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Swan, Potted

Skin the swan, and take out all the bones; cut the flesh into small pieces, and pound them in a mortar. Pound also with them some clean fat bacon, adding a little at a time. Beat this up with the flesh of the swan, so as to incorporate the two like an amalgam. When the mass has assumed a light flesh-colour, no more bacon need be added. Continue to beat the meat until it is of the consistency of dough. Season it with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmeg, all finely powdered and well mixed and beaten up with it. Put the mass now into a baking-pan with a good glassful of port wine and the same quantity of water; cover the top with two pounds of cold fresh butter. Cover the pan with a coarse paste of flour and water. Bake it in an oven heated as for bread. When it is done, take off the crust, turn out the meat into a dish, and having gently squeezed the moisture out of it, put it into pots. When cold pour over it clarified butter.