Gather your Quinces when they are dry, and wipe them very clean with a
coarse Cloth, then grate them with a coarse Grater or a Rasp, as near the
Core as you can; but grate in none of the Core, nor the hard part about it:
then strain your grated Quinces into an earthen Pot, and to each Gallon of
Liquor put two Pounds of fine Loaf-Sugar, and stir it till your Sugar is
dissolved; then cover it close, and let it stand twenty four hours, by
which time it will be fit enough to bottle, taking care in the bottling of
it that none of the Settlement go into the Bottles. This will keep good
about a Year; observe that your Quinces must be very ripe when you gather
them for this use.
Rabbits still continue in Season this Month, and besides the common way of
dressing them, they may be larded, and drest in the following manner; which
I had from a Gentleman in _Suffolk._ Make a Farce for them, like that
mentioned for the Belly of a Hare in the preceding Month, and order its
Management and Sauce as for a Hare. A young Rabbit, or Hare, is known by
the tenderness of the Jaw-Bones, which will easily break by pressing with
the Finger and Thumb.
Woodcocks are now in Season, and it is to be advertised of them, that they
are to be only pull'd of their Feathers, and not drawn like other Fowls,
but the Guts left in them; when they are roasted, they must be serv'd upon
Toasts of Bread, upon which the Guts are spread and eaten, when they are
brought to Table. The inward of this Bird eats like Marrow; this is
generally eaten with Juice of Orange, a little Salt and Pepper, without
other Sauce. The Legs of this Bird are esteem'd the most, and are therefore
presented to the greatest Strangers at Table; but the Wings and Breast of a
Partridge are the principal parts of that Fowl, for the Legs are full of
Strings, like the Legs of Turkeys and Pheasants.
The Snipe is of the same nature with the Woodcock, and is ordered in every
respect like it. These may be larded with Bacon upon the Breast, or else
strew'd with Salt and Crumbs of Bread, while they are roasting. Besides the
Sauce used for Woodcocks and Snipes, the aforesaid _Suffolk_ Gentleman has
the following which is Gravey with a little minced Anchovy, a Rocambole,
some Lemon-Juice, and a little White-wine boiled together; and when it is
strain'd, pour it in a Saucer, and serve it with the Fowls.
These Birds are in plenty among the woody parts of _England,_ from
_September_ till the end of _March,_ and then they all leave us at one
time, except only such as have been lamed by the Sportsmen, and disabled
for Flight; and then they will breed in _England,_ as there are Instances
enough. About _Tunbridge,_ it is frequent to find them in Summer; and I
have known the same in _Leicestershire._ I think if one could take
Woodcocks here in Hay-Nets, as they do in _France,_ and pinion them or
disable a Wing, and then turn them loose again, we might raise a Breed of
them that would stay with us; but I have experienced that they will not
feed if they are confined in Cages or Aviaries, for they must have liberty
to run in search of their Food, which they find for the most part in moist
places, near Springs; for I have often taken both the Woodcock and the
Snipe with such Snares as are made for Larks, by laying them in the Night
on the Bank of Rivulets, or watery Trenches near Woods.
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