Mead 217 



'•' Wash refuse combs in water, after extracting from them 

 as much of the honey as will run ; then boil for a few 

 minutes. This liquor will not require tartar or yeast. It 

 should be tunned as soon as cool, bunged down in three or 

 four days, and drunk in a few weeks." 



This is simplicity itself, and Thorley gives us another 

 simple recipe for mead, which, he affirms, is " not inferior to 

 the Best of foreign Wines." 



'^ Put three pounds of the finest Honey to one Gallon of 

 Water ; boil it half an Hour (well scummed) then put in 

 while boiling two Lemon Peels to each Gallon of the un- 

 hoiled mixture. Work it with Yeast, then put it in your 

 vessel with the Peel, to stand five or six months, and bottle 

 it off for your use. 



" N. B. If you chuse to keep it several years put four 

 Pounds to a Gallon." 



Bevan says, — 



" In some parts of Wales the refuse combs are brewed 

 with malt, spices, etc., and the produce is called Braggot, 

 a name derived from the old British words brag and gots, 

 the former meaning malt, the latter hotiey-cotubP 



Metheglin is said to have been mead of the best quality, 

 and in literature metheglin is frequently used instead of 

 rtiead. 



Butler instructs us thus concerning the virtue and the 

 making of burnt metheglin : — 



"And as good and old metheglin excelleth all wines, as 

 well for pleasantness in taste as for health ; so being burnt, 

 it is better than any burnt wine, for comforting and settling 

 of a weak and sick stomach, and for creating the natural 

 heat. 



" The manner of burning it (if you know not) may be 

 this : First set on the fire a deep skillet or kettle almost 

 full of water : when it boileth, put in a pewter pot full of 



