Page:A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages.djvu/168

 Hiflory of Do?neJiic Manners Although meat was, doubtlefs, fometimes roafted, this procels feems I to have been much more commonly applied to poultry and game, and j even frefli meat was very ufually boiled. One caule of this may, perhaps, I have been, that it feems to have been a common pra6tice to eat the meat, I and even game, frefli killed — the beef or mutton feems to have been I often killed for the occafion on the day it was eaten. In the old fabliau I of the "Bouchier d' Abbeville" (Barbazan, tom. iv. p. 6), the butcher, having come to Bailueil late in the evening, and obtained a night's lodging at the prieft's, kills his flieep for the fu])per. The flioulders were to be roafted, the reft, as it appears, was recommended to be boiled. The butchers, indeed, feem ufually to have done their work in the kitchen, and to have killed and cut up the animals for the occafion. There is a curious ftory in the Englifli Gefta Romanorum (edited by Sir Frederic Madden), which illuftrates this praftice. " Caefar was em- peror of Rome, that had a foreft, in the which he had planted vines and other divers trees many; and he ordained over his foreft a fteward, whofe name was Jonatas, bidding him, upon pain, to keep the vines and the plants. It fell, after this ordinance of the emperor, that Jonatas took the care of the foreft; and upon a day a fwine came into the foreft, the new plants he rooted up. When Jonatas faw the fwine enter, he cut off" his tail, and the fwine made a cry, and went out. Neverthelefs, he entered again, and did much harm in the foreft. When Jonatas faw that, he cut off" his left ear; and the hog made a great cry, and went out. Notwithftanding this, he entered again the third day ; and Jonatas faw him, and cut off" his right ear, and w^th a horrible cry he went out. Yet the fourth day the fwine re-entered the foreft, and did much damage. When Jonatas faw that the hog would not be warned, he fmote him through with his fpear, and flew him, and delivered the body to the cook for to array the next day to the emperor's meat. But when the emperor was ferved of this fwine, he alked of his fervants, ' Where is the heart of this fwine r' — becaufe the emperor loved the heart beft of any beaft, and more than all the beaft. The fervants alked the cook where the heart of the fwine was, for the lord inquired after it. The cook, when he had arrayed the heart, faw it was good and fat, and eat it ;