Note 195 — Chapter VII · THE REMEDIES OF 1795

Perhaps the unpopularity of soup is partly explained by a letter published in the Annals of Agriculture in December 1795, vol. xxvi. p. 215. The writer says it is the custom for most families in the country ‘to give their poor neighbours the pot liquor, that is, the liquor in which any meat has been boiled, and to which they sometimes add the broken bread from the parlour and kitchen tables: this,’ he adds, ‘makes but an indifferent mess.’ The publications of the time contain numerous recipes for cheap soups: ‘the power of giving an increased effect to Christian benevolence by these soups’ (Reports on Poor, vol. i. p. 167) was eagerly welcomed. Cf. Mrs. Shore’s account of stewed ox’s head for the poor, according to which, at the cost of 2s. 6d. with the leavings of the family, a savoury mess for fifty-two persons could be prepared (Ibid., p. 60).