a marmoset's secret life....

For Mabel

I listen to BBC Radio 4 all day every day.

When I say listen, I mean that the radio is on, and I am doing other things… I tune in and out, and sometimes feel I haven’t really been listening at all.

Then someone will mention something in conversation… and I will kind of know something about it, but not be able to give any real details.

But today. Today I made sure I paid attention.

For our very own Mabel Post, I bring you news of Daniel of Beccles.

Daniel Of Beccles wrote the first known book of ettiquette, at some point in the 12thCentury.

Examples of his advice are as follows:

• ‘If you wish to belch, remember to look up to the ceiling.’
• ‘Do not attack your enemy while he is squatting to defecate.’
• ‘If there is something you do not want people to know, do not tell it to your wife.’
• ‘Say thank you to your host.’
• ‘Don’t mount your horse in the hall.’
• ‘If visitors had already eaten, give them drink anyway.’
• ‘Loosen your reins when riding over a bridge.’
• ‘Receive gifts from great men with gratitude.’
• ‘If you are a judge, be just.’
• ‘Eating at the table of the rich, speak little.’

Timeless.

*bows*