Page:The forme of cury (1780).djvu/20

This page has been validated.

[vi]

were attached to plentiful and ſplendid tables; and the ſame is obſerved by Harriſon[1]. As to the Normans, both William I. and Rufus made grand entertainments[2]; the former was remarkable for an immenſe paunch, and withal was ſo exact, ſo nice and curious in his repaſts[3], that when his prime favourite William Fitz-Oſberne, who as ſteward of the houſehold had the charge of the Cury, ſerved him with the fleſh of a crane ſcarcely half-roaſted, he was ſo highly exaſperated, that he lifted up his fiſt, and would have ſtrucken him, had not Eudo, appointed Dapifer immediately after, warded off the blow[4].

Dapifer, by which is uſually underſtood ſteward of the king's houſehold[5], was a high officer amongſt the Normans; and Larderarius was another, clergymen

  1. ↑ Harriſon, Deſcript. of Britain, p. 165, 166.
  2. ↑ Stow, p. 103. 128.
  3. ↑ Lord Lyttelton obſerves, that the Normans were delicate in their food, but without exceſs. Life of Hen. II. vol. III. p. 47.
  4. ↑ Dugd. Bar. I. p. 109. Henry II. ſerved to his ſon. Lord Lyttelton, IV. p. 298.
  5. ↑ Godwin de Præſul. p. 695, renders Carver by Dapifer, but this I cannot approve. See Thoroton. p. 23. 28. Dugd. Bar. I. p. 441. 620. 109. Lib. Nig. p. 342. Kennet, Par. Ant. p. 119. And, to name no more, Spelm. in voce. The Carver was an officer inferior to the Dapifer, or Steward, and even under his control. Vide Lel. Collect. VI. p. 2. And yet I find Sir Walter Manny when young was carver to Philippa queen of king Edward III. Barnes Hiſt. of E. III. p. 111. The Steward had the name of Dapifer, I apprehend, from ſerving up the firſt diſh. V. ſupra.

then

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.