coshering

coshering (Ir. cóisir, perhaps from the French causerie). In 15th‐ and 16th‐century Ireland this was a custom whereby each of the principal subjects or tenants of a lordship, often including local church dignitaries, had to entertain their lord and his retinue once, twice, or even four times a year, to a feast lasting 24 or 48 hours at a time, accompanied by music, poetry, and story‐telling. The last earl of Desmond is said to have brought 40 to 100 followers with him on such occasions. The custom derived from the earlier cáe, a food render owed by clients to their patrons in pre‐Norman Ireland. As in the earlier period, the favourite season for a lord to embark on a feasting tour of his vassals was from New Year's Day to Shrovetide, when winter food stores were running out for lord and vassal alike. ‘Cuddy’ (Ir. cuid oidhche, ‘a night's‐portion’) signified the actual food render involved, sometimes sent direct to the chief's house or commuted to a money payment. The objections of the Anglo‐Irish commons to this exaction were particularly vocal, since the leading members of a community suffered most by it.

Katharine Simms