Note 108 — THE ANCIENT SCHOOLS IN THE CITY OF LONDON
Reading edition
The earliest mention of the Michaelmas goose I have seen is in the “charge of St. Nicholas Hospital, Pontefract,” in 1432; but it was then ancient. The common story of its being derived from the fact that Queen Elizabeth was eating goose on Michaelmas Day when she heard the news of the Spanish Armada is manifest nonsense, as the Armada was destroyed during the first week in August.