FEAST is also used for a banquet, or a sumptuous meal, without any immediate view to religion.
The use of the word, in this sense, arises hence; that a part of the ceremony of many of the ancient festivals, both those of the heathens and the agape of the Christians, was good eating; though Mr Huet chooses to derive the word from festinare, which in an ancient Latin version of Origen's Comment on Matthew, signifies "to feast:" Ut veniens illuc Jesus festinet, cum discipulis suis.
Social or civil feasts were also expressed by the words convivium and compositio or concanatio. Cicero says that in the Roman tongue, the word convivium, which means "people assembled at table," is more significant than the Greek word compositio or concanatio: the Roman, says he, expresses the conjunction of body and mind which ought to take place at an entertainment; the Greek denotes what relates to the body alone.
As food is necessary to our existence, it makes a bond of association among mankind. People at a feast, says one of the ancients, seem to form but one body, one soul. All nations, whether savage or civilized, have regarded the pleasure of the table as the occasion of the most agreeable society. This species of enjoyment (abstracting from its susceptibility of abuse) makes but one family of all that it brings together. It levels
the distinctions introduced by policy or prejudice, and disposes men to regard one another as brethren. It is here that people feel the equality established by nature; here they forget the evils of life; they extinguish their hatred, and make their enmities cease. For this reason Aristotle considers as a breach of the social principle that custom of the Egyptians of eating apart, and praises the convivial repasts established by Minos and Lycurgus.
The Persians generally deliberated on business at table, but never determined or put their determinations in execution except in the morning before having eaten.
When the Germans, says Tacitus, wanted to reconcile enemies, to make alliances, to name chiefs, or to treat of war and peace, it was during the repast that they took counsel; a time in which the mind is most open to the impressions of simple truth, or most easily animated to great attempts. These artless people during the conviviality of the feast spoke without disguise. Next day they weighed the counsels of the former evening; they deliberated at a time when they were not disposed to feign, and took their resolution when they were least liable to be deceived.
People of rank among the Rhodians, by a fundamental law of the state, were obliged to dine daily with those who had the management of affairs, in order to deliberate with them concerning such things as were necessary or useful for the country; and on this account the principal ministers of the kingdom were obliged to keep open table for all who could be of use to the state.
Among the Romans, the place where they supped was generally the vestibule, that a more retired part of the house might not encourage licentiousness and disorder. There were several laws that restricted their meals to those vestibules.
When luxury reigned at Rome, they had superb halls for their entertainments. Lucullus had many, each of which bore the name of some deity; and this name was a mark which indicated to the servants the expence of the entertainment. The expence of a supper in Lucullus's hall of Apollo amounted to 50,000 drachmas.
The hall in which Nero feasted, by the circular motion of its walls and ceiling, imitated the revolutions of the heavens, and represented the different seasons of the year, changing at every course, and showering down flowers and perfumes on the guests.
The Romans did not, as we do, use but one table at their feasts; they had generally two; the first was for the services of animal food, which was afterwards removed, and another introduced with fruits; at this last they sung, and poured out their libations. The Greeks and eastern nations had the same custom, and even the Jews in their solemn feasts and at sacrifices.
The Romans, in the time of Nero, had tables made of citron wood brought from Mauritania; they were varnished with purple and gold, and were raised on feet of carved ivory. It is said that they were more precious than gold. Dion Cassius affirms that Seneca had 500 of these, which he made use of one after another; and Tertullian tells us that Cicero had but one. The Romans chose the king of the feast by a throw of the dice.
We learn from Herodotus, that the ancients had neither cups nor bowls, but that they drank out of little horns tipped with silver or gold.
Under the reign of Charles V. of France, the custom of placing the lights upon the table was not yet introduced. A number of domestics held the candles in their hands during the whole time of the repast.
The Greeks and Romans kept a domestic for the purpose of reading during their meals and feasts. Sometimes the chief of the family himself performed the office of reader; and history informs us, that the emperor Severus often read while his family ate. The time of reading was generally at supper; and guests were invited to a reading as they are now a-days to play cards.
The Greeks, in their flourishing times, did not profane, according to their own expression, the holiness of the table; but rather adorned it with ingenious and elegant conversation: they proposed moral topics, of which Plutarch has preserved a collection.
Ancient philosophers remark, that heroes rarely assembled convivially without bringing affairs of consequence into discourse, or deliberating upon those that regarded either present events or future contingencies.
The Scythians, while at meat, used to make the strings of their bows resound, lest their warlike virtues might be enfeebled or lost in this season of pleasure.
When Rome was corrupted with luxury, singers, dancers, musicians, stage-players, and people that told pleasant tales, were brought into the hall to amuse the guests.
Plutarch informs us, that Cæsar, after his triumphs, treated the Roman people at 22,000 tables: and by calculation it would seem that there were at these tables upwards of 200,000 persons.
At the end of the feast the Romans drunk out of a large cup as often as there were letters in the name of their mistresses.
Feasting seems to have been the chief delight of the Germans, Gauls, Britons, and all the other Celtic nations; in which they indulged themselves to the utmost, as often as they had an opportunity. "Among these nations (says an author who had carefully studied their manners) there is no public assembly, either for civil or religious purposes, duly held; no birthday, marriage, or funeral, properly celebrated; no treaty of peace or alliance rightly cemented, without a great feast." It was by frequent entertainments of this kind that the great men or chieftains gained the affections and rewarded the services of their followers; and those who made the greatest feasts were sure to be most popular, and to have the greatest retinue. These
feasts (in which plenty was more regarded than elegance) lasted commonly several days, and the guests seldom retired until they had consumed all the provisions and exhausted all the liquors. Athenæus describes an entertainment that was given by Arcamnes, a very wealthy prince in Gaul, which continued a whole year without interruption, and at which all the people of Gaul, and even all strangers who passed through that country, were made welcome. At these feasts they sometimes consulted about the most important affairs of state, and formed resolutions relating to peace and war; imagining that men spoke their real
sentiments with the greatest freedom, and were apt to form the boldest designs, when their spirits were exhilarated with the pleasures of the table. The conversation at these entertainments very frequently turned on the great exploits which the guests themselves or their ancestors had performed in war; which sometimes occasioned quarrels and even bloodshed. It was at a feast that the two illustrious British princes, Cairbar and Oscar, quarrelled about their own bravery, and that of their ancestors, and fell by mutual wounds, (Ossian, vol. ii. p. 8, &c.).
As to the drink used at those feasts, particularly in Britain, it seems probable, that before the introduction of agriculture into the island, mead, or honey diluted with water, was the only strong liquor known to its inhabitants, as it was to many other ancient nations in the same circumstances. This continued to be a favourite beverage among the ancient Britons and their posterity long after they had become acquainted with other liquors. The mead-maker was the eleventh person in dignity in the courts of the ancient princes of Wales, and took place of the physician. The following ancient law of that principality shows how much this liquor was esteemed by the British princes.—"There are three things in the court which must be communicated to the king before they are made known to any other person: 1. Every sentence of the judge; 2. Every new song; and, 3. Every cask of mead." This was perhaps the liquor which is called by Ossian the joy and strength of shells, with which his heroes were so much delighted.—After the introduction of agriculture, ale or bear became the most general drink of all the British nations who practised that art, as it had long been of all the Celtic people on the continent (see ALE). If the Phœnicians or Greeks imported any wine into Britain, it was only in very small quantities; that most generous liquor being very little known in this island before it was conquered by the Romans. The drinking vessels of the Gauls, Britons, and other Celtic nations, were, for the most part, made of the horns of oxen and other animals; but those of the Caledonians consisted of large shells, which are still used by some of their posterity in the Highlands of Scotland.
The dishes in which the meat was served up were either of wood or earthen ware, or a kind of baskets made of osiers. These last were most used by the Britons, as they very much excelled in the art of making them both for their own use and for exportation. The guests sat in a circle upon the ground, with a little hay, grass, or the skin of some animal under them. A low table or stool was set before each person, with the portion of meat allotted to him upon it. In this distribution, they never neglected to set the largest and best pieces before those who were most distinguished for their rank, their exploits, or their riches. Every guest took the meat set before him in his hands, and tearing it with his teeth, fed upon it in the best manner he could. If any one found difficulty in separating any part of his meat with his hands and teeth, he made use of a large knife, that lay in a particular place for the benefit of the whole company. Servants, or young boys and girls, the children of the family, stood behind the guests, ready to help them to drink or any thing they wanted.
As the ancient Britons greatly excelled and very much delighted in music, all their feasts were accompanied with the joys of song, and the music of harps. In the words of Ossian †, "whenever the feast of shells is prepared, the songs of bards arise. The voice of sprightly mirth is heard. The trembling harps of joy are strung. They sing the battles of heroes, or the heaving breasts of love." Some of the poems of that illustrious British bard appear to have been composed in order to be sung by the hundred bards of Fingal † at the feast of Selma. Many of the songs of the bards which were sung and played at the feasts of the ancient Britons, were of a grave and solemn strain, celebrating the brave actions of the guests, or of the heroes of other times; but these were sometimes intermixed with more sprightly and cheerful airs, to which the youth of both sexes danced, for the entertainment of the company.
It has been often observed by authors, that there is no nation in the world comes near the English in the magnificence of their feasts. Those made at our coronations, instalments, consecrations, &c. transcend the belief of all foreigners; and yet it is doubted whether those now in use are comparable to those of our forefathers.
William the Conqueror, after he was peaceably settled on the throne of England, sent agents into different countries, to collect the most admired and rare dishes for his table; by which means, says John of Salisbury, this island, which is naturally productive of plenty and variety of provisions, was overflowed with every thing that could inflame a luxurious appetite. The same writer tells us, that he was present at an entertainment which lasted from three o'clock in the afternoon to midnight; at which delicacies were served up, which had been brought from Constantinople, Babylon, Alexandria, Palestine, Tripoli, Syria, and Phœnicia. These delicacies, we may presume, were very expensive. Thomas Becket, if we may believe his historian, Fitz-Stephen, gave 5l. equivalent to 75l. at present, for one dish of eels. The sumptuous entertainments which the kings of England, and of other countries, gave to their nobles and prelates, at the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, in which they spent a great part of their revenues, contributed very much to diffuse a taste for profuse and expensive banqueting. It was natural for a proud and wealthy baron to imitate in his own castle the entertainments he had seen in the palace of his prince. Many of the clergy too, both seculars and regulars, being very rich, kept excellent tables. The monks of St Swithins, at Winchester, made a formal complaint to Henry II. against their abbot, for taking away three of the 13 dishes they used to have every day at dinner. The monks of Canterbury were still more luxurious: for they had at least 17 dishes every day, besides a dessert; and these dishes were dressed with spices and sauces; which excited the appetite as well as pleased the taste.
Great men had some kinds of provisions at their tables that are not now to be found in Britain. When Henry II. entertained his own court, the great officers of his army, with all the kings and great men of Ireland, in Dublin, at the feast of Christmas A. D. 1171, the Irish princes and chieftains were quite astonished
at the profusion and variety of provisions which they beheld, and were with difficulty prevailed upon by Henry to eat the flesh of cranes, a kind of food to which they had not been accustomed. In the remaining monuments of this period, we meet with the names of several dishes, as dellegroot, maupigyrnun, karumpie, &c. the composition of which is now unknown.
The coronation feast of Edward III. cost 283l. 18s. 2d. equivalent to about 40,000l. of our money. At the installation of Ralph abbot of St Augustine, Canterbury, A. D. 1309, 6000 guests were entertained with a dinner, consisting of 3000 dishes, which cost 287l. 5s. equal in efficacy to 4300l. in our times. "It would require a long treatise (says Matthew Paris) to describe the astonishing splendour, magnificence, and festivity with which the nuptials of Richard earl of Cornwall, and Cincia daughter of Reimund earl of Provence, were celebrated at London, A. D. 1243. To give the reader some idea of it, in a few words, above 30,000 dishes were served up at the marriage dinner." The nuptials of Alexander III. of Scotland, and the princess Margaret of England, were solemnized at York, A. D. 1251, with still greater pomp and profusion. "If I attempted (says the same historian) to display all the grandeur of this solemnity,—the numbers of the noble and illustrious guests,—the richness and variety of the dresses,—the sumptuousness of the feasts,—the multitudes of the minstrels, mimicks, and others whose business it was to amuse and divert the company, those of my readers who were not present would imagine that I was imposing upon their credulity." The following particular will enable them to form a judgment of the whole. The archbishop of York made the king of England a present of 60 fat oxen, which made only one article of provision for the marriage feast, and were all consumed at that entertainment.
The marriage feast of Henry IV. and his queen Jane of Navarre, consisted of six courses; three of flesh and fowls, and three of fish. All these courses were accompanied and adorned with suttleties, as they were called. These suttleties were figures in pastry, of men, women, beasts, birds, &c. placed on the table to be admired, but not touched. Each figure had a label affixed to it; containing some wise or witty saying, suited to the occasion of the feast, which was the reason they were called suttleties. The installation feast of George Neville, archbishop of York and chancellor of England, exceeded all others in splendour and expence, and in the number and quality of the guests. The reader may form some idea of this enormous feast from the following list of provisions prepared for it. In wheat, quarters, 300; in ale, tuns, 300; in wine, tuns, 100; in ipocrasse, pipes, 1; in oxen, 104; in wild bulls, 6; in muttons, 1000; in veals, 304; in porkes, 304; in swans, 400; in geese, 2000; in cappons, 1000; in pigs, 2000; in plovers, 400; in quails, 1200; in fowls, called rees, 2400; in peacocks, 104; in mallards and teals, 4000; in cranes, 204; in kids, 204; in chickens, 2000; in pigeons, 2000; in conies, 4000; in bittors, 204; in heronshaws, 400; in pheasants, 200; in partridges, 500; in woodcocks, 400; in curlews, 100; in egrits, 1000; in staggs, bucks, and roes, 500 and more; in pasties
of venison, cold, 4000; in parted dishes of jellies, 1000; in plain dishes of jellies, 3000; in cold tarts, baked, 4000; in cold custards, baked, 3000; in hot pasties of venison, 1500; in hot custards, 2000; in pikes and breams, 308; in porpoises and seals, 12; spices, sugared delicacies, and waters, plenty. No turkeys are mentioned in this enormous bill of fare, because they were not then known in England. Cranes, heron-shaws, porpoises, and seals, are seldom seen at modern entertainments.
One of the most expensive singularities attending the royal feasts in those days consisted in what they called intermeats. These were representations of battles, sieges, &c. introduced between the courses for the amusement of the guests. The French excelled in exhibitions of this kind. At a dinner given by Charles V. of France to the emperor Charles IV. A. D. 1378, the following intermeat was exhibited: A ship with masts, sails, and rigging, was seen first: she had for colours the arms of the city of Jerusalem: Godfrey de Bouillon appeared upon deck, accompanied by several knights armed cap-a-pee: the ship advanced into the middle of the hall, without the machine which moved it being perceptible. Then the city of Jerusalem appeared, with all its towers lined with Saracens. The ship approached the city; the Christians landed, and began the assault; the besieged made a good defence: several scaling ladders were thrown down; but at length the city was taken. Intermeats at ordinary banquets consisted of certain delicate dishes introduced between the courses, and designed rather for gratifying the taste than for satisfying hunger.
At those feasts, besides the ordinary drinks, ale and cyder, there were great quantities of wines of various kinds. Of these last, the following lines of a poet who wrote in the fourth century, contain an ample enumeration.
Ye shall have rumney and malespine,
Both ypocrasse and vernage wyne;
Mountresse and wyne of Greke,
Both algrade and despice eke,
Antioche and bastard,
Pymet also, and garnarde,
Wyne of Greke and Muscadell,
Both clare, pymet, and Rochell.
Some of these liquors, as ypocrasse, pymet, and claret, were compounded of wine, honey, and spices of different kinds, and in different proportions.