1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

42 the flowing bowl cock, the older the better. Parboil the cock, flea (flay ?) him, and stamp him in a stone mortar till his bones are broken (you must craw and gut him when you flea him), then put the cock into two quarts of sack, and put to it three pounds of raisins of the sun stoned, some blades of mace, and a few cloves; put all these into a canvas bag, and a little before you find the ale has done working, put the ale and bag together into a vessel; in a week or nine days bottle it up, fill the bottles but just above the neck, and give it the same time to ripen as other ale. I have frequently read of the giving of"body" to ale and stout, by means of the introduction of horseflesh ; and an old song used to tell us that upon one of the paupers in a certain workhouse happening, inadvertently, to fall head-foremost into the copper, dreadful to tell, he was boiled in the soup, which, on that account, in all probability so strengthened the constitutions of the other paupers as to render them impatient of work house discipline. The man who disappeared mysteriously—this is Mr. Samuel Weller's story —and who unwittingly furnished " body" for' the sausages supplied to the neighbourhood, was after all, benefiting his fellow-men. But to put the rooster into the ale-cask smacks somewhat of barbarism 5 and thank goodness we do not work off our surplus poultry in that fashion nowadays. But these barbarians were not ashamed ; for lo ! facing me is " another way " for the manufacture of rooster-beer. Take an old red, or other cock, and boyle him

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