Generality of it, to the Publique, coming to my hands, I should, had I
forborn the Publication thereof, have trespassed in a very considerable
concern upon my Countrey-men, The like having not in every particular
appeared in Print in the English tongue. There needs no Rhetoricating
Floscules to set it off. The Authour, as is well known, having been a
Person of Eminency for his Learning, and of Exquisite Curiosity in his
Researches, Even that Incomparable Sir Kenelme Digbie Knight, Fellow of the
Royal Society and Chancellour to the Queen Mother, (Et omen in Nomine) His
name does sufficiently Auspicate the Work. I shall only therefore add, That
there is herein (as by the Table hereunto affix'd will evidently to thee
appear) a sufficiency of Solids as well as Liquids for the sating the
Curiosities of each or the nicest Palate; and according to that old Saw in
the Regiment of Health, Incipe cum Liquido, &c. The Liquids premitted to
the Solids. These being so Excellent in their kinde, so beneficial and so
well ordered, I think it unhandsome, if not injurious, by the trouble of
any further Discourse, to detain thee any longer from falling to; Fall to
therefore, and much good may it do thee,
FARE-WELL.
A RECEIPT TO MAKE METHEGLIN AS IT IS MADE AT LIEGE, COMMUNICATED BY MR.
MASILLON
Take one Measure of Honey, and three Measures of Water, and let it boil
till one measure be boiled away, so that there be left three measures in
all; as for Example, take to one Pot of Honey, three Pots of Water, and let
it boil so long, till it come to three Pots. During which time you must
Skim it very well as soon as any scum riseth; which you are to continue
till there rise no scum more. You may, if you please, put to it some spice,
to wit, Cloves and Ginger; the quantity of which is to be proportioned
according as you will have your Meath, strong or weak. But this you do
before it begin to boil. There are some that put either Yeast of Beer, or
Leaven of bread into it, to make it work. But this is not necessary at all;
and much less to set it into the Sun. Mr. Masillon doth neither the one nor
the other. Afterwards for to Tun it, you must let it grow Luke-warm, for to
advance it. And if you do intend to keep your Meathe a long time, you may
put into it some hopps on this fashion. Take to every Barrel of Meathe a
Pound of Hops without leaves, that is, of Ordinary Hops used for Beer, but
well cleansed, taking only the Flowers, without the Green-leaves and
stalks. Boil this pound of Hops in a Pot and half of fair water, till it
come to one Pot, and this quantity is sufficient for a Barrel of Meathe. A
Barrel at Liege holdeth ninety Pots, and a Pot is as much as a Wine quart
in England. (I have since been informed from Liege, that a Pot of that
Countrey holdeth 48 Ounces of Apothecary's measure; which I judge to be a
Pottle according to London measure, or two Wine-quarts.) When you Tun your
Meath, you must not fill your Barrel by half a foot, that so it may have
room to work. Then let it stand six weeks slightly stopped; which being
expired, if the Meath do not work, stop it up very close. Yet must you not
fill up the Barrel to the very brim. After six Months you draw off the
clear into another Barrel, or strong Bottles, leaving the dregs, and
filling up your new Barrel, or Bottels, and stopping it or them very close.
The Meath that is made this way, (_Viz._ In the Spring, in the Month of
April or May, which is the proper time for making of it,) will keep many a
year.
WHITE METHEGLIN OF MY LADY HUNGERFORD: WHICH IS EXCEEDINGLY PRAISED
Take your Honey, and mix it with fair water, until the Honey be quite
dissolved. If it will bear an Egge to be above the liquor, the breadth of a
groat, it is strong enough; if not, put more Honey to it, till it be so
strong; Then boil it, till it be clearly and well skimmed; Then put in one
good handful of Strawberry-leaves, and half a handful of Violet leaves; and
half as much Sorrel: a Douzen tops of Rosemary; four or five tops of
Baulme-leaves: a handful of Harts-tongue, and a handful of Liver-worth; a
little Thyme, and a little Red-sage; Let it boil about an hour; then put it
into a Woodden Vessel, where let it stand, till it be quite cold; Then put
it into the Barrel; Then take half an Ounce of Cloves, as much Nutmeg; four
or five Races of Ginger; bruise it, and put it into a fine bag, with a
stone to make it sink, that it may hang below the middle: Then stop it very
close.
The Herbs and Spices are in proportion for six Gallons.
Since my Lady Hungerford sent me this Receipt, she sent me word, that she
now useth (and liketh better) to make the Decoction of Herbs before you put
the Honey to it, This Proportion of Herbs is to make six Gallons of
Decoction, so that you may take eight or nine Gallons of water. When you
have drawn out into your water, all the vertue of the Herbs, throw them
away, and take the clear Decoction (leaving the settlings) and when it is
Lukewarm, Dissolve your proportion of Honey in it. After it is well
dissolved and laved with strong Arms or woodden Instruments, like
Battle-doors or Scoops, boil it gently; till you have taken away all the
scum; then make an end of well boyling it, about an hour in all. Then pour
it into a wooden vessel, and let it stand till it be cold. Then pour the
clear through a Sieve of hair, ceasing pouring when you come to the foul
thick settling. Tun the clear into your vessel (without Barm) and stop it
up close, with the Spices in it, till you perceive by the hissing that it
begins to work. Then give it some little vent, else the Barrel would break.
When it is at the end of the working, stop it up close. She useth to make
it at the end of Summer, when she takes up her Honey, and begins to drink
it in Lent. But it will be better if you defer piercing it till next
Winter. When part of the Barrel is drunk, she botteleth the rest, which
maketh it quicker and better. You clear the Decoction from the Herbs by a
Hair-sieve.
SOME NOTES ABOUT HONEY
The Honey of dry open Countries, where there is much Wild-thyme, Rosemary,
and Flowers, is best. It is of three sorts, Virgin-honey, Life-honey, and
Stock-honey. The first is the best. The Life-honey next. The Virgin-honey
is of Bees, that swarmed the Spring before, and are taken up in Autumn; and
is made best by chusing the Whitest combs of the Hive, and then letting the
Honey run out of them lying upon a Sieve without pressing it, or breaking
of the Combs. The Life-honey is of the same Combs broken after the
Virgin-honey is run from it; The Merchants of Honey do use to mingle all
the sorts together. The first of a swarm is called Virgin-honey. That of
the next year, after the Swarm was hatched, is Life-honey. And ever after,
it is Honey of Old-stocks. Honey that is forced out of the Combs, will
always taste of Wax. Hampshire Honey is most esteemed at London. About
Bisleter there is excellent good. Some account Norfolk honey the best.
MR. CORSELLISES ANTWERP MEATH
To make good Meath, good white and thick Marsilian or Provence-honey is
best; and of that, to four Holland Pints (the Holland Pint is very little
bigger then the English Wine-pint:) of Water, you must put two pound of
Honey; The Honey must be stirred in Water, till it be all melted; If it be
stirred about in warm water, it will melt so much the sooner.
When all is dissolved, it must be so strong that an Egge may swim in it
with the end upwards. And if it be too sweet or too strong, because there
is too much Honey; then you must put more water to it; yet so, that, as
above, an Hens Egge may swim with the point upwards: And then that newly
added water must be likewise well stirred about, so that it may be mingled
all alike. If the Eggs sink (which is a token that there is not honey
enough) then you must put more Honey to it, and stir about, till it be all
dissolved, and the Eggs swim, as abovesaid. This being done, it must be
hanged over the fire, and as it beginneth to seeth, the scum, that doth
arise upon it, both before and after, must be clean skimed off. When it is
first set upon the fire, you must measure it first with a stick, how deep
the Kettel is, or how much Liquor there be in it; and then it must boil so
long, till one third part of it be boiled away. When it is thus boiled, it
must be poured out into a Cooler, or open vessel, before it be tunned in
the Barrel; but the Bung-hole must be left open, that it may have vent. A
vessel, which hath served for Sack is best.
TO MAKE EXCELLENT MEATHE
To every quart of Honey, take four quarts of water. Put your water in a
clean Kettle over the fire, and with a stick take the just measure, how
high the water cometh, making a notch, where the superficies toucheth the
stick. As soon as the water is warm, put in your Honey, and let it boil,
skiming it always, till it be very clean; Then put to every Gallon of
water, one pound of the best Blew-raisins of the Sun, first clean picked
from the stalks, and clean washed. Let them remain in the boiling Liquor,
till they be throughly swollen and soft; Then take them out, and put them
into a Hair-bag, and strain all the juice and pulp and substance from them
in an Apothecaries Press; which put back into your liquor, and let it boil,
till it be consumed just to the notch you took at first, for the measure of
your water alone. Then let your Liquor run through a Hair-strainer into an
empty Woodden-fat, which must stand endwise, with the head of the upper-end
out; and there let it remain till the next day, that the liquor be quite
cold. Then Tun it up into a good Barrel, not filled quite full, but within
three or four fingers breadth; (where Sack hath been, is the best) and let
the bung remain open for six weeks with a double bolter-cloth lying upon
it, to keep out any foulness from falling in. Then stop it up close, and
drink not of it till after nine months.
This Meathe is singularly good for a Consumption, Stone, Gravel,
Weak-sight, and many more things. A Chief Burgomaster of Antwerpe, used
for many years to drink no other drink but this; at Meals and all times,
even for pledging of healths. And though He were an old man, he was of an
extraordinary vigor every way, and had every year a Child, had always a
great appetite, and good digestion; and yet was not fat.
A WEAKER, BUT VERY PLEASANT, MEATHE
To every quart of Honey take six of water; boil it till 1/3 be consumed,
skiming it well all the while. Then pour it into an open Fat, and let it
cool. When the heat is well slakened, break into a Bowl-full of this warm
Liquor, a New-laid-egge, beating the yolk and white well with it; then put
it into the Fat to all the rest of the Liquor, and stir it well together,
and it will become very clear. Then pour it into a fit very clean Barrel,
and put to it some Mother of Wine, that is in it's best fermentation or
working, and this will make the Liquor work also. This will be ready to
drink in three or four Months, or sooner.
AN EXCELLENT WHITE MEATHE
Take one Gallon of Honey, and four of water; Boil and scum them till there
rise no more scum; then put in your Spice a little bruised, which is most
of Cinnamon, a little Ginger, a little Mace, and a very little Cloves. Boil
it with the Spice in it, till it bear an Egge. Then take it from the fire,
and let it Cool in a Woodden vessel, till it be but lukewarm; which this
quantity will be in four or five or six hours. Then put into it a hot tost
of White-bread, spread over on both sides, pretty thick with fresh barm;
that will make it presently work. Let it work twelve hours, close covered
with Cloves. Then Tun it into a Runlet wherein Sack hath been, that is
somewhat too big for that quantity of Liquor; for example, that it fill it
not by a Gallon; You may then put a little Limon-pill in with it. After it
hath remained in the vessel a week or ten days, draw it into Bottles. You
may begin to drink it after two or three Months: But it will be better
after a year. It will be very spritely and quick and pleasant and pure
white.
A RECEIPT TO MAKE A TUN OF METHEGLIN
Take two handfuls of Dock (_alias_ wild Carrot) a reasonable burthen of
Saxifrage, Wild-sage, Blew-button, Scabious, Bettony, Agrimony,
Wild-marjoram, of each a reasonable burthen; Wild-thyme a Peck, Roots and
all. All these are to be gathered in the fields, between the two Lady days
in Harvest. The Garden-herbs are these; Bay-leaves, and Rosemary, of each
two handfuls; a Sieveful of Avens, and as much Violet-leaves: A handful of
Sage; three handfuls of Sweet-Marjoram, Three Roots of young Borrage,
leaves and all, that hath not born seed; Two handfuls of Parsley-roots, and
all that hath not born Seed. Two Roots of Elecampane that have not seeded:
Two handfuls of Fennel that hath not seeded: A peck of Thyme; wash and pick
all your herbs from filth and grass: Then put your field herbs first into
the bottom of a clean Furnace, and lay all your Garden-herbs thereon; then
fill your Furnace with clean water, letting your herbs seeth, till they be
so tender, that you may easily slip off the skin of your Field-herbs, and
that you may break the roots of your Garden-herbs between your Fingers.
Then lade forth your Liquor, and set it a cooling. Then fill your Furnace
again with clear water to these Herbs, and let them boil a quarter of an
hour. Then put it to your first Liquor, filling the Furnace, until you have
sufficient to fill your Tun. Then as your Liquor begins to cool, and is
almost cold, set your servants to temper Honey and wax in it, Combs and
all, and let them temper it well together, breaking the Combes very small;
let their hands and nails be very clean; and when you have tempered it very
well together, cleanse it through a cleansing sieve into another clean
vessel; The more Honey you have in your Liquor, the stronger it will be.
Therefore to know, when it is strong enough, take two New-laid eggs, when
you begin to cleanse, and put them in whole into the bottome of your
cleansed Liquor; And if it be strong enough, it will cause the Egge to
ascend upward, and to be on the top as broad as sixpence; if they do not
swim on the top; put more.
THE COUNTESS OF BULLINGBROOK'S WHITE METHEGLIN
Take eight Gallons of Conduit-water, and boil it very well; then put as
much Honey in it, as will bear an Egge, and stir it well together. Then set
it upon the fire, and put in the whites of four Eggs to clarifie it; And as
the scum riseth, take it off clean: Then put in a pretty quantity of
Rosemary, and let it boil, till it tasteth a little of it: Then with a
scummer take out the Rosemary, as fast as you can, and let it boil half a
quarter of an hour; put it into earthen pans to cool; next morning put it
into a barrel, and put into it a little barm, and an Ounce of Ginger
scraped and sliced; And let it stand a Month or six Weeks. Then bottle it
up close; you must be sure not to let it stand at all in Brass.
MR. WEBBES MEATH
Master Webbe, who maketh the Kings Meathe, ordereth it thus. Take as much
of Hyde-park water as will make a Hogshead of Meathe: Boil in it about two
Ounces of the best Hopp's for about half an hour. By that time, the water
will have drawn out the strength of the Hopp's. Then skim them clean off,
and all the froth, or whatever riseth of the water. Then dissolve in it
warm, about one part of Honey to six of water: Lave and beat it, till all
the Honey be perfectly dissolved; Then boil it, beginning gently, till all
the scum be risen, and scummed away. It must boil in all about two hours.
Half an hour, before you end your boiling, put into it some Rosemary-tops,
Thyme, Sweet-marjorame, one Sprig of Minth, in all about half a handful,
and as much Sweet-bryar-leaves as all these; in all, about a handful of
herbs, and two Ounces of sliced Ginger, and one Ounce of bruised Cinamon.
He did use to put in a few Cloves and Mace; But the King did not care for
them. Let all these boil about half an hour, then scum them clean away; and
presently let the Liquor run through a strainer-cloth into a Kiver of wood,
to cool and settle. When you see it is very clear and settled, lade out the
Liquor into another Kiver, carefully, not to raise the settlings from the
bottom. As soon as you see any dregs begin to rise, stay your hand, and let
it remain unstirred, till all be settled down. Then lade out the Liquor
again, as before; and if need be, change it again into another Kiver: all
which is done to the end no dregs may go along with the Liquor in tunning
it into the vessel. When it is cold and perfect clear, tun it into a Cask,
that hath been used for Sack, and stop it up close, having an eye to give
it a little vent, if it should work. If it cast out any foul Liquor in
working, fill it up always presently with some of the same liquor, that you
have kept in bottles for that end. When it hath wrought, and is well
settled (which may be in about two months or ten weeks) draw it into
Glass-bottles, as long as it comes clear; and it will be ready to drink in
a Month or two: but will keep much longer, if you have occasion: and no
dregs will be in the bottom of the bottle.
He since told me, that to this Proportion of Honey and water, to make a
Hogshead of Meathe, you should boil half a pound of Hopps in the water,
and two good handfuls of Herbs; and six Ounces of Spice of all sorts: All
which will be mellowed and rotted away quite, (as well as the lushiousness
of the Honey) in the space of a year or two. For this is to be kept so long
before it be drunk.
If you would have it sooner ready to drink, you may work it with a little
yeast, when it is almost cold in the Kiver: and Tun it up as soon as it
begins to work, doing afterwards as is said before; but leaving a little
vent to purge by, till it have done working. Or in stead of yeast, you may
take the yolks of four New-laid-eggs, and almost half a pint of fine
Wheat-flower, and some of the Liquor you have made: beat them well
together, then put them to the Liquor in the Cask, and stop it up close,
till you see it needful, to give it a little vent.
Note, that yeast of good Beer, is better then that of Ale.
* * * * *
The first of Septemb. 1663. Mr. Webb came to my House to make some for Me.
He took fourty three Gallons of water, and fourty two pounds of Norfolk
honey. As soon as the water boiled, He put into it a slight handful of
Hops; which after it had boiled a little above a quarter of an hour, he
skimed off; then put in the honey to the boyling water, and presently a
white scum rose, which he skimed off still as it rose; which skiming was
ended in little above a quarter of an hour more. Then he put in his herbs
and spices, which were these: Rose-mary, Thyme, Winter-savory,
Sweet-marjoram, Sweet-bryar-leaves, seven or eight little Parsley-roots:
There was most of the Savoury, and least of the Eglantine, three Ounces of
Ginger, one Ounce and a half of Cinnamon, five Nutmegs (half an Ounce of
Cloves he would have added, but did not,) And these boiled an hour and a
quarter longer; in all from the first beginning to boil, somewhat less then
two hours: Then he presently laded it out of the Copper into Coolers,
letting it run through a Hair-sieve: And set the Coolers shelving (tilted
up) that the Liquor might afterwards run the more quietly out of them.
After the Liquor had stood so about two hours, he poured or laded out of
some of the Coolers very gently, that the dregs might not rise, into other
Coolers. And about a pint of very thick dregs remained last in the bottom
of every Cooler. That which ran out, was very clear: After two hours more
settling, (in a shelving situation,) He poured it out again into other
Coolers; and then very little dregs (or scarce any in some of the Coolers)
did remain. When the Liquor was even almost cold, He took the yolks of
three New-laid-eggs, a spoonful of fine white flower, and about half a pint
of new fresh barm of good strong Beer (you must have care that your barm be
very white and clean, not sullied and foul, as is usual among slovenly
Brewers in London). Beat this very well together, with a little of the
Liquor in a skiming dish, till you see it well incorporated, and that it
beginneth to work. Then put it to a pailful (of about two Gallons and a
half) of the Liquor, and mingle it well therewith. Then leave the skiming
dish reversed floating in the middle of the Liquor, and so the yest will
work up into and under the hollow of the dish, and grow out round about the
sides without. He left this well and thick covered all night, from about
eleven a clock at night; And the next morning, finding it had wrought very
well, He mingled what was in the Pail with the whole proportion of the
Liquor, and so Tunned it up into a Sack-cask. I am not satisfied, whether
he did not put a spoonful of fine white good Mustard into his Barm, before
he brought it hither, (for he took a pretext to look out some pure clean
white barm) but he protested, there was nothing mingled with the barm, yet
I am in doubt. He confessed to me that in making of Sider, He put's in half
as much Mustard as Barm; but never in Meathe. The fourth of September in
the morning, he Bottled up into Quart-bottles the two lesser Rundlets of
this Meathe (for he did Tun the whole quantity into one large Rundlet, and
two little ones) whereof the one contained thirty Bottles; and the other,
twenty two. There remained but little settling or dregs in the Bottom's of
the Barrels, but some there was. The Bottles were set into a cool Cellar,
and He said they would be ready to drink in three weeks. The Proportion of
Herbs and Spices is this; That there be so much as to drown the luscious
sweetness of the Honey; but not so much as to taste of herbs or spice, when
you drink the Meathe. But that the sweetnes of the honey may kill their
taste: And so the Meathe have a pleasant taste, but not of herbs, nor
spice, nor honey. And therefore you put more or less according to the time
you will drink it in. For a great deal will be mellowed away in a year,
that would be ungratefully strong in three months. And the honey that will
make it keep a year or two, will require a triple proportion of spice and
herbs. He commends Parsley roots to be in greatest quantity, boiled whole,
if young; but quarterred and pithed, if great and old.
MY OWN CONSIDERATIONS FOR MAKING OF MEATHE