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PErrie is made of diuers sorts of Peares: sometimes of rough, harsh, sowre, and wild ones, neuer husbanded, planted, grafted, or otherwise hauing had anie la∣bour or paines taken with them: such Perrie will keepe long, euen three or fo••re yeares, and be better at the end than at the beginning: Sometimes of Garden, ••en∣der, and delicate Peares, such as are the Eusebian and the Marie Peare, the 〈◊〉〈◊〉,
Hasting, Rimolt, Mollart, Greening, butter Peare, the laques du four Peare, the lit∣tle the Conie Peare, the perplexed Peare, the Alablaster Peare, the two-headed Peare, the dew Peare, and the wood of Hierusalem: and such Perrie is pleasant for a cer∣taine time, but after it is once come to be fiue moneths old, it becommeth void of all tast, and dead. The best and most excellent Perrie is made of little yellow waxe Peares, and such as haue beene throughly dres••ed and husbanded, as the little muske Peare, the two-headed Peare, the Peare, Robart, the fine gold Peare, Bargamo••, Taho••, Sq••••e, and such other Peares, which haue a ••ast and solide ••lesh, and hard coat.
The A••iot Peare is commended aboue all the rest, whereof likewise is made the Perrie, called waxen Perrie, because it resembleth the colour of waxe, but which o∣therwise is called Car••sie, very pleasant and delightsome, but notwithstanding indif∣ferent hard, and not so easie to be corrupted as the later. some doe also sometime•• mingle diuers sorts of Peares together to make Perrie of. But of what sort of Peares soeuer the Perrie is made, the Peare-trees must be carefully and diligently husban∣ded and ordered, according to our former deliuered precepts, in what ground soe∣uer that the Peare-trees grow, as whether it be in Orchard, Garden, arable ground, or other such like, so that the said ground be such and so well seasoned as is requisite to bring ••orth Peares in aboundance: and such as be good Peares, must be gathered to make Perrie of, some before Apples, and some after, with ••udgels or poles: some when they are ripe, as the Amiot, the Tahou, and the Squire, and to breake and grind the same with a turning Mill-stone so ••oone as they be gathered, in such manner as hath beene said of Apples. Othersome must be gathered before they be ripe, as the Peares of Grosmeuill, and others, which haue a hard flesh, rough cote, and are hea∣uie, as those which by reason of their hardnesse and heauinesse cannot ripen well vp∣on the tree. Such as these are not to be employed to make Perrie of, till they haue layne to ripen and mellow, that so they may become the tendrer and softer, to get the greater quantitie of iuice out of them.
Whether they be Peares to be gathered early or late, pressed they must be, and the like implements and meanes vsed about them in making the Perrie, that were vsed in the making of Cider: for after the same manner must you proceed, in sometimes mingling water with it, when there is need, as also in the manner of the vsing of it in the working, boyling, and purging of it, in the tunning of it vp into vessels, in ap∣pointing it a place to be kept in, in the gouerning of it, and such other necessarie care for the defending of it from all th••ngs that might hurt it, and that it is subiect vnto, euen in as great measure, or rather greater, than you vsed about Cider, especially in respect of the cold and frost, which Perrie cannot in anie sort endure: insomuch, as that all Winter long you must keepe the windows of the cellar or caue vnder ground where it lyeth, close shut, and well stopped with straw, or some such other thing, to driue away the cold: besides that, Perrie is not so good for keeping as Cider is, ex∣cept it be the Carisie, or that which is made of the Peare Grosmeuill, or such other Peares as haue a hard flesh and skinne, the Perrie whereof may be kept two yeares vndrawne, and after they be pierced or drawne of, six weekes, foreseene they be will ordered and gouerned. Perrie maketh as great, yea greater setling then Cider, where∣of you must ••ree the vessell presently after the Perrie is drawne forth, for otherwise there will breed an infinite number of wormes in the vessell, which will infect it. The good house-holders doe make a sort of Perrie for the household, of the drosse of the Peares comming from pressing, and that by casting of them into some vessell with su••••icient quantitie of fountaine water. Some others cast away the said drosse, as a thing altogether vnprofitable. In all other things Perrie is to be ordered after the ••anner of Cider.
The faculties and qualities of Perrie must be considered of and weighed in such manner as we haue said of Cider, that is, by his tast, age, and making. The tast of the Perrie dependeth for the most part of the rellish of the Peares out of which it is pres∣sed, and those are either sweet, or sowre, or harsh, or of mixt tasts, or else altogether
without tast, according to which rellishes you are to find out the vertues and quali∣ties of Perrie, following such forme and manner as we haue largely laid downe in the handling of Cider. It is true, that to speake particularly of the good qualities of Per∣ries, the most wholesome, profitable, and of best iuice, are tho••e which are made of the Peares called the waxen Peares, the same being pressed out in the Summer time, and foreseene also that it be drunken so soone as it is fined, because it is not to be kept, being a verie delicate and tender iuice, and therefore apt to corrupt easily and verie soone. Next vnto this in goodnesse is the Perrie made of Peare Robart, and Musca∣del Peares, prouided that they be drunken also so soone as they be well fined, and their lees setled, but then also they must be drunke with water, and but in a reasona∣ble and meane quantitie, for otherwise by the piercing smell and subtilnesse thereof it causeth great paine of the head oftentimes. The Perrie called Carisie, or made of the Kersey Peare, though it be one of the best and most excellent, and of those which are last pressed, is yet to be drunke after it is well fined in a mediocritie, and allayed with water, to represse the fuming smell of the same, which easily would take hold of the braine. There is no cause why you should greatly esteeme, in respect of your health, of the Perries which are pressed out of wild Peares, and all such as are vn∣husbanded, vntamed, of a sharpe tast, fat, reddish, or of those which are pressed 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of diuers sorts of Peares, not agreeing together either in tast, or otherwise, neither yet of such as are made of Apples and Peares mingled and pressed together; as neither of that Perrie which is newly put vp into the vessels, and not fined▪ or that which had water mixt with it when it was made; or that which is made of the Peare called the Wood-Peare, being stampt and put into vessels with a sufficient quantitie of water. To be short, whatsoeuer we haue ••aid of Cider, it may be applyed vnto Perrie for the most part: and yet notwithstanding all this, we are not to confesse the Perrie to be a∣nie whit inferior vnto Cider: for although in some Countries, as in Britaine and Nor∣mandie, they make speciall account of Cider, and doe more esteeme of it both for the tast, lasting, aboundance, and profit thereof, than they doe of Perrie; notwithstan∣ding, if necessitie should driue a man to conferre the one iuice with the other, compa∣ring the sweet Ciders with the sweet Perries, the sowre with the sowre, the sharpe with the sharpe, and the mixt tasts with the mixt tasts, it would be ••asie to iudge, that the Perrie is more wholesome and profitable for the stomacke and whole bodie, than the Cider: for besides the astringent, binding, strengthening, and corroboratiue ver∣tue that it hath to benefit the stomacke withall, and that comming from his terrestri∣ous and earthie temperature, which all sorts of Peares doe most consist of, whether they be sweet or sowre, rough, or otherwise rellished; there is yet further in the Per∣rie a certaine secret and vnspeakeable vertue for the ouer-comming of poyson, and principally the venime engendred in the stomacke by eating of Mushrome••, which indeed is the Perries naturall qualitie, as left it of the Peares from which it is pressed, Againe, wee see by experience, that the vse of the Peares is euerie where more com∣mended than the vse of the Apples, and that for this cause there is more carefull heed and charge enioyned for the keeping of the Peares than of the Apples, as those which for that cause are wont to be preserued in sugar or honey. They are also dried in the Sunne, dried in the Ouen, and made vp in composition to serue in time and place. It is true that Cider moisteneth more than Perrie: but in recompence of tha••, the Perrie doth relieue and refresh a man more, and in cooling of him, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 withall, saue that it stirreth vp more o••t the paine of the bellie and the collicke 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Cider doth, especially the sowre or harsh Perrie, in such as are subiect vnto the col∣licke; and the cause is, for that it passeth not away so speedily by vrine through the bellie, but stayeth longer time in the stomacke, and about the principall parts, than Cider doth, as wee haue declared in the Treatise of the Peare: For which cause, it is better to drinke of it at the end of meat, than at the beginning, so that the partie haue not anie vomiting, or flux of the bellie; following the cous∣saile of Dioscorides, who sayth, That Peares eaten fasting bring harme and icon∣uenience.
Loe here, in my opinion, what wee are to iudge of the qualities of Cider and Per∣rie, as well in particular, as in comparing of the one with the other.
It remaineth, that we examine what kind of drinke the Perrie and Cider are, and whether there be anie such excellent qualitie in them as may match them and make them equall with Wine, that so famous and highly esteemed drink••, seeing that a Physitian of our time could not content himselfe with matching of them together, but went further, and preferred them before Wine in euerie thing: but this might happen (possibly) by his being more affected towards his Country, or by being car∣ried away with a paradoxicall iudgement, than vpon any sinc••re mind to find out the truth of things. But for the deciding of this controuersie, we haue thought good to set downe our iudgement thereof in our Booke, written in Latine, and entituled De Salubri Di••••a, that so wee may not in this place passe the limits of our Far•••• and Countrey house.
The vertues a•• Perrie.