Athenæus describes an entertainment that was given by Arcamnes, a very wealthy prince of Gaul, which continued a whole year without interruption, and at which all the people of Gaul, and even all strangers who passed through that country, were made welcome. At these feasts they sometimes consulted about the most important affairs of state, and formed resolutions relating to peace and war; imagining that men spoke their real sentiments with the greatest freedom, and were apt to form the boldest designs, when their spirits were exhilarated with the pleasures of the table. The conversation at these entertainments very frequently turned on the great exploits, which the guests themselves, or their ancestors, had performed in war; which sometimes occasioned quarrels, and even bloodshed. It was at a feast that the two illustrious British princes, Carbar and Oscar, quarrelled about their own bravery and that of their ancestors, and fell by mutual wounds.—Ossian, vol. ii. p. 8, &c.
As to the drink used at those feasts, particularly in Britain, it seems probable, that before the introduction of agriculture into the island, mead, or honey diluted with water, was the only strong liquor known to its inhabitants, as it was to many other ancient nations in the same circumstances. This continued to be a favourite beverage among the ancient Britons and their posterity, long after they had become acquainted with other liquors, (See Mead.) After the introduction of agriculture, ale or beer became the most general drink of all the British nations who practised that art, as it had long been of all the Celtic people on the continent, (See Ale.) If the Phœnicians or Greeks imported any wine into Britain, it was only in very small quantities; that liquor being very little known in this island before it was conquered by the Romans. The drinking vessels of the Gauls, Britons, and other Celtic nations, were for the most part made of the horns of oxen and other animals; but those of the Caledonians consisted of large shells, which are still used by some of their posterity in the Highlands of Scotland.
The dishes in which the meat was served up were either of wood or earthenware, or a kind of baskets made of osiers. These last were most used by the Britons, as they very much excelled in the art of making them, both for their own use and for exportation. The guests sat in a circle upon the ground, with a little hay, grass, or the skin of some animal, under them. A low table or stool was set before each person, with the portion of meat allotted to him upon it. In this distribution, they never neglected to set the largest and best pieces before those who were most distinguished for their rank, their exploits, or their riches. Every guest took the meat set before him in his hands, and, tearing it with his teeth, fed upon it in the best manner he could. If any one found difficulty in separating any part of his meat with his hands and teeth, he made use of a large knife, that lay in a particular place for the benefit of the whole company. Servants, or young boys and girls, the children of the family, stood behind the guests, ready to help them to drink, or any thing they wanted.
As the ancient Britons greatly excelled, and very much delighted in, music, all their feasts were accompanied with the joys of song, and the music of harps. In the words of Ossian, (vol. ii. p. 9, &c.) “whenever the feast of shells is prepared, the songs of bards arise. The voice of sprightly mirth is heard. The trembling harps of joy are strung. They sing the battles of heroes, or the heaving breasts of love.” Some of the poems of that illustrious British bard appear to have been composed in order to be sung by the hundred bards of Fingal, at the feasts of Selma, (see vol. i. p. 87, 209.) Many of the songs of the bards, which were sung and played at the feasts of the ancient Britons, were of a grave and solemn strain, celebrating the brave actions of the guests, or of the heroes of other times; but these were sometimes intermixed with sprightly and cheerful airs, to which the youth of both sexes danced. It has been observed by some authors, that no nation comes near the English in the magnificence of their feasts. Those made at our coronations, instalments, consecrations, &c. transcend the belief of foreigners; and yet it is doubted whether those now in use are comparable to the feasts of former ages.
William the Conqueror, after he was peaceably settled on the throne of England, sent agents into different countries, to collect the most admired and rare dishes for his table; by which means, says John of Salisbury, this island, which is naturally productive of plenty and variety of provisions, was overflowed with every thing that could inflame a luxurious appetite. The same writer tells us, that he was present at an entertainment which lasted from three P. M. to midnight, at which delicacies were served up, which had been brought from Constantinople, Babylon, Alexandria, Palestine, Tripoli, Syria, and Phœnicia. These delicacies were doubtless very expensive. Thomas Becket (says his historian Fitz-Stephen) gave £5, equivalent to £75 at present, for one dish of eels. The sumptuous entertainments which the kings of England gave to their nobles and prelates, at the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, in which they spent a great part of their revenues, contributed very much to diffuse a taste for profuse and expensive banqueting. It was natural for a proud and wealthy baron to imitate, in his own castle, the entertainments he had seen in the palace of his prince. Many of the clergy, too, both seculars and regulars, being very rich, kept excellent tables.
The monks of St. Swithin’s, at Winchester, made a formal complaint to Henry II. against their abbot, for taking away three of the 13 dishes they used to have every day at dinner. The monks of Canterbury were still more luxurious: for they had at least 17 dishes every day, besides a dessert; and these dishes were dressed with spiceries and sauces, which excited the appetite as well as pleased the taste. Great men had some kinds of provisions at their tables, that are not now to be found in Britain.
When Henry II. entertained his own court, the great officers of his army, with all the kings and great men of Ireland, in Dublin, at the feast of Christmas, A. D. 1171, the Irish princes and chieftains were quite astonished at the profusion and variety of provisions which they beheld, and were with difficulty prevailed upon by Henry to eat the flesh of cranes, a kind of food to which they had not been accustomed. In the remaining monuments of this period, we meet with the names of several dishes, as dellegrout, maupigyrnum, karumpie, &c. the composition of which is now unknown.
The coronation feast of Edward III. cost £2835. 18s. 2d. equivalent to about £40,000 of our money. At the installation of Ralph, abbot of St. Augustine, Canterbury, A. D. 1309, 6000 guests were entertained with a dinner, consisting of 3000 dishes, which cost £287. 5s. equal in value to £4300 in our times. “It would require a long treatise (says Matthew Paris) to describe the astonishing splendour, magnificence, and festivity, with which the nuptials of Richard Earl of Cornwall, and Cincia daughter of Raymund Earl of Provence, were celebrated at London, A. D. 1243. To give the reader some idea of it, in a few words, above 30,000 dishes were served up at the marriage dinner.”
The nuptials of Alexander III. of Scotland, and the princess Margaret of England, were solemnized at York, A. D. 1251, with still greater pomp and profusion. “If I attempted (says M. Paris) to display all the grandeur of this solemnity,—the numbers of the noble and illustrious guests,—the richness and variety of the dresses,—the sumptuousness of the feasts,—the multitudes of the minstrels, mimics, and others whose business it was to amuse and divert the company, those of my readers who were not present, would imagine that I was imposing upon their credulity. The following particular will enable them to form a judgment of the whole. The archbishop of York made the King of England a present of 60 fat oxen; which made only one article of provision for the marriage feast, and were all consumed at that entertainment. The marriage feast of Henry IV. and his queen, Jane of Navarre, consisted of six courses; three of flesh and fowl, and three of fish. All these courses were accompanied and adorned with suttleties, as they were called. These suttleties were figures in pastry, of men, women, beasts, birds, &c. placed on the table, to be admired, but not touched. Each figure had a label affixed to it, containing some wise or witty saying, suited to the occasion of the feast, which was the reason they were called suttleties.”
The installation feast of George Neville, archbishop of York, and chancellor of England, exceeded all others in splendour and expense, and in the number and quality of the guests. The reader may form some idea of this enormous feast, from the following list of provisions prepared for it. In wheat, 300 quarters; in ale, 300 tuns; in wine, 100 tuns; in ypocrasse pipes, 1; in oxen, 104; in wild bulls, 6; in muttons, 1000; in veals, 304; in porks, 304; in swans, 400; in geese, 2000; in capons, 1000; in pigs, 2000; in plovers, 400; in quails, 1200; in fowls called rees, 2400; in peacocks, 104; in mallards and teals, 4000; in cranes, 204; in kids, 204; in chickens, 2000; in pigeons, 2000; in conies, 4000; in bitterns, 204; in heronshaws, 400; in pheasants, 200; in partridges, 500; in woodcocks, 400; in curlews, 100; in egritis, 1000; in stags, bucks, and roes, 500 and more; in pasties of venison, cold, 4000; in parted dishes of jellies, 1000; in plain dishes of jellies, 3000; in cold tarts, baked, 4000; in cold custards, baked, 3000; in hot pasties of venison, 1500; in hot custards, 2000; in pikes and breams, 308; in porpoises and seals, 12: spices, sugared delicates, and wafers, plenty. No turkeys are mentioned in this enormous bill of fare, because they were not then known in England. Cranes, heronshaws, porpoises, and seals, are seldom seen at modern entertainments. One of the most expensive singularities attending the royal feasts in those days, consisted in what they called Intermeats. These were representations of battles, sieges, &c. introduced between the courses, for the amusement of the guests. The French excelled in exhibitions of this kind. At a dinner given by Charles V. of France to the emperor Charles IV. A. D. 1378, the following intermeat was exhibited: a ship, with masts, sails, and rigging, was seen first; she had for colours the arms of the city of Jerusalem: Godfrey of Bouillon appeared upon deck, accompanied by several knights armed cap-a-pié: the ship advanced into the middle of the hall, without the machine which moved it being perceptible. Then the city of Jerusalem appeared, with all its towers lined with Saracens. The ship approached the city; the Christians landed, and began to assault, while the besieged made a good defence: several scaling-ladders were thrown down; but at length the city was taken. Intermeats at ordinary banquets consisted of certain delicate dishes, introduced between the courses, and designed rather for gratifying the taste, than for satisfying hunger. At those feasts, besides ale and cider, there were great quantities of wine of various kinds. Of these, a poet who wrote in the fourteenth century, gives an ample enumeration; wherein he mentions ypocrasse, malespine, algrade, garnade, and other kinds now hardly known. Some of these liquors, as ypocrasse, pyment, and claret, were compounded of wine, honey, and spices, of different kinds, and in different proportions.