d. In the thirteenth
century the "bellows blower" was an officer in the Royal kitchen, his
duty being to see that the soup on the fire was neither burnt nor
smoked. In course of time the bellows blower in lesser households became
a useful kitchen boy, turning the spit by hand. It would seem, however,
as if in quite early days efforts were made to economize labour in the
kitchen, and turn the spit by mechanical contrivances.

In roasting meat sliding prongs held the joint in place, a cage or
basket being used for roasting poultry. This contrivance, first turned
by hand, was afterwards accelerated and made more regular by the
mechanical contrivances just referred to. These appear to have been of
three different types. There was the clock jack, two splendid specimens
of which are illustrated in Fig. 42, types becoming exceedingly rare.
Those illustrated were recently in the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte,
of Edenbridge, an enthusiastic discoverer of antiquarian metal work in
out-of-the-way places in Sussex and Kent. Earlier still there was the
smoke jack or rotary fan fixed in the chimney, operated by an
up-draught, pulleys and cords being attached to the end of the spit. The
third method referred to involved the shifting of manual labour from man
to his domestic beast, for the faithful hound was pressed into the
service of the cook. The dog worked in a cage, operating a wheel or drum
which in its turn revolved the turnspit. Such turnspits seem to have had
a lingering existence, and were occasionally heard of in North Wales
late in the nineteenth century.

[Illustration: GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN: FIG. 43,
ITALIAN; FIG. 44, FLEMISH; FIG. 45, DUTCH; FIG. 46, GERMAN.]

Roasting before the fire lingered on long after the old-fashioned iron
jacks and spits had ceased to be the common method of cooking meat. The
meat hastener and the Dutch oven conserved and radiated the heat, the
joint turning slowly by the clockwork mechanism of the improved brass
bottle jack. As the size of the fireplace narrowed and kitchens were
built smaller roasting in ovens became popular; the cooker of to-day
with its hot-plates, grills, and steam chests--whether heated by coal,
gas, or electricity--presents a remarkable contrast to the old open fire
grate.

It will readily be understood that the necessary basting of meat
roasting before the fire involved the use of ladles and other utensils
before the modern cooking appliances