In England the goose is sacred to St. Michael; in Scotland, where dainties
were not going every day,
"'Twas Christmas sent its savoury goose."
The Michaelmas goose is said to owe its origin to Queen Elizabeth's dining
on one at the table of an English baronet on that day when she received
tidings of the dispersion of the Spanish Armada, in commemoration of which
she ordered the _goose_ to make its appearance every Michaelmas. In some
places, particularly Caithness, geese are cured and smoked, and are highly
relishing. Smoked Solan geese are well known as contributing to the
abundance of a Scottish breakfast, though too rank and fishy-flavoured for
unpractised palates. The goose has made some figure in English history.
The churlishness of the brave Richard Coeur de Lion, a sovereign
distinguished for an insatiable appetite and vigorous digestion, in an
affair of roast goose, was the true cause of his captivity in Germany. The
king, disguised as a palmer, was returning to his own dominions, attended
by Sir Fulk Doyley and Sir Thomas de Multon, "brothers in arms," and
wearing the same privileged garb. They arrived in Almain, (Germany,) at
the town of Carpentras, where,
"A _goose_ they dight to their dinner.
In a tavern where they were.
King Richard the fire bet,
Thomas to him the spit set;
Fouk Doyley tempered the wood;
Dear a-bought they that good;"
for in came a _Minstralle_, or she-Minstrel, with offer of specimens of
her art in return for a leg of the goose and a cup of the wine. Richard,
who loved "rich meats," and cared little at this time for their usual
accompaniment, "minstrelsy,"--
"--bade that she would go;
That turned him to mickle woe.
The Minstralle took in mind,
And said, ye are men unkind:
And if I may ye shall _for-think_
Ye gave me neither meat nor drink!"
The lady, who was English, recognised the king, and denounced him to the
king of Germany, who ordered the pilgrims into his presence, insulted
Richard, "said him shame," called him _taylard_, probably for his
affection for goose, and finally ordered him to a dungeon. But Richard,
a true knightly eater, who, besides roast goose, liked to indulge in
"Bread and wine,
Piment and clarry good and fine;
Cranes and swans, and venison;
Partridges, plovers, and heron,--
was neither dainty nor over-nice. At a pinch he could eat any thing, which
on sundry emergencies stood him in great stead. _Wax_ and _nuts_, and
tallow and grease mixed, carried him through one campaign, when the enemy
thought to have starved out the English army and its cormorant commander.
The courage and strength of Richard were always redoubled after dinner. It
was then his greatest feats were performed.--_Romance of Coeur de Lion_.
The livers of geese and poultry are esteemed a great delicacy by some
_gourmands_; and on the continent great pains are taken to procure fat
overgrown livers. The methods employed to produce this diseased state of
the animals are as disgusting to rational taste as revolting to humanity.
The geese are crammed with fat food, deprived of drink, kept in an
intolerably hot atmosphere, and fastened by the feet (we have heard of
nailing) to the shelves of the fattening cribs. The celebrated _Strasburg
pies_, which are esteemed so great a delicacy that they are often sent as
presents to distant places, are enriched with these diseased livers. It is
a mistake that these pies are wholly made of this artificial animal
substance.
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