SC - Haversacks and nefts (??)

[Jessica Tiffin]

greetings, the List!

I'm having a polite but extended argument with a gentle who submitted 
an article on feast gear to the Shire newsletter.  He is insisting on 
using terminology of which I have never heard, for which I cannot 
find documentation, and which I rather suspect belongs to the 17th or 
18th century.  Has anyone ever come across the following terms in any 
_medieval_ food source? 

"haversack" as a bag used to carry feast gear to feasts.  (The OED 
references it as a bag used by soldiers to carry their lunch, 18th 
century).

"neft" as a small wooden box containing cutlery.  I suspect he's 
thinking of "nef", which apparently sometimes contained napkins or 
cutlery as well as salt (according to Hammond's "Food and Feast in 
Medieval Britain", at any rate).  But I thought that was 
desperately ornate and sat on the table, rather than being a 
receptacle for transporting things.

I am all too aware that my knowledge of food history is anything but 
complete, so if anyone can find any documentation for the above 
usages, I'd be very grateful.  If not, I'll feel a little more 
justified in bouncing his article back at him on the grounds that 
it's going to misinform the Shire about _medieval_ practices.

many thanks,
JdH


Lady Jehanne de Huguenin  *  Chronicler, Shire of Adamastor, Cape Town
(Jessica Tiffin, University of Cape Town)
Sable, three owls rising argent, each maintaining a willow slip vert.
http://users.iafrica.com/m/me/melisant