“Come, sit we under yonder tree, Where merry as the maids we'll be; And as on primroses we sit, We'll venture, if we can, at wit: If not, at draw-gloves we will play; So spend some minutes of the day: Or else spin out the thread of sands, Playing at Questions and Commands: Or tell what strange tricks love can do, By quickly making one of two. Thus we will sit and talk, but tell No cruel truths of Philomel, Or Phyllis, whom hard fate forc'd on To kill herself for Demophon. But fables we'll relate: how Jove Put on all shapes to get a love; As now a satyr, then a swan; A bull but then, and now a man. Next we will act how young men woo, And sigh, and kiss as lovers do; And talk of brides, and who shall make That wedding-smock, this bridal cake, That dress, this sprig, that leaf, this vine, That smooth and silken columbine. This done, we'll draw lots who shall buy And gild the bays and rosemary; What posies for our wedding rings; What gloves we'll give and ribandings: And smiling at ourselves, decree, Who then the joining priest shall be. What short, sweet prayers shall be said; And how the posset shall be made With cream of lilies, not of kine, And maiden's-blush, for spiced wine. Thus, having talked, we'll next commend A kiss to each, and so we'll end.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Take eighteen eggs, whites and all, take out the cock-treads, and beat them very well, then take a pint of sack, and a quart of ale boil'd scum it, and put into it three quarters of a pound of sugar, and half a nutmeg, let it boil a little together, then take it off the fire stirring the eggs still, put into them two or three ladlefuls of drink, then mingle all together, set it on the fire, and keep it stirring till you find it thick, and serve it up.
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 May, The accomplisht cook of 1660, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — burgundy cloth, grapes stamp.