So highly were these beautiful and stately birds esteemed by our ancestors that, by an act of Edward the Fourth, no person who possessed a freehold of less yearly value than five marks was permitted to keep them. At this day the stealing of swans is considered a felonious act; and there is a penalty for stealing the eggs, of twenty shillings each.
Swans were formerly served up at almost every great feast. At Archbishop Neville's feast in the reign of Edward the Fourth, there were no fewer than 400 of these birds. At present, the cygnets, or young swans, only are eaten. Considerable numbers of these are annually fattened near Norwich, about Christmas, and chiefly for the table of the corporation of that city.
The nest of the swan is formed, about the month of February, of grass, and generally among reeds near the water. The eggs are six or eight in number, of large size and white colour.
183. The WILD GOOSE (Anas anser) is distinguished by having a somewhat cylindrical bill, the body ash-coloured above and paler beneath, and the neck striate.
Large flocks of wild geese frequent all the fenny districts of England, and are also found in the northern parts of the continents of Europe, Asia, and America.
These birds are killed on account of their flesh which is an excellent and nutritive food; and they are the stock from which our common or tame geese have been obtained.
Vast numbers of the latter are kept in the fens of Lincolnshire, and other parts of England, and chiefly for the sake of their quills and feathers. Of these they are unmercifully stripped, whilst alive, once every year for the former, and five times for the latter. The quills, or large feathers of the wings, are termed firsts, seconds, and thirds, from the order in which they grow. The last two kinds are those principally used in writing, on account of the larger size of their barrels. And as the utility and value of quills, in the making of pens, greatly depend on their firmness and elasticity, different expedients have been contrived to harden them. The most simple of these is to thrust the barrels, for a few moments, into hot sand or ashes, afterwards to press them almost flat with a penknife, and then to restore their roundness by the fingers, with the assistance of a piece of leather or woollen cloth, removing at the same time their external roughness by the friction. But when great numbers are to be prepared, other methods are adopted. Aqua-fortis is frequently employed in the preparation of quills, by which they are stained a yellow colour.
All the best feathers that are used in this country for making beds, bolsters, and pillows, are those of geese: and such as are obtained in the county of Somerset are generally esteemed the best. Great quantities of goose and other feathers are annually imported from the north of Europe; but these being insufficient for the demand, the feathers of cocks and hens, and also of ducks and turkeys, all of which are much inferior to those of geese, are frequently mixed with them. The best mode of preserving feathers is to expose them, in a room, to the rays of the sun; and, as soon as they are thoroughly dried, to put them loosely into bags, in which they should be well beaten to cleanse them from dust and filth. Of late years feathers have been manufactured into hats.
The usual weight of a fine goose is fifteen or sixteen pounds, but it is scarcely credible how far this weight may be increased, by cramming the birds with bean-meal, and other fattening diet. It some places it is customary to nail them to the floor by the webs of the feet, to prevent any possibility of action, and thus to fatten them the more readily. In Vienna the livers of geese are esteemed a great delicacy. They are eaten stewed, and some of the German poulterers have a method of making them grow to an enormous size.
In the choosing of geese for the table, care should be taken that the feet and legs be yellow, which is an indication of the bird's being young: the legs of old geese are red. If recently killed, the legs will be pliable, but if stale they will generally be found dry and stiff.