold that they festen on a shepe & tere hym a-sonder / & so ete the flesshe of him / & this birde dothe ete also of dede bestes & stinkyn caryon, and it eteth also grasse & grene erbes / & it layth his eggis vpon the grounde, & bredeth them out the while that the corne groweth on the felde.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, L ij back.
[l. 695], Crane. “Cap. lix. The Crane is a great byrde / and whan they flye, they be a greate many of them to-gyder in ordre, and a-monge them they chose a kynge the whiche they obey / whan the crane sleepth, than standeth he vpon one fote with his hede vnder his winges / & ther is one that kepeth the wache with his hede vpryght to-wardes the ayre / & whan they ete, than the kynge kepeth the wache fore them, and than the cranes ete without sorowe. Aristotiles sayth that aboue Egipt in farre londes come the cranes in the winter / and there the fight with the pygmeis as before is shewed in the .c. & .xvi. chapter.*
The Operacion.
Rasi. The flesshe of him is grosse, & not good to disiest / & it maketh melancolious blode. ¶ The crane that is kille in somer shalbe hanged vp one
daye / and in winter season .ij. dayes or it be eten, and than it is the more disiestious.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe. Pt. II. (n. iij.)
[*] Pigmeis be men & women, & but one cubite longe, dwellinge in the mountaynes of ynde | they be full growen at their third yere, & at their seuen yere they be olde | & they gader them in may a grete company togeder, & arme them in theyr best maner | and than go they to the water syde, & where-so-euer they fynde any cranes nestis they breake all the egges, & kyll all the yonges that they fynde | and this they do because the cranes do them many displeasures, & fight with them oftentymes, & do them great scathe | but these folke couer their houses with the cranes feders & egshels. fol. h. ij. back.
[l. 695], peacock. “Paon revestu. A Peacocke flayed, parboyled, larded, and stucke thicke with Cloues; then roasted, with his feet wrapped vp to keepe them from scorching; then couered againe with his owne skinne as soone as he is cold, and so vnderpropped that, as aliue, hee seemes to stand on his legs: In this equipage a gallant, and daintie seruice.” —1611, Cotgrave.
[l. 695], Peacock. “Pauo / the pecocke is a very fayre byrde / and it hath a longe necke, and hath on his hede feders lyke a lytell crowne / he hathe a longe tayle the whyche he setteth on hye very rycheli, but whan he loketh on hys lothly fete, he lateth his tayle sinke. Be nyght, whan the Pecocke can nat see hymselfe, than he cryeth ernefully, and thynketh that he hath lost hys beautye / and with his crye he feareth all serpentes / in suche maners that they dare nat abyde in those places whereas they here hym crye / and whan the pecocke clymmeth hye, that is a token of rayne ... also the pecocke is envious & wylle nat knowe his yonges tyll that they haue the crowne of feders vpon theyr hede, and that they begynne to lyken hym.... The flesshe of hym will nat lightely rote nor stynke / and it is euyll flesshe to disiest, for it can nat lightely be rosted or soden ynough.” —L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe (o. iv.), Cap. xci.
[l. 696], Heironsew. Ardea is a byrde that fetcheth his mete in ye water, & yet he byldeth vpon the hyest trees that he can. This birde defendeth his yonges from ye goshawke, castinge his dounge vpon him / & than the fedders of the goshawke rote of ye dounge of ardea as far as it touchet[h]. Nob. Lyfe, L. ij.
[l. 696], Partrich. “Cap. xcvi. Perdix is a byrde very wylye, & the cockes feght oftentymes for the hennes. and these byrdes flye of no heght / and they put theyr hedes in the erthe, & they thinke that they than be well hyden, for whan she seeth nobody she thinketh that nobody seeth here. & she bredeth out other partriches egges / for whan she hath lost her eges, than she steleth other egges & bredeth them / & whan they be hatched that they can go on the grounde / than this damme setteth them out of the nest / but whan they be a-brode, & here the wyse of theyr owne dammes, incontinent they leue theyr damme that brought them up, & go to their owne natural damme / & than she that brought them vp hath lost her labour. The Operacion. The flesshe of a partriche is most holsomest of all wylde fowles, the brest & vppermoste parte of the bodie is the swetest, & hathe the best sauoure / but the hinder parte is nat so swete.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, sign. p. i. & back.
[l. 698], Lark. Alauda: the larke is a lytel birde, & with euery man well beknowen through his songe / in the somer thei begynneth to singe in the dawning of the day, geuynge knowlege to the people of the cominge of the daye; and in fayre weder he reioyseth sore / but whan it is rayne weder, than it singeth selden / he singeth nat sittinge on the grownde nouther / but whan he assendith vpwarde, he syngeth mereli / & in the descending it falleth to the grownde lyke a stone. The Operacion. The larkes flesshe hardeneth the beli, and the brothe of hym that he was soden in, slaketh the beli. L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, sign. L. iv. back, and L. i.
[l. 706], Snyte or Snipe. “Cap. lxxxiiij. Nepa is a byrde with a longe byll / & he putteth his byll in the erthe for to seke the worms in the grounde / and they put their bylles in the erthe sometyme so depe that they can nat gete it vp agayne / & than they scratche theyr billes out agayn with theyr fete. This birde resteth betimes at nyght / and they be erly abrode on the morninge / & they haue swete flesshe to be eaten.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe.
[l. 706], Sparow. “Passer / The Sparowe is a lytell byrde / and whan the cucko fyndeth the sparowes nest / than he suppeth vp the egges, & layeth newe egges hym self therin agayne / & the sparowe bredeth vp these yonge cuckoes tyl they can flee; than a great many of olde sparowes geder to-geder to thentent that thei sholde holde vp the yonge sparowes that can nat flee / & theyr mete is wormes of the erthe.... All sparowes flesshe is euyl / and their egges also. The flessh is very hote, and moueth to the operacion of lechery.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe (o. iv.), Cap. xci.
[l. 713.] Comfits are round, long or square pellets of Sugar made by the Art of a Confectioner. R. Holme.
[l. 737], Eles. Trevisa in his Higden says of Britain ‘þe lond ys noble, copious, & ryche of noble welles, & of noble ryvers wiþ plente of fysch. þar ys gret plente of smal fysch & of eeles, so þat cherles in som place feedeþ sowes wiþ fysch.’ Morris’s Specimens, p. 334.
Comyth ther not al day owt of hollond and flaundre
Off fatte eles full many a showte,
And good chepe, who that wayteth the tyddys abowte?
Piers of Fullham, ll. 71-3, Early Pop. Poetry, v. 2, p. 4 (and see ll. 7-10).
[l. 747], [812]. Minoes, so called either for their littleness, or (as Dr. Cajus imagined) because their fins be of so lively a red, as if they were died with the true Cinnabre-lake called Minium: They are less than Loches, feeding upon nothing, but licking one another . . they are a most delicate and light meat . . either fried or sodden. Muffett, p. 183.
[l. 758.] Towse. Can this be a form of dough? G. P. Marsh.
[l. 782.] Sotiltees were made of sugar and wax. Lel. Coll. VI. p. 31. Pegge.
[l. 788-795], Sanguineus, Colericus, Fleumaticus, Malencolicus. Men were divided into these four classes, according to their humours. Laurens Andrewe says, in his Noble Lyfe, “And the bodij of man is made of many diuers sortes of lymmes / as senewes / vaynes / fatte / flesshe & skynne. And also of the foure moistours / as sanguyne / flematyke / coleryke & melancoly.” (fol. a iv. back) col. 2. In his Chapter “Howe that man commeth into the house of dethe,” he has drawings of these four types of man, on either side of King Death & the skeleton under him. Men die, he says in thre ways. 1. by one of the four elements of which they are made, overcoming the others; 2. by humidum radicale or ‘naturall moystour’ forsaking them; 3. by wounds; “& these thre maners of dethes be contained in the four complexcions of man / as in the sanguyne / colerike / flematike / & melancoly. The sanguyne wareth oftentymes so olde through gode gouernaunce / that he must occopy
spectacles, & liue longe or hummidum radicale departe frome him / but than he dyeth. The colerike commeth oftentymes to* dethe be accidentall maner through his hastines, for he is of nature hote & drye. The flematike commeth often to dethe thorough great excesse of mete & drinke, or other great labours doinge / for his nature is colde and moyste, & can not well disiest. And melancoly is heuy / full of care & heuynes / whereof he engendereth moche euyll blode that causeth great sekenes, which bringeth him vnto dethe. Thus go we al vnto the howse of dethe / the one thrugh ensuynge of his complexion / the other through the ordenances of almyghty god. The thirde through the planetis & signes of the firmament.” fol. a vi.
* orig. do.
[l. 799], Beef. Laurens Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, sign. C. i., Pt. i. says, “Of the oxce, ca. xiiij.The oxce is a companable beste, & amonge his compani he is very meke / & alwaye he seketh his felowe that was wont to go in the plowghe wyth hym / and whan he fyndeth nat his felow, than cryeth he wyth a lowde voyce, makyng gret mone / as it were one that wolde make a mourninge complaynt. A bull lyueth .xv. yere, and a oxce .xx. yere. ¶ Isaac sayth that an oxce flessh is the dryest flesshe amonge all other / & his blode is nat holsome to be eten, for it wyll nat lightly disieste. & therfore it fedeth sore, & it maketh euyll humoures, & bredeth melancoly / & they melancolicus that eat moche suche metes be like to suffer many diseases, as to gete an harde mylte / the febris quartayn / the dropcy / mangnies, lepry, &c.”
[l. 799], Mutton. Wether mutton was rightly held the best. See “The operacion” below. “¶ Of the Ramme or weddr. Ca. iij. Ysydorus sayth that the ramme or wedder is the lodysman of other shepe / and he is the male or man of the oye, and is stronger than the other shepe / & he is also called a wedder because of a worme that he hath in his hede / & whan that beginneth for to stirre, than wyll he tucke and feght / and he fereth naturally the thonder, as other shepe dothe. For whan a shepe is with frute, hering the thonder, she casteth her frute, and bryngeth it dede to the worlde. and the wedder in the tyme that he bespryngeth the oye, than is it in the tyme of loue amonge the shepe / and the Ramme or wedder wyl feght boldly for theyr wyues one with another....
The Operacion.
¶ The flesshe of a yonge wether that is gelded is moch better than any other motton / for it is nat so moyste as other motton, and it is hoter, and whan it disgesteth well it maketh gode blode / but the flessh of an oled ramme wyll nat lightely disgest, & that is very euyll.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, Pt. I. sign. b. i. back.
[l. 800], Chykon. On the cocke & hen L. Andrewe discourses as follows: “the Cocke is a noble byrde with a combe on his hed & vnder his iawes / he croweth in the night heuely & light in the morninge / & is fare herd with the winde. The lyon is afrayd of the cocke / & specially of the whyte / the crowyng of the cocke is swete & profitable; he wakeneth the sleper / he conforteth the sorowful / & reioyseth the wakers in tokenynge that the night is passed.... The flesshe of the coscke is groser than the flesshe of the
henne or capon. Nota / the olde cockes flesshe is tenderer than the yonge. The capons flesshe is mightiest of all fowles & maketh gode blode. Auiceanna. The cokerels flesshe that neuer crewe is better than the olde cockes flesshe: the stones be gode for them that haue to light a disiestyon / the brothe of hym is gode for the payn in the mawe that commeth of wynde.” Noble Lyfe, n. i. back. Of the hen, L. Andrewe says: “the henne is the wyfe of the cocke / & ye shall lay odde egges vnder her for to hatche / ... The flesshe of the yonge henne or she haue layde / is better than of the olde henne / also the grese of the cheken is moche hoter than of the henne.” Noble Lyfe, n. i. back.
[l. 802], Goose. “The tame gese ... be heuy in fleinge, gredi at their mete, & diligent to theyr rest / & they crye the houres of ye night, & therwith they fere ye theues. In the hillis of alpis be gese as great, nere hande, as an ostriche: they be so heuy of body that they cannat flee, & so me take them with the hande.... The gose flessh is very grose of nature in disiestion.” Noble Lyfe, L. i. back. Part ii. cap. 10.
[l. 803], Capon. “Gallinacius / the capon is a gelded cocke / & because that he is gelded he waxeth the soner fatte / & though he go with the hennes, he dothe nat defende them / nor he croweth nat.” L. Andrewe, Noble Lyfe, fol. n. ij.
[l. 804], Eggis. “the new lyde egges be better than the olde / the henne egges be better than ani other egges, whan thei be fresshe, & specialli whan thei be rere, than they make gode blode / but the egges that be harde rosted be of the grose metis.
The Operacion.
All maners of egges waken a man to the worke of lecherie, & specialli sparowes egges. Auicenna: The ducke egges & suche like make grose humoures. The best of the egges is the yolke, & that causeth sperma / the white of the egge enclineth to be cole. whan an henne shall brede, take hede of those egges that be blont on bothe endes, & thei shal be henne chekens / & those that be longe & sharpe on bothe endes shall be cocke chekens.” L. Andrewe. Noble Lyfe (o iij. back).
[l. 808], Lamb. Laurens Andrewe, Pt. i. says. ¶ Of the Lamme. Cap. primo. In the beginnynge we haue the Lamme, because he is the moste mekest beste leuinge, for it offendeth nobody / and all that he hathe on him is gode / ye flesshe for to eate, the skynne to make parchement or ledder / the donge for to donge the felde / the clawes & hornes be medicinable / he dredeth the wolfe sore / & he knoweth his damme best be her bleting, though she be amonge many shepe.
The Operacion.
The Lamme that soucketh his damme hath his flesshe very slymie, & nat lowable / and it will nat be disgested, principally of them that haue cold stomakes. lammes of a yere olde be better & lighter to disgest / & they make gode blode / and specyally they be gode for theym that be hote & drye of complexcyon & dwell in a hote & drye lande / lammes flesshe is very gode for one that is hole & lusti, but for theim that be seke it is very euyll: though
it lightely disgest and descende out of the man / yet it is euyll for other partes of the body, for it maketh slimy humours. sign. b. i.
[l. 808], Cony. “The coney is a lytel beste dwellynge in an hole of the erthe / & thore as he vseth he encreaseth very moche, and therfore he is profitable for man, for he casteth oftentymes in the yere ... Ysaac sayth. That conys flesshe hath properli the vertue to strengen the mawe and to dissolue the bely / and it casseth moche vryne.” The Noble Lyfe, sign. e. i.
[l. 811.] Mead or Meath, a drink made of Ginger, Sugar, Honey and Spring water boiled together. R. Holme.
Metheglin, a drink made of all sorts of wholesome Herbs boiled and strained with Honey and Water, and set to work with Bearm, as Ale or Beer. R. Holme. Dan. miod.
[l. 811.] Braggot. This drinke is of a most hot nature, as being compos’d of Spices, and if it once scale the sconce, and enter within the circumclusion of the Perricranion, it doth much accelerate nature, by whose forcible atraction and operation, the drinker (by way of distribution) is easily enabled to afford blowcs to his brother. In Taylor. Drink & Welcome, 1637, A 3, back.
[l. 812.] Mussels (Mityli, Chamæ) were never in credit, but amongst the poorer sort, till lately the lilly-white Mussel was found out about Romers-wall, as we sail betwixt Flushing and Bergen-up-Zon, where indeed in the heat of Sommer they are commonly and much eaten without any offence to the head, liver, or stomach: yea my self (whom once twenty Mussels had almost poisoned at Cambridg, and who have seen sharp, filthy, and cruel diseases follow the eating of English Mussels) did fill my self with those Mussels of the Low Country, being never a whit distempered with my bold adventure. Muffett, p. 159.
[l. 824], Samon.
Also sumtyme where samons vsen for to haunte,
Lampreys, luces, or pykkes plesaunte,
wenyth the fyscher suche fysche to fynde.
Piers of Fullham, ll. 11-13.
[l. 835, 229] Torrentyne. The passage before that quoted from Aldrovandi, de Piscibus, p. 585, in the note, is, “Trutta, siue ut Platina scribit Truta, siue Trotta Italicum nomen est, à Gallis, quibus Troutte vel potius Truette, vel ab Anglis quibus à Trute, vel Trovvt appellant, acceptum. Rhæti qui Italica lingua corrupta vtuntur, Criues vocant, teste Gesnero.” The special fish from the Tarentine gulf is the “Tarentella, Piscis genus. Tract. MS. de Pisc. cap. 26 ex Cod. reg. 6838. C.: Magnus thunnus, is scilicet qui a nostris Ton vocatur . . dicitur Italis Tarentella, a Tarentino, unde advehitur, sinu.” Ducange, ed. 1846.
[l. 845.] Hake. Merlucius (or Gadus) vulgaris Y. ii. 258, ‘the Seapike . . It is a coarse fish, not admitted to the tables of the wealthy; but large quantities are anuually preserved both by salting and drying, part of which is exported to Spain.’ ‘Fish, samon, hake, herynge’ are some of the commoditees of Irelonde mentioned in the Libelle (A.D. 1436), p. 186.
[l. 839], reffett. In the following extract refete has the Promptorium meaning:
eteth of the [full grown] fysche, and be not so lykerous,
Let the yong leve that woll be so plenteous;
ffor though the bottomles belyes be not ffyllyd with such refete,
Yet the saver of sauze may make yt good mete.
Piers of Fullham, ll. 80-3, E. Pop. P., v. 2, p 5.
[l. 842.] breme.
... y schall none pondes with pykes store,
Breme, perche, ne with tenche none the more.—Ibid. ll. 51-2.
[l. 843], flowndurs.
But now men on deyntees so hem delyte,
To fede hem vpon the fysches lyte,
As flowndres, perches, and such pykyng ware;
Thes can no man gladly now-a-day spare
To suffyr them wex vnto resonable age.—Ibid. ll. 74-8.
[l. 867.] Hose. For eight pair of hosen of cloth of divers colours, at xiij s. iiij d. the pair; and for four pair “of sokks of fustian” at iij d. the pair (p. 118) ... for making and lyning of vj pair of hosen of puke lyned with cloth of the goodes of the saide Richard, for lynyng of every pair iij s. iiij d. xx s. Wardrobe Accounts of Edw. IV. (ed. Nicolas) p. 120.
[l. 879.] Combing the head was specially enjoined by the doctors. See [A. Borde], [Vaughan], &c., below.
[l. 915.] Fustian. March, 1503, ‘for v yerdes fustyan for a cote at vij d. the yerd ij s. xj d.’ Nicolas’s Elizabeth of York, p. 105. See [A. Borde], below. ‘Coleyne threde, fustiane, and canvase’ are among the ‘commodites ... fro Pruse ibroughte into Flaundres,’ according to the Libelle, p. 171,
But tha Flemmyngis amonge these thinges dere
In comen lowen beste bacon and bere:
Thus arn thy hogges, and drynkye wele staunt;
Fare wele Flemynge, hay, horys, hay, avaunt. (See [n. p. 131], below.)
A. Borde, in his Introduction, makes one of the Januayes (Genoese) say,
I make good treacle, and also fustian,
With such thynges I crauft with many a pore man.
[l. 941-5.] See the extracts from [Andrew Borde], [W. Vaughan], &c., below.
[l. 945.] The Motte bredethe amonge clothes tyll that they have byten it a sonder / & it is a maniable worm, and yet it hydeth him in ye clothe that it can scantly be sene / & it bredethe gladly in clothes that haue ben in an euyll ayre, or in a rayn or myst, and so layde vp without hanging in the sonne or other swete ayre after.
The Operacyon.
The erbes that be bitter & well smellinge is good to be layde amonge suche clothes / as the baye leuis, cypres wode. The Noble Lyfe (i. 3.) Pt. i. Cap. c.xlij. sign. i. 3.
[l. 969.] Catte. The mouse hounter or catte is an onclene beste, & a
poyson ennemy to all myse / and whan she hath goten [one], she playeth therwith / but yet she eteth it / & ye catte hath longe here on her mouthe / and whan her heres be gone, than hathe she no boldnes / and she is gladli in a warme place / and she licketh her forefete & wassheth therwith her face. Laurens Andrewe, The Noble Lyfe (g. iv.), Part I. cap. c.i.
[l. 970], dogge. Here is the first part of Laurens Andrewe’s Chapter.
Of the dogge. ca. xxiiij.
The dogge is an onclenly beste / that eteth so moche that he vomyteth it out & eteth vp agayne / it is lightly angry, and byteth gladly straunge dogges / he barketh moche / he kn[oweth] his name well / he is hered [all over his b]ody, he loueth his mast[er, and is eselye] lerned to many games / & be night he kepeth the house. There be many houndes that for the loue of theyr maister they wyll ronne in their owne dethe / & whan the dogge is seke / he seketh grasse or other erbes / & that he eteth, and heleth himselfe so / and there be many maner of dogges or houndes to hawke & hunt, as grayhoundes / braches / spanyellis, or suche other, to hunt hert and hynde / & other bestes of chace & venery, &c. and suche be named gentyll houndes. The bitche hath mylke .v. or vij. dayes or she litter her whelpes / and that milke is thicker than any other mylke excepte swynes mylke or hares mylke. fol. c. iv.
[l. 970], Catte. L. Andrewe says
“Of the Catte. ca. xxv.
The catte is a beste that seeth sharpe, and she byteth sore / and scratcheth right perylously / & is principall ennemye to rattis & myce / & her colour is of nature graye / and the cause that they be other wyse colowred, that commethe through chaunge of mete, as it is well marked by the house catte, for they be selden colored lyke the wylde catte. & their flesshe is bothe nesshe & soffte.” Noble Lyfe, Part II. c. iv.
[l. 983.] Bathe. ‘Bathing is harmful to them [who are splenitie] chiefly after meat, and copulation (following) on surfeit ... Let him also bathe himself in sweet water. Without, he is to be leeched and smeared with oil of roses, and with onlayings (or poultices made of) wine and grapes, and often must an onlay be wrought of butter, and of new wax, and of hyssop and of oil; mingle with goose grease or lard of swine, and with frankincense and mint; and when he bathes let him smear himself with oil; mingle (it) with saffron.’ Leechdoms, v. 2, p. 245.
[l. 987.] Scabiosa, so named of old tyme, because it is giuen in drinke inwardly, or ointmentes outwardly, to heale scabbes, sores, corrupcion in the stomacke, yea, and is most frend emong all other herbes in the tyme of the Pestilence, to drinke the water with Mithridatum a mornynges ... the flowers is like a Blewe or white thrummed hatte, the stalk rough, the vpper leaues ragged, and the leaues next the grose rootes be plainer. Under whom often tymes, Frogges will shadowe theim selues, from the heate of the daie: hoppyng and plaiyng vnder these leaues, whiche to them is a pleasaunt Tente or pauillion, saieth Aristophanes, whiche maie a plade
(= made a play), wherein Frogges made pastime. Bullein’s Bulwarke, 1562, or, The booke of Simples, fol. xvj. b.
The following note was originally labeled “67/991” (page 67, line 991) and was printed between the [notes for l. 280] and l. 300.
[l. 991.] Rosemary is not mentioned among the herbs for the bath; though a poem in praise of the herb says:
Moche of this herbe to seeth thu take
In water, and a bathe thow make;
Hyt schal the make lyȝt and joly,
And also lykyng and ȝowuly.
MS. of C. W. Loscombe, Esq., in Reliquiæ Antiquæ, i. 196.
[l. 995.] Bilgres. Can this be bugloss? I find this, as here, in juxtaposition with scabiose, in Bullein’s Bulwarke of Defence, Book of Simples, fol xvj. b. G. P. Marsh.
[l. 1004.] For Selden’s Chapter on Precedence, see his Titles of Honour, ch. xi. Rouge Dragon (Mr G. Adams) tells me that the order of precedence has varied from time to time, and that the one now in force differs in many points from Russell’s.
[l. 1040.] Nurrieris. I find no such name in Selden’s chap. ix., Of Women. Does the word mean ‘foster-mothers or fathers,’ from the Latin “Nutricarii, Matricularii, quibus enutriendi ac educandi infantes projectos cura incumbebat: Nourissiers. Vita S. Goaris cap. 10: Hæcque consuetudo erat, ut quando aliquis homo de ipsis infantibus projectis misericordia vellet curam habere, ab illis, quos Nutricarios vocant, matriculariis S. Petri compararet, et illi Episcopo ipsum infantem præsentare deberent, et postea Episcopi auctoritas eumdem hominem de illo Nutricario confirmabat. Id clarius explicatur a Wandelberto in Vita ejusdem Sancti, cap. 20.” Ducange, ed. 1845.
The following list of [Names of Fish], from Yarrell, may be found convenient for reference.
Names of Fish from Yarrell’s History of British Fish, 1841, 2nd ed.
| English Names | Latin Names. | Yar., vol., page |
| Basse | Perca labrax | i 8 |
| Bleak | Luciscus, or Cyprinus alburnus | i 419 |
| Bream or Carp-Bream | Abramis, or Cyprinus brama | i 382 |
| „ the common Sea- | Pagellus centrodontus | i 123 |
| Brill, or Pearl, Kite, Brett, Bonnet-Fleuk | Rhombus vulgaris, or Pleuronectes rhombus | ii 231 |
| Butt, Flook, or Flounder | Pleuronectes flesus, or Platessa flesus | ii 303 |
| Common Cod, or Keeling | Morrhua vulgaris, or Gadus morrhua (Jenyns) | ii 221 |
| Green Cod | Merlangus virens (Cuvier) Gadus virens (Linnæus) | ii 256 |
| Conger | Conger vulgaris, or Muræna conger | ii 402 |
| Dace, Dare, or Dait | Leuciscus vulgaris, or Cyprinus leuciscus | i 404 |
| Dog Fish (the common), The Picked Dog-Fish, or Bone Dog (Sussex), Hoe (Orkney) | Spinax acanthias, or Squalus acanthias | ii 524 |
| Small Spotted Dog Fish or Morgay (Scotl.), Robin Huss (Sussex Coast) | Scyllium canicula, or Squalus canicula | ii 487 |
| Large Spotted Dog Fish, or Bounce (Scotl. & Devon) | Scyllium stellaris | ii 493 |
| Black-mouthed Dog-Fish, or Eyed Dog-Fish (Cornwall) | Scyllium melanostomum | ii 495 |
| The Smooth Hound or Shate-toothed Shark, Ray-mouthed Dog (Cornwall) | Squalus mustelus, or Mustelus lævis | ii 512 |
| Dory, or Dorée | Zeus faber | i 183 |
| Sharp-nosed Eel | Anguilla acutirostris, or vulgaris | ii 381 |
| Broad-nosed Eel | Anguilla latirostris | ii 396 |
| Flounder, or Flook (Merret). Mayock, Fluke (Edinb.), Butt. | Platessa flesus | ii 303 |
| Grayling | Thymallus vulgaris, or Salmo thymallus | ii 136 |
| Gudgeon | Gobio fluviatilis, or Cyprinus gobio | i 371 |
| Red Gurnard | Trigla cuculus, or lineata | i 38-63 |
| Haddock | Morrhua æglefinus, or Gadus æglefinus | ii 233 |
| Hake | Merlucius vulgaris, or Gadus merlucius | ii 253 |
| Herring | Clupea harengus | ii 183 |
| Holibut | Hippoglossus vulgaris, or Pleuronectes hippoglossus | ii 321 |
| Hornfish, Garfish, Sea-pike, Long Nose, &c. | Belone vulgaris, or Esox belone | i 442 |
| Keeling. See Common Cod | ii 221 | |
| Lampern, or River Lamprey* | Petromyzon fluviatilis | ii 604 |
| Lamprey | Petromyzon marinus | ii 598 |
| Ling | Lota molva (Cuvier), or Gadus molva (Linnæus) | ii 264 |
| Luce, or Pike | Esox lucius | i 434 |
| Lump-fish | ii 365 | |
| Mackarel | Scomber scombrus, or vulgaris | i 137 |
| Merling, or Whiting | Merlangus vulgaris (Cuvier), or Gadus merlangus (Linnæus) | ii 244 |
| Minnow | Leuciscus, or Cyprinus phoxinus | i 423 |
| Mullet, grey, or Common | Mugil capito, or cephalus | i 234 |
| Muræna | Muræna Helena | ii 406 |
| Perch | Perca fluviatilis | i 1 |
| Pike | Esox lucius | i 434 |
| Plaice | Platessa vulgaris | ii 297 |
| Roach | Cyprinus rutilis | i 399 |
| Salmon | Salmo Salar | ii 1 |
| Smelt. Spirling and Sparling in Scotland | Salmo Sperlanus, or Osmerus Sperlanus | ii 75 & 129 |
| Sturgeon, the Common | Acipenser Sturio | ii 475 |
| „ the Broad-nosed | Acipenser latirostris | ii 479 |
| Swordfish | Xiphias gladius | i 164 |
| Tench | Tinca vulgaris, or Cyprinus tinca | i 375 |
| Thornback | Raia clavata | ii 583 |
| Trout, Common | Salmo fario | ii 85 |
| Turbot, or Rawn Fleuk and Bannock Fluck (Scotl.) | Rhombus maximus, or Pleuronectes maximus | ii 324 |
| Vendace or Vendis (? Venprides, [l. 820], Russell) | Coregonus Willughbii, or Coregonus Marænula (Jenyns) | ii 146 |
| Whiting, or Merling | Merlangus vulgaris (Cuvier) Gadus merlangus (Linnæus) | ii 244 |
* The Lamperns have been taken in the Thames at Teddington this autumn (1866) in extraordinary quantities.