Medicine made of snails.
Recipe written by General Wolfe's mother.
A quaint recipe written by the mother of General Wolfe, the hero of Quebec, was mentioned last night by Captain J.R.O.B Warde at a dinner in commemoration of the 204th anniversary of Wolfe's birth, given at his native town of Westerham, Kent.
Captain Warde, who is descended from General George Warde, Wolfe's great friend, said that his mother's cookery book, which was still preserved, showed that she was not only a good cook, but an amateur doctor.
"The main element in her recipe for a 'good water for a consumption' consisted of powdered snails washed in beer, mixed with split green earthworms, distilled over a slow fire and boiled down with all kinds of spices and roots in three gallons of milk.
"Of this the patient had to take two spoonsful," said Captain Warde.
He suggested that Wolfe had been spared sampling that remedy. "If anyone had survived the dose he would never have succumbed to a mere French bullet."
Captain Warde said that in taking an interest in his profession Wolfe was far ahead of his time, for in those days promotion in the army mostly went by favour and very little by merit.
In a time when it was not usually the case Wolfe was extraordinarily careful about the welfare of those who served under him, and it might be said that he laid the foundation of those excellent relations which existed today between officers and men in the British Army.
Dundee Courier, 3rd January 1931.
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