‘Glutton, wilt thou assaye?’
‘Hast thou aught in thy purse,’ quoth he;
‘Any hote spices?’
‘I have pepir, and peonies,’ quoth she,
‘And a pound of garleck,
And a farthing-worth of fenel-seed
For fastyng dayes.’
Such an array of hot ingredients as this poor Glutton could not resist, and instead of going to Mass he turned into the tavern, and having supped
A galon and a gille,
of course got uproariously drunk. Thus we see how natural it is we should come across such names as ‘Balmer,’ or ‘le Oyncterer,’ or ‘le Hoincter,’ as it is also registered, or ‘le Garlyckmonger,’ in our early records. The first still exists. The second does not, but the cumbersome and ungainly appearance of the last affords sufficient excuse for its absence. It is quite possible, however, that our ‘Garlicks’ are but a curtailment of it, and this is the more likely, as such forms as ‘Henry le Garleckmonger,’ or ‘Thomas le Garlykmonger,’ are commonly found, and evidently represented an important occupation. The Normans, like the Saxons, loved a highly stimulative dish, and garlic sauce went to everything; bird, beast, fish, all alike found their seasoning in a concoction of which this acrid and pungent herb was the chief ingredient. ‘Roger le Gaderer,’ or as we should now say ‘Gatherer,’ has left no descendant, but he may be mentioned as representing a more general term for many of the above.