Period Quote On Trail Foods.

The Portable Provisions I would furnish our Foresters withal are Glue-Broth and rockahomini : one contains the Essence of Bread, the other of Meat. The best way of making Glue-Broth is after the following method:

Take a Leg of Beef, Veal, Venison, or any other Young Meat, because Old Meat will not so easily Jelly. Pare off all the fat, in which there is no Nutriment, and of the Lean make a very strong Broth, after the usual Manner, by boiling the meat to Rags till all the Goodness be out. After Skimming off what fat remains, pour the Broth into a wide Stew-Pan, well tinn'd, & let it simmer over a gentle, even Fire, till it come to a thick

Jelly. Then take it off and set it over Boiling Water, which is an Evener Heat, and not so apt to bum the Broth to the Vessel. Over that let it evaporate, stirring it very often till it be reduc'd, when cold, into a Solid Substance like Glue. Then cut it into small Pieces, laying them Single in the Cold, that they may dry the Sooner. When the Pieces are perfectly dry, put them into a Cannister, and they will be good, if kept Dry, a whole East India Voyage.

This Glue is so Strong, that two or three Drams, dissolv'd in boiling Water with a little Salt, will make half a pint of good Broth, & if you shou'd be faint with fasting or Fatigue, let a small piece of this Glue melt in your Mouth, and you will find yourself surprisingly refreshed. One Pound of this cookery wou'd keep a man in good heart above a Month, and is not only Nourishing, but likewise very wholesome. Particularly

it is good against Fluxes, which Woodsmen are very liable to,

by lying too near the moist ground, and guzzling too much cold Water. But as it will be only us'd now and then, in times of Scarcity, when Game is wanting, two Pounds of it will be enough for a Journey of Six Months. But this Broth will be still more heartening if you thicken every mess with half a Spoonful of Rockahominy, which is nothing but Indian Corn

parched without burning, and reduced to Powder. The Fire drives out all the Watery Parts of the Corn, leaving the Strength of it behind, and this being very dry, becomes much lighter for carriage and less liable to be Spoilt by the Moist Air.

Thus half a Dozen Pounds of this Sprightful Bread will sustain a Man for as many Months, provided he husband it well, and always Spare it when he meets with Venison, which, as I said before, may be very Safely eaten without any Bread at all.

WILLIAM BYRD'S DIVIDING LINE HISTORIES

Mid 18th century.

Spinning. Images By Diderot.

MY NEIGHBOR WELLINGTON: FREE DOWNLOADS 2

MY NEIGHBOR WELLINGTON: FREE DOWNLOADS 2: In continuation of the last post, here are a few more links to free downloads of books about Portugal around the time of the French Invasio...

When Making Fire-Safety.

By Robert Griffing.

When making fire be sure that you have placed your powder horn with your gun well away from the fireplace. I suggest that you secure your fire steel to your belt bag buckle. In this way you can simply drop the steel after striking so that you can place all your attention immediately on the making of fire. In this way you are never likely to lose your steel.

Always make sure there is a clear area of at least two paces around your fireplace before making fire. Pay special attention to any debris that may take fire between the fireplace & your shelter.

Keep your fire small, large fires are a danger & they are more likely to attract attention than a small fire.

Make sure your store dry kindling in the back of your shelter in case the fire should go out at night when it is very cold.

If you do not need a fire, do not light one. It may attract unwanted attention. Always carry foods that do not require cooking.

Unless it is very cold & you need a fire for warmth, extinguish your cooking fire when you have finished cooking.

If you need to keep the fire going all night, make sure you have a good supply of firewood close to hand, so you can feed the fire at night without having to leave your bed.

Smoke from a fire made close to a tree will generally be drawn to the tree & find its way upward exiting through the forest canopy. However, this can not always be relied on because of the shifting breezes in forest areas, so keep your fire smokeless when you are able. Small dry wood will create heat quickly & produce less smoke. A hot fire will create less smoke even when larger pieces of wood are used.

Make sure that you always have plenty of dry spare tinder in your pack. If you are carrying gunpowder bags, place spare tinder in these bags as they become empty. Be sure to keep your tinderbox full of tinder.

Keith.

All the world’s a stage-Shakespeare.

Painting By Andrew Knez Jnr.

All the world’s a stage-Shakespeare.

All the world may be a stage, but real life is not a play. If we fail to check our gun frequently & the hammer should accidently get knocked back leaving the pan open then our priming may be lost, & unlike in the movie Revenant starring DiCaprio, your gun will not fire should you need to use it urgently!

Wilderness living is about survival, many woodsmen did not survive because they failed to take the dangers seriously. Not looking after your gun can be fatal; you need to keep the lock clean inside & out. You need to waterproof the lock mortise & the barrel channel with beeswax or some other grease to stop the damp from swelling the wood. You need to carry a greased leather lock cover & some grease for waterproofing the pan in wet weather.

After shooting game, always reload immediately & place your gun somewhere safe close to hand where it will not fall. Field dress your game as quickly as possible & leave the area. The sound of your shot will have travelled far & may have attracted unwanted attention. If you can’t carry the whole animal then butcher out what you can easily carry. The rest of the animal can be hung in a tree to keep it safe until someone can return to retrieve it. But caution is needed in case someone is laying in wait.

You take care out there.
Keith.

Misinformation, Pride, & Jealousy. The bane of forums.

Misinformation, Pride, & Jealousy. The bane of forums.

Forums are good for sharing & learning, but unfortunately it is my experience that on nearly every forum there are people that for one reason or another make participating on the forum an unpleasant experience. In my experience there are three types of person which should not be allowed on a forum, 1) those that spread misinformation. These people have very little real experience in the field that the forum represents, yet they want people to think that they are very knowledgeable, so they make lots of posts which are mostly bullshit & misinformation. This not only poses a danger for newbies who are trying to learn the ropes, but it can also cause beginners to spend money on items that are not of any real use.

2) Prideful people who think they know more than they really do & are not prepared to admit they are wrong. These people will never learn anything new, because they hate being wrong to the extent that they will defend themselves by totally discounting any new information that contradicts their own beliefs. What is worse is that they will try to prove you wrong & make out that you don’t know what you are talking about. Whilst these types of people are pretty harmless, they can be annoying & stressful & are best avoided.

 3) Jealous people; these people think they know it all & will never listen to reason. If they come across a post that indicates that their own beliefs are wrong, then they will discount the information & post comments that are rude & often spiteful. They hate to think that anyone should know more than they do. Like the prideful person these people will never admit to learning anything new, especially if it contradicts their own beliefs.

What To Do.

There is no point trying to help these people, to try & educate them is a futile & stressful experience. The best thing you can do is go to your control panel on the forum & list these people on your “Ignore” list. In this way you will no longer see their posts or their replies to your posts.

Others that will not learn.

These are people who are totally harmless to others but do pose a threat to themselves. They are not really into the finer points of what the forum is all about, but they do find participation fun. They purchase gear that is not suitable & not sustainable & having purchased this equipment they are not about to admit that they have made a mistake. Again, they will defend their choices & beliefs by discounting any other advice or recommendations. You can simply ignore these people or you can add them to your “Ignore” list. These people rarely cause any problem on a forum, & are not usually the sort of people to pursue an argument or try & put anyone down, but occasionally some of them will!

Best of luck on your forums.
Incidentally, the ONLY forum I have come across to date that does not suffer this problem is one that I started & run myself. I have to date NEVER had to reprimand someone or cancel their membership. They are the best people I have ever come across & I am proud to have them all on my forum. This forum is an 18^th century Living History forum & you can find it here:

http://eighteenthcenturylivinghistory.freeforums.org/

The Revenant Movie, Disappointment.

If you are a history buff, or know anything about muzzle-loading guns or even if you posses a normal degree of common sense, then don't bother watching this movie. There was apparently a 19th century living historian hired to train the actors in the use of muzzle-loading guns, but either this person did not know his stuff, or he was totally ignored. No one was present to adjust the on screen visual mistakes, either that or they simply had no clue either!

Very few historical facts in this movie, which is a great pitty because the real story, IF DONE PROPERLY, would have been worth watching. There are simply too many mistakes in this movie to make it worth watching from my point of view. I thought that after the Last Of The Mohicans, some breakthroughs in historical accuracy had actually been made, there were some mistakes, but they could be ignored, but in The Revenant, there are more mistakes that you can shake a stick at & for me at least it spoilt the whole movie. If DiCaprio wanted an Oscar for his part in this film, then he should have done his own research & made his own part more believable. I find it really hard to believe that in this day & age film makers are still unable to make a decent historical based movie of this type. Very disappointing.

Keith.