"Put off your cloathes, and you are like a Banbury cheese--nothing
but paring."
In the Birch and Sloane MSS., No. 1201, is a curious receipt for making
Banbury cheese, from a MS. cookery book of the sixteenth century. A rich
kind of cheese, about one inch in thickness, is still made in the
neighbourhood of Banbury.
We have already traced the destruction of the Cross at Banbury to the
leaven of fanaticism. The nursery rhyme,
"Ride a cock-horse
To Banbury-cross,"
is by some referred to this act; and to signify being over-proud and
imperious. Taylor, the Water-poet, has,--
"A knave that for his wealth doth worship get,
Is like the divell that's a-cock-horse set."
The Banburians have rebuilt the Cross to commemorate the marriage of the
Princess Royal with the Crown Prince of Prussia. They also exhibit,
periodically, a pageant, in which a fine lady on a white horse, preceded
by Robin Hood and Little John, Friar Tuck, a company of archers, bands
of music, flags and banners, passes through the principal street to the
Cross, where the lady (Maid Marian) scatters Banbury cakes among the
people. How far this pageant may be associated with local tradition,
time and the curious have hitherto failed to explain.[59]
Other towns, in addition to Banbury, have been celebrated for their
cakes, from remote times. The ancient borough of Congleton, upon the
Staffordshire border of Cheshire, have already been incidentally
mentioned. The streets have an air of antiquity, many of the houses
being constructed entirely of timber framework and plaster. The place
has long been famed for its silk-mills, and tagged leather laces, called
Congleton points. These, however, have been outlived by the sack and
cakes, which have, for ages, figured in the festivities of Congleton;
eclipsed for a while during the gloomy mayoralty of President Bradshaw,
but happily retained to our time.
The Congleton cakes are of triangular form, with a raisin inserted at
each corner. These have been used at the Grammar School breaking-up for
three-quarters of a century. They have been the orthodox cakes at the
quarterly account meetings of the Corporation for more than a century,
and are hence called "count cakes." It is conjectured that the three
raisins represent the mayor and two justices, who were the governing
body under the charter of James I. The trio of raisins have also been
deemed symbolical of the Trinity. Be this as it may, Congleton has been
noted from time immemorial for these cakes, as well as for its
gingerbread; and in the Corporation records we find such convivial items
as the following:--"1618. Bestowed upon the Earl of Essex, being money
paid for figs and sugar, 1_l_." "1614. Bestowed upon Sir John Byron, one
gallon of sack and one gallon of claret, 5_s_. 8_d_." "1619. A banquet
bestowed upon Sir John Savage, being a gallon of sack and a sugar-loaf,
5_s_." "1627. Bestowed upon my Lord Brereton, in wine and beer, 5_s_."
"1633. Bestowed on the Earl of Bridgewater, in wine, sack, and sugar,
8_s_." "1632. Paid Randle Rode, of the Swan, for wine, cake, and beer,
for a banquet which was bestowed upon the Lord Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, 1_l_. 4_s_. 2_d_." "Paid Mr. Drakeford for a pottle of wine,
bestowed on Sir B. Wilbraham, 2_s_." "1662. Paid for _sweetmeats_
bestowed upon Lord and Lady Brandon, 9_s_. 3_d_., because," as the book
says, "he was our great friend." This must have been in reference to the
influence exerted by that nobleman, in obtaining a re-grant of the
borough charter, which Charles II., on his accession, had thought fit to
call in, along with several others, that of London among the rest.
Among the recent celebrations, was the hospitable reception given by the
Corporation of Congleton to the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Francis Graham
Moon, Bart., in the year 1855, when the entertainment well represented
the ancient festivity. On the chairman's table lay the gold and silver
maces of the borough, and capacious china Corporation bowls full of
sack, and flanked by large old two-handled silver flagons, by which the
sack was gradually drawn off, and circulated amongst the company. On
every plate was placed a _count cake_, and the centres of the tables
were covered with delicate cakes and confectionery, among which was
pre-eminent the famous Congleton gingerbread, and a profusion of choice
fruit. The brewage of the sack was entrusted to Joseph Speratti, who
boasts that he alone possesses the true receipt.
The famous old city of Shrewsbury has also long been celebrated for its
brawn and cakes; the latter are made of much larger size than we are
accustomed to see them in the metropolis, and are packed in round boxes
made for the purpose.
Around London some of the villages boast of this celebrity. Islington
was once as famous for its cheesecakes as Chelsea for its buns; and
among its other notabilities were custards and stewed "pruans:" old
Wither, in 1628, told us that Islington
"For cakes and cream had then no small resort;"
and to this day the place is noted for its cakes and confectionery.
Lower Holloway was once noted for its cheesecakes, which, almost within
memory, were regularly cried through the streets of London by a man on
horseback.