Tables have turned on manners
HAM HOCK IT UP: Second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn was partial to the fashion for spitting, which was seen as regal behaviour in medieval and Tudor times. She had two ladies-in-waiting at her coronation banquet whose job was to hold cloths for her to project her phlegm into.
NOSEBODY ELSE’S BUSINESS: In the Middle Ages it was fine for people to pick their nose at the table and burping was also encouraged, but you had to look at the ceiling while doing so.
SORRY GUV: While an entire restaurant will clap and cheer now if a member of staff accidentally smashes a plate or glass, in the Victorian age if you dropped crockery and knocked over vino the rule was not to react in the slightest and leave the servants to deal with the mess.
BREAD AND BOTHER: Long before napkins,
Ancient Greeks would wipe their sticky fingers on a piece of bread called apomagdalia and they found it offensive to eat butter and milk.
HARD TO DIGEST: Victorian ladies were told not to have sex after a big meal or heavy drinking in case the bedroom antics triggered a stroke as the body tried to absorb what it had consumed.
TAKING THE P***: Lazy or keen not to miss out on pudding, Ancient Romans didn’t even leave the table when they needed to go for a wee. A chamber pot would be used at the table. And since it was rude to refuse food, they’d stuff a feather down their throat to be sick to make space for more.
BE AWARE OF TABLEWARE: It wasn’t until the late 17th Century that rich dinner party hosts would provide cutlery for their guests to use. Before that point you were expected to carry your own knife and spoon around. Forks were more commonly in use by the 18th Century.
UNLUCKY INVITE: French emperor and military commander Napoleon always kept a 14th guest on a retainer so his dinner party table was never left with an unlucky tally of 13. Since the 1920s London’s Savoy Hotel has kept a black wooden cat called Kaspar, left, to wheel out to parties of 13.
DOG’S DINNER: From Ancient Rome to Victorian England, having your dog at the table was encouraged but in the 17th Century a rule book was issued saying not to invite cats to supper.
HEAD’S UP: Hats were worn at the table in the 15th Century to prevent head lice dropping into food, something Mary Queen of Scots was shocked by during her first encounter at a dinner party away from home. She thought it was disrespectful that her fellow chompers were keeping their hair covered in front of her – until the unwashed mops were unveiled.