SC - Re: Trencher Request: A Pedantic Post

[alysk at ix.netcom.com]

Huette questioned (jokingly) why anyone would want a trencher
made of wood since it wouldn't (_wood_n't??) taste good.  Just 
to be a bit pedantic, we have been referring to two different
types of "trenchers".  The original request was for one made of
wood and painted on one side.  From what I have learned, these
were only in late period (possibly Tudor, definitely Elizabethan
and Stuart) and were used for "desserts", for the banquet segment of the meal.
The sweet was placed on the plain side.  At the end of the banquet
people would turn over the roundel/trencher and read (or sing) the
rhyme, poetry, or song on the other side.  In some of the books
mentioned (Banquetting Stuffe) there are references to other books
where these rhymes, etc., have been collected.

However, the word "trencher" made other folk think of the earlier
use of the name which was for the bread trencher (usually square).
They then began referring to art work where the _bread_ trenchers 
appear.  I think one of the later posts mentioned a stack of them
off to the side, which is when Hauviette then posted.

Wooden trenchers also existed, but I don't know the timeline for
them.  I would _guess_ that the bread ones came first and then the
wooden ones (sometimes referred to as "treen" because they were of
wood).  As I mentioned, the _painted_ wooden ones were at the end
of this line and seemed to have been used not for the main courses
but only for the banquet course.

Alys Katharine, who must be avoiding doing something else because
she's been posting frequently (for her)