Colonial recipes, from old Virginia and Maryland manors

Miss Anne Payne Lewis, « The Rocks. GHERKIN PRESERVES FOR DESSERT (The Rocks) Pick tender gherkins (burr cucumbers) and soak for 2 months in salt brine that bears an egg; then soak 4 days in water, pouring this off every day and pouring scalding water on them; then soak in alum water a day; then wash well. Green them in a copper kettle and take out the seeds. Preserve like other fruit, 1 pound of sugar to 1 pound of gherkins, adding lemons cut up. and mace. Serve with cream for dessert. Miss Anne Payne Lewis. pastry (The Rocks) Ten ounces flour, 6 ounces butter. Mix with ice water with a silver knife and fork. Roll out on a marble slab. Miss Anne Payne Lewis. OAK HILL At Oak Hill, the stately old home of Chief Justice Marshall in Fauquier County, life was most abundant, and lavish hospitality was dispensed at all times by the genial Judge and his beautiful wife, who was before her marriage the sweet and pious little Mary Ambler, who won the heart of John Marshall when she was only fourteen years of age, and about whose marriage a pretty little romance is woven. It is told that when John Marshall was quite a young man and a captain in the Revolutionary army he fell in love with little Mary Ambler, 14 years old, at first sight, and after the war was over they were married at " The Cottage " in Hanover County, a family seat of one of the Amblers. It is a tradition that after the groom had paid the minister's fee his fortune was only one guinea in his pocket! But he lived to be the greatest lawyer America has produced and Chief Justice of the United States ! The Marshalls have always been known for their remarkable Oak Hill 43 intellectual power, and the Amblers for their beautiful piety, a characteristic so pronounced in that family that it gave rise to the saying, " As pious as an Ambler," which is still heard in Old Virginia even in these days. Through the kindness of Mrs. John Marshall, whose husband was the grandson of Chief Justice Marshall, this old Marshall recipe is given. It has been used in the Marshall family for generations. SPICED CURRANTS {Oak Hill) Six pounds of currants, 4 pounds of brown sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon, and 2 tablespoonfuls of cloves. Boil twenty minutes. Seal while hot. Mrs. John Marshall. A very amusing little story is told about Chief Justice Marshall when he was once riding over the mountains in Virginia. His gig became entangled in some trees and underbrush and he seemed unable to extricate it. An old darky, passing at the time, took in 44 Oak Hill the situation at a glance and exclaimed, " Wha' fo', marsa, don't yo' back yo' hoss?" The Judge, acting upon the old darky's suggestion, was immediately helped out of the difficulty, and with much gratitude he called out, " Uncle, you will find a dollar waiting for you at the next tavern." When the old darky presented himself at the latter place and received the thankoffering he clasped it in his hands and exclaimed, " Well, sir, he wuz a gemman fo' suah, sir," and, tapping his forehead with his fingers, added gravely, " But he ain't got nuffin' in heah." "COLONEL CARTER OF CARTERSVILLE"