2">«S.VI. 156., Dec. 25. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



521 



The " servise on fyssbe (or fast) day " was al- 

 most as sumptuous. All classes indulged in an 

 immoderate quantity of the hottest condiments. 

 Hence Chaucer : — 



" Woe was his cook, but that his sauces were 

 Poinant and sharp." 



The standard dishes at Christmas were the 

 boar's head and peacock, each of which was served 

 up with every circumstance of pompous ceremony. 

 Preceded by trumpets, and followed by a nume- 

 rous train of ladies, knights, and squires, the sewar 

 (sometimes on horseback !) brought the boar's 

 head into the hall, singing a carol as be deposited 

 it on the dinner table. The peacock — "food of 

 lovers" and the "meate of lordes" — was usually 

 served up in all its natural splendour. This was, 

 no doubt, the crowning feat of the master cook. 

 The Forme of Cury is very explicit on the sub- 

 ject : — 



" At a feeste roiall, pecokkes shall be dight on this 

 manere : — Take and flee of the skynne with the fedurs, 

 tayle, and the nekke, and the bed .theron ; thenne take 

 the skynne with all the fedurs, and lay hit on a table 

 abrode, and strawe theron grounden comyn ; thenne take 

 the pecokke and roste bj'ra, and endore hym with rawe 

 zolkes of egges ; and when be is rested take h5'm of, and 

 let hym coole awhile, and take and sowe hym in his 

 skynne, and gilde bis combe, and so serve byni forthe 

 with the lasts cours." 



The royal bird was usually "eten with gyn- 

 gener." No expense appears to have been spared 

 in its preparation for the table. Massinger, in 

 his City Madam, incidentally alludes to that fact 

 when exclaiming — 



" the carcasses 



Of three wethers brused for gravy, to 

 Make sauce for a single peacock ! " 



Roast beef, plum-pudding, and turkey, which 

 comprise the staple of our Christmas fare, were 

 unknown in the Middle Ages. It was reserved 

 for bluff King Hal to knight and give preemin- 

 ence to the lorn of beef. Turkeys were introduced 

 in the I5th year of his reign, giving rise, says 

 Baker (in his Chronicle), to the following coup- 

 let : — 



" Turkies, carpes, hoppes, piccarell, and beere. 

 Came into England all in one j'eare." 



There was a medley or potage of plums, " floer," 

 &c., which the vulgar occasionally indulged in ; 

 whence originated, as many suppose, our national 

 pudding. * )3. 



rOLK LOBB. 



Two Worcestershire Legends : The Devil's 

 Spadeful. — An isolated rock, situated in a val- 

 ley between Bewdley and Stourport, nearly op- 

 posite to Kibbesford, is invested with a legend, 

 strange in its character, and rather curious in its 

 details. It is as follows : — 

 " In the good old times, the inhabitants of Bewdley 



were a straightwalking, faithful race, who said nay to the 

 Devil's suggestions, and would have none of his coun- 

 sels. Failing to win them over, the Devil, enraged, swore 

 to make an outward impression at least on such a rebel- 

 lious generation; and accordingly started back to Pan- 

 demonium, to select a fit instrument of vengeance. The 

 Bewdlej'ites, naturally alarmed, held meetings, at which 

 their elders discussed the matter with due solemnity. 

 Shortly a rumour reached them that the Devil had been 

 seen with a huge rock, hoisted on a spade over his shoul- 

 der, full march upon tlieir Zion. After the first frantic 

 demonstrations of terror had subsided, every inhabitant 

 capable of locomotion repaired to an ancient seer, who 

 resided in the neighbouring forest of Wyer, to solicit his 

 aid and intervention, leaving only a few imbecile crafts- 

 men in their city. Now one of these was a journeyman 

 cordwainer, who, without mentioning his proceedings, 

 slung a number of old worn boots over his shoulder, and 

 sallied forth to meet their diabolic enemy. History is 

 silent as to the distance between Pandemonium and 

 Bewdley. However, 'twas long emmgh to tire 'e'en a deil ;' 

 for when the cobbler had travelled some two miles he 

 descried him, resting a vast rock on a neighbouring 

 eminence, and gazing perplexedly round in an endeavour 

 to discover the offending city. The Devil observed him, 

 and demanded what distance it was to Bewdley, and in 

 what direction it lay? 'It be a neation way, Sur; lookee 

 'eer (pointing to the boots), they wos new 'uns when I 

 left whum, but they be'ant worth much neow.' So say- 

 ing he passed on. The Devil observed the worn and sole- 

 less understandings, and exclaimed, ' Well ! if that's it, 

 perhaps the rebels ar'nt worth the trouble, so I'll e'en let 

 them live a little longer.' With these words, he rolled 

 the rock into the valley, and vanished. The cobbler was 

 duly honoured on his return ; and to this day the inhabi- 

 tants of that ancient city entertain a lively sense of the 

 clever way in which the ' cobbler did the Devil.' " 



The rock is known as the " Devil's spadeful." 

 " I tell the tale as told to me." Your correspon- 

 dent, CiTTHBERT Bede, B.A., wiU doubtlcss recol- 

 lect it, and may perchance be able to give other 

 interesting details connected with it. 



Legend uf King Keder. — The only account of 

 this apocryphal monarch we possess is a poetic 

 myth, relating an amorous design, from the frus- 

 tration of which our town was named. It is as 

 follows : — 



" King Keder saw a pretty girl, 

 King Keder would have kissed her. 

 The damsel nimbly slipped aside. 



and so 



King Keder miss'd her. 



Keder miss'd her." 



R. C. Wardk. 



Kadderminster. 



Christmas Custom at the Foundling, Lyons. — 

 The following paragraph, copied from Galignani, 

 appeared in The Globe, 29th Dec. 1 857 : — 



" A touching custom has prevailed at Lyons for manj' 

 years. The first child that is abandoned to the care of 

 the Foundling Hospital on the eve of Christmas Day is 

 received with peculiar honours, and attended to with 

 every care. A very handsome cradle, prepared before- 

 hand, receives its little body ; the softest coverings give 

 it warmth; the kindest solicitude watches over its slum- 

 bers. The whole is designed to present the strongest 



