The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families

DISTRESS FOR RENT. In these days of general complaint and general distress, when so many families and individuals are suffering from the extortions of tax-gatherers, and the severity of landlords, it is proper that householders and occupiers of land should be furnished with a little information on the subject of their legal rights and liabilities, in order to guard against injustice, or the fatal consequences of illegal proceedings. It must therefore be observed, that rent is recoverable by action of debt at common law; but the general remedy is distress, by taking the goods and chattels out of the possession of the tenant, to procure satisfaction for rent. A distress for rent therefore must be made for nonpayment, or rent in arrears, and cannot be made on the day in which the rent becomes due. Neither can distress be made after the rent has been tendered; or if it be tendered while the distress is making, the landlord must deliver up the distress. Any goods or effects that are damaged by the proceedings of the landlord, must be made good by him. – When distress is levied, it should be for the whole of the rent in arrears; not a part at one time and the remainder at another, if there was at first a sufficiency; but if the landlord should mistake the value of the things, he may make a second distress to supply the deficiency. He must be careful to demand neither more nor less than is due; he must also shew the certainty of the rent, and when it was due; otherwise the demand will not be good, nor can he obtain a remedy. – A landlord may distrain whatever he finds on the premises, whether it be the property of his tenant or not, except such things as are for the maintenance and benefit of trade; such as working tools and implements, sacks of corn, or meal in a mill. Neither fixtures in a house nor provisions can be distrained, nor any other article which cannot be restored in as good a state as when it was taken; but wearing apparel may be distrained when they are not in use. Money out of a bag cannot be distrained, because it cannot be known again; but money sealed up in a bag may. A horse in a cart cannot be distrained, without also taking the cart; and if a man be in the cart, these cannot be taken. A horse bringing goods to market, goods brought to market to be sold, goods for exportation on a wharf or in a warehouse, goods in the hands of a factor, goods delivered to a carrier to be conveyed for hire, wool in a neighbour's barn, are all considered as goods in the hands of a third person, and cannot therefore be distrained by a landlord for rent. But goods left at an inn or other place of conveyance, a chaise or horse standing in a stable, though the property of a third person, may be distrained for rent. A distress must not be made after dark, nor on the Sabbath day. – Where a landlord means to distrain for rent, it is not necessary to demand his rent first, unless the tenant is on the premises on the day of payment, and ready to pay it. But if goods are distrained, and no cause given for so doing, the owner may rescue them, if not impounded. Distraining part of the goods for rent in arrear, in the name of the whole goods, will be deemed a lawful seizure. But if distress and sale be made for rent when it can be proved that no rent is due or in arrear, the person so injured may recover double the value of such goods distrained, with full costs of suit. If goods be impounded, though they have been distrained without a cause, a tenant cannot touch them, because they are then in the hands of the law; but if not impounded or taken away, he is at liberty to rescue them. – If distress be made for rent, and the goods are not replevied within five days after the distress is made, and notice left on the premises stating the cause of such distress, the person distraining may have the goods appraised by two persons, sworn by the constable of the place for that purpose, and may after such appraisement sell them to the best advantage. The rent may then be taken, including all expences, and the overplus left in the hands of the constable for the owner's use. If a landlord commit an unlawful act or any other irregularity, in making distress for rent which is justly due, the distress itself will not on that account be deemed unlawful; but full damages may be demanded by the injured party, with full costs of suit; either in an action of trespass, or on the case. But if full recompense be tendered to the tenant for such trespass before the action is commenced, he is bound to accept it, or the action will be discharged. – If a tenant clandestinely remove his goods, to prevent the landlord from distraining them for rent, he may seize the goods within thirty days, wherever they shall be found; and if not actually sold previous to the seizure, he may dispose of them in order to recover his rent. Any tenant or assistant removing goods to prevent a distress, is liable to double the value of the goods, which the landlord may recover by action at law. If under the value of fifty pounds, complaint may be made in writing to two neighbouring magistrates, who will enforce the payment by distress, or commit the offenders to the house of correction for six months. If any person after the distress is made, shall presume to remove the goods distrained, or take them away from the person distraining, the party aggrieved may sue for the injury, and recover treble costs and damages against the offender. – A landlord may not break a lock, nor open a gate; but if the outer door of the house be open he may enter, and break open the inner doors. But where goods are fraudulently removed, and locked up to prevent their being seized, the landlord may break open every place where they are and seize them. If in a dwelling house, an oath must first be made before a magistrate, that is was suspected the goods were lodged there. The most eligible way is to remove the goods immediately, and to give the tenant notice where they are removed to; but it is usual to leave them under the protection of a person on the premises for five whole days, after which it is lawful to sell them. In making the distress, it is necessary to give the bailiff a written order for that purpose, which the landlord may do himself without any stamp, only specifying the person's name, place of abode, and rent in arrears for which the goods and chattels are to be seized. After this an inventory is to be made of the articles, a copy of which is to be given to the tenant, accompanied with a notice that unless the arrears of rent and charges of distress be paid, or the goods replevied at the expiration of five days from the day of distress, the said goods will be appraised and sold according to law. If the landlord chooses to indulge the tenant with a longer time to raise the money, a memorandum must be taken of the tenant, stating that possession is lengthened at his request, or the landlord will be liable to an action for exceeding the time of his original notice. – See Tenants.

DOUBLE RENT. If a tenant has received a written notice, and he refuse to quit, after such notice has been regularly served, and will not give possession at the time required, he is liable to pay at the rate of double the annual value of the land or tenement so detained, for so long time as the same are detained in his possession, and the payment may be recovered by action of debt. Or if the tenant shall give notice of his intention to quit the premises, and do not deliver up possession according to such notice, he is liable to the payment of double rent, as in the other case. – The following is the form of a notice to a tenant to quit, or to pay double rent. 'Mr. A. B. I hereby give you notice to deliver up possession and quit, on or before next Michaelmas day, the house and premises which you now hold of me, situate in the parish of in the county of and in default of your compliance therewith, I do and will insist on your paying me for the same, the yearly rent of being double the annual rent, for such time as you shall detain the key, and keep possession, over the said notice. Witness my hand this day of 182. C. D. Landlord of the said premises.

Witness E. F.' —

If, after notice of double rent be expired, a single rent is accepted, such acceptance will prevent the penalty, until notice is again given, and the time expired.

DOWN. This valuable part of goose coating, which contributes so much to the comfort and even the luxury of life, comes to maturity when it begins to fall off of itself; and if removed too soon, it is liable to be attacked by worms. Lean geese furnish more than those that are fat, and the down is more valuable. Neither the feathers nor the down of geese which have been dead some time are fit for use: they generally smell bad, and become matted. None but what is plucked from living geese, or which have just been killed, ought to be exhibited for sale; and in this case the down should be plucked soon, or before the geese are entirely cold.

DRAUGHT FOR A COUGH. Beat a fresh-laid egg, and mix it with a quarter of a pint of new milk warmed, but do not heat it after the egg is put in. Add a large spoonful of capillaire, the same of rose water, and a little nutmeg scraped. Take it the first and last thing, and it will be found a fine soft draught for those who are weakly, or have a cold. – Another remedy. Take a handful of horehound, a handful of rue, a handful of hyssop, and the same quantity of ground ivy and of tormentil, with a small quantity of long plantain, pennyroyal, and five finger. Boil them in four quarts of water till reduced to two quarts. Strain it off, then add two pounds of loaf sugar; simmer it a little, add a quart of brandy and bottle it for use. A wine glassful of this to be taken occasionally.

DRIED BACON. When two flitches are to be cured, divide the hog, cut off the hams, and take out the chine. It is common to remove the spare-ribs, but the bacon will be preserved better from being rusty, if they are left in. Salt the bacon six days, then drain it from that first pickle: mix a proper quantity of salt with half a pound of bay-salt, three ounces of saltpetre, and a pound of coarse sugar, to each hog. Rub the salts well in, and turn it every day for a month. Drain and smoke it for a few days, or dry it with bran or flour, and hang it in the kitchen, or on a rack suspended from the ceiling. – Good bacon may be known, if you are going to purchase it, by the rind being thin, the fat firm, and of a red tinge, the lean tender, of a good colour, and adhering to the bone. If there are yellow streaks in it, it is going, if not already rusty.

DRIED CHERRIES. Stone six pounds of Kentish cherries, and put them into a preserving pan with two pounds of loaf sugar pounded and strewed among them. Simmer them till they begin to shrivel, then strain them from the juice, lay them on a hot hearth or in an oven, when either is cool enough to dry without baking them. The same syrup will do another six pounds of fruit. – To dry cherries without sugar, stone, and set them over the fire in a preserving pan. Simmer them in their own liquor, and shake them in the pan. Put them by in common china dishes: next day give them another scald, and when cold put them on sieves to dry, in an oven moderately warm. Twice heating, an hour each time, will be sufficient. Place them in a box, with a paper between each layer. – A superior way of preserving cherries is to allow one pound of double-refined sugar to every five pounds of fruit, after they are stoned; then to put both into a preserving pan with very little water, till they are scalding hot. Take the fruit out immediately and dry them; return them into the pan again, strewing the sugar between each layer of cherries. Let it stand to melt, then set the pan on the fire, and make it scalding hot as before; take it off, and repeat this thrice with the sugar. Drain them from the syrup, and lay them singly to dry on dishes, in the sun or on a stove. When dry, put them into a sieve, dip it into a pan of cold water, and draw it instantly out again, and pour them on a fine soft cloth; dry them, and set them once more in the sun, or on a stove. Keep them in a box, with layers of white paper, in a dry place. This is the best way to give plumpness to the fruit, as well as colour and flavour.

DRIED HADDOCK. Choose them of two or three pounds weight; take out the gills, eyes, and entrails, and remove the blood from the backbone. Wipe them dry, and put some salt into the bodies and sockets. Lay them on a board for a night, then hang them up in a dry place, and after three or four days they will be fit to eat. Skin and rub them with egg, and strew crumbs over them. Lay them before the fire, baste with butter till they are quite brown, and serve with egg sauce. – Whitings, if large, are excellent in this way; and where there is no regular supply of fish, it will be found a great convenience.

DRIED SALMON. Cut the fish down, take out the inside and roe. After scaling it, rub it with common salt, and let it hang twenty-four hours to drain. Pound three or four ounces of saltpetre, according to the size of the fish, two ounces of bay salt, and two ounces of coarse sugar. Mix them well, rub it into the salmon, and lay it on a large dish for two days; then rub it with common salt, wipe it well after draining, and in twenty-four hours more it will be fit to dry. Hang it either in a wood chimney, or in a dry place, keeping it open with two small sticks. – Dried salmon is broiled in paper, and only just warmed through. Egg sauce and mashed potatoes may be eaten with it; or it may be boiled, especially the part next the head. An excellent dish of dried salmon may also be made in the following manner. Prepare some eggs boiled hard and chopped large, pull off some flakes of the fish, and put them both into half a pint of thin cream, with two or three ounces of butter rubbed in a tea-spoonful of flour. Skim and stir it till boiling hot, make a wall of mashed potatoes round the inner edge of a dish, and pour the above into it.

DRINK FOR THE SICK. Pour a table-spoonful of capillaire, and the same of good vinegar, into a tumbler of fresh cold water. Tamarinds, currants, fresh or in jelly, scalded currants or cranberries, make excellent drinks; with a little sugar or not, as most agreeable. Or put a tea-cupful of cranberries into a cup of water, and mash them. In the meantime boil two quarts of water with one large spoonful of oatmeal, and a bit of lemon peel; then add the cranberries, and as much fine Lisbon sugar as shall leave a smart flavour of the fruit. Add a quarter of a pint of sherry, or less, as may be proper: boil all together for half an hour, and strain off the drink.

DRIPPING, if carefully preserved, will baste every thing as well as butter, except fowls and game; and for kitchen pies nothing else should be used. The fat of a neck or loin of mutton makes a far lighter pudding than suet.

DRIPPING CRUST. Rub a pound of clarified dripping into three pounds of fine flour, and make it into a paste with cold water. Or make a hot crust with the same quantity, by melting the dripping in water, and mixing it hot with the flour.

DROP CAKES. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of fine flour; mix it with half a pound of sugar, and the same of currants. Mix it into a paste, with two eggs, a large spoonful of rose water, brandy, and sweet wine; and put it on plates ready floured.

DROPSY. Gentle exercise and rubbing the parts affected, are highly proper in this complaint, and the tepid bath has often procured considerable relief. The patient ought to live in a warm dry place, not expose himself to cold or damp air, and wear flannel next the skin. Vegetable acids, such as vinegar, the juice of lemons and oranges, diluted with water, should be drank in preference to wine or spirits, either of which are generally hurtful. The diet should be light and nourishing, easy of digestion, and taken in moderation. Horseradish, onions and garlic, may be used instead of foreign spices; but tea, coffee, and punch, are alike improper.

DROWNING. If a person unfortunately fall into the water, and is supposed to be drowned, he should be carefully undressed as soon as he is taken out; then laid on a bed or mattrass in a warm apartment, with the head and upper part a little raised, and the nostrils cleaned with a feather dipped in oil. Let the body be gently rubbed with common salt, or with flannels dipped in spirits; the pit of the stomach fomented with hot brandy, the temples stimulated with spirits of hartshorn, and bladders of lukewarm water applied to different parts of the body, or a warming-pan wrapped in flannel gently moved along the back. A warm bath, gradually increased to seventy-five degrees, would be highly proper; or the body may be carried to a brewhouse, and covered up with warm grains for an hour or two. An attempt should be made to inflate the lungs, either by the help of a pair of bellows, or a person's blowing with his mouth through the nostril, which in the first instance is much better. If the patient be very young, or the animation do not appear altogether suspended, he may be placed in bed between two persons to promote natural warmth, or covered with blankets or warm flannels. Stimulating clysters of warm water and salt, or six ounces of brandy, should be speedily administered. The means should be persevered in for several hours, as there are instances of persons recovering after all hope was given up, and they had been abandoned by their attendants. As soon as the first symptoms of life are discernible, care must be taken to cherish the vital action by the most gentle and soothing means. Fomentations of aromatic plants may then be applied to the pit of the stomach, bladders of warm water placed to the left side, the soles of the feet rubbed with salt, and a little white wine dropped on the tongue. The patient should then be left in a quiet state till able to drink a little warm wine, or tea mixed with a few drops of vinegar. The absurd practice of rolling persons on casks, lifting the feet over the shoulders, and suffering the head to remain downwards, in order to discharge the water, has occasioned the loss of many lives, as it is now fully and clearly established, that the respiration being impeded is in this case the sole cause of the suspension of life; and which being restored, the vital functions soon recover their tone. No attempt must be made to introduce liquor of any kind into the mouth, till there are strong signs of recovery.

DUCKS. In rearing this species of poultry, they should be accustomed to feed and rest in one place, to prevent their straggling too far to lay. Places near the water to lay in are advantageous, and these might consist of small wooden houses, with a partition in the middle, and a door at each end. They generally begin to lay in the month of February. Their eggs should be daily taken away except one, till they seem inclined to set, and then they should be left with a sufficient quantity of eggs under them. They require no attention while setting, except to give them food at the time they come out to seek it; and water should be placed at a convenient distance, that their eggs may not be spoiled by their long absence in seeking it. Twelve or thirteen eggs will be sufficient. In an early season it is best to place them under a hen, that the ducks may have less time for setting, for in cold weather they cannot so well be kept from the water, and would scarcely have strength to bear it. They should be placed under cover, especially in a wet season; for though water is the natural element of ducks, yet they are apt to be killed by the cramp before they are covered with feathers to defend them. Ducks will eat any thing; and when to be fatted, they should have plenty of food, however coarse it may be, and in three weeks they will be ready.

DUCK PIE. Bone a full-grown young duck and a fowl. Wash and season them with pepper and salt, and a small proportion of mace and allspice in the finest powder. Put the fowl within the duck, and in the former a calf's tongue, boiled very tender and peeled. Press the whole close, and draw the legs inwards, that the body of the fowl may be quite smooth. The space between the sides of the crust may be filled with fine forcemeat, the same as for savoury pies. Bake it in a slow oven, either in a raised crust or pie dish, with a thick ornamented crust. Large Staffordshire pies are made as above, but with a goose outwards, then a turkey, a duck next, then a fowl; and either tongue, small birds, or forcemeat in the middle.

DUCK SAUCE. Put a rich gravy into the dish, and slice the breast. Cut a lemon, put on it some pepper and salt, squeeze it on the breast, and pour a spoonful of gravy over the meat, before it is sent round. – See Roast Duck.

DUN BIRDS. Roast and baste them with butter, and sprinkle a little salt before they are taken up. Pour a good gravy over them, and serve with shalot sauce in a boat.

DUNELM OF VEAL. Stew a few small mushrooms in their own liquor and a bit of butter, a quarter of an hour. Mince them fine, and put them with their liquor to some cold minced veal. Add a little pepper and salt, some cream, and a bit of butter rubbed in less than half a tea-spoonful of flour. Simmer the mince three or four minutes, and serve it on thin sippets of bread. Cold fowl may be treated in the same manner.

DUTCH BEEF. Take a lean piece of beef, rub it well with treacle or brown sugar, and let it be turned often. In three days wipe it, and salt it with common salt and saltpetre beaten fine: rub these well in, and turn it every day for a fortnight. Roll it tight in a coarse cloth, and press it under a large weight: hang it to dry in a wood smoke, but turn it upside down every day. Boil it in pump water, and press it: it will then grate or cut into shivers, like Dutch beef.

DUTCH FLUMMERY. Boil two ounces of isinglass in a pint and half of water very gently half an hour; add a pint of white wine, the juice of three lemons, and the thin rind of one. Rub a few lumps of sugar on another lemon to obtain the essence, and add with them a sufficient quantity of sugar to sweeten. Beat up the yolks of seven eggs, mix it with the above, and give them together one scald. Keep the flummery stirring all the time, pour it into a bason, stir it till half cold, let it settle, and then put it into a melon shape.

DUTCH PUDDING. Melt a pound of butter in half a pint of milk; mix it into two pounds of flour, eight eggs, and four spoonfuls of yeast. Add a pound of currants, and a quarter of a pound of sugar beaten and sifted, and bake it an hour in a quick oven. This is a very good pudding hot, and equally so as a cake when cold. If for the latter, carraways must be used instead of currants.

DUTCH RICE PUDDING. Soak four ounces of rice in warm water half an hour; drain away the water, put the rice into a stewpan, with half a pint of milk, and half a stick of cinnamon, and simmer it till tender. When cold, add four eggs well beaten, two ounces of butter melted in a tea-cupful of cream; and add three ounces of sugar, a quarter of a nutmeg, and a good piece of lemon peel. Put a light puffpaste into a mould or dish, or grated tops and bottoms, and bake in a quick oven.

DUTCH WAFFLES. These form a delicious article in the shape of puff cakes, which are instantly prepared and exhibited for sale in stalls or tents, in the fairs of Holland, where they are eaten hot as they come from the plate or baking pan, with fine sugar strewed over them. Mix together three pounds of fine flour, a dozen eggs, a pound of melted butter, half a pint of ale, some milk, and a little yeast. Beat it well, till it forms a thick paste, and let it stand three or four hours before the fire to rise. Lay it in small pieces on a hot iron or fryingpan, with a pair of buttered tongs, till it is lightly browned. Eat the waffles with fine sugar sifted over, or a little sack and melted butter.

DYEING. Nankeen dye is made of equal parts of arnetto and common potash, dissolved in boiling water. To dye cotton, silk, woollen, or linen of a beautiful yellow, the plant called weld, or dyer's weed, is used for that purpose. Blue cloths dipped in a decoction of it will become green. The yellow colour of the Dutch pink is obtained from the juice of the stones and branches of the weld. Black dye is obtained from a strong decoction of logwood, copperas, and gum arabic. Oak saw-dust, or the excrescences on the roots of young oaks, may be used as a substitute for galls, both in making ink and black dye.

E

Earthenware. An ounce of dry lean cheese grated fine, and an equal quantity of quicklime mixed well together in three ounces of skim milk, will form a good cement for any articles of broken earthenware, when the rendering of the joint visible is reckoned of no consequence. A cement of the same nature may be made of quicklime tempered with the curd of milk, but the curd should either be made of whey or buttermilk. This cement, like the former, requires to be applied immediately after it is made, and it will effectually join any kind of earthenware or china.