“"Some sort of pear, Apple or plum, is neatly laid (As if it was a tribute paid) By the round urchin; some mixt wheat The which the ant did taste, not eat; Deaf nuts, soft Jews'-ears, and some thin Chippings, the mice filched from the bin Of the gray farmer, and to these The scraps of lentils, chitted peas, Dried honeycombs, brown acorn cups, Out of the which he sometimes sups His herby broth, and there close by Are pucker'd bullace, cankers (?), dry Kernels, and withered haws; the rest Are trinkets fal'n from the kite's nest, As butter'd bread, the which the wild Bird snatched away from the crying child, Blue pins, tags, fesenes, beads and things Of higher price, as half-jet rings, Ribbons and then some silken shreaks The virgins lost at barley-breaks. Many a purse-string, many a thread Of gold and silver therein spread, _Many a counter, many a die, Half rotten and without an eye, Lies here about_, and, as we guess, Some bits of thimbles seem to dress The brave cheap work; _and for to pave The excellency of this cave, Squirrels and children's teeth late shed_, Serve here, both which _enchequered_ With castors' doucets, which poor they Bite off themselves to 'scape away: Brown _toadstones_, ferrets' eyes, _the gum That shines_," etc.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
2 cups scalded milk ¼ cup sugar or ⅓ cup molasses 1 teaspoon salt 1 yeast cake dissolved in ¼ cup lukewarm water 4⅔ cups coarse entire wheat flour Add sweetening and salt to milk; cool, and when lukewarm add dissolved yeast cake and flour; beat well, cover, and let rise to double its bulk. Again beat, and turn into greased bread pans, having pans one-half full; let rise, and bake. Entire Wheat Bread should not quite double its bulk during last rising. This mixture may be baked in gem pans.
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 Farmer, The Boston cooking-school cook book of 1896, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — burgundy cloth, beehive stamp.