At first rising, it is the duty of the Butler, where no valet is kept,
to manage and arrange his master’s clothes, and carry them to his
dressing-room, his boots and shoes being cleaned by the footman or
under butler.
It is his proper business to see that the breakfast is duly set, the
under butler or footman carrying up the tea urn, and the butler the
eatables; he, or the under butler waiting during breakfast.[19] On
taking away, he removes the tea-tray, and the under butler or footman
the urn, cloth, &c.
The breakfast things being taken away, and the plate, &c. cleaned and
put away under his directions, the Butler then gets his own breakfast
with the housekeeper, unless the servants all breakfast together at an
earlier hour.
If no valet is kept, he then attends in his master’s dressing-room,
sets it in order, carries down his clothes to be brushed by the under
butler or footman, and attends to every thing connected with his
master’s clothes, linen, &c. or sees that what is wanted is done by
others.
He now cleans himself to attend company or visitors at the door, which
he is to answer, receive cards, deliver messages, &c.
At luncheon time, the cloth being laid by the under butler or footman,
it is the duty of the Butler to carry in the tray, or arrange the
table, and when there is company, he waits in the room assisted by the
other servants.
If wine is wanted for the luncheon, it is his duty to fetch it from the
cellar; and if ale, to draw or bring it up when wanted.
The keys of the wine and ale cellars are specially kept by him, and
the management of the wine, the keeping the stock book, and also of
ale in stock, or in brewing, are in his particular charge. This duty
he generally performs in the morning before he is drest to receive
company, and he then brings out such wine as is wanted for the day’s
use. It is his duty to fine wine as it comes in the pipe, and to
superintend the bottling, sealing it himself, and disposing it in binns
so as to know its age and character. While these duties and those of
brewing are in hand, he leaves the parlour and waiting duties to the
under butler and footman.
Where no steward is kept, he pays all bills for wine, spirits, ale,
malt, coals, and in general, all bills not in the housekeeper’s or
kitchen department. Sometimes, also, he pays the other male servants.
At dinner time, the under butler or footman lays the cloth, and carries
up the articles wanted, under the direction of the Butler, who gives
out the necessary plate, kept by him under lock, and generally in an
iron chest.
He sets and displays the dinner on the table, carrying in the first
dish, waits at the side-board, hands wine round or when called for;
removes every course, and sets and arranges every fresh course on the
table according to his bill of fare, which is placed on the side-board
for reference; and does not leave the dinner room till the dessert and
wine have been placed on the table by him or under his direction.[20]
It is then his business to see that the plate, glasses, &c. are carried
to the pantry, cleaned, and wiped by the under butler and footman, and
the whole carefully put in their proper places.
Having taken his own dinner with the other servants out of livery,
generally at one o’clock, he gets his tea while the family in the
parlour are taking their wine and dessert, and in the mean time, the
under butler or footman prepares the tea things for the parlour.
If the bell rings during the dessert, the Butler answers, and does the
same for the remainder of the evening.
The under butler is now engaged in cleaning the plate and arranging the
pantry.
The tea tray is carried up by the Butler, assisted by the footman; and
in waiting at tea, the Butler hands round the cups on the tray, the
footman assisting with the eatables. The Butler removes the tea-tray,
and the footman the urn, &c. The footman carries in coals, but the
Butler manages the candles.
When tea is made below, it is done by the housekeeper, but carried up
and handed round by the Butler and footman.
If there is company, the refreshments, wine, ices, &c. are carried up
by the Butler, assisted and followed by the footman.
When there is supper, the under Butler or Butler arranges the same, and
it is managed like the dinner.
Slippers, dressing gown, night candles, &c. are carried up and disposed
by the Butler.
After his master has gone to bed, he goes to his dressing-room, takes
down such things as want cleaning or brushing, and gives them to the
footman. He then looks over the plate, locks it up, sees that all the
men servants are gone to bed, the doors locked, and windows fastened,
and then retires to rest himself.
This business is strictly domestic, but he goes out to order things in
his department, and he is sometimes employed abroad in any confidential
business, to which the under servants are considered unequal.
The wages of regular Butlers, in large families, are from 50 to 80l.
per annum; but in smaller families, from 30 to 50l. The perquisites,
if he perform the duty of valet, are his master’s cast off clothes;
and as Butler, he gets the pieces of wax candles, the second hand
cards, compliments on paying tradesman’s bills, or Christmas boxes and
wine for his own use. He finds his own clothes, washing, &c. and is
expected to be genteel and clean in his person.
In all things connected with the establishment, he is supposed, when
no steward is kept, to represent his master; and as various accounts
are under his direction, he ought to be able to write a fair hand, and
to be ready in the first rules of arithmetic. From this display of his
duties, it will appear that his office is no sinecure; and as the good
order and economy of an establishment depends much on the vigilance of
the Butler, when no steward is kept, so a Butler who knows his duties,
and performs them with zeal, integrity, and ability, cannot be too
highly prized by judicious heads of families.
_To manage foreign Wines._
The principal object to be attended to in the management of foreign
wine vaults, is to keep them of a temperate heat. Care must be taken,
therefore, to close up every aperture or opening, that there may be
no admission given to the external air. The floor of the vault should
likewise be well covered with saw-dust, which must not be suffered to
get too dry and dusty, but must receive now and then an addition of
new, lest, when bottling or racking wine, some of the old dust should
fly into it. At most vaults, in the winter, it is necessary to have a
stove or chafing-dish, to keep up a proper degree of warmth. In the
summer time it will be best to keep them as cool as possible.
_To Fit up a Cellar of Wines and Spirits._
Provide a good rope and tackling, to let down the casks into the
vault or cellar, and a slide, ladder, or pulley for the casks to
slide or roll on;
A pair of strong slings;
A pair of can hooks and a pair of crate hooks;
A block of wood to put under the pipes when topping them over in a
narrow passage, or in casing them;
A small valinch to taste wine;
A crane, and a small copper pump to rack off;
Two or three gallon cans, made of wood;
A large wooden funnel;
Two or three copper funnels from a quart to a gallon each;
Two racking cocks;
Two wine bottling cocks;
A brace and various bits;
Two small tubs;
A square basket to hold the corks;
Two small tin funnels;
A small strainer;
Two cork screws;
Two or three baskets;
A wisk to beat the finings;
Three flannel or linen bags;
A strong iron screw to raise the bungs;
A pair of pliers;
Bungs, corks, and vent pegs;
Two frets or middle sized gimblets;
Some sheet lead and tacks to put on broken staves;
Brown paper to put round cocks and under the lead, when stopping
leaks;
A staff with a chain at one end to rumage the wines, &c.
Shots and lead canister, or bristle brush, and two cloths to wash
bottles;
Two large tubs;
Some small racks that will hold six dozen each;
A cooper’s adze;
An iron and a wooden driver to tighten hoops;
Two dozen of wooden bungs of different sizes;
A thermometer, which is to be kept in the vault, a stove or
chafing-dish, to keep the heat of the vault to a known temperature;
A few dozen of delf labels;
A cup-board to hold all the tools;
A spade, two good stiff birch brooms, and a rake to level the
saw-dust.
_To restore pricked British Wines._
Rack the wines down to the lees into another cask, where the lees of
good wines are fresh; then put a pint of strong aqua vitæ, and scrape
half a pound of yellow bees-wax into it, which by heating the spirit
over a gentle fire, will melt; after which dip a piece of cloth into
it, and when a little dry, set it on fire with a brimstone match, put
it into the bung-hole, and stop it up close.
_Another Method._
First prepare a fresh empty cask, that has had the same kind of wine
in it which is about to be racked, then match it, and rack off the
wine, putting to every ten gallons two ounces of oyster-shell powder,
and half an ounce of bay salt, then get the staff and stir it well
about, letting it stand till it is fine, which will be in a few days;
after which rack it off into another cask, (previously matched) and
if the lees of some wine of the same kind can be got, it will improve
it much.—Put likewise a quart of brandy to every ten gallons, and if
the cask has been emptied a long time, it will match better on that
account; but if even a new cask, the matching must not be omitted. A
fresh empty cask is to be preferred.
This method will answer for all made wines.
_To rack Foreign Wine._
The vault or cellar should be of a temperate heat, and the casks
sweet and clean. Should they have an acid or musty smell, it may be
remedied by burning brimstone matches in them; and if not clean,
rinse them well out with cold water, and after draining rinse with a
quart of brandy, putting the brandy afterwards into the ullage cask.
Then strain the lees or bottoms through a flannel or linen bag. But
put the bottoms of port into the ullage cask without going through
the filtering bag. In racking wine that is not on the stillage, a
wine-pump is desirable.
_To manage and improve poor Red Port._
If wanting in body, colour, and flavour, draw out thirty or forty
gallons, and return the same quantity of young and rich wines. To a
can of which put three gills of colouring, with a bottle of wine or
brandy. Then wisk it well together, and put it into the cask stirring
it well. If not bright in about a week or ten days, fine it for use;
previous to which put in at different times a gallon of good brandy.
If the wine is short of body, put a gallon or two of brandy in each
pipe, by a quart or two at a time, as it feeds the wine better than
putting it in all at once. But if the wines are in a bonded cellar,
procure a funnel that will go to the bottom of the cask, that the
brandy may be completely incorporated with the wine.
_To manage Claret._
Claret is not a wine of a strong body, though it requires to be of
a good age before it is used, and, therefore, it should be well
managed; the best method is to feed it every two or three weeks with
a pint or two of French brandy. Taste it frequently, to know what
state it is in, and use the brandy accordingly, but never put much in
at a time, while a little incorporates with the wine, and feeds and
mellows it.
If the claret is faint, rack it into a fresh-emptied hogshead, upon
the lees of good claret; and bung it up, putting the bottom downwards
for two or three days, that the lees may run through it.
_To colour Claret._
If the colour be not yet perfect, rack it off again into a hogshead
that has been newly drawn off, with the lees; then take a pound of
turnsole, and put it into a gallon or two of wine; let it lie a day
or two, and then put it into the vessel; after which lay the bung
downwards for a night, and the next day roll it about.
Or, take any quantity of damsons or black sloes, and strew them with
some of the deepest coloured wine and as much sugar as will make it
into a syrup. A pint of this will colour a hogshead of claret. It is
also good for red port wines, and may be kept ready for use in glass
bottles.
_To restore Claret that drinks foul._
Rack it off from the dregs on some fresh lees of its own kind, and
then take a dozen of new pippins, pare them, and take away the
cores or hearts: then put them in the hogsheads, and if that is not
sufficient, take a handful of the oak of Jerusalem, and bruise it;
then put it into the wine, and stir it well.
_To make Claret and Port rough._
Put in a quart of claret or port two quarts of sloes; bake them in a
gentle oven, or over a fire, till a good part of their moisture is
stewed out, then pour off the liquor, and squeeze out the rest. A
pint of this will be sufficient for 30 or 40 gallons.