provide himself with whatever he deemed necessary; thus it
is recorded that when Henry VI made a tour in the north he carried with
him knife, fork, and spoon, as it was stated "he scarcely expected to
find any at the houses of the nobility." From that custom, no doubt,
arose the common practice of fitting separate sets, and afterwards sets
for more than one person, in cases, the materials used being for many
years the beautifully embossed _cuir boulli_ leather work. Queen
Elizabeth carried her knife and other appointments at her girdle, a
custom followed by her ladies; although it is said that at the Court of
the virgin queen it was customary for the gentlemen courtiers to cut up
the meat on the platters of the fair ones with whom they were dining;
the ladies at that time being content to prove the truth of the adage,
"Fingers were made before forks."

Collectors soon realize that there were many forms of knives even
amongst those specially reserved for table use. Both blades and handles
have passed through many stages in the gradual evolution from the
hunting knife to the cutlery on the modern dinner table. The blades have
been narrow and pointed like daggers, and they have been
scimitar-shaped, and rounded off at the point. The qualities of the
material have changed, too, Sheffield cutlers and those of other places
vying with one another. The cutlery trade has long drifted north,
although at one time the members of the London Cutlers' Company were
proud of the quality of their goods, and boasted of their knives being
"London made, haft and blade." This ancient Guild tried hard to maintain
their pre-eminence, and in the days of Elizabeth obtained a Charter
prohibiting all strangers from bringing any knives into England from
beyond the seas.

The carving knife seems to have had a separate descent from the large
hunting knives used to cut up barons of beef, roasted oxen, and portions
which were cut off the joint for each individual or for several persons.

Forks for table use were a much later invention, although there were
larger meat forks, flesh forks, and heavier iron kitchen appliances (see
Chapter V).

In very early times small forks, of which there are some in the
Guildhall Museum dating from Roman and Saxon times, were chiefly used
for fruit. The use of forks at table, for meat, is attributed to the
invention of an Italian, and the custom thus started rapidly spread "in
good society" on the Continent of Europ