Note 169a — Chapter X · OF THEIR HOSPITALITY AND LIBERALITY
Reading edition
Sir R. C. Hoare has altogether misunderstood the original here. It was the custom in the middle ages to place the guests at table in pairs, and each two persons ate out of one plate. Each couple was a mess. At a later period, among the great the mess consisted of four persons; but it appears that in Wales, at this time, it was formed of three guests.