The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-21
TURNING THE SPITS.

kitchen at the southwest corner of the
cloister yard of Durham cathedral 1t Is a
splendid octagonal room thi ty-tive feet in
interior diameter, with walls from three to
eight feet thick and tne vaulted ROOF OF
,he middle English gothic period, dating
from the days of Wycliffe and the Black
Prince. During visit to the cathedral
ZONE weeks ago it occurred to me that
such an old room would be an interesting
sight.
Can / see the kitchen?" ! said to the
verger, or whatever he was, who opened the
door to the choir.
Hits private
'How so?"
''Hit's the kitchen of the deanery, and
n use hevery day
Great Scott! Do you mean to tell me
that they are still cooking nineteenth CEN
fury dinners in fourteenth century kitch-
emp demanded.
.'Ho, yes. SIR he replied, with his this
kind for -thrippence smile. Hand hits
q very good kitchen, too
England is a country of surprises. but.
after this expression at Durham, l was not
at all surprised during flying trip to Ok.
ford some days later to discover that Car
dinal Woolsey's kitchen at Christ Church
college, the oldest part of the existing
building, is still i'll daily use. The cook
was glad, in prospect of fee, to show
Restive props to learning have been pre-
pared.
Hand 'ere's where we makes the Mayor
naise sause,' went on the cook.
Mayonnaise sauce in a Tudor kitchen.
Time does move. even in England.
Magdalen college has another fine old
kitchen, with an open timbered roof and
chimneys only less spacious than Wolsey's
and at many of the other Oxford colleges
modern meals are served from very ancle mt
kitchens. 1t is this atfectionate clinging to
old ways which makes Oxford SO intere St
ing.
Scattered through England are many
civic buildings which have as interesting
culinary arrangements as the seml-monas
astic quadranPles at Oxford. The towr
hall of Coventry, where king once sat IN
state. has one where again Is seen the
over by more recent timbering and sheath
ing. The twelve pensioners of Leicester
hospital, in Warwick toast their shins be
fore a matchless open blaze ten feet acros
in a kitchen whose oak beam
are black with age. What magni
old settees, just in sight of Amy Robsart'
pathetic bit of embroidery and watch
Christmas goose browning on the turnln
spit am afraid. though, that the pen
sioners don't appreciate Christmas rs the
ought, for in the winter there are no tour
1StS anu uO slApCASco AOl VIC "AAo"S A~AA>
and pot of ale.
External conditions for Christmas chez
are apt enough in all these places, b1
reach their perfection in the stately home
of England. What place for the revels
the hall OF Warwick castle. sixty feet |
forty, and as high as wide, with cord an
half of logs heaped up before the ope
CRATE, and a kitchen almost equally spa
ious, just far enough away. SO that one ca
trace the stately progress of the roast goo
thence by the slow deepening of the q
licious smell. hesitate no longer. Ii
had the magic carpet and the gift of invis
bility to boot, wonld spend my Christm
in Warwick castle.
Yet it is not a walkoyer for Warwick
any means. There is the Blouat famil.
Elizabethan house at Maple Durham III y
fordshire. where the joints are still roast
before big open blaze. as in the days
Pope's Martha Blount. and no other mt
il 90 fit for the good holiday coming as