Early English Meals and Manners Part 45

4. _Pyment._ In order to cover the harshness and acidity common to the greater part of the wines of this period, and to give them an agreeable flavour, it was not unusual to mix honey and spices with them. Thus compounded they pa.s.sed under the generic name of _piments_,[] probably because they were originally prepared by the _pigmentarii_ or apothecaries; and they were used much in the same manner as the _liqueurs_ of modern times. _Hend._ p. 283.

[Footnote : See the recipe for making Piment in Halliwell's Dictionary, s.v.]

The varieties of Piment most frequently mentioned are the

_Hippocras & Clarry._ The former was made with either white or red wine, in which different aromatic ingredients were infused; and took its name from the particular sort of bag, termed Hippocrates's Sleeve, through which it was strained.... _Clarry_, on the other hand, which (with wine of _Osey_) we have seen noticed in the Act 5 Richard II. (St. 1, c. 4, _vin doulce, ou clarre_), was a claret or mixed wine, mingled with honey, and seasoned in much the same way, as may be inferred from an order of the 36th of Henry III. respecting the delivery of two casks of white wine and one of red, to make _Clarry_ and other liquors for the king's table at York (duo dolia albi vini et garhiofilac.u.m et unum dolium rubri vini ad _claretum_ faciend{um}). _Henderson_, p. 284.

_Hippocras_, vinum Aromatic.u.m. Withals. "Artificiall stuffe, as _ypocras_ & wormewood wine." _Harrison, Descr. Brit._, p. 167, col. 2, ed. 1586.

_Raspice._ "Vin Rape," says Henderson, p. 286, note _y_, "a rough sweetish red wine, so called from its being made with unbruised grapes, which, having been freed from the stalks, are afterwards fermented along with them and a portion of other wine."[*] Ducange has _Raspice._ RASPATICIUM, Ex racemis vinum, cujus praeparationem tradit J. Wecker.

Antidot. special. lib. 2, -- 6, page 518 et 519. Paratur autem illud ex _raspatiis_ et vinaceis, una c.u.m uvis musto immissis. _Raspatia_ itaque sunt, quae Varroni et Columellae _scopi, scopiones_, si bene legitur; unde nostrum _Raste. Ducange_, ed. 1845. _Raspecia_ ...Sed ex relato longiori contextu palam est, _Raspeciam_ nihil aliud esse quam vinum mixtis acinis aliisve modis renovatum, nostris vulgo _Rape_; hujuscemodi enim vinum alterationi minus obnoxium est, ut hic dicitur de _Raspecia_. Vide mox _Raspetum_, Vinum _recentatum_, Gallis _Raspe_. Charta Henrici Ducis Brabantiae pro Communia Bruxellensi ann. 1229: _Qui vinum supra uvas habuerit, quod _Raspetum_ vocatur, in tavernis ipsum vendere non potest._ Vide _Recentatum_. Ducange, ed. 1845.

[Footnote *: Besides this meaning of _rape_ (same as _raspe_), Cotgrave gives first "A verie small wine comming of water cast uppon the mother of grapes which have been pressed!"]

The highly-praised _Raspatum_ of Baccius, p. 30-2, of which, after quoting what Pliny says of secondary wines, he declares, "id primum animaduerti volumus a nostra posteritate, quod Lora Latinorum, qua{m} deuterium c.u.m Graecis, et secundarium Vinum dixit Plinius, de?te??a, seu p?t??? Dioscorides, quodque t????? vocauit Galenus, c.u.m Aquatis quibus hodie vtimur in tota Italia, & c.u.m nouo genere, quod a delectabili in gustu asperitate, _Rasputum_ vocat; similem omnes hae Voces habent significantiam fact.i.tii .s. ex aqua Vini. p. 30. Quod uini genus in Italia, ubi alterius uini copia non sit, parari simpliciter consuevit colore splendido rubentis purpurae, sapore austero, ac dulcacido primis mensibus mox tamen exolescente, p. 31-2, &c." _Raspice_ was also a name for Raspberries. Item, geuene to my lady Kingstone s{er}u{au}nte bringing Strawberes and _Respeces_ to my lad{ys} grace xij d. _Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary_, p. 31; and in his Glossary to this book Sir F. Madden says, 'In a closet for Ladies 12mo. London, 1654, is a receipt "To preserve _Raspices_," and they are elsewhere called "_Raspisberries_." See "Delights for Ladies," 12mo. 1654.'

6. _Muscadelle of Grew: b.a.s.t.a.r.d: Greke: Malvesyn._ "The wines which Greece, Languedoc, and Sapine doe send vs, or rather, which the delicacie and voluptuousnesse of our French throats cause to be fetched from beyond the Sea, such as are Sacks, _Muscadels_ of Frontignan, _Malmesies_, _b.a.s.t.a.r.ds_ (which seeme to me to be so called, because they are oftentimes adulterated and falsified with honey, as we see wine Hydromell to be prepared) and Corsick wines, so much vsed of the Romanes, are very pernicious unto vs, if we vse them as our common drinke. Notwithstanding, we proue them very singular good in cold diseases ... but chiefly and princ.i.p.ally Malmesey." Stevens and Liebault's _Maison Rustique_, or The Countrey Farme, by R. Surflet, reviewed by Gerv. Markham, 1616. _Muscadell_, vinum apianum. Withals.

Mulsum, _wine and honie sodden together, swiete wine, basterde or Muscadell_. Withals. William Vaughan says, "Of Muscadell, Malmesie, and browne b.a.s.t.a.r.d. These kindes of wines are onely for maried folkes, because they strengthen the back." _Naturall and Artificial Directions for Health_, 1602, p. 9.

Andrewe Borde, of Physicke, Doctor, in his Regyment or Dyetary of helth made in Mou{n}tpylior, says, "Also these hote wynes, as Malmesey, wyne corse, wyne greke, Romanyke, Romney, Secke, Alygaune, Basterde, Tyre, Osaye, Muscadell, Caprycke, Tynt, Roberdany, with other hote wynes, be not good to drynke with meate, but after mete and with Oysters, with Saledes, with fruyte, a draughte or two may be suffered ... Olde men may drynke, as I sayde, hygh wynes at theyr pleasure. Furthermore all swete wynes, and grose wynes, doth make a man fatte."

7. _Rompney._ Henderson, p. 288, says, "Another of the above-mentioned wines (in _the Squire of Low Degree_) designated by the name of the grape, was the Romenay, otherwise Romenay, Rumney, Romaine, or Romagnia.

That it could not be the produce of the Ecclesiastical State, as the two last corruptions of the word would seem to imply, may be safely averred; for at no period, since the decline of the empire, has the Roman soil furnished any wines for exportation; and even Bacci, with all his partiality, is obliged to found his eulogy of them on their ancient fame, and to confess that, in his time, they had fallen into disrepute."

He argues also against the notion that this wine came from Romana in Aragon, and concludes that it was probably a Greek wine, as Bacci (_Nat.

Vin. Hist._ p. 333) tells us that the wine from the Ioinan Islands and adjoining continent was called in Italian _Romania_,--from the Saracen _Rum-ili_. Now this is all very well, but how about the name of _Rompney of Modene_ or Modena, just outside the Western boundary of the Romagna,--not Meudon, in France, "amongst all the wines which we use at Paris, as concerning the red, the best are those of Coussy, Seure, Vaunes, and _Meudon_." Maison Rustique, p. 642.--Who will hold to John Russell, and still consider _Romney_ an Italian wine? _Rumney_, vinum resinatum. Withals.

8. _b.a.s.t.a.r.d._ Henderson argues against the above-quoted (No. 6) supposition of Charles Etienne's (which is supported by Cotgrave's _Vin mielle_, honied wine, _b.a.s.t.a.r.d_, Metheglin, sweet wine), and adopts Venner's account (_Via Recta ad Vitam Longam_), that "b.a.s.t.a.r.d is in virtue somewhat like to muskadell, and may also in stead thereof be used; it is in goodness so much inferiour to muskadell, as the same is to malmsey." It took its name, Henderson thinks, from the grape of which it was made, probably a b.a.s.t.a.r.d species of muscadine. "One of the varieties of vines now cultivated in the Alto Douro, and also in Madeira, is called _b.a.s.t.a.r.do_, and the must which it yields is of a sweetish quality." Of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d wine there were two sorts,--white and brown (brown and white b.a.s.t.a.r.d, _Measure for Measure_, Act iii. sc. 2), both of them, according to Markham's report, "fat and strong; the tawny or brown kind being the sweetest." In _The Libelle of Englysch Polycye_, A.D. 1436 (Wright's _Political Songs_, v. 2, p. 160), 'wyne b.a.s.t.a.r.de' is put among the commodyetees of Spayne.

9. _Tire_, if not of Syrian growth, was probably a Calabrian or Sicilian wine, manufactured from the species of grape called _tirio_. _Tyre_, vinum Tyrense, ex Tyro insula. Withals.

10. _Ozey._ Though this is placed among the "commodities of Portugal"

in some verses inserted in the first volume of Hackluyt's Voyages, p. 188--Her land hath wine, _osey_, waxe, and grain,--yet, says Henderson, "a pa.s.sage in Valois' Description of France, p. 12, seems to prove, beyond dispute, that _oseye_ was an Alsatian wine; _Auxois_ or _Osay_ being, in old times, the name constantly used for Alsace. If this conjecture is well-founded, we may presume that _oseye_ was a luscious-sweet, or straw-wine, similar to that which is still made in that province. That it was a rich, high-flavoured liquor is sufficiently shown by a receipt for imitating it, which may be seen in Markham (_English Housewife_, 1683, p, 115), and we learn from Bacci p. 350) that the wines which Alsace then furnished in great profusion to England as well as different parts of the continent, were of that description.

In the 'Bataille des Vins' we find the 'Vin d'_Aussai_' a.s.sociated with the growths of the Moselle." _Osey_ is one 'Of the commoditees of Portingalle,' _Libelle_, p. 163.

11. _Torrentyne of Ebrew._ Is this from Tarentum, Tarragon, or Toledo?

Whence in Ebrew land did our forefathers import wine? Mr G. Grove says, "I should at first say that Torrentyne referred to the wine from some wady (Vulgate, _torrens_) in which peculiarly rich grapes grew, like the wady of Eschcol or of Sorek; but I don't remember any special valley being thus distinguished as '_The_ Torrent' above all others, and the vineyards are usually on hill-sides, not in vallies."

12. _Greke Malevesyn._ "The best dessert wines were made from the Malvasia grape; and Candia, where it was chiefly cultivated, for a long time retained the monopoly," says Henderson. He quotes Martin Leake to explain the name. Monemvasia is a small fortified town in the bay of Epidaurus Limera. "It was anciently a promontory called Minoa, but is now an island connected with the coast of Laconia by a bridge. The name of _Monemvasia_, derived from the circ.u.mstances of its position (???

?as?a, single entrance), was corrupted by the Italians to _Malvasia_; and the place being celebrated for the fine wines produced in the neighbourhood, _Malvasia_ changed to _Malvoisie_ in French, and _Malmsey_ in English came to be applied to many of the rich wines of the Archipelago, Greece, and other countries." (_Researches in Greece_, p. 197.) _Maulmsey_, vinum cretic.u.m, vel creteum. Withals.

13. _Caprik_ may have been a wine from the island of Capri, or Cyprus.

14. _Clarey._ See above under _Pyment_, and the elaborate recipe for making it, in Household Ordinances, p. 473, under the heading "Medicina optima et experta pro Stomacho et pro Capite in Antiquo hominem."

_Claret Wine_, vinum sanguineum subrubrum, vel rubellum. Withals. "The seconde wine is pure _Claret_, of a cleare Iacent, or Yelow choler; this wine doth greatly norish and warme the body, and it is an holsome wine with meate." _Bullein_, fol. xj.

l. 122. _Spice_; l. 171. _Spicery._ Of "The commoditees and nyoetees of Venicyans and Florentynes," the author of the Libelle says, p. 171,

The grete galees of Venees and Florence Be wel ladene wyth thynges of complacence, Alle _spicerye and of grocers ware_, _Wyth swete wynes_, alle maners of cheffare, Apes, and j.a.pes, and marmusettes taylede, Nifles, trifles, that litelle have availede, And thynges wyth which they fetely blere oure eye, Wyth thynges not enduryng that we bye.

l. 123. _Turnsole._ Newton's Herbal, plate 49, gives Yellow Turnsole G(erarde), the Colouring Turnsole P(arkinson).

l. 123. _Tornesole. Achillea tormentosa_, A.S. _Solwherf_. 'This wort hath with it some wonderful divine qualities, that is, that its blossoms turn themselves according to the course of the sun, so that the blossoms when the sun is setting close themselves, and again when he upgoeth, they open and spread themselves.' _Leechdoms_, ed. c.o.c.kayne, v. 1, p. 155.

l. 123, 141. _Granes_ are probably what are now called "Granes of Paradise," small pungent seeds brought from the East Indies, much resembling Cardamum seeds in appearance, but in properties approaching nearer to Pepper. See Lewis's _Materia Medica_, p. 298; in _North. H.

Book_.

l. 131-2. I cannot identify these three sorts of Ginger, though Gerarde says: "Ginger groweth in Spaine, Barbary, in the Canary Islands, and the Azores," p. 6. Only two sorts of Ginger are mentioned in Parkinson's Herbal, p. 1613. 'Ginger grows in China, and is cultivated there.'

Strother's Harman, 1727, v. 1, p. 101.

l. 141. Peper. "Pepir blake" is one of the commoditees of the Januays (or Genoese). _Libelle_, p. 172.

[[Note on l. 77 originally printed here: see Corrigenda.]]

l. 178. _Ale._ See the praise of the unparalleled liquor called Ale, Metheglin, &c., in Iohn Taylor's _Drink and Welcome_, 1637. In his _Regiment_, A. Borde says, "Ale is made of malte and water; and they the whiche do put any other thynge to ale than is rehersed, except yest, barme, or G.o.ddes good,[*] [] doth sophysticall there ale. Ale for an Englysshe man is a naturall drynke. Ale muste haue these properties, it must be fresshe and cleare, it muste not be ropy, nor smoky, nor it muste haue no werte nor tayle. Ale shulde not be dronke under .v. dayes olde. Newe Ale is vnholsome for all men. And sowre ale, and dead ale, and ale the whiche doth stande a tylte, is good for no man. Barly malte maketh better Ale than Oten malte or any other corne doth: it doth ingendre grose humours: but it maketh a man stronge.

[Footnote *: Halliwell says it means _yeast_. It cannot do so here.]

[Footnote : This, and _barme_, and _bargood_ (= beer-good) are only equivalents for 'yeast.' G.o.ddes-good was so called 'because it cometh of _the_ grete grace of G.o.d': see the following extract, sent me by Mr Gillett, from the Book of the Corporate a.s.sembly of Norwich, 8 Edw. IV.:

"The Maior of this Cite com{m}aundeth on the Kynges bihalve, y^t alle man{er} of Brewers y^t shall brewe to sale w^tynne this Cite, kepe y^e a.s.sise accordyn to y^e Statute, & upon peyne ordeyned. And wheras berme, otherwise clepid G.o.ddis good, w^toute tyme of mynde hath frely be goven or delyv{er}ed for brede, whete, malte, egges, or other honest rewarde, to y^e valewe only of a ferthyng at y^e uttermost, & noon warned, bicause it cometh of y^e grete grace of G.o.d, Certeyn p{er}sons of this Cite, callyng themselves com{m}on Brewers, for their singler lucre & avayll have nowe newely bigonne to take money for their seid G.o.ddis good, for y^e leest parte thereof, be it never so litle and insufficient to s{er}ve the payer therefore, an halfpeny or a peny, & ferthermore exaltyng y^e p{ri}ce of y^e seid G.o.ddis good at their p{ro}p{e}r will, ageyns the olde & laudable custome of alle Englande, & sp{eci}ally of this Cite, to grete hurte & slaunder of y^e same Cite. Wherefore it is ordeyned & provided, That no man{er} of brewer of this Cite shall from this time foorth take of eny p{er}son for lyvering, gevyng, or grauntyng of y^e s^d G.o.ddis good, in money nor other rewarde, above y^e valewe of a ferthyng. He shall, for no malice feyned ne sought, colour, warne, ne restregne y^e s^d G.o.ddis good to eny p{er}sone y^t will honestly & lefully aske it, & paye therefore y^e valewe of a ferthyng, &c."]

Beere is made of malte, of hoppes, and water. It is a naturall drynke for a doche man. And nowe of late dayes [1557 ?] it is moche vsed in England to the detryment of many Englysshe men; specyally it kylleth them the whiche be troubled with the Colycke and the stone, and the strayne coylyon; for the drynke is a cold drynke. Yet it doth make a man fatte, and doth inflate the belly, as it doth appere by the doche mennes faces and belyes." A. Borde, _Regyment_, fol. G. ii.

l. 194. Neck-towel. The _neck-towelles_ of the pantrey, ewerye, confectionarye, comters, hangers, liggers, and all that is the Kinges stuffe. _H. Ord._ p. 85.

l. 201. _Salts._ Other two groomes in this office [of Panetry] to help serve the hall, or other lordes, in absence of the yoman, and to cutte trenchours, to make _saltes_, &c. _H. Ord._, p. 71.

l. 213. Raynes. Towelles of _raygnes_, towelles of worke, and of playne clothe. _H. Ord._, pp. 72, 84.

l. 237. _The Surnape._ In the Articles ordained by King Henry VII. for the Regulation of his Household, 31 Dec., 1494, are the following directions, p. 119.

As for the Sewer and Usher, and laying of the Surnape.

The sewer shall lay the surnape on the board-end whereas the bread and salte standeth, and lay forth the end of the same surnape and towell; then the usher should fasten his rodd in the foresaid surnape and towell, and soe drawing it downe the board, doeing his reverence afore the Kinge till it pa.s.se the board-end a good way, and there the sewer kneeling at the end of the board, and the usher at the other, stretching the said surnape and towell, and soe the usher to laie upp the end of the towell well on the boarde, and rise goeing before the Kinge, doeing his reverence to the King on the same side the surnape bee gone uppon, and on that side make an estate with his rodd; and then goeing before the Kinge doeing his reverence, and soe make another estate on the other side of the King, and soe goeing to the boards end againe, kneele downe to amend the towell, that there bee noe wrinkles save the estates; and then the usher doeing his due reverence to the King; goeing right before the Kinge with his rodd, the side of the same towell there as the bason shall stand; and doeing his reverence to the Kinge, to goe to the boards end againe; and when the King hath washed, to bee ready with his rodd to putt upp the surnape and meete the sewer against the Kinge, and then the sewer to take it upp. (The French name was _Serre-nape_.)

l. 253. _State._ Divers Lords and _Astates_, p. 155; divers _astates_ and gentils, p. 160. _Wardrobe Accounts of King Edward IV_.

l. 262. The Pauntry Towells, _Purpaynes_, Coverpaynes, Chipping-knyffs.

Percy or Northumberland Hd. Book, p. 387.

l. 277. _Symple Condicions._ Compare these modern directions to a serving man: "While waiting at dinner, never be picking your nose, or scratching your head, or any other part of your body; neither blow your nose in the room; if you have a cold, and cannot help doing it, do it on the outside of the door; but do not sound your nose like a trumpet, that all the house may hear when you blow it; still it is better to blow your nose when it requires, than to be picking it and snuffing up the _mucus_, which is a filthy trick. Do not yawn or gape, or even sneeze, if you can avoid it; and as to hawking and spitting, the name of such a thing is enough to forbid it, without a command. When you are standing behind a person, to be ready to change the plates, &c., do not put your hands on the back of the chair, as it is very improper; though I have seen some not only do so, but even beat a kind of tune upon it with their fingers. Instead of this, stand upright with your hands hanging down or before you, but not folded. Let your demeanour be such as becomes the situation which you are in. Be well dressed, and have light shoes that make no noise, your face and hands well washed, your finger-nails cut short and kept quite clean underneath; have a nail-brush for that purpose, as it is a disgusting thing to see black dirt under the nails. Let the lapels of your coat be b.u.t.toned, as they will only be flying in your way." 1825. T. Cosnett. Footman's Directory, p. 97-8. Lord A. Percy's Waiters were changed every quarter. See the lists of them in the _Percy Household Book_, p. 53-4.

l. 280. Lice. See Thomas Phaire's Regiment of Life, The boke of Chyldren, H. h. 5; and A. Borde's Introduction, of the Irishe man,

Pediculus other whyle do byte me by the backe, Wherfore dyvers times I make theyr bones cracke.

And of the people of Lytle Briten,

Although I iag my hosen & my garment round abowt, Yet it is a vantage to pick _pendiculus_ owt.