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Show ALL U8ED VOODEN TRENCHERS. Substitutes for Crockery Ware Nearly Two Hundred Years Ags. Our readers may llko to be reminded remind-ed of how comparatively late In our history tho absence of cheap crockery kept tho wooden trencher In use. In thb eighteenth century, silver in tho dining room and pewter below stnlrs wero abundant for nil dinner tablo use In largo and wealthy households. Hut thnt the number of metal plates and dishes was Insufficient to .meet the requirements of extraordinary occasions oc-casions Is' seen In a description of a dinner given by Lord Malton to his tenants In 1733. ' It was at Woodhouso that tho feast takes placo at which we hear that "'tis an out of tho way thing, tho people aro to dlnd upon wooden dishes; dish-es; they cut flown wood on purposo to mako them of," Ono of tho company describes tho affair In a letter to tho Lord Strafford Straf-ford of tho time, Lord Malton's neighbor neigh-bor nt Wentwortn castle. "Thoro was In tho prayer hall six tables mado of deals with benches, such ns In the tents ntt Houghton fair. Att four of them thero might bo about 32 people, tho othor two something some-thing above half tho number, the tables being less. "Our dishes stood single, the tablo allowing no more; first dish, roast porko; 2nd, turkey; 3rd, venison pasty; pas-ty; -Uli, cold beefe, roast; 5th, fruit pudding; Cth, a gooso; 7th, aple pyo; Sth, a hogg's lread In souco; so then I the course began again, and kept In i this forme to overy table. "Wo eato upon trenchers and wood dlshos, and drunk in horns; my lord did tho same. Tho horns held near pints nnd the punch wna made strong, and tho common peoplo drunk full horns Just after dinner that 2 or 3 horns would make them drunk or Blck." It is noticeable that alo was drunk at my lord's table, but as he was reputed re-puted not to keep "any great Btock ,of malt drink." punch was sefved at all othor tables as being "tho cheapest cheap-est liquor to mako treat of." "A treat" meant taking too much, nnd this was so successfully accomplished accom-plished that "there was ono man found dead, supposed to bo choaked with punch." Country Life. |