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254 Old Memories of East-Bourne. [Chap. XIX.
Syllabub Parties.
My diaries during many years down to 1873, contain records of summer outdoor gatherings of our friends at 11 Syllabub Parties." I mention the matter because I have never been asked to such a party elsewhere than to my grandmother's house, The Gore : nor have I ever heard the word used out of East-Bourne. I suppose it is used, however, and the concoction itself is made by somebody sometimes because the redoubtable " Mrs. Beeton " gives a recipe for it. The word itself is given in the Imperial Dictionary as " Old and Provincial English and Scotch " and is denned there as " A dish made by mixing wine and cider with cream or milk, and thus forming a soft curd." Mrs. Beeton gives the ingredients thus :—1 pint of sherry or white wine, £ of a grated nutmeg, sugar to taste, 1-J- pint of milk ; and if cider is used, some brandy must always be added. I am unable to say from memory how far this recipe accords with that used at The Gore in the years that are past, but Mrs. B. leaves out the climax of the business as I always saw it practised. When the company were assembled on the lawn, the tables being set out with glasses and cakes, such as are now seen at garden parties, and the mixture was ready all but the finishing touch ; the finishing touch was given by a live cow being driven on to the lawn and milked into the china bowl which contained the preliminary mixture of ingredients. I am quite certain that my grandmother would not have tolerated the idea of a Syllabub party without a cow being invited as one of the guests. The stuff, which was quite good to drink, was served in large wine-glasses or small tumblers, filled by means of a punch ladle, which in the particular instance in question, had at its bottom a 2-guinea piece of temp. George II.
A Garden Party at Compton Place.
On July 28, 1900, the Duchess of Devonshire gave a garden party at Conrpton Place. A very ill-mannered attack was made on Her Grace in a local paper by a |
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