“"A little mushroom table spread After _the dance_, they set on bread, A _yellow corn of hecky_ wheat With some small _sandy_ grit to eat His choice bits; with _which_ in a trice They make a feast less great than nice. But all _the_ while his eye _was_ served We _dare_ not think his ear was sterved: But that there was in place to stir His _fire_ the _pittering_ Grasshopper; The merry Cricket, puling Fly, The piping Gnat for minstralcy. _The Humming Dor, the dying Swan, And each a choice Musician._ And now we must imagine first, The Elves present to quench his thirst A pure seed-pearl of infant dew, Brought and _beswetted_ in a blue And pregnant violet; which done, His kitling eyes begin to run Quite through the table, where he spies The horns of papery Butterflies: Of which he eats, _but with_ a little _Neat cool allay_ of Cuckoo's spittle; A little Fuz-ball pudding stands By, yet not blessed by his hands-- That was too coarse, but _he not spares To feed upon the candid hairs Of a dried canker, with a_ sagg And well _bestuffed_ Bee's sweet bag: _Stroking_ his pallet with some store Of Emme_t_ eggs. What would he more, But Beards of Mice, _an Ewt's_ stew'd thigh, _A pickled maggot and a dry Hipp, with a_ Red cap worm, that's shut Within the concave of a Nut Brown as his tooth, _and with the fat And well-boiled inchpin of a Bat. A bloated Earwig with the Pith Of sugared rush aglads him with; But most of all the Glow-worm's fire. As most betickling his desire To know his Queen, mixt with the far- Fetcht binding-jelly of a star. The silk-worm's seed_, a little moth _Lately_ fattened in a piece of cloth; Withered cherries; Mandrake's ears; Mole's eyes; to these the slain stag's tears; The unctuous dewlaps of a Snail; The broke heart of a Nightingale O'er-come in music; with a wine Ne'er ravished from the flattering Vine, But gently pressed from the soft side Of the most sweet and dainty Bride, Brought in a _daisy chalice_, which He fully quaffs _off_ to bewitch His blood _too high_. This done, commended Grace by his Priest, the feast is ended."”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
1250. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of grated bread, 1 pint of milk, 4 eggs, 4 oz. of butter, 4 oz. of moist sugar, 2 oz. of candied peel, 6 bitter almonds, 1 tablespoonful of brandy. _Mode_.--Put the milk into a stewpan, with the bitter almonds; let it infuse for 1/4 hour; bring it to the boiling point; strain it on to the bread crumbs, and let these remain till cold; then add the eggs, which should be well whisked, the butter, sugar, and brandy, and beat the pudding well until all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed; line the bottom of a pie-dish with the candied peel sliced thin, put in the mixture, and bake for nearly 3/4 hour. _Time_.--Nearly 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 4d. _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time. _Note_.--A few currants may be substituted for the candied peel, and will be found an excellent addition to this pudding: they should be beaten in with the mixture, and not laid at the bottom of the pie-dish.
Sources: The passage is from Robert Herrick, The Hesperides & Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — moss cloth, pudding stamp.