The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #47
Updated: Sep 1
The next two entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were dated 31st August. The first was described as payment for the making of verjuice and the amount was 19 pence, which was the equivalent of about £34.93 today. The second was described as payment to Richard Davey for 12 strikes of crayfish and the amount was 2 shillings, which was the equivalent of about £44.13 today.
Historically, verjuice was frequently made at Middleton Hall. Verjuice was a tart green juice that was very popular and added a sharp, sour (but less sour than vinegar) flavouring to stews, sauces, salad dressings and desserts. It was used in the same way as lemon juice and vinegar are used in recipes today. Verjuice was commonly made from sour grapes but the records of Middleton Hall indicate that they exclusively used crab apples grown on the Estate instead and never had to purchase verjuice. It fell out of favour in British cooking once fresh lemons became widely and more cheaply available in the 18th and 19th centuries, after which verjuice was replaced in recipes with “a squeeze of lemon juice”.
The crab apples would have been picked whilst still green, hard and extremely sour and this was normally done in late summer. The apples were then heaped together and left to sweat. Any rotten parts and stalks were then removed. The whole unpeeled apples would then have been crushed in an apple mill or mortar, grinding them down into a mash. The mash was gathered in a linen or muslin cloth and put into an apple press, which squeezed out the sour liquid. The juice was then left to settle and lightly ferment in vessels for about a month. A scum would form that was skimmed off and then salt was added to stop the fermentation and act as a preservative. It was then stored in casks or bottles in a cool cellar or larder and would keep for years.
For the second entry, a strike was an old English unit of dry volume which was the equivalent of about 8 imperial gallons (36.4 litres) of space. Hence, it can be determined that Richard Davey delivered about 96 gallons of crayfish and given that crayfish are small and a single strike could hold hundreds of them, this could be considered a very substantial purchase. It is thought that the crayfish may have been purchased for the visit to Middleton Hall of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, the following week.
The crayfish could have been kept alive out of water for up to 7 days in wicker baskets layered with fresh, soaking-wet river moss and rushes and then kept in a cold, dark undercroft, cellar or larder. Alternatively, they could have been kept alive for a few weeks if stored very tightly together in shallow wooden-slatted crates that had been lowered into the flowing river or moat. They had to be kept tight together in order to keep them from cannibalising each other and in order to make them become sluggish.
It is possible that Davey had locally sourced the crayfish, even on the Estate itself. This notion is supported because the native British white-clawed crayfish has been recorded on many nature surveys conducted at Middleton Hall. Late August was peak harvesting time for the British crayfish because the rivers were at their warmest, which made the crayfish much more active. They had also just finished their moulting cycle, which meant their shells would have been firmer, and they were at their largest and most meaty. The crayfish would have been harvested using wicker traps in the rivers.
Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.380.
Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.
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