The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-04-08
DININaArHoUsAND YEARS AGO.

The Food OF the Auglo-sAxou Men Of
wenIth was Served in Abundance.
A thousand years ago, when the din
ner was ready to be served, the first
thing brought into the great hall was q
table. Movable t~restles were brought,
on which were placed boards, and all
were carried away again at the close OF
the meal. Upon this was laid the table,
cloth. There Is an old Latin riddle OF
the Eighth century, in which the table
says; 81 feed people with many kinds
Of food. First, am quadrupled, and
adorned with handsome clothing; then
I am robbed of my apparel and lose my
legs also"
The food Of the Anglo-saxon was
largely bread. The bread was baked In
round, fiat cakes, which the supersti-
tion of the cook marked with a cross,
to preserve them from the perlls Of tho
fire. Milk, butter and cheese were also
beaten. The principal meat was bacon,
as the acorns of the oak forests, which
then covered a large part of England,
supported numerous droves of swine.
Our Anglo-Saxou f]orefathers were not
only hearty eaters, but also deep drink
erB.
The drinking horns were at first 1T
orally horns, and so must be imme-
diately emptred when filed; later,
when the primitive horn had been re-
placed by a glass cup, It retained a
tradition Of its rude predecessor In its
shape, 50 that It, too, had to be
emptied at a draft Each guest was
furnished with a spoon, while his knife
he always carried IN his belt; as for
forks, who dreamed Of them when ma
ture had given man ten fingers7 But
you will see why a servant with a basin
Of water and a towel always presented
himself to each guest before dinner was
served and after It was ended.
Boosted meat was served on the spit
or rod on which IL was cooked, and the
guest out or tore of a piece to suit
himself. Boiled meat was laid on tho
cakes of bread or later, on thick
slices of bread called "trenchers,"
from a Norman word meaning ito cut"
as these %vere to carve the meat on,
thus preserving the table cloth from
the knife. At first the trencher was
eaten or thrown upon the stone floor
III tAAC uJ5h III GlOGC4lNu 1T lnGlL hlAa-
ter's feet. At a later date II was put in
q basket and given to the poor who
gathered at the manor gate.
During the latter part of the Middle
Ages the most conspicuous object on
the table was the saltcellar. This was
generally Of silver, in the form Of q
ship, It was placed in the center OF tho
long table at which the household
gathered, my lord and lady, their family
and guests, being at one end and thor
retainers and ~ervants at the other. So
ones position In regard to the salt was
q test of rank-the gentlefolks sitting
above the salt" and the yeomanry
below It.
In the houses Of the great noble,
dinner was served with much cere.
mony. At the hour a stately process,
sion entered the hall. First came sew.
eral musicians, followed by the stew,
ard bearing his rod of Office, and then
came a. long line of servants carrying
different dishes.
Some idea Of the variety and PROPULSION
may be gained from the provision made
by King Henry III. for his household al
Christmas, 1854. This included 81 oxen,
100 pigs, s5e fowls, 80 hares, 80 rabbits,
0 pheasants, SO Partridges, 4s woodoools,
80 plovers and 5000 eggs. Many Of our
!, f~avorito dishes have descended from the
Middle Ages, Macaroons have served
as dessert sinoe the days or Chaucer,
Our favorite winter breakfast, griddle
cake, has come down to US from the
faraway Britons Of Wales, while the
bows have lunched on P~iuUerbread and
} girls on pickles and jellies since the
time of Edward H., more than SOC years
ago.-American Analyst