That As No Nation Labours
More Under The Vice Of Jealousy Than The Irish, So None Is More
Free From It Than The Welsh:
And in each family the art of playing
on the harp is held preferable to any other learning.
In the
evening, when no more guests are expected, the meal is prepared
according to the number and dignity of the persons assembled, and
according to the wealth of the family who entertains. The kitchen
does not supply many dishes, nor high-seasoned incitements to
eating. The house is not furnished with tables, cloths, or
napkins. They study nature more than splendour, for which reason,
the guests being seated in threes, instead of couples as elsewhere,
(18) they place the dishes before them all at once upon rushes and
fresh grass, in large platters or trenchers. They also make use of
a thin and broad cake of bread, baked every day, such as in old
writings was called LAGANA; (19) and they sometimes add chopped
meat, with broth. Such a repast was formerly used by the noble
youth, from whom this nation boasts its descent, and whose manners
it still partly imitates, according to the word of the poet:
"Heu! mensas consumimus, inquit Iulus."
While the family is engaged in waiting on the guests, the host and
hostess stand up, paying unremitting attention to everything, and
take no food till all the company are satisfied; that in case of
any deficiency, it may fall upon them. A bed made of rushes, and
covered with a coarse kind of cloth manufactured in the country,
called BRYCHAN, (20) is then placed along the side of the room, and
they all in common lie down to sleep; nor is their dress at night
different from that by day, for at all seasons they defend
themselves from the cold only by a thin cloak and tunic.
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