Some notes on Poison, What a Mess.

If your surname is Sayer then you come from old stock indeed. In Feudal England when the warring Barons were forever trying to bump one another off , poisoning was a great favourite. It could be administered in secret and it was difficult to prove those responsible. So much of a concern was it that one gentleman in every great household was appointed the prestigious responsibility of overseeing the ceremony of the "Sayes". It was his job to taste the food and drink before it was consumed by the Master. If he didn't drop dead he pronounced for all to hear "Say Yes" for he was the Sayer. Luckily for any of you today, most seemed to have survived. In those days the Master sat at the centre of a long table facing the hall with a large, ceremonial and the only salt cellar in front of him. His guest of honour sat to his right. When there was no such guest the Sayer took his place and became his right-hand-man, and, as he could reach the salt, he was said to be "worth his salt". The custom of having individual salt cellars placed around the table only really became popular during the early 18th century, as did boxes of cutlery; until then you carried your own utensils with you wherever. The thought of using someone else's never entered the 17th cetury mind, but that's another story.  Salt, for the wealthy, could be placed on the wide rim or trencher of the large plates on which great portions of food were served. Such a plateful was called a 'mess'.The master and principal guests had one each to themselves whilst the lesser brethren further down the line of the table had to share one mess between two, then three, and then four. This intimacy fostered comradeship and these chaps became known as 'mess mates' which is also the origin of the ' Officers' Mess'. More about the canteens of cutlery another time.