Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1907-08-28
ANCESTRAL AppETITEs.
Table Feats Of Some Famous Feeders
of Byaone Days.

aDle FCdto W 00UiN N''NN~
of Bygone Days.
A generation holding critical views
on mans intelligent, or unwise,
choice Of parents is not likely to In
tulge in ancestor worship. But there
are at least one or two things In which
our ancestors were truly greater than
we of the present day can ever aspire
to. be. Take them, for instance, at Ia
lie. II ancient books on table ell
ouette are to be taken seriously, and
there is no reason why they should
not be, the ancestor was In the habit
Of gnawing bones q la CHEN and OF
lisposing of them by the simple means
Of throwing them under the table or
over his shoulder He worked hard
with his hands In the dishes, when
succuent but slippery morsel refused
to come to him by means Of knife and
fork. He used his table napkin for
unspeakable purposes and his fork In
utter forgetfulness as comb or tooth
brush. In one sense. therefore, he did
not know how to eat. Meanwhile, In
another, he was truly great for the
quantities of food which he caused 10
disappear at single meal were MOTH
Ing short of marvellous.
The records preserved OF the ances-
tors feats of the fork land the fnger)
are woefully thin, but now and again
one of these very human documents
In the form of a menu Is unearthed
and tells It's own story. Such Is the
following list of dishes served in 1884
to a worthy citizen of Valencia on the
occasion Of his taking unto himself
wife. Across the space of close upon
the six centuries the cranes and lam
preys, the peacocks and boar's head OF
the feast made fine display. This Is
the order In which the fourteenth CEN
fury wedding breakfast was served:
MENU.
Roast crane. venison, lamprey.
Peacock, pheasant, guinea fowl, osprey
snipe, pike,
Raked pomeRranates, burnt almonds. veg
etables, fish.
Eel pie and toast.
Galantine Of sprats and cheese cakes.
Peacock. crane, pheasant.
Crayfish. boar's head and savouries
Figs, medlars and waters.
Wines.
Saint JanEon. Branne. Burgundy and
Hook.
The Italians also were famous feed
ers and seem to have distinguished
themselves In particular during the
early days of the renaissance. The
Bourbons valiantly followed suit, one
of the most distinguished successes be-
Ing scored by Louis XIV, OF whom an
eyewitness wrote: Il often saw him
eat four plates of soup, whole pleas
ant. a guinea fowl, large dish or
salad. several slices Of mutton with
garlic sauce, two large slices OF ham. a
dish of cake and dessert" The threats
of his physicians finally reduced his
majesty to such meager fare as two
plates of pigeon broth and three roast
fowls. According to Arenberg. the
great king was later In life subject 10
attacks of indigestion.
The little suppers In the reign of the
next Louis, though on a slightly less
gigantic scale, are still sufficiently I'M
pressive. The Marquise dArtenay, for
instance, put before her guests after
they came from the theater and before
thew went on to a dance this collation.:
Pigeon soup. with lentils and carrots.
Chicken broth.
Patties of fowl. veal. capon, pheasants
guinea fowl.
Sweetbread and roast pouets.
Baked starlings, wood pigeons, wild duck
and snipe.
Cakes. Sweets Fruit
It seems a pity no record is preserved
of what happened at the dance follow
ing this supper party.