er unfit
for the purposes of the kitchen; whereas, by the efforts of French
cookery, the thighs of this little creature are converted into a
delicate and estimable dish." So sings, too (save the mark!), _our_
Charles Lamb, so far back as 1822, after his visit to Paris. It
seems that in Elizabeth's reign a _powdered_, or pickled horse was
considered a suitable dish by a French general entertaining at dinner
some English officers.

It is difficult to avoid an impression that Warner has some reason,
when he suggests that the immoderate use of condiments was brought
to us by the dwellers under a higher temperature, and was not really
demanded in such a climate as that of England, where meat can be
kept sweet in ordinary seasons, much longer even than in France or in
Italy. But let us bear in mind, too, how different from our own the
old English _cuisine_ was, and how many strange beasts calling for
lubricants it comprehended within its range.

An edifying insight into the old Scottish _cuisine_ among people of
the better sort is afforded by Fynes Morisoh, in his description of a
stay at a knight's house in North Britain in 1598.

"Myself," he says, "was at a knight's house, who had many servants
to attend him, that brought in his meat with their heads covered
with blue caps, the table being more than half furnished with great
platters of porridge, each having a little piece of sodden meat; and
when the tables were served, the servants did sit down with us; but
the upper mess, instead of porridge, had a pullet with some prunes in
the broth. And I observed no art of cookery, or furniture of
household stuff, but rather rude neglect of both, though myself and
my companion, sent by the Governor of Berwick upon bordering affairs,
were entertained in the best manner. The Scots ... vulgarly eat
hearth-cakes of oats, but in cities have also wheaten bread, which,
for the most part, was bought by courtiers, gentlemen, and the best
sort of citizens. When I lived at Berwick, the Scots weekly upon the
market day _obtained leave in writing of the governor_ to buy peas and
beans, whereof, as also of wheat, their merchants to this day (1617)
send great quantities from London into Scotland. They drink pure wine,
not with sugar, as the English, yet at feasts they put comfits in the
wine, after the French manner: but they had not our vintners' fraud to
mix their wines."

He proceeds to say that he noticed no regular inns, with signs hangi