Note 5 — PROOFS AND TRIALS OF GUILT IN SUPERSTITIOUS AGES.
Reading edition
Du Cange has remarked, that the common expression, “May this piece of bread choke me!” originates with this custom. The anecdote of Earl Godwin’s death by swallowing a piece of bread, in making this asseveration, is recorded in our history. If it be true, it was a singular misfortune.