PLATE XXXI.—CUTTING A SHEEP (AFTER DELIVERING THE CUT).
PLATE XXXI.
To Cut a Sheep in Two at One Stroke.
Get the carcase of a sheep dressed in the ordinary way, as you see them hanging in a butcher’s shop before they are cut up into joints.
Suspend it on a gallows by the hind legs with the belly towards you, then standing with your right toes in a line with the spine of the sheep, and so near that the centre of percussion of your sword will reach the back bone, and aiming at the part where the butcher separates the neck from the loin, deliver your cut as at the lead.
Take care to throw the point of your sword to your right front as you finish the cut, or you will leave part of the flank uncut.
To Cut a Leg of Mutton in Two at One Stroke.
Hang a leg of mutton by the shank with the bone side to your left, so that your sword will strike it first, and aiming at the “pope’s eye,” deliver your cut as at the lead.
Be particularly careful to grasp your sword tightly, or the bone, which is exceedingly hard, may cause it to turn in your hand.
This is rather a risky feat, for the reason that you have so little space to cut at in order to make a good section.