Early English Meals and Manners

by Unknown

quarrelsome, and drunken servants must be turned out. stryffulle, [* p. 194] drunke*lewe, vnprofitabulle, yf there be ony suche yfunde or diffamydde vppon these thyngis, that they be caste oute or put fro the howseholde. [v.] All must be of one accord, ¶ The fyft: commaunde ȝe that in no wyse be in the howseholde men debatefulle or stryffulle, but that alle be of ooñ a-corde, of ooñ wylle, euen lyke as in them ys oon mynde and oon sowle. [vi.] ¶ The sixte: commaunde ȝe that alle tho that seruen in ony offyce be obedient to those above them, obedient, and redy, to them that be a-bofe them in thyngis that perteynyñ to there office. [vii.] ¶ The seuenthe: commaunde ȝe that ȝoure gentilmen yomen and other, dayly bere and dress in livery, were there robis in ȝoure presence, and namely at the mete, for ȝoure worshyppe, and not oolde robis and not cordyng to the lyuerey, and not wear old shoes. nother were they oolde schoon ne fylyd. [viii.] ¶ The viij: Order your Alms to be Commaunde ȝe that ȝoure almys be kepyd, & not sende not to boys and knafis, nother in the halle nothe oute of þe halle, ne be wasted in soperys ne dyners of gromys, but wysely, temperatly, with-oute bate or betyng, given to the poor and sick. be hit distribute and the[n] departyd to powre meñ, beggers, syke folke and febulle. [ix.] Make all the household dine together in the Hall. ¶ The ix.: Make ȝe ȝoure owne howseholde to sytte in the alle, as muche as ye mow or may, at the bordis of oon parte and of the other parte, and lette them sitte to-gedur as mony as may, not here fowre and thre there: and when youre chef maynye be sett, then alle gromys [* p. 195] may* entre, sitte, And ryse [x.] Let no woman dine with you. wyfe] MS. wyse ¶ The x.: Streytly for-bede ȝe that no wyfe be at ȝoure mete. And sytte ȝe euer in the myddul of the hye borde, Let the Master show himself to all. that youre fysegge and chere be schewyd to alle meñ of bothe partyes, and that ȝe may see lyȝhtly the seruicis and defawtis: and diligently see ȝe that euery day in ȝoure mete seson be two men ordeyned to ouer-se youre mayny, and of that they shalle drede ȝou [xi.] ¶ The xi: commaunde ȝe, and yeue licence as lytul tyme as ye may with honeste to them that be in ȝoure howseholde, Let your servants go to their homes. to go home. And whenne ȝe yeue licence

to them, Assigne ȝe to them a short day of comyng a yeyne vndur peyne of lesyng there seruice. Don’t allow grumbling. And yf ony mañ speke ayen or be worthe] t.i. wroth worthe, say to hym, “what! wille ye be lorde? ye wylle þat y serue you after ȝoure wylle.” and they that wylle not here that ȝe say, effectually be they ywarnyd, and ye shalle prouide other seruantis the whiche shalle serue you to youre wylle or plesyng. [xii.] Tell your Panter and Butler to come to the table before grace. ¶ The xij is: command the panytrere with youre brede, & the botelare with wyne and ale, come to-gedur afore ȝou at the tabulle afore gracys, Tell off three yeomen to wait at table. And let be there thre yomen assigned to serue the hye tabulle and the two syde tabullis in solenne dayes; ¶ And ley they not the vessels deseruyng for ale and wyne vppon the [* p. 196] tabulle,* but afore you, But be thay layid vnder þe tabulle. [xiii.] ¶ The 13: Tell the Steward to keep good order in the Hall, commaunde ye the stywarde þat he be besy and diligent to kepe the maynye in hys owne persone inwarde and vtwarde, and namely in the halle and at mete, that they be-haue them selfe honestly, with-out stryffe, fowlespekyng, and noyse; And that they that be ordeynyd to sette messys, and serve every one fairly. bryng them be ordre and continuelly tyl alle be serued, and not inordinatly, And thorow affeccion] MS. affecciori affeccion to personys or by specialte; And take ȝe hede to this tyl messys be fully sett in the halle, and after tende ye to ȝoure mette. [xiv.] Have your dish well filled ¶ The xiiij: commaunde ȝe þat youre dysshe be welle fyllyd and hepid, and namely of entermes, and of pitance with-oute fat, that you may help others to it. carkyng that ȝe may parte coureteysly to thoo that sitte beside, bothe of the ryght hande and the left, thorow alle the hie tabulle, and to other as plesythe you, thowȝght they haue of the same that ye haue. At the soper be seruantis seruid of oon messe, & byȝth metis, & after of chese. ¶ And yf the[r] come gestis, seruice schalle be haued as nedythe. [xv.] Always admit your special friends, and show them you are glad to see them. ¶ The xv: commaunde ye the officers that they admitte youre knowlechyd men, familiers frendys, and strangers, with mery chere, the

whche they knowen you to wille for to admitte and receyue, and to them the whiche wylle you worschipe, [* p. 197] and* they wylleñ to do that ye wylle to do, that they may know them selfe to haue be welcome to ȝou, and to be welle plesyd that they be come. ¶ And al so muche as ȝe may with-oute peril of sykenes & werynys ete ȝe in the halle afore ȝoure meyny, ¶ For that schalle be to ȝou profyte and worshippe. [xvi.] Talk familiarly to your Bailiffs, ¶ The xvj: when youre ballyfs comyn a-fore ȝoure, speke to them fayre and gentilly in opyñ place, and not in priuey, ¶ And shew them mery chere, ask how your tenants and store do. & serche and axe of them “how fare owre meñ & tenauntis, & how cornys dooñ, & cartis, and of owre store how hit ys multiplyed,” Axe suche thyngis openly, and knowe ȝe certeynly that they wille the more drede ȝou. [xvii.] Allow no private meals; only those in Hall. ¶ The xvij: commaunde ȝe that dineris and sopers priuely in hid plase be not had, & be thay forbeden that there be no suche dyners nother sopers oute of the halle, For of suche comethe grete destrccion, and no worshippe therby growythe to the lorde.

¶ Expliciunt Statuta Familie bone Memorie.

Prof. Brewer has, I find, printed these Statuta in his most interesting and valuable Monumenta Franciscana, 1858, p. 582-6. He differs from Mr Brock and me in reading drunkelewe (drunken, in Chaucer, &c.) as ‘drunke, lewe,’ and vessels as ‘bossels,’ and in adding e’s[1] to some final g’s. He says, by way of Introduction, that, “Though entitled Ordinances for the Household of Bishop Grostete, this is evidently a Letter addressed to the Bishop on the management of his Household by some very intimate friend. From the terms used in the Letter, it is clear that the writer must have been on confidential terms with the Prelate. I cannot affirm positively that the writer was Adam de Marisco, although to no other would this document be attributed with greater probability. No one else enjoyed such a degree of Grostete’s affection; none would have ventured to address him with so much familiarity. Besides, the references made more than once by Adam de Marisco in his letters to the management of the Bishop’s household, greatly strengthen this supposition. See pp. 160, 170 (Mon. Francisc.). The MS. is a small quarto on vellum, in the writing of the 15th century. It is in all probability a translation from a Latin original.”

[*] The T of T the is used as a paragraph mark in the MS. Italics partly added by transcriber; see [Corrigenda].

[1.] In this he is probably right. The general custom of editors justifies it. Our printers want a pig-tailed or curly g to correspond with the MS. one.

[From the Rawlinson MS., C. 86, fol. 31,
in the Bodleian Library.]