OLD COOKERY AND SURGERY BOOKS.
In the library at the hall is to be seen a curious double book of manuscript receipts. The books, each containing sixty or seventy pages, are bound in calf in such a way as to form one book—each opening at different sides. They originally had four clasps, but these have now disappeared.
The following inscription appears in the cookery side :— “The Gift of my Dear Father when he went his jorney to “ London—1688. A. Staunton.” The pages are of coarse paper, unruled. The various receipts added from time to time are in different handwritings—some almost unreadable. The spelling is quaint, so are some of the receipts—more especially the surgery notes.
Index to Surgery Book.
* 1. Snaile water.
2. Red surfeit water. v
3. Drink for ye Kings Evil.
4. Plaster for ye Kings Evil.
5. My Lady Charlton’s cordial.
6. A receipt for ye tooth ach.
*7. For ye Epilopsy.
8. For Dropsey.
9. Syrup of long life.
10. A water for ye teeth.
11. Lime water.
12. Syrup of Gilly flowers.
13. For consumpsion.
14. Cherry water.
15. For a child’s sore mouth.
16. Conserve of boyled roses.
17. For a cold.
18. Syrup of woodsorrell.
*19. The Powder of a Raven for Convultions.
*20. Against convultions.
21. For ye jaunders.
22. Hair powders.
23. For an ague.
24. For Bleeding of ye nose.
25. For a cold.
26. For to cure goute or any old aches, pains or sprains and to strengthen any weak parts.
27. Plague water.
28. Admirable water for sore eyes.
29. For a scalded Head.
30. Tarr pills for a cough.
*31. For the Teeth.
Etc.
Cookery Index.
35. To make pease porridge upon fasting days.
36. For fast days.
37. To make marrow pasties.
38. To make a good pottage.
39. To make Hartshorn jelly.
40. Almond cheescake’s.
41. To make a Lamb pye.
42. To make capon sauce.
43. To Dress Hot Salmon.
44. To pickle mutton.
45. To sowse a Pigg.
46. To masrinate any sort of fish.
47. To marrinate sole’s.
48. To make pease pudding.
49. The true French pottage.
50. Pickle mushrnmes.
51. Orringe wine.
*52. To make cocke ale.
53. To make mead.
54. To make Burch wine.
55. To make a sack possitt.
56. To make partridge sauce.
57. To pickle pigeons.
58. To make all kinds of Syrops.
59. To dry pipings or pears without sugar.
60. To make a fine pudding.
61. To Roast a pike.
62. To make a carrot pudding.
63. To make gooseberry vinegar.
64. To make balm wine.
65. To make sacke possitt without cream.
66. To make a sollid soop.
67. Minced pyes without meat.
*68. A Bride pye.
*69. To make a spinnage tart.
The following are a few unique surgery notes : —
Snaile Water.
Take a pecke of garden gray snailes, heat an oven as hot as for small Manchet—scrape it clean, then put in ye snailes, keeping them stirring till they have done hissing, then lay them thin to code. When they are cold, pound them in a Mortar, then take a quart of earth worms, scour them with salt, then slice and wash them with beer, then dry them—take of heartshorn 6 oz. cloves 3 oz. a quart of rosemary flowers —of Marygold flowers & cowslipe flowers of each 2 handfulls. .... Celendine, angelica, of Barbary barke the yellow rinde, Bettony, woodsorreli, Egremony of each 2 handfulls, saffron the weight of twelvepence, when it is dryed put all these into 6 gallons of new ale, working them together and so destilling them down in a Lymbeche. It will be betor if there be aded 2 orringes.
No. 7. For Ye Epilopsy.
Take the liver of a black puppy—pound in a mortar, put in a glass Of canary & sweeten it with Syrup of Violets—Give it as neere as can be imagined before the Invasion of the Fit.
No. 19. The Powder of a Raven for Convultions.
Take a young raven & ye feathers being pulled off & drawn & washed, dry it in an oven till it will beat to powder, & give as much of this as will lye on a groate, in every thing ye child eats or drinks,
No. 31. For the Tooth.
Take a pint of spring water, put to it six spoonfulls of the best Brandy, wash the mouth ojten with it, & in the morning roll a bit of allum in the mouth.
The following are some of the more interesting cookery receipts:—
No. 52. To make Cocke Ale
Take an old cocke and parboyle him, flay him & take out his entrailes. Then beat him small in a morter, bones & all— then take 4 pounds of malligoa raissins & stone them—and half a pound of dates and 3 nutmegs, a few cloves, & a little orringe & Lemon. Beat all these in a mortar together, & mingle them all with ye cocke, & steep them one night in a bottle of mallago sacke. Fill it up with 8 gallons of strong ale—& at ye fortnight’s end you may bottle it.
No. 68. A Bride pye.
Take young chickens as bigg as Blacke Birds, young partridges & larks and blackbirds, & squal pigeons. Truss them, put them in the pye, then have ox-Palates boyled, blanched & cut in pieces, Lamb stones cut in pieces & sweet breads cut in halves or quarters. Cox combs cut in halves or quarters—a quart of oysters dipped in eggs, & dregged over with grated bread marrow. Having so done, sheep tongues boiled, peeled & cut in slices,—season all with Pepper, salt, cloves, mace and nutmegg’s. Beaten and mixed together, put butter at the Bottom of the pye & place the salt in with the Yolkes of hard eggs: Cockstones & forced meat balls, cover all with Butter & cover up the pye. Put in 4 or 6 spoonfulls of water & when it is drawn out, pour it out & put in Gravey.
No. 69. To make a Spinnach Tart.
Take a good quantity of green spinnage & boyle it in water & salt & drain it well, then put to it plumbed currans, nutmeg, salt, sugar & butter with a little cream, & ye yolks of hard eggs beaten fine, then having ye paste ready laid in ye Baking pan, lay in a little Butter again, so close it bake it, & serve it to ye table hot with sugar strewed over it.