stiring or lading it on the Fire half a quarter of an hour and so it is done only season it with Salt and let it stand till it be cool and by that time the Oatmeal viz. the bigger parts thereof will be settled to the bottom then drink a pint or a quart as you think convenient either before or after your Food or in a Morning and in such case Fast till Dinner It is also very good to be Drank after Labour Travel Sweating or the like to prevent Surfeits no sort of strong Drink being comparable to it in that respect for whilest People do endeavour by drinking Wine and strong Drink to allay Heat and Drought or Extinguish it frequently encrease it but this Gruel by its friendly Nature quallifies all such disorders and presently brings Nature into a state of Harmony and as it is commendable and beneficial at all seasons of the Year so more especially in Spring and Summer for it allays Heat and Drought far beyond any Beer or Ale and performs it in Natures own way Another very commendable way of making Water Gruel TAke what quantity of Water you please make it just Boyle up then put in your Herbs and let it stand till it begins to boyle again then take it off and let it stand two or three minuits with the Herbs in it then take the Herbs out and having some Oatmeal ready tempered with cold Water put that into it and so brew it too and fro out of one Pot into another as you do Buttered-Ale a dozen or twenty times without putting it any more on the Fire but if you desire to eat Butter in it then let the Butter and Salt be brewed too and fro in the Gruel and the Oatmeal will give forth its vertue and incorporate with the water so as to make it the sweetest best colour and wholsomest of all other Gruels if you would have it plain without Herbs brew only the boyling Water and Oatmeal togather and it is done adding a little Salt thus likewise you may make Milk Pottage by putting your Milk and Water on your fire together and when it boyles up take it off and brew that and your tempered Oatmeal as aforesaid and the like of Flowered-milk Of the best and most Natural way of making Water-Gruel compounded of Various Ingrediences TAke a Quart of good Water into which put half a quarter of a Pound of Currans washed ser it on the Fire till it be ready to boyl then move it to a more moderate heat for three or four Minuits then in another Vessel have a Quart of the like Water made to a boyling then have your tempered Spoonful of Oatmeal ready brew your Oatmeal and Water together as you were taught before very well then take your infused Currans out of the hot Water and put them into your brewed Gruel with some Sugar Butter and Salt throwing your Water the Currans was infused in away then brew it again as you did before the Butter Salt Currans and Crums of Bread altogether very well and if you think convenient to add Spice to it then put it into the water you make your Gruel off when you set it on the fire for it is best to put both the Currans and Spice into the water when cold the water does then draw out the vertue of them best this way of making of it is far before any others that is in practice amongst the Houswives the Currans will be soft and eat much more pleasent then when boyled this Gruel will have a curious white brisk lively colour Fragrant smell and curious Cordial Taste affords a better Nourishment and easier of Concoction then any made the common way for this way is far more Natural and does draw forth the fine spirituous friendly quallity of the Ingrediences and the brewing of it does keep and preserve the brisk lively spirits of the Butter which gives a curious flaver to the whole and makes all incorporate as one Body also the Infusing of the Currans in the water does wash away a foul gross quality which cold water cannot do which renders them more Homogenial and easier of Digestion you are also to take notice by the way that your brewing or mixing of it off the fire in the pleasant sweet Air does not only give Life and a curious Colour but of better Taste and Smell more agreeable to the stomach and easier of digestion not so apt to obstruct the Vessels of the Stomach as that which is done otherwise for the boyling and stiring those fine thin Gruels or Pottages on the fire does give great advantage ro the thick gross smooky poysonous Vapours which the Coles or Wood when stired sends forth which fulsome Vapours are by the Air drawn forth up the Chimny which are so very pernicious that if any Persons should hold their Heads over them it would stifle or destroy them in a little time for the fire is not only the opener of all Bodies but the separating power of Nature and penetrates to the very Root of each thing and manifests the vertues and vices of each thing therefore forthese and many other reasons too tedious for this place the mixing or brewing these Gruels and Pottages off the fire are highly commendable and they do as far exceed the common Preparation as Light does Darkness but Practice is the best Master and Experience the best Doctor Of purging Gruel TAke Water what quantity you please make it boyling hot then put into it a good quantity of any of these Herbs following or others that you shall best like viz. Scurvy-Grass Spinnage Corn-Sallet Parsly Smalage Elder-Buds Take your Water off your Fire cover it and let them infuse one hour then take your Liquor from your Herbs and brew it with some tempered Oatmeal you may drink it with Salt or without from a Quart to three Quarts in a Morning and fast till Dinner this is a brave Cordial Gruel it will move gentily to stool more natural then most sorts of Physick and wash and cleanse the Stomach from all superfluous matter thins the Blood and open all the Passages by which the Humours will freely circulate carrying away all Windy Watery or Flatulent Juces this sort of Gruel is not only good in the Spring but at all Seasons of the Year when the Herbs can be procured if the natural and proper use of Herbs were known and practised there would be but little need of Physick especially if Order and Temperance were observed How Herb-Gruels for the Spring ought to be made and their Respective Vertues and first of Elder-buds in Gruel TAke Water what quantity you have occasion for make it boyling hot then have your Oatmeal ready tempered with cold Watter and your Elder-buds and put both into your boyling Water and keep it stirring letting it be as it were on the boyl but not boyl up a little while then take it off the fire and let it stand two or three minuits more then take
bravely and is very profitable for all People both Young and Old but especially for those that have but weak heats and tender Spirits or are subject to Wind and Vapours as also for Fat Gross Dropsical People it mightily removes Obstructions that lies in the Passages and cheers the Natural Spirits making them fine which all such People want I recommend it therefore to be drank every Morning during the Spring viz. in March April and May. The Vertues of Scurvy Grass Gruel This being made as before directed I may safely Affirm is more Effectual against all the Distempers which this universal Herb is appropriated unto then either the Spirits of it which are so much cry'd up for their manifold vertues or the Gross Juces of it which some force forth of the Herb and put into Ale which way is not at all to be approved of because the terrene Gross fulsome quality comes out with the more fine it will gallantly correct and refines the Blood begets Appetite purge by Urin and sometimes by Stool being a great Evacuator of those gross heavy dull Humours which indispose both Body and Mind Gruel made of Alehoof or Ground Ivy. This is a great Cleanser of the Stomach and Bowels wholsom for all Ages and for those that are Healthy as well as those that are Infirm Smallage Gruel Purifies the Blood and powerfully opens Obstructions begets Appetite and is profitable against Shortness of Breath Sage Gruel Is a Noble useful preparation and good against the infirmity which the Antients have appropriated that Herb unto So is Gruel made of Penny-Royal or Spinage respectively each in its kind after the same manner you may use what other Herbs you have occasion for this being one of the best and most natural ways to draw forth the fine spirituous vertues of any Herbs Only remember to make your Gruel of any sort thin and let your fire be clear and brisk else you will fail of your ends There are many other Pottages proper to be Eaten in the Spring as Milk-Pottage Milk and Flowre Milk and Rice and the like but remember that Milk-Pottage ought to be made after the same manner with small ground Oatmeal viz. put in your Water and Milk together make it almost boyling hot on a clear brisk fire then temper your Oatmeal with a little cold Milk or Water and add that and stir it about and let it stand till it begins to boyle up but then stir or lade it to keep it from boyling half a quarter of an hour and then take it of the fire and when it is cool eat it with Bread or without as you like best the like is to be observed in making flowred milk There are many other brave wholsome foods far better then either Flesh or Fish to be eat in the Spring as Sallads both Boyled and Raw this being the principal time of the Year for the eating of Herbs viz. in the Month of March April and May for by the Approach of the Sun and the sweet Influences he now scatters through our Hemisphere all the vegitations are endued with lively and powerful vertues more then at any other time of the Year and it would be the happiness of English people if they did eat more of them and less Flesh and Fish nor is it to be doubted but the first Instituters of Lent might probably amongst other things have this in their eye to appoint a time of Abstenance and Temperance from gross succulent Foods in the Spring to remove and Remedy the mischiefs that might arise to their Healths from the too large Feeding on such Victuals all the fore-going Winter during which time what through their gross Foods strong Drinks and the uncertain Weather viz. sometimes close rainy and cold and then presently warm again together with their broyling themselves by Cole or Turf-fires whence arises thick sulpherous Airs and smoky Vapours their lying over-long in Bed neglecting due proper exercises they cannot but have Treasured up a vast fund for future Diseases and Calamities no way to be so happily prevented as by a strait and spare Diet in the beginning of the returning Year for in these Three Months the Sun which is the Fountain of central heat in all things has a powerful Influence and gives a lively motion to all being capable thereof so that if we will but put to our helping Hand and observe the good Rules of Temperance Cleanness and Order in Meats Drinks and Exercises many great Evils and Diseases may by the blessing of the Lord be avoided The Foods most proper for this season are the Gruels and spoon-meats before mentioned with Bread Butter and Cheese but the two fast ought to be eaten sparingly because they are Fat Strong Bodies too great quantities thereof may do injury to many Constitutions I have as little occasion as inclination to advise English People to the eating of Flesh and Fish for that they are already too apt to indulge themselves therein but this I must say that this is the best Season because the Food of most sorts of Cattel that are now killed by the Butchers having been for some time past either Hay or Corn which does generate better Blood in the Creatures and firmer Flesh besides the Season is brisk and cool which drives the natural heat more central and gives great strength to the digestive faculty whereby their Foods is better separated and the Creatures becomes stronger of good Heart and full of brisk airy Spirits add to this that they are not so subject to be surfeited by over driving which renders their Flesh better in all respects and more healthful An other way of making water Gruel without being put on the Fire which is a Summer Gruel Take one spoonful of good Oatmeal temper it with a little Watter then take a quart more of Water put the Oatmeal into the other quart and brew it very well together in too Pots that are fit for that purpose and then it is done the Oatmeal will mixt or incorporate with the Water of this sort you may drink a pint or a quart at a time it is very good at all times of the Year but more especially in Summer and hot weather it is so friendly and Homogenial that it allays Thurst the best of any others by refreshing the Spirits bedewing the Body with a most pleasant and more natural moysture then either Beer or Ale or any fermented drinks the common use thereof in hot Seasons does strengthen the Body and all the Members thereof begets a natural Cheerfulness extinguisheth all kinds of inward flushings and vapours that comes for want of a strong natural Heat and large passages it opens and frees the Stomach from gross matter that obstruct the digestive Faculty purges by Urine as all sorts of Gruel do if made as we have Taught the frequent eating of this and other sorts before-mentioned do mightly assist Nature in all her opperations in particular it is profitable
variety Air as there is in Complexions and what is profitable for one is not so for an other and to find out this Secret there is no better way then for such as want agreable Air to Travel out of one place into an other by which they may be capable to find out that which is most sutable for them for as in the best Airs some People Languish under various Diseases for want of a change so in the worst of Airs many are very Healthful and perhaps better then they would be in finer or thinner Airs as many that Live in the thick Sulpherous steems of London are very Healthy and Live to great Ages And as every bad Air is not prejudicial to all Persons so on the other side all good Airs are not profitable to some sorts of Constitutions but change of Airs to most People proves beneficial And therefore Travelling is very Healthful and good especially for some People whose qualifying Properties and Spirits of Nature are unequal but this not being known many remove out of one Air into an other in vain or to their Prejudice 12. Forget not to use proper Exercises in open Airy places which will prevent many Diseases and Weaknesses especially in Fat Corpulent Phlegmatick Persons that are for the most part troubled with Coughs and Stoppages of their Breasts and Lungs Let such walk as much as they can by running Rivers two or three hours Morning and Night for the Air by such running Water is more penetrating discipating and digesting all superfluities then elsewhere nor are there any Persons more Strong Healthly or of better Stomachs then those whose Imployments are near Flowing Streams especially if the Banks and Ground adjacent be dry and somewhat elevated as in many places it is Let the fattest Punchenelloes but use to exercise themselves as aforesaid and eat clean Foods with middle Ale or Bear and once or twice a day drink a good draft of Water especially Morning and Night and it will in a little time level their Mountainous Paunches and waste all superfluous offending matter so great is the power of clean simple natural Meats Drinks Exercises and Airs 13. When you eat any sorts of strong Fat Foods as Bread and Cheese Bread and Butter Pudden Pancake or any solid Foods especially Flesh remember that you eat Herbs with them simply without either Salt Vinegar or Oyl only wash them viz. Parsly Sorrel Spinage Sage Corn-Salet the Leaves of young Colworts you may mix two or three sorts together or any one of them they mightily cleanse and help Concoction warm the Stomach and cheer the Spirits much better then if you put Oyl Salt and Vineger to them a little custom will render them pleasant and delightful Of which clean simple Foods we come now to Discourse of more particularly and since those that are Liquid commonly call'd Spoon-meats are chiefly to be regarded I shall here set down such of them as are most proper for the Spring-Season viz. in the Months March April and May of all Liquid Clensing Foods or Spoon-meats Water-Gruel deservedly claims the first place and is without doubt the best of all others either simple or compounded with any particular Herb or Herbs at this time or season it hath the most powerful Opperation because the Sun now increases in Strength and Power and endues all things not only with a brisk lively Motion but great Vertue and Life The Winter is the Rest or Sabbath of the Earth in which time she recovers Strenght and Vertue because she does then as it were cease from all her Labours and the Vegetative Quality stands as it were still This is manifested by the goodness and great increase of all Herbs Fruits and Grains being all filled with a brisk lively Spirit and Vertue therefore in the first Spring and Rising of the Sun every thing rejoyceth and becomes very Fragrant by Vertue of the sweet Influences of this Celestial Body and the Power of the Earth so that at this time all things seems to strive with a most lively motion to manifest its most inward Vertue this is the time for most People to eat Herbs both Boyl'd and Raw Salats and Pottages made thereof such Food at the rising of the Sun are endued with a brisk lively Vertue and Strength and of an opening and clensing Nature Purging the Blood and are good against all the Obstructions which the Intemperances of the Winter have occasioned Diseases being easier cured at this time then any other especially if Temperance and Sobriety be observed Of plain Water-Gruel PLain Water-Gruel is in its own Nature of a sweet mild and friendly Opperation and as Bread hath the first place of all dry Food and may justly be called Concord being befriended with all the good Vertues of the Vegetable Kingdom so this fine thin Gruel is the King of all Spoon-meats and the Queen of Pottages for it gratifies Nature beyond all others being most equal in its parts it stands nearest the Unity for this cause the frequent or daily Eating or Drinking of it will not weary nor tire Nature 't is both Food and Physick Nourishes and withal opens and cleanseth and serves both for Victuals and Liquor for you may either Eat or Drink it and at the same time that it satisfies your Hunger it allays your Thirst you may for need with Bread make a good Meal of it or you may Drink it before or after Meals without Bread or with after or before any sort of Foods whatsoever it has a universal tendency for let your Food be Sweet or Sour or Salt or Bitter Plain Gruel shall be agreeable to each of them being of an allaying softning dissolving and digesting Quality and that Complection is rare either in Young or Old that it does not agree with and tho it be of a moyst Nature yet it is not at all Phlegmatick but the contrary it being easie of Digestion opens Obstructions expells and hinders Fumes from flying into the Head it powerfully begets Appetite makes the Blood thin causing a free Circulation and thereby Cheers and Comforts the Spirits 'T is the best Spoon-Meat Women can Drink when they Ly-in for it breeds curious Milk keeps the Body Cold and free from Feavors and Vapours which other compounded Hetrogeneous Spoon-meats do occasion it is likewise admirable for Young Sucking Children for it Washes and Cleanseth the Passages which many sorts of Milk and sweet Spoon-meats do Fur and Obstruct and prevents Windiness the great Torture of the tender Age by opening the all Salliports of Nature that the airy matter may pass away freely in their right Channels In a Word nothing can be more friendly if it be made as followeth Take Water as you please for quantity make it boiling hot then have ready some ground Oatmeal which first temper with a little cold Water and then put it into your Vessel stir it about and let it stand on the Fire till it rises up or begins to boyl then keep