1868, Rejoicings at Cardiff
The rejoicings at Cardiff, which lasted a full week, included the public roasting of two oxen, one in the old river-bed, the other at the head of the west dock. The Corporation also entertained Bute to a banquet, of which the bill of fare is worth reproducing, as a specimen of the Gargantuan scale on which such things were done in mid-Victorian days:
Soups.—Mock turtle, ox-tail, Julienne, vermicelli.
Fish.—Turbot and lobster sauce, mullet à la cardinal, crimped cod and oyster sauce, filets de sole.
Removes.—Haunch venison, boiled leg of lamb, roast beef, green goose, rouleau of veal, ragout sausages, roast chicken, boiled turkey (Bechamel), braised rump beef, saddle mutton, turkey à la royale, forced calves' head, ducks, rouleau of venison, boiled chicken, tongues, hams.
Entrées.—Sweetbreads à la Princesse, lamb-cutlets au Jersey, compôt of pigeons, fillet of chicken à la royale, filet de boeuf, kidneys au champagne, pork cutlets and tomato sauce, vol-au-vent.
Game.—Partridges, hares, grouse.
Sweets.—Ice pudding, Snowdon pudding, plum pie and cream, macaroni au gratin, Charlotte Russe, cabinet pudding, Italian cream, pastries (various), jellies (various).
The dinner, it was reported, "gave great satisfaction"; and it is only to be hoped that those of the guests who worked conscientiously through the menu did not live to repent it.
Bute spent the rest of the autumn, after coming of age, quietly at Cardiff, reading much, and preparing himself for the important step—his reception into the Catholic Church—which he now felt himself free to take. He had already begun to obey the dietary rules prescribed to the faithful (he found them always extremely trying, though he observed them strictly all his life).