FINGERS AND FORK

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 36, 11 August 1934, Page 16

FINGERS AND FORK

AT ENGLAND'S TABLES

WHEN DISHES WERE SHARED

ITALIAN INFLUENCE

In the film "The Private Life of Henry VIII" thero are several scenes showing'the King at-meals.' Ho tears <i ehickon apart with his hands, holds a large piece before his mouth as he chews at it, and throws the bones over his shoulder on the floor (says a -writer in the Melbourne "Ago"). It is improbable that 'Henry in real lifo behaved as badly as this at meals. No doubt lie was a gross feeder, but knives and spoons were in. use when he was on the throne, and had beeii in uso for many years,, though forks did not eonio into fashion until the beginning of the seventeenth 'century.' The introduction of forks into England is credited to. Thomas Coryate, a jester at the Court of James I, who in 1608 toured the Continont, mosfly on foot, and! on his return to England published the story of his travels under the titlo of "Crudities." Thero he referred to the fact that the fork was.used in Italy -when meat was eaten, "because tho Italian cannot by any means endure to have his dish' touched with fingers, seeing all men's fingers aro not aliko clean." And he added .that he had "thought good to imitate the Italian fashion by this forked cutting of meat." Ben Jonson, in his play "The Devil is an Ass,"'"refers to the fact that the use of forks resulted in less need nt table, of napkins on which to wipe the hands— . . The laudable uso of forks lirought into custom here, 'us they v ..iro In Italy To the sparing, of napkins.' Fifty years later, when Samuel Pepys -was writing his diary, forks were in general use, but ho refers to the fact that the guests at the Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall in 3603 were not provided with knives, forks, and napkins. '.In.company with Mr. Proby lie weiit up and down tho tables laid for tho banquet. "Under every salt there.Was-a bill of fare, and at the end of the table the , persons proper for the-table (i.e., a list of the persons who' 'were to sit at tho table). Many were the-tables, but none in the hall but the Mayor's and the Lords_of the Privy. Council that had napkins or knives, which was very strange." Apparently caoh guest was expected to bring his . own knife and fork. "I sat near Proby, Baron, and Creed at . tho Merchant Strangers' table," wrote •Pepys, "where ton good dishes to a messe, with plenty of wine of all sorts, of which I drunk'nonc; but it was very unpleasing that wo had no napkins nor change of trenchers, arid drunk out Of earthen pitchers and wooden dishes. . . . The .'dinner,: it seems,- is made by the . Mayor ■ and. two , Sheriffs for the- 'timo being, the.'. Lord Mayor paying one half ■ and they the other. And the whole Proby says, is reckoned to come about £.700 or £800 at most." . CLEAN PLATES. 'Apparently it had becomo-tho custom in Pepys's time to have a. clean trencher for each course of a meal, but the supply of trenchers ■at the Guildhall was not; sufficient. for . this purpose" when there was a-large number of guests. It lias been suggested in explanation of the meanness of-.the table appointments that the gold aiia -silver'-..plate-belonging to the City Corporation had been melted dtonng-tho--Civil War. China plates had riot come into use, and the trencher of'Pepys's time was probably made of-pewter. Previous to that it had been made of wood, and in earlier times it consisted of a slice of stale -bread, oh- which"the food -to' be eaftiri . was placed. : ■,-. " -..'. .:': .' .' Mr.' William Edward Mead in his book, '"The 'English Medieval Feast," gives ! a great deal of • interesting in-formation-about the meals .eaten in tho great halls of the lordly /astles .of England; in:tho latter part of -the middle' ages, which would be a^ little before the time of Henry VIII. "Notable guests always sat upon tho dais ana were thus raised somewhat above the level of ordinary ' diners. The tables^ at; least the more important, were covered'with a cloth laid with ridiculous solemnity and ceremony, and decorated in the taste of the time. On the dresser;stood gold and silver plates and vases and tankards; while similar vessels.adorned the tablos. Besides the vessels of gold and silver there were <:ups and vases of glass or rock crystal. . . The gold and silver vessels were not -wholly for ostentation, and not even a proof of extravagance, but rather of economy. In the middle ages the lack of opportunity for safe investment encouraged the-lavish use of gold .ana silver.for the table, and for various'household; purposes. It was indeed the simplest form of banking, for in any emergency the vessels could be thrown into :the melting-pots and the metal used forv exchange. , "If .the feast wcto at all pretentious one of. the; most conspicuous ornaments of the table was likely to be the nef, a vessel- '.in the form of a medieval ship, with a high prow and stern. In some households this held, the salt cellar,! small towels for wiping the hands ana mouth, and sometimes knives and spoons* > NOT FOR INDIVIDUALS. " Of individual dishes there was a surprising' lack. Thero was, indeed, a drinking cup shared by tho guest with his table companion^ but, except perhaps for a knife-or a spoon, the only strictly individual-feature of the equipment of the table was tho trencher. This was made of wood or of coarse bread cut in small slices and placed before each guest to serve as a sort of plate. With nioderato caro this gavo some protection to the tablecloth, though; since tho trencher had no rim, :i juicy sop or a piece of meat swimming in sauce laid upon it must often have been a source of embarrassment to the guost. Tho trencher, when well .saturated with sauce, was sometimes eaten by the guest. Otherwise* all trerichei-s left upon tho tables were swept into a basket and given to the poor. :■." ■ ' . "Carving was by no means regarded as a menial service, and even great lords counted it an honour to carve at a Royal feast. To be a skilled carver required not only dexterity but considerable strength, since sheep and oxen were boiled entire and often roasted whole. And to- win approval the carver must perform his duties in accordance with recognised conventions, infraction of which brought unkind comment.. Since moat in various forms was the principal food, and forks, as we know them, were not in use, the carver or his assistants .came into direct contact with the guests. The lack of forks compelled the use of fingers, and, since without a fork extensive use of a knife is difficult, Jiost dishes were more or less liquid, or to be- eaten with a spoon, or soft messes to be scooped up with the fingers. THE SOP. "Serviceable in such eases was the sop, a morsel of bread about tho size of two. fingers, which was dipped in the- sauce, and, as Chaucer tells us of his Prioress, perhaps so skilfully conveyed to"the mouth that no drop foil upon tho table or elsewhere^ When tho carver wished to offer a slice of meat, )ic held j.fc out on tho point of his knife,

and the guest received it with his fingers. "Serviottes or small towels appear to havo been used for wiping tho hands before and after meals, at least, as early; as tho last quarter of tho fifteenth, century. The washing of hands before and after moat was^by no means a perfunctory matter, for since, owing to tho lack of. forks, tho guost had to dip his fingers into tho common dish, his greasy and sticky1 hands at. the end of a. meal must havo been intolerable. Furthermore, v, knight and a lady often had to share a dish with each other, and in such cases a modicum of cleanliness wes desirable. Sometimes; the guests were' formally conductod to the adjoining lavatory, accompanied by the music of a minstrel, but ordinarily they remained in the hall, and received from the ewer tho warm- water, 'often perfumed with rose leaves, : thyme, lavender, sage, camomile,, marjoram,; or orange peel, one or all. The water and the towels were, of course, presented in tho order of the social standing of the guests, and it was esteemed a signal honour thus to serve a king or a great noblo."