Instructions: * Note: Capons vary in size from 5 pounds to 8 pounds and will comfortably serve 8 to 12 people.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Remove any large pieces of fat from the bird and put on one side. Melt the butter in a pan and gently fry the onions for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and tip into a mixing bowl. Add all the remaining stuffing ingredients and mix well. Divide the stuffing between the neck end and the cavity of the bird. Truss with string.

Weigh and calculate the cooking time, allowing 15 minutes per 1 pound and 15 minutes over, including the weight of the stuffing. Place the bird in a roasting tin, season lightly with salt and pepper and lay the reserved pieces of chicken fat on the breast. Roast until crisp and golden brown, basting frequently during cooking.

Comments: Presents to the landlord to keep him sweet on quarter-days (when quarterly rents were due) were customary for centuries, and capons (castrated cocks) were the most usual Christmas and New Year offerings. One anonymous writer in 1644 insisted that one should offer up a capon sacrifice unto his worship at a New Years Tide, while another popular rhyme was: and when the tennants come to pay their quarters rent, They bring some fowls at Midsummer, a dish of fish at Lent, At Christmas a capon, at Michaelmas a goose, And somewhat else at New Years Tide, for fear their lease fly loose!

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