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THE FLOWING BOWL
it to boiling-point. Beat two eggs with a table-
spoonful of cold ale, and pour the boiling ale into
them, and then into a large jug. Pass the whole from
one jug to another, as in the case of Ale Flip, return
to saucepan, and heat it again till almost, not quite,
at boiling-point.
With regard to
Wassail, or Swig {Cold),
which used to be a very popular beverage at the
universities—at one time it was peculiar to Jesus
College, Oxford—is of very ancient date indeed.
" Sir quod he," is part of a conversation culled
from an old MS., "Watsayll, for never days of
your lyf ne dronk ye of such a cuppe," which
sounds as if the Watsayll was of a seductive and
harmful nature. Nevertheless here is the recipe,
taken from " Oxford Nightcaps."
Put into a bowl half a pound of Lisbon sugar (if
you do not possess that brand, I have no doubt
"best lump," pulverized, will do as well), and pour
on it one pint of warm beer j grate a nutmeg and
some ginger into it; add four glasses of sherry and
five additional pints of beer; stir it well and
sweeten to taste j 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 two or three slices of lemon are
introduced, together with a few lumps of sugar
rubbed on the peel of a lemon. Bottle this mixture,
and in a few days it may be drunk in a state of
effervescence.
On the festival ofSt. David, an immense silver-
gilt bowl, the gift of Sir Watkin W. W^nne to