To a gravy of beef (good and strong) I opine
You’ll be right if you add half a pint of port wine:
Pour this through the Swan—yes, quite through the belly:
Then serve the whole up with some hot currant jelly.
N. B.—The Swan must not be skinned.
ANOTHER RECEIPT.
Take two pounds of rump steak, chop it fine, season well with spice, a piece of onion, or eschalot, and butter. Rub the breast both inside and outside with beaten cloves, then stuff with the above, taking care to sew the bird up carefully, and to tie it very tightly on the spit, so that the gravy may not escape. Inclose the breast of the swan in a meal-paste, after which cover the whole bird with paper well greased with beef dripping. About a quarter of an hour before the bird is taken up, remove the paper and the paste, baste well with butter and flour till brown and frothy. A swan of fifteen pounds weight requires about two hours roasting with a fire not too fierce.
THE GRAVY.
Take the giblets and a piece of beef, with a pint of port wine, and make a good gravy. Pour some of this through the body of the swan when dished. Some red currant jelly and port wine should be made hot and served up likewise.
N. B.—The swan is not to be skinned.
Cock a Leekie à la Wemyss.
To some good stock made the previous night from an old fowl, or of veal, add three pounds of the white part of the leeks, and let the whole boil slowly for three hours, then add a skinned fowl (old or young), cut into neat pieces, and three dozen of good prunes. Let all simmer together for one hour longer. Season with salt and white pepper, and you will have good cock a leekie.
N. B.—In frost the leeks require less boiling.