tidings of the dispersion of the Spanish Armada, in commemoration of which
she ordered the _goose_ to make its appearance every Michaelmas. In some
places, particularly Caithness, geese are cured and smoked, and are highly
relishing. Smoked Solan geese are well known as contributing to the
abundance of a Scottish breakfast, though too rank and fishy-flavoured for
unpractised palates. The goose has made some figure in English history.
The churlishness of the brave Richard Coeur de Lion, a sovereign
distinguished for an insatiable appetite and vigorous digestion, in an
affair of roast goose, was the true cause of his captivity in Germany. The
king, disguised as a palmer, was returning to his own dominions, attended
by Sir Fulk Doyley and Sir Thomas de Multon, "brothers in arms," and
wearing the same privileged garb. They arrived in Almain, (Germany,) at
the town of Carpentras, where,


"A _goose_ they dight to their dinner.
In a tavern where they were.
King Richard the fire bet,
Thomas to him the spit set;
Fouk Doyley tempered the wood;
Dear a-bought they that good;"


for in came a _Minstralle_, or she-Minstrel, with offer of specimens of
her art in return for a leg of the goose and a cup of the wine. Richard,
who loved "rich meats," and cared little at this time for their usual
accompaniment, "minstrelsy,"--


"--bade that she would go;