Gentle readers, this poem in a mid-19th century children’s family circle book perfectly describes the long and arduous day of an ordinary family cook.
The Discontented Cook. Image @Forrester's pictorial miscellany for the family circle edited by Mark Forrester, 1855
Oh, who would wish to be a cook,
To live in such a broil!With all one’s pains, to cook one’s brains,
And lead a Life of toil?“Tis, Stir the pudding, Peggy,
And give those ducks a turn;Be quick, be quick, you lazy jade!
Else one or both will burn.An hour before the rising sun
I’m forced to leave my bed,To make the fires, and fry the cakes,
And get the table spread.
‘Tis, Stir the pudding, Peggy,And give those ducks a turn;
Be quick, be quick, you lazy jade!Else one or both will burn.
The breakfast’s scarely over,
And all things set to rights,
Before the savory haunch, or fowl,My skill and care invites.
‘T is, Stir the pudding, Peggy,And give those ducks a turn;
Be quick, be quick, you lazy jade!Else one or both will burn.
And here I stand before the fire,
And turn them round and round;
And keep the kettle boiling —I hate their very sound!
‘T is, Stir the pudding, Peggy,And give those ducks a turn;
Be quick, be quick, you lazy jade!Else one or both will burn.
And long before the day is spent,
I ‘m all in such a toast,
You scarce could tell which’s done the mostMyself, or what I roast!
‘Tis, Stir the pudding, Peggy,And give those ducks a turn;
Be quick, be quick, you lazy jade’.Else one or both will burn.
From Forrester’s Pictorial Miscellany for the Family Circle, 1855
Jane Austen's World 