JOHN RUSSELL’S BOOK OF NURTURE
“IN nomine Patris, God keep me, et Filii, for charity, Et Spiritus Sancti, where that I go by land or else by sea!
An usher I am ye may behold to a prince of high degree, That enjoys to inform and teach all those that would thrive in prosperity.”
Should I meet with any man who either through inexperience or through negligence knows naught of such things as I shall hereafter diligently show, for my conscience’ sake I will instruct him; for methinks it is charitable to teach virtue and good manners, in which most youths are barren and dull. But if there be any who can nothing good and are not willing to learn, give them a bauble to play with, for they will never thrive.
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“As I rose out of my bed, in a merry season of May,
To sport me in a forest, where sights were fresh and gay,
I met with the forester; I prayed him to say me not nay,
That in his woodland I might walk among the deer away.
As I wandered at will, in the wood that was so green,
There lay three herds of deer, a seemly sight, I ween.
I beheld on my right hand the sun that shone so sheen;
I saw where walked a seemly young man, that slender was and lean.
His bow he took in hand toward the deer to stalk,
I prayed him his shot to leave and softly with me to walk.”
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Thereupon the young man was glad and loved to talk with me; but when I inquired whom he served, he said: “God help me, sir, I serve myself and else no other man.”
“Is thy governance good[[118]]?” I said. “My son, tell me if thou wilt.”
“I would I were out of this world,” said he; “I reck not how soon when!”
“Say not so, good son, beware! Methinks you mean amiss for God forbids wanhope,[[119]] which is a horrible sin. Therefore, good son, open your heart to me, peradventure I can relieve you. Remember that when bale[[120]] is highest, boot[[121]] is nighest.”
“In truth, sir, I have sought far and near in many a wildsome way to get me a master. But because I knew nothing good, and showed this wherever I went, every man denied me; day by day, wanton[[122]] and over-nice, reckless, lewd and chattering like a jay, every man refused me.”
“Now, good son, if I will teach, will you learn? Will you be a serving-man, a ploughman, a labourer, a courtier, a clerk, a merchant, a mason or an artificer, a chamberlain, a butler, a panter or a carver?”
“Teach me, sir, the duties of a butler, a panter or a chamberlain, and especially, the cunning of a carver. If you will make me to know all these, I will pray for your soul that it come never in pain!”
“Son, I will teach you with right good will, so as you will love and fear God as is right and proper, be true to your master, and not waste his goods, but love and fear him, and duly fulfil his commandments.”
The Duties of a Panter or Butler
“The first year, my son, you shall be panter or butler. In the pantry, you must always keep three sharp knives, one to chop the loaves, another to pare them, and a third, sharp and keen, to smooth and square the trenchers with.[[123]]
“Always cut your lord’s bread, and see that it be new; and all other bread at the table one day old ere you cut it, all household bread three days old, and trencher-bread four days old.
“Look that your salt be fine, white, fair, and dry; and have your salt-plane of ivory, two inches wide and three long; and see to it that the lid of the salt-cellar touch not the salt.
“Good son, look that your napery be sweet and clean, and that your table-cloth, towel, and napkin be folded neatly, your table-knives brightly polished and your spoons fair washed—ye wot well what I mean.
“Look ye have two wine-augers, a greater and a less, some gutters of boxwood that fit them, also a gimlet to pierce with, a tap and a bung, ready to stop the flow when it is time. So when you broach a pipe, good son, do after my teaching: pierce or bore with an auger or gimlet, slanting upward, four fingers’ breadth from the lower rim, so as not to cause the lees to rise—I warn you especially.”
[Here follows a list of fruits and preserves, which presently becomes a mere dietary, ll. 73-108.]
“Take good heed to the wines, red, white, and sweet; look to them every night with a candle, to see that they neither ferment nor leak. Never forget to wash the heads of the pipes with cold water every night; and always carry a gimlet, adze and linen clouts,[[124]] large and small. If the wine ferment, ye shall know by its singing, so keep at hand a pipe of couleur de rose,[[125]] that has been spent in drinking and add to the fermentation the dregs of this, and it shall be amended. If sweet wine be sick or pallid, put in a Romney to improve it.”
[Then follows a list of the sweet wines, and a long recipe for Hippocras, ll. 117-176.]
The Buttery
“See that your cups and pots be clean, both within and without. Serve no ale till it is five days old, for new ale is wasteful.[[125]] And look that all things about you be sweet and clean.
“Be fair of answer, ready to serve, and gentle of cheer, and then men will say; ‘There goes a gentle officer.’
“Beware that ye give no person stale drink, for fear that ye bring many a man into disease for many a year.[[125]]
“My son, it is now the time of day to lay the table. First, wipe it with a cloth ere it be spread, then lay on it a cloth called a cowche.[[125]] You take one end and your mate the other, and draw it straight; and lay a second cloth with its fold on the outer edge of the table.[[126]] Lift the upper part and let it hang even. And then lay the third cloth with its fold on the inner edge, making a state[[126]] half a foot wide, with the top. Cover your ewery-cupboard[[127]] with a diapered-towel, and put a towel round your neck,[[126]] for that is courtesy, and put one end of it mannerly over your left arm; and on the same arm place your lord’s napkin, and on it lay eight loaves of bread, with three or four trencher-loaves. Take one end of the towel in your left hand, as the manner is, together with the salt-cellar—look you do this—and take the other end of the towel in your right hand with the spoons and knives.
“Set the salt on your lord’s right hand, and to the left of your salt, one or two trenchers, and to the left again, your knife by itself and plain to see, and the white rolls, and beside them a spoon upon a fair folded napkin. Cover your spoon, napkin, trencher and knife, so that they cannot be seen; and at the other end of the table place a salt with two trenchers.
“If you wish to wrap up your lord’s bread in a stately fashion, first square off the bread sharply and evenly, and see that no bun or loaf be larger in proportion to the others, and so shall ye be able to wrap it up mannerly for your master. Take a towel of Rennes cloth,[[128]] two and a half yards long, fold it lengthwise[[128]] and lay it on the table. Roll up a handful from each end tightly and stiffly, then in the middle of the towel place eight loaves or buns, bottom to bottom, and then wrap them wisely and skilfully. To tell you more plainly for your information: take the ends of the towel that lies on the bread, draw them out and twist tightly a handful nearest the bread and smooth the wrapper stiffly. When it is ready, you must open one end all in a moment before your lord.
When your sovereign’s table is dressed in this array, place salts on all the other tables, and lay trenchers and cups; and then set out your cupboard with gay silver and silver-gilt, and your ewery board with basins and ewers, and hot and cold water, each to temper the other. Look that you have ever enough napkins, spoons and cups for your lord’s table; also, for your own dignity, that your pots for ale and wine be as clean as possible, and beware ever of flies and motes, for your own sake.
“With lowly courtesy, make the surnape[[129]] with a cloth under a double of fair napery; fold the two ends of the towel to the outer edge of the cloth, and so hold the three ends together; then fold them all so that there is a pleat at about a foot’s distance, and lay it fair and smooth for your lord to wash after meat, if he will. At the right side of the table, you must guide it along, and the marshal must slip it further—the right side up of all three cloths—and let it be drawn straight and even, both in length and breadth; then raise the upper part of the towel and lay it without wrinkling straight to the other side so that half a yard or an ell hangs down at each end, where the sewer[[129]] may make a state, and so please his master. When your lord has washed, you must take up the surnape with your two arms, and carry it back to the ewery yourself.
“Carry a towel about your neck when serving your lord, bow to him, uncover your bread and set it by the salt. Look that all have knives, spoons and napkins, and always when you pass your lord, see that you bow your knees.
“Go forth to the port-payne[[130]] and there take eight loaves, and put four at each end of the table, and be sure that each person has a spoon and a napkin.
“Watch the sewer to see how many pottages he covers, and do ye for as many, and serve each according to his degree; and see that none lack bread, ale or wine.
“Be glad of cheer, courteous of knee, soft of speech; have clean hands and nails and be carefully dressed.
“Do not cough or spit or retch too loud, or put your fingers into the cups to seek bits of dust.
“Have an eye to all grumbling and fault-finding, and prevent backbiting of their fellows among the lords at meat, by serving all with bread, ale and wine; and so shall ye have of all men good love and praise.”
Simple Conditions
“I will that ye eschew forever the ‘simple conditions’ of a person that is not taught.
“Do not claw your head or your back as if you were after a flea, or stroke your hair as if you sought a louse.
“Be not glum,[[131]] nor twinkle with your eyes, nor be heavy of cheer; and keep your eyes free from winking and watering.[[132]]
“Do not pick your nose or let it drop clear pearls, or sniff, or blow it too loud, lest your lord hear.
“Twist not your neck askew like a jackdaw; wring not your hands with picking or trifling or shrugging, as if ye would saw [wood]; nor puff up your chest, nor pick your ears, nor be slow of hearing.
“Retch not, nor spit too far, nor laugh or speak too loud. Beware of making faces and scorning; and be no liar with your mouth. Nor yet lick your lips or drivel.
“Do not have the habit of squirting or spouting with your mouth, or gape, or yawn, or pout. And do not lick a dish with your tongue to get out dust.
“Be not rash or reckless—that is not worth a clout.
“Do not sigh with your breast, or cough, or breathe hard in the presence of your sovereign, or hiccough, or belch, or groan never the more. Do not trample with your feet, or straddle your legs, or scratch your body—there is no sense in showing off. Good son, do not pick your teeth, or grind, or gnash them, or with puffing and blowing cast foul breath upon your lord.... These gallants in their short coats—that is ungoodly guise. Other faults on this matter, I spare not to disapprove in my opinion, when “A man might find many more conditions than are named here; but let every honest servant avoid them for his own credit. “Panter, yeoman of the cellar, butler and ewerer, I will that ye obey the marshal, sewer and carver.” “Good sir, I pray you teach me the skill of carving, and the fair handling of a knife, and all the ways that I shall break open, unlace and penetrate all manner of fowl, flesh and fish—how I shall demean me with each.” “My son, thy knife must be clean and bright; and it beseems thee to have thy hands fair washed. Hold always thy knife surely, so as not to hurt thyself, and have not more than two fingers and the thumb on thy keen knife. “Midway in thy hand, set the end of thy haft firmly; and unlace and mince with the thumb and two fingers only. In cutting and placing bread, and voiding of crumbs and trencher, look you have skill with two fingers and the thumb. Likewise, never use more for fish, flesh, beast or fowl—that is courtesy. “Touch no manner of meat with thy right hand, but with thy left, as is proper. Always with thy left hand grasp the loaf with all thy might; and hold thy knife firmly, as I have instructed thee. Ye do not right to soil your table, nor to wipe your knives on that, but on your napkin. “First take a loaf of trenchers in your left hand, then your table-knife, as I have said before; and with its edge raising your trencher up by you as near the point as you may, lay it before your lord. Right so set four trenchers, one by another, four square, and upon them a single trencher alone. And take your loaf of light bread, as I have told you, and cut with the edge of the knife near your hand; first pare the quarters of the loaf round all about, and cut the upper crust[[133]] for your lord, and bow to him; and suffer the other part to remain still at the bottom, and so nigh spent out,[[134]] and lay him of the crumbs a quarter of the loaf. “Touch not the loaf after it is so trimmed; put it on a platter or on the beforenamed alms-dish. Make clean your board that ye be not blamed; and so shall the sewer serve his lord, and neither of you be vexed.” [Here follows a list of Fumosities, indigestibilities, as Dr. Furnivall calls them, ll. 349-68. The young man then says:] “Now fair befal you, father, and well may ye [a]chieve For these points by practice I hope full well to prove; And yet shall I pray for you daily while that I live, Both for body and soul that God you guide from grief.” [He then begs to be taught the art of “carving of fish and flesh[[133]] after the cook’s care,” and receives detailed instructions for every sort of food, roasted, baked and fried, for the serving of soups, making of sauces and carving of fish, ll. 377-649. He then says:] “Now, father, fair fall ye, and Christ you have in cure, For of the nurture of carving, I suppose that I be sure. But yet another office there is, save I dare not endure To ask you any further, for fear of displeasure. For to be a sewer I would I had the cunning, Then durst I do my devoir[[135]] with any worshipful to be woning;[[136]] Since that I know the course and the craft of carving, I would see the sight of a sewer, what way he showeth in serving.” “Now since, my son, you wish to learn this science, dread nothing of great difficulty; I will gladly teach you, if you will but listen. “Take heed when the worshipful head of any household has washed before meat and begins to say grace, then hie you to the kitchen where the servants must attend and take your orders. First ask the panter or officer of the spicery for fruits, such as butter, plums, damsons, grapes and cherries, which are served before dinner according to the season to make men merry, and ask if any such are to be served that day. Then commune with the cook and surveyor[[137]] as to what meats and how many dishes are prepared. When they two have agreed with you, then must the cook dress up all dishes to the surveying-board,[[138]] and the surveyor must soberly and without turmoil deliver up the dishes to you, that you may convey them to your lord. When you are at the board of service, see that you have courtly and skilful officers to prevent any dish being stolen, which might easily cause a scandal to arise in your service as sewer. See that you have proper servants to carry the dishes, marshals, squires and serjeants-at-arms, if they be there, to bring the dishes without delay or injury from the kitchen, and you need not fear to set them on the table yourself.”[[139]] [Then follow various menus, ll. 686-858. The young man answers:] “Now fair fall you, father, in faith, I am full fain; For lovesomely ye have taught me this nurture again. Pleaseth it you to certify me with one word or twain, The courtesy to conceive conveniently for every chamberlain?” “The duty of a chamberlain is to be diligent in office, neatly clad, his clothes not torn, hands and face well washed and head well kempt. “He must be ever careful—not negligent—of fire and candle. And look you[[140]] give diligent attendance to your master, be courteous, glad of cheer, quick of hearing in every way, and be ever on the lookout for things to do him pleasure; if you will acquire these qualities, it may advance you well. “See that your lord has a clean shirt and hose, a short coat,[[141]] a doublet, and a long coat, if he wear such, his hose well brushed, his socks at hand, his shoes or slippers as brown as a water-leech.[[140]] “In the morning, against your lord shall rise, take care that his linen be clean, and warm it at a clear fire, not smoky, if [the weather] be cold or freezing. “When he rises make ready the foot-sheet, and forget not to place a chair or some other seat with a cushion on it before the fire, with another cushion for the feet. Over the cushion and chair spread this sheet so as to cover them; and see that you have a kerchief and a comb to comb your lord’s head before he is fully dressed. “Then pray your lord in humble words to come to a good fire and array him thereby, and there to sit or stand pleasantly; and wait with due manners to assist him. First hold out to him his tunic, then his doublet while he puts in his arms, and have his stomacher well aired to keep off harm, as also his vamps[[142]] and socks, and so shall he go warm all day. “Then draw on his socks and his hose by the fire, and lace or buckle his shoes, draw his hosen on well and truss them up to the height that suits him, lace his doublet in every hole, and put round his neck and on his shoulders a kerchief; and then gently comb his head with an ivory comb, and give him water wherewith to wash his hands and face. “Then kneel down on your knee and say thus: ‘Sir, what robe or gown doth it please you to wear to-day?’ Then get him such as he asks for, and hold it out for him to put on, and do on his girdle, if he wear one, tight or loose, arrange his robe in the proper fashion, give him a hood or hat for his head, a cloak or cappe-de-huse,[[143]] according as it be fair or foul, or all misty with rain; and so shall ye please him. Before he goes out, brush busily about him, and whether he wear satin, sendal,[[144]] velvet, scarlet[[145]] or grain,[[146]] see that all be clean and nice. “If he be prince or prelate or other potentate, before he go to church see that all things for the pew be made ready, and forget not cushion, carpet, curtain, beads or book. “Then return in haste to your lord’s chamber, strip the clothes off the bed and cast them aside, and beat the feather-bed, but not so as to waste any feathers, and see that the blankets and sheets be clean. When you have made the bed mannerly, cover it with a coverlet, spread out the bench-covers,[[147]] and cushions, set up the head-sheet[[148]] and pillow, and remove the basin. See that carpets[[149]] be laid round the bed and dress the windows, and the cupboard with carpets[[149]] and cushions. See there be a good fire conveyed into the chamber, with plenty of wood and fuel to make it up.... “You must attend busily to your lord’s wardrobe, to keep the clothes well, and to brush them cleanly. Use a soft brush, and remember that overmuch brushing easily wears out cloth. “Never let woollen clothes or furs go a sevennight without being brushed or shaken, for moths be always ready to alight in them and engender; so always keep an eye on drapery and skinnery. “If your lord take a nap after his meal to digest his stomach, have ready kerchief and comb, pillow and head-sheet; yet be not far from him—take heed what I say—for much sleep is not good in the middle of the day, and have ready water and towel so that he may wash after his sleep. “When he has supped and goes to his chamber, spread forth your foot-sheet, as I have already shown you, take off his gown or whatever garment by the license of his estate he wears,[[150]] and lay it up in such place as ye best know. Put a mantle on his back to keep his body from cold, set him on the foot-sheet, made ready as I have directed, and pull off his shoes, socks and hosen, and throw these last over your shoulder, or hold them on your arm. Comb his hair, but first kneel down, and put on his kerchief and nightcap wound[[150]] in seemly fashion. Have the bed, head-sheet and pillow ready; and when he is in bed, there to sleep safe and sound, draw the curtains round about the bed, set there his night-light with wax or Paris-candle,[[150]] and see that there is enough to last the night, drive out the dog and the cat, giving them a clout, take no leave of your lord, but bow low to him and retire, and thus shall ye have thanks and reward whensoever it fall.” “If your lord wishes to bathe and wash his body clean, hang sheets round the roof, every one full of flowers and sweet green herbs, and have five or six sponges to sit or lean upon, and see that you have one big sponge to sit upon, and a sheet over so that he may bathe there for a while, and have a sponge also for under his feet, if there be any to spare, and always be careful that the door is shut. Have a basin full of hot fresh herbs and wash his body with a soft sponge, rinse him with fair warm rose-water, and throw it over him; then let him go to bed; but see that the bed be sweet and nice; and first put on his socks and slippers that he may go near the fire and stand on his foot-sheet, wipe him dry with a clean cloth, and take him to bed to cure his troubles.” “Boil together hollyhock,[[151]] mallow, wall pellitory and brown fennel, danewort, St. John’s wort, centaury, ribwort and camomile, heyhove, heyriff, herb-benet, bresewort, smallage, water speedwell, scabious, bugloss (?), and wild flax which is good for aches—boil withy leaves and green oats together with them, and throw them hot into a vessel and put your lord over it and let him endure for a while as hot as he can, being covered over and closed on every side; and whatever disease, grievance or pain ye be vexed with, this medicine shall surely make you whole, as men say.” “An usher or marshal, without fail, must know all the estates of the Church, and the excellent estate of a king with his honourable blood. This is a notable nurture, cunning, curious and commendable. “The estate of the Pope has no peer, an emperor is next him everywhere and a King is correspondent, a high cardinal next in dignity, then a King’s son (ye call him prince), an archbishop his equal; a duke of the blood royal; a bishop, marquis and earl coequal; a viscount, legate, baron, suffragan and mitred abbot; a baron of the exchequer, the three chief justices and the Mayor of London; a cathedral prior, unmitred abbot and knight bachelor; a prior, dean, archdeacon, knight and body esquire; the Master of the Rolls (as I reckon aright), and puisne judge; clerk of the crown and the exchequer, and you may pleasantly prefer the Mayor of Calais.[[152]] “A provincial,[[153]] doctor of divinity and prothonotary[[154]] may dine together; and you may place the pope’s legate or collector with a doctor of both laws. An ex-mayor of London ranks with a serjeant-at-law, next a Mastery of Chancery, and then a worshipful preacher of pardons,[[155]] masters of arts, and religious orders, parsons and vicars, and parish priests with a cure, the bailiffs of a city, a yeoman of the crown, and serjeant-of-arms with his mace, with him a herald, the King’s herald in the first place, worshipful merchants and rich artificers, gentlemen well-nurtured and of good manners, together with gentlewomen and lords’ foster-mothers[[156]]—all these may eat with squires. “Lo, son, I have now told you, after my simple wit, the rank of every estate according to his degree, and now I will show you how they should be grouped at table in respect of their dignity, and how they should be served. “The pope, an emperor, king, cardinal, prince with a golden royal rod,[[157]] archbishop in his pall—all these for their dignity ought not to dine in the hall. “A bishop, viscount, marquis, goodly earl may sit at two messes if they be agreeable thereunto. “The Mayor of London, a baron, a mitred abbot, the three chief justices, the Speaker of Parliament—all these estates are great and honourable, and they may sit together in chamber or hall, two or three at a mess, if it so please them; but in your office you must try to please every man. “The other estates, three or four to a mess, equal to a knight’s, are: unmitred abbot or prior, dean, archdeacon, Master of the Rolls, all the under judges and barons of the king’s exchequer, a provincial, a doctor of divinity or of both laws, a prothonotary, or the pope’s collector, if he be there, and the Mayor of the Staple. “Other ranks you may set four to a mess, of persons equal to a squire in dignity, serjeants-at-law and ex-mayors of London, the masters of Chancery, all preachers, residencers, and parsons, apprentices of the law, merchants and franklins—these may sit properly at a squire’s table. “Each estate shall sit at meat by itself, not seeing the others, at meal-time or in the field or in the town; and each must sit alone in the chamber or in the pavilion. “The Bishop of Canterbury shall be served apart from the Archbishop of York, and the Metropolitan shall be served alone. The Bishop of York must not be served in the presence of the Primate of England.[[158]] “Now, son, from divers causes, as equally from ignorance, a marshal is often puzzled how to rank lords of royal blood who are poor, and others not of royal blood who are rich, also ladies of royal blood wedded to knights, and poor ladies marrying those of royal blood. The lady of royal blood shall keep her rank, the lady of low blood and degree shall take her husband’s rank. The substance of livelihood[[159]] is not so digne[[160]] as royal blood, wherefore this prevails in chamber and hall, for some day blood royal might attain to the kingship. “If the parents of a pope or cardinal be still alive, they must in no wise presume to be equal to their son, either sitting or standing. The estate of their son will not allow them either to sit or stand by him—nor should they desire it; wherefore they should have a separate chamber assigned to them. “A marshal must look to the birth of each estate, and arrange officers such as chancellor, steward, chamberlain, treasurer, according to their degree. “He must honour foreign visitors, and strangers to this land, even when they are resident here. A well-trained marshal should think beforehand how to place strangers at the table, for if they show gentle cheer and good manners, he thereby doth honour his lord and bring praise to himself. “If the king send any messenger to your lord, if he be a knight, squire, yeoman of the crown, groom, page or child, receive him honourably as a baron, knight, squire, yeoman or groom,[[161]] and so forth, from the highest degree to the lowest, for a king’s groom may dine with a knight or a marshal. “A commendable marshal must also understand the rank of all the worshipful officers of the commonalty of this land, of shires, cities and boroughs—such must be placed in due order, according to their rank. “The estate of a knight of [good] blood and wealth is not the same as that of a simple and poor knight. Also, the Mayor of Queenborough[[162]] is not of like dignity with the Mayor of London—nothing like of degree; and they must on no account sit at the same table. “The Abbot of Westminster is the highest in the land, and the Abbot of Tintern the poorest; both are abbots, yet Tintern shall neither sit nor stand with Westminster.[[162]] Also, the Prior of Dudley may in no wise sit with the Prior of Canterbury.[[162]] And remember, as a general rule, that a prior who is a prelate of a cathedral church, shall sit above any abbot or prior of his own diocese, in church, chapel, chamber or hall. “Reverend doctors of twelve years’ standing shall sit above those of nine years’, although the latter may spend more largely of fine red gold. Likewise, the younger aldermen shall sit or stand below their elders, and so in every craft, the master first, and then the ex-warden. “All these points, with many more, belong to the duty of a marshal; and so before every feast think what estates shall sit in the hall, and reason with yourself before your lord shall call upon you. If you are in any doubt, go either to your lord or to the chief officer, and then shall you do no wrong or prejudice to any state; but set all according to their birth, riches or dignity. “Now, good son, I have shown you the courtesy of the court, and how to manage in pantry, buttery, cellar or in carving, as a sewer or as a marshal. I suppose ye be sure in these sciences, which in my day I learned with a royal prince, to whom I was usher and also marshal. “All the officers I have mentioned have to obey me, ever to fulfil my commandment when I call, for our office is the chief in spicery and cellar, whether the cook be lief or loth.[[163]] “All these divers offices may be filled by a single person, but the dignity of a prince requireth each office to have its officer and a servant waiting on him. Moreover, all must know their duties perfectly, for doubt and fear are a hindrance in serving a lord and pleasing his guests. “Fear not to serve a prince—God be his speed! Take good heed to your duties, and be ever on the watch, and thus doing as ye should, there will be no need to doubt. “Tasting is done only for those of royal blood, as pope, emperor, empress, cardinal, king, queen, prince, archbishop, duke or earl—none other that I call to remembrance. It is done for fear of poison, so let each man in office keep his room secure and close his safe,[[164]] chest and storehouse for fear of conspiracy. “The steward and chamberlain of a prince of the blood must know about homages, services and fewte;[[165]] and as they have the oversight of all other offices and of the tasting, they must tell the marshal, sewer or carver, how to do it; and he must be in no fear when he tasteth. “As the evening draws in, and I cannot tarry, I do not propose to contrive more of this matter. This treatise that I have entitled, if ye would prove it, I myself assayed in youth, when I was young and lusty; and I enjoyed these aforesaid matters, and took good heed to learn. But crooked age hath now compelled me to leave the court, so assay for yourself, my son, and God speed you!” “Now, fair befall you, father, and blessings be on you for thus teaching me! I shall dare to do diligent service to divers dignitaries, where before I was afraid for the scantiness of my knowledge; I perceive the whole matter so perfectly that I am ready to try my part, and some good I may learn from practice and exercise. I am bound always to pray God reward you for your gentle teaching of me!” “Now, good son, thyself and others that shall succeed thee to note, learn and read over this book of nurture, pray for the soul of John Russell, servant to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Pray for that peerless prince, and for the souls of my wife and my father and mother, unto Mary, Mother and Maid, that she defend us from our foes, and bring us all to bliss when we go hence. Amen.” [The envoi may have been added later[[166]]] “Go forth, little book, and lowly thou me commend, Unto all young gentlemen that list to learn or entend,[[167]] And specially to them that have experience, praying them to amend, And correct what is amiss, whereas I fail or offend. And if so that any be found as through my negligence, Cast the cause on my copy, rude and bare of eloquence, Which to draw out [I] have done my busy diligence, Readily to reform it by reason and better sentence. As for rhyme or reason, the fore-writer was not to blame, For as he found it before him, so wrote he the same, And though he or I in our matter digress or degrade, Blame neither of us, for we never it made; Simple, as I had insight, somewhat the rhyme I correct. Blame I could no man, I have no person suspect. Now, good God, grant us grace our souls never to infect, Then we may reign in thy region eternally with thine elect.”[Office of a Carver]
Office of a Sewer
The Office of a Chamberlain
“The Wardrobe
“A Bath or Stew so-called
“The Making of a Medicinable Bath
“The Office of Usher and Marshal