CHAPTER IV 



MEAD 



Mead, meath, metheglin, hydromel, all of which terms 

 may be considered as synonymous, is a beverage prepared 

 by the fermentation of honey, the potency of which 

 varies according to the amount of honey used in its 

 production. 



Previous to the introduction of malt liquors mead was 

 the universal drink of northern nations, and was held 

 in the highest estimation — even Ossian sings its praises. 



Bevan in his " Honey Bee," however, holds it in but 

 light esteem, and considers that our ancestors' liking 

 for this beverage must have proceeded "either from 

 their unpampered simplicity of taste, or from their 

 having a better method of making their mead than has 

 been handed down to posterity." 



The truth of the matter probably lies in the fact that 

 much of the mead met with at the present time (and 

 probably more so at the time Bevan wrote) is made 

 by cottagers from the worst of the honey which can be 

 used in no other way, mixed with the rinsings from old, 

 black, and often mouldy pollen-choked combs, whereas 

 our fore-fathers would probably use the best of the honey 

 at their disposal for the brewing of their favourite drink. 



Cassell's " Dictionary of Cooking " gives the following 

 methods of preparing mead : — 



" Let the whites of six eggs be well incorporated with 

 twelve gallons of water, to which add twenty pounds of 

 honey. Boil these ingredients for an hour, then put into 



