Page:A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages.djvu/113

 and Sentiments. 93 anceilors took their meals, but they appear to have begun their day early. In the Carlovingian romances, everybody, not excepting the emperor and his court, rifes at daybreak j and in Huon de Bordeaux (p. 270), one of the chief heroes is accufed of lazinefs, becaufe he was in bed after the cock had crowed. In the romance of Doon de Mayence, the feudal lord of that great city and territory is introduced exhorting his fon to rife betimes, for, he lays, " he who lleeps too long in the morning, becomes thin and lazy, and lofes his day, if he does not amend himfelf." S^u'i trcp dort au matin.) ma'igre dcinent et las, Et fa jouniee en pert, j^y nen amende pas — Doon de Mayence, <. "C. In the fame romance, two of the heroes, Doon and Baudouin, alio rife with the fun, and drefs and wafli, and then fay their prayers 3 after which their attendant, Vaudri, " placed between them two a very large pafty, on a white napkin, and brought them wine, and then faid to them in fair words, like a man of fenfe, ' Sirs, you fliall eat, if it pleafe you ; for eating early in the morning brings great health, and gives one greater courage and fpirit ; and drink a little of this choice wine, which will make you ftrong and tierce in fight.' . . . And when Doon law it, he laughed, and began to eat and drink, and they breakfafted very pleafantly and peacefully." John of Bromyard, who wrote at a later period, has handed down a ftory of a man who defpaired of overcoming the difficulty he found in keeping the fails, until he fucceeded in the following manner: at the hour of matins (three o'clock in the morning), when he was accuftomed to break his faft, and was greatly tempted to eat, he faid to himfelf, " I will faft until tierce (nine o'clock), for the love of God ;" and when tierce came, he faid he would faft unto fext (the hour of noon), and lb again he put oft' eating until none (three o'clock in the afternoon) ; and fo he gradually learnt to faft all day. We may perhaps conclude that, at the time when this ftory was made, nine o'clock was the ordinary hour of dinner. This laft-mentioned meal was certainly ferved early in the day, and was often followed by recreations in the open air. In the romance of Huon de Bordeaux (p. 252), the Chriftian chiefs, after their dinner, go to