--W.
Heretofore there hath been much more time spent in eating and
drinking than commonly is in these days; for whereas of old we had
breakfast in the forenoon, beverages or nunchions[6] after dinner,
and thereto rear suppers generally when it was time to go to rest (a
toy brought into England by hardy Canutus, and a custom whereof
Athenaeus also speaketh, lib. 1, albeit Hippocrates speaks but of
twice at the most, lib. 2, _De rat vict. in feb ac_). Now, these odd
repasts--thanked be God!--are very well left, and each one in manner
(except here and there some young, hungry stomach that cannot fast
till dinner-time) contenteth himself with dinner and supper only. The
Normans, misliking the gormandise of Canutus, ordained after their
arrival that no table should be covered above once in the day, which
Huntingdon imputeth to their avarice; but in the end, either waxing
weary of their own frugality, or suffering the cockle of old custom
to overgrow the good corn of their new constitution, they fell to
such liberty that in often-feeding they surmounted Canutus surnamed
the Hardy.
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