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John F. Clark

In the above letter Sir John Clark of Tillypronie gives an interesting sketch of the history of the remarkable collection of cookery and other recipes gathered together by Lady Clark, which I have been asked to edit for publication - "a goodly collection," as he first described them to me, containing "the gatherings of many years." I cannot lay claim to the special knowledge of cooking with which Sir John so kindly credits me, but it has always been to me a study of much interest, and some years ago I had the pleasure of seeing two other cookery books through the press for my friend the late Miss Hilda Duckitt.* I can only regret that the scant leisure of a very busy life has made it impossible for me earlier to complete the work begun at the time of Sir John's letter. The first thing I had to do was to master and arrange the mass of valuable material, which I had never seen until it was then placed in my hands. This material consisted of some sixteen books of various sizes, containing nearly three thousand pages of manuscript, some of the pages not only written over every available margin, but often crossed like a shepherd's plaid - added to which were recipes written on loose sheets pinned in, or on backs of envelopes or of paid bills, or apparently on any half-sheets of paper snatched up as the opportunity occurred to get a valuable hint recorded; all bearing witness to the interest and care with which Lady Clark had studied this branch of her responsibilities as hostess.

Since these recipes were recorded by Lady Clark conditions have somewhat changed, and things have become simplified for the twentieth century cook; whisks of various kinds obviate the tedious long beating up of eggs, &c., often mentioned; tinned fruits and tinned tongues are vastly superior to what they were a few years ago, and every day there are increased facilities for getting such materials as yeast by post; castor sugar and icing sugar have replaced the "pounded loaf sugar" of earlier days, and the improved gelatine has greatly superseded isinglass. I should mention that throughout the book the amounts required are given in English measure, unless Scotch measure is specified, the latter being a different quantity - i.e., a Scotch pint equals four English pints. I must here record my cordial thanks to Miss Leo Trench for much assistance, which, from her practical knowledge and her ever kind readiness to help, was invaluable in my work. *"Hilda's Where is it? of Recipes" and "Hilda's Diary of a Cape Housekeeper," both by Miss H. Duckitt (Messrs. Chapman and Hall).

The manuscript books which came to my care included one which had belonged to Lady Clark's mother, Lady Coltman, in 1839, but her own books begin apparently with one dated 1841, and continue almost to the day of her death. Their practical pages are interspersed with anecdotes, and with quaint little rhymes; here is one with reference to local names: "Tillyorne grows the corn, Westercorse the straw, Meadow Lea the blewits blue, Cald Hame naething ava!" There are also short quotations from great writers (among them the one from Voltaire printed above), and gardening memoranda, such as "The Blue Pea of Abyssinia flowers at R. Lyall's in June," followed by names of French plays or of the newest books, jotted down as she heard of them by Lady Clark, who was an omnivorous reader.

One amusing little entry may be given here, as it cannot come among the recipes; it is headed "The Bishop of Alet's Dinner," but no date or place* is recorded. "Bishop of Alet's Dinner." (Two covered dishes to each person at a time.) 1st course. - (1) A small boiled chicken; (2) 5 or 6 spoonfuls of vermicelli boiled in milk tinged with saffron. 2nd course. - (1) A snipe and an orange. (2) Three balls of chopped herbs, meat and bread, each about the size of a poached egg. 3rd course. - (1) A pear ready peeled. (2) A neatly folded napkin with a piece of Parmesan on it about the size of 6d.

Then a finger glass and rose and orange water poured over the guests' hands." All recipes traced to a published source have been carefully omitted, and the names of the givers of the manuscript recipes in this book are stated†; these include many valued servants in the service of Sir John and of his father, Sir James Clark Sherwoods, Sutherden, Camp, Wellington, Bate, and many more, constantly recur. Bate had been a kitchenmaid at the Austrian Embassy, both in London and Paris, and her excellent recipe "Apponyi Carrots" took its name from the Austrian Ambassador, Count Apponyi, from whose kitchen it came. Among other names which often recur are Mr. Taton, the chef always summoned by Mr. Justice Coltman for great occasions; Cataldi, the clever Milanese cook, three years at Birk Hall, whose boast it was that he had "travaillé chez Rothschild"; Francesco, also an Italian, who was butler to Sir John, gives two salad sauces; the three Emslie sisters, all from the district of Cromar in Aberdeenshire, are very constantly quoted: one of them, I believe, still fills a position of trust in England, and another died practically at her post at Tillypronie, faithful to the end.

But the givers of recipes were not only professional cooks, they also included very many names well known in the social and historical life of England and of Europe in the nineteenth century, beginning with French names such as the Prince de Polignac, son of the Duchesse de Polignac who was the confidante of Marie Antoinette, and himself Minister of Charles X, and who, failing in the troubled days of 1830 to escape in disguise, was imprisoned till 1836, at which date he came to England; his recipe is called * Alet (Aude) is a little town not far from Carcassone, with a bishop's palace and ruins of a cathedral. † It is possible, however, that, among so many, one or two may have been overlooked; if so, I can only trust the absence of acknowledgement will be forgiven. "Œufs à la Polignac." The Duc de Coigny* gives a recipe for Roe Deer Venison; Pauline, daughter of Guizot, contributes an orange salad; Dr. Wolff, the traveller, a recipe for "Toad in the Hole"; Dr. Liebig, the great and well-known chemist, gives his name to directions for "Boiling fresh Meat"; Mrs. Adams, daughter-in-law of the distinguished Minister of the United States of America at the Court of St. James, 1860, supplies particulars of how to make Shrewsbury Cinnamon cakes. Then we come to many familiar English names, social, political and literary, with the recipes they gave, Sydney Smith, for instance, and his clever rhyming recipe for a salad mixture. (I have seen elsewhere the following alternative version of its last four lines: "Then though green turtle fail, though venison's tough And ham and turkey are not boiled enough, Serenely full, the epicure may say: 'Fate cannot harm me - I have dined to-day") Mr. Ford, the writer of the well-known "Handbook to Spain" (1845), and Mrs. Ford contribute various Spanish dishes such as Rabbit "Posada," "Leche Crema," and "Pollo con arroz"; Lady Bell (the widow of Sir Charles, the author of "Bell on the Hand") gives a Half-pay Pudding, with the amusing alternative that if half - pay will not run to Wine Sauce, the pudding must be served with Demerara sugar. The Ginger Yeast recipe is from Mr. Nightingale, of Lea Hurst, whose daughter, Miss Florence Nightingale, and he - both very old friends of Lady Clark - stayed, on Miss Nightingale's return from the Crimea, at Birk Hall, whence she was summoned to Balmoral to tell the Queen about her great work for the soldiers; the "Poet's Pudding" comes from the poet Rogers; a Tartare Sauce is contributed by Sir William Stuart, our Minister at The Hague; Lord Houghton - then "Monckton Milnes" - is answerable for a Mutton and Oyster Pudding; Madame de Bunsen for a good recipe for Carrots; the Dowager Lady Iddesleigh - then Lady Northcote supplies the details of "Downing Street Lobster Cutlets," and Sir Stafford's Scotch cook describes a "Cock-a-Leekie."

The names of Lady Clark's sister-in-law, Mrs. Coltman, and of her aunt, Miss Duckworth, and of Lady Hobhouse, one of Lady Clark's oldest and most intimate friends, frequently occur; and another old and valued friend, Mr. Milnes Gaskell, introduces "Fromage à la Sefton" and various excellent recipes. We find among other recipes Lord Cochrane's Yeast "as used in China"; Madame van de Weyer's "Chicorée à la Crème"; Sir James Fergusson's Orange Brandy; the Duke of Devonshire's Oyster Quenelles; Mr. Lowther's Grouse Pudding; Lord Aberdare's Coffee; a Cheese Custard from Kennet; Lady Ruthven's Lemon Pudding from Winton Castle; Lord Lurgan's Mulligatawny Soup.

Lady Holland, wife of the well-known Sir Henry, and his daughter-in-law, afterwards Lady Knutsford, contribute good dishes, while the name of Sir Henry's daughter, Miss Caroline Holland, so long and so well known in the musical world, accompanies a Cabinet Pudding, and another daughter, Mrs. Charles Buxton, gives a Pear Chartreuse from Fox Warren.

Mr. P. Courtenay, an authority in his day on all such good things, supplies the "Excellent Sauce for Fish" and many other recipes; and "Ida Darwin" sends a recipe from Cambridge for Iced Orange Cake.

Sir John's own contribution to the collection is entered, with an amusing little hit at the mere man, as "John's one Recipe"; it is for a delicious way to cook a spring chicken *Interesting accounts are given of the old place in "Pentland Views," by R. Cochrane (A. Elliot, Edinburgh), to whom I am indebted for part of the following account, and I am told the place is also described in "Haunted Homes and Family Traditions." - C.F.F. "poor little Kikerika!" - and is called "Gebaekene Haendel" (its name in the Viennese dialect), while other entries, in which Lady Clark has noted his favourite dishes, show whose tastes were the first to be considered by her. Among the best recipes are the excellent salad given by H.R.H. the Duchess of Albany and the delicious, crisp "Balmoral Dessert Biscuits" still made at Tillypronie. Many of the dishes themselves have quaint titles, such as Lady Colebrooke's recipe for "Hatted Kit," an old Scotch version of Curds and Cream, the name of which occurs in the "Bride of Lammermoor" "He has spilled the hatted kit that was for the master's dinner" - and in Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language: "Their efter I suld meet your lo: in Leith or quietlie in Restal, quhair we sould have preparit ane fyne haitit kit, with suckar and confeittie and wyne, and therefter confer on materis" (Letters Logan of Resalrig, 1609).

Then there is a recipe for "Kymac" (like Devonshire Cream) brought from the East by Sir Charles Fellows, who was knighted for his literary and archæological services in Asia Minor, work which resulted in the placing of the Xanthian Marbles in the British Museum. "Feather Fowlie," a strange corruption of "Œufs Filés," catches one's eye in looking down the Index, and so do "Croqu'en bouche," "Bombay Ducks," "Ritualistic Haddock," "Mismash," "Röde Gröde," "Wet Devil," "Boiled Angels," "Kisselle" a Russian dish of Cranberries, "China Chola," "Pish Pash" of Rabbit; the little biscuits called "Frog's Bones," a finely grated beef named "Grandpapa's Snuff," and "Nudeln," of which it is said a former Emperor of Austria was so fond that once when, being ill, he was forbidden them by his doctor, he struck the table with his fist, exclaiming: "Ich will doch Nudeln! wozu bin Ich Kaiser?"

The picturesque name of "Haunted Woodhouselee" * which accompanies Miss Fraser Tytler's excellent recipe for Cold Curry recalls a romantic legend, referred to by Scott in "The Grey Brother": "From that fair dome where suit is paid By blast of bugle free, To Auchendinny's hazel glade And haunted Woodhouselee."

Scott knew the old house well, when he himself lived at Lasswade. At the date of his visit to Woodhouseleee the ghost was wont to issue from a small very old door which led from the "big bedroom," which was hung with tapestry, into the turret. "Lady Anne" had frequently been seen by the old nurse Cicy Lord and her daughter Betty, the dairymaid. The former, when asked about "Lady Anne," used to say, ""Deed I hae seen her times out o' mind, but I am no ways afeard. I ken weel she canna gang beyond her commission; but there's that silly feckless thing Betty, she met her in the lang passage ae nicht in the winter time, and she had na' a drap o' bluid in her face for a fortnight after; she says Lady Anne came sae near her she could see her dress quite weel, it was a Manchester muslin with a wee flower."

Woodhouselee came into the possession of the Tytler family when William Tytler bought it in 1748 - he whose recipe for a happy old age like his own was "Short but cheerful meals, music, and a good conscience." His son, Lord Woodhouselee, was a friend of Scott, Dugland Stewart, Lord Jeffrey, and Sydney Smith. The remains of the old castle overlook the Esk, about three miles from the present house.

Woodhouselee had become the property of James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh through his marriage with Lady Anne Sinclair, of the Rosslyn family. His estates were taken from him by Regent Murray, who gave them to Bellenden the Justice Clerk. The latter burned Woodhouselee to the ground. Lady Anne was turned out into the woods with her child, and there she went mad and perished. It is her ghost which has haunted old and new Woodhouselee. So far Mr. R. Cochrane in "Pentland Views." Mrs. G. W. Watts (widow of the great artist and herself a Fraser Tytler) tells me that "the Woodhouselee ghost has always been known as the 'Lady Anne' (Hamilton).... She is supposed to have followed the stones of her old home, of which the new house, now some centuries old, was built." a Mrs. Fraser Tytler, kindly writing about it from Woodhouselee itself, says that regarding the mysterious knocking at the door, heard in some of the old rooms distinct, loud, treble knock - "I have myself frequently heard the three knocks on my and bedroom door, and once the step coming up the narrow wooden staircase numerous people I could name have also heard the knocking. I heard it last when sitting alone in the drawing-room late at night, just at the spot where, before the house was altered, was a small door, leading through a turret to the garden.... The 'Anne Tytler' who gave the recipe for Cold Curry to Lady Clark is my sister-in-law, and I can vouch for the excellence of the dish. " So great is the variety of locality from which the recipes were drawn, that Lady Clark may be said to have focussed much of the best cookery of Europe in her collection, for the recipes came from France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Holland, Austria, as well as England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with some Turkish and Indian dishes thrown in, which give an Oriental flavour. So comprehensive a collection (nearly double the eighteen hundred pages printed) necessarily included many duplicates and variations of the same dish as worked out by different cooks, and sometimes under different names. Of the Bagshot Clear Soup there were five versions and no less than thirteen variations. While omitting duplicates, I have endeavoured to give some idea of these differences, for I feel that the varied suggestions and the personal taste of so many experienced workers are worthy of record, and often supply valuable hints which can be turned to account by others in preparing the same dish.

I shall be grateful to have my attention drawn, by those who may come across them, to any actual repetitions of a recipe under different names, or to other oversights, such as may well occur in such a mass of material.

Lady Clark's own remarks, or Sir John's, are marked with their initials, C.C. and