WHEN THE ENGLISH HATED FORKS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 8 January 1935, Page 8

WHEN THE ENGLISH HATED FORKS

In 1608 an Englishman named Thomas Coryate journeyed to Italy. He kept a diary during his trip. On one of the pages we find the following: When the Italians eat meat they use little pitchforks made of iron or steel, or sometimes of silver. It is considered very bad manners ‘to eat with the fingers, because, they, say, people do not have clean hands. Before he returned home Coryate ordered some of the “pitchforks” for himself. The fork he brought didn’t look much like ours. It had only two prongs, and the tiny handle, finished with a knob at the end, was scarcely longer than the prongs. When Coryate reached England he showed his purchase to all his friends. .He gave a dinner party, and when the meat was served lie took his fork and started to eat in the Italian fashion. All eyes were upon him. The fork was passed round the table. The ladies admired its ornate decoration, and the men were struck by the ingenuity of the Italians, but thought at the same time that tiie implement was very inconvenient to use. Coryate argued with them, and explained why he thought it nicer not to eat with the fingers. His friends were indignant at the insinuation that their hands were not clean. Were not the ten fingers given to them by nature sufficient with which to eat? Fifty years passed before forks- were adopted in England!