Chicken Stovies

• a plump chicken or fowl
• potatoes
• onions or shallots (optional)
• butter

Prepare the bird and cut up neatly. Peel two pounds of potatoes and cut up roughly. Slice an onion or two shallots. Arrange in a pot alternate layers of potatoes, onion and chicken, sprinkling each layer with salt and pepper and dotting liberally with butter. Add about three gills of water and cover tightly. Simmer very gently for two or three hours, or until the chicken is tender. If necessary