[Illustration: NAPOLEON ON THE _BELLEROPHON_. _From the Painting by
Orchardson_.]
We had intended leaving Torquay for Totnes by the main road, which
passed through Paignton, but our host informed us that even if we passed
through it, we should not see Paignton in all its glory, as we were
twelve years too early for one pudding and thirty-nine years too late
for the next. We had never heard of Paignton puddings before, but it
appeared that as far back as 1294 Paignton had been created a borough or
market town, and held its charter by a White-Pot Pudding, which was to
take seven years to make, seven years to bake, and seven years to eat,
and was to be produced once every fifty years. In 1809 the pudding was
made of 400 lbs. of flour, 170 lbs. of suet, 140 lbs. of raisins, and
240 eggs. It was boiled in a brewer's copper, and was kept constantly
boiling from the Saturday morning until the Tuesday following, when it
was placed on a gaily decorated trolley and drawn through the town by
eight oxen, followed by a large and expectant crowd of people. But the
pudding did not come up to expectations, turning out rather stodgy: so
in 1859 a much larger pudding was made, but this time it was baked
instead of boiled, and was drawn by twenty-five horses through the
streets of the town.
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