We find in the "Apocrypha"[182:3] the following passage: "If thou be made the master of a feast . . . hinder not musick. . . . A concert of musick in a banquet of wine is as a signet of carbuncle set in gold. As a signet of an emerald set in a work of gold, so is the melody of musick with pleasant wine." Chaucer, in his "Parson's Tale," speaks of the _Curiositie of Minstralcie_, at the banquets of the well-to-do in his day. The banquets of the Anglo-Saxons were enlivened by minstrels and gleemen, whose visits were welcome breaks in the monotony of the people's lives. They added to their musical performances mimicry and other means of promoting mirth, as well as dancing and tumbling, with sleights of hand, and a variety of deceptions to amuse the company.[183:1] In the intervals between the musical exercises, the guests talked, joked, propounded and answered riddles, and boasted of their own exploits, while disparaging those of others. Later, when the liquor took effect, they were wont to become noisy and quarrelsome.[183:2] "Then wine wets the man's breast-passions; suddenly rises clamour in the company, an outcry they send forth various."[183:3] In the great houses of the nobility and gentry, minstrels' music was the usual seasoning of food. It is true, wrote Mons. J. J. Jusserand, in "English Wayfaring Life of the Fourteenth Century," that "the voices of the singers were at times interrupted by the crunching of the bones, which the dogs were gnawing under the tables, or by the sharp cry of some ill-bred falcon; for many lords kept these favorite birds on perches behind them." We learn from the same authority that in the great dining-halls of the castles of the wealthy, galleries were placed for the accommodation of the minstrels, above the door of entrance, and opposite to the dais upon which stood the master's table. FOOTNOTES: [173:1] _Boston Transcript_, March 10, 1900. [173:2] George Rawlinson, _History of Ancient Egypt_, vol. ii, p. 49. [174:1] J. G. Millingen, M.D., _Curiosities of Medical Experience_. [175:1] London, 1749. [176:1] _Boston Sunday Herald_, May 2, 1909. [176:2] George J. Romanes, _Animal Intelligence_. [177:1] _The Mourning Bride_, Act I, Scene 1. [178:1] Joseph Ennemoser, _The History of Magic_, vol. i, p. 358. [178:2] _Music_, vol. ix, p. 361; 1896. [178:3] Daniel G. Brinton, _The Myths of the New World_, p. 306. [178:4] Book iv, chap. 13. [179:1] Larousse, _Dictionnaire_, art. "Incantation." [179:2] Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, vol. iii, p. 1226. [179:3] M. Mallet, _Northern Antiquities_, p. 351. [180:1] _Century Dictionary_, under "Minstrel." [180:2] Thomas Keightley, _The Fairy Mythology_, p. 98. [180:3] George F. Fort, _Medical Economy during the Middle Ages_, p. 365. [182:1] _Music_, vol. ix; 1896. [182:2] William Smith, _A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_, art. "Coena." [182:3] Ecclus. xxxii, 1-6. [183:1] Joseph Strutt, _Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_.