Beanfeasts and Wayz= gooses.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 30 September 1910, Page 4

Beanfeasts and Wayz= gooses.

ORIGIN OF THE WORKMAN'S DAY OUT.

LONDON, August 12. The art and "mystery" ol tho printer liar always been something of a pusHdc to the groat outsicb public. "Mystery" is, alter all onlv a confusion or terms, lor it is reallv the word "mister.v" "hioh is equivalent to metier, a trade m ■handicraft, and implies no se-.ct doctrines, or any thing obsc i-c oi Elousinian. . , . Anvhow, about this tmio ol Ui? vear "printers make merry, :nrl lliom merriment takes Hie lor-i < . a beanfeast or wayzgnoso. botli goon old-fashioned v<m\s ot (UiM I.* a.. <• surest ion and tradition. .MalnweTlT Phillips says Mint a 'w.ivgoose" is "an entert r iinent _ Given by an apprentice to his iell-r.v-workmen." This would put it on a par with the old practice oi "first-foot" and "salting. stil. familiar to neophytes in various trades nnd professions. Another authority defines "way-goose" as _ a printers' annual dinner or picnic, formerly one given by an apprentice to his fellow-workmen, at which :\ wase-goose or stuhbmh'-goose, was the groat dish. A "slub'blegoose,'' by the wav, is a harve<i.-goose._ im grev-lag goose, and has points about him unbeknown to the common goose of commerce.

PEPYS AND ("EHSE. On July 3rd. 18(il (Lord's-dny). old Samuel Pepys in hi.s diary records that lie "went U> dinner, where the remains ol* _ yesle*iday's venison and a couple of bravo pjreen gees-e we were fain to eat alone, becau.se they will not keep, which troubled us." Of course, the authoritative period for is Michaelmas. It i« so ordained by the alumnae, and gastronomer pronounce a March yonso insipid and a summer goose rank. According to an old .proverb, "three women ami a .noose" are supposed to make a ma'dret : and we all know that once up r ;n a time geese saved the Roman Capitol. After all. there is a deal to be said in favmii of geese- quite apart from sauce, and onions. Now. with .toward to the beanfeast, there is as much, or more, to bo said. Who has not seen in the summer time char-a-bancs full of holiday-makers, intent on a good day's outing, away from the turmoil and stuffy air? Eight hours --or more--in the country. with glass-bottle shooting, perchance a cricket match, and at any rate two .sold, square* meals. The beanfeast, sln'ctly speakimr. soems to be about two hundred years old. hi the "Times Tehl- - for 1820 the term is referred to Daniel Day, who founded Fairlop Fair, and died in 17(17. Ho was the possessor of a small osiute in ICssex, hard liy Fairlop Oak. 'lectin's famous tree ,he used, on tin first Friday in each successive .Inly, to invite a -party of his friends to dineon beans and bacon. lie aho provided, mi the day of the fair, several sacks of beans, with a proportionate quantity of bacon, which he distributer! I'kmii the Irunk ol the 'tree to the persons there assembled. For several years before the death of this benevolent founder of the public heaulV-is! I,'n pump and block makers of \Yapping. to the number of thirty o-i foitv. wont annually !o 11-'I 1 -' f---»ji■ in a boat, made "like tint c|' I'obins.>n f'riis. c," or an Indian canoe, oi an rnf iie _ple:-o of !ir. This anit/'iibiou« voln'cle wa* 00-Tred with an

:iV/llill/r, ll|n"|!,f;"l oil a C(i;l--!l-i-l! - - ringo. and uinvn by six p-jsl-lnrses. the whole adorned with ri!>!>.: flags, jin:l nncl atteirV'' ').v a ban ! of musicians. 1\ TIIK KOKKST. The Kali hp (! .J; wis ;; iiioiisioi tree, wirh :i fi-ink iony-eight iVel i;. ..•i:-:-Miir'":-f"!:-iv '!'■> growth of liv.' ■■outlines. |( w", i.'wni ;'.': ,\-!i i>: I'Yb.aary. ISl'O. n:: : a j. : i:11 .f i: published in 181$. coloured in a<|U<i tint, drawn ;:n ! vd'S] -\\ e ! by •)■!'■; B'diaid. ■ ; l. ; -rs_ i,,' ;V i;rogr:e>nd :r;.i'.ps (.!' fashionable ladies and gentlemen pi while in i 1:: background poop',' are engaged "hi mere strenuous forms of aninseiiie'it." Ilavaa'! Forest, ; •enturv ago. was more nnpular as .'( pleasant resort than it is nowadays. Brans, in some I";, ■• j ri r.r ; t , ]l ,[ be,-, have mi historic connection will fost'V.'ils, rolii;j;i:i!'s ai: I otherwise. In some parts cf Ff:ilv. on XawitiVr 'Jncl (Alt Souls' Day), tho .oik eat .sweetmeaK known a; fan cl»f mo it i. or htvnis of t! H ■ieaii. and a dish of lh<on is i-l't on the cottage table all nhdit l',,v the use of the ghosts of the", departe.'. who may t. T :ou happen to be abnad. That this is a very old survival nm be judged from the fart that Plinv, Mi his "Xatnral History,'' says: "Bonus are used in the funeral banquets of the Parentalia." which was the great annual feast .hold in Rome ill honour of departed ancestors. THI'l BKA.V

The bean has a history unsurpassed by any other ,if flip vegetable Kingdom. [sidorus asserts thai it was the first food used by man - but his authority is lacking. Pythagoras held that human life was in it. By others, the black spat was accounted typical of death, air. the Klnmcn or .Jupiter would neiUie rlook upon it nor even pronounce its name. The priests of Apollo, on the other hand, ed on a dish of beans at one of the festivals of their god. Thosi of .-Kscnlapius taught that sine!! of beans in blossom was prejudicial to health, and farmers' wives in the days of Philemon and Baucis maintained that hens reared on beans would not lay eggs.

But the lore of beans is almost unending, and it must suffice to add that hi Shropshire "prisms n\\\\ blanks" mean—doeally- bacon an;, beans boiled together and chopped u psmall: the dish is also known a:"Mendings." The famous "Boston beans," which are consumed by the ton in the United States »i America, are neither more nor less than an old Teutonic dish' called "gcs'jttcne Bohnen" : they have been adapted to Transatlantic taste, and. assuming the form of pork and beans, masquerade as a Yankee delicacay. But they are very European after all. Workers, therefoue, are very web advised in keeping up the old traditions. The wnvzgoo.se—or way-goose-is a fine old custom, and tlVbeanfeast is a instance of old-world consistency. One werf. onlv in the cars of the important and authorative individual who irresponsible for the arrangements. Do, pray, see that at ycur feasts there shall always ..e the fatted goose and the toothsome bacon an.d beans. Only by so doing, will void annual excursion be fullv justified.