Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-10-31
KNIVES N FORKS.
Roman Forks Were Not Used In Ent-
Ing.

iii the end of the fifteenth century,
while the knife and fork, c%onjunc-
ton, were not found in England until
tho middle of tho next century, the
lager and spoon being all that was
requisite during the period when
cwcrs and basins were in everyday
use.
In oldcn times, during meals peo-
pie sat on the ground or on stools ana
chairs, having neither knives, FORKS
nor any substitute for them answer
ing to the chopsticks of the Chinese;
they ate with tho myers, as the
modern Asiastics do. and universally
with their light hands. Later. knives
wcrc sometimes used at table. to
facilitate the parting Of a large joint,
the people still eating with their fin
gers. The Greeks and Romans were
served with Wand ready cut, the
posture assumCd OH the trlclinium
Chat of resting on one ARM render
irE the use OF n knife and fork i'm
possible. The English were in the
habit of holding their food in a nap
kin with their left hand, while with
their right they cut 1t with a knife
and carried IT to tho mouth, n habit
now esteemed vulgar; but II was the
back Of the knife which entered the
mouth, the protubcrance on the back
of old fashioned knives being a relic
of an old custom which fingered after
the habit Of eating with them had
disappeared.
In very early Inventories mention
is made of a large number of nap
kins. but none of forks. with the ex-
Ccption of one or two with two pronEs
used for eating fruit. Ewers and
basins were passed around after
every meal. the hands being held
over the basin while water, often
scented. was poured over them from
the ever by tho server. as is still the
custom among Oricntals.
Tho dagger originally was utilized
in the place of n knife at meals. The
earliest form Of knife used at table
was very small, with a straight,
slender blade. the handle being Of
deliberately carved ivory, of agate. or
Of silver. often inlaid with enamel or
precious stones. and kept as tho in
diVidual property of its owner. such
were in use throughout the sixteenth
century. and were evidently regarded
as a great luxury. Sets of knives
were not common till the beginning
a of the seventeenth century the hand
! les of these were usually of agate.
( AT the end of the seventeenth century
what is known as the sabre blade
came into use. tho size of the knife
4 gradually increasing. and the blade
4 becoming wider and more curved. a
4 CORRESPONDING line also being intro
: duccd into the handle. We now desig-
4 nate these as pistol handled, from the
\ shape of the handles, which We're
4 made in green stained ivory. silver,
4 and agate. The broad end of the blade
was invariably used for such small
i food as it was inconvenient to manage
! with the ordinary steel two-pronged
n fork of the time. Another variety of
4 handle. straight and charging to-
q ward the end, and cut off obliquely.
4 was also in vogue at the Same period.
The sabre form ~ blade continued
= throughout the century. and then the
fashion slowly reverted again to the
81 straight blade with a rounded or
a pointed md silver blades were rare
Is made before 1900"
In n note by DR.. Birch in his edi-
y ton of Gardner Wilkinson's The
Ancient Egyptians.' GS7S,) he writes,
y "rnc fork. ligulu. was introduced
ldlt uluP1 the fplntH TIlpIitS ~ hd'
y only two prongs, Several silver ones
nave lately been found in Rome
81 Doubting this statement. the writer
"a Gin 1S7S) referred the question to the
II British Museum. receiving the fol-
s lowing reply from Cecil Smith:
With reference to the use OF forks
y in Roman times, | have to offer the
following observations:
: rI,- ,.D.J II,,ln - Iinn,,1, wa
d certainly never applied to this sig
a. nification. IT is undoubtedly n kind of
10 spoon. of which the bowl Is in the
d form of a tongue. GinEua) and is APP
- piled invariably to distinguish this
IL form of spoon from the more ordin-
T. airy form, called cochlear.
II Forks undoubtedly used in an
N tiquity. as in medieval times, for the
preparation and cutting up Of food
in the kitchen; but the employment,
y of table forks seems to be of com
paratively modern date.
3-Therc is no word In latin wh!Ct
expresses the sense of a fork"
10 furcal furcala, and furcil!a never re-
in present table utensils.
!. 4-The notices which have been puo
IA lished from time to time, recording
NAsN A'N - VI . 'lAAtA " ~
Of bring no evidence to show that tn,
e. objects in question were designed FOL
Is the purpose of eating: we have in tl'
lc British Museum several objects ir
ar bronze Of corresponding form, which
Id were probably used In surgical opera
lions.
MT 5-Thc fact Is that the Romans att
We with tncir hands. Ovid, in the AR
We Amanda" Ill. 1875, lays down the rul,
Of politcness in this respect.
eh "Carpe clbos digitis-est quidau
ne gcstus edendi; Ora nee immunda tot
~ Il perunge manu-
'' Wright. in his History of Domes
tic Manners" states: I'VE have in
vi stances of forks even so far back a
= the pagan Anglo-SaXon period. blu
" as they are often found coupled wit
- spoons ! am led to the conviction
that they were in no instance use,
-, for feeding, but merely for serving"
-, The great French authority. Henr
Hazard, is Of the opinion that 9Th
history of the fork involves weight
nd arguments for and against its use a
table previous to the sixteenth cen
nd fury. The fork was known TO antiquit,
in and it IL famed In inventories q
,r- then used To convey food to tn
,st mouth is another question, white
m has caused great CONTROVERSY" Bu
ii is Nj. HaVard's conclusion that ~