Clean and truss as you would chickens. Bind thin slices of fat salt pork or bacon over the breasts and put into your roaster with half a cupful of boiling water. Pepper and salt the birds and wash over with melted butter, letting it drip into the pan below. Cook, covered, forty-five minutes, basting four times with butter and water.

Serve with a good bread sauce, but after dishing pour over the birds several spoonfuls of their own gravy from the pan.