much Wild-thyme Rosemary and Flowers is best It is of three sorts Virgin-honey Life-honey and Stock-honey The first is the best The Life-honey next The Virginâ—honey is of Bees that swarmed the Spring before and are taken up in Autumn and is made best by chusing the Whiâ—est combs of the Hive and then letting the Honey run out of them lying upon a Sieve without pressing it or breaking of the Combs The Life-honey is of the same Combs broken after the Virgin-honey is run from it The Merchants of Honey do use to mingle all the â—orts together The first of a Swarm is called Virgin-honey That of the next year after the Swarm was hatched is Life-honey And ever after it is Honey of Old-stocks Honey that is forced out of the Combs will always taste of Wax Hampshire Honey is most esteemed at London About Bisleter there is excellent good Some account Norfolk honey the best Mr. Corsellises Antwerp Meath To make good Meath good White and thick Marsilian or Provence-honey is best and of that to four Holland Pints the Holland Pint is very little bigger then the English Wine-pint of Water you must put two pound of Honey The Honey must be stirred in Water till it be all melted If it be stirred about in warm water it will melt so much the sooner When all is dissolved it must be so strong that an Egge may swim in it with the end upwards And if it be too sweet or too strong because there is too much Honey then you must put more water to it yet so that as above an Hens Egge may swim with the point upwards And then that newly added water must be likewise well stirred about so that it may be mingled all alike If the Eggs sink which is a token that there is not honey enough then you must put more Honey to it and stir about till it be all dissolved and the Eggs swim as abovesaid This being done it must be hanged over the fire and as it beginneth to seeth the scum that doth arise upon it both before and after must be clean skimed off When it is first set upon the fire you must measure it first with a stick how deep the Kettel is or how much Liquor there be in it and then it must boil so long till one third part of it be boiled away When it is thus boiled it must be poured out into a Cooler or open vessel before it be tunned in the Barrel but the Bung-hole must be left open that it may have vent A vessel which hath served for Sack is best To make excellent Meathe To every quart of Honey take four quarts of water Put your water in a clean Kettle oâ—er the fire and with a stick take the just measure how high the water cometh making a notch where the superficies toucheth the stick As soon as the water is warm put in your Honey and let it boil skiming it always till it be very clean Then put to every Gallon of water one pound of the best Blew-raisins of the Sun first clean picked from the stalks and clean washed Let them remain in the boiling Liquor till they be throughly swollen and soft Then take them out and put them into a Hair-bag and strain all the juice and pulp and substance from them in an Apothecaries Press which put back into your liquor and let it boil till it be consumed just to the notch you took at first for the measure of your water alone Then let your Liquor run through a Hair-strainer into an empty Woodden-fat which must stand endwise with the head of the upper-end out and there let it remain till the next day that the liquor be quite cold Then Tun it up into a good Barrel not filled quite full but within three or four fingers breadth where Sack hath been is the best and let the bung remain open for six weeks with a double bolter-cloth lying upon it to keep out any foulness from falling in Then stop it up close and drink not of it till after nine months This Meathe is singularly good for a Consumption Stone Gravel Weak-sight and many more things A Chief Burgomaster of Antwerpe used for many years to drink no other drink but this at Meals and all times even for pledging of healths And though He were an old man he was of an extraordinary vigor every way and had every year a Child had always a great appetite and good digestion and yet was not faâ— A weaker but very pleasant Meathe To every quart of Honey take six of water boil it till â…“ be consumed skiming it well all the while Then pour it into an open Fat and let it cool When the heat is well slakened break into a Bowl-full of this warm Liquor a New-laid-egge beating the yolk and white well with it then put it into the Fat to all the rest of the Liquor and stir it well together and it will become very clear Then pour it into a fit very clean Barrel and put to it some Mother of Wine that is in it's best fermentation or working and this will make the Liquor work also This will be ready to drink in three or four Months or sooner An Excellent white Meathe Take one Gallon of Honey and four of water Boil and scum them till there rise no more scum then put in your Spice a little bruised which is most of Cinnamon a little Ginger a little Mace and a very little Cloves Boil it with the Spice in it till it bear an Egge Then take it from the fire and let it Cool in a Woodden vessel till it be but lukewarm which this quantity will be in four or five or six hours Then put into it a hot â—ost of Whitebread spread over on both sides pretty thick with fresh barm that will make it presently work Let it work twelve hours close covered with Cloves Then Tun it into a Runlet wherein Sack hath been that is somewhat too big for that quantity of Liquor for example that it fill it not by a Gallon You may then put a little Limon-pill in with it After it hath remained in the vessel a week or ten days draw it into Bottles You may begin to drink it after two or three Months But it will be better after a year It will be very Spritely and quick and pleasant and pure white A Receipt to make a Tun of Metheglin Take two handfuls of Dock alià s wild Carâ—ot a reasonable burthen of Saxifrage Wild-sage Blew-button Scabious Bettony Agrimony Wild-marjoram of each a reasonable burthen Wildâ—thyme a Peck Roots and all All these are to be gathered in the fields between the two Lady days in Harvest The Garden-herbs are these Bay-leaves and Rosemary of each two handfuls A Sieveful of Avens and as much Violet-leaves A handful of Sage three handfuls of Sweet-Marjoram Three Roots of young Borrage leaves and all that hath not born seed Two handfuls of Parsley-roots and all that hath not
honey boil it c. When it is tunned up hang in it a bag containing five handfuls of Clove-gilly-flowers and sufficient quantity of the spices above In both these Receipts the quantity of the herbs is too great The strong herbs preserve the drink and make it nobler Use Marjoram and Thyme in little quantity in all My Lady Gowers white Meathe used at Salisbury Take to four Gallons of water one Gallon of Virgin-honey let the water be warn before you put in the honey and then put in the whites of 3 or 4 Eggs well beaten to make the scum rise When the honey is throughly melted and ready to boil put in an Egge with the shell softly and when the Egge riseth above the water to the bigness of a groat in sight it is strong enough of the honey The Egge will quickly be hard and so will not rise Therefore you must put in another if the first do not rise to your sight you must put in more water and honey proportionable to the first because of wasting away in the boiling It must boil near an hour You may if you please boil in it a little bundle of Rosemary Sweet-marjoram and Thyme and when it taâ—teth to your liking take it forth again Many do put Sweet-bryar berries in it which is held very good When your Meath is boiled enough take it off the fire and put it into a Kive when it is blood-warm put in some Ale-barm to make it work and cover it close with a blancket in the working The next morning tun it up and if you please put in a bag with a little Ginger and a little Nutmeg bruised and when it hath done working stop it up close for a Moneth and then Bottle it Sir Thomas Gower's Metheglin for health First boil the water and scum it Then to 12 Gallons put 6 handfuls of Sweet-bryar-leaves of Sweet-marjoram Rosemary Thyme of each one a handful Flowers of Marigold Borrage Bugloss Sage each two handfuls Boil all together very gently till a third waste To eight Gallons of this put two Gallons of pure honey and boil them till the Liquor bear an Egge the breadth of threepence or a Groat together with such spices as you like bruised but not beaten an ounce of all is sufficient You must observe carefully 1. Before you set the Liquor to boil to cause a lusty Servant his Arms well washed to mix the honey and water together labouring it with his hands at least an hour without intermission 2. That when it begins to boil fast you take away part of the fire so as it may boil slowly and the scum and dross go all to one side the other remaining clear When you take it off let none of the Liquor go away with the dross 3. When you take it from the fire let it settle well before it be tunned into the vessel wherein you mean to keep it and when it comes near the bottom let it be taken carefully from the sediment with a thin Dish so as nothing be put into the vessel but what is clear 4. Stop it very close when it is set in the place where it must remain cover it with a cloth upon which some handfuls of Bay-salt and Salpeter is laid and over that lay clay and a Turf 5. Put into it when you stop it some New-laid-eggs in number proportionable to the bigness of the vessel Shell's unbroken Six Eggs to about sixteen Gallons The whole Egg-shell and all will be entirely consumed Metheglin for taste and Colour Must be boiled as the other if you intend to keep it above half a year but less according to the time wherein you mean to use it You must put in no Herbs to avoid bitterness and discolouring and the proportion of water and honey more or less as you would drink it sooner or later as a Gallon of honey to 4 5 or 6 of water If to be weak and to be soon drunk you must when it is tunned put in a Tost of bread hard tosted upon which half a score drops of Spâ—rit of yest or barm is dropped for want of it spread it with purest barm beaten with a few drops of Oyl of Cinnamon If you intend to give it the taste of Raspes then adde more barm to make it work well and during that time of working put in your Raspes or their Syrup but the fruit gives a delicate Colour and Syrup a duller Tincture Drink not that made after the first manner till six moneths and it will endure drawing better then wine but Bottleled it is more spirited then any drink The Spirit of Barm is made by putting store of water to the barm then distill the Spirit as you do other Spirits At last an oyl will come which is not for this use Sir Thomas Gower maketh his ordinary drink thus Make â—ery small well Brewed Ale To eight Gallons of this put one Gallon of honey when it is well dissolved and clarified tun up the Liquor making it work in due manner with barm When it hath done working stop it up close and in three months it will be fit to drink He makes Metheglin thus Make a good Decoct of Eglantine-leaves Cowslip flowers a little Sweet-marjoram and some Rosemary and Bayleaves Betony and Scabious and a little Thyme After the sediment hath settled put â…“ or ¼ or 1 5 or 1 6 part of honey according as you would have it strong and soon ready to the clear severed from the settlement and stir it exceeding well with stripped arms 4 or 5 hours till it be perfectly incorporated Then boil and scum it let it then cool and tun it up c. After it hath cooled lade tâ—e clean from the settlement so that it may not trouble it and tun up the clear thus severed from the settlings Much of the perfection consisteth in stirring it long with stripped arms before you boil it Then to boil it very leisurely till all the scum be off And order your fire so that the scum may rise and drive all to one side This will be exceeding pale clear and pleasant Metheglin He useth to every Gâ—llon of water a good handful of Eglantine-leaves and as much Cowslip flowers but onely a Pugil of Thyme or Marjoram An Excellent way of making white Metheglin Take of Sweet-bryar berries of Rosemary broad Thyme of each a handful Boil them in a quantity of fair water for half an hour then cleanse the water from the herbs and let it stand 24 hours until it be thorough cold Then put your hony into it hony which floweth from the Combs of it self in a warm place is best make it so strong of the honey that it bear an egge if you will have it strong the breadth of a groat above the Liquor This being done lave and bounce it very well and often that the honey and water may incorporate and work well together After this boil it softly over a gentle fire and scum it Then beat
it remain a week in the barrel with a bag of Elder-flowers then bottle it 2. Small Take ten quarts of water and one of honey Balm a little Minth Cloves Limon-peel Elder-flowers a little Ginger wrought with a little yest bottle it after a night working 3. Strong Take ten Gallons of water thirteen quarts of honey with Angelica Borrage and Bugloss Rosemary Balm and Sweet-bryar pour it into a barrel upon three spoonfuls of yest hang in a bag Cloves Elder-flowers and a little Ginger 4. Very Strong Take ten Gallons of Water and four of honey with sea-worm-wood a little Sage Rosemary put it in a barrel after three days cooling Put no yest to it Stop it close and bottle it after three or four months 5. Very Strong To ten Gallons of water take four of honey Clarifie it with flower and put into it Angelica Rosemary Bayleaves Balm Barrel it without yest Hang in a bag Cloves Elder-flowers a lttle Ginger 6. Very strong Take ten Gallons of water and four of Honey Boil nothing in it Barrel it when cold without yest Hang in it a bag with Cloves Elder-flowers a llittle Ginger and Limon peel which throw away when it hath done working and stop it close You may make also strong and small by putting into it Orris-roots or with Rose-mary Betony Eyebright and Wood-sorrel or adding to it the tops of Hypericon with the flowers of it Sweet-bryar Lilly of the valley To make Meath Take three Gallons of water a quart of Honey if it be not strong enough you may adde more Boil it apace an hour and scum it very clean Then take it off and set it a working at such heat as you set Beer with good yest Then put it in a Runlet and at three days end draw it out in stone bottles into every one put a piece of Limon-peel and two Cloves It is only put into the Runlet whilest it worketh to avoid the breaking of the Bottles Sir John Arundel's White Meath Take three Gallons of Honey and twelve Gallons of water mix the honey and water very well together till the honey is dissolved so let it stand twelve hours Then put in a New-laid-egg if the Liquor beareth the Egg that you see the breadth of a groat upon the Egg dry you may set it over the fire if it doth not bear the Egg then you must adde a quart or three pints more to the rest and then set it over the fire and let it boil gently till you have skimed it very clean and clarified it as you would do Suggar with the whites of three New-laid-eggs When it is thus made clear from all scum let it boil a full hour or more till the fourth part of it is wasted then take it off the fire and let it stand till the next day Then put in into a vessel When it hath been in the barrel five or six days make a white tost and dip it into new yeast ans put the tost into the barrel and let it work When it hath done working stop it up very close This keep three quarters of a year You may drind in within half a year if you please You may adde in the boiling of what herbs you like the taste or what is Physical To make Metheglin Take eight Gallons of water and set it over a clear fire in a Kettle and when it is warm put into it sixteen pound of very good honey stir it well together till it be all mixed and when it boileth take off the scum and put in two large Nutmegs cut into quarters and so let it boil at least an hour Then take it off and put into it own good handfuls of grinded Malt and with a white staff keep beating it together till it be almost cold then strain it through a hair sieve into a tub and put to it a wine pint of Ale-yest and stir it very well together and when it is cold you may if you please Tun it up picsently in a vessel fit for it or else let it stand and work a day And when it hath done working in your vessel stop it up very close It will be three weeks or a month before it will be ready to drink To make white Meath Take six Gallons of water and put in six quarts of honey stirring it till the honey be throughly melted then set it over the fire and when it is ready to boil skim it very clean Then put in a quarter of ounce of Mace so much Ginger half an ounce of Nutmegs Sweet-marjoram Broad-thyme and Sweet-bryar of altogether a handful and boil them well therein Then set it by till it be through cold and then Barrel it up and keep it till it be ripe To make a Meath good for the Liver and Lungs Take of the Roots of Colts-foot Fennel and Fearn each four Ounces Of Succory-roots Sorrel-roots Strawbery-roots Bittersweet-roots each two Ounces of Scabious-roots and Elecampane-roots each an Ounce and a half Ground-ivy Hore-hound Oak of Jerusalem Lung-wort Liver-wort Maiden hair Harts-tongue of each two good-fulls Licorish four Ounces Jujubes Raisins of the Sun and Currents of each two Ounces let the roots be sliced and the herbs be broken a little with your hands and boil all these in twenty quarts of fair running water or if you have it in Rain water with five Pints of good white honey until one third part be boiled away then pour the Liquor though a jelly bag often upon a little Coriander-seeds and Cinnamon and when it runneth very clear put it into Bottles well stopped and set it cool for your use and drink every morning a good draught of it and at five in the afternoone To make white Metheglin Put to three Gallons of Spring-water one of honey First let it gently melt then boil for an hour continually skiming it then put it into an earthen or a woodden vessel and when it is a little more then Blood-warm set it with Ale-yest and so let it stand twelve hours Then take off the yest and bottle it up Put into it Limon-peel and Cloves or what best pleaseth your raste of Spice or Herbs Eringo-roots put into it when it is boiling maketh it much better Note That if you make Hydromel by fermentation in the hot Sun which will last about fourty days and requireth the greater heat you must take it thence before it be quite ended working and stop it up very close and set it in a cold Cellar and not pierce it in two months at the soonest It will be very good this way if you make it so strong as to bear an Egge very boyant It is best made by taking all the Canicular days into your fermentation A very good Meath Put three parts of water to one of honey When the Honey is dissolved it is to bear an Egge boyant Boil it and skim it perfectly clear You may boil in it Pellitory of the wall Agrimony or what herds you please To every ten
of an hour then let it stand and cool and being Lukewarm put to every five Gallons about three quarts of Yest and let it work a night and a day Then take off the Yest and strain it into a Runlet and when it hath done working then stop it up and so let it remain a month then drawing out into bottles put into every bottle two or three stoned Raisins and a lump of Loaf-sugar It may be drunk in two months Another very good white Meath Take to every Gallon of water a quart of Honey boil in it a little Rose-mary and Sweet-marjoram but a large quantity of Sweet-bryar-leaves and a reasonable proportion of Ginger boil these in the Liquor when it is skimmed and work it in due time with a little barm Then tun it in a vessel and draw it into bottles after it is sufficiently settled Whites of Eggs with the shells beaten together do clarifie Meath best If you will have your Meath cooling use Violet and Straw-berry-leaves Agrimony Eglantine and the like adding Borage and Bugloss and a little Rose-mary and Sweet-Marjoram to give it Vigor Tartar makes it work well To make white Metheglin Take to three Gallons of Spring-water one of Honey first let it gently melt then boil for an hour continually skiming it then put it into an earthen or woodden vessel and when it is little more then Blood-warm set it with Ale-yest and so let it stand twelve hours then take off the Yest and Botâ—le it Put in it Limon-peel and Cloves or what best pleaseth your taste of Herbs or Spices Eringo-roots put into it when it is a boiling maketh it much better So do Clove-gilly flowers a quantity of which make the Meath look like Claret-wine I observe that Meath requireth some strong Herbs to make it quick and smart upon the Palate as Rose-mary Bay-leaves Sage Thyme Marjoram Winter-savory and such like which would be too strong and bitter in Ale or Beer To make white Meath Take Rose-mary Thyme Sweet-bryar Peny-royal and Bays Water-cresses Agrimony Marsh-mallows leaves and flowers Liver-wort Wood-betony Eye-bright Scabious of each a like quantity of the bark of Ash-tree of Eringo-rootsâ—green of each a proportion to the herbs of wild Angelica Ribwort Sanicle Roman-worm-wood of each a proportion which is to every handful of the Herbs above-named a sixteenth part of a handful of these latter steep them a night and a day in a woodden boul of water covered the next day boil them very well in another water till the colour be very high Then take another quantity of water and boil the herbs in it till it look green and so let it boil three or four times or as long as the liquor looketh any thing green then let it stand with these herbs in it a day and a night To every Gallon of this water put a quart of pure clear honey the Liquor being first strained from the herbs Your Liquor if it be strong enough will bear an Egg the breadth of a three pence above water When you have put the honey into the Liquor you must work and Labour it together a whole day until the honey be consumed Then let it stand a whole night again a clearing Then put it into a kettle and let it boil a quarter of an hour with the whites and shells of six Eggs Then strain it clean and so let it stand a cooling Then put it into a barrel and take Cloves Mace Cinamon Nutmegs and beat them together put them into a linnen bag hand it with a thread into the barrel If you would have it work that you may drink of it presently take the whites of two or three Eggs a spoonful of barm a spoonful of wheat-flower beat all these together Let it work before you stop it up Then afterwards stop it well with clay and salt tempered together to keep it moist To make Metheglin If your honey be tryed take six Gallons of Milk-warm-water to one of honey and stir it well together ever and anon and so let it stand for a day and night or half a day may serve then boil it with a gentle fire for the space of half an hour or thereabouts and skim it still as the skum ariseth After it is scummed once or twice you may put in your herbs and spice grosly beaten one half loose the other in a bag which afterwards may be fastned with a string to the tap-hole as Pepper Cloves Mace Ginger and the like when it is thus boiled let it stand in the vessel until it be cooled then Tun it up into your barrel and let it work two or three days or more before you stop the bung-hole but in putting up the boiled liquor into the barrel reserve the thick grounds back which will be settled in the pan or kettle If you would have it to drink within two or three months let it be no stronger then to bear an Egg to the top of the water If you would have it keep six months or longer before you drink it let it bear up the Egg the breadth of two pence above the water This is a surer way to proportion your honey then by measure And the time of the tryal of the strength is when you incorporate the honey and water together before the boiling of it Another sort of Meath Take thirty six Gallons of fountain water first boiled c. and dissolve twelve Gallons of Honey in it Keep them boiling an hour and a half after they begin to boil skimming well all the while It will be an hour upon the fire before it boil When it is clear and enough boiled pour it out into woodden vessels to cool When you are ready to Tun it have four Gallons of Black-currants bruise them in a stone mortar that they may the more easily part with their juyce to the Liquor Put them and their juyce into the barrel and pour the cool Liquor upon them so as the vessel be quite full Cover the bung with a plate of lead lying loose on that the working of the Liquor may lift it up as it needeth to cast out the filth And still as it worketh over fill it up with fresh Liquor made in the same proportion of honey and water A moneth after it works no longer stop up the bung very close To make very good Metheglin Take of all sorts of herbs that you think are good and wholsome as Balm Minth Fennel Rose-mary Angelica Wild-thyme Hyssop Agrimony Burnet and such other as you may like as also some field herbs But you must not put in too many especially Rose-mary or any strong herb Less then half a handfull will serve of every sort Boil your herbs and strain them out and let the Liquor stand till the morrow and settle Then take of the clearest of the Liquor two Gallons and a half to one Gallon of Honey and in that proportion take as much of them as you will make and let it boil an hour and
bâ—rm must not be mingled with the Meath but onely poured on the top of it Take an Ounce of Nutmeg sliced one Ounce of Ginger sliced one Ounce of Cinnamon cut in pieces and boil them a pretty while in a quart of White-wine or Sack when this is very cold strain it and put the Spices in a Canvass-bag to hang in your Meath and pour in the Wine it was boiled in This Meath will be drinkable when it is a fortnight or three weeks old To make Metheglin that looks like White-wine Take to twelve gallons of water a handful of each of these Herbs Parsley Eglantine Rosemary Strawberry-leaves Wild-â—hyme Baulme Liver-wort Betony Scabious when the water begins to boil cast in the herbs let them boil a quarter of an hour then strain out the herbs and when it is almost cold then put in as much of the best honey you can get as wâ—ll bear an Egg to the breadth of two pence that is till you can see no more of the Eggâ— above the water then a two pence will cover Lave it and stir it till you see all the honey be melted then boil it well half an hour at the least skim it well and put in the whites of six Eggs beaten to clarifie it Then strain it into some woodden vessels and when it is almost coâ—d put some Ale-barm into it And when it worketh well Tun it into some well seasoned vessel where neither Ale nor Beer hath been for marring the colour of it When it hath done working if you like it Take a quantity of Cloves Nutmegs Mace Cinnamon Ginger or any of these that you like best and bruise them and put them in a boulter bag and hang it in the vessel Put not too much of the Spice because many do not like the taste of much Spice If you make it at Michaelmas you may tap it at Christmas but if you keep it longer it will be the better It will look pure and drink with as much spirit as can be and very pleasant To make white Metheglin Take Sweet-marjoram Sweet-bryar-buds Violet-leaves Strawberry-leaves of each one handful and a good handful of Violet flowers the dubble ones are the best broad Thyme Borrage Agrimony of each half a handful and two or three branches of Rosemary The feeds of Carvi Coriander and Fennel of each two spoonfuls and three or four blades of largemace Boil all these in eight Gallons of running-water three quarters of an hour Then strain it and when it is but blood-warm put in as much of the best â—oney as will make the Liquor bear an Egg the breadth of six pence above the water Then boâ—l it again as long as any scum will rise Then set it abroad a cooling and when it is almost cold put in half a pint of good Ale-barm and when it hath wrought till you perceive the barm to fall then Tun it and let it work in the barrel till the barm leaveth rising filling it up every day with some of the same Liquor When you stop it up put in a bag with one Nutmeg sliced a little whole Cloves and Mace a stick of Cinnamon broken in pieces and a grain of good Musk. You may make this a little before Mâ—chaelmas and it will be fit to drink at Lent This is Sir Edward Bainton's Receipt Which my Lord of Portland who gave it me saith was the best he ever drunk To make a small Metheglin Take four Gallons of water and set it over the fire Put into it when it is warm eight pounds of honey as the scum riseth take it clean off When it is clear put into it three Nutmegs quartered three or four Races of Ginger sliced Then let all boil a whole hour Then take it off the fire and put to it two handfuls of ground Malt stir it about with a round stick till it be as cold as wort when you put yest to it Then strain it out into a pot or Tub that hath a spiggot and â—aucet and put to it a pint of very good Ale-yest so let it work for two days Then cover it close for about four or five days and so draw it our into bottles It will be ready to drink within three weeks To make Meath Take to six quarts of water a quart of the best honey and put it on the fire and stir it till the honey is melted and boil it well as long as any scum riseth and now and then put in a little cold water for this will make the scum rise keep your kettle up as full as you did put it on when it is boiled enough about half an hour before you take it off then take a quantity of Ginger sliced and well scraped first and a good quantity of Rosemary and boil both together Of the Rosemary and Ginger you may put in more or less for to please your taste And when you take it off the fire strain it into your vessel either a well seasoned-tub or a great cream pot and the next morning when it is cold pour off softly the top from the settlings into another vessel and then put some little quantity of the best Ale-barm to it and cover it with a thin cloth over it if it be in summer but in the winter it will be longer a ripening and therefore must be the warmer covered in a close place and when you go to bottle it take with a feather all the barm off and put it into your bottles and stop it up close In ten days you may drink it If you think six quarts of water be too much and would have it stronger then put in a greater quantity of honey Metheglin or Sweetâ—drink of My Lady Stuart Take as much water as will fill your Firkin of Rosemary Bays Sweet-bryar Broad-thyme Sweet-majoram of each a handful set it over the fire until the herbs have a little coloured the water then take it off and when it is cold put in as much honey till it will bear an Egg Then lave it three days morning and evening After that boil it again and skim it very clean and in the boiling clarifie it with the whites of six Eggs shells and all well beaten together Then take it off and put it to cool and when it is cold put it into your vessel and put to it three spoonfuls of yest stop it close and keep it till it be old at least three months A Metheglin for the Colick and Stone of the same Lady Take one Gallon of Honey to seven Gallons of water boil it together and skim it well then take Pelitory of the Wall Saxiâ—rage Betony Parsley Groundsel of each a handful of the seeds of Parsley of Nettles Fennel and Carraway-seeds Anisseeds and Grumelseeds of each two Ounces The roots of Parsley of Alexander of Fennel and Mallows of each two Ounces being small cut let all boil till near three Gallons of the Liquor is wasted Then take it off the fire and let it
And set the Coolers shelving tilted up that the Liquor might afterwards run the more quietly out of them After the Liquor had stood so about two hours he poured or laded out of some of the Coolers very gently that the dregs might not rise into other Coolers And about a pint of very thick dregs remained last in the bottom of every Cooler That which ran out was very clear After two hours more settling in a shelving situation He poured it out again into other Coolers and then very little dregs or scarce any in some of the Coolers did remain When the Liquor was even almost cold He took the yolks of three New-laid-eggs a spoonful of fine white flower and about half a pint of new fresh barm of good strong Beer you must have care that your barm be very white and clean not sullied and foul as is usual among slovenly Brewers in London Beat this very well together with a little of the Liquor in a skiming dish till you see it well incorporated and that it beginneth to work Then put it to a pailful of about two Gallons and a half of the Liquor and mingle it well therewith Then leave the skiming dish reversed floating in the middle of the Liquor and so the yest will work up into and under the hollow of the dish and grow out round about the sides without He left this well and thick covered all night from about eleven a clock at night And the next morning finding it had wrought very well He mingled what was in the Pail with the whole proportion of the Liquor and so Tunned it up into a Sack-cask I am not satisfied whether he did not put a spoonful of fine white good Mustard into his Barm before he brought it hither for he took a pretext to look out some pure clean white barm but he protested there was nothing mingled with the barm yet I am in doubt He confessed to me that in making of Sider He put 's in half as much Mustard as Barm but never in Meathe The fourth of September in the morning he Bottled up into Qâ—art-bottles the two lesser Rundlets of this Meathe for he did Tun the whole quantity into one large Rundlet and two little ones whereof the one contained thirty Bottles and the other twenty two There remained but little settling or dregs in the Bottom's of the Barrels but some there was The Bottles were set into a Cool Cellar and He said they would be ready to drink in three weeks The Proportion of Herbs and Spices is this That there be so much as to drown the luscious sweetness of the Honey but not so much as to taste of herbs or spice when you drink the Meathe But that the sweetness of the honey may kill their taste And so the Meathe have a pleasant taste but not of herbs nor spice nor honey And therefore you put more or less according to the time you will drink it in For a great deal will be mellowed away in a year that would be ungratefully strong in three months And the honey that will make it keep a year or two will require triple proportion of spice and herbs He commends Parsley-roots to be in greatest quantity boiled whole if young but quartered and pithed if great and old My own Considerations for making of Meathe Boil what quantity of Spring-water you please three or four walms and then let it settle twenty four hours and pour the clear from the settling Take sixteen Gallons of the clear and boil in it ten handfuls of Eglantine-leaves five of Liverwort five of Scaâ—ioâ—s four of Baulm four of Rosemary two of Bayleaves one of Thyme and one of Sweet-marjoram and five Eringo-roots splirted When the water hath drawn out the vertue of the herbs which it will do in half an hours boiling let it run through a strainer or sieve and let it settle so that you may pour the clear from the Dregs To every three Gallons of the Clear take one of Honey and with clean Arms stripped up lade it for two or three hours to dissolve the honey in the water lade it twice or thrice that day The next day boil it very gently to make the scum rise and scum it all the while and now and then pour to it a ladle full of cold water which will make the scum rise more when it is very clear from scum you may boil it the more strongly till it bear an Egge very high that the breadth of a groat be out of the water and that it boil high with great walms in the middle of the Kettle which boiling with great Bubbles in the middle is a sign it is boiled to it's height Then let it cool till it be Lukewarm at which time put some Ale-yest into it to make it work as you would do Ale And then put it up into a fit Barrel first seasoned with some good sweet White-wine as Canary-sack and keep the bung open till it have done working filling it up with some such honey-drink warmed as you find it sink down by working over When it hath almost done working put into it a bag of thin stuff such as Bakers use to bolt in faâ—tned by a Cord at the bung containing two parts of Ginger-sliced and one apiece of Cinamon Cloves and Nutmegs with a Pebble-stone in it to make it sink And stop it up close for six Months or a year and then you may draw it into Bottles If you like Cardamom-seeds you may adde some of them to the spices Some do like Mint exceedingly to be added to the other herbs Where no yeast is to be had The Liquor will work if you set it some days in the hot Sun with a cover like the roof of a house over it to keep wet out if it chance to rain but then you must have great care to fill it up as it consumeth and to stop it close a little before it hath done working and to set it then presently in a Cool Cellar I am told that the Leaven of bread will make it work as well as yest but I have not tryed it If you will not have it so strong it will be much sooner ready to drink As if you take six parts of water to one of Honey Some do like the drink better without either herbs or spices and it will be much the whiter If you will have it stronger put but Gallons and a half of water to one of honey You may use what Herbs or Roots you please either for their tast or vertue after the manner here set down If you make it work with yeast you must have great care to draw it into bottles soon after it hath done working as after a fortâ—ight or three weeks For that will make it soon grow stale and it will thence grow sower and dead before you are aware But if 〈◊〉 work â—ingly of it self and by help of the Sun without admixtion of either Leaven or Yeast
in the boiling scum it very clean Then set it a cooling as you do Beer and when it is cold take some very good Ale-barm and put it into the bottom of the Tub you mean the Metheglin shall work in which pour into the Tub by little and little as they do Beer keeping back the thick settling which lieth in the bottome of the vessels wherein it is cooled And when all is put together cover it with a cloth and let it work very near three days And when you mean to put it up scum off all the barm clean and put it up into your Barrel or Firkin which you must not stop very close in four or five days but let it have a little vent for it will work and when it is close stopped you must look to it very often and have a peg in the top to give it vent when you hear it make a noise as it will do or else it will break the barrel You may also if you please make a bag and put in good store of sliced Ginger and some Cloves and Cinnamon and boil it in or put it into the barrel and never boil it Both ways are good If you will make small Metheglin you may put fivse or six Gallons of water to one of honey Put in a little Cinnamon and Cloves and boil it well And when it is cold put it up in bottles very close stopped and the stopples well tyed on This will not keep above five or six weeks but it is very fine drink Make your Metheglin as soon as ever you take your Bees for if you wash your combs in the water you boil your herbs in when it is cold it will sweeten much But you must afterwards strain it through a cloth or else there will be much wax To make Meath If you will have it to keep a year or two take six parts of water and one of honey But if you will have it to keep longer take but four parts of water to one of honey Dissolve the honey very well in the water then boil it gently skimming it all the while as the scum riseth till no more scum riseth Then pour it out of the Copper into a fit vessel or vessels to cool Then Tun it up in a strong and sweet cask and let it stand in some place where there is some little warmth It will do as well without warmth but be longer growing ripe This will make it work At first a course foul matter will work over to which purpose it must be kept always full with fresh Liquor of the same as it worketh over When it begins to work more gently and that which riseth at the top is no more foul but is a white froth then fill and stop it up close and set it in a cool cellar where it is to stand continually After half a year or a year you may draw it off from the Lees into a clean vessel or let it remain untouched It is not fit to be drunk for it's perfection till the sweetness be quite worn off yet not to be sower but vinous You may drink it at meals instead of wine and is wholsomer and better then wine To small Meath that is to be drunk presently you may put a little Ginger to give it life and work it with a little barm If the Meâ—th work not at all it will nevertheless be good and peradventure better then that which worketh but it will be longer first and the dregs will fall down to the bottom though it work not Small Meath of eighth or nine parts of water to one of hoâ—ey will be very good though it never work but be barrell'd up as soon as it is cold and stopped close and after two or three months drunk from the barrel without botteling This is good for Meals To make white Meath Take to every three Gallons of water one Gallon of honey and set the water over the fire and let the honey melt before the water be too hot then put in a New-laid-eggs and feel with your hand if it comes half way the water it is strong enough Then put into it these Herbs Thyme Sweet-marjoram Winter-favoury Sweet-bryar and Bay-leaves in all a good great handful which a proportion for ten Gallons Then with a quick-fire boil it very fast half an hour and no longer and then take it from the fire and let it cool in two or three woodden vessels and let it stand without stirring twenty four hours Then softly drain it out leaving all the dregs behind Put the clear into your vessel and if you lâ—ke any spice take Ginger Nutmeg Cinnamon Mace and Cloves and bruise them a little and put them in a bag and let them hang in your vessel Before you put your Meath into the vessel try if it will bear an Egg as broad as a peny if it do then it is very well and if it be made with the best White-honey it usually is just so But if it should prove too strong that it bears the Egge broader then boil a little more honey and water very small and put to it when it is cold and then put it into the vessel It is best to be made at Michaelmas and not drunk of till Lent To make small white Meath Take of the best white-honey six quarts of Spring-water sixteen Gallons set it on a gentle fire at first tell it is melted and clean skimmed then make it boil a pace until the third part be consumed Then take it from the fire and put it in a cooler and when it is cold Tun it up and let it stand eight months before you drink it When you take it from the fire slice in three Orris-roots and let it remain in the Liquor when you Tun it up A Receipt to make Metheglin Take four Gallons of water two quarts of Honey two ounces of Ginger one ounce of Nutmegs a good handful of Rose-mary tops and as much of Bay-leaves two ounces of dried Orange-peel Boil all these till it be so strong as will bear an Egg and not sink when it is milk-warm work it up with barm during twenty four hours and then barrel it up And after three months you may bottle it up at your pleasure As you desire a greater quantity of the drink you must augment the ingredients according to the proportions above recited To make Metheglin Take four Gallons of water and one of Honey boil and skim it then put into it Liver-wort Harts-tongue Wild-carroâ— and Yarrow a little Rose-mary and Bays one Parsly-root and a Fennel-root let them boil an hour altogether You may if you please hang a little bag of spice in it When it is cold put a little barm to it and let it work like Beer The roots must be scraped and the Pith taken out Meath from the Muscovian Ambassadour's Steward Take three times as much water as honey then let the tubs that the honey must be wrought in be cleansed