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1893 text

A liquor made of honey and water, boiled and fermenting. By 12 Charles II. cap. 23, a grant of certain impositions upon beer, ale, and other liquors, a duty of 1d. per gallon was laid upon “all metheglin or mead.”

This text was written as a footnote in the 1893 Wheatley transcription of the diary, the same one that is used for the diary entries on this site.

Annotations

  • Metheglin vs. mead

    The difference is that mead is fermented honey and water, while metheglin usually means mead infused heavily with herbs. This medicinal brew carries the Welsh name for medicine.

  • Mead Lover’s Digest (archives page)
    http://www.aboutmead.com/resources/mld.html

    The digest search engine gives me 122 results for the word “metheglin” and two more for “methyglin.”

  • The Mead Maker’s Page
    http://www.solorb.com/mead/mead.html

    “If it’s good for ancient Druids, runnin’ nekkid through the wuids, Drinkin’ strange fermented fluids,
    it’s good enough for me!”
    — Pete Seeger

    “Spices: Let your imagination be your guide.”

  • Making Metheglin in 1669

    FROM: “The Closet of Sir Kenelme Digby Knight Opened, Whereby is discovered several ways of making Metheglin, Sider, Cherry-Wine, &c. London: H. Brome, 1669,” quoted at “The Meadery” website:

    “You may, if you please, put into it [your metheglin] some spice, to wit, Cloves and Ginger; the quantity of which is to be proportioned according as you will have your Meath, strong or weak.”

    A list of spices used in making metheglin (same source):

    “Take two handfuls of Dock (alias wild carrot) a reasonable burthen of Saxifrage, Wild-Sage, Blew-button, Scabious, Bettony, Agrimony, Wildmarjoram, of each a reasonable burthen; Wild thyme a Peck, Roots and all. The Garden-herbs are these: Bayleaves, and Rosemary, or [of?] each two handfuls; a Sieveful of Avens, and as much Violet-leaves: A handful of Sage; and three handfuls of Sweet-Marjoram. Three Roots of young Borrage, leaves and all; Two handfuls of Parsley-roots; Two Roots of Elecampane: Two handfuls of Fennel: a peck of Thyme; wash and pick all your herbs from filth and grass.
    http://users.stargate.net/~mshapiro/cwinerec.html#metheglyn

  • “Got Mead?”
    http://www.gotmead.com/types-of-mead/
    A listing of the major types of mead.

    Recipes for fall metheglin, vanilla metheglin, heather metheglin:
    http://www.gotmead.com/mead-recipes/gotmead-recipes.shtml

  • Metheglin for Estrella A&S some5thing to work on…

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References in the diary

1660
Feb: 29
1663
Jun: 27