5% full.
If you've ever wondered whether a crescent moon is old or new,
here is a trick.
The curve of the 'd' for derniere
is last or waning,
the curve of the 'p' for premiere
is first or waxing.
Also as promised:
'At dessert the finger-glass is removed from the dessert-plate,
placed on the left-hand side, and if a d'oyley is used,
it is removed and placed underneath the glass.
If ices are served at dessert the finger-glass is placed on the ice-plate.
It should be removed as before;
the ice-plates being removed by the servant when finished with,
leaving the dessert-plate in place.'
I hope that has been helpful.
very useful information ... well, mostly! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen we were on our honeymoon a lovely Italian lady told us "in Italy we say the moon is a liar because when he says crescendo he is diminuendo and when he says diminuendo he is crescendo" I repeat it regularly to myself - whenever I see a crescent moon, in fact.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the francophone lunar guidance. My bearer claims to find it most enlightening. (I suspect him of occult Pondicherry ancestry.)
ReplyDeleteI confess to being a little perplexed however, by your post on finger bowls and dessert plates. Was there ever any uncertainty?
Pondicherry was the name of a lovely Laura Ashley fabric that I had made up into curtains back in the quondam days. Do you know how to speak of 'The Marquis of Sussex', 'The Vicountess Buckingham' and 'The Countess of Norfolk'? Hmm?
ReplyDelete'The Marquis of Sussex', 'The Vicountess Buckingham' and 'The Countess of Norfolk'?
ReplyDeleteIn person I speak of them as "Sux", "Chuck" and "Hen". But always discretely.
I have always agonized about doyleys and I feel that you have put my mind at rest.
ReplyDeletePomona x
D'oyleys, I'm afraid, are the last refuge of a scoundrel. Ladies should allow them with extreme caution; gentlemen, never.
ReplyDelete