Mother be blessed! I see a Cumen-hus [141] open; let us in and refresh
ourselves with a horn of ale."

"Nay, friend," quoth Godrith, with a slight disdain, "such are not the
resorts of men of our rank. Tarry yet awhile, till we arrive near the
bridge by the river-side; there, indeed, you will find worthy company and
dainty cheer."

"Well, well, I am at your hest, Godrith," said the Kent man, sighing; "my
wife and my sons will be sure to ask me what sights I have seen, and I
may as well know from thee the last tricks and ways of this burly-burly
town."

Godrith, who was master of all the fashions in the reign of our lord King
Edward, smiled graciously, and the two proceeded in silence, only broken
by the sturdy Kent man's exclamations; now of anger when rudely jostled,
now of wonder and delight when, amidst the throng, he caught sight of a
gleeman, with his bear or monkey, who took advantage of some space near
convent garden, or Roman ruin, to exhibit his craft; till they gained a
long low row of booths, most pleasantly situated to the left of this side
London bridge, and which was appropriated to the celebrated cookshops,
that even to the time of Fitzstephen retained their fame and their
fashion.

Between the shops and the river was a space of grass worn brown and bare
by the feet of the customers, with a few clipped trees with vines trained
from one to the other in arcades, under cover of which were set tables
and settles. The place was thickly crowded, and but for Godrith's
popularity amongst the attendants, they might have found it difficult to
obtain accommodation. However, a new table was soon brought forth,
placed close by the cool margin of the water, and covered in a trice with
tankards of hippocras, pigment, ale, and some Gascon, as well as British
wines: varieties of the delicious cake-bread for which England was then
renowned; while viands, strange to the honest eye and taste of the
wealthy Kent man, were served on spits.

"What bird is this?" said he, grumbling.

"O enviable man, it is a Phrygian attagen [142] that thou art about to
taste for the first time; and when thou hast recovered that delight, I
commend to thee a Moorish compound, made of eggs and roes of carp from
the old Southweorc stewponds, which the cooks here dress notably."

"Moorish!--Holy Virgin!" cried Vebba, with his mouth full of the Phrygian
attagen, "how came anything Moorish in our Christian island?"

Godrith laughed outrig