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.