SC - Boars head songs and menus

Sat Oct 21 12:53:30 PDT 2000

At our last Chourusters' guild meeting, Baron William expressed doubts as
to the periodicity of the "Boar's Head Carol".  I was looking through my
email
files for something else, and ran across this message (which originally
came from Temair and the Early Music list) that I thought might be of
interest.  I sent it along to the Choruster's list, and his responses are
below.  My thought was, there is quite a bit of information as to the
meal that went along with the song, and we should be able to create a
menu based on the descriptions therein.  
Christianna

- --------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Terri Spencer <taracook at yahoo.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 19:19:01 -0800 (PST)
Subject: SC - Boars head songs

Here are three "culinary" songs from a book of Middle English Lyrics. 
All are 15th century Christmas/Twelfth night songs.  They all start off
with the famous boar's head, and one describes a fine yule feast. 
First the one everyone has heard, perhaps even served boar to:

The bores hed in hondes I bringe,
With garlondes gay and birdes singinge!
I pray you all helpe me to singe,
Qui estis in convivio.   (Who are at this banquet)

(Refrain)
Caput apri refer,        (The boar's head I bring)
Resonens laudes Domino.  (Singing praises to the Lord)

The bores hede, I understond,
Is chef service in all this londe,
Whersoever it may be fonde,
Servitur cum sinapio.    (It is served with mustard)

The bores hede, I dare well say,
Anon after the twelfthe day,
He taketh his leve and goth away
Exivit tunc de patria.    (He has left the country)

Another:
At the beginning of the mete,
Of a bores hed ye schal ete,
And in the mustard ye shall wete;
And ye shall singen or ye gon.

(Refrain)
Po, po, po, po,
Love brane and so do mo.

Wolcum be ye that ben here,
And ye shall have right gud chere,
And also a right gud fare;
And ye shall singen or ye gon.

And another:
The bores hede in hond I bring,
With garlond gay in portoring;
I pray you all with me to singe,
With Hay!

(Refrain)
Hey, hey, hey, hey!
The bores hede is armed gay.

Lordes, knightes, and squiers,
Persons, prestes, and vicars - 
The bores hede is the furst mess,
With hay!

The bores hede, as I you say,
He takes his leive and gothe his way
Soon after the tweilfeth day,
With hay!

Then comes in the secund cours with mikel pride:
The cranes and the heirons, the bitteres by ther side,
The pertriches and the plovers, the woodcokes and the snit,
With hay!

Larkes in hot schow, ladys for to pik,
Good drink therto, lucius and fin –
Bluet of almain, romnay and win,
With hay!

Gud bred, ale, and win, dare I well say,
The bores hede with musterd armed so gay.

Furmante to pottage, with venisun fin,
And the hombuls of the dove, and all that ever comes in.

Capons ibake, with the peses of the row,
Reisons of corrans, with oder spises mo.

That one loses momentum at the end, along with meter and refrain.  A
few notes - not really anything new, but confirmation:

Boars head is served with mustard - all the songs insist on it!  
Another word for course - mess.
Another word for chef - chief.
Among the good drinks: bruet of almond, sweet wine and wine.  Could
they be drinking the almond milk?   
Seems the boar "leaves the country" and "goes his way" after twelfth
night.  No more fresh pork until spring?

Just one more, from a drinking song with many verses:
Bring us in no butter, for therin are many heres; 
Nor bring us in no pigges flesche, for that will make us bores;
But bring us in good ale.

Tara

(To which William responded:)

Well, there is much to be learned here.

1)  Apparently the Boar's Head Carol is indeed period.

2)  It was possible to get the bores to leave the country.

3)  Mo (as opposed to Curleigh or Lareigh got all the "branes".

4)  The Boar's head, which is described as an "armed gay", is "the first
mess" and as such has precedence over lords, knights, and squires.

5)  In addition to mustard, Boar's head is served "with hay".

6)  Snit is also served with hay, along with various non-kosher
waterfowl.
I'm not certain I actually want to know more about that.

7)  Finally, whoever wrote that ditty about (among other things) butter,
never heard the old Scottish proverb:  "The mair durt, the less hurt".

Amazing what one can infer from period documents, no?

William

Plagiarize!  Let no one else's work evade your eyes!
Remember why the Good Lord gave you eyes, so don't 
shade your eyes, but plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize!
Only be sure always to call it, please, RESEARCH!
(Thomas Andrew Lehrer, in "Lobachevsky")
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