SC - swans, eel and peacocks, oh

[Mark Harris]

Back on Tuesday, April 15, Adamantius wrote:

>Wax was, as you point out, expensive. I understand one Elizabethan
>method of sealing jars is with a piece of parchment soaked in brandy,
>folded down over the opening and tied in place with a loop of string
>around the mouth of the jar. This might be augmented with a sheet of
>pig's bladder (kind of like sausage casing) tied on in the same way.

Are you sure this was parchment? I would think this would still be pretty
expensive. Or are
there cheap grades of parchment? Perhaps scraps from creating writing
parchment? By
this time paper was available and had been for over a century, I believe.

Anyone else know?

Thanks.
  Stefan li Rous
  markh at risc.sps.mot.com