St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-10-25
AN ENGLISH MARKET-DAY DINNER.

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enough to support weekly market
in the public square, to which the
farmers OF the surrounding country
bring for sale and barter their butter,
eggs and other produce.
On market.day the leading public
houses make point of providing a
special dinner, at a fair price, for the
more welI.to do attendants upon the
market-lhe gentleman farmers, as
they are called. This dinneris one OF
the features of the day, and the pa
irons gather week after week at their
favorite houses.
happened to be in Stamford, in
Lincolnshire, on market day, recent
ly, and improved the opportunity to
attend the market dinner at "The
Crown" one of the best public houses
there. The dinner is spread in long
dining-room, furnished in thorough
ly homelike manner, quite unlike a
hotel dining-room in America, and
although it is absolutely free to every
one who pays the regular price, it is
hard to realize after one has sat down
to the table that one is not guest
at private house.
Long experience has taught the
landlord to estimate very nearly the
number for whom the table should be
laid, and just as the company sit
down, the well-trained servants
quietly remove any extra plates and
chairs, or supply an additional seat
il needed. There were just twenty
FIVE at table on the day | dined at the
Crown. The sat at the head
of the table, and inexperienced friend
took, by his request, the seat at the
foot.
The first course consisted Of two
kinds of fish, brought on in large
dishes and placed one at each end OF
the table to be served. Ihave forgot
ten what one of these was, but the
other was stewed cells, served in
cream, which in spite of the name
proved to be one of the most delicious
dishes | ever ate. After these were
removed, the solid part of the meal,
the roasts and vegetables, were
brought on.
The chief OF these, an enormous
roast of beef, was placed before the
landlord; the next, a crispIy-browned
leg of mutton, at the opposite end Of
the table. In addition to these were
various other dishes, boiled mutton,
boiled fowl, calls head and brains,
ham, etc.
These were placed at various inter
walls along the table, and the man
before whom one happened to be
placed was expected to serve it. |
watched with some anxiety to see
/ that none came to me, for my poor
skill at carving would have disgraced
me beside such work as saw going
on around me.
The pastry which followed this
course was deep gooseberry-pie,
very different from our American ideas
of pie, and a rhubarb custard, also
new dish to me. This dish consists
of a rich, thick, baked custard and
stewed rhubarb, cooked separately
and served together, with sweet
sauce.
The dessert, which closed the meal,
was a simple one of bread and cheese
and watercress. Noticeable among
the cheese was delicious, fresh cream
cheese, which would literally melt in
ones mouth.
The price for all this was half
crown, about siXty-two cents of our
money, and while the maids were
bringing on the dessert, the Boots"
of the establishment, who acts as
head waiter, passed a plate, into
which each guest dropped the pay for
his meal, the whole being so quietly
done that it hardly detracted at all
from the homelike nature of the meal.
Those who wished for beer or wine
had it, and paid extra.
One thing which impressed me par
ticularly-and this repeatedly re-
marked all over England-was the
superb physique of the men who sat
about the table. They were tall and
solid in form, and though many of
them were no longer young, their
fresh compilations, clearey and firm
voices showed that their vitality was
IN no way impaired.
Nor was this in any way picked
company, though the men were of