Genre:

Introduction; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Nutrition, Animal Husbandry, Breeding, Zoology

    Comprises a spoof correspondence between Grimalkin and Tabitha (two domestic servants) on the revival in France of the fashion for eating horseflesh. Grimalkin, who shares a name with a horse in William Shakespeare's Macbeth, complains that the eating of horses is an infringement 'upon our vested rights', and anticipates the spread of the culinary fashion to English tables, and its political consequences. In reply, Tabitha, discusses the effect of the fashion on the eating habits of 'modern menials', stressing how choosy domestic servants will become in the matter of horseflesh dishes. In a postscript, she denies that there has been a 'deterioration in racers' and compares the much better quality of contemporary horseflesh with that enjoyed by her great-great-grandmother.