Saturday, October 28, 2017
Four and twenty plums
Listening again to the wonderful 'Strange as it seems' version of the Jack Horner story, with its uniquely accurate understanding of men, women and status.
One question doesn't seem to be answered by online sources: How did those documents tolerate baking in the middle of fruit or pigeon brains or hedgehog bladders or whatever the Brits put in pies back then? Baking often exceeds the ignition point of paper. If you lifted the crust and laid the paper on top after baking, the water and fat would ruin the paper.
Oh. Obvious answer. Documents were written on parchment, not paper. Animal skin can unquestionably withstand baking. Think sausages. And oiled parchment used to be a common waterproofing method. So the deeds were parchment, probably wrapped or pouched in oiled parchment.
Well then, what about the four and twenty blackbirds? Were they documents too? One source asserts that they were THE EXACT SAME documents that John Horner was delivering to King Henry. Two songs, one pie. (Blackbird = bishop's costume.)
Labels: Answered better than asked
¶ 5:11 PM
