The public dinner-season in provincial England commences early in October and ends in the middle of March. During that period, at the slightest provocation, our countrymen are prepared to dine together, not with a desire of over-indulgence in eating, but to enjoy the pleasant company usually gathered round the festive board. It is an admitted fact that the men who are in the habit of attending banquets are generally most abstemious. Speech, story, and song form a pleasing part of the proceedings of literary-society dinners, masonic banquets, and the more homely but not less enjoyable suppers held in connection with the Burns’ Clubs. The toast lists and menu cards are often very interesting; they are frequently artistic in design, and enriched with quotations from the poets, which renders them of more than passing interest. A few quotations from some of the best of those which have come under our notice seem worth reproducing. The authors represented cover a wide field, ranging from Shakespeare to Tennyson. The former is the most quotable poet, and he is most frequently drawn upon. Burns, however, runs him very closely.

In turning over a pile of toast lists, the first to attract our attention is the one prepared for the Hull Shakespearean Festival. On the front page is a portrait of the bard and the familiar line of “rare” Ben Jonson:—

“He was not of an age, but for all time.”

Under the first toast—that of the Queen—are two lines from Henry V.:—

“God and his angels guard your sacred throne,
And make you long become it.”

The toast of the evening follows: “The Immortal Memory of Shakespeare”—Dr. Johnson’s well-known verse beneath it:—

“Each change of many-coloured life he drew;
Exhausted worlds, and then imagined new;
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
And panting Time toiled after him in vain.”

The third speaker had for his topic “Shakespeare’s Universality,” with a motto from Romeo and Juliet:—

“Monarch of the universal earth.”

Actors and actresses were next toasted under the heading of “Shakespearean Exponents,” with a quotation from Othello:—

“Speak of me as I am: nothing extenuate,
Nor set down aught in malice.”

The next theme was “Shakespeare and Tragedy,” with a line from Richard III.:—

“I live to look upon their tragedy.”

Then followed “Shakespeare and Comedy,” with two lines from the Taming of the Shrew:—

“Frame your mind for mirth and merriment,
Which bars a thousand harms.”

Under the sentiment of “Shakespeare and History,” is a line from Henry IV. (Part II.):—

“There is a history in all men’s lives.”

Lastly, “Shakespearean Women” were remembered, and under the toast are three lines as follow from the third part of Henry VI.:—

“’Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud;
’Tis virtue that doth make them most admired;
’Tis modesty that makes them seem divine.”

The programme of music is headed with a couple of lines from Twelfth Night:—

“If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it.”

At the foot of the card is printed “Good Night,” and a quotation from Macbeth, as follows:—

“At once good night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.”

The toast list of a local literary society contains some happy quotations from Shakespeare. The speakers are reminded at the commencement of the programme, in the words from Hamlet, that “Brevity is the soul of wit.” The two lines under the toast of “The Prince and Princess of Wales” are from Pericles:—

“As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
So princes their renown if not respected.”

A line from Richard III.:—

“Arm, fight, and conquer for England’s sake.”

was the motto to the toast of “The Army, Navy, and Auxiliary Forces.” Under the toast of “The Officers of the Club” are words from Othello:—

“We cannot all be masters.”

Two good lines from the Taming of the Shrew are given with the toast of “Literature and Science”:—

“My books and instruments shall be my company,
On them to look and practise by myself.”

A line under the toast of “The Press” says, in the words of the Merchant of Venice:—

“There are some shrewd contents in your paper.”

We have seen on several menu cards:—

“A good digestion to you all, and once more
I shower a welcome on you—welcome all.”
—Henry VIII.

A more general quotation (from Macbeth) is:—

“Now good digestion wait on appetite,
And health on both.”

The bill of fare for the Tercentenary Banquet held in 1864, at Stratford-on-Avon, in honour of Shakespeare, is perhaps the best specimen of cuisine literature ever produced. The following are a few of the edibles and the quotations:—

Roast turkey:—

“Why, here comes swelling like a turkey-cock.”
—Henry V.

Roast fowls:—

“There is a fowl without a feather.”
—Comedy of Errors.

Ducks:—

“O dainty duck!”—Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Boar’s head:—

“Like a full-acorned boar.”—Cymbeline.

York hams:—

“Sweet stem from York’s great stock.”
—Henry VI. (Part I.).

Tongues:—

“Silence is only commendable in a neat’s tongue dried.”
—Merchant of Venice.

Mayonnaise of lamb:—

“Was never gentle lamb more mild.”—Richard II.Braised lamb and beef:—

“What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?
A dish that I love to feed upon.”
—Taming of the Shrew.

Roast lamb:—

“Come you to seek the lamb here?”
—Measure for Measure.

Lobster and mayonnaise salads:—

“Sallet was born to do me good.”—Henry IV. (Part II.).

Dressed lobsters and crabs:—

“There’s no meat like them: I could wish my best friend at such a feast.”—Timon of Athens.

Desserts, cakes, jellies, and creams:—

“The queen of curds and cream.”—Winter’s Tale.

Dressed potatoes:—

“Let the sky rain potatoes.”—Merry Wives of Windsor.

Bitter ale:—

“And here’s the pot of good double beer, neighbour:
Drink, and fear not your man.”—Henry VI. (Part II.).

In addition to the foregoing, many interesting and well-chosen quotations appear on the famous bill of fare.

The bill of fare of the Annual Dinner of the Norwich Saint Andrew Society, held in 1896, was headed, “Caird o’ Guid Things”:—

“Kail Bree.
Maukin.
Cockie Leekie.

Guid Caller Fish.
Sole-fleuks, baned an’ stovit.
Caller Cod wi’ Sauce o’ Caller Ou.
THE HAGGIS.
“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain, o’ the puddin’ race!”
“A nip o’ Fairntosh, an’ it’s no ower perjinkitie measure!”
Roast an’ Biled.
Sheeps’ Hurdies.
Sirloins o’ Nowte.
Biled Chuckies an’ Tongue.
Rostit Bubblyjock wi’ Sausages.
Tatties Biled an’ Champit.
Curly Kail.
“I’m thinkin’, Sandy, we wadna be the waur o’ a drappie.”
Roastit Feesants wi’ Raupit Tatties.
Confectouri.
Figmaleerie o’ Fruits.
Jeelies.
Plum Puddin’.
Mince Pies.
Apple Tairts and Cream.
Kebbuck wi’ Celery an’ guid Oat Farls.
Dessert an’ Coffee.
“Let them that wants Coffee, hae Coffee; I’m thinkin’ I’ll hae a dram!”

The birthday of Burns is celebrated in all parts of the world: wherever Scotchmen are located the bard is honoured. We have before us a number of Burns dinner toast lists, and several are headed “Should auld acquaintance be forgot?”

The following are from the toast lists of the Hull Burns’ Club. Under the toast of “The Queen,” two lines appear:—

“In the field of proud honour, our swords in our hand,
Our Queen and our country to save.”

To the toast of “The Mayor, Sheriff, and Corporation” is this couplet:—

“How wisdom and folly meet, mix, and unite;
How virtue and vice blend their black and their white.”

The toast of the evening, “The Memory of Burns,” has under it the following verse from The Cotter’s Saturday Night:—

“O Scotia! my dear, my native soil!
For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent!
Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil
Be blessed with health, and peace, and sweet content.”

We have seen inscribed with this toast a verse from one of Bennoch’s beautiful poems:—

“With reverent silence we will fill
A cup whene’er this day returns,
And pledge the memory of the Bard,
The Bard of Nature—Robert Burns,
Immortal Burns.”

Appended to the toast of “The Hull Burns’ Club” are the noble lines:—

“It’s coming yet, for a’ that,
That man to man, the warld o’er,
Shall brithers be for a’ that.”

“The Visitors,” “Kindred Societies,” are included with suitable quotations. The verse under the toast of “The Press” is a happy selection:—

“Here’s freedom to him that wad read,
Here’s freedom to him that wad write,
There’s nane ever feared that the truth should be heard,
But they whom the truth would indite.”

We have seen the following quoted several times with this toast:—

“A chiel’s amang you takin’ notes,
And faith he’ll prent it.”

The concluding toast, that of “The Lassies,” has the familiar lines:—

“The wisest man the warl’ e’er saw,
He dearly loved the lassies, O!”

At a dinner of the Hull Literary Club the toast list was enriched with quotations from the works of the Poet Laureate. An excerpt from The Princess on the first page says:—

“Hark the bell
For dinner, let us go!”

Two lines from a poem, To the Rev. F. D. Maurice, head the list:—

“You’ll have no scandal while you dine,
But honest talk and wholesome wine.”

To the toast of “The Queen” are four lines, as follow:—

“Her Court was pure; her life serene;
God gave her peace; her land reposed;
A thousand claims to reverence closed
In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen.”Five lines from The Battle of Brunanburgh are given to the toast of “Our Brave Defenders”:—

“Theirs was a greatness
Got from their grandsires—
Theirs that so often in
Strife with their enemies,
Struck for their hoards and their hearths and their homes.”

Two quotations appear under the toast of “Success to the Hull Literary Club”:—

“We rub each other’s angles down.”—In Memoriam.
“Work in noble brotherhood.”—Exhibition Ode.

With the toast of “Literature and the Arts” is the line:—

“Let knowledge grow from more to more.”

Under “The Press”:—

“News from the humming city comes to it.”

The line under the toast of “The Ladies” is brief and graceful:—

“Made to be loved.”