[Sca-cooks] gallons and pottles (Elizabethan)

[Terry Decker]

While there are several different measures for a gallon, the standard
Elizabethean measure was the wine gallon (231 cu. in.) which matches the
modern standard US measures.  Imperial measures were adopted in 1826 (IIRC).
A pottle is two quarts or half a gallon.

Since you are talking wine in this recipe, just haul out your measuring
cups.

Bear

>Does anyone know the volume of a "gallon" and a "pottle" in Elizabethan
>terms?  It needn't be absolute, either -- if a pottle is usually half a
>gallon, that's enough for me.
>
>(I'm working on the recipe for green ginger upon sirop that I posted a
>while ago, and while it doesn't specify how much ginger to start with,
>it does go on to say "take of wine a gallon and vinegar a pottle and
>honey a pottle" for the syrup.  So as long as I get the proportions
>right, that's enough for me.
>
>If nobody posts, I'm going to assume about a 3:1 ratio, I think.
>
>Yours,
>
>Katherine