Take four pounds of venison, or if you cannot procure venison you may
substitute the lean of fresh beef or mutton. Season it with pepper and
salt, put it into a large pot, (break the bones and lay them on the
meat,) pour in four quarts of water, and boil it three hours, skimming
it well. Then strain it, and put it into another pot.
Cut up a hare or a rabbit, a pair of partridges, and a pair of grouse;
or one of each, with a pheasant, a woodcock, or any other game that
you can most easily obtain. Season them and put them into the soup.
Add a dozen small onions, a couple of heads of celery cut small, and
half a dozen sliced potatoes. Let the soup simmer till the game is
sufficiently done, and all the vegetables tender.
This is the soup with which the gipsy, Meg Merrilies, regaled Dominie
Sampson.
When game is used for soup, it must be newly killed, and quite fresh.