Closely allied to drinking-songs are some comic ditties which may have
been sung at wine-parties. Of these I have thought it worth while to
present a few specimens, though their medieval bluntness of humour
does not render them particularly entertaining to a modern reader.
The first I have chosen is _The Lament of the Roast Swan_. It must be
remembered that this bird was esteemed a delicacy in the Middle Ages,
and also that pepper was highly prized for its rarity. This gives a
certain point to the allusion in the third stanza.