The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Sir Kenelm Digby (popular books of all time TXT) 📕

space of a quarter of an hour. Then strain the Liquor from them, and let it cool, till it be Blood-warm. Put in so much honey, until an Egge swim on it; and when your honey is melted, then put it into the Barrel. When it is almost cold, put a little Ale barm to it; And when it hath done working, put into your barrel a bag of Spice of Nutmegs, Ginger, Cloves and Mace, and grains good store; and if you will, put into a Lawn-bag two grains of Ambergreece and two grains of Musk, and fasten it in the mouth of your barrel, and so let it hang in the Liquor.


A MOST EXCELLENT METHEGLIN

Take one part of honey, to eight parts of Rain or River-water; let it boil gently together, in a fit vessel, till a third part be wasted, skiming it very well. The sign of being boiled enough is, when a New-laid-egg swims upon it. Cleanse it afterwards by letting it run through a clean Linnen-cloth, and put it into a woodden Runlet, where there hath been wine in, and hang in it a bag with Mustard-seeds by the bung, that so you may take it out, when you please. This being done, put your Runlet into the hot Sun, especially during the Dog-days, (which is the onely time to prepare it) and your Metheglin will boil like Must; after which boiling take out your Mustard-seeds, and put your vessel well stopped into a Cellar. If you will have it the taste of wine, put to thirty measures of Hydromel, one measure of the juyce of hops, and it will begin to boil without any heat. Then fill up your vessel, and presently after this ebullition you will have a very strong Metheglin.


TO MAKE WHITE METHEGLIN OF THE COUNTESS OF DORSET

Take Rosemary, Thyme, Sweet-bryar, Peny-royal, Bays, Water-cresses, Agrimony, Marshmallow leaves, Liver-wort, Maiden-hair, Betony, Eye-bright, Scabious, the bark of the Ash-tree, Eringo-roots, Green-wild-Angelica, Ribwort, Sanicle, Roman-worm-wood, Tamarisk, Mother-thyme, Sassafras, Philipendula, of each of these herbs a like proportion; or of as many of them as you please to put in. But you must put in all but four handfuls of herbs, which you must steep one night, and one day, in a little bowl of water, being close covered; the next day take another quantity of fresh water, and boil the same herbs in it, till the colour be very high; then take another quantity of water, and boil the same herbs in it, until they look green; and so let it boil three or four times in several waters, as long as the Liquor looketh any thing green. Then let it stand with these herbs in it a day and night. Remember the last water you boil it in to this proportion of herbs, must be twelve gallons of water, and when it hath stood a day and a night, with these herbs in it, after the last boiling, then strain the Liquor from the herbs, and put as much of the finest and best honey into the Liquor, as will make it bear an Egg. You must work and labour the honey and liquor together one whole day, until the honey be consumed. Then let it stand a whole night, and then let it be well laboured again, and let it stand again a clearing, and so boil it again a quarter of an hour, with the whites of six New-laid-eggs with the shells, the yolks being taken out; so scum it very clean, and let it stand a day a cooling. Then put it into a barrel, and take Cloves, Mace, Cinamon, and Nutmegs, as much as will please your taste, and beat them altogether; put them into a linnen bag, and hang it with a thread in the barrel. Take heed you put not too much spice in; a little will serve. Take the whites of two or three New-laid-eggs, a spoonful of barm, and a spoonful of Wheat-flower, and beat them altogether, and put it into your Liquor into the barrel, and let it work, before you stop it. Then afterwards stop it well, and close it well with clay and Salt tempered together, and let it be set in a close place; and when it hath been settled some six weeks, draw it into bottles, and stop it very close, and drink it not a month after: but it will keep well half a year, and more.


ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE WHITE METHEGLIN

Take ten Gallons of water; then take six handfuls of Sweet-bryar; as much of Sweet-marjoram; and as much of Muscovy. Three handfuls of the best Broad-thyme. Boil these together half an hour; then strain them. Then take two Gallons of English-honey, and dissolve it in this hot Liquor, and brew it well together; then set it over the fire to boil again, and skim it very clean; then take the whites of thirty Eggs wel beaten, and put them into the Liquor, and let it boil an hour; then strain it through a jelly bag, and let it stand 24 hours cooling: then put it up in a vessel. Then take six Nutmegs, six fair Races of Ginger, a quarter of an Ounce of Cloves, half an Ounce of Cinamon; bruise all these together, and put them into a Linnen-bag, with a little Pebble-stone to make it sink. Then hang it in the vessel. You may adde to it, if you please, two grains of Ambergreece, and one grain of Musk. Stop the vessel with a Cork, but not too close, for six days; then taste it: and if it taste enough of the Spice, then take out the bag; if not, let the bag hang in it, and stop it very close, and meddle with it no more. It will be ready to drink in nine or ten weeks.


A RECEIPT TO MAKE GOOD MEATH

Take as many Gallons of water, as you intend to make of Meath; and to every Gallon put a quart of honey, and let it boil till it bear an Egg. To every Gallon you allow the white of an Egg, which white you must remove and break with your hands, and put into the Kettle, before you put it over the fire. Before it boileth, there will arise a skum, which must be taken off very clean, as it riseth. Put to every Gallon two Nutmegs sliced, and when it hath boiled enough, take it off, and set it a cooling in clean wort-vessels: And when it is as cold as wort, put in a little barm, and work it like Beer, and when it hath done working, stop it up, and let it stand two months.


ANOTHER TO MAKE MEATH

To every quart of honey allow six Wine-quarts of water; half an Ounce of Nutmegs, and the Peel of a Limon, and the meat of two or three, as you make the quantity. Boil these together, till the scum rise no more; It must stand till it be quite cold, and when you Tun it, you squeese into it the juyce of some Limons, and this will make it ripen quickly. It will be ready in less then a month.


ANOTHER RECIPE

Take twelve Gallons of water, a handful of Muscovy (which is an herb, that smelleth like Musk), a handful of Sweet-Marjoram, and as much of Sweet-bryar. Boil all these in the water, till all the strength be out. Then take it off and strain it out, and being almost cold, sweeten it with honey very strong, more then to bear an Egg, (the meaning of this is, that when there is honey enough to bear an Egg, which will be done by one part of honey to three or four quarts of water: then you add to it a pretty deal of honey more, at least 1/4 or 1/3 of what you did put in at first to make it bear an Egg: then it is to be boiled and scummed: when it is thus strong, you may keep it four years before you drink it. But at the end of two years you may draw it out into bottles) just above it, else it will not keep very long: for the more honey the better. Then set it over the fire till it boils, and scum it very clean. Then take it from the fire, and let it stand, till it be cold: then put it into your vessel. Take Mace, Cloves, Nutmegs, Ginger, of each a quarter of an Ounce: beat them small, and hang them in your vessel (being stopped close) in a little bag.

Note, when any Meath or Metheglin grows hard or sower with keeping too long, dissolve in it a good quantity of fresh honey, to make it pleasantly Sweet; (but boil it no more, after it hath once fermented, as it did at the first Tunning) and with that it will ferment again, and become very good and pleasant and quick.


TO MAKE METHEGLIN

Take of Rosemary three handfuls, of Winter-savory a Peck by measure, Organ and Thyme, as much, White-wort two handfuls, Blood-wort half a peck, Hyssop two handfuls, Marygolds, Borage, Fennil, of each two handfuls; Straw-berries and Violet-leaves, of each one handful; Of Harts-tongue, Liverwort a peck; Ribwort half a peck, of Eglantine with the Roots, a good quantity; Wormwood as much as you can gripe in two hands; and of Sorrel, Mead-sutt Bettony with the Roots, Blew-bottles with the Roots, the like quantity; of Eye-bright two handfuls, Wood-bind one handful. Take all these herbs, and order them so, as that the hot herbs may be mastered with the cool. Then take the small herbs, and put them into the Furnace, and lay the long herbs upon them. Then take a weight or stone of Lead, having a Ring, whereunto fasten a stick to keep down the Herbs into the furnace; then boil your water and herbs three or four hours, and as the water doth boil away, adde more. Then take the water out of the Furnace seething hot, and strain it through a Range-sieve; then put in the honey, and Mash it well together: then take your Sweet-wort, and strain it through a Range. Then try it with a New-laid-egg. It must be so strong as to bear an Egg the breadth of a groat above the Liquor: and if it doth not, then put in more honey, till it will bear the Egg. Then take the Liquor, and boil it again; and as soon as it doth boil, skim the froth very clean from it: Then set it a cooling, and when it is cold, then put it into a Kive, and put barm thereto, and let it work the Space of a Week; Then Tun it up: But be careful when it is Tunned, that the vessels be not stopp'd up, till it hath done hissing.


ANOTHER SORT OF METHEGLIN

Take to one part of honey, three parts of water: and put them into clean vessels, mixing them very well together, and breaking the honey with stripped arms, till it be well dissolved. Then pour out your Liquor into a large Kettle, and let it boil for two hours and a half, over a good fire, skiming it all the while very carefully as long as any scum riseth. When it is boiled enough, pour out your Liquor into clean vessels, and set it to cool for 24 hours. Afterwards put it into some Runlets, and cover the bung with a piece of Lead: have a care to fill it up always with the same boiled Liquor for three or four months and during the time of working. This Meath the older it is, the