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the flowing bowl
cock, the older the better. Parboil the cock, flea
(flay ?) him, and stamp him in a stone mortar till his
bones are broken (you must craw and gut him when
you flea him), then put the cock into two quarts of
sack, and put to it three pounds of raisins of the sun
stoned, some blades of mace, and a few cloves; put
all these into a canvas bag, and a little before you
find the ale has done working, put the ale and bag
together into a vessel; in a week or nine days bottle
it up, fill the bottles but just above the neck, and
give it the same time to ripen as other ale.
I have frequently read of the giving of"body"
to ale and stout, by means of the introduction of
horseflesh ; and an old song used to tell us that
upon one of the paupers in a certain workhouse
happening, inadvertently, to fall head-foremost
into the copper,
dreadful to tell, he was boiled in the soup,
which, on that account, in all probability so
strengthened the constitutions of the other
paupers as to render them impatient of work
house discipline.
The man who disappeared
mysteriously—this is Mr. Samuel Weller's story
—and who unwittingly furnished " body" for'
the sausages supplied to the neighbourhood, was
after all, benefiting his fellow-men. But to put
the rooster into the ale-cask smacks somewhat
of barbarism 5 and thank goodness we do not
work off our surplus poultry in that fashion
nowadays.
But these barbarians were not
ashamed ; for lo ! facing me is " another way "
for the manufacture of rooster-beer.
Take an old red, or other cock, and boyle him