H. W. Lewer.
11th August, 1908.
A BOOK OF SIMPLES
1. The Wood-street Cake.
Take a quarter of a peck of ye finest flower, mingle into it a little salt & some beaten Cloves Mace & Nutmegs, a pound and halfe of Currance wash’d and dry’d, & a pound of Raisins of ye Sun ston’d and shred, then straine in about a pinte of Ale yeast, and put in ye yolkes of 10 eggs beaten with Rose water, put in a pint of Cream with 3 quarters of a pound of Butter melted in it. mingle all these well together, and knead it, cover it with a clothe and let it stand about an hour before ye fire to rise, then mould it up and beat it out thinn in ye edges and thick in ye middle, then prick it or cut it wth a knife, and set it in ye oven, when it is almost bak’d take it out and ice it on ye top wth Rose water & sugar and sett it in ye oven againe ’till ’tis enough, putt some musk or Ambergreese dissolv’d in ye Rose water.
2. Pectorals for a Colde or Consumption.
Take one pound of brown Sugar Candy, one Ounce of Juice of Lycorisse, dissolve ye lycorisse in 3 spoonfulls of Hysop water, put to these a drachm of Orrice a drachm of Enul-campane, halfe a drachm of Gum dragon being all made into fine powder, muske a graine then take a drachm of oyle of Anniseeds, worke it well together with your hand and make it up into pectorals of what bigness you please, lay them on a dish to dry before ye fire or in an oven after drawn bread, and keep them dry.
3. The Plague Water.
Take Rue, Agrimony, Celandine, Sage, Wormewood, Balme, Feaverfue, Mugwort, Tormentil, Marygold flowers, Cowslip flowers, Pansie flowers leaves and all, Carduus, Angelicoe, Dragons, Pimpernel, Rosemary, Scordium, Purple wort, Burnet, Enul campane roots, of each of these halfe a pound shred small, then take Anniseeds, Carraway, Coriander, Cardamome, of each of these two ounces bruis’d, bruise alsoe your Enul campane roots, then steep all these in an earthen pott in two quarts of white wine and a gallon of ye best Canary, mixing them well in ye liquor, so let it stand till ye next day, then distill it in an ordinary still close stop’d, still it as soon as you can keeping it close stop’d whilst it steeps and whilst you still it, stirring it when you put it into ye still, soe keep it for your use.