SC - Period Breakfasts...

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

And it came to pass on 17 Feb 98, that Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> There are various accounts of what certain historical figures ate
> shortly after waking up in the morning. Based on these accounts, I'd
> say the most common period breakfast for a noble would be bread and
> ale or wine, depending on locale and pocketbook, accompanied perhaps
> by fresh herring in season, which leads one to deduce that meat may
> have been added when permitted by the Church.

I have some pages photocopied out of _The Northumberland Household 
Book_, which contains the household records of an English noble 
establishment from 1512.  It details what various members of the 
household were given for breakfast on fish and flesh days.  Here are 
a few details, paraphrased.

Breakfasts in Lent:

My Lord and My Lady -- a loaf of bread in trenchers, 2 manchets, a 
quart of beer, a quart of wine, 2 pieces of saltfish, 6 "baconn'd" 
herrings, 4 white herrings or a dish of sproits [sprats?]

My Lord Percy and Master Thomas Percy -- half a loaf of household 
bread, a manchet, a potell of beer, a dish of butter, a piece of 
saltfish, a dish of sproits or white herring

My Lord's clerks -- a loaf of bread, a potell of beer, 2 pieces of 
saltfish

Breakfasts on flesh days:

My Lord and My Lady -- a loaf of bread in trenchers, 2 manchets, a 
quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a "chyne" of mutton or a "chyne" 
of boiled beef

My Lord Percy and Master Thomas Percy -- half a loaf of household
bread, a manchet, a potell of beer, a chicken or 3 boiled mutton 
bones

My Lord's clerks -- a loaf of bread, a potell of beer, a piece of 
boiled beef

I haven't listed all the breakfasts for the different ranks.  
Obviously, the higher up, the more items on the menu.  Beer and 
bread (of varying quality) are the basics that *always* appear.  The 
stable hands, year round, got beer and household (ie. coarse) bread, 
and nothing else.


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper @ idt.net
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