Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/199

Rh The buttery was actually the cellar in which all liquors were kept, and in the sewery were deposited table-cloths and towels or maniples, hung on perches to keep them clean, and also to prevent the incursions of mice ; knives, salts, the cheese chest, candlesticks, sconces and baskets.

We may now enter the dining or great chamber where the "sovereign" took his repast, the household eating in the hall. Many illuminations represent the floors of rooms paved with coloured tiles, although it is certain they were more frequently boarded and strewed with sand or rushes, dried or green according to the season ; in summer sweet herbs were mixed with, rushes. If we presume the old limners to have faithfully represented the manners of their times, it was customary for guests to throw the refuse of their plates, as bones, &c. on the floor; two or three dogs grubbing about for such crumbs are not unfrequently introduced in ancient pictures of feasts. In the sixteenth century Erasmus described the disgusting consequences of this habit, then still prevalent in England; it had been condemned by native writers before him. It is almost unnecessary to observe that carpets did not come into general use, until a very recent period. They were first introduced in the thirteenth century, and were certainly used in the royal apartments during the reign of Edward the Third.

The furniture of the dining-chamber was simple and scanty, consisting only of standing-tables, or tables on tressels, and wooden forms for seats. It is clear from numerous allusions in the old romance writers that the tables were removed after dinner; hence the convenience of tressels.