Food—Statistics as to quantity of meat consumed—Scarcity
of fish and game—Supply of latter to London—Venison—A
brewer’s dinner—Beer—Quantity brewed—Wine—Its price—Supply
of vegetables—Sardines and Harvey’s Sauce—Scarcity of
wheat—Forestalling—Rice from India—Bounties given for its shipment.
PEOPLE, then, were conservative with regard to food. For the ordinary
Englishman was no appetizing _plat_, no refinement of cookery—anything
out of the usual ruck would be promptly denounced, and fiercely
spurned, as French _kickshaws_. Plain roast and boiled meats were
universal, from the highest to the lowest; the quantity of animal food
consumed throughout the country was enormous; and, what was more, it
was all of home production. No frozen meat, no tinned provisions;
the only known way of preserving then, was the time-honoured one of
salting. In London alone, according to the very meagre statistics of
the day, the number of bullocks slaughtered yearly was 110,000; of
sheep and lambs 776,000; calves 210,000; hogs 210,000; sucking pigs,
60,000; besides an unknown quantity of animals of other kinds. This
may be an approximate estimate of the number, based, probably, on the
quantity sold at the various markets to the butchers, but can give us
no idea of the weight, and consequent average consumption per head.
Fish was scarce, and dear; the war, naturally, prevented the fishermen
from going far from the coast, and their numbers, moreover, were
thinned by impressment. No railways to bring this very perishable
commodity quickly to market, no ice to preserve it on its journey;
the smack must go to port to unload her cargo, and, being entirely
dependent on her sails, was at the mercy of the winds.
Inland, they never knew the taste of salt-water fish, unless some
kind friend sent a cod, or turbot, packed in straw, in a basket, as a
present by the mail, or stage, coach. Nor could the Londoner, then, get
the abundant supply of our salmon rivers, which he now, in common with
the whole of England, enjoys.
Game was very scarce, and dear. A country gentleman would not have
dared to brave the public opinion of his county, by selling his game,
and battues were unknown. The poachers did, undoubtedly, a good trade;
and about Christmas time the mail, and stage, coaches came up, loaded
with hares, &c.—a fact amusingly chronicled in the _Morning Post_ of
the 26th of December, 1807: “The first of the Norwich and Yarmouth
coaches arrived at a late hour on Thursday, when, strange to relate,
every one of the passengers, inside and outside, were found _dead_! Not
less than four hundred brace of _dead game_ being unloaded from it, for
the banqueting of the _living Londoners_ at this luxurious season.” If,
however, a story told in the _Times_ of the 20th of January, 1803, is
true, it was not always safe to buy game from the coaches: “Saturday
night last, an epicure from Fish Street Hill, anxiously watched for
the arrival of a Kentish coach, at the King’s Head, in the Borough,
in order to purchase a _Hare_ from the coachman, for his Sunday’s
dinner; an outside passenger, having learned his errand, brought him
under the gateway, and sold him a very large one, as he thought, for
nine shillings, which, however, upon his return home, proved to be a
_badger_.”
Poultry was seldom seen except at the tables of the very well to
do. The supply was deficient, and they had not the resources we
have of railway carriage, and especially of the Continental markets;
consequently prices were exorbitant. Venison was considered _the_ dish
for an epicure, and was sold—chiefly by pastry cooks—at a reasonable
rate: in fact, there were coffee houses where a venison dinner could
be obtained for 2s. 6d. Probably the following advertisement indicates
a somewhat better style of entertainment—_Morning Herald_, July 18,
1804: “VENISON in perfection. At the Worcester Coffee House, corner
of Swallow Street, Oxford Street, Gentlemen may depend on having
prime Venison. A Haunch and Neck dressed every day, ready precisely
at five o’clock, at the reasonable charge for dinner of 3s. 6d. Wines
and Liquors of the finest flavour; best old Port 4s. 6d. per bottle.
Venison ready dressed, and pasties sent out. N.B. Fifty brace of good
Bucks wanted.”
It was an age of eating and drinking—_i.e._, men ate and drank in
larger quantities than now; but we must not take the following as a
typical feast of the time; it was simply a brewer’s dinner, cooked
after a brewer’s fashion—yet it was also typical, for then the cult
of beefsteak and porter was at its culminating point, and people bowed
down, and reverenced them exceedingly. The _Morning Post_, May 30,
1806: “Alderman Combe’s Annual Dinner. Yesterday, Mr. Combe gave his
annual dinner at his brewery, near Long Acre. The party consisted
of the Prince of Wales, Duke of Norfolk, Lord Chancellor, Earl of
Lauderdale, Lord Robert Spencer, Lord Howick, Sir Gilbert Heathcote,
Lord John Townshend, Mr. R. B. Sheridan, Mr. Tierney, Mr. Harvey Combe,
and Mr. Alderman Combe. At half an hour past six, the company sat down
to dinner. The entertainment consisted of beefsteaks and porter. It was
served up in the same style as it was last year. An oaken table, of an
oblong form, was set out in the long room of the brewhouse. This table
was covered with a large hempen sack, and covers, consisting of wooden
trenchers, were laid for each of the guests. The other paraphernalia
of the table, namely, the spoons, salt-cellars, salad bowls, &c., were
composed of the same material as the plates. The Steaks were cooked by
_the Stoker_, a man so called from his being always employed to keep
the fires. This Stoker dressed the Steaks upon a large plate of iron,
which was placed in the Copper-hole. When done, the Cook took them out
with a pair of tongs, conveyed them into a wooden dish, and, in that
style, they were served up. At the expiration of half an hour, the
Prince, and the company, retired to Mr. Combe’s house, in Great Russell
Street, Bloomsbury, where they partook of a second course, consisting
of every delicacy of the season, together with a dessert of fruits, the
most rare and abundant we have ever seen. The Madeira, Port, and Claret
were the objects of every one’s panegyric.”
Beer was the national beverage, and it was brewed from good malt and
hops; not out of sugar, and chemical bedevilments, as at present: and
the quantity drunk in London, alone, seems to be enormous. _Vide_ the
_Annual Register_ for 1810:
“The Quantity of strong beer brewed by the first twelve houses in the
London Porter Brewery, from the 5th of July, 1809, to the 5th of July,
1810.
BARRELS.
Barclay, Perkins and Co. 235,053
Meux, Read and Co. 211,009
Truman, Hanbury and Co. 144,990
Felix, Calvert and Co. 133,491
Whitbread and Co. 110,939
Henry Meux and Co. 93,660
Combe and Co. 85,150
Brown and Parry 84,475
Goodwin, Skinner and Co. 74,223
Elliott and Co. 57,251
Taylor 44,510
Clowes and Co. 41,594
Wines, of course, were drunk by the higher classes, but French wines
were comparatively dear, owing to the closing of the trade with France;
still there was a very fair quantity captured in the prizes taken at
sea, and there was a great deal more smuggled.
Frontignac in 1800 might be bought for 19s. 6d. per doz., and Muscatel
at 24s. In 1804, the following are the prices from a respectable wine
merchant’s list.
Superior Old Port 38s. per dozen.
Prime Old Sherry 42s. ”
” Madeira 63s. ”
Bucellas 40s. ”
Mountain, Lisbon, and Calcavella 38s. ”
Superior Claret 70s. ”
Cognac Brandy 20s. per gallon.
Old Jamaica Rum 15s. ”
Holland’s Geneva 10s. ”
In 1806, Vin de Grave was 66s. per dozen.
For the supply of vegetables, and fruit, large tracts of land were
utilized for the supply of London alone. It was reckoned that this
city swallowed the produce of 10,000 acres of vegetables, and about
4,000 acres of fruit trees. The market gardens have been gradually
disappearing, but they used to be situated principally at Camberwell,
Deptford, Fulham, Battersea, Mortlake, Barnes, and Chiswick. This
produce found its way to Covent Garden, where the market days were the
same as now—Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
During the latter part of the first decade of the century, provisions
were not so dear:
Beef averaged from 6d. to 9½d. per lb.
Mutton ” 6d. to 10d. ”
Pork ” 6d. to 1s. ”
Lamb at first coming in 10d. to 1s. 2d. ”
” Mid Season 6½d. to 8d. ”
Sugar was about 5d. to 5½d. ”
Salt ” 20s. per bushel.
Store Candles about 1s. 3d. per lb.
Whilst on the subject of food, I cannot help chronicling the first
notices I have ever met with, of two articles familiar to us—Sardines,
and Harvey’s Sauce. The first occurs in an advertisement in the
_Morning Post_, August 10, 1801: “SARDINIAS, a Fish cured in a peculiar
manner, are highly esteemed as a Sandwich, and deemed of superior
flavour to the Anchovy. Sold,” &c. The second is in the _Morning
Herald_, February 9, 1804: “HARVEY’S Sauce for Fish, &c. Black Dog,
Bedford. Mr. Harvey respectfully informs the Nobility and Gentry, he
has appointed Mrs. Elizabeth Lazenby to prepare and sell the above
sauce, at her Oil Warehouse, No. 6, Edward’s Street, Portman Square,
and that she, alone, is in possession of the original receipt—signed
Peter Harvey.”
If, however, the times were somewhat gross feeding, yet, early in the
century, they also knew the pinch, if not of absolute hunger, yet of
that which comes nigh akin to it—scarcity. As we have seen in the
History of the decade, bread stuffs were, through bad harvests, very
dear; and the strictest attention to economy in their use, even when
mixed with inferior substitutes, practised. The unreasoning public laid
the whole of the rise in price on the shoulders of the middle-men,
or factors; and they were branded with the then opprobrious, but now
obsolete, term of “Forestallers and Regraters.” Take one plaintive
wail, which appeared in the _Morning Post_ of March 7, 1800: “We are
told that one cause of the high price of Corn is, the consequence of
the practice of selling by sample, instead of the Corn being fairly
brought to market. The middle-man buys the Corn, but desires the
farmer to keep it for him, until he wants it; or, in other words,
until he finds the price suits his expectations.” This rage against
“forestalling” was, of course, very senseless; but it had the advantage
of being applied indiscriminately, and to every description of food.
Two women at Bristol were imprisoned for “forestalling” a cart load of
mackerel; whilst the trial of Waddington for “forestalling” _hops_
is almost a _cause célèbre_. Now, hops could hardly be construed into
food; and, after having carefully read his trial, I can but come to
the conclusion that he was a very hardly-used man, and was imprisoned
for nothing at all.[43] I merely mention his case as a proof of
the senseless irritation which the price of food caused upon the
unreasoning public.
Food had to be looked for anywhere. The Continent was no field for
speculation; a bad harvest had been universal; and, besides, we
were at war. Then, for the first time, was India drawn upon for our
food supply, and the East India Company—that greatest marvel of
all trade—offered every facility towards the export of rice. Their
instructions were as follow: “That every ship, which takes on board
three quarters of her registered tonnage in rice, shall have liberty
to fill up with such goods as have been usually imported by country
ships. That ships embarking in this adventure shall be allowed to carry
out exports from this country. That they shall be excused the payment
of the Company’s duty of 3 per cent., on the rice so imported. That,
after the ship shall have been approved by the Company’s surveyors, the
risk of the rice which she brings, shall be on account of Government,
which will save the owners the expense of insurance. That, in case
the price of rice shall, on the ships’ arrival, be under from 32s. to
29s. the hundredweight, the difference between what it may sell for,
and the above rates shall be made good to the owners, on the following
conditions—That the ship which departs from her port of lading, within
one month from the promulgation of these orders, shall be guaranteed
32s. the hundredweight; if in two months, 31s.; if in three months,
30s.; and if in four months, 29s. But, that dependence may be safely
placed on the rice being of superior quality, that is, equal, at
least, to the best cargo of rice, it shall be purchased by an agent
appointed by Government. Coppered ships to be preferred, and, although
Convoy[44] will, if possible, be obtained for them, they must not be
detained for Convoy.”
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