_The riche qwene in haulle was sett,_ _Knyghttes hir serves to handes and fete,_ _Were clede in robis of palle;_ _In the floure a clothe was layde,_ _“This poore palmere,” the stewarde sayde,_ _“Salle sytte abowene yow alle.”_ _Mete and drynke was forthe broghte,_ _Sir Isambrace sett and ete noghte,_ _Bot luked abowte in the haulle._ * * * * * _So lange he satt and ete noghte,_ _That the lady grete wondir thoghte,_ _And tille a knyghte gane saye,_ _“Bryng a chayere and a qwyschene_ (cushion), _And sett yone poore palmere therin_.” * * * * * _A riche chayere than was ther fett,_ _This poore palmere therin was sett,_ _He tolde hir of his laye._ Until comparatively a very recent date, the hour of dinner, even among the highest classes of society, was ten o’clock in the forenoon. There was an old proverb which defined the divisions of the domestic day as follows:-- _Lever à six, disner à dix,_ _Souper à six, coucher à dix._ Which is preserved in a still older and more complete form as follows:-- _Lever à cinq, diner à neuf,_ _Souper à cinq, coucher à neuf,_ _Fait vivre d’ans nonante et neuf._ Five o’clock was the well-known hour of the afternoon meal; and nine seems formerly to have been an ordinary hour for dinner. In the time of Chaucer, the hour of _prime_ appears to have been the usual dinner hour, which perhaps meant nine o’clock. At least the monk, in the Schipmannes Tale, calls for dinner at prime:-- “_Goth now your way,” quod he, “al stille and softe,_ _And let us dyne as sone as ye may,_ _For by my chilindre it is prime of day._” And the lady to whom this is addressed, in reply, expresses impatience, lest they should pass the hour. The dinner appears to have been usually announced by the blowing of horns. In the romance of Richard Cœur de Lion, on the arrival of visitors, the tables were laid out for dinner-- _They sette tresteles, and layde a borde_; * * * * * _Trumpet begonne for to blowe._ --Weber, ii. 7. [Illustration: _No. 109. Washing before Dinner._] Before the meal, each guest was served with water to wash. It was the business of the ewer to serve the guests with water for this purpose, which he did with a jug and basin, while another attendant stood by with a towel. Our cut No. 109, represents this process; it is taken from a fine manuscript of the “Livre de la Vie Humaine,” preserved in the National Library in Paris, No. 6988. In the originals of this group, the jug and basin are represented as of gold. In the copy of the Seven Sages, printed by Weber (p. 148), the preparations for a dinner are thus described:--