180 PHEASANT. 



The use of the eggs of our common Poultry is too well known to 

 be enlarged on in this place ; suffice it to say, that they enter very 

 many of our savoury dishes, and prove not only palatable, but 

 particularly nutritious. The custom of staining eggs with various 

 colours is, if not wholly exploded, at present but little used ; but in 

 Catholic times, both here, as in other nations, they were put up as 

 ornaments at tables, or placed on cupboards. Mr. Brand* mentions, 

 that the custom of presenting such eggs to children, at Easter, still 

 continues in the North of England, and are called Paste (Pasque) 

 Eggs. In Hackluyt's Voyages, f among the descriptions of the 

 manners of Russia, about the 16th century, the circumstance of 

 these painted eggs is mentioned. " Every Yeare against Easter they 

 " die, or colour red with Brazzell, a great number of Egges, of 

 " which every Man and Woman giveth one unto the Priest of their 

 " Parish upon Easter Day in the Morning, and moreover, the 

 " common People use to carrie in their Hands one of these red 

 " Egges, not only upon Easter Day, but also 3 or 4 Dayes after, and 

 " Gentlemen and Gentlewomen have Egges gilded, which they 

 " carry in the same manner," &c. 



Clarke, in his Travels, mentions the same ceremony of present- 

 ing eggs, at Easter, as being continued in Russia to this present day, 

 with this addition : — On Easter Monday begins the presentation of 

 the Pascal Eggs, ; lovers to their mistresses, relatives to each other, 

 servants to their masters, all bring ornamented eggs ; every offering 

 at this season is called a Pascal Egg : the meanest pauper in the 

 street, presenting an egg, and repeating the words Christos vos cress, 

 may demand a salute even of the Empress. % 



The use of feathers of all kinds is experienced by most, parti- 

 cularly in stuffing for beds, pillows, mattresses, and such like, in 



* Antiq. Com. Peop. p. 310. f Edit. 1589. p. 342. 



% Travels in Russia, Sfc. 1810. p. 59. Stained eggs, ornamented with figures scratched 

 on them, were sold in the streets of Paris, during the Easter holidays, in the year 1771. — 

 Thunb. Trav. i. p. 53. 



