These offices must have been of considerable importance, for when money went much further than it does nowadays, an annual fee of £40 for “stilling waters” was a high one.
For never resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter, and confounds him there;
Sap check’d with frost, and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o’ershow’d, and bareness everywhere.
Then, were not summer’s distillation left,
A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass,
Beauty’s effect with beauty were bereft,
Nor it, nor no remembrance what it was.
But flowers distill’d, though they with winter meet
Lese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.
Sonnet V.—Shakespeare.
Among some charming recipes Mrs Roundell gives a charming one for “Dorothea Roundell’s Sweet-Jar.” But, perhaps, even sweeter is the next recipe, called simply Sweet-Jar.
Sweet-Jar.
“½ lb. bay salt, ¼ lb. salt-petre and common salt, all to be bruised and put on six baskets of rose-leaves, 24 bay leaves torn to bits, a handful of sweet myrtle leaves, 6 handfuls of lavender blossom, a handful of orange or syringa blossoms, the same of sweet violets, and the same of the red of clove carnations. After having well stirred every day for a week, add ½ oz. cloves, 4 oz. orris root, ½ oz. cinnamon, and two nutmegs all pounded; put on the roses, kept well covered up in a china jar and stirred sometimes.” The recipe of a delicious Pot Pourri made in a country house in Devonshire has also been very kindly sent me:—
Pot Pourri.
“Gather flowers in the morning when dry and lay them in the sun till the evening.
| Roses. | |||
| Orange flowers. | |||
| Jasmine. | |||
| Lavender. | |||
| Thyme. | - | In smaller quantities. | |
| Marjoram. | |||
| Sage. | |||
| Bay. | |||
“Put them into an earthen wide jar, or hand basin, in layers. Add the following ingredients:—