1 quarrier, 1 pricket; Edmund Gourge, knight, and John Rodney, knight, 4 sises, 1 pricket; Maurice Barkley, and William Kingiston, 4 sises and 1 pricket; the Pantry, 1 sise; the Cellar, 4 sises; the Buttery, 1 sise; the Kitchen, 2 sises; and the Chapel, 86 sises.

Hall and Chamber. Spent, 10 loads of fuel, 10s.; and 12 quarters of charcoal, 4s.

Stable. Spent, hay and litter for 49 horses of the Lord before specified, at a halfpenny each horse, 2s. 32d. Also allowed as well in hay and litter as horsemeat, for 62 horses of the Lord's attendants, waiting this day within the hostelry, 6s. 5d.

After the description of this sumptuous provision for a feast, it may not be uninteresting to know in what manner it would be served. I shall therefore transcribe the following directions "How to serve a Lord," from a contemporary MS., which gives a curious illustration of the domestic arrangements in use amongst the great families in England, at this time :

"First, in service of all thyngys in pantery and bottery, and also for the ewery. First, table clothis, towelles longe and shorte, covertours and napkyns be ordeyned clenly clene, and redy according to the tyme. Also, basyns, ewers, trenchours of tree or bread, sponys, saltes, and kervyng knyves.

"Thenne, agenst tyme of meat, the boteler, or the ewerer, shall brynge forthe clenely dressed and fayre applyed tabill-clothis, and the cubbord clothe cowched upon his lefte shoulder, laying upon the tabill ende, close applied unto the tyme that he have firste covered the cubbord, and then cover the syde tabillis; and laste, the principall tabill with dobell clothe, drawn, cowched, and spradde unto the degree as longeth thereto in festis.

"Thenne, here uppon the boteler, or panter, shall bring forthe his principall salte, and iiij or v loaves of paryd brede, having a towayle about his nekke, the tone halfe honge or lying uppon hys lefte arm unto his hande juste unto the salt selar beryng.

"Thenne the boteler, or panter, shall sette the sellar in the myddis of the tabull, accordyn to the place where the principall soverain shall sette, and sette his brede just cowched unto the salt seler, and yf there be trenchours of brede, sette them juste before the seler, and lay down fayre the kervyng knives, the poynts to the seler, beneath the trenchours.

CAMD. SOC.

N

"Thenne the second seler at the lower ende, with ij parid loaves thereby, and trenchours of brede yf they be ordeyned, and in case be, that trenchours of tree shall be ordeyned, the panter shall bryng them with napkyns and sponys, whenne the soverayne is sette at tabill.

"Thenne after the high principall tabill sette with brede and salte, then salt sellars shall be sette upon the syde tablys, but no bréde, unto the tyme such people be sette that falleth to come to meat. Thenne the boteler shall bryng forth basyns, ewers, and cuppis, pecys, sponys sette into a pece, redressing all his silver plate upon the cubbord, the largest firste, the richest in the myddis, the lighteste before.

" Thenne the principall servitours moste take in ij handys basyns and ewers, and towell, and therewith to awayte and attende unto the tyme that the grace be fully saide, and thenne incontynent after grace saide to serve water with the principall basyn and ewer unto the principall soverayne, and ij principall servitours to holde the towell under the basyn, in lengthe, before the soverayne, and after that the sovrayne hathe wassche, to geve thenne water unto suche as ben ordeyned to sitte at the sovrayne's messe.

"Thenne after the wesching servid, the sovrayne will take hys place to sitte, and to hym such persons as it pleaseth hym to have, upon which tyme of sittyng the servitours moste diligently awayte to serve them of quyssyons, and after that done, to make such personys to be sette at the lower messe as the principall soverayne aggrees that be convenyent.

"(Be it remembered, that evermore, at the begynnyng of grace, the covertour of brede shall be avoyded and take away.) Thenne the karver, havyng his napkyn at all tymes uppon his lefte hande, and the kervyng knife in his right hande, and he shall take uppon the poynte of his knyf iiij trenchours, and so cowche them justely before the principall, iij lying justely togeder (ij under and i upon), and the fourth before, justely for to lay uppon salte; and the next lay iij trenchours, and so iij or ij after ther degree; thereto the boteler must be redy with sponys and napkyns, that thereas the trenchours be cowched, lay the spones and the napkyns thereto, and so thorowe the borde.

"Thenne the karver shall take into his hande i or ij loves and bere hym to the syde tabill ende, and there pare him, quarter one first, and bring

NOTES.

UNINTESITY

CALIFORNIA

99

hym hole togeder, and cowche ij of the best before the sovrayne, and to

others by ij or one after ther degree.

"Thenne the karver or sewer most asserve every disshe in his degree after order, and course of service, as folowith :

First, mustard and brawne, swete wine served thereto.
Potage.

Befe and moton, swan or geese.

Grete pies, capon or fesaunt, leche or fretours.

"Thenne yf potage be chaungebill after tyme and season of the yere, as falleth, as here is rehersid; by exampel, for befe and moton ye shall take,

Pestelles, or chynys of porke, or els

Tonge of befe, or

Tonge of the harte powdered,
Befe stewed,

Chekyns boylyd and bacon.

" Then against the secunde cours be redy, and come into the place, the kerver must avoyde and take upp the service of the first cours, begynnynge at the loweste mete first, and all broke cromys, bonys, and trenchours, before the secunde cours and service be served.

"Thenne the secunde cours shall be served in manner and forme as ensample thereof, hereafter folowyng:

Potage-pigge.

Conye.

Crane.

Heronseue.

Bitoure.

Egrete.

Curlewe.

Wodecock.

Pertrigge.

Plover.

Snytys.

Qualys.

Fretours.

Leche.

Lamme stewed.

Kidde roosted.

Veneson rosted.

Heronseue.

Bitoure.

Pigeons.

Rabetts.

A bake meat.

Stokke dovys stewed.

Cony.

Mallard.

Telys.

Wodecock.

Great byrdys.

"After the secunde cours served, kerved, and spente, it must be sene cuppys to be filled, trenchours to be voyded, thenne by goode avysement the tabill must be take uppe in manner as folowith: first, when tyme foloweth, the panter or boteler muste gader uppe the sponys; after that done by leyser, the sewer or carver shall begyne at the lowest ende, and in order take upp the lowest messe, after the syde tabill be avoyded and take upp; and thenne to procede to the principall tabill, and there honestly and clenly avoyde and withdrawe all the service of the high tabill; therto the kerver must be redy, and redely have avoyded togeder in all the broke brede, trenchours, cromys lying upon the tabill, levyng none other thyng, save the salte selar, hole brede (if any be lefte), and

cuppys.

"After this done by good deliberacion and avysement, the kerver shall take the service of the principall messe in order and rule, begynnynge at the lowest, and so procede in rule unto the laste. And thereuppon the kerver to have redy a voyder, and to avoyde all men's trenchours, broke brede in another clene disshe voyder, and cromys, which with the kervyng knyf shall be avoyded from the tabill, and thus procede untill the table be voyded. Thenne the kerver shall go into the cuppibord, and redresse and ordeyne wafers into toweyles of raynes, or fine napkyns, which moste be cowched fayre and honestly uppon the tabill, and thenne serve the principall messe first, and thorowe the tabill, i, or ij. yf it so require. Therto moste be servid swete wine; and in feriall tyme, serve cheese, scraped with sugar and sauge levis, or else that it be fayre kerved hole; or frute as the season of the year geveth, strawberys, cherys, peyres, appelis; and in wynter, wardens, costardys roste, rosted on fisshe days with blanche powder, and so serve it forth.

" Thenne after wafers and frute spended, all manner of thynge shall be take uppe, and avoyded, except the principall salte seler, hole brede, and kervyng knyves, the which thall be redressed in manner and fourme as they were first sette on the table; the which principall servitours of the panter or botery, havynge his towaile, shall take uppe and bear it into his office, in lykewise as he first brought it unto the tabill. Thenne the principall servitours, as kerver and sewer, most have redy a longe towayle applied double to be cowched uppon the principall ende of the tabill; and that towelle must be justely drawn thorowe the tabill unto the lower ende; and ij servitours to awayte thereuppon, that it be justely cowched and spred; after that done, there must be ordeyned basyns and ewers, with water hot or colde as tyme of the yere requireth, and to be sette upon the tabill, and to stonde unto the grace be said; and incontynent after grace saide, the servitours to be redy to awayte and attende to give water; first, to the principall messe, and after that to the seconde; incontynent after this done, the towayle and tabillclothis muste be drawen, cowched and sprad, and so by littill space taken uppe in the myddis of the tabill, and so to be delyvered to the office of the pantery or botery.

"Thenne uprysing, servitours must attende to avoyde tabills, trestellis, formys, and stoolys, and to redresse bankers and quyssyons; then the boteler shall avoyde the cupborde, begynnynge at the loweste, procede in rule to the hyeste, and bere it into his office. Thenne after mete, it moste be awayted and well entended by servitours, if drinke be asked; and yf ther be knyght or lady, or grete gentilwoman, they shall be servid upon knee with brede and wyne.

"Thenne it most be sene if strangers shall be brought to chamber, and that the chamber be clenly apparelled and dressed accordyng to the tyme of yere; as in winter tyme fyre; in sommer tyme the bedde covered with pylowes and hed shetys, in case they wolle rest; and after this done, they moste have cheer of neweltees in the chamber, as juncates, cherys, pepyns, and such neweltees as the tyme of the yere requereth; or else grene ginger comfetts, with such thynge as wynter requereth, and swete wynes, Ypocrasse, Tyre, Mustadell, bastard beruage, of the beste that may be had to the honour and laude of the principall of the house."

The beds were fitted up in the most luxurious manner at this time. In the will of John Amet the elder, citizen and cutler of London, dated 1473, and published in Arnold's Chronicle; he bequeaths to his sister Margaret the bed in his chamber, "hoole as it is, that is to saye, feder bedde, matras, bolster, pyllowes, blankettis, sheteis, coverlet, quylte, tester, and three curtyns, iij payer of my beste sheteis, and ij coverlettis, besyde that that lyeth on my bedde."