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"But,--sir,--I'm very sorry," said Gluck, hesitatingly; "but--really, sir,--you're--putting the fire out."

"It'll take longer to do the mutton, then," replied his visitor drily.

Gluck was very much puzzled by the behaviour of his guest; it was such a strange mixture of coolness and humility. He turned away at the string meditatively for another five minutes.

The above is from "The King of the Golden River" by John Ruskin.

I can't figure out what 'at a string mean'.

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  • Doesn't the book say what Gluck was doing when the visitor spoke to him? I wonder if it's something to do with turning the mutton on a spit (but why string is involved, I don't know).
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 9:31
  • OK, so Gluck is acting as turnspit. Perhaps he is turning a handle linked by a loop of string to the spit itself, so he doesn't have to stand quite so near.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jan 21, 2021 at 15:24
  • @KateBunting Could this be made an answer, perhaps put together with ColleenV's? I'm going through some of the unanswered questions list.
    – A. B.
    Commented May 19, 2021 at 6:22

3 Answers 3

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It appears from the story that Gluck was working as a turnspit; keeping the spit roast turning so that it didn't cook only on one side. Maybe the handle he was turning was linked by a loop of string to the spit itself, so that he didn't have to stand so close to the fire.

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Gluck is cooking mutton. Maybe the reference is to a string of mutton, as pictured here: Shutterstock string, mutton
a sort of shishkabob.

If so, then "turned away at the string" would mean that he continued turning the string of mutton over the fire, to cook it evenly.

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It could also be the technique of cooking it: STRING TURNED ROAST LEG OF LAMB

Meat, generally a roast or fowl, was trussed and suspended from twine and left in front of the hearth to slowly rotate on axis. As the hearth warmed the home, it also cooked the meat over the course of the day.

Thanks to @ColleenV for this one.

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