First printed by Dr. Furnivall from MS. Harl. 4011, fols. 171-89, dated
about 1460. Other copies are in Sloane 1315, fols. 49-67 and 2027, fols.
1-15b, supposed to be slightly earlier in date; also, Royal 17 D xv.,
article 5.
Nothing is known of the author beyond what he himself says, that he was
usher and marshal to Duke Humphrey of Gloucester (regent during the
minority of Henry VI.). He was seemingly an old man and a widower before
the death of Duke Humphrey, who was murdered in 1447. This seems to be
suggested by the fact that he asks the reader’s prayers for Duke
Humphrey (as the King is prayed for to-day) and then for the souls of
his wife and his parents. If then he was forced to retire from court by
old age (as he says in another place, see p. 77, above) some time before
1447, he might have been born even before 1360, and studied his courtesy
under Edward III., or at the very latest under Richard ll.
The device of wandering in the country and there meeting with some one
who furnishes the subject of the poem was extensively used by Chaucer
and his school, derived by them in turn from French poets of the
thirteenth century.
The long lines and pompous metre which he uses I have employed
occasionally, where the subject permitted that form, to show the effect.
The whole production done that way would become insufferably tedious.
p. 49. “Is thy governance good?” Practically, “Do you behave well?”
p. 50. _Smooth and square the trenchers with._ At this time, still made
of stale wholemeal bread; later, of wood.
p. 51. _Linen clouts._ To stop up holes?
p. 52. _Couleur de rose._ A red wine, classified under malmsey (and
therefore Greek?), mentioned in the _Interlude of the Four Elements_.
p. 52. _New ale is wasteful_, _i.e._, people can drink so much of it
because it is not intoxicating.
p. 52. _Stale drink._ Perhaps an allusion to the lead poisoning which is
known to result from drinking ale that has stood in a pewter pot for
some time.
p. 52. _Cowche._ Any sort of cover. Used perhaps as nowadays to lessen
the noise and save the board.
p. 53. _Lay a second cloth._ I understand this to mean that one linen
cloth was not wide enough to cover the table and to hang down
sufficiently; hence, that two were used, overlapping in the middle, and
hanging down on each side. By following the directions, literally, it is
possible to see what is meant. The _outer_ edge, I take to be that
nearest the centre of the room, the _inner_, next to the wall.
p. 53. _State._ A fold or some other ornamental arrangement of the
table-cloth. The usher or sewer seems to have twisted or curled it with
his rod.
p. 53. _Put a towel round your neck._ The achievement described in the
following lines is quite possible, if the loaves are small, and makes
quite a “mannerly” appearance.
p. 54. _Rennes cloth._ Made at Rennes in Brittany, and frequently
mentioned in the romances.
p. 54. _Fold it lengthwise_, &c. This performance was possibly to give
an appearance of cleanliness. The best way to understand the process is
to take a towel and try; it is not so complicated as it sounds.
p. 55. _Surnape._ This again becomes simple by experiment. The pleat or
doubling about a foot from the end of the table, is probably to avoid
letting the long cloth fall to the door. When the triple thickness of
cloth has been pushed and pulled across the table by the butler and
marshal, the pleat is smoothed out and the cloth hangs from eighteen to
thirty inches over each end.
p. 55. _Sewer._ Fr. _esculier_, Lat. _scutellarius_, whence also is
derived _scullery_. The sewer’s office was practically to bring and
arrange the dishes.
p. 57. _Winking and watering._ More or less difficult in the days of
primitive chimneys, or no chimneys at all.
p. 60. _Upper crust._ In the old ovens, which were heated by faggots
withdrawn before the bread was put in, this was even more distinctly the
best part.
p. 60. _Carving of flesh_, &c. This more properly belongs in a book
given over to recipes and the like, as the description of the dishes is
more interesting than the special knack of serving each one.
p. 62. _Need not fear_, &c. Almost the only suggestion of any indignity
in the service.
p. 63. _He ... and look you._ The change of person is Russell’s.
p. 63. _As brown as a water-leech._ Is the allusion possibly to shoes of
dark-brown colour? Leeches are usually described as black.
p. 65. _Bankers._ Translated _bench-covers_; but the context suggests
rather _bolsters_. The bench-covers were doubtless cushions; hence the
transition from the one meaning to the other is easy.
p. 67. _By the license of his estate._ This seems to point to a
Sumptuary Law. In 1483, it was decreed that none under the rank of a
lord might wear cloth of gold, none under a knight, velvet, &c.
p. 67. _Wound._ A sort of turban?
p. 67. _Paris-candle_ or _percher_. A big candle of the sort commonly
used on altars.
p. 68. _Medicinable Bath._ A sort of Turkish bath with herbs added. Some
of those mentioned were known for their curative properties, even in
Saxon times, as hollyhock, mallow, centaury, fennel, heyriff, daisy,
brooklime, ribwort, flax, willow. Mallow was supposed to be good for
wounds. Wall pellitory contains nitrate of potash. Fennel is still used
as a home remedy. Heyhove is bitter and aromatic, abounding in a
principle similar to camphor. Heyriff used to be applied externally for
scurvy, and is said to be still used in France (taken internally) for
epilepsy. Scabious was once thought valuable for various diseases,
primarily the itch, but also coughs, pleurisy, &c. Danewort was
traditionally thought to have sprung up whenever there had been an
encounter between the English and the Danes; it is a dwarf elder valued
for its purgative properties. Centaury was so named from the legend that
by it Chiron the Centaur was cured. It is gentianaceous and valuable as
a bitter. Herb-bennet, _herba benedicta_, the blessed herb, was supposed
to be particularly efficacious in keeping away the devil. It was perhaps
hemlock, or wild valerian. St. John’s wort seems to have been a neutral
element, although it may have been added for some special reason.
Bresewort or bruisewort is the common daisy, once highly valued for its
general medicinal properties. Bugloss (text, _bilgres_) was valued as a
blood-purifier. Camomile is still used in home medicine.
p. 70. _Mayor of Calais._ Because this was the one French port that
continued to be held by the English after the Hundred Years’ War until
the reign of Queen Mary. This officer was also called “Mayor of the
Staple,” because of the wool-trade carried on through Calais. See p. 71,
above.
p. 71. _Golden royal rod._ A prince who was crowned in his father’s
life-time? In 1343, the Black Prince was invested with a gold circlet
and ring, and silver rod, by Edward III.; so, likewise Henry V., in
1399, received a coronet, ring and golden rod.
p. 72. _Bishop of Canterbury_, &c. This means only that neither
archbishop had jurisdiction over the see of the other.
p. 73. _Groom_, _i.e._, receive each as if he were one degree higher
than his actual estate.
p. 74. _Queenborough._ A small port near the mouth of the Thames, on the
island of Sheppey.
p. 74. _Abbot of Westminster._ The yearly rental, as quoted by Dr.
Furnivall from _Valor Ecclesiarum_ I., pp. 410-24, was £4470, 0s. 2d.;
of Tintern, £258, 5s. 10d. (_Val. Ecc._ IV., 370-71).
p. 74. _Prior of Dudley._ The value of this quoted by Dr. Furnivall was
£34, 1s. 4d. over against Canterbury at £163, 1s. 9d. (_Val. Ecc._ III.,
pp. 4-5, and I., 27-32).
p. 75. _Whether the cook be lief or loth._ A hint that the cook was not
always duly subordinate.
p. 78. “_Go forth, little book_,” &c. The _Envoi_ presents a problem
which at present I cannot solve. The question is, how much of the “copy”
here is the same as the treatise used by Russell in his youth, and
whether another writer adds an _Envoi_ explaining how he has improved
Russell’s work, while the latter is referring to a still earlier work.
There is every probability that Russell’s own work ends with the request
for prayers, which includes the mention of the author’s name, and
concludes with _Amen_. And in support of this view is the fact that
neither of the Sloane MSS., which seem earlier than the one translated,
contains either the _Envoi_ or Russell’s name. As I have not studied the
relation of the MSS. I hesitate to conjecture; but from the facts at my
disposal, I think it probable that the writer of the _Envoi_ alludes to
Russell as the “fore writer,” and casts the blame for whatever faults
may be found, upon the treatise on which Russell himself declared his
work to be based. It would appear also that the writer of the _Envoi_
did not recognise Russell’s source. This may possibly have been the
_Book of Courtesy_, which (especially in its third book) often
corresponds to Russell. Moreover, as it was written by a man who talked
familiarly of John of Gaunt (see p. 112, above), who died in 1399, it
agrees well enough with the date of the book used by Russell in his
youth; but, needless to say, there is no proof that they were the same.