The Kindest Cut

The Kindest Cut"Every man that wylle come to knyghthode hym behoveth to lerne in his yougthe to kerve at the table." Even in 1484, it would seem, when William Caxton thus admonished the armored playboys of his day in a definitive book of Chyvalry, the art of kervynge was already esteemed as one of the fundamental social graces appurtenant to cultivated manhood. A lethal-looking girdle dagger, equally effective for meals or mayhem, was regarded as an indispensable wardrobe accessory by...