London in the Time of the Tudors

by Walter Besant

But swift be they after, taking meate away;

A special custom used is them amonge,

No good dishe to suffer on borde to be longe.

If the dishe be pleasante, whether fleshe or fishe,

Ten hande at once swarme in the dishe;

And if it be fleshe, ten knives shalt thou see

Mangling the fleshe, and in the platter flee;

Put there thy hands in peryl without fayle

Without a gauntlet or a glove of mayle.”

Antiquary’s Portfolio, p. 130.