The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-04-10
The sayoqe knows NOTHING of bread

: The Savage knows nothing of bread.
When Julius Csessr invaded Britain
If he found the inhabitants of the South
ern part of the Island engaged in a rude
i sort of agriculture. Toward the chalky
= cliffs OF Dover, they possessed the fierce
It ness of untdnted beasts. Horse had
they, but used them only in t0GT-char-
+ lots. Their scythes were for nsOeCiRg
. men. Hospitality was common among
. them, but it was "a cheap dish, and
! easily prepared" Ladies numbered
with much serving may admire the pic
| ture OF a primitive English entertain
ment. The company sat in a circle, a
form dictated by the Druids. The chairs
were skins, or TUFTS OF grass spread on
the earth. Each person took the meat
; set before him IN HIS HANDS and tore
il with his teeth. The dental appara-
tus was STRONG, and kept sharp by this
TOUGH practice, One knife in the CEN
ire was for the accommodation OF ALL.
| The dishes were net EASILY broken, as
they we're of wood, or baskets of Cziers.
Milk was the PRINCIPAL drink, and the
COW was kept Convenient to the eating
place. This plan presents two fine fea-
lures. The consumer had it fresh and
the MEN MIXED. THEY were fond of
mead, drink in demand by all the an
clients. it was fermented liquor pre-
pared from honey: and used always tbs |
nrst month after marriage, to symbolic |
the sweetness OF sentiment supposed to |
exist between the newly welded. This |
mellifiuous beverage changed into sour
ness when the magic month had passed. |
When the Druids were all dead, and |
the oak and mistletoe belonged to the |
poetry OF the past, we find Il few farm |
| erS, around SQUARE WOODEN tables. |
! The tables are covered with clean linen,
! and lbenches are Eut AROUND tor the |
family and friends. They have WOOD
ErN rs for hi 4
wooden spoons for their bowls of broth.
| Forks and bread were LATER luxuries.
! Every man had separate drinking
| horn, and it is fair to infer from the inn
provement in housekeeping, that the
| patient COW nor awaited the stockings
of the DAMsEL's hand. The meals We're
enlivened with music. Any one was
welcome who could sing song or play
| The harp. Gay groups called Gleenen
went stroling through the country,
from house to house and castle to CASTLE
| singing songs and and telling tales.
| They are the Minstrels so famous in
English story, and the TroubadOurs of
French romance. However much our
emotions may be excited by "The lay
of the last MINSTREL" we must bear in
mind that there was no advancement
in "the art OF living we'll" till the Glee-
men became GRANGERS
What set the soil to singing?
The women folks to spinning?
The bIackSnith'S forge to ringing
And Pan again to piping?
The farmer boy whistling his merry |
tune as he went to kiss the morning dew (
from the face of his mother
SECOND COURSE.
The improvement in England and
France after the Crusades was due, not
so much to knowledge gained by travel, :
as TO the fact that Agriculture was en-
cOuraged. Theserfs were no longer sold ,
q a q "A ID AIJrr of hac IOrrE =
every man was allowed a plat of ground, :
a pillow, and seed for sowing. To a per- :
son Boosting of his Gothic descent, Ma !
poleon replied that "he dated his patent
of nobility from the BATTLE of Monte
NOtte!" mea ning that he had WORKED I
his OWN way to RENowN. So may the :
sons of the soil. FARMER and FREES :
MAN were once interchangeable words.
This class presents piJiable picture
when We find them selling their farms :
for spurs The mobiles were so reduced
that they were willing to sell THEIR I'll :
ties for piece of land, and farmers =
were foolish enough to buy. The same y
principle is seen now, when farm lads .
long TO be shop boys. The new made I
lords did not readily fall into the new I
way of living; or rather, they carried too =
much PEASANT for the PRINCE, The u
housekeeping was all heaUy, even to a
the rush~eOVered hall where the lord II
spent his time in the day and the mems !,
servants slept at night, and (which con- y
tanned the accumulated dust of twenty X
years" That was before the day of |,
Sanitary Commissions, but it intro a
duced them. The houses. were so many
plague-spOts, full of filth and dead mems
bones. Contagious diseases spread, and = :
the air was not purified until the great -
fire in London, which swept off 1000 "
houses The kitchen scene is not n
more inviting than-welI, miRs, when v
hlTrIaS a ra rin nd boS &C. IL
hot for folks to work." +
"a huge fire with a menstrous piece =
of meat roasting before 1t, turned by a q
miserable boy, whose business it was to it
act as turnspiG." ii
Roasted pigs q I'D peacocks were great -
ly priced by the Romans. In the de- O.
cline OF the Empire, when FARMING was W
no longer FASHIONABLE, they break Ii
tasted on the BRAINS of BIRDS The
Grecians ate only moderately of meat. 81
Fhey vera fond Of fish, and, as they did r.
not observe the Lenten fast, could eat cl
without regard to quantity, except as Oh
regarded the PRICE per FOUND They N
lsq barley bread, but preferred MAIZE. Ell
mis- was composed OF -four, milk oil St
and salt. l do not know that they put a.
in PREPARED CHALK" soda or Cream u
ofTartar, for artificial lightness; but the q
historian says, they were white, crisp ~
and very delicate. They were wrapped u u
in thu leaves tor the baking, which was !
done i'll the ashes; hence. the fancy, I'll
LEAF cake, rather than LOAF or LASH ~
cake" the best, sweetest bread in the u
world to hungry field hand ~ "
These are CLASSIC cakes, though a az
or Tennesseean might III
''claim them for his country HomIny W
Cake was made of corn or wheat bruis~ VI
ed. This L take to be the far famed ID
'furmety" of which a friend used to talk re
till was thoroughly tired of BAKED or
bread. This was the dish in a farmers III
feast; but no good granger, who prides y"
himself on his knowledge of words, will W
accept that spelling. L have spent more 70
time on that dish than all the rest of the ID
least. 1 "made several failures before III
[ succeeded. | hunted for the recipe in
all my books OF Domestic Economy and oe
Household Science, but Mrs. Beecher 10
and Miss Leslie were silent on the sub a
ect. 1 finally found the word Frumen- TO
,um---cracked grains of corn or wheat
5ranea Ia synonym of Frumentum). ga ~
sort of FRCMENTY or pap made of II
pounded corn" No WORD gives us
more vivid idea of Roman life this ga
vas the FAMILY food. The trumentator co
)r farmer, was the prOvider of corn in ne
lines of peace, the FORAGER cor FETCH
GR in of corn" in times of war. Mr. be
Webster says that furmety or frumenty gi
lis food made of wheat boiled in milk" da
That definition is direct and simple. re-
Another authority says, ''crack your
wheat, boil in water till done, then add Oh
your CONDIMENTS" A Yankee lecturer tiV
ays that pot full of this boiled wheat tel
will last a family a week, and furnish a be
lew kind of bread at every meal! The ag
ize of the pot will, of course, depend M
lpon the number in family, "a lord had VIC
me hundred and sixty six in his house an
lold) and their tondness for frumenty. TIN
Mr.. Editor, tried that recipe once in an
he days of amateur housekeeping. in;
y, lNno FCNRTn Or Il fIrl
welled, but the "skins didn't SLIP" life
hey were SO hard and sleek that Caesar WI
night have shot a sequani with every he
Individual grain! L pounded AT it he
gain, but it PLAYED about like PUTTY ella
II frosty morning it was impossible ho
o give a mortal blow in the mortar. brt
omebody said, sit has not been boiled
nough;" SO put it back but the svells
ng 'tCOok a fresh start from the rest il /
ad had. [ became alarmed for the hls
atety of the vessel and took it from a
he fire before the FRUMENTY was finish ,
d. II is still one of the Measures of -