Historical Document · 1835

Oxford Night Caps, Being a Collection of Reciepts for Making Various Beverages Used in the University - 3rd ed

Author: Oxford
Year: 1835
Type: Historical Document

brewing

OXFORD Night Caps. ‘BEING A COLLECTION OF RECEIPTS FOR MAKING VARIOUS BEVERAGES USED IN THE UNIVERSITY. Quid non ebrietas designat? Operta recladit, Spes jubet esse ratas, in praelia tradit inertem, Sollicitis animis onus eximit, addocet artes. Fecnndi calices quem non fecere disertam ! Contracta quem non in paupertate solutam! for. lib. i. ep. 5. What cannot wine perform? It brings to light - The secret soul ; it bids the coward fight ; Gives being to our hopes, and from our hearts Drives the dall sorrow, and inspires new arts, Whom hath not an inspiring bumper tanght A flow of words and loftiness of thonght? Even in th’ oppressive grasp of poverty It can enlarge, and bid the wretch be free. | Francis. THIRD EDITION. OXFORD, FOR HENRY SLAITER; AND LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, LONDON. : 1835. Entered at Stationers’ Wall. BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD. CONTENTS. Page Bishop, or Spiced Wine see we ew 1 Lawn Sleeves . . . 1. 1. 2 © 2» © ee se 4 Cardinal . 2. 2. 1 1 1 ee ee ew ee eS Pope . - 6 1 ee ee ee ew we we 6S Cider Bishop «©... 2 ee ee we ee 5 Negus . . a 5 White Wine Negus er er rs 6 Port Wine Negus . . . oe 7 Oxford Punch, or Classical Sherbet oe 8 Spiced Punch «2. - + 1 se ee ee 12 Gin Punch . . 2. 1 1 ee we 2 es ew ee 6d Red Punch . . 1. «1. se - se sess ' Punch Royal . . - 2 2 ee ee we oe Milk Punch . . 1 1 ee ee eo we ew we (dA Oxford Milk Punch . ......... '4 Norfolk Milk Punch . . «© 1. 2 e «© « ~ 15 Restorative Punch, vulgo Storative oe ee « 16 Lemon Punchtokeep . . . . . + © - « « 17 Almond Punch . 2. 2 1 1 1. 1 + ee ee (17 Egg Punch eee ShrubPunch . . . 1... Lemonade... 2. 1. Orangeade . . Sir Fleetwood Fletcher’s Sack Posset White Wine Whey, or Milk Posset Pepper Posset . . soe Cider Posset Perry Posset . one Rum Booze, or Egg Posset see Beer Flip . Rumfustian . . se ee The Oxford Grace Cup . Cider Cup, or Cold Tankard . . PerryCup .. . BeerrCup . . . 2. 6. 7 ee RedCup .......4.. The Wassail Bowl, orSwig . . . Brown Betty se ee ew Lambs Wool ee er Brasenose Ale Metheglin se ee Vinous Mtheeglin . . .... Mead and Braggon, or Bragget . 19 19 20 20 22 22 23 23 24 25 26 26 29 31 32 34 35 37 39 41 41 OXFORD NIGHT CAPS, Se. — BISHOP, OR SPICED WINE. Three cups of this a prudent man may take ; The first of these for constitution’s sake, The second to the girl he loves the best, The third and last to lull him to his rest. Ancient Fragment. BISHOP seems to be one of the oldest winter beverages known, and to this day is preferred to every other, not only by the youthful votary of Bacchus at his evening’s revelry, but also by the grave Don by way of a night cap; and probably derives its name from the circumstance of ancient dig- nitaries of the Church, when they honoured B 2 the University with a visit, being regaled with spiced wine. It appears from a work published some years since, and entitled, Oxoniana, or Anecdotes of the University of Oxford, that in the Rolls or Accounts of some Colleges of ancient foundation, a sum of money is frequently met with charged ‘* pro speciebus,” that is, for spices used in their entertainments; for in those days as well as the present, spiced wine was a very fashionable beverage. ‘In the Compu- tus of Maxtoke Priory, anno 1447, is the following curious entry; ‘Item pro vino cretico cum speciebus et confectis datis diversis generosis in die Sancti Dionysii quando Le fole domini Montfordes erat hic, et faceret jocositates suas in camera Orioli.” “« Vinum creticum” is supposed to be raisin wine, or wine made of dried grapes; and the meaning of the whole seems to be this: Paid for raisin wine with comfits and spices, when Sir S. Montford’s fool was here, and exhi- bited his merriments in the Oriel chamber. 3 Recipe. Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in the incisions, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and all-spice, and a race of ginger, into a saucepan, with half a pint of water; let it boil until it is reduced one half. Boil one bottle of port wine; burn a portion of the spirit out of it, by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan. Put the roasted lemons and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten mi- nutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon, (not roasted,) pour the wine into it, grate some nutmeg into it, sweeten it to your taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it. Oranges, although not used in Bishop at Oxford, are, as will appear by the following B2 4 lines, written by Swift, sometimes intro- duced into that beverage. Fine oranges Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a cup, They'll make a sweet Bishop when gentlefolks sup. LAWN SLEEVES, CARDINAL, AND POPE, Owe their origin to some Brasen-nose Bac- chanalians, and differ only from Bishop as the species from the genus. LAWN SLEEVES. Substitute madeira or sherry for port wine, and add three glasses of hot calves- feet jelly. CARDINAL. Substitute claret for port wine; in other respects the same as Bishop. 5 POPE. Precisely the same as Bishop, with the exception of champagne being used instead of port wine. CIDER BISHOP. Omit the wine, and add one bottle of good cider, a quarter of a pint of brandy, and two glasses of calves-feet jelly in a liquid state. NEGUS. Negus is a modern beverage, and, ac- cording to Malone, derives its name from its inventor, Colonel Negus. Dr. Willich, in his “ Lectures on Diet and Regimen,” says, that Negus is one of the most innocent and wholesome species of drink; especially if Seville oranges be added to red port wine, 6 instead of lemons; and drunk moderately, it possesses considerable virtues in strength- ening the stomach; but, on account of the volatile and heating oil in the orange peel, Negus, if taken in great quantities, is more stimulant and drying than pure wine. WHITE WINE NEGUS. Extract the juice from the peeling of one lemon, by rubbing loaf sugar on it; or cut the peeling of a lemon extremely thin, and pound it in a mortar. Cut two lemons into thin slices; four glasses of calves-feet jelly in a liquid state; small quantities of cinna- mon, mace, cloves, and all-spice. Put the whole into a jug, pour one quart of boiling water upon it, cover the jug close, let it stand a quarter of an hour, and then add one bottle of boiling hot white wine. Grate half a nutmeg into it, stir it well together, sweeten it to your taste, and it is fit for use. 7 Seville oranges are not generally used at Oxford in making Negus; when they are, one orange is allowed to each bottle of wine, COLD WHITE WINE NEGUS. To make cold white wine Negus, let the mixture stand until it is quite cold, and then pour a bottle of white wine into it. It is sometimes in the summer season placed in a tub of ice; when that is done it will be necessary to make the Negus somewhat sweeter, as extreme cold detracts from the sweetness of liquors. PORT WINE NEGUS. In making port wine Negus, merely omit the jelly; for when port wine comes in con- tact with calves-feet jelly, it immediately assumes a disagreeable muddy appearance. Negus is not confined to any particular sorts of wine; if the jelly is omitted, it can 8 be made with any, or several sorts mixed together. —>— OXFORD PUNCH, OR CLASSICAL SHERBET. - When e’en a bow! of punch we make, _ Four striking opposites we take ; The strong, the small, the sharp, the sweet, Together mix’d, most kindly meet ; And when they happily unite, The bowl is pregnant with delight. The liquor called Punch has become so truly English, it is often supposed to be in- digenous to this country, though its name at least is oriental. The Persian punj, or San- scrit pancha, i. e. five, is the etymon of its title, and denotes the number of ingredients of which it is composed. Addison’s fox- hunter, who testified so much surprise when he found, that of the materials of which this “truly English” beverage was [made, only the water belonged to England, would have 9 been more astonished had this informant also told him, that it derived even its name from the East. Various opinions are entertained respect- ing this compound drink. Some authors praise it as a covuling and refreshing beverage, when drank in moderation; others condemn the use of it, as prejudicial to the brain and nervous system. Dr. Cheyne, a celebrated Scotch physician, author of ‘* An Essay on Long Life and Health,” and who by asystem of diet and regimen reduced himself from the enormous weight of thirty-two stone to nearly one third, which enabled him to live to the age of seventy-two, insists, that there is but one wholesome ingredient in it, and that is the water. Dr. Willich, on the con- trary, asserts, that if a proper quantity of acid be used in making Punch, it is an ex- cellent antiseptic, and well calculated to supply the place of wine in resisting putre- faction, especially if drank cold with plenty of sugar; it also promotes perspiration ; but 10 if drank hot and immoderately, it creates acidity in the stomach, weakens the nerves, and gives rise to complaints of the breast. He further states, that after a heavy meal it is improper, as it may check digestion, and injure the stomach?*. Recipe. Extract the juice from the rind of three jemons, by rubbing loaf sugar on _ it. The peeling of two Seville oranges and two lemons, cut extremely thin. The juice of four Seville oranges and ten lemons. Six glasses of calves-feet jelly in a liquid state. The above to be put into a jug, and stirred well together. Pour two quarts of boiling water on the mixture, cover the jug closely, and place it near the fire for a quarter of an hour. Then strain the liquid through a sieve a Fielding mentions a Clergyman who preferred _ Punch to Wine for this orthodox reason, that the former was a liquor no where spoken against in Scripture. 11 into a punch bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, and add half a pint of white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle of orange shrub; the mixture to be stirred as the spi- rits are poured in. If not sufficiently sweet, add loaf sugar gradually in small quantities, or a spoonful or two of capillaire. To be served up either hot or cold’. The Oxford Punch, when made with half the quantity of spirituous liquors, and placed in an ice tub for a short time, is a pleasant summer beverage. To making this Punch, limes are some- times used instead of lemons, but they are by no means so wholesome‘. b Ignorant servants and waiters sometimes put cxalic acid into Punch to give it a flavour ; such a practice can not be too severely censured. © Arbuthnot, in his work on aliments, says, ‘‘ the West India dry gripes are occasioned by lime juice in Punch.” 12 SPICED PUNCH. Boil a small quantity of each sort of spice in half a pint of water, until it is re- duced one half; add it to the ingredients which compose the Oxford Punch, and grate a whole nutmeg into it. Spiced Punch, if bottled off as soon as it is cold, with the spice in it, will keep good several days. TEA PUNCH. Green tea is the basis of this Punch; and although Tea Punch is seldom made in Oxford, it nevertheless has been much esteemed by those who have partaken of it. It is invariably drank hot. Itis made pre- cisely in the same way as the Oxford Punch, excepting that the jelly is omitted, and green tea supplies the place of water. 13 GIN PUNCH. The same as Oxford Punch, only omit the rum, brandy, and shrub, and substitute two bottles of gin. RED PUNCH. Substitute port wine for white, and red currant jelly for calves-feet jelly; in other respects the same as Oxford Punch. If drank in the summer, let it stand until it is cold, and then put it into a bucket of ice. Care must be taken that the ice water does not get into the jug which contains this Punch. PUNCH ROYAL. Extract the juice from the peeling of a lemon, by rubbing loaf sugar on it. Pour one pint of boiling water on it. Add the juice of six lemons, one pint of rum, and a pint of port wine. Sweeten it to your taste, and it is fit for use. . 14 MILK PUNCH. Warm two quarts of water and one of new milk, then mix them well together, and sweeten it with a sufficient quan- tity of loaf sugar. Rub a few knobs of loaf sugar on the peeling of a lemon; put them into a jug with the above, and pour into it gradually half a pint of lemon juice, stirring the mixture as it is poured in. Then add one quart of white brandy. Strain it through a flannel bag or a fine hair sieve. Bottle it off, and if placed in a cool cellar it will keep. ten days or a fortnight. Jellies are sometimes used in making this Punch, but | they are not necessary, as the milk will suf- ficiently temper the acrimony of the lemon juice. OXFORD MILK PUNCH. Dissolve two pounds and a half of double refined sugar in one gallon of cold spring water; .add to it a quarter of a’ pint of orange flower water, the juice of twenty 15 limes and eight pot oranges. Stir it well together; pour one quart of boiling milk into it, and then add three quarts of white brandy and three quarts of orange brandy shrub; strain it through a flannel bag or fine hair sieve. Take out what is wanted for present use, and bottle off the remainder. NORFOLK MILK PUNCH. Cut the peeling of six Seville oranges and six lemons extremely thin. Pound it in a stone mortar. Add thereto a pint of brandy, and let it remain about six hours; then squeeze the juice of six Seville oranges and eight lemons into it. Stir it welt, and pour into it three more pints of brandy, three pints of rum, and three quarts of water. Make two quarts of skimmed milk boiling hot ; grate a nutmeg into it; mix it gradu- ally with the other ingredients; add a suffi- cient quantity of fine loaf sugar to sweeten it, (about two pounds.) Stir it till the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture stand twelve 16 hours, then strain it through a flannel bag till it is quite clear. It is then fit for use. It has been said, that if this Punch is bot- tled off and well corked, it will keep in any climate, and for any length of time. The bottles it is put into must be per- fectly dry. RESTORATIVE PUNCH vulgo, STORATIVE. Extract the juice from the peeling of one Seville orange and one lemon; the juice of six Seville oranges and six lemons, six glasses of calves-feet jelly in a liquid state, a sufficient quantity of loaf sugar, (about half a pound;) put the whole into a jug, pour on it one quart of boiling water; add four glasses of brandy, stir it well together, and it is fit for use‘. © Many of the first statesmen of the present day (should they see this) will recognize it as the liquor in- variably drank by them at College before they attended their debating parties, 17 LEMON PUNCH TO KEEP. Cut the rind off six lemons if large, eight if small, squeeze out the juice, put the rind and the juice together, and add one quart of white brandy. Letit remain closely covered for three or four days. Let the juice of six or eight additional lemons be squeezed into two quarts of water, put into it a sufficient quantity of double refined sugar to sweeten the whole. Boil it well, and when quite cold, pour into it a bottle of sherry or madeira. Then mix it well with the lemon and brandy, and, if sufficiently sweet, strain it through a flannel bag into a small cask. At the expiration of three months bottle it off, and, if the bottles are well corked and kept in a cool place, it will be fit to drink in a month. ALMOND PUNCH. Extract the juice from the peeling of one lemon and one Seville orange by rubbing c 18 loaf sugar on it, The juice of six lemons and one Seville orange, one bottle of capillaire, and a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar. Put the whole into a jug, and when well mixed pour upon it three pints of boiling water. Cover the jug close, and keep it near the fire a quarter of an hour. Then add three ounces of sweet and half an ounce of bitter almonds, blanched, and pounded fine in a mortar, and gradually mixed with a bottle of white brandy. Stir it well, and if sufficiently sweet it may be used immediately. EGG PUNCH. One quart of cold water, the juice of six lemons and six pot oranges, four glasses of calves-feet jelly in a liquid state; stir the whole well together; let it remain covered over for half an hour; then strain it through a hair sieve, and add to it one bottle of ca- pillaire, two glasses of sherry, half a pint of brandy, and one bottle of orange shrub, 19 Put some pulverised sugar and ten fresh- laid hens’ eggs into a bowl, beat them well together, and gradually unite the two mix- tures by keeping the eggs well stirred as it is poured in; then whip it with a whisk un- til a fine froth rises, and if sweet enough it is fit for immediate use. This Punch should be drank as soon as it is made, for if kept any length of time it will turn sour. . Omit the wine and spirits, and freeze the remainder, and a mould of ice may be ob- tained equal to any in use. SHRUB PUNCH. To make the above into Shrub Punch of a superior flavour and quality to that in ge- neral use, merely leave out the eggs. LEMONADE. To convert Egg Punch into a delicious Lemonade, leave out the wine, spirits, and c2 20 oranges, and add the juice of four more le- mons and a proportionate quantity of sugar. ORANGEADE. The mixture may also be made into Orangeade by omitting the wine, spirits, and lemons, and squeezing into it the juice of twelve oranges in addition to those men- tioned in the recipe for Egg Punch. — POSSET. From fam’d Barbadoes, on the western main, Fetch sugar, ounces four; fetch sack from Spain A pint; and from the Eastern Indian coast Nutmeg, -the glory of our northern toast ; O’er flaming coals let them together heat, Till the all-conquering sack dissolve the sweet ; O’er such another fire put eggs just ten, New-born from tread of cock and rump of hen; Stir them with steady hand and conscience pricking, To see th’ untimely end of ten fine chickens 21 From shining shelf take down the brazen skellet, A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it ; When boil’d and cold, put milk and sack to eggs, Unite them firmly like the triple league, And on the fire let them together dwell Till miss sing twice—you must not kiss and tell: Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon, And fall on fiercely like a starv’d dragoon, Sir Fleetwood Fletcher's Sack Posset. Posset, it seems, is a medicated drink of some antiquity; for among the numerous English authors who in some way or other speak of it, our immortal Bard Shakspeare has made one of his characters say, “ We'll have a Posset at the latter end of a sea coal fire.” And Sir John Suckling, who died in 1641, says, in one of his poems, “‘ In came the bridemaids with the Posset.” Dr. John- son describes Posset to be milk curdled with wine and other acids; we may there- fore with propriety infer, that the White Wine Whey so common in Oxford is the Milk Posset of our forefathers. 22 WHITE WINE WHEY, OR MILK POSSET. Put one pint of milk into a saucepan, and when it boils pour into it one gill of white wine; boil it till the curd becomes hard, then strain it through a fine sieve; rub a few knobs of loaf sugar on the rind of a lemon, put them into the Whey; grate a small quantity of nutmeg into it; sweeten it to your taste, and it is fit for use. PEPPER POSSET. The more to promote perspiration, whole pepper is sometimes boiled in the Whey, but all-spice is far preferable. A Pepper Posset was known to thelearned and ingenious John Dryden, as will appear by the following lines written by him; A sparing diet did her health assure ; Or sick, a pepper posset was her cure. 23 CIDER POSSET. Pound the peeling of a lemon in a mortar, pour on it one quart of fresh drawn cider ; sweeten it with double refined sugar, add one gill of brandy, and one quart of milk from the cow, stir it well together, strain it through a fine hair sieve or a flannel bag, then grate a nutmeg into it, and it is fit for use. PERRY POSSET is prepared in the same way, excepting that perry is used instead of cider. There are other Possets, which have milk for their basis, in use in different parts of the country, such, for instance, as Treacle Beer and Orange Posset; but as they are seldom if ever made in Oxford, it is not necessary that any thing further should be said of them. 24 The following have an affinity to, and possibly derive their origin from, Sir Fleet- wood Fletcher’s Sack Posset. RUM BOOZE, OR EGG POSSET °. The yolks of eight eggs well beaten up, with some refined sugar pulverised, and a grated nutmeg; extract the juice from the rind of a lemon by rubbing loaf sugar on it; put the sugar, a piece of cinnamon, and a bottle of white wine, into a clean saucepan; when the wine boils take it off the fire; pour one glass of cold white wine into it, put it into a spouted jug, and pour it gradually among the yolks of eggs, &c. keeping them well stirred with a spoon as the wine is poured in; if not sweet enough, add a small quantity of loaf sugar; then pour the mixture as swift as possible from one vessel to the other bJt is sometimes denominated Egg Flip. 25 until a fine white froth is obtained. Half a pint of rum is sometimes added, but it is then very intoxicating. Port wine is some- times substituted for white, but is not con- sidered so palatable. This liquor should be drank when quite hot. If the wine is poured boiling hot among the eggs, the mixture will become curdled. BEER FLIP. Beer Flip is made the same way and with the same materials as the preceding, excepting that one quart of strong home- brewed beer is substituted for the wine; a glass ofgin is sometimes added, but it is better without it. This beverage is generally given to servants at Christmas, and other high festivals of our Church. 26 RUMEUSTIAN. The yolks of twelve eggs, one quart of strong beer, one bottle of white wine, half a pint of gin, a grated nutmeg, the juice from the peeling of a lemon, a small quantity of cinnamon, and sufficient sugar to sweeten it; prepared precisely in the same way as Rum Booze. Such is the intoxicating property of this liquor, that none but hard drinkers will venture to regale themselves with it a second time. —<>>— THE OXFORD GRACE CUP. The grace cup serv’d, the cloth away, Jove thought it time to shew his play. Prior. The ancient Grace Cup was a vessel pro- portioned to the number of the company 27 assembled, which went round the table, the guests drinking out of the same cup one after another. Virgil describes something like it, when, speaking of the entertainment Queen Dido gave to Hueas, he says, Postquam prima quies epulis, menseeque remote ; Crateras magnos statuunt, et vina coronant. * * *# @ @ @© © # #8 & Hic regina gtavem gemmis auroque popuscit Implevitque mero pateram: * * * *# * * @ * * © * *# @ £ Primaque libato summo tenus attigit ore. Tum Bitiz dedit increpitans: ille impiger bausit Spumantem pateram, et pleno se proluit auro. Post alii proceres. It has been the custom from time imme- morial, at the civic feasts in Oxford, for the Grace Cup to be introduced before the re- moval of the cloth, when the Mayor receives the Cup standing; his right and left hand guests also rise from their seats while he gives the toast, which, since the Reforma tion, has been, “ Church and King.” The 28 Cup is then handed round the table, no one presuming to apply his lips to it until two persons have risen from their seats. The origin of this custom is ascribed by our antiquaries to the practice of the Danes heretofore in England, who frequently used to stab or cut the throats of the natives while they were drinking, thepersons stand- ing being sureties that the one holding the cup should come to no harm while par- taking of it. Recipe. Extract the juice from the peeling of a lemon, and cut the remainder into thin slices; put it into a jug or bowl, and pour on it three half pints of strong home-brewed beer * and a bottle of mountain wine; grate a nutmeg — © Home-brewed beer is here recommended, as some common brewers and publicans mix with their beer sulphuric acid, copperas, tobacco, capsicum, cocculus Indicus, coriander seeds, allum, and burnt sugar. 29 into it; sweeten it to your taste; stir it till the sugar is dissolved, and then add three or four slices of bread toasted brown. Let it stand two hours, and then strain it off into the Grace Cup. CIDER CUP, OR COLD TANKARD. Extract the juice from the peeling of one lemon by rubbing loaf sugar on it; cut two lemons into thin slices; the rind of one lemon cut thin, a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar, and half a pint of brandy. Put the whole into a large jug, mix it well together, and pour one quart of cold spring water upon it. Grate a nutmeg into it, add one pint of white wine and a bottle of cider, sweeten it to your taste with capillaire or sugar, put a handful of balm and the same quantity of borage’ in flower (borago officinalis) into 4 « The sprigs of borage in wine are of known virtue, to revive the hypochondriac, and cheer the hard stu- 30 it, stalk downwards. Then put the jug con- taining this liquor into a tub of ice, and when it has remained there one hour it is fit for use. The balm and borage should be fresh gathered. PERRY CUP. Merely substitute perry for cider. dent.” Evelyn’s Acetaria, p. 13, ‘* Borage is one of the four cordial flowers; it comforts the heart, cheers melancholy, and revives the fainting spirits.” Salmon’s Household Companion, London, 1710. ‘* Borage has the credit of being a great cordial ; throwing it into cold wine is better than all the medicinal preparations.” Sir John Hill, M.D. ; ‘* The leaves, flowers, and seed of borage, all or any of them, are good to expel pensiveness and melancholy.” The English Physician. « Balm is very good to help digestion and open obstruc- tions of the brain, and hath so much purging quality in it, as to expel those melancholy vapours from the spirits and blood which are in the heart and arteries, although it cannot do so in other parts of the body.” Ibid. 31 BEER CUP. One quart of strong beer instead of cider or perry. The other ingredients the same as in Cider Cup. RED CUP. Use one pint of port wine instead of white; sometimes two glasses of red currant jelly are added. In other respects the same as Cider Cup, excepting that warm water is used to dissolve the jelly. —=>_—— THE WASSAIL BOWL, OR SWIG. Sir, quod he, Watsayll, for never days of your lyf ne dronk ye of such a cuppe. Ancient MS. The Wassail Bowl, or Swig, as it is termed at Jesus College in this University, is of considerable antiquity, and up to this time 32 is a great favourite with the sons of Cam- bria; so much so, indeed, that a party sel- dom dines or sups in that College without its forming a part of their entertainment®. On the festival of St. David, Cambria’s tutelary Saint, an immense silver gilt bowl, containing ten gallons, and which was pre- sented to Jesus College by Sir Watkin W. Wynne in 1732, is filled with Swig, and handed round to those who are invited on that occasion to sit at their festive and hospitable board. The following is the method of manufacturing it at that College. Put into a bowl half a pound of Lisbon sugar; pour on it one pint of warm beer; grate a nutmeg and some ginger into it: add four glasses of sherry and five additional pints of beer; stir it well; sweeten it to your © Swig was formerly almost exclusively confined to Jesus College; it is now, however, a great favourite throughout the University. 33 taste: let it stand covered up two or three hours, then put three or four slices of bread cut thin and toasted brown into it, and it is fit for use. Sometimes a couple or three slices of lemon, and a few lumps of loaf sugar rubbed on the peeling of a lemon, are introduced. Bottle this mixture, and in a few days it may be drank in a state of effervescence. The Wassail Bowl, or Wassail Cup, was formerly prepared in nearly the same way as at present, excepting that roasted apples, or crab apples, were introduced instead of toasted bread. And up to the present pe- riod, in some parts of the kingdom, there are persons who keep up the ancient custom of regaling their friends and neighbours on Christmas-eve and Twelfth-eve with a Was- sail Bowl, with roasted apples floating in it, and which is generally ushered in with great ceremony. Shakspeare alludes to the Was- D 34 sail Bowl when he says, in his Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl, In very likeness of a roasted crab, And when she drinks, against her lips 1 bob, And on her wither’d dewlap pour the ale. BROWN BETTY. Brown Betty does not differ materially from the preceding; it is said to have de- rived its name from one of the fair sex, ycleped a bedmaker, who invariably recom- mended the mixture so named as a never failing panacea. Recipe. Dissolve a quarter of a pound of brown sugar in one pint of water, slice a lemon into it, let it stand a quarter of an hour, then add a small quantity of pulverized 35 cloves and cinnamon, half a pint of brandy, and one quart of good strong ale; stir it well together, put a couple of slices of toasted bread into it, grate some nutmeg and ginger on the toast, and it is fit for use. Ice it well and it will prove a good summer, warm it and it will become a pleasant winter, beverage. It is drank chiefly at dinner. —>— LAMBS WOOL. Next crowne the bowle full With gentle Lambs wooll, Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, With store of all too, And thus ye must doe To make the Wassaile a. swinger. Herrick’s Twelfth Night, or King and Queen. Lambs Wool is merely a variety of the Wassail Bowl, and although not common in Oxford, is a great favourite in some parts 36 of England. The following is the origin of the term Lambs Wool, as applied to this particular beverage. Formerly the first day of November was dedicated to the Angel presiding over fruits, seeds, &c. and was therefore named La mas ubal, that is, The day of the apple fruit, and being pro- nounced lamasool, our country people have corrupted it to Lambs Wool®. Lambs Wool was anciently often met with in Ireland‘, but is now rarely heard of in that country, having been entirely superseded by the more intoxicating liquor called Whiskey. Recipe. Mix the pulp of half a dozen roasted apples with some raw sugar, a grated nutmeg, and a small quantity of ginger. Add one quart of strong ale made moderately © See Col. Vallancy, Collect. de Reb. Hibern. iii. 441. f Brand’s Popul. Antiq. i. 312. 37 warm. Stir the whole well together, and, if sweet enough, it is fit for use. This mixture is sometimes served up in a bowl, with sweet cakes floating in it. \ BRASENOSE ALE. From the foundation of Brasenose College to the present time a custom has prevailed, of introducing into the refectory on Shrove Tuesday, immediately after dinner, what is denominated Brasenose Ale, but which in fact is a species of Lambs Wool. Verses in praise of Brasenose Ale are annually written by one of the Under- graduates, and a copy of them sent to every resident member of the College. 38 ’ The following Stanzas are extracted from a copy of recent date. Shall all our singing now be o’er, Since Christmas carols fail? No! let us shout one stanza more In praise of Brasenose Ale! A fig for Horace and his juice, Falernian and Massic ; Far better drink can we produce, Though ’tis not quite so Classic. Not all the liquors Rome e’er had Can beat our matchless Beer ; Apicius’ self had gone stark mad, To taste such noble cheer. Recipe. Three quarts of ale, sweetened with refined sugar finely pulverized, and served up ina bowl with six roasted apples floating in it. 39 METHEGLIN. Non Vitis, sed Apis succum tibi mitto bibendum, Quem legimus Bardos olim potasse Britannos. Qualibet in bacca Vitis Megera latescit, Qualibet in gutta Mellis Aglaia nitet. The juice of Bees, not Bacchus, here behold, Which British Bards were wont to quaff of old ; The berries of the grape with Furies swell, But in the honeycomb the Graces dwell. Howell, Metheglin is probably derived from the Welch Meodyglyn, a medical drink, and "was once the natural beverage of a great part of this country, and according to some authors is the Hydromel* of the ancients. Howell’, in one of his familiar letters, on 4 In fevers, the aliments prescribed by Hippocrates . were ptisans and cream of barley, hydromel, that is, honey and water, where there was no tendency to delirium. Arbuthnot. b James Howell, Clerk of the Privy Council in 1640, and sometime Fellow of Jesus College in this University. 40 presenting a friend with a bottle of Metheglin, thus speaks of it; ‘‘ Neither Sir John ‘« Barleycorn or Bacchus had any thing to do “with it, but it is the pure juice of the bee, «« the laborious bee, and the king of insects ; “the Druids and old British Bards were “wont to take a carouse hereof before “ they entered into their speculations. But ‘‘ this drink always carries a kind of state “with it, for it must be attended with a ‘¢ brown toast; nor will it admit but of one “¢ good draught, and that in the morning; if “ more, it will keep a humming in the head, “and so speak too much of the house it “ comes from, I mean, the hive.” Indeed almost every other author who has written on the subject affirms, that before the introduction of Agriculture into this island, honey diluted with water (i. e. Metheglin) was the only strong drink known to, and was a great favourite among, the Ancient Britons. 41 Metheglin is usually divided into the Simple and the Vinous. Simple Metheglin is that which has not been fermented, and the Vinous is that which has obtained a spirit by fermentation. VINOUS METHEGLIN. Take as much new honey separated from the comb which, when well mixed with water, will be of such a consistency as to bear an egg; boil this liquor for one hour; let it stand covered up till the next morning, and, if it is then quite cold, put it into a cask. Toevery fifteen gallonsadd pulverized ginger, mace, cinnamon, and cloves, of each anounce, To promote fermentation, put into the bung- hole two table-spoonsful of yeast. When it has done working stop it up, and in a month or six weeks it will be in a fit state to be drawn off into bottles. 42 MEAD AND BRAGGON, OR © BRAGGET, Do not differ materially from Metheglin; they are indeed varieties of the same. Howell says, “ they differ in strength ac- ‘‘ cording to the three degrees of compari- “<son, Metheglin being strong in the super- “lative, and if taken immoderately doth ‘© stupify more than any other liquor.” The following are the methods of preparing them. Mix the whites of six eggs with twelve gallons of spring water; add twenty pounds of the best virgin honey and the peeling of three lemons; boil it an hour, and then put into it some rosemary *, cloves, mace, and ginger; when it is quite cold, add a spoonful or two of yeast, tun it, and when it has done working, stop it up close. [n a few months % The best honey knownis that of Narbonne in France, where rosemary abounds, it having a very strong flavour of that plant. 43 bottle it off, and deposit it in a cellar of cool temperature. Some prefer it without the spices, others without lemons. To each gallon of water add four pounds of the whitest, purest, and best tasted honey, and the peeling of two lemons; boil it half an hour. Scum it when cold. Put it into a cask, add some yeast to it; when it has done fermenting, stop the cask up close, and at the expiration of eight months bottle it off. If this liquor is properly kept, the taste of the honey will go off, and it will resemble Tokay both in strength and flavour. THE END. BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD.