and towel. It was not till after the guests were seated round the table that the cloth was laid. On it were then set the saltcellars, knives, occasionally spoons, and bread, and cups of wine. There were no forks nor plates; the fingers were thought to answer all the purposes of the former, and instead of the latter, each couple of guests had between them a large tranchoir (or trencher); that is to say, a thick, flat slice of bread, of second quality, on which a portion of fish or meat sufficient for two was laid, and on which it was carved, the gravy, as a rule, running through upon the tablecloth. As soon as the course was finished, the trenchers were thrown into the alms-basket, for the use of the poor. At the conclusion of the meal the table was removed, basins and ewers were a second time supplied for the washing of hands, which doubtless was by this time again necessary, and cups of wine were handed round to the guests, still sitting as at dinner; after which the minstrels were introduced; .. 7. The minstrels or 'jongleurs' (so called from a corruption of jougleurs, from which we get our word 'jugglers') were an important class in the Middle Ages, and an indispensable element at a festival. They led a life of perpetual wandering, and were always welcome, partly for their art's sake, and partly for the sake of the news which they brought, for news was then a scarce commodity. If the after-dinner guests were in a serious mood, the jouglers would sing old romances of love and chivalry; if they found the company mirthfully disposed, they sang satirical or political songs, or related amusing stories, or exhibited v. & VI. Ꮮ feats of tumbling and sleight of hand; and their tales, songs, and performances were often of a character which painfully illustrates the coarse licentiousness' at this time pervading all classes of society. The fourteenth century was not a busy or industrious age -people who lived in the country were in no hurry to break up the social gathering, and 'after the meal,' says a contemporary romance, they then go to play, as each likes best, either in forests or on rivers' (that is, hawking; for water-fowl, such as the heron and the teal, were the chief 'quarry,' or prey, of the hawk), 'or in amusements of other kinds ... chess, tables, and dice.' 8. The evening meal was at five o'clock; after which, we are told, the family usually went to bed, for artificial light was bad and dear. Wax was used only in palaces and churches, and even tallow was twopence per pound-an enormous price. A candle offered at the shrine of a saint was in the truest sense an oblation; 'for it cost the bearer the sacrifice of a rare personal pleasure.' Wood fires were almost universal. Charcoal, indeed, was occasionally used in the dwellings of the rich; but coal appears to have been used for smelting purposes only. Reading was no common accomplishment, and books, being, of course, still written with the hand, were few, and beyond the reach of all but the richest; and the chief intellectual entertainment of well-to-do persons was to listen to the songs and 'Licentiousness, that state of wickedness in which the restraints of order and decency are freely set aside and the person sets himself to do as he pleases. recitations of the professional jouglers, or those of belonging to their own class who were amateurs well versed in such lore. Epochs of English History. By permission of A KNIGHT OF THE MIDDLE AGES. DAY set on Norham's castled steep, The warriors on the turrets high, Saint George's banner, broad and gay, Less bright, and less, was flung; The evening gale had scarce the power To wave it on the donjon tower, So heavily it hung. 'Amateurs, people who practise an art for the love of it and not for pay. 2 The Donjon, the principal tower or keep of an ancient castle, forming the central and strongest portion of the building, beneath which were the prison vaults, hence called dungeons. 20. The scouts had parted on their search, 30. 40. The castle gates were barr'd; Above the gloomy portal arch, A horseman, darting from the crowd, The warder hasted from the wall, Now broach ye a pipe of Malvoisie, And quickly make the entrance free, A plump is the 'A plump of spears, a body of men-at-arms. same as a knot, a collection, a clump (e.g. of trees). 'Sewer, an upper servant answering to our 'butler.' 'Seneschal, an officer in noble houses who had the management of entertainments and domestic feasts. 'Malvoisie, Malmsey, a strong and sweet kind of wine. And every minstrel sound his glee, Lord MARMION waits below!' And let the drawbridge fall. Along the bridge Lord Marmion rode, His square-turned joints, and strength of limb, 3 1 Salvo-shot, a volley, probably a salute of welcome. 2 Casque, helmet. * Carpet-knight, one more used to the luxuries of peace than to the hardships of war. |