Original Receipt in 'English Housewifry' by Elizabeth Moxon, 1764 (Moxon 1764)333. To make CORDIAL WATER of COWSLIPS.
Take two quarts of cowslip peeps, a slip of balm, two sprigs of rosemary, a stick of cinnamon, half an orange peel, half a lemon peel, a pint of brandy, and a pint of ale; lay all these to steep twelve hours, then distil them on a cold still.
Cowslips from 'A Book of Fruits and Flowers', 1653