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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-07 16:09:56 -0800 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-07 16:09:56 -0800 |
| commit | b1be97d73d2c98c48c1588eed9b4d63b34805b75 (patch) | |
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| parent | 6d0daae8a553d168e0fa20a68f4b3f2278feb75f (diff) | |
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-} -.xxpn { - font-size: 0.68em; - font-weight: normal; - color: #865; - text-decoration: none; - position: absolute; - right: 0; - line-height: 1.81; /*assumes lh of container is 1.3*/ -} -.hr08 { - margin: 0.4em 46%; - border: thin black solid; -} -.psynopsis { - font-size: 0.76em; - text-align: justify; - font-style: italic; - margin: 1em 0; - text-indent: 0; - line-height: 1.6; - letter-spacing: 0.15em; -} -.spdropcap { /*==drop caps==*/ - float: left; - padding-right: 0.1em; - line-height: 0.8; -} -.idropcap { /*big letter image for chapter heads*/ - width: auto; - height: 8.5em; - padding-top: 0.2em; -} -#p054list { - margin: 0 0 0 9%; - line-height: 1; -} -#p203list { - margin: 0 0 0 6%; - page-break-before: auto; - page-break-inside: avoid; -} -#p395list { - margin: 0 0 0 6%; -} -.p395item { - display: inline-block; - width: 4em; - text-align: center; -} -#p440end { - margin-left: -13.7%; -} -.hrtb { - margin: 0.5em 50%; - color: white; -} -#p289-pa, -#p289-pc, -#p348-pa { - text-indent: 12%; -} -#p289-pa { - padding-top: 1em; -} -#p289-pb { - text-indent: 18%; -} - -</style> -</head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History, by John Bickerdyke</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Curiosities of Ale & Beer: An Entertaining History</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: John Bickerdyke</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: September 22, 2017 [eBook #55602]<br /> -[Most recently updated: August 3, 2021]</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Turgut Dincer, RichardW, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF ALE & BEER ***</div> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="" /></div> - -<h1 class="h1herein">The Curiosities of Ale & Beer,<br /> -<span class="fsz8">By</span> John Bickerdyke.</h1> - -<div class="dfront dfrontborder"> -<div class="dctr05" id="p-ii"> -<img src="images/p000.02.png" width="471" height="700" - alt="An Ancient Brewhouſe. 1568." /></div></div> - -<div class="dfront dfrontborder"> -<div class="fsz5"><i>The Curiosities</i></div> - -<div class="fsz8">OF</div> - -<div class="fsz2"><i>Ale & Beer</i>:</div> - -<div class="fsz6">An Entertaining History.</div> - -<div class="fsz7">(<i>Illustrated with over Fifty Quaint Cuts.</i>)</div> - -<div class="fsz6 padtopa">BY</div> - -<div class="fsz4">John Bickerdyke.</div> - -<p class="pfirst fsz7">In Part collected by the late <span -class="smcap">J. G. F<b>ENNELL</b>;</span> now largely augmented with -manifold matters of singular note and worthy memory by the Author and -his friend <span class="nowrap">J. M. D——.</span></p> - -<div class="dctr05"> - <img src="images/p000.03.png" width="501" - height="328" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">“For a quart of Ale is a dish for a - King.”—<i>Shakspere.</i></div></div> - -<div class="fsz6 padtopc">LONDON:</div> -<div class="fsz5">SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & Co.,</div> -<div class="fsz6">PATERNOSTER SQUARE.</div> - -<div class="fsz6">1889.</div> -</div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="dfront dfrontborder"> -<div class="dctr05 padtopa"> -<img src="images/p000.04.png" width="411" height="208" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="fsz8 padtopc">PRINTED BY</div> -<div class="fsz8">CHAS. STRAKER AND SONS, BISHOPSGATE AVENUE, LONDON;</div> -<div class="fsz8">AND REDHILL.</div> -</div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="dfront dfrontborder"> -<div class="fsz4 padtopa"><i>Dedicated</i></div> - -<div class="fsz8 padtopa">TO THE</div> - -<div class="fsz4 padtopa"><i>Brewers of the United Kingdom</i></div> - -<div class="fsz8 padtopa">AND ALL WHO VALUE</div> - -<div class="fsz4 padtopa"><i>Honest Malt Liquor</i>.</div> -</div><!--dfront--> - -<div class="dfront"> -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p000.06.png" width="576" height="178" alt="" /></div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr06"> -<img src="images/p000.07a.png" width="416" height="208" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein"><i>PREFACE.</i></h2> - -<p class="pfirst"><span class="spdropcap"><img -class="idropcap" src="images/p000.07b.png" width="291" -height="297" alt="T" /></span>HAT -the history and curiosities of Ale -and Beer should fill a bulky volume, -may be a subject for surprise to the -unthinking reader; and that surprise -will probably be intensified, on his -learning that great difficulty has been -experienced in keeping this book within -reasonable limits, and at the same time doing anything like -justice to the subject. Since the dawn of our history Barley-wine has -been the “naturall drinke” for an “Englysshe man,” and has had -no unimportant influence on English life and manners. It is, therefore, -somewhat curious that up to the present, among the thousands of -books published annually, no comprehensive work on the antiquities -of ale and beer has found place.</p></div> - -<p class="padtopc">Some -years ago this strange neglect of so excellent a theme -was observed by the late John Greville Fennell, best known as -a contributor to <i>The Field</i>, and who, like “John of the Dale,” -was a “lover of ale.” With him probably originated the idea of -filling this void in our literature. As occasion offered he made -extracts from works bearing on the subject, and in time amassed -a considerable amount of material, which was, however, devoid -of arrangement. Old age overtaking him before he was able to -commence writing his proposed book, he asked me to undertake -that which from failing health he was unable to accomplish. -To this I assented, and at the end of some months had prepared -a complete scheme of the book, with the materials for each chapter -carefully grouped. That arrangement, for which I am responsible, has, -with a few slight modifications, been carefully adhered to. The work -did not then proceed further, as to carry out my scheme a large -amount of additional matter, from sources not then available, was -required. A few months later my friend was taken seriously ill, and, -finding his end approaching, directed that on his decease all papers -connected with the book should be placed at my disposal. His death -seems to render a statement of our respective shares in the book -desirable.</p> - -<p class="padtopc">When able to resume work on the book, with the object of -hastening its publication, I obtained the assistance of my friend, -Mr. J. M. D——. By the collection of fresh matter, in amplification of -that already arranged, and the addition of several new features, we have -considerably increased the scope of the work, and, it is to be hoped, -added to its attractiveness. To my friend’s researches in the City of -London and other Records is due the bringing to light of many -curious facts, so far as I am aware, never before noticed. He has also -rendered me great assistance in those portions of the book in which -the antiquities of the subject are specially treated.</p> - -<p class="padtopc">The illustrations have been in most part taken from rare old -works. As any smoothing away of defects in such relics of the -past would be deemed by many an offence against the antiquarian -code of morality, they have been reproduced in exact fac-simile, -and will no doubt appeal to those interested in the art of the -early engraver, and amuse many with their quaintness.</p> - -<p class="padtopc">As aptly terminating the chapter devoted to an account of the -medicinal qualities of ale and beer, I have ventured to enter upon -a short consideration of the leading teetotal arguments. In extending -their denunciations to ale and beer drinkers, the total -abstainers are, in my opinion, working a very grievous injury on -the labouring classes, who for centuries have found the greatest -benefit from the use of malt liquors. Barley-broth should be -looked upon as <i>the</i> temperance drink of the people or, in other -words, the drink of the temperate.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="padtopc">I have gratefully to acknowledge the kindness and courtesy accorded -me during the preparation of this work by the authorities of the British -Museum, by Dr. Sharpe, Records Clerk of the City of London, by -Mr. Higgins, Clerk of the Brewers’ Company, and by several eminent -brewers and a large number of correspondents.</p> - -<p class="psignature">JOHN BICKERDYKE.</p> - -<div class="dctr01"> -<img src="images/p000.09.png" width="600" height="139" alt="" /></div> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="dfront"><div class="padtopa"> -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p000.10.png" width="531" height="159" alt="" /></div> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr01"> -<img src="images/p000.11.png" width="600" height="129" alt="" /></div></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein"><i>CONTENTS.</i></h2> - -<ul> -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> I.</span> -<span class="sptocsyn">Suppression of Beer-shops in Egypt 2,000 -<span class="smmaj">B.C.</span> — Brewing in a Teapot. — Ale -Songs. — Distinctions between Ale and Beer. — Ale-Knights’ objection -to Sack. — Hogarth and Temperance. — Importance of Ale to the -Agricultural Labourer. — Sir John Barleycorne introduced to the Reader -. . . <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> II.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Origin and Antiquity of Ale and Beer - . . . <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> III.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Home-brewed Ales. — Old Receipts. — Historical Facts. — Dean Swift on -Home-brew. — Christopher North’s Brew-house - . . . <a href="#p045" title="go to p. 45">45</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> IV.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Use and Importance of Hops in -Beer: Their Introduction and History. — Hop-growers’ -Troubles. — Medicinal Qualities. — Economical -Uses. — Hop-pickers . . . <a href="#p065" title="go to p. 65">65</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> V.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Ancient and Curious Laws relating to the manufacture and sale of Ale -and Beer . . . <a href="#p096" title="go to p. 96">96</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VI.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Brewing and Malting in Early Times. — The Ale-wives. — The Brewers of -Old London and the Brewers’ Company. — Anecdotes. — Quaint Epitaphs -. . . <a href="#p120" title="go to p. 120">120</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VII.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Various Kinds of Ales and Beers. — Some Foreign -Beers. — Receipts. — Songs. — Anecdotes . . . <a href="#p151" title="go to p. 151">151</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VIII.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Ale houses: Their Origin. — Hospitality in Mediæval Times. — Old London -Inns and Taverns. — Anecdotes of Inns and Inn-keepers. — Curious -Signs. — Signboard and Ale-house Verses. — Signboard Artists. — Ale-house -Songs and Catches . . . <a href="#p182" title="go to p. 182">182</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> IX.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Ancient Merry-makings, Feasts and Ceremonies peculiar to certain -Seasons, at which Ale was the principal Drink. — Harvest Home, -Sheep-shearing, and other songs . . . <a href="#p232" title="go to p. 232">232</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> X.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">The Ales. — Ale at Breakfast. — Bequests of Ale. — Drinking -Customs. — A Sermon on Malt. — Excesses of the Clergy. — Anecdotes -. . . <a href="#p266" title="go to p. 266">266</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XI.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Old Ballads, Songs and Verses relating to Ale and Beer - . . . <a href="#p294" title="go to p. 294">294</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XII.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Brewing in the Present Day. — Anecdotal and Biographical Account of -some representative London, Dublin, Burton and Country Brewing -Firms. — Edinburgh Ales . . . <a href="#p331" title="go to p. 331">331</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XIII.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Porter and Stout. — Circumstances which led to their Introduction. — Value -to the Working Classes. — Anecdotes. — “A Pot of Porter Oh!” - . . . <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XIV.</span> - -<span class="sptocsyn">Beverages compounded of Ale or Beer, with a number of Receipts. — Ancient -Drinking Vessels. — Various Uses of Ale other than as a -Drink . . . <a href="#p378" title="go to p. 378">378</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> - XV.</span> -<span class="sptocsyn">Old Medical Writers on Ale. — Adulteration of Ale. — Advantages of Malt -Liquors to Labouring Classes. — Temperance <i>versus</i> Total Abstinence. — Anecdotes. — Gay’s -Ballad . . . <a href="#p408" title="go to p. 408">408</a></span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="sptocchap"><span class="smcap">A<b>PPENDIX</b>.</span></span> <span class="sptocsyn">— Pasteur’s - Discoveries . . . <a href="#p441" title="go to p. 441">441</a></span> - -<div class="dctr08"> -<img src="images/p000.12.png" width="240" height="131" alt="" /></div> - -</li></ul> - -<div class="chapter"> -<img id="glypha-p1" src="images/p001a.png" - width="822" height="60" alt="THE CURIOSITIES OF ALE AND BEER." /> -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p001" title="CHAPTER I. Introductory."> -<span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> I. - -<span class="hsmall"><i>INTRODUCTORY.</i></span></h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>For a - quart of ale is a dish for a King.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Winter’s Tale</i>, Act iv. Scene 2.</span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap34"> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">No doubt it is a very tedious thing</span> -<span class="spp01">To undertake a folio work on law,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or metaphysics, or again to ring</span> -<span class="spp01">The changes on the Flood or Trojan War:</span> -<span class="spp00">Old subjects these, which Poets only sing</span> -<span class="spp01">Who think a new idea quite a flaw;</span> -<span class="spp00">But thirst for novelty can’t fail in liking</span> -<span class="spp00">The theme of Ale, the aptitude’s so striking.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Brasenose College - Shrovetide Verses.</i></span></div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"> -SUPPRESSION OF BEER SHOPS IN EGYPT 2,000 B.C. — BREWING -IN A TEAPOT. — ALE SONGS. — DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN ALE AND -BEER. — ALE-KNIGHTS’ OBJECTION TO SACK. — HOGARTH AND -TEMPERANCE. — IMPORTANCE OF ALE TO THE AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. — SIR -JOHN BARLEYCORNE INTRODUCED TO THE READER.</p> - -<p class="pfirst"><span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p001b.png" -width="300" height="302" alt="F" /></span>OUR thousand years ago, -if old inscriptions and papyri lie not, Egypt was convulsed by the -high-handed proceedings of certain persons in authority who inclined to -the opinion that the beer shops were too many. Think of it, ye modern -Suppressionists! ’Tis now forty centuries since first your theories saw -the light, and yet there is not a town in our happy country without its -alehouse.</p> - -<p>While those disturbing members of the Egyptian community were -waxing wrath over the beer shops, our savage ancestors probably contented -themselves with such drinks as mead made from wild honey, -<span class="xxpn" id="p002">{2}</span> -or cyder from the crab tree. But when Ceres sent certain of her -votaries into our then benighted land to initiate our woad-dressed -forefathers into the mysteries of grain-growing, the venerable Druids -quickly discovered the art of brewing that beverage which in all -succeeding years has been the drink of Britons.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Of true British growth is the Nectar we boast,</span> -<span class="spp00">The homely companion of plain boiled and roast,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">most -truly wrote an Oxford poet, whose name has not been handed -down to posterity.</p> - -<p>Almost every inhabitant of this country has tasted beer of some -kind or another, but on the subject of brewing the great majority have -ideas both vague and curious. About one person out of ten imagines -that pale ale consists solely of hops and water; indeed, more credit is -given by most persons to the hop than to the malt. In order to give a -proper understanding of our subject, and at the risk of ruining the -brewing trade, let us then, in ten lines or so, inform the world at large -how, with no other utensils than a tea-kettle and a saucepan, a quart -or two of ale may be brewed, and the revenue defrauded.</p> - -<p>Into your tea-kettle, amateur brewer, cast a quart of malt, and on it -pour water, hot, but not boiling; let it stand awhile and stir it. Then -pour off the sweet tea into the saucepan, and add to the tea-leaves -boiling water again, and even a third time, until possibly a husband -would rebel at the weak liquid which issues from the spout. The -saucepan is now nearly full, thanks to the frequent additions from the -tea-kettle, so on to the fire with it, and boil up its contents for an hour -or two, not forgetting to add of hops half-an-ounce, or a little more. -This process over, let the seething liquor cool, and, when at a little -below blood-heat, throw into it a small particle of brewer’s yeast. The -liquor now ferments; at the end of an hour skim it, and lo! beneath -the scum is bitter beer—in quantity, a quart or more. After awhile -bottle the results of your brew, place it in a remote corner of your -cellar, and order in a barrel of XXX. from the nearest brewer.</p> - -<p>If the generality of people have ideas of the vaguest on the subject -of brewing, still less do we English know of the history of that excellent -compound yclept ale.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">O ale! aurum potabile!</span> -<span class="spp01">That gildest life’s dull hours,</span> -<span class="spp00">When its colour weareth shabbily,</span> -<span class="spp01">When fade its summer flowers.</span> -</div></div> - -<p id="p003">Old ballad makers have certainly sung in its praise, but it is a -subject which few prose writers have touched upon, except in the -most superficial manner. Modern song writers rarely take ale as -their theme. The reason is not far to seek. The ale of other days—not -the single beer rightly stigmatised as “whip-belly vengeance,” -nor even the doble beer, but the doble-doble beer brewed against law, -and beloved by the ale-knights of old—was of such mightiness that -whoso drank of it, more often than not dashed off a verse or two in its -praise. Now most people drink small beer which exciteth not the brain -to poesy. Could one of the ancient topers be restored to life, in tasting -a glass of our most excellent bitter, he would, in all likelihood, make a -wry face, for hops were not always held in the estimation they obtain -at present. There is no doubt, however, that we could restore his -equanimity and make him tolerably happy with a gallon or two of old -Scotch or Burton ale, double stout or, better still, a mixture of the -three with a little <i>aqua vitæ</i> added.</p> - -<p>In these pages it will be our task, aided or unaided by strong ale as -the case may be, to remove the reproach under which this country -rests; for surely a reproach it is that the history of the bonny nut-brown -ale, to which we English owe not a little, should have been so -long left unwritten.</p> - -<p>Now ale has a curious history which, as we have indicated, will be -related anon, together with other matters pertaining to the subject. -At present let us only chat awhile concerning the great Sir John -Barleycorn, malt liquors of the past and present, their virtues, and -importance to the labouring classes. Also may we consider the foolish -ideas of certain worthy but misguided folk, halting now and again, -should we find ourselves growing too serious, to chant a jolly old -drinking song, that the way may be more enlivened. If on reaching -the first stage of our journey you, dear reader, and ourselves -remain friends, let us in each other’s company pass lightly and cheerfully -over the path which Sir John Barleycorn has traversed, and fight -again his battles, rejoicing at his victories; grieving over his defeats—if -any there be. If, on the other hand, it so happens that by the time we -arrive at our first halting place you should grow weary of us—which -the Spirit of Malt forbid!—let us at once part company, friends none -the less, and consign us to a place high up on your bookshelf, or with -kindly words present us to the President of the United Kingdom -Alliance.</p> - -<p>In accusing modern poets of neglecting to sing the praises of our <span class="xxpn" id="p004">{4}</span> -national drink, we must not forget that in one place is kept up the good -old custom of brewing strong beer and glorifying it in verse. At -Brasenose College, Oxford, beer of the strongest, made of the best malt -and hops, is brewed once a year, distributed <i>ad. lib.</i>, and verses are -written in its praise. Mr. Prior, the college butler, to whom is due the -honour of having kept alive the custom for very many years, writes -us<a class="afnanc" href="#fn1" id="fnanc1">1</a> -that it is proposed to pull down the old college brewery. Should -this happen, Brasenose ale will become a thing of the past.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A fig for Horace and his juice,</span> -<span class="spp01">Falernian and Massic,</span> -<span class="spp00">Far better drink can we produce,</span> -<span class="spp01">Though ’tis not quite so <span class="nowrap">classic—</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">wrote -a Brasenose poet. Alas, that both poets and ale should soon -become extinct!</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc1" id="fn1">1</a> -May, 1886. See also pp. <a href="#p165" title="go to page 165">165</a>; -<a href="#p389" title="go to page 389">389</a>.</p></div> - -<p>Among the few prose writers past or present who have taken ale for -their subject, John Taylor, of whom a good deal will be heard in these -pages, stands pre-eminent. His little work, <i>Drinke and Welcome</i>, written -some two hundred years ago, and which glorifies ale in a manner most -marvellous, is one of the most curious literary productions it has ever -been our good fortune to read. “Ale is rightly called nappy,” says -the old Thames waterman and innkeeper, “for it will set a nap upon a -man’s threed-bare eyes when he is sleepy. It is called <i>Merry-goe-downe</i>, -for it slides downe merrily; It is fragrant to the <i>Sent</i>, it is most pleasing -to the <i>taste</i>. The flowring and mantling of it (like chequer worke) -with the verdant smiling of it, is delightefull to the <i>Sight</i>, it is <i>Touching</i> -or <i>Feeling</i> to the Braine and Heart; and (to please the senses all) it -provokes men to singeing and mirth, which is contenting to the -Hearing. The speedy taking of it doth comfort a heavy and troubled -minde; it will make a weeping widowe laugh and forget sorrow for -her deceas’d husband. . . . . It will set a Bashfull -Suiter a wooing; It heates the chill blood of the Aged; It will cause -a man to speake past his owne or any other man’s capacity, or understanding; -It sets an Edge upon Logick and Rhetorick; It is a friend to -the Muses; It inspires the poore Poet, that cannot compasse the price -of <i>Canarie</i> or <i>Gascoign</i>; It mounts the Musician ’bove Eccla; It -makes the Balladmaker Rime beyond Reason; It is a Repairer of a <span class="xxpn" id="p005">{5}</span> -decaied Colour in the face; It puts Eloquence into the Oratour; It will -make the Philosopher talke profoundly, the Scholler learnedly, and the -Lawyer acute and feelingly. <i>Ale</i> at Whitsontide, or a <i>Whitson Church</i> -Ale, is a repairer of decayed Countrey Churches; It is a great friend -to Truth; so they that drinke of it (to the purpose) will reveale all -they know, be it never so secret to be kept; It is an Embleme of -Justice, for it allowes, and yeelds measure; It will put Courage into a -Coward, and make him swagger and fight; It is a Seale to many a good -Bargaine. The Physittian will commend it; the Lawyer will defend -it; It neither hurts or kils any but those that abuse it unmeasurably -and beyond bearing; It doth good to as many as take it rightly; It is -as good as a Paire of Spectacles to cleare the Eyesight of an old Parish -Clarke; and in Conclusion, it is such a nourisher of Mankinde, that if -my Mouth were as bigge as Bishopsgate, my Pen as long as a Maypole, -and my Inke a flowing spring, or a standing fishpond, yet I could not -with Mouth, Pen or Inke, speake or write the true worth and worthiness -of <i>Ale</i>.” Bravo, John Taylor! He would be a bold man who could -lift up his voice against our honest English nappy, after reading your -vigorous lines.</p> - -<p>It is not uninteresting to compare this sixteenth century work with -a passage taken from <i>By Lake and River</i>, the author of which rarely -loses an opportunity of eulogising beer. Anglers and many more will -cordially agree with Mr. Francis Francis in his remarks. “Ah! my -beloved brother of the rod,” he writes, “do you know the taste of beer—of -bitter beer—cooled in the flowing river? Not you; I warrant, like -the ‘Marchioness,’ hitherto you have only had ‘a sip’ occasionally—and, -as Mr. Swiveller judiciously remarks, ‘it can’t be tasted in a sip.’ -Take your bottle of beer, sink it deep, deep in the shady water, where -the cooling springs and fishes are. Then, the day being very hot and -bright, and the sun blazing on your devoted head, consider it a matter -of duty to have to fish that long, wide stream (call it the Blackstone -stream, if you will); and so, having endued yourself with high wading -breeks, walk up to your middle, and begin hammering away with your -twenty-foot flail. Fish are rising, but not at you. No, they merely -come up to see how the weather looks, and what o’clock it is. So fish -away; there is not above a couple of hundred yards of it, and you don’t -want to throw more than about two or three-and-thirty yards at every -cast. It is a mere trifle. An hour or so of good hard hammering will -bring you to the end of it, and then—let me ask you <i>avec impressement</i>—how -about that beer? Is it cool? Is it refreshing? Does it <span class="xxpn" id="p006">{6}</span> -gurgle, gurgle, and ‘go down glug,’ as they say in Devonshire? Is it -heavenly? Is it Paradise and all the Peris to boot? Ah! if you have -never tasted beer under these or similar circumstances, you have, believe -me, never tasted it at all.”</p> - -<p>A word or two now as to the distinctions between the beverages -known as ale and beer. Going back to the time of the Conquest, or -earlier, we find that both words were applied to the same liquor, a -fermented drink made usually from malt and water, without hops. -The Danes called it ale, the Anglo-Saxons beer. Later on the word -beer dropped almost out of use. Meanwhile, in Germany and the -Netherlands, the use of hops in brewing had been discovered; and in -the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Flemings having introduced -their <i>bier</i> into England, the word “beer” came to have in this country -a distinct meaning—viz., hopped ale. The difference was quaintly -explained by Andrew Boorde in his <i>Dyetary</i>, written about the year -1542. “Ale,” said Andrew, “is made of malte and water; and they -which do put any other thynge to ale than is rehersed, except yest, -barme, or godesgood, doth sofystical theyr ale. Ale for an Englysshe -man is a naturall drinke. Ale must have these propertyes: it must be -fresshe and cleare, it muste not be ropy nor smoky, nor it must have no -weft nor tayle. Ale shuld not be dronke vnder v. dayes olde. Newe -ale is vnholsome for all men. And sowre ale, and deade ale the which -doth stande a tylt, is good for no man. Barly malte maketh better ale -then oten malte or any other corne doth: it doth ingendre grose -humoures; but yette it maketh a man stronge.”</p> - -<h3>OF BERE.</h3> - -<p>“Bere is made of malte, of hoppes, and water; it is the naturall -drynke for a Dutche man, and nowe of late dayes it is moche vsed in -Englande to the detryment of many Englysshe people; specyally it -kylleth them the which be troubled with the colycke, and the stone, -and the strangulion; for the drynke is a colde drynke; yet it doth -make a man fat, and doth inflate the bely, as it doth appere by the -Dutche men’s faces and belyes. If the bere be well serued, and be fyned, -and not new, it doth qualyfy heat of the liquer.”</p> - -<p>The distinction between ale and beer as described by Boorde lasted -for a hundred years or more. As hops came into general use, though -malt liquors generally were now beer, the word ale was still retained, -and was used whether the liquor it was intended to designate was <span class="xxpn" id="p007">{7}</span> -hopped or not. At the present day beer is the generic word, which -includes all malt liquors; while the word ale includes all but the black -or brown beers—porter and stout. The meanings of the words are, -however, subject to local variations. This subject is further treated of -in Chapter VII.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The union of hops and malt is amusingly described in one of the -Brasenose College ale<span class="nowrap">poems:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A Grand Cross of “Malta,” one night at a ball,</span> -<span class="spp00">Fell in love with and married “Hoppetta the Tall.”</span> -<span class="spp00">Hoppetta, the bitterest, best of her sex,</span> -<span class="spp00">By whom he had issue—the first, “Double X.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Three others were born by this marriage—“a girl,”</span> -<span class="spp00">Transparent as <i>Amber</i> and precious as <i>Pearl</i>.</span> -<span class="spp00">Then a son, twice as strong as a Porter or Scout,</span> -<span class="spp00">And another as “Spruce” as his brother was “Stout.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00"><i>Double</i> X, like his Sister, is brilliant and clear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Like his Mother, tho’ bitter, by no means severe:</span> -<span class="spp00">Like his Father, <i>not small</i>, and resembling each brother,</span> -<span class="spp00">Joins the spirit of one to the strength of the other.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>In John Taylor’s time there seems to have existed among ale -drinkers a wholesome prejudice against wine in general, and more -especially sack. The water poet writes very bitterly on the -<span class="nowrap">subject:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus Bacchus is ador’d and deified,</span> -<span class="spp00">And we <i>Hispanialized</i> and <i>Frenchifide</i>;</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilst <i>Noble Native Ale</i> and <i>Beere’s</i> hard fate</span> -<span class="spp00">Are like old Almanacks, quite out of date.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus men consume their credits and their wealths,</span> -<span class="spp00">And swallow Sicknesses in drinking healths,</span> -<span class="spp00">Untill the Fury of the spritefull Grape</span> -<span class="spp00">Mountes to the braine, and makes a man an Ape.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Another poet wrote in much the same -<span class="nowrap">strain:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thy wanton grapes we do detest:</span> -<span class="spp00">Here’s richer juice from Barley press’d.</span> -<span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00" id="p008">Oh let them come and taste this beer</span> -<span class="spp00">And water henceforth they’ll forswear.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Our ancestors seem, indeed, almost to have revered good malt -liquor. Richard Atkinson gave the following excellent advice to -Leonard Lord Dacre in the year 1570: “See that ye keep a noble -house for beef and beer, that thereof may be praise given to God and -to your honour.”</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<p>The same subject—comparison of sack with ale to the disadvantage -of the former—is still better treated in an old ale song by Beaumont; it -is such a good one of its kind that we give it in -<span class="nowrap">full:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">ANSWER OF ALE TO THE CHALLENGE OF SACK.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come all you brave wights,</span> -<span class="spp00">That are dubbed ale-knights,</span> -<span class="spp04">Now set out yourselves in sight;</span> -<span class="spp00">And let them that crack</span> -<span class="spp00">In the presence of Sack</span> -<span class="spp04">Know Malt is of mickle might.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Though Sack they define</span> -<span class="spp00">Is holy divine,</span> -<span class="spp04">Yet it is but naturall liquor,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale hath for its part</span> -<span class="spp00">An addition of art</span> -<span class="spp04">To make it drinke thinner or thicker.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sack; fiery fume,</span> -<span class="spp00">Doth waste and consume</span> -<span class="spp04">Men’s humidum radicale;</span> -<span class="spp00">It scaldeth their livers,</span> -<span class="spp00">It breeds burning feavers,</span> -<span class="spp04">Proves vinum venenum reale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But history gathers,</span> -<span class="spp00">From aged forefathers,</span> -<span class="spp04">That Ale’s the true liquor of life,</span> -<span class="spp00">Men lived long in health,</span> -<span class="spp00">And preserved their wealth,</span> -<span class="spp04">Whilst Barley broth only was rife. <span class="xxpn" id="p009">{9}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sack, quickly ascends,</span> -<span class="spp00">And suddenly ends,</span> -<span class="spp04">What company came for at first,</span> -<span class="spp00">And that which yet worse is,</span> -<span class="spp00">It empties men’s purses</span> -<span class="spp04">Before it half quenches their thirst.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale, is not so costly</span> -<span class="spp00">Although that the most lye</span> -<span class="spp04">Too long by the oyle of Barley;</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet may they part late,</span> -<span class="spp00">At a reasonable rate,</span> -<span class="spp04">Though they came in the morning early.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sack, makes men from words</span> -<span class="spp00">Fall to drawing of swords,</span> -<span class="spp04">And quarrelling endeth their quaffing;</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilst dagger ale Barrels</span> -<span class="spp00">Beare off many quarrels</span> -<span class="spp04">And often turn chiding to laughing.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sack’s drink for our masters,</span> -<span class="spp00">All may be Ale-tasters,</span> -<span class="spp04">Good things the more common the better,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sack’s but single broth,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale’s meat, drinke, and cloathe,</span> -<span class="spp04">Say they that know never a letter.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But not to entangle</span> -<span class="spp00">Old friends till they wrangle</span> -<span class="spp04">And quarrell for other men’s pleasure;</span> -<span class="spp00">Let Ale keep his place,</span> -<span class="spp00">And let Sack have his grace,</span> -<span class="spp04">So that neither exceed the due measure.</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<p>“Wine is but single broth, ale is meat, drink and cloth,” was a -proverbial saying in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and occurs -in many writings, both prose and poetical. John Taylor, for instance, -writes that ale is the “warmest lining of a naked man’s coat.” “Barley -broth” and “oyle of barley” were very common expressions for ale. -“Dagger ale” was very strong malt liquor. The word “ale-tasters” -will be fully explained later on. <span class="xxpn" id="p010">{10}</span></p> - -<p>The nearest approach in modern times to a denunciation of wine by -an ale-favouring poet occurs in a few lines—by whom written we know -not—cleverly satirising the introduction of cheap French wines into -this country. Cheap clarets command, thanks to an eminent statesman, -a considerable share of popular favour. If unadulterated, they are no -doubt wholesome enough, and suitable for some specially constituted -persons. Let those who like them drink them, by all means.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">MALT LIQUOR, OR CHEAP FRENCH WINES.</div> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">No ale or beer, says Gladstone, we should drink,</span> -<span class="spp01">Because they stupefy and dull our brains.</span> -<span class="spp00">But sour French wine, as other people think,</span> -<span class="spp01">Our English stomachs often sorely pains.</span> -<span class="spp00">The question then is which we most should dread,</span> -<span class="spp00">An <i>aching belly</i> or an <i>aching head</i>?</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>Among famous ale songs of the past, <i>Jolly Good Ale and Old</i>, which -has been wrongly attributed to Bishop Still, stands pre-eminent. Of -the eight double stanzas composing the song, four were incorporated in -“a ryght pithy, plesaunt, and merie comedie, intytuled, <i>Gammer -Gurton’s Nedle</i>, played on stage not longe ago, in Christe’s Colledge, in -Cambridge. Made by Mr. S——, Master of Art” (1575). According -to Dyer, who possessed a MS., giving the song in its complete form, “it -is certainly of an earlier date,” and could not have been by Mr. Still -(afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells), the Master of Trinity College, -who was probably the writer of the play. The “merrie comedie” well -illustrates the difference of tone and thought which divides those days -from the present, and it is a little difficult to understand how it could -have been produced by the pen of a High Church dignitary. The prologue -of the play is very quaint, it runs -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">PROLOGUE.</div> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">As Gammer Gurton, with manye a wyde styche,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sat pesynge and patching of Hodge her man’s briche,</span> -<span class="spp00">By chance or misfortune, as shee her geare tost,</span> -<span class="spp00">In Hodge lether bryches her needle shee lost.</span> -<span class="spp00">When Diccon the bedlam had hard by report,</span> -<span class="spp00">That good Gammer Gurton was robde in thys sorte,</span> -<span class="spp00">He quyetlye perswaded with her in that stound,</span> -<span class="spp00">Dame Chat, her deare gossyp, this needle had found.</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet knew shee no more of this matter, alas, <span class="xxpn" id="p011">{11}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Then knoweth Tom our clarke what the Priest saith at masse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hereof there ensued so fearfull a fraye,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mas. Doctor was sent for, these gossyps to staye;</span> -<span class="spp00">Because he was curate, and esteemed full wyse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who found that he sought not, by Diccon’s device.</span> -<span class="spp00">When all things were tumbled and cleane out of fashion,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whether it were by fortune, or some other constellation,</span> -<span class="spp00">Suddenlye the neele Hodge found by the prychynge,</span> -<span class="spp00">And drew out of his buttocke, where he found it stickynge,</span> -<span class="spp00">Theyr hartes then at rest with perfect securytie,</span> -<span class="spp00">With a pot of Good ale they stroake up theyr plauditie.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>The song, <i>Jolly Good Ale and Old</i>, four stanzas of which occur in -the second act, is a good record of the spirit of those hard-drinking -days, now passed away, in which a man who could not, or did -not, consume vast quantities of liquor was looked upon as a milksop. -It is given as follows in the -<span class="nowrap">Comedy:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Back and syde go bare, go bare,</span> -<span class="spp01">Booth foote and hande go colde;</span> -<span class="spp00">But belly, God send thee good ale ynoughe,</span> -<span class="spp01">Whether it bee newe or olde.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I can not eate but lytle meate,</span> -<span class="spp01">My stomache is not goode,</span> -<span class="spp00">But, sure, I thinke, that I can drynk</span> -<span class="spp01">With him that wears a hood.<a class="afnanc" - href="#fn2" id="fnanc2">2</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Thoughe I go bare, take ye no care,</span> -<span class="spp01">I am nothynge a colde;</span> -<span class="spp00">I stuffe my skyn so full within</span> -<span class="spp01">Of jolly good ale, and olde.</span> -<p class="pright">Back and syde go bare, go bare, &c., &c.</p> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00"><a class="afnanc" href="#fn3" id="fnanc3">3</a>I - love no rost, but a nut-brown toste,</span> -<span class="spp01">And a crab layde in the fyre;</span> -<span class="spp00">A lytle bread shall do me stead,</span> -<span class="spp01">Much bread I not desyre. - <span class="xxpn" id="p012">{12}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">No froste nor snow, no winde, I trow,</span> -<span class="spp01">Can hurte mee if I wolde,</span> -<span class="spp00">I am so wrapt, and throwly lapt,</span> -<span class="spp01">Of joly good ale and olde.</span> -<p class="pright">Back and syde go bare, go bare, &c., &c.</p> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And Tyb, my wife, that as her lyfe</span> -<span class="spp01">Loveth well good ale to seeke,</span> -<span class="spp00">Full ofte drinkes shee, tyll ye may see,</span> -<span class="spp01">The teares run down her cheekes;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then doth she trowle to mee the bowle<a class="afnanc" href="#fn4" id="fnanc4">4</a></span> -<span class="spp01">Even as a <i>mault worme</i> shuld</span> -<span class="spp00">And sayth, sweet hart, I tooke my part</span> -<span class="spp01">Of this joly good ale, and olde.</span> -<p class="pright">Back and syde go bare, go bare, &c., &c.</p> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now let them drynke, tyll they nod and winke,</span> -<span class="spp01">Even as good fellowes shoulde doe,</span> -<span class="spp00">They shall not misse to have the blisse</span> -<span class="spp01">Good ale doth bringe men to:</span> -<span class="spp00">And all poor soules, that have scoured boules,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or have them lustely trolde,</span> -<span class="spp00">God save the lyves of them and their wyves,</span> -<span class="spp01">Whether they be yonge or olde.</span> -<p class="pright">Back and syde go bare, go bare, &c., &c.</p> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc2" id="fn2">2</a> -Alluding to the drunkenness of the clergy.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc3" id="fn3">3</a> -<i>Cf:</i></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>And - sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl,</span> -<span class="spp00">In very likeness of a roasted crab.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, - Act ii. Scene 1.</span></div> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc4" id="fn4">4</a> -The word “trowle” was used of passing the vessel about, as -appears by the beginning of an old catch:</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00"><i>Trole</i>, <i>trole</i> the <i>bowl</i> to me,</span> -<span class="spp00">And I will <i>trole</i> the same again to thee.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dftnt--> - -<p>Charles Dibdin the younger has, in a couple of verses, told a very -amusing little story of an old fellow who, in addition to finding that -ale was meat, drink and cloth, discovered that it included friends as -well—or, at any rate, when he was without ale he was without friends, -which comes to much the same thing.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">THE BARREL OF HUMMING ALE.</div> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Old Owen lived on the brow of an hill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And he had more patience than pelf;</span> -<span class="spp00">A small plot of ground was his labour to till, <span class="xxpn" id="p013">{13}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And he toiled through the day by himself.</span> -<span class="spp00">But at night crowds of visitors called at his cot,</span> -<span class="spp00">For he told a right marvellous tale;</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet a stronger attraction by chance he had got,</span> -<span class="spp03">A barrel of old humming ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Old Owen by all was an oracle thought,</span> -<span class="spp00">While they drank not a joke failed to hit;</span> -<span class="spp00">But Owen at last by experience was taught,</span> -<span class="spp00">That wisdom is better than wit.</span> -<span class="spp00">One night his cot could scarce hold the gay rout,</span> -<span class="spp00">The next not a soul heard his tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">The moral is simply they’d fairly drank out</span> -<span class="spp03">His barrel of old humming ale.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>For the sake of contrast with the foregoing songs, if for nothing else, -the following poem (save the mark!) by George Arnold, a Boston -rhymster, is worthy of perusal. The “gurgle-gurgle” of the athletic -salmon-fisher, described by Mr. Francis, is replaced by the “idle sipping” -(fancy sipping beer!) of the beer-garden frequenter.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">BEER.</div> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp04">Here</span> -<span class="spp04">With my beer</span> -<span class="spp00">I sit,</span> -<span class="spp00">While golden moments flit:</span> -<span class="spp04">Alas!</span> -<span class="spp04">They pass</span> -<span class="spp00">Unheeded by:</span> -<span class="spp00">And, as they fly,</span> -<span class="spp00">I,</span> -<span class="spp00">Being dry,</span> -<span class="spp04">Sit, idly sipping here</span> -<span class="spp04">My beer.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>The new generation of American poets do not mean, it would -appear, to be confined in the old metrical grooves. Very different in -style are the verses written on ale by Thomas Wharton, in 1748. <i>A -Panegyric on Oxford Ale</i> is the title of the poem, which is prefaced by -the lines from -<span class="nowrap">Horace:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp08">Mea nec Falernæ</span> -<span class="spp00">Temperant vites, neque Formiani</span> -<span class="spp00">Pocula colles.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p014">{14}</span></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The poem opens -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Balm of my cares, sweet solace of my toils,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hail, Juice benignant! O’er the costly cups</span> -<span class="spp00">Of riot-stirring wine, unwholesome draught,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let Pride’s loose sons prolong the wasteful night;</span> -<span class="spp00">My sober evening let the tankard bless,</span> -<span class="spp00">With toast embrown’d, and fragrant nutmeg fraught,</span> -<span class="spp00">While the rich draught with oft repeated whiffs</span> -<span class="spp00">Tobacco mild improves. Divine repast!</span> -<span class="spp00">Where no crude surfeit, or intemperate joys</span> -<span class="spp00">Of lawless Bacchus reigns; but o’er my soul</span> -<span class="spp00">A calm Lethean creeps; in drowsy trance</span> -<span class="spp00">Each thought subsides, and sweet oblivion wraps</span> -<span class="spp00">My peaceful brain, as if the leaden rod</span> -<span class="spp00">Of magic Morpheus o’er mine eyes had shed</span> -<span class="spp00">Its opiate influence. What though sore ills</span> -<span class="spp00">Oppress, dire want of chill-dispelling coals,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or cheerful candle (save the makeweight’s gleam</span> -<span class="spp00">Haply remaining), heart-rejoicing Ale</span> -<span class="spp00">Cheers the sad scene, and every want supplies.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>There exist, sad to relate, persons who, with the notion of promoting -temperance, would rob us of our beer. Many of these -individuals may act with good motives, but they are weak, misguided -bodies who, if they but devoted their energies to promoting ale-drinking -as opposed to spirit-drinking, would be doing useful service to -the State, for malt liquors are the true temperance drinks of the working -classes. The Bill (for the encouragement of private tippling) so -long sought to be introduced by the teetotal party, was cleverly hit off -in <i>Songs of the Session</i>, published in <i>The World</i> some years -<span class="nowrap">back:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span></div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">If with truth they assure us that liquors allure us,</span> -<span class="spp01">I don’t think ’twill cure us the taverns to close;</span> -<span class="spp00">When in putting drink down, sirs, you’ve shut up the Crown, sirs,</span> -<span class="spp01">You’ll find Smith and Brown, sirs, drunk under the rose.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">“Men are slaves to this custom,” you cry; “we can’t trust ’em!”</span> -<span class="spp01">Very good; then why thrust ’em from scenes where they’re known</span> -<span class="spp00">If the daylight can’t shame ’em, or neighbours reclaim ’em,</span> -<span class="spp01">Do you think you can tame ’em in haunts of their own? <span class="xxpn" id="p015">{15}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And if in Stoke Pogis no publican lodges,</span> -<span class="spp01">It don’t follow Hodge is cut off from good cheer;</span> -<span class="spp00">In the very next parish the tap may be fairish,</span> -<span class="spp01">And the vestry less bearish and stern about beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> - <img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Men in time will refrain when that goes with their grain;</span> -<span class="spp01">Till it does ’tis in vain that their wills you coerce;</span> -<span class="spp00">For the man whom by force you turn out of his course,</span> -<span class="spp01">Without fear or remorse will soon take to a worse.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Of course, in asserting malt liquors to be the temperance drink, -or drink of the temperate, it must be understood that we refer to the -ordinary ales and beers of to-day, in which the amount of alcohol is -small, and which are very different from the potent liquor drank by the -topers of the past, who were rightly designated malt worms.</p> - -<p>It has been said that even pigs drank strong ale in those days, but -the only evidence of the truth of that statement is the tradition that -Herrick, a most charming but little read poet, succeeded in teaching a -favourite pig to drink ale out of a jug. Old ale is now out of fashion, -its chief strongholds being the venerable centres of education. We all -know the tale of the don who, about once a week, reminded the butler -of a certain understanding between them, in these words: “Mind, -when I say ‘beer’—<i>the old ale</i>.” Ancient writers are full of allusions -to the potent character of the strong ales of their day. Nor are more -modern authors wanting in that respect. Peter Pindar, who wrote -during the reign of George III., when ale was still of a “mightie” -character, thus -<span class="nowrap">sings:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Toper, drink, and help the <span class="nowrap">house—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">Drink to every honest fellow;</span> -<span class="spp00">Life was never worth a louse</span> -<span class="spp01">To the man who ne’er was mellow.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">How it sparkles! here it goes!</span> -<span class="spp01">Ale can make a blockhead shine;</span> -<span class="spp00">Toper, torchlike may thy nose</span> -<span class="spp01">Light thy face up, just like mine.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">See old Sol, I like his notion,</span> -<span class="spp01">With his whiskers all so red;</span> -<span class="spp00">Sipping, drinking from the ocean,</span> -<span class="spp01">Boozing till he goes to bed.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft" id="p016"> -<span class="spp00">Yet poor beverage to regale!</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>Simple stuff</i> to help his <span class="nowrap">race—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Could he turn the sea to Ale,</span> -<span class="spp01">How ’twould make him mend his pace!</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p016.png" width="583" height="688" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">BEER STREET.</div></div> - -<p>Hogarth, who was perhaps the most accurate and certainly the -most powerful delineator of mankind’s virtues and vices that the world -has ever seen, has left us in his pictures of “Beer Street” and “Gin -Lane” striking illustrations of the advantages attending the use of our -national beverage, and the misery and want brought about by dram -drinking. In <i>Beer Street</i> everybody thrives, and everything has an -air of prosperity. There is one exception—the pawnbroker, gainer by -the poverty of others. He, poor man, with barricaded doors and <span class="xxpn" id="p017">{17}</span> -propped-up walls, awaits in terror the arrival of the Sheriff’s officer, -fearing only that his house may collapse meanwhile. Through a hole -in the door which he is afraid to open, a potboy hands him a mug of -ale, at once the cause and consolation of his woes. The bracket which -supports the pawnbroker’s sign is awry, and threatens every minute to -fall. Apart from this unfortunate all else flourishes. The burly butcher, -seated outside the inn with no fear of the Sheriff in his heart, quaffs his -pewter mug of foaming ale, and casts now and again an eye on the -artist who is repainting the signboard. The sturdy smith, the drayman, -the porter and the fishwife—all are well clad and prosperous. -Houses are being built, others are being repaired, and health and -wealth are visible on every side.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Beer! happy produce of our isle,</span> -<span class="spp01">Can sinewy strength impart,</span> -<span class="spp00">And wearied with fatigue and toil,</span> -<span class="spp01">Can cheer each manly heart.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Labour and art upheld by thee,</span> -<span class="spp01">Successfully advance,</span> -<span class="spp00">We quaff thy balmy juice with glee;</span> -<span class="spp01">And water leave to France.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Genius of Health! thy grateful taste</span> -<span class="spp01">Rivals the cup of Jove,</span> -<span class="spp00">And warms each English generous breast</span> -<span class="spp01">With liberty and love.</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--> - -<p>Look now at the noisome slum where the demon Gin reigns triumphant. -Squalor, poverty, hunger, wretchedness and sin are depicted -on all sides. <i>Here</i> flourish the pawnbroker and the keeper of the -gin-palace—but the picture is too speaking a one to need comment.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">GIN.</div> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Gin! cursed fiend with fury fraught,</span> -<span class="spp01">Makes human race a prey,</span> -<span class="spp00">It enters by a deadly draught,</span> -<span class="spp01">And steals our life away.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Virtue and truth, driven to despair,</span> -<span class="spp01">Its rage compels to fly,</span> -<span class="spp00">But cherishes with hellish care,</span> -<span class="spp01">Theft, murder, perjury.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft" id="p018"> -<span class="spp00">Damn’d cup that on the vitals preys,</span> -<span class="spp01">That liquid fire contains,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which madness to the heart conveys,</span> -<span class="spp01">And rolls it through the veins.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p018.png" width="545" height="695" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">GIN LANE.</div></div> - -<p>A medical writer of some thirty years ago -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<p>“There are well-meaning persons who wish now-a-days to rob, not -only the poor, but the rich man of his beer. I am content to remember -that Mary, Queen of Scots, was solaced in her dreary captivity at -Fotheringay by the brown beer of Burton-on-Trent; that holy Hugh <span class="xxpn" id="p019">{19}</span> -Latimer drank a goblet of spiced ale with his supper the night before he -was burned alive; that Sir Walter Raleigh took a cool tankard with his -pipe, the last pipe of tobacco, on the very morning of his execution; -and that one of the prettiest ladies with whom I have the honour to be -acquainted, when escorting her on an opera Saturday to the Crystal -Palace I falteringly suggested chocolate, lemonade and vanilla ices for -her refreshment, sternly replied, ‘Nonsense, sir! Get me a pint of -stout immediately.’ If the ladies only knew how much better they -would be for their beer, there would be fewer cases of consumption for -quacks to demonstrate the curability of.”</p> - -<p>The question of beer drinking as opposed to total abstinence, is one -intimately connected with the welfare of the agricultural labourer. The -lives of the majority of these persons are, it is to be feared, somewhat -dull and cheerless. From early morn to dewy eve—work; the only -prospect in old age—the workhouse. Weary in mind and body, the -labourer returns to his cottage at nightfall. At supper he takes his -glass of mild ale. It nourishes him, and the alcohol it contains, of so -small a quantity as to be absolutely harmless, invigorates him and -causes the too often miserable surroundings to appear bright and cheerful. -Contentedly he smokes his pipe, chats sociably with his wife, and -forgets for awhile the many long days of hard work in store for him. -Soon the soporific influence of the hop begins to take effect, and the -toiler retires to rest, to sleep soundly, forgetful of the cares of life.</p> - -<p>Then there is Saturday night, when the villagers meet at the alehouse, -not perhaps so much to drink as to converse, and, with church-wardens -in mouth and tankard at elbow, to settle the affairs of the State. -The newspaper, a week old, is produced, and one, probably the village -tailor or maybe the barber, reads passages from it. “A party of -fuddled rustics in a beer-shop,” exclaims the teetotaler, with a sneer. -Not so; one or two may have had their pewter tankards filled more -often than is prudent, but the majority will be moderate, drinking no -more than is good for them. Drunkenness and crime are not the -outcome of the village alehouse; for them, go to the gin-palaces of the -towns. Nothing, we feel certain, more tends to keep our agricultural -labourers from intemperance than the easy means of obtaining cheap -but pure beer. What we may term temperance legislation (unless it be -of a criminal character, punishing excess by fines) will always defeat its -own object. Shut up the alehouses, Sundays or week-days, and the -poorer classes at once take to dram drinking. This subject will be -found fully considered in the last chapter. -<span class="xxpn" id="p020">{20}</span></p> - -<p>One does not hear much now-a-days of that gallant Knight, Sir John -Barleycorn. The song writers of the past were, however, loud in his -praises, and Sir John used to be as favourite a myth with the people of -England as was our patron saint, St. George. Elton’s play of <i>Paul the -Poacher</i> commences with the following charming -<span class="nowrap">verses:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem38"> -<div class="padtopb">ODE TO SIR JOHN BARLEYCORN.</div> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Though the Hawthorn the pride of our hedges may be,</span> -<span class="spp01">And the rose our gardens adorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet the flower that’s sweetest and fairest to me,</span> -<span class="spp01">Is the bearded Barleycorn.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Then hey for the Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Bonny Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp01">No grain or flower</span> -<span class="spp01">Has half the power</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the Bearded Barleycorn.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Tho’ the purple juice of the grape ne’er find</span> -<span class="spp01">Its way to the cup of horn,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis little I care—for the draught to my mind,</span> -<span class="spp01">Is the blood of the Barleycorn.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Then hey, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Tho’ the Justice, the Parson and eke the Squire,</span> -<span class="spp01">May flout us and hold us in scorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Our staunch boon friend, the best Knight in the shire,</span> -<span class="spp01">Is stout Sir John Barleycorn.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Then hey for John Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">The merry John Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp01">Search round and about,</span> -<span class="spp01">What Knight’s so stout</span> -<span class="spp00">As bold Sir John Barleycorn?</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>A whimsical old pamphlet, the writer of which must have possessed -keen powers of observation, is “<i>The Arraigning and Indicting -of Sir John Barleycorn, Knight</i>, printed for Timothy Tosspot.” Sir -John is described as of noble blood, well-beloved in England, a great -support to the Crown, and a maintainer of both rich and poor. The -trial takes place at the sign of the “Three Loggerheads,” before Oliver <span class="xxpn" id="p021">{21}</span> -and Old Nick his holy father. Sir John, of course, pleads not guilty to -the charges made against him, which are, in effect, that he has compassed -the death of several of his Majesty’s loving subjects, and brought -others to ruin. Vulcan the blacksmith, Will the weaver, and Stitch -the tailor, are called by the prosecution, and depose that after being -first friendly with Sir John, they quarrel with him, and in the end get -knocked down, bruised, their bones broken, and their pockets picked. -Mr. Wheatley, the baker, complains that, whereas he was the most -esteemed by Lords, Knights and Squires, he is now supplanted by the -prisoner. Sir John, being called on for his defence, asks that his brother -Malt may be summoned, and indicates that the fault, if any, lies mostly -at Malt’s door. Malt is thereupon summoned, and thus addresses the -<span class="nowrap">Court:―</span></p> - -<p>“My Lords, I thank you for the liberty you now indulge me with, -and think it a great happiness, since I am so strongly accused, that I -have such learned judges to determine these complaints. As for my -part, I will put the matter to the Bench—First, I pray you consider -with yourselves, all tradesmen would live; and although Master Malt -does make sometimes a cup of good liquor, and many men come to -taste it, yet the fault is neither in me nor my brother John, but in such -as those who make this complaint against us, as I shall make it appear -to you all.</p> - -<p>“In the first place, which of you all can say but Master Malt can -make a cup of good liquor, with the help of a good brewer; and when -it is made, it will be sold. I pray you which of you all can live without -it? But when such as these, who complain of us, find it to be good, -then they have such a greedy mind, that they think they never have -enough, and this overcharge brings on the inconveniences complained -of, makes them quarrelsome one with another, and abusive to their -very friends, so that we are forced to lay them down to sleep. From -hence it appears it is from their own greedy desires all these troubles -arise, and not from wicked designs of our own.”</p> - -<p><i>Court.</i>—“Truly we cannot see that you are in the fault. Sir John -Barleycorn, we will show you as much favour that, if you can bring any -person of reputation to speak to your character, the court is disposed to -acquit you. Bring in your evidence, and let us hear what they can say -in your behalf.”</p> - -<p><i>Thomas the Ploughman.</i>—“May I be allowed to speak my thoughts -freely, since I shall offer nothing but the truth?”</p> - -<p><i>Court.</i>—“Yes, thou mayest be bold to speak the truth, and no <span class="xxpn" id="p022">{22}</span> -more, for that is the cause we sit here for; therefore speak boldly, -that we may understand thee.”</p> - -<p><i>Ploughman.</i>—“Gentlemen, Sir John is of an ancient house, and is -come of a noble race; there is neither lord, knight, nor squire, but they -love his company and he theirs: as long as they don’t abuse him he -will abuse no man, but doth a great deal of good. In the first place, -few ploughmen can live without him; for if it were not for him we -should not pay our landlords their rent; and then what could such -men as you do for money and clothes? Nay, your gay ladies would -care but little for you if you had not your rents coming in to maintain -them; and we could never pay but that Sir John Barleycorn feeds us -with money; and you would not seek to take away his life? For -shame! let your malice cease and pardon his life, or else we are all -undone.”</p> - -<p><i>Bunch the Brewer.</i>—“Gentlemen, I beseech you, hear me. My -name is Bunch, a brewer; and I believe few of you can live without a -cup of good liquor, nor more than I can without the help of Sir John -Barleycorn. As for my own part, I maintain a great charge and keep -a great many men at work; I pay taxes forty pounds a-year to his -Majesty, God bless him, and all this is maintained by the help of Sir -John; then how can any man for shame seek to take away his life?”</p> - -<p><i>Mistress Hostess.</i>—“To give evidence on behalf of Sir John Barleycorn -gives me pleasure, since I have an opportunity of doing justice to -so honourable a person. Through him the administration receives large -supplies; he likewise greatly supports the labourer, and enlivens his -conversation. What pleasure could there be at a sheep-clipping without -his company, or what joy at a feast without his assistance? I know him -to be an honest man, and he never abused any man if they abused not -him. If you put him to death all England is undone, for there is -not another in the land can do as he can do, and hath done; for he can -make a cripple go, the coward fight, and a soldier feel neither hunger nor -cold. I beseech you, gentlemen, let him live, or else we are all undone; -the nation likewise will be distressed, the labourer impoverished, and the -husbandman ruined.”</p> - -<p><i>Court.</i>—“Gentlemen of the jury, you have now heard what has -been offered against Sir John Barleycorn, and the evidence that has been -produced in his defence. It you are of opinion that he is guilty of those -wicked crimes laid to his charge, and has with malice prepense conspired -and brought about the death of several of his Majesty’s loving subjects, -you are then to find him guilty; but, if, on the contrary, you are of <span class="xxpn" id="p023">{23}</span> -opinion that he had no real intention of wickedness, and was not the -immediate, but only the accidental cause of these evils laid to his charge, -then, according to the statute law of this kingdom you ought to acquit -him.”</p> - -<p>Verdict—Not Guilty.</p> - -<p>A somewhat lengthy extract has been given from the report of the -trial, because the facetious little narrative contains a moral as applicable -at the present time as on the day on which the worthy Knight was -acquitted.</p> - -<p>And now, dear reader, your introduction to Sir John Barleycorn being -complete, it is for you, should the inclination be present, to become -acquainted with all that pertains to him, from the barley-wine of the -Egyptians and other nations of the far past to those excellent beverages -in which the people of this country do now delight. On the way you -will meet with strange things and strange people, queer customs and -quaint sayings and songs; you will watch malting and brewing as it -was carried on five hundred years ago; you will stand by while the -Flemings, who have just come to London, brew beer with the assistance -of a “wicked weed called hoppes;” meanwhile Parliament will re-enact -strange sumptuary laws and order that you brew only two kinds of ale -or beer; you will be at times in the bad company of dissolute alewives -who will whisper sad scandals in your ear; fleeing from them, you will -find yourself in a solemn place where lines on stone tell how, when he -lived, he brewed good ale; then being perhaps sad at heart, you shall -pass into the village ale-house and join the ploughboys in their merry -chorus, or sit awhile with the roystering blades in some London tavern; -later you shall see the sign and learn its signification and history, and -delay a moment to read the verses over the door and admire the quaint -architecture and curious carving. In the ale-house you will have tasted -and drank wisely, let it be hoped, of London or Dublin black beer, of -Plymouth white ale, of old Nappy and Yorkshire Stingo, and as many -more as your head can stand.</p> - -<p>Then you shall take part in ancient ceremonies—wassailing, Church -ales, bride ales, and the like; the merry sheep-shearers will sing for -you, and for you the villagers shall dance round the ale-stake; then -the old ballad-writers will lay before you their ballads praising ale, and -headed with wood-cuts, humorous, but sometimes fearful to look upon. -Having rested awhile in perusing these relics of the past, the doors of -John Barleycorn’s greatest palaces will fly open before you, and while -exploring these wonders of the present, you will chat pleasantly with <span class="xxpn" id="p024">{24}</span> -their founders, Dr. Johnson joining in with ponderous remarks on the -brewery of his friend Thrale. The history of porter shall then be -unfolded to you, after which you shall be introduced to the college -butler, who is in the very act of compounding a noble wassail-bowl, and -who, good man, whispers in your willing ear instructions for the -making of a score or more of ale-cups; then the old Saxon leeches and -their successors shall be summoned, and, in a language strange to -modern ears, they shall relate how ale and certain herbs will cure all -diseases; then shall you see a curious but not a wondrous sight—water -passing through holes in teetotal arguments; and lastly the great -French savant shall take you into his laboratory, and shall make you -see in a grain of yeast a world of wonders. Last of all we beg you to -treasure up in your memory these old -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">He that buys land buys many stones,</span> -<span class="spp00">He that buys flesh buys many bones,</span> -<span class="spp00">He that buys eggs buys many shells,</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>But he that buys good ale - buys nothing else</i>.</span></div></div> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p024.png" width="144" height="58" alt="" /></div> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p025a.png" width="144" height="46" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p025"> - <span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> II.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<p>“What hath been and now is used by the English, as well - since the Conquest, as in the days of the Britons, Saxons - and Danes.”—<i>Drinke and Welcome.—Taylor.</i></p> - -<div class="padtopb">“Not - of an age, but for all time.”—<i>Ben Jonson.</i></div> -</div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF ALE AND BEER</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" -src="images/p025b.png" width="227" height="230" alt="W" -/></span>E must go back several thousand years into the -past to trace the origin of our modern ale and beer. The -ancient Egyptians, as we learn from the <i>Book of the -Dead</i>, a treatise at least 5,000 years old, understood the -manufacture of an intoxicating liquor from grain. This -liquor they called <i>hek</i>, and under the slightly modified -form <i>hemki</i> the name has been used in Egypt for beer until -comparatively modern times. An ancient Egyptian medical -manual, of about the same date as the <i>Book of the Dead</i>, -contains frequent mention of the use of Egyptian beer in -medicine, and at a period about 1,000 years later, the -papyri afford conclusive evidence of the existence even in -that early age, of a burning liquor question in Egypt, for -it is recorded that intoxication had become so common that -many of the beer shops had to be suppressed.</p> - -<p>Herodotus, after stating that the Egyptians used “wine made from -barley” because there were no vines in the country, mentions a tradition -that Osiris, the Egyptian Bacchus, first taught the Egyptians how to -brew, to compensate them for the natural deficiencies of their native -land. Herodotus, however, was frequently imposed upon by the persons -from whom he derived his narrative, and no trace of any such -tradition is to be found elsewhere. Wine was undoubtedly made in -Egypt two or three thousand years before his time. <span class="xxpn" id="p026">{26}</span></p> - -<p>It is maintained by some that the Hebrew word <i>sicera</i>, which occurs -in the Bible and is in our version translated “strong drink,” was none -other than the barley-wine mentioned in Herodotus, and that the -Israelites brought from Egypt the knowledge of its use. Certain it is -that they understood the manufacture of <i>sicera</i> shortly after the exodus, -for we find in Leviticus that the priests are forbidden to drink wine or -“strong drink” before they go into the tabernacle, and in the Book of -Numbers the Nazarenes are required not only to abstain from wine -and “strong drink,” but even from vinegar made from either; and in -all the passages where the word occurs it is formally distinguished -from wine. It may be mentioned in passing, that this word -<i>sicera</i> has been regarded as being the equivalent of the word cider. -The passage in Numbers is translated in Tyndale’s version, “They -shall drink neither wyn ne sydyr,” and it is this rendering -that has earned for Tyndale’s translation the name of the cider -Bible.</p> - -<p>It seems highly probable that the word <i>sicera</i> signified any intoxicating -liquor other than wine, whether made from corn, honey or -fruit.</p> - -<p>In support of the theory that beer was known amongst the Jews, may -be mentioned the Rabbinical tradition that the Jews were free from -leprosy during the captivity in Babylon by reason of their drinking -“<i>siceram veprium, id est, ex lupulis confectam</i>,” or <i>sicera</i> made -with hops, which one would think could be no other than bitter -beer.</p> - -<p>Speaking of this old Egyptian barley-wine, Aeschylus seems to -imply that it was not held in very high esteem, for he says that only -the women-kind would drink it.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn5" id="fnanc5">5</a> -Evidently the phrase, “to be learned -in all the learning of the Egyptians,” had no reference to a competent -knowledge of brewing. Before leaving the land of the Pharaoh, it -may be mentioned that in that country the labourers still drink a kind -of beer extracted from unmalted barley. A traveller in Egypt some -years ago recorded in one of the London daily papers that his crew on -the Nile made an intoxicating liquor from the fermentation of bread in -water; he says that it was called <i>boozer</i>, but whether by himself or crew -is not clear. <span class="xxpn" id="p027">{27}</span></p> - -<p>A goodly number of instances may be found in various old Greek -writers of the mention of barley-wine under the various terms of -κρίθινον πεπωκότες οινον,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn6" id="fnanc6">6</a> -ἐκ κριθῶν μεθυ, βρῦτον ἐκ τῶν κριθῶν, but -it does not appear that beer was ever a popular beverage in Hellas. -Further north, the Thracians, as Archilochus tells, brewed and drank -a good deal of beer.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc5" id="fn5">5</a> -Aesch. Supp. 953.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc6" id="fn6">6</a> -Hipp. 395. 1, Athen. 1 & 10, Aesch. Fr. 116, Archil. 28.</p></div> - -<p>Among the Greek writers, Xenophon gives the most interesting -and complete account of beer in the year 401 <span class="smmaj">B.C.</span> In describing the -retreat of the Ten Thousand, he tells how, on approaching a certain -village in Armenia which had been allotted to him, he selected the most -active of his troops, and making a sudden descent upon the place captured -all the villagers and their headman. One man alone escaped—the -bridegroom of the headman’s daughter, who had been married nine -days, and was gone out to hunt hares. The snow was six feet deep at -the time. Xenophon goes on to describe the dwellings of this singular -people. Their houses were under ground, the entrance like that of a -well, but wide below. There were entrances dug out for the cattle, but -the men used to get down by a ladder. And in the houses were goats, -sheep, oxen, fowls and their young ones, and all the animals were fed -inside with fodder. And there was wheat, and barley, and pulse, and -barley-wine (οἶνος κρίθινος) in bowls. And the malt, too, itself was -in the bowl, and level with the brim. And reeds lay in it, some long, -some short, with no joints, and when anyone was thirsty he had to take -a reed in his hand and suck. The liquor was very strong, says Xenophon, -unless one poured water into it, and the drink was pleasant to one -accustomed to it. And whenever anyone in friendliness wished to drink -to his comrade, he used to drag him to the bowl, where he must stoop -down and drink, gulping it down like an ox. The inhabitants of the -Khanns district of Armenia, through which Xenophon’s world-famed -march was made, still pursue much the same life as they did more than -two thousand years ago. They live in these curious subterranean dwellings -with all their live stock about them, but, alas! modern travellers -aver that they have lost the art of making barley-wine.</p> - -<p>Enough has been said as to the use of beer among Eastern nations -to disprove the theory of the old author of the <i>Haven of Health</i>, who -asserts, quoting “Master Eliote” as his authority, that ale was never -used as a common drink in any other country than in “England, -Scotland, Ireland, and Poile.” <span class="xxpn" id="p028">{28}</span></p> - -<p>Ale or beer was in common use in Germany in the time of Tacitus, -and Pliny, who may have tasted beer while serving in the army in -Germany, says, “All the nations who inhabit the west of Europe have a -liquor with which they intoxicate themselves, made of corn and water -(<i>fruge madida</i>). The manner of making this liquor is somewhat -different in Gaul, Spain, and other countries, and it is called by various -names; but its nature and properties are everywhere the same. The -people of Spain in particular brew this liquor so well that it will keep -good for a long time. So exquisite is the ingenuity of mankind in -gratifying their vicious appetites, that they have thus invented a method -of making water itself intoxicate.” Among the many various kinds of -drink so made were <i>zythum</i>, <i>cœlia</i>, <i>ceria</i>, <i>Cereris vinum</i>, <i>curmi</i>, and -<i>cerevisia</i>. All these names, except <i>zythum</i>, are probably merely local -variations of one word, whose British representative may be found in -the Welsh <i>cwrw</i>.</p> - -<p>Turning to the earliest records of the use of malt liquors in this -country, we find that, according to Diodorus Siculus, the Britons made -use of a very simple diet which consisted chiefly of milk and venison. -Their usual drink was water; but upon festive occasions they drank a -kind of fermented liquor, made of barley, honey, or apples, and were -very quarrelsome in their cups. Dioscorides wrote in the first century -that the Britons, instead of wine, use “curmi,” a liquor made from barley. -Pytheas (300 <span class="smmaj">B.C.</span>) said a fermented grain liquor was made in Thule.</p> - -<p>The drinks in use in this island at the time of its conquest by the -Romans seem to have been metheglin, cider, and ale. Metheglin, or -mead, was probably the most ancient and universally used of all intoxicating -drinks among European nations. Cider is in all probability -the next in order of antiquity of the drinks in use amongst our Celtic -predecessors. It was made from wild apples, but its use was probably -not so wide-spread as that of either mead or ale.</p> - -<p>The two drinks, mead and cider, are appropriate to nations who -have made but slight advances on the path of civilisation. Tribes of -nomads, or of hunters, would find the wherewithal for their manufacture—the -honey in the hollow tree, the crabs growing wild in the -woods. The manufacture of ale, however, indicates another step -forward; it implies the settlement in particular districts, and the -knowledge and practice of agriculture. It is, therefore, not surprising to -find that the Celtic inhabitants of the midland and northern parts of -this country, at the time of the first Roman attack, knew no drink but -mead and cider; while, in the southern districts, where contact with <span class="xxpn" id="p029">{29}</span> -the outer world had brought about a somewhat more advanced civilisation -and a more settled mode of life, agriculture was practised, and -<i>cerevisia</i>, or ale, was added to the list of beverages.</p> - -<p>Given below is a metrical version of the origin of ale. It is put in -this place between the account of the use of ale by the Britons and -its use by the Saxons, because our anonymous poet does not seem to -have quite made up his mind whether he is recording a British or a -Saxon myth. The name of the king would seem to point to a British -origin, whilst some of the gods on whom he calls are Teutonic.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="padtopb">THE ORIGIN OF BEER.</div> -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In a jolly field of barley good King Cambrinus slept,</span> -<span class="spp00">And dreaming of his thirsty realm the merry monarch wept,</span> -<span class="spp00">“In all my land of Netherland there grows no mead or wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">And water I could never coax adown this throat of mine.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">“Now list to me, ye heathen gods, and eke ye Christian too,</span> -<span class="spp00">Both Zernebock and Jupiter, and Mary clad in blue;</span> -<span class="spp00">And mighty Thor the Thunderer, and any else that be,</span> -<span class="spp00">The one who aids me in my need his servant I will be.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And as this sinful heathen all in the barley lay,</span> -<span class="spp00">There came in dreams an angel bright who soft these words did - <span class="nowrap">say—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">“Arise, thou poor Cambrinus, for even all around,</span> -<span class="spp00">In the barley where thou sleepest a nectar may be found.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">“In the barley where thou sleepest there hides a nectar clear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which men shall know in later times as <i>porter</i>, <i>ale</i> or <i>beer</i>.”</span> -<span class="spp00">Then in terms the most explicit he “put the monarch through,”</span> -<span class="spp00">And gave him ere the dream was out the recipe to brew.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Uprose good King Cambrinus and shook him in the sun.</span> -<span class="spp00">“Away, ye wretched heathen gods—with you I’m quit and done!</span> -<span class="spp00">Ye’ve left me with my subjects in error and in thirst;</span> -<span class="spp00">Till in our dreadful dryness we scarce know which is worst.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It was the good Cambrinus unto his palace went,</span> -<span class="spp00">And messengers through all the land unto his lords he sent,</span> -<span class="spp00">“Leave Odin, under pain of death!”—his orders were severe,</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet touched with mildness—for he sent the recipe for beer. <span class="xxpn" id="p030">{30}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Oh, then a merry sound was heard of building through the land,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the churches and the breweries went up on every hand;</span> -<span class="spp00">For the masons they were hard at work where’er a spot seemed pat,</span> -<span class="spp00">And some had bricks within their hods, and some within their hats.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In the sister Island are to be found very early references to ale. -The <i>Senchus Mor</i>, which contains some of the oldest and most -important of the ancient laws of Ireland, has the following passages -in which mention of this drink -<span class="nowrap">occurs:―</span></p> - -<p>“What is a human banquet? The banquet of each one’s feasting-house -to his chief according to his due (<i>i.e.</i>, the chief’s), to which his -(<i>i.e.</i>, the tenant’s) deserts entitle him; viz., a supper with ale, a feast -without ale, a feast by day. The feast without ale is divided; it is -distributed according to dignity; the feeding of the assembly of the -forces of a territory, assembled for the purpose of demanding proof and -law, and answering to illegality. Suppers with ale, feasts without ale, -are the fellowship of the Feini.” It is difficult to understand the ideas -contained in these old Erse laws and customs, but the main thing for -the present purpose is the evidence they give that ale was known and -commonly used in Ireland as early as the fifth century.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn7" id="fnanc7">7</a></p> - -<p>From the Brehon law tracts it may be gathered that the privileges -of an Irish king included the right to have his ale supplied him with -food;<a class="afnanc" href="#fn8" id="fnanc8">8</a> -he was also to have a brave army and <i>an inebriating ale-house</i>. -The Irish chief is always to have two casks in his house, one of ale, -another of milk; he should also have three sacks—a sack of malt, a sack -of salt, and a sack of charcoal.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc7" id="fn7">7</a> -The <i>Senchus Mor</i> was composed in the time of Lœghaire, son of -Niall, King of Erin, about <span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> 430, a few years after the arrival of -St. Patrick in Ireland.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc8" id="fn8">8</a> -Doubtless an allusion to the old <i>food rents</i> once common in Ireland.</p></div> - -<p>Wales was also to some extent an ale-producing country, and we -find in Anglo-Saxon times Welsh ale frequently alluded to as a luxury. -When <i>Offa</i> renders the lands at <i>Westbury</i> and <i>Stanbury</i> to the church -of Worcester, he accepts at <i>Westbury</i> these <i>services</i>: 2 tunne full of clear -Ale, and a cumbe (16 <i>quarts</i>) full of smaller Ale, and a cumbe of Welsh -Ale, besides other services. There was a payment to the said church -also out of the lands at <i>Breodune</i> of 3 cuppes full of Ale, 111 <i>dolea -Brytannicæ cervissiæ</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, casks of British Ale), -and 3 hogsheads of <span class="xxpn" id="p031">{31}</span> -Welsh Ale, <i>quorum unum fit melle dulcoratum</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, of which one was -to be sweetened with honey). Henry, in his <i>History of England</i>, -in treating of the drinks used in England and Wales during -five centuries before the Norman Conquest, remarks on the rarity -of the use of ale in Wales at that time. “Mead,” he says, “was -still one of their favourite liquors, and bore a high price; for a cask of -mead, by the laws of Wales, was valued at 120 pence, equal in quantity -of silver to thirty shillings of our present money, and in efficacy to -fifteen pounds. The dimensions of a cask of mead must be nine palms -in height, and so capacious as to serve the King <i>and one of his counsellors</i> -for a bathing tub.” By another law its diameter is fixed at -eighteen palms. The Welsh had also two kinds of ale, called <i>common -ale</i> and <i>spiced ale</i>, and their value was thus ascertained by law—“If a -farmer hath no mead (to pay part of his rent) he shall pay two -casks of <i>spiced ale</i>, or four casks of <i>common ale</i> for one cask of mead.” -By the same law, a cask of <i>spiced ale</i>, nine palms in height and eighteen -palms in diameter, was valued at a sum equal in efficacy to -seven pounds ten shillings of our present money; and a cask of -<i>common ale</i>, of the same dimensions, at a sum equal to three pounds -fifteen shillings. This is a sufficient proof that even <i>common ale</i> -at this period was an article of luxury among the Welsh which -could only be obtained by the great and opulent. Wine seems to have -been quite unknown even to the Kings of Wales at this period, as it is -not so much as once mentioned in their laws; though Giraldus Cambrensis, -who flourished about a century after the Conquest, acquaints -us that there was a vineyard in his time, at Maenarper, near Pembroke, -in South Wales.</p> - -<p>Before leaving the subject of the British use of ale, it will perhaps -amuse some of our readers to find that the very name of Britain has -been derived by some from the word βρῡτον, the Greek for beer. The -following extract from Hearne’s Discourses is a good instance of that -reckless ingenuity in guessing derivations, for which our older school of -philologists was ever so justly famed:—“There is one thing,” he says, -“which upon this occasion the antiquaries should have observed, and -that is our Mault Liquor, called βρῡτον in Athenæus. Which being -so, it is humbly offered to the consideration of more judicious persons -whether our Britannia might not be denominated from βρῡτον, the -whole nation being famous for such sort of drink. ’Tis true, Athenæus -does not mention the Britains among those that drunk mault drink; -and the reason is, because he had not met with any -writer that had <span class="xxpn" id="p032">{32}</span> -celebrated them upon that account, whereas the others that he mentions -to drink it were put down in his Authors. Nor will it seem a wonder, -that even those people he speaks of were not called Britaines from the -said liquor, since it was not their constant and common drink, but was -only used by them upon occasion, whereas it was always made use of in -Britain, and it was looked upon as peculiar to this Island, and other -liquors were esteemed as foreign, and not so agreeable to the nature -of the country. And I have some reason to think that those few other -people that drunk it abroad did it only in imitation of the Britains, -though we have no records remaining upon which to ground this -opinion.”</p> - -<p>It is rather unfortunate that, in the cause of science, our author did -not inform us what that “some reason to think” of his in fact was. -However, let us honour his patriotism if we may not his learning.</p> - -<p>It would appear that ale and beer were different words signifying the -same thing, ale being the Saxon <i>ealu</i> and Danish <i>öl</i>, probably connected -with our word oil, and beer being the Saxon <i>beor</i>. Horne Tooke, in -his <i>Diversions of Purley</i>, says that “ale” is derived from a Saxon verb -<i>ælan</i>, which signifies to inflame.</p> - -<p>The word “beer” has been the occasion of some ingenuity and not -a little diversity of opinion among the philologists. Goldast derived it -<i>a pyris</i>, because (he asserts) beer was first made from pears; Vossius from -the Latin <i>bibere</i>, to drink, thus: <i>Bibere</i>, <i>Biber</i> and (<i>extrito b</i>) <i>Bier</i>; -Somner from the Hebrew <i>Bar</i>, corn. Probably the true derivation is -that which connects the word with the root of the verb, to <i>brew</i>. -However this may be, the connection of the word barley with the word -<i>beere</i>—denoting a coarse kind of barley—is unmistakeable. <i>Beer</i> was -originally used to denote the beverage and also the plant from which it -was brewed. <i>Beere</i> or <i>bigge</i> is still to be found growing in some parts -of Scotland and Ireland, but in England it has given place to the more -refined <i>barley</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, <i>beer-lec</i> or beer plant).</p> - -<p>The attempt to connect the word “yule” with “ale” is probably -fanciful, and may have originated from the use of the word “ale” as -denoting not only the liquor, but also any festival at which it formed -the principal beverage (<i>e.g.</i> the Whitsun Ale). Yule or Jule is probably -derived, along with the festival it represents, from the Celts. It was a -feast in honour of the sun, the Celtic name for which was <i>heol</i> or <i>houl</i> -and was designed to celebrate the time when the Sun-god, after sinking -to his lowest point in the heavens in mid-winter, begins again to ascend -the sky, ushering in a period of warmth and plenty. -When the Saxons <span class="xxpn" id="p033">{33}</span> -were converted to Christianity, their teachers, instead of entirely doing -away with the older forms of religion, allowed them to remain, adapting -them to the new faith. This was very usual in early days of Christianity, -and thus we find the heathen “Yule” merged in the great -Christian festival of Christmas.</p> - -<p>The very ancient Anglo-Saxon poem entitled <i>Beowulf</i>, a poem -which may be said to be the earliest considerable fragment of our -language now extant, shows that ale was the chief drink amongst our -Anglo-Saxon ancestors in the far-off days, before they had seized upon -this land of England. It contains a mythological account of the rescue -by the hero Beowulf of his friends from the Grendel, a monster who was -constantly slaughtering and carrying some of them away. The feast is -thus described: “Then was for the sons of the Geats, altogether, -a bench cleared in the beer-hall; there the bold in spirit went to sit; -the thane observed his office, he that in his hand bare the twisted ale-cup; -he poured the bright sweet liquor.” Further on, the Danish -queen comes in to greet the victors. “There was laughter of heroes, -the noise was modulated, words were winsome; Wealtheow, Hrothgar’s -queen, went forth; mindful of their races, she, hung round with gold, -greeted the men in the hall; and the freeborn lady gave the cup first to -the prince of the East Danes; she bade him be blithe at the service of -beer, dear to his people. He, the king, proud of victory, joyfully -received the feast and hall-cup . . .”</p> - -<p>That it was customary among our ancestors for the lady of the house -herself to fill the guests’ cups after dinner, may be gathered from the -poem called the <i>Geste of Kyng Horn</i>, which in its present form is of -thirteenth century date, but is probably founded upon a much earlier -work. The poem thus describes Rymenhild, the queen and wife of King -Horn, performing this -<span class="nowrap">duty:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Rymenhild ros of benche</span> -<span class="spp00">Wyn for to schenche;<a class="afnanc" href="#fn9" id="fnanc9">9</a></span> -<span class="spp00">After mete in sale,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn10" id="fnanc10">10</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Bothe wyn and ale.</span> -<span class="spp00">On horn he bar in honde.</span> -<span class="spp00">So laye was in londe,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn11" id="fnanc11">11</a> -<span class="xxpn" id="p034">{34}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Knightes and squier</span> -<span class="spp00">Alle dronken of the ber.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc9" id="fn9"> 9</a> -<i>Schenche</i> = to pour out.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc10" id="fn10">10</a> -<i>Sale</i> = hall.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc11" id="fn11">11</a></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A horn she bare in her hand,</span> -<span class="spp00">So was the custom in the land.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>These lines also show that ale and beer were used at that time as -interchangeable words.</p> - -<p>Our Saxon ancestors seem to have made use of several kinds of -beverage; they had wine and mead, cider, which they called <i>æppelwin</i>, -and piment, which was a compound of wine, honey, and spices. Ale -and beer, however, seem, to use the quaint words of old Harrison, to -have “borne the brunt in drincking,” and to have formed the national -beverage of the English people from the earliest times to the present -day. Ale, honest English ale, was the general drink, and wine was a -luxury of the rich, as may be gathered from the old Anglo-Saxon -dialogue, entitled <i>Alfric’s Colloquy</i>, in which a lad, on being asked -what his drink is, replies, “Ale, if I have it, water, if I have it not.” -To the question why he does not drink wine his answer is, “I am not -so rich that I can buy me wine; and wine is not the drink of children -or the weak-minded, but of the elders and the wise.”</p> - -<p>The <i>Exeter Book</i>, which contains a collection of Anglo-Saxon songs -and poems, and was presented to the church at Exeter by Bishop -Leofric in the eleventh century, contains one of those curious rhyming -riddles so popular among the Saxons, which were known as <i>Symposii -Ænigmata</i>. It is as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A part of the earth is</span> -<span class="spp00">Prepared beautifully,</span> -<span class="spp00">With the hardest,</span> -<span class="spp00">And with the sharpest,</span> -<span class="spp00">And with the grimmest</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the productions of men,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cut and . . . .</span> -<span class="spp00">Turned and dried,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bound and twisted,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bleached and awakened,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ornamented and poured out,</span> -<span class="spp00">Carried afar</span> -<span class="spp00">To the doors of the people,</span> -<span class="spp00">It is joy in the inside</span> -<span class="spp00">Of living creatures,</span> -<span class="spp00">It knocks and slights</span> -<span class="spp00">Those, of whom while alive - <span class="xxpn" id="p035">{35}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">A long while</span> -<span class="spp00">It obeys the will,</span> -<span class="spp00">And expostulateth not,</span> -<span class="spp00">And then after death</span> -<span class="spp00">It takes upon it to judge,</span> -<span class="spp00">To talk variously.</span> -<span class="spp00">It is greatly to seek,</span> -<span class="spp00">By the wisest man,</span> -<span class="spp00">What this creature is.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Those who remember the more elaborate legend of <i>John Barleycorn</i> -will not have far to seek for the solution of this somewhat ponderous -riddle.</p> - -<p>The Anglo-Saxons, before their conversion to Christianity, believed -that some of the chief blessings to be enjoyed by departed heroes were -the frequent and copious draughts of ale served round to them in the -halls of Odin. Even after the spread of Christianity had dispelled this -heathen notion, all the evidence available seems to point rather to an -enlarged than a diminished consumption of malt liquors. Whether our -forefathers, practically-minded like their descendants, resolved to make -up here upon earth for the loss of the expected joys of which their new -creed had robbed them, it is impossible at this distance of time to -determine; but certain it is that the popularity of our national beverage -has gone on increasing from that day to this.</p> - -<p>In these early days rents were not infrequently paid in ale. In 852 -the Abbot of Medeshampstede (Peterborough) let certain lands at -Sempringham to one Wulfred, on this condition, amongst others, that -he should each year deliver to the minster two tuns of pure ale and ten -<i>mittans</i> (measures) of Welsh ale. The ale-gafol mentioned in the laws -of Ine was a tribute or rent of ale paid by the tenant to the lord of the -manor. By an ancient charter granted in the time of King Alfred, the -tenants of Hysseburne, amongst other services, rendered six church-mittans -of ale.</p> - -<p>Ale was also in olden days frequently liable to the payment of a toll -(<i>tollester</i>) to the lord of the manor. In a Gloucestershire manor it was -customary for a tenant holding in villeinage to pay as toll to the lord -gallons of ale, whenever he brewed ale to sell. At Fiskerton, -in Notts, if <span class="xxpn" id="p036">{36}</span> -an ale-wife brews ale to sell she is to satisfy the lord for <i>tollester</i>. In the -manor of Tidenham, in Saxon times the villein is to pay to the lord at -the Martinmass six sesters of malt; and in the same manor, in the reign -of Edward I., we find the rent changed into a toll, the tenant at the later -period being bound to render to the lord 8 gallons of beer at every brewing.</p> - -<p>Similarly, wages were in some manors paid in kind. At Brissingham, -Norfolk, the tenants, amongst other services, might perform 125 <i>ale-beeves</i> -in the year, <i>i.e.</i>, carting-days, on which attendance was not compulsory, -but on which the tenants, if they did attend, were entitled to -bread and ale in lieu of wages. The word “bever” still occurs in some -places, denoting a harvest-man’s drink between breakfast and dinner.</p> - -<p>The Saxons and Danes were of a social disposition, and delighted in -forming themselves into fraternities or guilds. An important feature of -these institutions was the meeting for convivial purposes, and their -object was to promote good fellowship among the members. The laws -for the regulation of some of these bodies are still in existence, and it -seems were enforced by fines of honey, or malt, to be used in the making -of mead or ale for the use of the members of the confraternity. It seems -that both clergy and laity were members of certain of the guilds, at any -rate at one period of their history, and allusion is probably made to these -mixed fraternities in the Canons of Archbishop Walter, -<span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> 1200, in -which he directs “that clerks go not to taverns and drinking bouts, for -from thence come quarrels, and then laymen beat clergymen, and fall -under the Canon.”</p> - -<p>During the Middle Ages ale was the usual drink of all classes of -Englishmen, and the wines of France were a luxury, in general only -consumed by the upper classes. In France, however, wine was the -common drink, and ale a luxury. William Fitz-Stephen, in his Life of -Thomas à Becket, states that when the latter went on an embassy to -France, he took with him two waggons laden with beer in iron-bound -casks, as a present to the French, “who admire that kind of drink, for -it is wholesome, clear, of the colour of wine, and of a better taste.”</p> - -<p>As an instance of the fame which English ale had attained abroad -in the twelfth century, may be cited the reply of Pope Innocent III. to -those who were arguing before him the case of the Bishop of Worcester’s -claims against the Abbey of Evesham. “Holy father,” said they, “we -have learnt in the schools, and this is the opinion of our masters, that -there is no prescription against the rights of bishops.” His Holiness’s -reply was blunt and somewhat personal: “Certainly, both you and -your masters had drunk too much English ale when you learnt this.” -<span class="xxpn" id="p037">{37}</span></p> - -<p>A curious extract may here be added as indicative of the fame of -English ale amongst foreigners in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. -It is taken from a work entitled “<i>A Relation; or rather a true account -of the Island of England</i>, <span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> 1500, translated from the Italian by -C. A. Sneyd.” “The deficiency of wine, however,” says our author, -“is amply supplied by the abundance of ale and beer, to the use of which -these people have become so habituated, that at an entertainment where -there is plenty of wine, they will drink them in preference to it, and in -great quantities. Like discreet people, however, they do not offer them -to Italians, unless they should ask for them, and they think that no -greater honour can be conferred, or received, than to invite others to -eat with them, or be invited themselves; and they would sooner give -five or six ducats to provide an entertainment for a person, than a groat -to assist him in any distress. They are not without vines; and I have -eaten grapes from one, and wine might be made in Southern parts, but -it would probably be harsh. The natural deficiency of the country is -supplied by a great quantity of excellent wines from Candia, Germany, -France, and Spain; besides which, the common people make two -beverages from Wheat, Barley, and Oats, one of which is called beer, and -the other Ale; and these liquors are much liked by them, nor are they -disliked by foreigners, after they have drank them four or six times; -they are most agreeable to the palate, when a person is by some chance -rather heated.”</p> - -<p>The regulations of the religious houses nearly always make reference -to ale; and it may be inferred from the evidence we possess, that the -holy fathers, who were always strong sticklers for the rights and privileges -of their order, would brook no interference either with the quantity -or quality of their liquor. In the Institutes of the Abbey of Evesham, -drawn up by Abbot Randulf about the year 1223, the directions as to -the diet of the inmates of the Abbey, are of great particularity. The -Prior is to have one measure of ale at supper (except when he shall sup -with the Abbot). Each of the fraternity shall every day receive two -measures of ale, each of which shall contain two pittances, of which -pittances six make up a “sextarium regis.” In the same rules it is laid -down that the monks are to have “two semes of beans from Huniburne, -to make <i>puddings</i> throughout all Lent.” Bean-pudding seems indeed -a mortification of the flesh! Further on we find: “On every day every -two brethren shall have one measure of ale from the cellar, but after -being let blood they shall have one for dinner and another for supper. -The servant who shall let the monks’ blood shall have -bread and ale <span class="xxpn" id="p038">{38}</span> -from the cellar, if he have blooded more than one.” A further account -of the monks as brewers will be found in the succeeding chapter.</p> - -<p>The Proverbs of Hendyng (thirteenth century) give good advice as -of the duties of charity and -<span class="nowrap">hospitality:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"><div> -<span class="spp00">Gef thou havest bred and ale</span> -<span class="spp00">Ne put thou nout al in thy male<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn12" id="fnanc12">12</a>,</span> -<span class="spp01">Thou del hit sum aboute.</span> -<span class="spp00">Be thou fre of thy meeles,</span> -<span class="spp00">Wherso me eny mete deles,</span> -<span class="spp01">Gest thou nout with-oute.<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn13" id="fnanc13">13</a></span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span><i>Betere - is appel y-geve then y-ete,</i>”</span></div><!--dstanzactr--> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Quoth Hendyng</i>.</span></div><!--no class--> -</div><!--dpoemctr--> - -<p>In the fourteenth century taxes seem to have been -occasionally levied on ale for certain specific purposes. -In 1363 the inhabitants of Abbeville were granted a tax -on ale for the purpose of repairing their fortifications. -For each <i>lotus of ale of gramville</i> the tax was one penny -<i>Parisien</i>; for each <i>lotus of god-ale</i> the tax was ½d. -(Rhymer 2. 712.).</p> - -<p>In a curious old poem of the early part of the -fourteenth century entitled <i>De Baptismo</i>, by William of -Shoreham, it appears to the poet, necessary to lay down -that ale must not be used for purposes of baptism, but -“kende water” (<i>i.e.</i>, natural water) only. The verse is as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Therefore ine wine me ne may,</span> -<span class="spp00">Inne sithere ne inne pereye,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ne inne thing that neuere water nes</span> -<span class="spp00">Thory cristning man may reneye,</span> -<span class="spp07">Ne inne ale;</span> -<span class="spp00">For thei hight were water ferst,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of water neth hit tale.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn14" id="fnanc14">14</a></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc12" id="fn12">12</a> -Male = bag or wallet.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc13" id="fn13">13</a></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Whether men give any meat away or no,</span> -<span class="spp00">Go thou not without (giving).</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc14" id="fn14">14</a> -See p. 401.</p></div> - -<p>This old English requires some little explanation, and may be rendered -thus:—Therefore man may not renounce (his sins) through christening -in wine, in cider, nor in perry, nor in anything that never was water, -nor yet in ale, for though this (<i>i.e.</i>, ale) was water first, it is -acounted water no longer. <span class="xxpn" id="p039">{39}</span></p> - -<p>Whilst Christmas, as far as eating was concerned, always had its -specialities, its liquor <i>carte</i> seems even in the thirteenth century to -have been of a very varied character. An old carolist of the period thus -sings (we follow Douce’s -<span class="nowrap">translation):―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Lordlings, Christmas loves good drinking,</span> -<span class="spp01">Wines of Gascoigne, France, Anjou,</span> -<span class="spp00">English ale that drives out thinking,</span> -<span class="spp01">Prince of liquors, old or new,</span> -<span class="spp00">Every neighbour shares the bowl,</span> -<span class="spp01">Drinks of the spicy liquor deep;</span> -<span class="spp00">Drinks his fill without control,</span> -<span class="spp01">Till he drowns his care in sleep.</span> -</div></div> - -<p><i>Piers the Ploughman</i>, a poem by William Longland, written -towards the close of the fourteenth century, contains a curious confession -of the tricks played by the ale-sellers upon their -<span class="nowrap">customers:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I boughte hire Barly heo breuh hit to sulle;</span> -<span class="spp00">Peni-ale and piriwhit heo pourede to-gedere</span> -<span class="spp00">For laborers and louh folk that liuen be hem-seluen.</span> -<span class="spp00">The Beste in the Bed-chaumbre lay bi the wowe,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hose Bummede therof Boughte hit ther-after,</span> -<span class="spp00">A galoun for a grote, God wot, no lasse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whon hit com in Cuppemel; such craftes me usede.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>This, being interpreted, in modern English would read somewhat as -follows:—I bought her barley they brew it to sell; Peny ale (<i>i.e.</i>, ale at -a penny a gallon) and small perry she poured together for labourers and -poor folk that live by themselves. The best lay in the bed chamber by -the wall, whoso drank thereof bought it (<i>i.e.</i>, the penny ale) by the -sample (<i>i.e.</i>, of the best) a gallon for a groat, God knows, no less, when -it came in by cupfulls; such craft I used.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Piers the Ploughman, in describing the scarcity of labour after the -great plague in the fourteenth century and the independence of the -labouring men that arose from the high wages they were enabled to -demand, says that after harvest they would eat none but the finest bread,</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ne non half-penny Ale In none wyse drynke,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bote of the Beste and the Brouneste - that Brewesters sullen.</span></div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mai no peny-Ale hem paye ne no pece of Bacun, - <span class="xxpn" id="p040">{40}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Bote hit weore Fresch Flesch or elles Fisch y-Friyet,</span> -<span class="spp00">Both chaud and plus chaud for chele of heore mawe.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn15" id="fnanc15">15</a></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc15" id="fn15">15</a> -As we should say, “hot and hot,” for chill of their stomach.</p></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Chaucer has many references to ale. The Cook, who was no mean -proficient in his proper art, was a judge of ale as -<span class="nowrap">well:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A coke thei hadde with them for the nones,</span> -<span class="spp00">To boyle the chickens, and the marrie bones,</span> -<span class="spp00">And pouder marchaunt tarte, and galengale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Well coude he know a pot of London ale.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">The Miller prepares himself to -tell his tale aright by swallowing mighty draughts -of the same liquor. He knows he is drunk, and is not -ashamed, thinking it quite sufficient excuse to lay -the blame upon that seductive fluid, “the ale of <span -class="nowrap">Southwerk”:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now herkeneth, quod the miller, all and some</span> -<span class="spp00">But first I make a protestatioun,</span> -<span class="spp00">That I am dronke, I know it by my soun;</span> -<span class="spp00">And therefore if that I misspeke or say,</span> -<span class="spp00">Wite it the ale of Southwerk, I you pray.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">The two Cambridge students who lodge a night at the miller of -Trompington’s are feasted by their host in this -<span class="nowrap">wise:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The miller the toun his daughter sent</span> -<span class="spp00">For ale and bred, and roasted hem a goos,</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">They soupen and they speken of solace,</span> -<span class="spp00">And drinken ever strong ale at the best.</span> -<span class="spp00">Abouten midnight wente they to rest.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Before they went, however, they had “dronken all that was in crouke,” -and the miller, who appears to have had the lion’s share, had decidedly -imbibed too much.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Well hath this miller vernished his hed,</span> -<span class="spp00">Full pale he was, for-dronken, and nought red.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">This miller hath so wisely bibbed ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">That as an hors he snorteth in his slepe.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Geoffrey Chaucer, along with other poets and writers of his times, was -unsparing in his denunciations of the vices of the clergy, their sloth, -gluttony, drunkenness and other grievous lapses.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thei side of many manir metes,</span> -<span class="spp00">With song and solas sitting long; <span class="xxpn" id="p041">{41}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And filleth their wombe, and fast fretes,</span> -<span class="spp00">And after mete with harp and song,</span> -<span class="spp00">And hot spices ever among;</span> -<span class="spp00">And fille their wombe with wine and ale.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Piers the Ploughman, in his <i>Crede</i>, which is a satire upon the clergy, -makes the Franciscan say, in contrasting his own order with other -religious -<span class="nowrap">bodies:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">We haunten not tavernes, ne hobelen abouten</span> -<span class="spp00">At merketes and miracles we medeley us never.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The frequent directions to the monks and clergy to abstain from -taverns, from drinking bouts and revels, all point to the necessity then -felt of tightening the bonds of church discipline, and show the laxity -that had prevailed.</p> - -<p>John Taylor, the Water Poet, frequently selected ale as his theme, -and, when once mounted on his favourite hobby, soon travelled into -such realms of marvellous history and miraculous philology, that it -almost takes away one’s breath to follow him. The chief work in which -he glorifies our English Ale has for its full title,</p> - -<div class="fsz6" id="p41ad"> -<div class="fsz5">DRINKE AND WELCOME</div> -<div class="fsz7">OR THE</div> -<div class="fsz5">FAMOUS HISTORIE</div> -<div><span class="smmaj">OF THE MOST PART OF</span> - <span class="smcap">D<b>RINKS</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">IN USE NOW IN THE</span> - <span class="smcap">K<b>INGDOMES</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">G<b>REAT</b> B<b>RITTAINE</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">AND</span> <span class="smcap">I<b>RELAND</b>,</span> - <span class="smmaj">WITH AN ESPECIALL DECLARATION</span> - <span class="smmaj">OF THE POTENCY</span>, - <span class="smmaj">VERTUE AND OPERATION OF</span></div> - <div><span class="smmaj">OUR</span> <span class="smcap">E<b>NGLISH</b></span> - <span class="smcap">A<b>LE</b>,</span></div> -<div><span class="smmaj">WITH A DESCRIPTION</span> - <span class="smmaj">OF ALL</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>ORTS</b></span> <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">W<b>ATERS</b>,</span> - <span class="smmaj">FROM THE</span> <span class="smcap">O<b>CEAN</b> S<b>EA</b>,</span> - <span class="smmaj">TO THE TEARES OF A WOMAN.</span></div> -<div><span class="smmaj">AS ALSO,</span></div> -<div><span class="smmaj">THE CAUSES OF ALL</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>ORTES</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">W<b>EATHER</b>,</span> - <span class="smmaj">FAIRE OR FOULE,</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>LEET</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">R<b>AINE</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">H<b>AILE</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">F<b>ROST</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>NOWE</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">F<b>OGGES</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">M<b>ISTS</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">V<b>APOURS</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">C<b>LOUDS</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">S<b>TORMES</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">W<b>INDES</b>,</span> - <span class="smcap">T<b>HUNDER</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">AND</span> <span class="smcap">L<b>IGHTNING</b></span></div> -<div><span class="smcap">C<b>OMPILED</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">FIRST IN THE</span> <span class="smcap">H<b>IGH</b> D<b>UTCH</b> - T<b>ONGUE</b></span> <span class="smmaj">BY THE PAINEFULL AND</span> - <span class="smmaj">INDUSTRIOUS</span> <span class="smcap">“H<b>ULDRICKE</b> V<b>AN</b> - S<b>PEAGLE</b>,</span> <span class="smmaj">A GRAMMATICALL</span> - <span class="smcap">B<b>REWER</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> <span class="smcap">L<b>UBECK</b>,</span> - <span class="smmaj">AND NOW MOST LEARNEDLY ENLARGED, AMPLIFIED,</span> - <span class="smmaj">AND TRANSLATED INTO</span> - <span class="smcap">E<b>NGLISH</b> P<b>ROSE</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">AND</span> <span class="smcap">V<b>ERSE</b></span></div> -<div class="fsz6"><span class="smcap">B<b>Y</b></span> JOHN TAYLOR.</div> -<div class="fsz7">LONDON</div> -<div class="fsz6"><span class="smcap">P<b>RINTED</b></span> <span class="smmaj">BY</span> - <span class="smcap">A<b>NNE</b></span> <span class="smcap">G<b>RIFFIN</b></span> 1637.</div> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p042">{42}</span></div> - -<p>After speaking of cider, perry, &c., the author goes on to speak of -ale, which “hath been and now is used by the English, as well since -the Conquest as in the times of the Brittains, Saxons, and Danes (for -the former-recited drinks are to this day confined to the Principality) -so as we enjoy them onely by a Statute called the courtesie of Wales. -And to perfect any discourse in this I shall onely induce them into two -heads, viz., the unparalleled liquor called Ale with his abstract Beere; -whose antiquity amongst a sort of Northerne pated fellowes, is, if not -altogether contemptible, of very little esteeme; this humour served the -scurrilous pen of a shamelesse writer<a class="afnanc" href="#fn16" id="fnanc16">16</a> -in the raigne of King Henry the -third; detractingly to inveigh against this unequal’d liquor. Thus</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">‘</span>For - muddy, foggy, fulsome, puddle, stinking,</span> -<span class="spp00">For all of these, Ale is the onely drinking.’</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc16" id="fn16">16</a> -Henry D’Avranches.</p></div> - -<p>“Of all the Authors that I have ever yet read, this is the only one -that hath attempted to brand the glorious splendour of that <i>Ale-beloved</i> -decoction; but observe this fellow, by the perpetuall use of water -(which was his accustomed drinke) he fell into such convulsions and -lethargick diseases, that he remained in opinion a dead man; however, -the knowing Physicians of that time, by the frequent and inward -application of <i>Ale</i>, not onely recouvered him to his pristine state of -health, but also enabled him in body and braine for the future, that he -became famous in his writings, which for the most part were afterwards -spent with most <i>Aleoquent</i> and <i>Alaborate</i> commendation of that admired -and most superexcellent Imbrewage.”</p> - -<p>“Some there are,” he says, “that affirme that Ale was first invened -by <i>Alexander the Great</i>, and that in his conquests this liquor did infuse -such vigour and valour into his souldiers. Others say that famous -Physician of Piemont (named <i>Don Alexis</i>) was the founder of it. But -it is knowne that it was of that singular use in the time of the <i>Saxons</i> -that none were allowed to brewe it but such whose places and qualities -were most <i>Eminent</i>, insomuch that we finde that one of them had the -credit to give the name of a <i>Saxon</i> Prince, who in honour of that rare -quality, he called <i>Alle</i>. Some <i>ale</i>adge that it being our drinke when our -land was called <i>Albion</i>, that it had the name of the countrey; <i>Twiscus</i> in -his <i>Euphorbinum</i> will have it from <i>Albanta</i> or <i>Epirus</i>, <i>Wolfgang -Plashendorph</i> of <i>Gustenburg</i>, saies that <i>Alecto</i> (one of the three furies) -gave the receipt of it to <i>Albumazar</i>, a Magician, and -he (having <i>Aliance</i> <span class="xxpn" id="p043">{43}</span> -with <i>Aladine</i>, the Soldan at <i>Aleppo</i>) first brew’d it there, whereto may -be <i>Aleuded</i>, the story how <i>Alphonsus</i> of <i>Scicily</i>, sent it from thence to -the battell of <i>Alcazar</i>. My Authour is of Anaxagoras’ opinion, that <i>Ale</i> -is to be held in high price for the nutritive substance that it is indued -withall, and how precious a nurse it is in generall to Mankinde.</p> - -<p>“It is true that the overmuch taking of it doth so much exhilerate -the spirits, that a man is not improperly said to be in the <i>Aletitude</i> (observe -the word, I pray you, and all the words before or after for you shall -find their first syllable to be <i>Ale</i>), and some writers are of opinion that -the Turkish <i>Alcoran</i> was invented by Mahomet, out of such furious -raptures as <i>Ale</i> inspired him withall; some affirme Bacchus (<i>Al’as -Liber Pater</i>) was the first Brewer of it, among the <i>Indians</i>, who being -a stranger to them they nam’d it <i>Ale</i>, as brought by an <i>Alien</i>: in a -word, <i>Somnus altus</i> signifies dead sleepe: <i>Quies alta</i>, Great rest; <i>Altus</i> -and <i>Alta</i>, noble and excellent: It is (for the most part) extracted out of -the spirit of a Graine called Barley, which was of that estimation -amongest the ancient <i>Galles</i> that their Prophets (whom they called -<i>Bards</i>) used it in their most important prophesies and ceremonies: -This Graine, after it had beene watered and dryed, was at first ground in -a Mill in the island of <i>Malta</i>, from whence it is supposed to gaine the -name of Malt; but I take it more proper from the word <i>Malleolus</i>, -which signifies a Hammer or Maule, for <i>Hanniball</i> (that great <i>Carthaginian</i> -Captaine) in his sixteene yeeres warres against the Romans, was -called the <i>Maule</i> of <i>Italie</i>, for it is conjectured that he victoriously -Mauld them by reason that his army was daily refreshed with the -Spiritefull Elixar of <i>Mault</i>.</p> - -<p>“It holds very significant to compare a man in the <i>Aletitude</i> to be in -a planetarie height, for in a Planet, the Altitude is his motion in which -he is carried from the lowest place of Heaven or from the Center of the -Earth, into the most highest place, or unto the top of his circle, and -then it is said to be in <i>Apogee</i>, that is the most <i>Transcendant</i> part of -all, so the Sublunarie of a Stupified Spirit, being elevated by the -efficacious vigour of this uncontrolleable vertue, renders him most -capable for high actions.”</p> - -<p>After much more in the same vein, sufficient to astonish the most -reckless of modern punsters, our author winds up his account of the -antiquity of ale as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<p>“I will therefore <i>shut up</i> with that admirable conclusion insisted upon -in our time by a discreet Gentleman in a Solemne Assembly, who by a -Politick observation, very aptly compares <i>Ale</i> and Cakes -with Wine and <span class="xxpn" id="p044">{44}</span> -Waters, neither doth he hold it fit that it should stand in competition -with the meanest wines, but with that most excellent composition which -the Prince of Physicians <i>Hippocrases</i> had so ingeniously compounded -for the preservation of Mankinde, and which (to this day) speakes the -Author by the name of <i>Hippocras</i>. So that you see for Antiquity—<i>Ale</i> -was famous amongst the <i>Troians</i>, <i>Brittaines</i>, <i>Romans</i>, <i>Saxons</i>, -<i>Normans</i>, <i>Englishmen</i>, <i>Welch</i>, besides in <i>Scotland</i>, from the highest -and Noblest Palace to the poorest and meanest Cottage.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Other curious details with respect to the use of ale in the Middle -Ages and in modern times will be found in their appropriate places, -and having established clearly enough the highly respectable antiquity -of the Prince of liquors, old or new, it is time, in the elegant language -of the Water Poet, to “shut up” this portion of the subject; and so -we pass on, concluding here with an extract from the <i>Philosopher’s -Banquet</i>, on the pre-eminence of -<span class="nowrap">ale:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Ale for antiquity may plead and stand</span> -<span class="spp00">Before the conquest, conquering in this land;</span> -<span class="spp00">Beere, that is younger brother of her age,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was not then borne, nor right to bee her page;</span> -<span class="spp00">In every pedling village, borough, town,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale plaid at football, and tript all lads down;</span> -<span class="spp00">And tho’ shee’s rivall’d now by beere, her mate,</span> -<span class="spp00">Most doctors aiwt on herthis shewes her state.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p044.png" width="144" height="59" alt="" /></div> -</div><!--dpoemlft--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p045a.png" width="144" height="44" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p045"> -<span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> III.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Heap high the fire, and, O ye Lares, smile;</span> -<span class="spp00">And, Innocence, with plenty hither bring</span> -<span class="spp00">Hilarity; while Friendship brims the cup</span> -<span class="spp00">With home-brewed Ale, and every welcom’d guest</span> -<span class="spp00">Forgets the storm . . .</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Booker’s Sequel Poem to the - Hop Garden.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap38"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year,</span> -<span class="spp00">With your pockets full of money, and - your cellar full of beer.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Old Carol.</i></span></div></div> -</div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"> -<i>HOME-BREWED ALES. — OLD RECEIPTS. — HISTORICAL -FACTS. — DEAN SWIFT ON HOME-BREW. — CHRISTOPHER -NORTH’S BREW-HOUSE.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p045b.png" -width="231" height="228" alt="H" /></span>OGARTH’S -<i>Farmer’s Return</i> represents -the worthy man just come in from his -morning round or from distant market -town. As he rests awhile in the farmhouse -kitchen he draws sweet solace from -the pipe brought him by his daughter, -while he eyes with keen expectance the -jug of foaming home-brew which his -buxom wife, in her hurry to serve her -lord, is spilling on the tiled floor. These two old friends, firm supporters -of each other, the farmers and home-brewed ale, have almost -parted company. Home-brew, indeed, has become, in some places, an -extinct and almost forgotten beverage. It is a curious fact, however, -that between the years 1884 and 1886 there was a slight increase in the -number of persons brewing -their own ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p046">{46}</span></p> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p046.png" width="252" height="317" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Farmers Return.</div></div> - -<p>The late Mr. Wm. Cobbett, writing in 1821 on the subject of -brewing, says, “To show Englishmen, forty years ago, that it was -good for them to brew beer in their houses, would have been as -impertinent as gravely to insist that they ought to endeavour not to -lose their breath; for in those times, to have a <i>house</i> and not to -brew was a rare thing indeed. Mr. Ellman, an old man and a large -farmer in Sussex, has recently given, in evidence before a Committee -of the House of Commons, this fact: that forty years ago there was -not a labourer in his parish that did not brew his own beer; and -that now there is not one that does it, except by chance the malt be -given him.”</p> - -<p>The decadence of the art of domestic brewing is, for some reasons, a -matter for regret. The causes are not far to seek. The improved machinery -of the modern brewer, which enables him to make an uniformly -excellent beer, and to sell it at a low price; and the railways which now -traverse every part of the country, carrying his single, double, or treble -X, as the case may be, to places where half a century back no one -dreamt of purchasing ale for home consumption—to these great changes -is undoubtedly due the partial downfall of home-brew -that has taken <span class="xxpn" id="p047">{47}</span> -place. Not only has the practice of domestic brewing much declined, -but from the same causes there has been of late years an extraordinary -and lamentable decrease in the numbers of small country brewers.</p> - -<p>Although the name of home-brew carries with it many old associations -and sentiments which we abandon with regret—memories of bright -March beer and mellow old October, of snug ingle-nooks and raftered -ceilings, and of kind, if homely, welcome—we cannot but admit, as on -a hot day we drain our tankard of Burton bitter, or of world-famed -London stout, that life has still its compensations.</p> - -<p>“To make barley-water was an invention which found out itself -with little more than the joyning the ingredients together,” said old -Fuller, in his <i>Worthies of England</i>; “but to make mault for drinke, -was a master-piece indeed.” This old writer would seem to give the -maltster more credit than the brewer. In his day, however, the distinction -between the two was slight, for nearly every country gentleman -or farmer was both his own brewer and his own maltster.</p> - -<p>In 1610, the justices of Rutland, in settling the rate of domestic -servants’ wages, adjudged that a chief woman, who could bake and brew -<i>and make malt</i>, should have the sum of 24<i>s</i>. 8<i>d</i>. by the year; while a -second best, who could brew but not malt, was to have 23<i>s</i>. 4<i>d</i>.</p> - -<p>The earliest connected account of domestic malting and brewing -which we have been able to find, occurs in a poetical work of the -thirteenth century, called the <i>Treatise of Walter de Biblesworth</i>. The -treatise deals with most matters of domestic concern and every-day life, -and the passage in which the malting of barley and the brewing of ale -are described, is so curious that it is given below in full length from the -text to be found in <i>National Antiquities</i>, vol. i. (priv. pub. Th. Wright, -Ed.).</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Seyoms - ore entour cerveyse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pur fere gens ben à eyse.</span> -<span class="spp00">Alumet, amy, cele lefrenole,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn17" id="fnanc17">17</a> -<span class="xxpn" id="p048">{48}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">E kaunt averas manges de brakole,</span> -<span class="spp00">En une cuwe<a class="afnanc" href="#fn18" id="fnanc18">18</a> - large e leez,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cel orge là enfoundrez;</span> -<span class="spp00">E kaunt sera enfoundré,</span> -<span class="spp00">E le ewe seyt escouloé,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mountez cel haut soler,</span> -<span class="spp00">Si le festes nette baler,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn19" id="fnanc19">19</a></span> -<span class="spp00">E là cochet votre blée,</span> -<span class="spp00">Taunke seyt ben germée,</span> -<span class="spp00">De cele houre appelleras,</span> -<span class="spp00">Brès, ke blée avant nomas.</span> -<span class="spp00">Le brès de vostre mayn muez</span> -<span class="spp00">En mounceus ou en rengeés;<a class="afnanc" href="#fn20" id="fnanc20">20</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Pus le portez en un corbel,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pur ensechier au toral.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn21" id="fnanc21">21</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Le corbel e le corbiloun</span> -<span class="spp00">Vous serviront au fusoyn.</span> -<span class="spp00">Kaunt vostre brez est molu,</span> -<span class="spp00">E de ewe chaude ben enbeu,</span> -<span class="spp00">Des bertiz<a class="afnanc" href="#fn22" id="fnanc22">22</a> -ver cervoyse</span> -<span class="spp00">Par art contrové teise.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ky fet miracles e merveyles,</span> -<span class="spp00">De une chaundelie deus chandelis,</span> -<span class="spp00">De homme lay fet bon clerc,</span> -<span class="spp00">A homme desconu doune merk,</span> -<span class="spp00">Homme fort fet chatoner, <span class="xxpn" id="p049">{49}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">E homme à roye haut juper,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn23" id="fnanc23">23</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Taunt de vertu de la grees</span> -<span class="spp00">De servoyse fet de brès,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ke la coyfe<a class="afnanc" href="#fn24" id="fnanc24">24</a> -de un bricoun</span> -<span class="spp00">Teyndre seet sanz vermilloun.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ceste matyre cy repose,</span> -<span class="spp00">Parlom ore de autre chose.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc17" id="fn17">17</a> -Some old Englishman has written in the MS. over difficult words -his interpretation of them; an interpretation frequently of great assistance, -but occasionally in itself not a little puzzling. This word <i>lefrenole</i>, -however, he much elucidates by annotating it “kex;” in Gloucestershire -and in other parts of the country the word is still used to signify the -hemlock, and may be found in many old writers. Lygones, in <i>A King -and No King</i>, refers to his legs as “withered kexes.” The word was -probably occasionally used to denote a candle, and this is the meaning -assigned to it here. Langland, in the <i>Vision of Piers Ploughman</i>, says -that glowing embers do not serve the workman’s purpose so well,</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>As dooth a kex or a candle</span> -<span class="spp00">That caught hath fire and blazeth.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Allusion is also made to the use of stalks of hemlock as candles in -<i>Turn. of Tottenham</i>, 201.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc18" id="fn18">18</a> -Our annotator says “a mikel fat.” The word “kive” is found -in later English for the same utensil.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc19" id="fn19">19</a> -Suepet klene.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc20" id="fn20">20</a> -“On hepe -other on rowe” is the quaint gloss.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc21" id="fn21">21</a> -<i>Toral</i> is noted “kulne.”</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc22" id="fn22">22</a> -<i>Bertiz</i> is probably a form of <i>bertzissa</i>, which seems to be a -barbarous rendering of <i>wort</i>.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc23" id="fn23">23</a> -<i>Juper</i> is annotated <i>houten</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, to hoot or shout.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc24" id="fn24">24</a> -The word <i>coyfe</i> here -seems to signify not <i>cap</i>, but <i>head</i> or <i>face</i>; another such use of the -word is to be found in the <i>Chron. de Nangis</i> (1377), and is mentioned -in Sainte-Palaye’s <i>Hist. Dict. of the French Language</i>.</p></div> - -<p>It is believed that no translation of this curious old poem has been -published, and a rendering is accordingly added in which literal accuracy -rather than poetical elegance has been aimed at.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale shall now engage my pen,</span> -<span class="spp00">To set at rest the hearts of men.</span> -<span class="spp00">First, my friend, your candle light,<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn25" id="fnanc25">25</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Next of spiced cake take a bite;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then steep your barley in a vat,</span> -<span class="spp00">Large and broad, take care of that;</span> -<span class="spp00">When you shall have steeped your grain,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the water let out-drain,</span> -<span class="spp00">Take it to an upper floor,</span> -<span class="spp00">If you’ve swept it clean before,</span> -<span class="spp00">There couch,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn26" id="fnanc26">26</a> -and let your barley dwell,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till it germinates full well.</span> -<span class="spp00">Malt now you shall call the grain,</span> -<span class="spp00">Corn it ne’er shall be again.</span> -<span class="spp00">Stir the malt then with your hand,</span> -<span class="spp00">In heaps or rows now let it stand;</span> -<span class="spp00">On a tray then you shall take it,</span> -<span class="spp00">To a kiln to dry and bake it.</span> -<span class="spp00">The tray and eke a basket light</span> -<span class="spp00">Will serve to spread the malt aright. <span class="xxpn" id="p050">{50}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">When your malt is ground in mill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And of hot water has drank its fill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And skill has changed the wort to ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to see you shall not fail</span> -<span class="spp00">Miracles and marvels; Lo!</span> -<span class="spp00">Two candles out of one do grow;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale makes a layman a good clerk,</span> -<span class="spp00">To one unknown it gives a mark,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale makes the strong go on all fours,</span> -<span class="spp00">And fill the streets with shouts and roars.</span> -<span class="spp00">The good ale from the malt at length,</span> -<span class="spp00">So draws the barley’s pride and strength,</span> -<span class="spp00">That a royster’s figure-head</span> -<span class="spp00">Needs no dye to make it red.</span> -<span class="spp00">Here, then, let the matter rest,</span> -<span class="spp00">To talk of other things were best.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">As -everybody knows, the monks of old were famous for their home-brewed -ales, and the brewer and cellarer, whether in mitred abbey or in -the less distinguished religious houses, were officials of considerable -importance. The office of cellarer was one held in especial estimation. -An old glossary describes his position in the monastery as follows:—“<i>Pater -debet esse totius congregationis</i>,” and in the priory of St. -Swithin at Winchester special prayers were offered up for this functionary. -Such a person is depicted on this page. The monk whose -anxious eye proclaims the sad fact that in tasting the liquor entrusted -to his charge he is exceeding his duty, is a cellarer who evidently -makes the most of his opportunities. The drawing is taken from a -manuscript in the Arundel collection.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc25" id="fn25">25</a> -<i>i.e.</i>, you must -rise betimes.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc26" id="fn26">26</a> -The word “couch” has still a technical meaning in -malting.</p></div> - -<div class="dctr09"> -<img src="images/p050.png" width="200" height="259" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">“Is it in condition?”</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p051">{51}</span></div> - -<div class="dright dwth-f"> -<img src="images/p051.png" width="462" height="585" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Mediæval Cellarer.</div></div> - -<p>Some curious entries relating to -home-brew are to be found in the registry -of the priory of Worcester, <span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> 1240. -At each brewing “<i>VIII. cronn: de -greu</i> and x <i>quarteria de meis</i>” were -used; which probably signifies eight -cronns or four quarters of growte (here -meaning ground malt), and ten quarters -of mixed barley and oat malt. A long -list then follows of the allowances of beer -amongst the different officials of the -house. The beer was of three different -kinds, <i>prima</i> or <i>melior</i>, <i>secunda</i>, and -<i>tertia</i>. The cellarer is to have one measure of prime and one of -second. In the brewhouse four measures of the prime are to be -distributed, and two measures on the day on which the ale is to be -moved. The servant of the church is to have the holy-water bucket -full of “mixta,” <i>i.e.</i>, part prime and part second, or, it may be, a -mixture of all three sorts. This “mixta” seems to have been an -anticipation of the “half-and-half” and “three threads” of more modern -times. Each of those who help to carry the ale are to have two -measures of the first and second mixed, and so the list proceeds through -all the officers and servants of the priory. Ale, indeed, seems to have -been their chief drink, and even the invalid (<i>potionandus</i>) about to -undergo a course of physicking was allowed his measure of ale. Our -doubts as to the wisdom of this dieting hardly require the confirmation -they receive from the further direction that he was to have pork, fowl -with stuffing, cheese, and eggs.</p> - -<p class="pclearfix">Sometimes the records tell sad tales -of the poor monks being robbed of their beer by reason of -the malt failing.</p> - -<p>This misfortune is recorded in the annals of Dunstable as having -happened in 1262. The annalist ruefully mentions that “in this year, -about the Feast of John the Baptist, our ale failed.” Very soon after -this, however, they made provision for the deficiency by purchasing -from H. Chadde £20 worth of malt; the quantity is not mentioned, -but at the rates of the day it would no doubt considerably exceed 100 -quarters, so that for some time the monks could have known no want. -In 1274 the same disaster occurred:—“At the Feast of Pentecost our malt -failed.” This time the holy fathers were equal to the occasion. “We -drank,” so run the annals, “five casks of wine, and it did -us much good.” <span class="xxpn" id="p052">{52}</span></p> - -<p>The crimes and misdeeds of Roger Noreys, the wicked abbot of Evesham -at the end of the twelfth century, seem to have culminated when -he not only called the monks “puppies, vassals, and ribalds,” but, adding -injury to insult, compelled them to live for many days on hard bread -and “ale little differing from water.” This was too much, and the -monks petitioned the archbishop against such ill-treatment. The -abbot, it may be remarked, appears from the records of the House to -have taken very good care of himself, though he treated the monks so -ill, and it might have been said of him as it was of another ecclesiastic -whose name, unfortunately, has not accompanied the -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Bonum vinum cum sapore</span> -<span class="spp00">Bibit abbas cum priore</span> -<span class="spp00">Sed conventus de pejore</span> -<span class="spp03">Semper solet bibere.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>John of Brokehampton, who became abbot of Evesham in 1282, had -himself filled the office of cellarer, and amongst many other benefits -conferred by him upon the House during his abbacy, he built a bakehouse -and a brewhouse “not only strongly but sumptuously.”</p> - -<p>On certain special days set apart for “<i>doing the great O</i>,”<a class="afnanc" href="#fn27" id="fnanc27">27</a> -which -was a facetious way of saying that they were holidays when nothing -was done, a more liberal allowance of ale was made, and on the occasion -of the election of a Canon for St. Paul’s, foreign wine and other delicacies -were added to the feast.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc27" id="fn27">27</a> -“Facere O” in some places had reference to the introit beginning “O -Sapientia.”</p></div> - -<p>Some slight idea of a monastic feast in the thirteenth century may -be gathered from the accompanying illustration. The presence of -women is significant, and the quaint spit, and the round-bottomed glass -which one of the monks holds in his hand and which cannot be set -down until empty, are noteworthy.</p> - -<p>What a gentleman’s cellar ought to contain is thus described by -Alexander Neckam, a twelfth-century writer:—“In promptuario sive -in celario,” he writes, “sunt cadi, utres,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn28" id="fnanc28">28</a> -dolea, ciphi,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn29" id="fnanc29">29</a> -cophini, . . . -vina, scicera, cerevicia, sive celia, mustum, -claretum, nectar,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn30" id="fnanc30">30</a> -medo <span class="xxpn" id="p053">{53}</span> -sive ydromellum,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn31" id="fnanc31">31</a></p> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p053a.png" width="351" height="428" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">piretum, vinum rosetum, vinum feretum, vinum -falernum, vinum girofilatum.” Some old scribe has noted this work -in the same way as the annotator of the <i>Treatise of Walter de Biblesworth</i>, -and taking up the hints he has given, the passage may be -translated:—“In the cellar are barrels, leather bottles or wine skins, -tuns, beakers, baskets, . . . wines, cyder, ale, new wine, claret, -piment, meed or ydromellum, perry, Mount Rose wine, Falernian, -garihofilac, &c. . . .” Not a bad assortment of liquors for an Early -Englishman! Our cut, taken from the Roxburghe ballads, represents a -well-stocked cellar of the olden times.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc28" id="fn28">28</a> -Utres is noted ‘coutreus.’</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc29" id="fn29">29</a> -Ciphi = anaps, cophini = anapers. -On this word anaps, or hanaps, see page -<a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395.</a></p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc30" id="fn30">30</a> -Nectar or Piment was -a luscious kind of drink compounded of wine, honey and spices; it was -called after the pigmentarii, or apothecaries who prepared it, and was -in fact a liqueur.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc31" id="fn31">31</a> -Ydromellum is explained in the <i>Ortus</i> as <i>potus ex aqua -et melle</i>, <i>Anglice mede or growte</i> (Growte = wort in an early stage of the brewing). -In <i>Alfric’s Colloquy</i>, however, it is said to be <i>beor</i>, or <i>mulsum</i>. -The true explanation of this discrepancy seems to be that ydromellum, -while properly signifying an inferior sort of mead, was also used by -analogy to denote the sweet liquor <i>wort</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p053b.png" width="340" height="235" alt="" /></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p054">{54}</span></div> - -<p>The requisites of a brewhouse of the fourteenth or fifteenth century -are described in a Latin-English Vocabulary of the -<span class="nowrap">period:―</span></p> - -<div id="p054list"><ul> -<li class="lihanga">Brasiatrix, a brewster (a female brewer).</li> -<li class="lihanga">Cima, a kymnelle (a mash tub). Fornax, a furnasse.</li> -<li class="lihanga">Alveum, a trogh. Brasium, malte. Barzissa, wortte.</li> -<li class="lihanga">Dragium, draf (grains). Calderium, a caldron.</li> -<li class="lihanga">Taratantarum, a temse (sieve). Cuvella, a kunlion (small tub).</li> -<li class="lihanga">Ydromellum, growte. Mola, a quern (handmill).</li> -<li class="lihanga">Pruera, ling (a broom made of ling).</li></ul></div> - -<p>That graphic old writer, Harrison, in his Preface to <i>Hollinshed’s -Chronicles</i>, 1587, gives a capital description of home-brewing as it was -carried on at the end of the sixteenth century; and “once in a moneth -practised by my wife,” as he informs us.</p> - -<p>It may be remarked incidentally, that brewing seems to have usually -fallen to the share of the housewife, whose duties in this respect are -indicated in the old Durham -<span class="nowrap">rhyme:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp01">I’ll no more be a nun, nun, nun,</span> -<span class="spp01">I’ll be no more a nun!</span> -<span class="spp00">But I’ll be a wife,</span> -<span class="spp00">And lead a merry life,</span> -<span class="spp01">And brew good ale by the tun, tun, tun.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>To return to old Harrison and his home-brew. “Nevertheless,” -he says, “sith I have taken occasion to speake of bruing, I will exemplifie -in such a proportion as I am best skilled in, bicause it is the usuall -rate for mine owne familie, and once in a moneth practised by my wife -and hir maid servants, who proceed withall after this maner, as she -hath oft informed me. Having therefore groond eight bushels of good -malt upon our querne, where the toll is saved, she addeth unto it half -a bushel of wheat meale, and so much of otes small groond, and so -tempereth or mixeth them with the malt, that you cannot easily discerne -the one from the other, otherwise these later would clunter, fall into -lumps, and thereby become unprofitable. The first -liquor which is full <span class="xxpn" id="p055">{55}</span> -eightie gallons according to the proportion of our furnace, she maketh -boiling hot, and then powreth it softlie into the malt, where it resteth -(but without stirring) untill hir second liquor be almost ready to boile. -This doone she letteth hir mash run till the malt be left without liquor, -or at the leastwise the greater part of the moisture, which she perceiveth -by the staie and softe issue thereof, and by this time hir second -liquor in the furnace is ready to seeth, which is put also to the malt as -the first woort also againe into the furnace, whereunto she addeth two -pounds of the best English hops, and so letteth them seeth together by -the space of two hours in summer, or an houre and a halfe in winter, -whereby it getteth an excellent colour and continuance without impeachment, -or anie superfluous tartnesse. But before she putteth her -first woort into the furnace, or mingleth it with the hops, she taketh -out a vessel full, of eight or nine gallons, which she shutteth up close, -and suffereth no aire to come into it till it become yellow, and this she -reserveth by it selfe unto further use, as shall appeare hereafter, calling -it Brackwoort or Charwoort, and as she saith it addeth also to the -colour of the drinke, whereby it yeeldeth not unto amber or fine gold -in hew unto the eie. By this time also hir second woort is let runne, -and the first being taken out of the furnace and placed to coole, she -returneth the middle woort into the furnace, where it is striken over, -or from whence it is taken againe.</p> - -<p>“When she hath mashed also the last liquor (and let the second to -coole by the first) she letteth it runne and then seetheth it againe with -a pound and an half of new hops or peradventure two pounds as she -seeth cause by the goodness or basenesse of the hops; and when it hath -sodden in summer two hours, and in winter an houre and an halfe, she -striketh it also and reserveth it unto mixture with the rest when time -dooth serve therefore. Finallie when she setteth hir drinke together, -she addeth to hir brackwoort or charwoort halfe an ounce of arras and -halfe a quarterne of an ounce of baiberries finelie powdered, and -then putteth the same into hir woort with an handful of wheate floure, -she proceedeth in such usuall order as common bruing requireth. Some -in steed of arras and baies add so much long peper onely, but in hir -opinion and my lyking it is not so good as the first, and hereof we make -three hoggesheads of good beere, such (I meane) as is meet for poore men -as I am to live withall whose small maintenance (for what great thing is -fortie pounds a yeare computatis computandis able to performe) may -indure no deeper cut, the charges whereof groweth in this manner. I -value my malt at ten shillings, my wood at foure shillings -which I buie, <span class="xxpn" id="p056">{56}</span> -my hops at twenty pence, the spice at two pence, servants wages two -shillings sixpence, both meat and drinke, and the wearing of my vessell -at twentie pence, so that for my twenty shillings I have ten score gallons -of beer or more, nothwithstanding the loss in seething. . . . The -continuance of the drinke is alwaye determined after the quantitie of -the hops, so that being well hopped it lasteth longer. For it feedeth -upon the hop and holdeth out so long as the force of the same endureth -which being extinguished the drinke must be spent or else it dieth and -becometh of no value.”</p> - -<p>A brewhouse was in the sixteenth century an essential for a gentleman’s -house. Boorde, in his directions for building a country house, -mentions this:—“And also” he says, “the backe-house and brew-house -shall be a dystance from the place and from other buyldyng.”</p> - -<p>Strutt gives an inventory of the contents of a private brewhouse of -the sixteenth century. “<i>Im primis</i> a meshe fatt—<i>Item</i>, a great ledde -(leaden vessel)—<i>Item</i>, a brasse panne set in the walle (the copper for -boiling the wort)—<i>Item</i>, 6 wort leeds, callyd coolars—<i>Item</i>, a greate -c’linge fatt with 2 other fattes, and other tubs and kimnelles.”</p> - -<p>The poetic soul of Thomas Tusser, which has condescended to celebrate -in quaint and homely verse most subjects of domestic interest or -savouring of country life, has left us a short effusion on home-brew, -which, though not perhaps so complete as a novice in the art of brewing -might desire for his instruction, yet contains some pithy and, doubtless, -useful rules. The verses are to be found in the <i>Pointes of Good -Huswiferie</i>, and run -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp07">Brew somewhat for thine,</span> -<span class="spp07">Else bring up no swine.</span> -<span class="spp00">Where brewing is needful, be brewer thyself,</span> -<span class="spp00">what filleth the roofe will helpe furnish the shelfe;<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn32" id="fnanc32">32</a></span> -<span class="spp00">In buying of drinke by the firkin or pot</span> -<span class="spp00">the tallie ariseth, but hog amendes not.<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn33" id="fnanc33">33</a></span> -<span class="spp07">Well brewed, worth cost,</span> -<span class="spp07">Ill used, halfe lost.</span> -<span class="spp00">One bushell well brewed, outlasteth some twaine,</span> -<span class="spp00">and saveth both mault, and expenses in vaine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Too new is no profite, too stale is as bad,</span> -<span class="spp00">drinke deade, or else sower, makes laborer sad.</span> -<span class="spp07" id="p057">Remember, good Gill,</span> -<span class="spp07">Take paine with thy swill.</span> -<span class="spp00">Seeth grains in more water, while graines be yet hot,</span> -<span class="spp00">and stirre them in copper as poredge in pot,</span> -<span class="spp00">Such heating with straw, to make offall good store,<a - class="afnanc" href="#fn34" id="fnanc34">34</a></span> -<span class="spp00">both pleseth and easeth, what would you have more?</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc32" id="fn32">32</a> -<i>i.e.</i>, we presume, brewing which fills the roof with steam is good -economy.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc33" id="fn33">33</a> -The score at the ale-house mounts up, but your pig is -none the better for it. The allusion is to feeding pigs on the spent -grains.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc34" id="fn34">34</a> -The grains are to be used again to make “offall,” or small beer.</p></div> - -<p>Pain was not always taken by Gill with her swill, as may be seen by -the sad account of the <i>Distracted Maid, an Ancient Garland</i>, in which -the evil results of a pre-occupied mind are shown. One verse of this -effusion will doubtless be deemed -<span class="nowrap">sufficient:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To tell you as I am true,</span> -<span class="spp01">When ever I bake or brew,</span> -<span class="spp00">The thoughts of Will come uppermost still,</span> -<span class="spp01">I hardly know what to do;</span> -<span class="spp00">Instead of malt I put in salt,</span> -<span class="spp01">And boils my copper dry;</span> -<span class="spp00">The perjured Act, and wicket Fact,</span> -<span class="spp00">My brains are rack’d and I am crack’d,</span> -<span class="spp01">There’s no body knows but I,</span> -<span class="spp01">There’s no body knows but I.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>It is interesting to compare the cost of brewing in the sixteenth -century with that at the present day. Harrison’s brewing, as he -has shown us, cost him a fraction over a penny the gallon. The -following account of a brewing in the household of the Duke of -Northumberland, in the eighth year of the reign of Henry VIII., -brings out somewhat the same result, though the “painful scribe” seems -to have got a little confused in his arithmetic towards the end of his -account; however, a good deal must be excused to those who have -to work sums in Roman numerals.</p> - -<p>“A Brewyng at Wresill and carryede to Topclif. Fyrste paide for -vj quarters malt at Wresill after vs. the quarter—xxxs. Item, paide -for vj lb Hopps for the saide Brewyng after j d. ob. -the lb—jxd. Item, <span class="xxpn" id="p058">{58}</span> -paide for v score Faggotts for the saide Brewyng after v faggots j d—xxd. -Item, paide for the Cariage of the saide Brewyng from Wresill to Borrowbrigg -by watir—viz xij Hoggeshedes whiche makith iij Tonns after -iiijs. vd. the Tonne and a penny more at all—xiijs. iiijd. Item paide -for the Hire of iij Wanys for carrying of the said iij Tonne from -Barrow-brigg to Topclyf after viijd for the Hire of every Wayne—ijs.</p> - -<div>“Summa xlvijs. ixd.</div> - -<p>“Whereof is made xij Hoggeshedes of Beyr. Every Hoggeshede -contenyng xlviij gallons whiche is in all cccciiij xvj gallons after a -Penny the Gallon and iijd. les at all which is derer by qu in every -gallon save iijs iiijd. les at all—xlvijs ixd.”</p> - -<p>Not so many years later the prices of ale and beer seem to have -risen unaccountably, for in the charges for the diet of Mary Queen of -Scots at Tutbury, Chartley, and Fotheringaye the item is to be found -“for ale bought at dyerse pryces 1148 gallons at 9d. the gallon, -£43 13s. 9d.”</p> - -<p>“Three hundred and fifty-three tons 2 hogs of beare” were also -bought at an average price of 39s. 11d. the ton, £706 13s. 5d. Burton -ale may even at that time have commanded a higher price than -ordinary ale, and the cost of transit would, no doubt, be heavy. In -addition to the ale bought at “dyerse pryces,” some must have been -brewed at home; for in further accounts are the following items:—“Hopps -1s., a brewinge fatte with the charges for settyng it up -£4 5s. 8d. A new pompe for the brewhouse 28s. 8d.”</p> - -<p>Although brewing, as we have seen, was carried on during every -month in the year for the commoner household uses, March and -October were the favourite months for making strong ale, “the -authenticall drinke of England, the whole barmy tribe of ale-cunners -never layd their lips to the like.” The summer months were especially -eschewed by those who wished to keep their liquor, and hence the old -<span class="nowrap">saying:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Bow-wow, - dandy-fly,</span> -<span class="spp00">Brew no beer in July.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">“Oh! but my grandmother,” says -Gluttony, in the <i>Tragical History of Doctor Faustus</i>, -“she was a jolly gentlewoman, and well beloved in every -good town and city; her name was Mistress Margery March -Beer.”</p> - -<p>“<i>Ale</i> and <i>beere</i>,” says Harrison, -“beare the greatest brunt in <span class="xxpn" id="p059">{59}</span> -drincking, which are of so many sortes and ages as it pleases the brewar to -make them. The beer that is used at noblemen’s tables, is commonly of -a yeare olde, (or peradventure of twoo yeres tunning or more, but this is -not general) it is also brued in Marche, and is therefore called Marche -bere, but for the household it is usually not under a monethes age, eache -one coveting to have the same as stale as he might, so that it was not -soure.”</p> - -<p>And a serious “brunt” it was if the following obituary notice, which -appeared in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i> in 1810, may be taken as a -sample of our fathers’ devotion to -<span class="nowrap">home-brew:―</span></p> - -<p>“At the Ewes farm-house, Yorkshire, aged 76, Mr. Paul Parnell, -farmer, grazier, and maltster, who, during his lifetime, drank out of one -silver pint cup upwards of £2,000 sterling worth of Yorkshire Stingo, -being remarkably attached to Stingo tipple of the home-brewed best -quality. The calculation is taken at 2d. per cupful. He was the bon-vivant -whom O’Keefe celebrated in more than one of his Bacchanalian -songs under the appellation of Toby Philpott.”</p> - -<p>The Journal of Timothy Burrell, Esquire, of Ockenden House, -Cuckfield, Sussex, proves him to have been a true devotee of the rites of -Ceres. With what particularity he mentions his purchases of malt and -hops—“May 3, 1683. Quarter of malt, £1. . . . 23 July. For 28lbs. -of hops I gave 7s. . . . October. I paid Jo. Warden for 30 bushels -of malt, just 4 months, £4 3s.” Then with what care he notes the day -on which he brewed, as thus—“3 May, 1702, <i>Pandoxavi</i>” and with -what satisfaction the day on which he tapped the barrel,—“12 June -<i>Relinivi</i>”—illustrating his manuscript as he goes along with quaint -sketches of barrels, quart pots, pockets of hops and such-like. John -Coachman, who seems to have been worthy Timothy’s servant for many -years, frequently comes in for a remark by reason of his excessive devotion -to the barley bree:—“Oct. 8th, 1698. Payd John Coachman, in -full of his half year’s wages, to be spent in ale, £2 6s. 6d. I paid him -for his breeches (to be drunk,) in part of his wages, 6s.” “Paid to John -Coachman, in part of his wages, to be fooled away in syder or lottery, -5s.” “March 26th, 1710, I paid the saddler for John Coachman falling -drunk off his box, when he was driving to Glynde, in part of his wages, -£1 7s. 6d.” Rest well, honest Timothy, thy quaint pen is still, thy -brewing days are over!</p> - -<p>In Dean Swift’s <i>Polite Conversations</i> we have the following amusing -dialogue on the subject of -<span class="nowrap">home-brew:―</span></p> - -<p><i>Lady Smart.</i> Pray, my lord, did you order the -butler to bring <span class="xxpn" id="p060">{60}</span> -up a tankard of our October to Sir John? I believe they stay to -brew it.</p> - -<div class="dstagedirection"><i>The butler brings up the tankard -to Sir John.</i></div> - -<p><i>Sir John Linger.</i> Won’t your ladyship please to drink first?</p> - -<p><i>Lady S.</i> No, Sir John; ’tis in a very good hand; I’ll pledge you.</p> - -<p><i>Col. Atwit</i> (to Lord Smart). My lord, I love October as well as Sir -John; and I hope you won’t make fish of one and flesh of another.</p> - -<p><i>Smart.</i> Colonel, you’re heartily welcome. Come, Sir John, take it -by word of mouth, and then give it to the Colonel.</p> - -<div class="dstagedirection"><i>Sir John drinks.</i></div> - -<p><i>Smart.</i> Well, Sir John, how do you like it?</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> Not as well as my own in Derbyshire; ’tis plaguy small.</p> - -<p><i>Lady S.</i> I never taste malt liquor: but they say it is well hopp’d.</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> Hopp’d? why if it had hopp’d a little further it would -have hopp’d into the river. O, my lord, my ale is meat, drink, and -cloth; it will make a cat speak and a wise man dumb.</p> - -<p><i>Lady S.</i> I was told ours was very strong.</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> Ay, madam, strong of the water; I believe the brewer -forgot the malt, or the river was too near him. Faith, it is mere whip-belly -vengeance; he that drinks most has the worst share.</p> - -<p><i>Col.</i> I believe, Sir John, ale is as plenty as water at your house.</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> Why, faith, at Christmas we have many comers and goers; -and they must not be sent away without a cup of Christmas ale for fear -they -<span class="nowrap">should——</span></p> - -<p><i>Lady S.</i> I hear Sir John has the nicest garden in England; they -say ’tis kept so clean that you can’t find a place where to spit.</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> O, madam; you are pleased to say so.</p> - -<p><i>Lady S.</i> But, Sir John, your ale is terribly strong and heady in -Derbyshire, and will soon make one drunk or sick; what do you then?</p> - -<p><i>Sir J.</i> Why, indeed, it is apt to fox one; but our way is to take a -hair of the same dog next morning. I take a new-laid egg for breakfast; -and faith one should drink as much after an egg as after an ox.</p> - -<p>Thompson, in his <i>Autumn</i>, makes reference to the strong October -brew.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Nor wanting is the brown October, drawn</span> -<span class="spp00">Mature and perfect from his dark retreat</span> -<span class="spp00">Of thirty years; and now his honest front</span> -<span class="spp00">Flames in the light refulgent, not afraid</span> -<span class="spp00">Even with the vineyard’s best produce to vie.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p061">{61}</span></div> - -<p>Seldom, it may be imagined, even in the sphere of domestic brewing, -has so small a “browst” been brewed as that described by Hone in his -<i>Table Book</i> as having been made by Widow Wood, of Beckenham Alms -House. She brewed with her ordinary cooking utensils, and the fireplace -of her little room; a tin kettle served her for boiler, she mashed in -a common butter-firkin, ran off the liquor in a “crock,” and tunned it -in a small beer barrel. She thought that poor folk might do a great -deal for themselves if they only knew how; “but,” said she, “where -there’s a will there’s a way.”</p> - -<p>Among modern writers Christopher North has left perhaps the best -description of what a modern private brewhouse should be. “We dare -say,” he says, “that many personages who never in the whole course of -their polished existences dreamed or thought of dreaming of brewing -anything (except mischief), will shrug their shoulders at the idea of -being introduced like his Majesty George the Third, at Whitbread’s, -into an odorous brewhouse, redolent of wash, wort, grains, hops, yeast, -and carbonic acid gas; peeping into pumps—tumbling into vats. -Silence, good exquisite! and let us inform you—(but first take that -cigar out of your mouth, or you will infallibly burn the carpet)—let us -inform you that a <i>gentleman’s brewhouse</i>, like his greenhouse, his hothouse, -his dairy, or even his cellar, <i>is no such unpleasant place</i>. No -place, indeed, can be so that has anything of the rural about it. There -is our own brewhouse at Buchanan Lodge; it might pass for a summer-house. -We shall describe it to you. It stands, good reader (mark us -well), at the back of the house, just at the edge of the little ravine or -dell, and half hid by the laburnums. It is also separated from the other -offices by a lowish beech hedge. Around, below, and opposite are -growing the wild cherry, the tall chestnut, the sycamore, the fir, the -thorn, and the bramble, which clothe the sides of the deep glen. From -its chimneys, as soon as the soft March gales begin to blow, curls the -white smoke before the hour of dawn. The fire within burns brightly. -Everything is clean and ‘sweet as the newly-tedded hay.’ Precisely -as six o’clock strikes we march forth—ay, even we, Christopher North—with -our old fishing jacket and our apron on; our old velvet study-cap -close about our ears, and our thermometer in our hand. The primroses -are basking in the morning rays; the dewdrops are sparkling the -last upon the leaves; the unseen violets are breathing forth sweets; the -blackbird trills his mellow notes in the thicket; the wren twitters in -the hedge; and the redbreast hops round the door. We enter. All is -right. We try our heat. ‘Donald, a leetle more cold. -That will do. <span class="xxpn" id="p062">{62}</span> -In with the malt. Every grain, you hound.’ ‘Ech! Donald’s no the -man to pench the maut.’ ‘Now stir, for life;’ and the active stirrer -turns over and over the fragrant grain in the smoking liquid. All is -covered up close, and the important mash (twelve bushels to the hogshead) -is completed.</p> - -<p>“But of what sort of malt? ‘Another question for the swordsmen,’ -for of ‘malts’ there are as many flavours, almost, as of vintages. They -who think that if malt be but sweet, mealy, and well crushed—that is -all—know, begging their pardons, little of the matter. We have heard -brewers, who thought themselves no fools, assert that the hops alone -give the ale its flavour; and that the difference between pale and high -dried malt is only in colour. They might as well have argued that the -lemon gives all the flavour to punch! We, Christopher North, aver, -that upon the degree of dryness which has been given to the malt, the -distinguishing flavour of malt liquor mainly depends. The bitter principle -of the hop is only the ground or substratum upon which the skilful -brewer builds his peculiar flavour of beer. As more or less of hops -is put in, no doubt the saccharine principle of the malt is subdued, or -is suffered to predominate. But in malt there is, besides the mere sugar -which it contains in common with so many other vegetables, a flavour -peculiar to itself: and this is brought out and modified by the application -of more or less of the great chemical agent, heat, to the malted -barley. In short, fire makes malt more or less savoury, much as it -makes a brandered fowl, or a mutton steak, or a toasted oaten cake, -more or less savoury.”</p> - -<p>Countless receipts have been preserved for making, flavouring, and -keeping home-brew from the days of the Saxon Leechbooks down to the -present time. Some of the older ones were supposed to depend for -their efficacy on supernatural intervention. “If the ale be spoilt,” says -an old <i>Saxon Leechdom</i>, “take lupins, lay them on the four quarters of -the dwelling, and over the door, and under the threshold, and under -the ale-vat, put the wort (the herb) into the ale with holy water.”</p> - -<p>In a Scotch brewer’s instructions for Scotch ale, dated 1793, may be -found a mystical note: “I throw a little dry malt, which is left on purpose, -on the top of the mash, with a handful of salt, <i>to keep the witches -from it</i>, and then cover it up.” Perhaps the idea that witches could -spoil the ale by their evil charms gave rise to the phrase “water -bewitched,” signifying very weak beer or other liquor.</p> - -<p>The plant, ale-cost (ground ivy), was, during the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries, used for “dispatching the maturation” of -ale and beer. <span class="xxpn" id="p063">{63}</span> -Gerard, in his <i>Herball</i> (1579), mentions the same plant under the name -of ale-houve. “The women of our northern parts,” he says, “do tun -the herb ale-houve into their ale, but the reason thereof I know not.”</p> - -<p>Our ancestors either must have had some means of very rapidly -“maturing” their ale, or they must have been content to drink it unmatured; -for it is recorded in the <i>Munimenta Academica Oxon.</i> that a -brewer of Oxford was, in 1444, compelled to solemnly swear before the -Chancellor that he would let his ale stand twelve hours to clear, before -he carried it to hall or college for sale; and in London it was the -custom to drink ale even newer, so much so, that on complaint being -made, in the fourteenth year of Queen Elizabeth, that the brewers -deliver ale and beer but two or three hours after it has been cleansed -and tunned, an ordinance was made that the brewers should not deliver -their liquors until eight hours after it had been tunned in the summer -months, and six hours in the winter.</p> - -<p>Ivory shavings have been recommended for rapidly maturing beer, -and it is related that a woman, who lived at Leighton Buzzard, in -Bedfordshire, and had the best ale in the town, once told a gentleman -she had drink just done working in the barrel, and that she would -wager it was fine enough to drink out of a glass even before it was bunged. -It was as she said, and the ivory shavings, that she boiled in the wort, -were the cause of it.</p> - -<p>Among the many receipts given in old works for “recovering” ale -or beer when it has turned sour, is one directing the housewife to put a -handful or two of ground malt into the beer, stir it well together, which -will make the beer work and become good again. In another receipt -the brewer is directed to put a handful of oatmeal into a barrel of beer -when first laid into the cellar, which will cause it to carry with it a -quick and lively taste. The root of flower-de-luce or iris suspended -in ale is said to be a specific against sourness.</p> - -<p>Another plan is to calcine oyster shells, beat them to powder with a -like quantity of chalk, put them in a thin bag into the liquor, -hanging it almost to the bottom, and in twenty-four hours the work will -be effected. It may be suggested that in these cases prevention is better -than cure—drink your beer while it is good, and do not give it an -opportunity of getting sour. An old receipt for preserving small beer -without the help of hops, is to mix a small quantity of treacle with a -handful of wheat and bean flour and a little ginger, to knead the -mixture to a due consistence, and put it into the barrel. “It has been -a common observation,” said an old writer, “that both beer -and ale are <span class="xxpn" id="p064">{64}</span> -apt to be foul, disturbed, and flat in bean season; the same is observed -of wines in the vintage countries. Thunder is also a spoiler of good -malt liquor, to prevent the effects of which, laying a solid piece of iron -on each cask has hitherto been esteemed an effectual prevention of the -above injuries.” In some places, too, an iron pad fitting closely over the -bunghole is used, and in others an iron tray answers the same purpose. -An old receipt book contains the following remarkable directions for -making forty sorts of ale out of one barrel of liquor.</p> - -<p>“Have ale of good body, and when it has worked well bottle it off, -but fill not the bottles within three spoonfuls; then being ripe, as you -use it, fill it up with the syrup of any fruit, root, flower, or herb you -have by you for that purpose, or drop in chimical oyls or waters of -them, or of spices, and with a little shaking the whole mass will be -tinctured and taste pleasantly of what you put in; and so you may -make all sorts of physical ales with little trouble, and no incumbrance, -more healthful and proper than if herbs were soaked in it or drugs, -which in the pleasant entertainment will make your friends wonder how -you came by such variety on a sudden.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Thus much then, of home-brew; the subject is almost inexhaustible -and pleasant withal, but the laws of space are inexorable, and forbid -further tarrying. As Walter de Biblesworth quaintly -<span class="nowrap">remarks:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Ceste matyre cy repose,</span> -<span class="spp00">Parlom ore de autre chose.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p064.png" - width="144" height="46" alt="" /> -</div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p065a.png" width="144" height="53" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p065"> -<span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> IV.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Then long may here the ale-charged Tankards shine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Long may the Hop plant triumph o’er the Vine.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Brasenose College Shrovetide - Poem.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The Hop for his profit I thus do exalt.</span> -<span class="spp00">It strengtheneth drink, and it favoureth Malt;</span> -<span class="spp00">And being well brewed, long kept it will last,</span> -<span class="spp00">And drawing abide—if ye draw not too fast.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Thomas Tusser.</i></span></div></div> -</div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>USE AND IMPORTANCE OF HOPS IN BEER: THEIR -INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY. — HOP-GROWERS’ -TROUBLES. — MEDICINAL QUALITIES. — ECONOMICAL -USES. — HOP-PICKERS.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"><span class="spdropcap"><img -class="idropcap" src="images/p065b.png" width="221" -height="225" alt="T" /></span>HE hops used in beer-brewing -are the female flowers of the hop plant known to botanists -as the <i>Humulus lupulus</i> of Linnæus. At first sight it may -seem strange that hops and wolves should have anything in -common, but it has been explained that the word <i>lupulus</i> -comes from the name by which the Romans called the hop -plant—<i>Lupus Salictarius</i>—the idea being that the hop was -as destructive among the willows (where it grew) as a wolf -among sheep. Though hops are now staple articles of a large -commerce, and largely cultivated in England, America, -Belgium, France, and our colonies, some few hundred years -ago their valuable qualities were little known in this -country.</p> - -<p>How, when, and where the flowers of the hop plant were first -used to give to beer its delicious flavour and keeping -qualities, is not <span class="xxpn" id="p066">{66}</span> -accurately known. Pliny, in his <i>Natural History</i>, states that the -Germans preserved ale with hops, and there is a Rabbinical tradition, -referring to still earlier times, to the effect that the Jews, during their -captivity in Babylon, found the use of hopped ale a protection against -their old enemy, leprosy. In a letter of donations, the great King Pepin -uses the word “Humuloria,” meaning hop gardens. Mesne, an -Arabian physician, who wrote about the year 845, also mentions hops; -and Basil Valentine, an alchemist of the 14th century, specifically refers -to the use of the hop in beer. Dr. Thudichum, in his pamphlet, -<i>Alcoholic Drinks</i>, tells us that in early days of beer production wild -hops only were used, as is the practice at the present day in Styria, but -that in some foreign countries the plant has been largely cultivated for -nearly a thousand years. It is a well-known fact that in the eighth and -ninth centuries, hop gardens, called Humuloria or Humuleta, existed in -France and Germany.</p> - -<p>That the hop was known to the English before the Conquest in -some form or other, is proved by the reference to the hymele, or hop -plant, in the Anglo-Saxon version of the <i>Herbarium</i>, of Apuleius. -Although no trace of the word hymele now remains in our every-day -language, it is found in Danish as “humle,” and is only the English -form of the Latin <i>humulus</i>. The <i>Herbarium</i> just mentioned contains -a remarkable passage with reference to “hymele.” “This wort,” it says, -“is to that degree laudable that men mix it with their usual drinks.” -The usual drinks of the English were undoubtedly malt liquors, and -this passage would go far to show that even in Saxon times the hop was -used in English brewing. Cockayne, the learned editor of <i>Saxon -Leechdoms</i>, is inclined to this opinion, and he instances in confirmation -of it that special mention is made of the hedge-hymele, as though there -existed at that time a cultivated hop from which it had to be -distinguished; he also cites the name Hymel-tun, in Worcestershire -(now Himbleton), which he states is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon deeds, -and which could hardly have signified anything less than hop yard. -The word <i>hopu</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, hops) also occurs in Saxon documents. <i>Ewe-hymele</i> -is mentioned in <i>Saxon Leechdoms</i>, and would probably signify the -female hop. In the year 822 there is a record that the millers of Corbay -were freed by the abbot from all labours relating to hops, and a few -years later hops are mentioned by Ludovicus Germanicus.</p> - -<p>The introduction of hops into England has been generally assigned -to the early part of the sixteenth century. The old but unreliable -distich, <span class="xxpn" id="p067">{67}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Hops, Reformation, bays and beer</span> -<span class="spp00">Came into England all in one year,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn35" id="fnanc35">35</a></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">points to a period subsequent to 1520 as the time when the great -improvement of adding hops to malt liquors was first practised in this -country. This rhyme probably refers to the settling of certain -Flemings in Kent, to be mentioned anon, which no doubt gave a great -impulse to the use of hops; it cannot well refer to their first introduction, -as they were known in England for many years previously -and were used in beer-brewing nearly a century before the Reformation.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"> -<a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc35" id="fn35">35</a> -Two other versions are to be found:</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Hops - and turkeys, carp and beer</span> -<span class="spp00">Came into England all in one year;”</span> -</div></div> - -<div>and</div> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Turkeys, - carps, hops, pickerel, and beer</span> -<span class="spp00">Came into England all in one year.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The couplets also err as to pickerel, which are mentioned in mediæval -glossaries at a date long before the Reformation.</p></div> - -<p>In that curious old work the <i>Promptorium Parvulorum</i> (1440), -which is, in fact, an old English-Latin dictionary, occur some passages -which, when taken in conjunction with the London Records of a slightly -later date, seem to show that the introduction of hops into English -brewing (excepting their possible use in Saxon times) should be assigned -to a period a little before the middle of the fifteenth century.</p> - -<p>The word “hoppe” is defined as “sede for beyre. Humulus -secundum extraneos.” “Bere” is defined as “a drynke. Humulina, -vel humuli potus, aut cervisia hummulina.” The inference to be drawn -from these passages is that hops and beer, in the sense of hopped ale, -were known in England some time previous to the year 1440. The -compiler, however, shows by his definition of “bere” as a “drynke,” -that the word required some explanation, for when he mentions -“ale,” he simply gives the Latin equivalent, “cervisia.” He certainly -regarded beer as an interloper, as shown by his note on ale, “Et nota -bene quod est <i>potus Anglorum</i>.” Four years after the date of the -publication of the Promptorium, William Lounde and Richard Veysey -were appointed inspectors or surveyors of the “bere-bruers” of the City -of London, as distinguished from the ale-brewers who were at this time -a company governed by a master and wardens. Ten -years later an <span class="xxpn" id="p068">{68}</span> -ordinance for the government of the beer-brewers was sanctioned by the -Lord Mayor. From this date the City Records contain frequent -mention of the beer-brewers as distinct from the ale-brewers. However, -beer, “the son of ale,” as an old writer calls it, did not rapidly attain -popularity. Ten years after the date last referred to, the beer-brewers -petitioned the Lord Mayor and “Worshipfull soveraignes the Aldermen” -of the City of London, in these terms:—“To the full honourable -Lord the Maire, etc. Shewen mekely unto youre good Lordshipp and -maistershippes, the goode folke of this famous citee the which usen -Bere-bruyng within the same, that where all mistiers and craftys of the -sd citee have rules and ordenances by youre grete auctoritees for the -common wele of this honourable citee made, and profite of the same -craftys,” but the petitioners have none such rules, and therefore the -citizens are liable to be imposed upon “in measure of barell, kilderkyns -and firkyns, <i>and in hoppes and other greynes</i> the which to the said -mistiere apperteynen. . . . It is surmysed upon them that often -tymes they make their bere of unseasonable malt the which is of little -prise and unholsome for mannes body for their singular availe, forasmuch -as the comon peple <i>for lacke of experience cannot know the -perfitnesse of bere as wele as of the ale</i>,” the petitioners pray that certain -regulations of the trade may be established by authority. Passing over -another period of twenty years, during which the City Records contain -nothing to show whether hops and beer advanced or declined in popularity, -we find that in the first year of Richard III. a petition was -presented to Lord Mayor Billesdon, by the Brewers’ Company, -showing “that whereas by the sotill and crafty means of foreyns<a class="afnanc" href="#fn36" id="fnanc36">36</a> -dwelling withoute the franchises . . . . . a deceivable and -unholsome fete in bruyng of ale within the said citee nowe of late -is founde and practised, that is to say, in occupying and puttyng of -hoppes and other things in the said ale, contrary to the good and holesome -manner of bruynge of ale of old tyme used, . . . to the great -deceite and hurt of the King’s liege people. . . . Pleas it therefore -your saide good lordshyppe to forbid the putting into ale of any hops, -herbs, or any other like thing, but onely licour, malte and yeste.” The -petition is granted and a penalty of 6s. 8d. is laid on every barrel of ale -so brewed contrary to the ancient use. This early use -of the technical <span class="xxpn" id="p069">{69}</span> -term “licour,” or liquor, instead of water is noteworthy. We learn by -a note in the Letter-book that the fine on putting hops into ale was -shortly afterwards reduced to 3s. 4d. the barrel, while any other kind of -adulteration is still to subject the offender to the full fine of 6s. 8d. It -will have been observed that it is not the making of <i>beer</i> which is -forbidden, but the putting of hops into <i>ale</i>, and selling the drink as ale. -There is abundant evidence to show that beer continued to be made and -sold with the sanction of the authorities, and that the beer-brewers, -many of whom at this time were Dutchmen, practised a separate craft -from that of the ale-brewers. Two years after the date of the last -petition a regulation was made that no beer-brewer is to be “affered” -(fined) more than 6s. 8d., nor an ale-brewer more than two shillings, -for breaking the assize. The oath of the ale-searchers contains the -following passage:—“Ye shall swear . . . to search and assay . . . -that the ale be holsom, weell soden and able for mannes body, and -made with none other stuff but only with holsom and clere ale-yest, -watyr and malt, and such as you find unholsom for mannes body or -brewed with any other thing except with watyr and malt, be it with -rosen, <i>hoppes</i>, <i>bere-yest</i>, or any other craft, . . .” you shall duly report -for punishment. In the same year it is recorded that the <i>beer-brewers</i> -were ordered to use “gode clene, sweete, holsom greyne and <i>hoppes</i>,” -and the rulers of the <i>beer-brewers</i> are to have powers of inspection -of hops and other grains.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc36" id="fn36">36</a> -A “foreyn” was one who was not a freeman of the City—no -reference to nationality.</p></div> - -<p>Prosecutions for the use of hops were frequent, but they were for -putting hops into <i>ale</i>, and not for brewing beer. In the twelfth year of -Henry VII., John Barowe was presented by the wardens of the brewers -because he brewed <i>ale</i> with <i>beer-yeast</i>, “<i>quod est corpori humano -insalubre</i>.” Nine years later Robert Dodworth, brewer’s servant, -confessed that he had brewed “a burthen of <i>ale</i> in the house of his -master in Fleet Street with hops, contrary to the laws and laudable acts -and customs of the city.” In the tenth year of Henry VIII., William -Shepherd, brewer’s servant to Philip Cooper, “occupying the feat of -bruing,” made a deposition that he had “once since Michaelmas last -brewed <i>ale</i> with hops, but that his master knew not of it,” but that he -had heard that other servants had brewed with hops, “and that was the -cause why he brewed with hoppes, and more he would not say.” Philip -Cooper, however, was evidently suspected, for in the same records we -find that he was compelled to bring into the Court “a standing cup with -a cover of gylt with three red hearts in the bottom of the cup to stand -to the order of the Court touching the brewing with -hoppes.” On <span class="xxpn" id="p070">{70}</span> -payment of a fine of five shillings, his gage is ordered to be returned to him. -Many other passages could be quoted from the City Records in support -of the view that beer-brewing was not forbidden, but only the adulteration, -as it was considered, of the old English ale with an admixture of -hops. We have dwelt somewhat fully upon this part of the subject, as -there appears to be an almost universal misconception as to the date of -the introduction of hops into England, and as to their use having -been for some time altogether prohibited by the law of the land. -The only authority for this last mentioned idea, seems to be the statement -of Fuller, in his <i>Worthies of England</i>, that hops were forbidden -as the result of a petition which was presented in the time of Henry VI. -against “the wicked weed called hops.” No statute to this effect is in -existence, no record is to be found in the rolls of Parliament of any such -petition, and the statement is in opposition to the evidence we have been -able to collect on the subject.</p> - -<p>About the year 1524 a large number of Flemish immigrants settled -in Kent, cultivated hops and brewed beer, and soon caused that county to -become famous for its hop gardens and the excellence of their produce. -To these strangers is perhaps due the chief credit of having enlightened -the British mind on the subject of bitter beer, and their advent is -probably the event pointed to in the old couplet already quoted.</p> - -<p>Among the numerous officials appointed to enforce the regulations -of the City, were persons called hop-searchers, whose duty it was to -search for defective hops, which, when found were burnt. Wriothesley’s -Chronicle mentions that “on the 10th daie of September, 1551, was -burned in Finsburie Field XXXI sacke and pokettes of hopps in the -afternoune, being nought, and not holsome for man’s bodie, and condemned -by an Act made by my Lord Maior and his bretheren the -aldermen the 10th daie of September, at which court six comeners of -the Cittie of London were apoynted to be serchers for a hole yeare for -the said hopps; and they were sworne the fifth daie of this moneth and -made search ymediatlie for the same.”</p> - -<p>The popular taste is not a thing to be changed in a day, and at that -happy period of history when railways, penny posts, newspapers, stump -orators and other nineteenth-century methods of enlightenment were -unknown and undreamt of, it may well be understood that the knowledge -of this great improvement spread but slowly. Not only were the -English slow to appreciate what the Flemings had done for them, but -they believed that they were like to be poisoned by the new-fangled -drink which was not in their eyes to be compared to -the sweet and <span class="xxpn" id="p071">{71}</span> -thick, but honest and unsophisticated English ale. The writers of the -day are loud in their abuse of beer. In the passages from Andrew Boorde’s -<i>Dyetary</i> (1542), quoted in Chapter I. (p. 6), ale is described as being -the natural drink of Englishmen, and made of malt and water, while -beer, which is composed of malt, hops, and water, is the natural drink -of a Dutchman, and of late is much used in England, to the great -detriment of many Englishmen. There is a truly insular ring about -this. We should like to enlighten old Andrew’s darkness by a draught -of sparkling Burton. Boorde undoubtedly expresses the popular opinion -of the period, for from Rastall’s <i>Book of Entries</i> we learn that an ale-man -brought his action against his Brewer for spoiling his ale, by putting -in it a certain <i>weed</i> called a <i>hopp</i>, and recovered damages. Even Harry -the Eighth, who of all our kings was the greatest lover of good things—and -a few bad ones—was blind to the merits of the hop, and enjoined -the Royal brewer of Eltham that he put neither hops nor brimstone into -the ale. Possibly sulphuring, of which a word or two anon, was then -in use; we cannot otherwise account for the mention of brimstone. -This was in 1530, only six years after the Flemings had settled in -Kent.</p> - -<p>Abused by medical writers as drink only fit for Dutchmen, objected -to by the king, and disliked by the majority of the people, the song-writers -of the day, of course, had a good deal to say against the new -drink. In the <i>High and Mightie Commendation of the Virtue of a Pot -of Good Ale</i>, it is hardly surprising to find the following -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And in very deed, the hops but a weed</span> -<span class="spp01">Brought over ’gainst law, and here set to sale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Would the law were removed, and no more Beer brewed,</span> -<span class="spp01">But all good men betake them to a pot of good ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> - <span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But to speak of killing, that am I not willing,</span> -<span class="spp01">For that in a manner were but to rail,</span> -<span class="spp00">But Beer hath its name ’cause it brings to the Bier,</span> -<span class="spp01">Therefore well fare, say I, to a pot of good ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Too many, I wis, with their deaths proved this,</span> -<span class="spp01">And therefore (if ancient records do not fail)</span> -<span class="spp00">He that first brewed the hop, was rewarded with a rope,</span> -<span class="spp01">And found his Beer far more bitter than Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p072">{72}</span></div> - -<p>The ale-wives and brewers, however, were wiser than their customers, -and, induced also by the fact that their hopped ale went not -sour as of yore, stuck to their colours—nailed to a hop pole no doubt—and -slowly but surely educated the taste of the people. It was, however, -a long process.</p> - -<p>Henry, in his <i>History of England</i>, vol. 6, referring to the Scottish -diet about the end of the sixteenth century, -<span class="nowrap">writes:―</span></p> - -<p>“<i>Ale</i> and gascony wines were the principal liquors; but mead, -cyder, and perry were not uncommon. Hops were still scarce, and -seldom employed in <i>Ale</i>, which was brewed therefore in small quantities, -to be drunk while new. At the King’s table <i>Ale</i> was prohibited as -unfit for use till <i>five days old</i>.”</p> - -<p>From a whimsical old book, entitled <i>Wine, Beer, Ale, and Tobacco, -a dialogue</i>, in which the two leading malt liquors of the day (1630) -converse, and give their own views on the subject, it appears that even -as late as the seventeenth century beer was little known in country -districts, though popular in London.</p> - -<p>Beer is introduced making a pun on his own name; he says to -Wine, “Beere leave, sir.” The chief points in Ale’s argument, which -is better than that of any of the others, are contained in the following -passage:—“You, Wine and Beer, are fain to take up a corner anywhere—your -ambition goes no farther than a cellar; the whole house where -I am goes by my name, and is called Ale-house. Who ever heard of a -Wine-house, or a Beer-house? My name, too, is, of a stately etymology—you -must bring forth your latin. Ale, so please you, from alo, which -signifieth nourish—I am the choicest and most luscious of potations.” -Wine, Beer, and Ale at last compose their differences, each having a -certain dominion assigned to him, and join in singing these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Wine.—I, generous Wine am for the court.</span> -<span class="spp00">Beer.—The citie call for Beere.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale.—But Ale, bonnie Ale, like a lord of the soile.</span> -<span class="sppctr">In the country shall domineere.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Chorus.—Then let us be merry, wash sorry away,</span> -<span class="sppctr">Wine, Beer and Ale shall be drunk this day.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In the end Tobacco appears—He arrogates an equality -with Wine—“You and I both come out of a pipe.” The reply -is, “Prithee go smoke elsewhere.” “Don’t incense me, -don’t inflame Tobacco,” he retorts; but is told, “No -one fears your puffing—turn over a new <i>leaf</i>, Tobacco, -most high and mighty Trinidado.” <span class="xxpn" -id="p073">{73}</span></p> - -<p>In an old play printed a few years later (1659) it is indicated that -ale was still generally made without -<span class="nowrap">hops:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Ale is immortal:</span> -<span class="spp01">And, be there no stops</span> -<span class="spp00">In bonny lads quaffing,</span> -<span class="spp01">Can live without hops.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>If Defoe’s statement on the subject, in his <i>Tour Through Great -Britain</i>, is correct, it must, indeed, have been many years before the -use of hops made any headway in the northern portions of the kingdom. -“As to the North of England,” he writes, “they formerly used but few -Hops there, their Drink being chiefly pale smooth ale, which required -no hops; and consequently they planted no hops in all that part of -England North of Trent. . . . But as for some years past, they not -only brew great quantities of Beer in the North, but also use hops in -the brewing of their ale, much more than they did before, so they all -come south of Trent to buy their hops.”</p> - -<p>In the reign of Edward VI., by the Statute 5 and 6 Ed. VI. c. 5 -(repealed 5 Eliz. c. 2), it was enacted that all land formerly in tillage -should again be cultivated, excepting “land set with saffron or -hops.” This is, we believe, the first mention of hops in the Statute -book. The next Act on the subject was one passed in 1603, by which -regulations were made for the curing of hops, which process had thenceforward -to be carried out under the inspection of the officers of excise. -From a petition presented by the Brewers’ Company to Lord Burleigh, -a few years previously (1591), we learn that the price of hops was then -£3 16s. 8d. to £4 10s. 6d. per cwt., instead of 6s. 8d. as formerly, and -was, the Brewers said, in quality well worth three hundredweight of -those sold at that time. Hops were evidently coming into favour. We -gather from an old receipt that about the end of the century, Beer was -made with “40 lbs. of hoppeys to 40 qrs. of grain.”</p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p074a.png" width="609" height="398" alt=" - A Perfite Platform of a Hoppe Garden. | - - Of ramming of Poales. | - - “Then with a peece of woode as bigge belowe as the great - ende of one of youre Poales, ramme the earth that lieth at - the outsyde of the Poale.”" /> - -<img src="images/p074b.png" width="609" height="333" alt=" - Cutting Hoppe Rootes. | - - “When you pull downe your hylles . . . you - should undermine them round about.”" /> - -<img src="images/p074c.png" width="609" height="377" alt=" - Of Tying of Hoppes to the Poales. | - - “When your hoppes are growne about one or two foote high, - bynde up (with a rushe or grasse) such as decline from the - Poales, wynding them as often about the same Poales as you - can, and directing them alwayes according to the course of - the Sunne.”" /></div></div><!--dfullpgimg--> - -<p>About the earliest English work on the culture of hops is an old -black-letter pamphlet published in 1574 “at the Signe of the Starre, in -Paternoster Rowe.” It is entitled, “<i>A Perfite Platforme of a Hoppe -Garden</i>, and necessarie instructions for the making and mayntenance -thereof, with notes and rules for reformation of all abuses, commonly -practised therein, very necessary and expedient for all men to have, -which in any wise have to doe with hops.” The author was one -Reynolde Scot, and the little volume is adorned with quaint illustrations, -and tastefully designed initial letters. The work -is dedicated to <span class="xxpn" id="p075">{75}</span> -“Willyam Lovelace Esquire, Sergeaunt at the Lawe,” whom the author -desires to accompany him in a consideration of “a matter of profite, or -rather with a poynt of good Husbandrie, (in aparance base and -tedious, but in use necessarie and commodious, and in effect pleasant -and profitable) (that is to saye) to look downe into the bowels of your -grounde, and to seeke about your house at Beddersden (which I see you -desire to garnish with many costly commodities) for a convenient plot -to be applyed to a Hoppe Garden, to the furtherance and accomplishing -whereof, I promyse and assure you, the labour of my handes, the -assistance of my advise, and the effect of myne experience.”</p> - -<p>This little work is recommended to the reader (the recommendation -covers four pages) more particularly “as a recompence to the -labourer, as a commoditie to the house-keeper, as a comfort to the -poor, and as a benefite to the Countrie or Commonwealth, adding -thus much hereunto, that there cannot lightly be employed grounde to -more profitable use, nor labour to more certain gaynes; howbeit, -with this note, that no mysterie is so perfect, no floure so sweete, -no scripture so holy, but by abuse a corrupt body, ascending to his -venomous nature, may draw poyson out of the same, and therefore -blame not this poore trade for that it maketh men riche in yielding -double profite.” The author goes on to say that it grieves him to see how -“the Flemings envie our practise herein” and declare English hops to -be bad, so that they may send the more into England. From this it -would seem clear that at all events foreign hops were extensively used -in English beer at that date, and English hop gardens by no means -common. Scot, who must have been a man of common sense, gives -good advice to intending hop growers. They are to consider three things: -“First, whether you have, or can procure unto yourself, any grounde -good for that purpose” (<i>i.e.</i>, the cultivation of hops). “Secondly, of the -convenient standing thereof. Thirdly, of the quantitie. And this I -saye by the way, if the grounde you deale withall, be not your own -enheritance, procure unto your selfe some certayne terme therein, least -another man reape the fruite of your traveyle and charge.”</p> - -<p>From the epilogue, which concludes with a tremendous denunciation -of those who allow strangers from beyond the seas to bring into the -country that which we ought to grow ourselves, we cull the following -quaint passage:</p> - -<p>“There will some smell out the profitable savour of this herbe, -some wyll gather the fruit thereof, some will make a sallet therewith -(which is good in one respect for the bellye, and in -another for the <span class="xxpn" id="p076">{76}</span> -Purse), and when the grace and sweetenesse hereof conceived, some will -dippe their fingers therein up to the knuckles, and some will be glad to -licke the Dishe, and they that disdayne to be partakers hereof, commonly -prove to be such as have mountaynes in fantasie, and beggary in -possession.”</p> - -<p>Reynolde Scot’s pamphlet is most complete in the directions it gives -concerning hop-growing, and, strange to say, the system of cultivation -seems little changed since then. The author levels the following -remarks at the heads of those who might, yet will not, grow hops:— -“Methinks I might aptlye compare such men as have grounde fitte for -this purpose, and will not employ it accordingly, to ale-house knightes, -partly for the small devotion which both the one and the other have -unto Hoppes, but especially for that many of these ale knights havyng -good drinke at home of their owne, can be content to drinke moore -abroade at an ale-house, so they may sit close by it. Let them -expounde this comparison that buy their hoppes at Poppering, and may -have them at home with more ease, and lesse charge.”</p> - -<p>Honest old Thomas Tusser, in his “<i>Five Hundred Points of Good -Husbandry</i>” (1580), has a good deal to say about hops. He gives a -charmingly quaint but very practical “lesson where and when to plant -a good hop-yard.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Whom fancy persuadeth among other cropps</span> -<span class="spp00">To have for his spending, sufficient of hopps,</span> -<span class="spp00">Must willingly follow, of choyses to chuse;</span> -<span class="spp00">Such lessons approved, as skilful do use.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ground gravely, sandly, and mixed with clay</span> -<span class="spp00">Is naughty for hops, any maner of way,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or if it be mingled with rubbish and stone,</span> -<span class="spp00">For drienes and barrennes, let it alone.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Chuse soile for the hop of the rottenest mould</span> -<span class="spp00">Well donged and wrought as a garden plot should,</span> -<span class="spp00">Not far from the water (but not overflowne)</span> -<span class="spp00">This lesson well noted is meete to be knowne.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Sunne in the South, or els southly by west,</span> -<span class="spp00">Is joye to the hop as a welcomed gest,</span> -<span class="spp00">But wind in the North, or els northely and east,</span> -<span class="spp00">To hop is as ill as fray in a feast. - <span class="xxpn" id="p077">{77}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Meete plot for a hopyard, once found as is told,</span> -<span class="spp00">Make thereof accompt, as of jewell of gold,</span> -<span class="spp00">Now dig it, and leave it the sunne for to burne,</span> -<span class="spp00">And afterwards fence it to serve for that turn.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Among the directions for good husbandry for the various months, -Tusser advises -<span class="nowrap">that―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In March at the furdest, drye season or wet,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hope rootes so well chosen, let skilful go set,</span> -<span class="spp00">The goeler<a class="afnanc" href="#fn37" id="fnanc37">37</a> -and younger, the better I love</span> -<span class="spp00">Wel gutted<a class="afnanc" href="#fn38" id="fnanc38">38</a> -and pared, the better they prove.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some layeth them crosewise, along in the ground,</span> -<span class="spp00">As high as the knee, they do come up round.</span> -<span class="spp00">Some pricke up a sticke, in the midds of the same:</span> -<span class="spp00">That little round hillocke, the better to frame!</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some maketh a hollownes, halfe a foote deepe,</span> -<span class="spp00">With fower sets in it, set slant wise a steepe</span> -<span class="spp00">One foote from another, in order to lye,</span> -<span class="spp00">And thereon a hillock, as round as a pye.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> - <span class="sppctr"> - <img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">By willows that groweth, thy hopyard without,</span> -<span class="spp00">And also by hedges, thy meadowes about,</span> -<span class="spp00">Good hop hath a pleasure, to climbe and to spread:</span> -<span class="spp00">If sonne may have passage to comfort her hed.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc37" id="fn37">37</a> -goeler = goodlier.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc38" id="fn38">38</a> -gutted = taken off from the old roots.</p></div> - -<p>The process of setting the hop-poles is thus -<span class="nowrap">described:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Get into thy hopyard with plentie of poles,</span> -<span class="spp00">Amongst those same hillocks deuide them by doles,</span> -<span class="spp00">Three poles to a hillock (I pas not how long)</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall yield thee more profit, set deeplie and strong.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Care must be taken to weed and to fence the hop -<span class="nowrap">garden:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Grasse, thistle and mustard seede, hemlock and bur,</span> -<span class="spp00">Tine, mallow and nettle, that keepe such a stur,</span> -<span class="spp00">With peacock and turkie, that nibbles off top,</span> -<span class="spp00">Are verie ill neighbors to seelie poore hop.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> - <span class="sppctr"> - <img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /> - <span class="xxpn" id="p078">{78}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">If hops do looke brownish, then are ye to slow,</span> -<span class="spp00">If longer ye suffer, those hops for to growe.</span> -<span class="spp00">Now, sooner ye gather, more profite is found,</span> -<span class="spp00">If weather be faier, and deaw of ye ground.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Not break of, but cut of, from hop the hop string,</span> -<span class="spp00">Leave growing a little, again for to spring.</span> -<span class="spp00">Whos hil about pared, and therewith new clad,</span> -<span class="spp00">That nurrish more sets, against March to be had.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hop hillock discharged, of every set</span> -<span class="spp00">See then without breaking, ecche poll ye out get,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which being betangled, above in the tops:</span> -<span class="spp00">Go carry to such, as are plucking of hops.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>We have quoted rather largely from Tusser’s poem, thinking that it -may interest hop-growers of the present day.</p> - -<p>Reynolde Scot’s appeal was not in vain, for in 1608 there is no doubt -that hop plantations were fairly abundant, though the plant was not -sufficiently cultivated for home consumption. In that year an Act was -passed against the importation of spoilt hops. Until 1690, however, the -greater part of supply was drawn from abroad, and then, to encourage -home production, a duty of twenty shillings per cwt. over and above all -other charges, was put upon those imported. Walter Blith, writing in -1643, speaks of hops as a “national commoditie.” In 1710, the duty of -a penny per lb. was imposed upon all hops reared in England, and -threepence on foreign hops. In subsequent years slight variations were -made in the amount of the duty, and finally it was abolished, when hop-grounds -at once began to increase.</p> - -<p>When the duty was high, and hops scarce, substitutes for <i>Humulus -lupulus</i> were experimented with, among others, pine and willow bark, -cascarilla bark, quassia, gentian, colocynth, walnut leaf, wormwood -bitter, extract of aloes, cocculus indicus berries, capsicum, and others too -numerous to mention, picric acid being perhaps the most modern. -None of these have been found to be an equivalent for the hop, lacking -its distinct and independent elements of activity.</p> - -<p>So far we have treated solely of the somewhat chequered history -of the hop. Let us now consider its merits and uses. Thus sang -the -<span class="nowrap">poet:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Lo! on auxiliary Poles, the Hops</span> -<span class="spp00">Ascending spiral, rang’d in meet array: - <span class="xxpn" id="p080">{80}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Lo! how the arable with Barley-Grain</span> -<span class="spp00">Stands thick, o’er-shadow’d to the thirsty hind</span> -<span class="spp00">Transporting - <span class="nowrap">prospect!—<i>These,———</i></span></span> -<span class="spp00"><i>————infus’d an auburn Drink compose</i></span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Wholesome of Deathless Fame.</i></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p079a.png" width="606" height="549" alt=" -A Perfite Platform of a Hoppe Garden. | - -Training the Hoppe. | - -“It shall not be amisse nowe and then to passe through your -Garden, having in eche Hande a forked wande, directyng -aright such Hoppes as decline from the Poales.”" /></div> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p079b.png" width="606" height="474" alt=" -Gathering the Hoppe. | - -“Cutte them” (the hop stalkes) “a sunder wyth a sharpe -hooke, and wyth a forked staffe take them from the -Poales.”" /></div></div> - -<p>But from poets we do not, as a rule, gather much practical information, -except from such as worthy old Tusser. Harrison, in his -description of England, says: “The continuance of the drinke is alwaie -determined after the quantitie of the hops, so that being well hopped it -lasteth longer.” A modern writer puts it thus: “The principal use of -hops in brewing is for the preservation of malt liquor, and to communicate -to it an agreeably aromatic bitter flavour. The best are used for -ale and the finer kinds of malt liquor, and inferior kinds are used for -porter.”</p> - -<p>“Brew in October and hop it for long keeping,” was the excellent -advice given by Mortimer. Dr. Luke Booker, in his sequel poem to -the Hop Garden, of course devotes some lines to this -<span class="nowrap">subject:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hop’s potent essence, Ale.——bring hither, Boy!</span> -<span class="spp00">That smiling goblet, from the cask just brimmed</span> -<span class="spp00">Where floats a pearly star. By it inspired,</span> -<span class="spp00">No purple wine—no Muse’s aid I ask,</span> -<span class="spp00">To nerve my lines and bid them smoothly flow.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">And in another -<span class="nowrap">place:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp07">Then whencesoever the Hop,</span> -<span class="spp00">That flavouring zest and spirit to my cask</span> -<span class="spp00">Imparts, preservative—a needless truth</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twere to reveal. There are, whose accurate taste</span> -<span class="spp00">Will tell the region where it mantling grew.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>In relation to his allusion to a “pearly star,” Dr. Booker tells us -that, “When ale is of sufficient strength and freshness, there will always -float a small cluster of minute pearl-like globules in the centre of the -drinking vessel, till the spirit of the liquor is evaporated.”</p> - -<p>Hops are an essential to the brewer, not only keeping the beer and -giving it an exquisite flavour, but also assisting, if we may be pardoned -for using a technical term in a work intended to be anything but -technical, to break down the fermentation.</p> - -<p>Hops are valuable according as they contain much or little of a -yellow powder called lupuline, and technically known as “condition,” -which is deposited in minute yellow adhesive -globules underneath the <span class="xxpn" id="p081">{81}</span> -bracts of the flower tops, and amounts to from 20 per cent. to 30 per -cent. of the dry hops. This powder has a powerful aromatic smell, and -is bitter to the taste. It contains hop resin, bitter acid of hops (flavour -familiar to bitter beer drinkers), tannic acid, and hop oils, the chemical -composition of which is not accurately known. Hops contain most -lupuline when the flower is fully matured. Year-old hops only -command about half the price of new. Those two years old are called -“old-olds,” and are still less valuable. After having been five years in -store they are worthless to brewers. Nearly all hops intended to be -kept are more or less (the less the better) subjected to the fumes of -sulphur, which, oxidising the essential oil, converts it into valerianic -acid, and combines with the sulphur to form a solid body. Thus the -oil, which would otherwise be the cause of mould, is destroyed, and -the hops can be kept. We believe it is the practice of the best -brewers to use a mixture of new and old hops, the latter being -slightly sulphured, so slightly, indeed, that the smell of the sulphur -cannot be detected.</p> - -<p>Much has been written on the injurious effects of sulphuring, both -to the fermentation and the health of beer-drinkers, and some people -have very strong views on the subject. In 1855 a commission, which -included Liebig among its members, was appointed by the Bavarian -Government to inquire into the matter. After experiments which -lasted over a period of two years, a report was issued in which it was -stated that in the opinion of the commissioners, sulphuring was beneficial -to the hops, and in no way prejudicial to the fermentation. In -1877, a method was made known of preserving hops without sulphur. -The oil which prevents the hops from keeping was separated from them -by a chemical process, and bottled. The hops were then pressed and -kept in the usual way. When required for brewing, the hops and oil -could again be united by adding ten or twelve drops of the latter to -every twenty-two gallons of beer. This system does not seem to have -found favour with hop merchants.</p> - -<p>Aloes have occasionally been used to restore decayed hops, though -with such poor success that we should hardly think the experiment -was often repeated. Professor Bradly, a Cambridge professor of -botany, wrote as follows:—“I cannot help taking notice here of a -method which has been used to stale and decayed hops, to make them -recover their bitterness, which is to unbag them, and sprinkle them -with aloes and water, which, I have known, has spoiled great quantities -of drink about London; for even where the water, the -malt, the brewer, <span class="xxpn" id="p082">{82}</span> -and the cellars are each good, a bad hop will spoil all: so that every -one of these particulars should be well chosen before brewing, or else -we must expect a bad account of our labour.”</p> - -<p>The age of hops is known by their appearance, odour, and feel. New -unsulphured hops, for instance, when rubbed through the hand feel oily. -In their first year they are of a bright green colour, have an aromatic -smell and the lupuline is a bright yellow. In the second year they get -darker, have a slightly cheesy odour, and the lupuline becomes a golden -yellow. In the third year the lupuline is a dark yellow, the smell being -about the same as in the second year.</p> - -<p>In the hedges about Canton is found a variety of hop growing wild. -It has been named the <i>Humulus Japonicus</i>. “Although this species,” -says Seemann, in his <i>Botany of the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald</i>, “was -published many years ago by Von Siebold and Zuccarini, we still find -nearly all our systematic works asserting that there is only <i>one</i> -species of Humulus, as there seems to be only one species of Cannabis. -This, however, is a very good species, at once distinguished from the -common Hop by the entire absence of those resinous spherical glands, -with which the scales of the imbricated heads of the latter are scattered, -and to which they owe their value in the preparation of beer, making -the substitution of the one for the other for economical purposes an -impossibility.”</p> - -<p>So much then for the first and principal use of hops—and yet a few -lines more on the same subject; from Christopher Smart’s poem of the -<span class="nowrap"><i>Hop Garden</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp17">Be it so.</span> -<span class="spp00">But Ceres, rural Goddess, at the best</span> -<span class="spp00">Meanly supports her vot’ry, enough for her</span> -<span class="spp00">If ill-persuading hunger she repell,</span> -<span class="spp00">And keep the soul from fainting: to enlarge,</span> -<span class="spp00">To glad the heart, to sublimate the mind</span> -<span class="spp00">And wing the flagging spirits to the sky,</span> -<span class="spp00">Require the united influence and aid</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Bacchus, God of Hops, with Ceres joined,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis he shall generate the buxom beer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>But hops have other uses than the generation of “the buxom beer.” -The discovery, which we consider an important one, was made a few -years back that hop-bine makes excellent ensilage. -The subject was <span class="xxpn" id="p083">{83}</span> -first mentioned, so far as we know, in a letter to <i>The Field</i> of December -6th, 1884, from A. L., probably, agent to H. A. Brassey, Esq., of -Aylesford. The writer gave an account of the opening of a silo, in one -compartment of which had been placed eight tons of hop-bines, in the -beginning of the previous September. An account of the experiment -was also sent by a visitor at the farm, from whose letter the following -extract seems to us well worth perusal:—“The hop-bine is at present an -entirely waste material, except for littering purposes; and not a few of -the local farmers were anxious to see how it would turn out, and -whether stock would eat the hop-bine ensilage or not. No experiment -could be more satisfactory. The apparent condition and smell of a -great deal of it was even superior to that of several of the other -varieties; and when a bag of it was taken to the homestead and offered -to some fattening steers, which had been well fed just before, and were -not in the least hungry, they devoured it with great alacrity, and -seemed heartily to enjoy the new food; consequently this will be good -news to hop-growers.”</p> - -<p>Early in ’85, the following important letter on the subject appeared -in the <i>Kentish Gazette</i>, from Mr. T. M. Hopkins, Lower Wick, -<span class="nowrap">Worcester:―</span></p> - -<p>“Having learnt from Mr. Seymour, agent to H. A. Brassey, Esq., that -hop-bine made first-rate ensilage, last Oct. I made two stacks of it 16ft. -by 16ft., and 18ft. high. After letting it ferment freely, I pressed down -with Reynolds and Co.’s patent screw press, and next day filled up -again; and, when sufficiently fermented, again pressed down, and this -lasted all through the hop-picking. I have now used nearly the whole -of it, and calculate that it has saved me some 80 tons of hay; no more -hop-bine do I waste in future as I have hitherto done. My horses have -had nothing else for two months, excepting their usual allowance of -corn, and I never had them looking better. I have also had 100 head -of cattle, stores, cows, and calves feeding on it for a fortnight, and they -do well. Dr. Voelcker, chemist to the R.A.S.E., who has analysed it, -says: ‘It has plenty of good material in it, and is decidedly rich in -nitrogen, nor is the amount of acid excessive or likely to harm cattle.’ -Another analyst, Mr. W. E. Porter, F.C.S., says: ‘It contains more -flesh-forming matter and less indigestible fibre than hay dried at 212.’ -Planters should leave off growing hops to sell at present average prices, -40s. to 50s., which is a dead loss. Let the plant run wild, and they -may every season cut two or three immense crops of material that will -make ensilage -of unexceptionable quality.” <span class="xxpn" id="p084">{84}</span></p> - -<p>To this there is little we can add.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn39" id="fnanc39">39</a> -The importance of the subject is -evident. We may, however, express a hope that hop-growers will not -act on Mr. Hopkins’ suggestion, and only grow hops for the sake of the -bine—English hops are too good for that. We have spoken of hop-bine -ensilage as a discovery, but French farmers have for years mixed -green hop-leaves with their cows’ food, under the belief, rightly or -wrongly we know not, that it increases the flow of milk. Possibly in -the far past hops were cultivated as fodder, and even used as ensilage. -Silos we know were used anciently, though only recently re-introduced -owing principally to the attention called to them in <i>The Field</i> and the -agricultural journals.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc39" id="fn39">39</a> -In a letter with which we have recently been favoured by Mr. -Hopkins, that gentleman says: “I have every reason to believe in the -great value of Hop-Bine Ensilage . . . milking-cows do well with -it, and it does not affect the flavour of the milk.”</p></div> - -<p>The stem of the hop contains a vegetable wax, and sap from which -can be made a durable reddish brown. Its ash is used in the manufacture -of Bohemian glass; and it also makes excellent pulp for paper. -From its fibres ropes and coarse textile fabrics of considerable strength -have been made. The Van de Schelldon process of cloth-making from -the stem of the hop, invented, we believe, in 1866, is shortly as follows: -The stalks are cut, done up in bundles, and steeped like hemp. After -steeping they are dried in the sun. They are then beaten with mallets -to loosen the fibres, which are afterwards carded and woven in the usual -way. It is from the thicker stems that ropes can be made.</p> - -<p>Several patents have been taken out for manufacturing paper from -hops. One taken out by a Mr. Henry Dyer was for paper made of -fresh or spent hops, or spent malt, alone or combined with other -materials. In 1873 a meeting of paper-makers was held in France, -before whom was exhibited a textile material made from the bark of -the hop-stalk, the outer skin being removed and subjected to chemical -treatment. It was in long pieces, and supple and delicate of texture.</p> - -<p>About ten years ago it was announced, in a journal devoted to -photography, that an infusion of hops, mixed with pyrogallic acid, -albumen of eggs, and filtered in the ordinary way, could be used as a -preservative for the plates then in use by photographers. Plates preserved -with this, dried hard with a fine gloss, and yielded negatives of -very high quality. A mixture of beer and albumen -was formerly used <span class="xxpn" id="p085">{85}</span> -for the same purpose, but owing to the varying quality and properties -of the beer, was very uncertain in its action.</p> - -<p>The root of the hop is not without its uses, containing starchy -substances which can be made into glucose and alcohol. It also contains -a certain amount of tannin, which, it has been suggested, might be -used with advantage in tanneries.</p> - -<p>Until recently trumpeted forth in the advertisements of a certain -patent medicine, it was not generally known outside the medical profession -that hops possessed medicinal qualities of considerable value. Old -medical writers, however, must have changed their views on the subject -within a hundred years after the time of Andrew Boorde, from whose -works we have already quoted a few lines. Wm. Coles, Herbalist, in -his <i>History of Plants</i>, published in 1657, states that certain preparations -of hops are cures for about half the ills that flesh is heir to. -Another old writer declares the young shoots of the hop, eaten like -asparagus, to be very wholesome and effectual to loosen the body (the -poorer classes in some parts of Europe still eat the young hops as a -vegetable); the head and tendrils good to purify the blood in the scurvy -and most other cutaneous diseases (which scurvy is not), and the -decoctions of the flower and syrup thereof useful against pestilential -fevers. Juleps and apozems are also prepared with hops for hypochondriacal -and hysterical affections; and a pillow stuffed with hops is used -to induce sleep. This last method, by the way, was taken advantage of -by the medical advisers of George III. That unfortunate king, when in -a demented condition, always slept on a pillow so prepared. Another -writer tells us that the Spaniards were in the habit of boiling a pound of -hop roots in a gallon of water, reducing it to six pints, and drinking -half a pint when in bed of a morning, under the belief that it possessed -the same qualities as sarsaparilla. Dr. Brooks, in his <i>Dispensatory</i>, -published in 1753, concurs with the older writers on the subject.</p> - -<p><i>Observations and Experiments on the Humulus Lupulus of -Linnæus, with an account of its use in Gout and other Diseases</i>, -is the title of a pamphlet by a Mr. Freake, of Tottenham Court Road, -published in 1806. The author states that a patient of his, who was in -want of a bitter tincture, found all the usual remedies disagree with -him, and after numerous unsatisfactory experiments, fell back upon a -preparation of hops, which appeared to answer its purpose. This led -Mr. Freake to try further experiments with the hop, when he came to -the conclusion that it was an excellent remedy for relieving the pains of -gout, acting sometimes when opium failed. <span class="xxpn" id="p086">{86}</span></p> - -<p>Hops have also been employed with good effect in poultices. Dr. -Trotter, in one of his medical works, quotes a letter from an assistant of -Dr. Geach, once senior surgeon of the Royal Hospital at Plymouth, in -which the writer says that he had during six months experimented with -hops, and found that a poultice made of a strong decoction of hops, oatmeal, -and water was an excellent remedy for ulcers, which should first -be fomented with the decoction.</p> - -<p>Dr. Paris, writing of the hop about the year 1820, says, “It is now -generally admitted that they constitute the most valuable ingredient in -malt liquors. Independently of the flavour and tonic virtues which they -communicate, they precipitate, by means of their astringent principle, -the vegetable mucilage, and thus remove from the beer the active principle -of its fermentation; without hops, therefore, we must either drink -our malt liquors new and ropy, or old and sour.”</p> - -<p>In the introduction to Murray’s <i>Handbook of Kent</i> it is stated that -invalids are occasionally recommended to pass whole days in hop -grounds as a substitute for the usual exhibition of Bass or Allsopp. In -hop gardens the air is no doubt impregnated with lupuline, so there -may be something in this.</p> - -<p>At the present day lupuline is often used in medicine. Lupuline -was the name given by Ives to the yellow dust covering the female -flower of hops. Later, Ives, Chevallier, and Pellatau gave that name, -not to the dust, but to the bitter principle it contains. The recognized -preparations of hops are an infusion, a tincture, and an extract. They -are stomachic, tonic, and soporific. Dr. John Gardner, in one of his -works on medicine, says that “bitter ale, or the lupuline in pills which -it forms by simply rubbing between the fingers and warming, are the -best forms for using hops in dyspepsia and feeble appetite, which they -will often relieve.” The lupuline powder is easily separated from the -hops by means of a sieve. A hop bath to relieve pain is also recommended -by Dr. Gardner for certain painful internal diseases. It is made -thus: two pounds of hops are boiled in two gallons of water for half an -hour, then strained and pressed, and the fluid added to about thirty -gallons of water. This bath has been much praised. Hop beer (without -alcohol) is another preparation of the plant which has been recommended.</p> - -<p>In America the hop is highly appreciated for medicinal purposes. -There are three preparations of it in the authorized code: a tincture, -a liquid extract, and an oleo-resin.</p> - -<p>So much, then, for the history and economic and -medicinal uses of <span class="xxpn" id="p087">{87}</span> -the hop. Before we close this chapter it is our intention to give a short -account of the hop-growing countries and districts, of hopfields, of hop-growers’ -multifarious troubles, and some description of what are perhaps -the greatest curiosities of the subject—the hop-pickers.</p> - -<p>The European hop-growing countries stand in the following order: -Germany takes the lead with about 477,000 acres of hop gardens, -England following, and then Belgium, Austria, France, and other states -(Denmark, Greece, Portugal, &c.), in which the acreage is insignificant. -According to Dr. Thudichum, 53,000,000 kilogrammes of hops are -produced annually in Europe, and in good years production may rise to -over 80,000,000. In America hops have been cultivated for more than -two centuries, having been introduced into the New Netherlands in 1629 -and into Virginia in 1648. Hop-culture is now common in most of the -northern states.</p> - -<p>We believe we are correct in saying that the best hop years America -has ever known, were 1866 to 1868, when the amount produced was from -2,400 lbs. to 2,500 lbs. per acre. In 1870 the total production was -25,456,669 lbs. In Australia hops are extensively cultivated; they are -also grown in China and India. In the latter place they have not been -introduced many years, but beer of a fair quality is made in some of -the hill stations. The following table shows approximately the acreage -of hops in England at the present time:</p> - -<div class="dtablebox"><div class="nowrap"> -<table summary=""> -<tr> - <th>District.</th> - <th>Acreage.</th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Mid Kent</td> - <td class="tdright">17,150</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Weald of Kent</td> - <td class="tdright">12,601</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">East Kent</td> - <td class="tdright">11,885</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Sussex</td> - <td class="tdright">9,501</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Hereford</td> - <td class="tdright">6,087</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Hampshire</td> - <td class="tdright">2,938</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Worcester</td> - <td class="tdright">2,767</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Surrey</td> - <td class="tdright">2,439</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Other Counties</td> - <td class="tdright">251</td></tr> -</table></div> -</div><!--dtablebox--> - -<p class="pcontinue">From the eastern limits of the hop -gardens at Sandwich to the western boundary in Hereford, -hard by the borders of Wales, there are, then, about 65,619 -acres of hop gardens, or hop “yards,” as they are called in -some districts, <i>e.g.</i>, Worcester and Hereford. North Cray, -in Nottinghamshire, formerly grew a good quantity of hops, -but the plantations are now considerably reduced, and this -applies also to the Stowmarket district, in Suffolk, and to -Essex. The number of acres devoted to the cultivation of -hops has always been subject to great <span class="xxpn" -id="p088">{88}</span> fluctuations; thus in 1807 they -numbered 38,218; in 1819, 51,000; in 1830, 46,727; and in -1875, 70,000.</p> - -<p>Dr. Booker wrote that for quality of hops, Herefordshire stood first -Worcestershire second, Kent third, and North Cray fourth; but he was -probably mistaken, for the hops of East Kent have always been held to -be the best in all England, pre-eminent alike for strength and flavour; -those of Farnham, however, run them very closely. Our English -hops, indeed, are far superior to most of those imported, and the -foreigners are rarely used in beer without an admixture of home-grown -hops. Immense quantities now come from abroad; in 1828 only 4 cwt. -were imported!</p> - -<p>Until quite recently, the whole of the hops in this country were -poled upon much the same system as that described in Reynolde Scot’s -old pamphlet—that is, three or four plants would be grown on a hillock, -each having a pole to climb. Now, the poles are largely supplemented -by wires arranged in various ways, sometimes, when covered with bine, -forming bell-tents of hops; and sometimes running from pole to pole. -Other wires leaving them at right angles are attached to pegs in the -ground. The aspect of the gardens is greatly changed, but they are not -less beautiful than of yore. Train the hop as you will, you cannot -make it unlovely. The vines twist lovingly round the slender wires and -tall poles, the former bending under their weight and swaying to and -fro in the breeze. From pole to pole run the topmost shoots, and the -whole field is one large arbour, roofed, if it be autumn, with verdant -foliage and golden green fruit. Then, may be, the sunlight here and -there touches the glorious clusters, giving them still richer colours. -“The hop for his profit I thus do exalt,” wrote old Tusser, “and for -his grace and beauty,” he might have added, but the worthy Thomas -was nothing if not practical. Howitt, in his <i>Year Book of the Country</i> -thus writes of the hop country in autumn: “But all is not sombre and -meditative in September. The hopfield and the nutwood are often -scenes of much jolly old English humour and enjoyment. In Kent and -Sussex the whole country is odorous with the aroma of hop, as it is -breathed from the drying kilns and huge wagons filled with towering -loads of hops, thronging the road to London. But not only is the -atmosphere perfumed with hops, but the very atmosphere of the -drawing-room and dining-room too. Hops are the grand flavour of conversation -as well as of beer. Gentlemen, ladies, clergymen, noblemen, -all are growers of hops, and deeply interested in the state of the crop -and the market.” <span class="xxpn" id="p089">{89}</span></p> - -<p>The use of wires is a serious matter for hop-pole growers if the -following calculation, made by some ingenious person, be correct. -Suppose that 45,000 acres of hops are under cultivation, and each acre -annually requires 800 new poles, the total annual requirement will be -36,000,000 poles. Each acre of underwood from which poles are cut -produces about 3,000. Every year, therefore, 12,000 acres of underwood -must be cut to supply the demand. If each acre produces on an -average 2,000 poles, which is nearer the truth than 3,000, then 18,000 -acres must be cut annually to supply the hop-gardens with poles.</p> - -<p>Poets, in their search for similes, have not overlooked hops and hop -poles. In Gay’s <i>A New Song of New Similes</i> occur the following -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hard is her heart as flint or stone,</span> -<span class="spp00">She laughs to see me pale;</span> -<span class="spp00">And merry as a grig is grown,</span> -<span class="spp00">And brisk as <i>bottled ale</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ah me! as thick as <i>hops</i> or hail</span> -<span class="spp00">The fine men crowd about her.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Then Cotton, in his verses to John Bradshaw, Esq., -<span class="nowrap">writes:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mustachios looked like heroes’ trophies</span> -<span class="spp00">Behind their arms in th’ Herald’s office;</span> -<span class="spp00">The perpendicular beard appeared</span> -<span class="spp00">Like <i>hop-poles</i> in a <i>hopyard</i> reared.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Hop-growers’ troubles, furnish a theme of which, were we hop-growers, -we fear our readers would weary, for a volume might very well be filled -with a relation of them. Not being hop-growers, and having much to -write about ere we inscribe the sad word “finis,” we must content ourselves -only with such an account as will give our readers a general idea -of the subject. To begin with, the annual outlay per acre in the gardens -is very great, being about £36. A hop acre, be it observed, is not an -ordinary acre, but contains a thousand hop plants in rows, six or seven -feet apart, and is equal to about two-thirds the statutory acre.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>No crops are more precarious than the <i>humulus lupulus</i>. How said -Dr. <span class="nowrap">Booker?―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The spiral hop, high mantling, how to train</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>No common care</i> to Britain’s gen’rous sons,</span> -<span class="spp00">Lovers of “nut-brown ale”—sing fav’ring Muse!</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p090">{90}</span></div> - -<p>A glance at statistics will show the truth of our statement. In 1882 -the return per acre did not average more than 1½ cwt. on account of a -perfect plague of aphides; while in 1859, which is about the best -hop year of the century, the return was 13¼ cwt. per acre. The average -yield during the last seventy-six years is about 6¾ cwt. per acre; not a -very large return for the outlay. In 1839 a certain hop plantation in -Kent of about 21½ acres, produced 15 cwt. per acre, and in the following -year only 1 cwt. per acre.</p> - -<p>These extraordinary variations in the production of hop gardens are -caused by insects and the weather. Early in the year, when the vines -appear well grown and sturdy, the hop-grower may with a light heart, -perhaps, prophesy a good crop. In May a few aphides—winged -females—are noticed, and in August the silvery brightness of the -delicate bracts is blackened and spoilt by the filth of the lice—larvæ of -the hop aphis. About September a mighty wind comes; poles are -blown down in all directions, the ground is strewn with the cones -blown from the vines, and branches are bruised, causing the cones on -them to wither and decay before picking-time. Just as the hops are -ripening two or three cold nights perhaps occur, which throw them -back and materially reduce the value of the crop. Then they may be -attacked with mildew, or even when all evils have in most part been -avoided, picking-time has all but arrived, and the hop-grower is congratulating -himself on his good fortune, a shower of hail may happen, -stripping the vines and reducing the value of the crop by three-fourths.</p> - -<p>Miss Ormerod, consulting entomologist to the Royal Agricultural -Society, has given much study to, and thrown considerable light upon, -the hop aphis. The course of the attack upon the hop she has discovered -to be as follows:—The aphis first comes upon the hop in the -spring in the form of wingless females (depositing young), which ascend -the bine from the ground. The great attack, however, which usually -occurs in the form of “fly” about the end of May, comes from damson -and sloe bushes as well as from the hop; the hop aphis and the damson -aphis being, in Miss Ormerod’s opinion, very slight varieties of one -species, and so similar in habits that for all practical purposes of inquiry -they may be considered one.</p> - -<p>From experiments made on hop grounds in Hereford, the use of -various applications round the hills in the late autumn or about the -beginning of April, completely prevented attacks to the vines of those -hills until the summer attack came on the wing. Paraffin in any dry -material spread on the hills, proved serviceable both -as a preventive <span class="xxpn" id="p091">{91}</span> -and a remedy, and petroleum and kerosine were also used with advantage. -Among the methods of washing, the application of steam power -opens up a possibility of carrying out these operations with rapidity and -at less cost. When the fly is very bad, the common practice is, after -the picking is over, to clear the land of bine and weeds and to place -quicklime round the hills or plant centres.</p> - -<p>When the hop is fully formed, shortly before picking, if the weather -be hot and close, almost the whole crop may be destroyed in a few days. -The aphides penetrate the hop and suck from the tender bracts the juice, -some of which exudes; this, the moist weather retarding evaporation, -produces decay at the point of puncture, and a black spot shows, technically -called “mould.” The great enemies to the lice are the ladybirds, -which devour them greedily, and a hop-grower would as soon destroy -a ladybird as a herring fisherman a seagull.</p> - -<p>It has been recently suggested that the suitability or not of soil for -hop-growing, depends upon the presence or absence of sulphur, which is -an essential ingredient of hops. There is more than one instance on -record where hops treated with gypsum (sulphate of lime) were free -from mould, while in adjoining gardens the hops not so treated suffered -severely. The hops least liable to blight and mould contain the largest -amount of sulphur. A curious fact has been proved in Germany by -careful analysis. In plants attacked by the hop bug the proportion of -sulphur is much greater in the healthy and unattacked leaves than in -those infested with the bug. This subject hardly comes within the -range of our work, and we merely mention it to bring it into -notice among hop-growers, whom further experiments with gypsum -may possibly benefit. It is obvious that as the chief attack is made by -aphis on the wing, dressings put on the ground with a view to kill the -aphides in the soil are of little avail, for from a neighbouring or even a -distant garden where the hills have been not so treated, may come -a flight of aphides causing desolation in their track. If, however, sulphur -can be imported into the live plant, and such plants are untouched by the -fly, it would seem that we are near a solution of this very vexed problem. -We know of an instance where the hops on one side of a valley were -totally destroyed by the fly, while on the other side they were untouched. -The wind setting in one direction during the flight, had carried the fly -over the sheltered side, and deposited them on the exposed side of the -valley.</p> - -<p>Not to mention extraordinary tithes in this portion of our subject -would be a serious omission. Formerly our worthy -pastors were paid <span class="xxpn" id="p092">{92}</span> -with a tenth of the actual produce of the land, now they receive what -are in theory equivalent money payments. As orchards, market gardens, -and hop gardens were deemed to yield much greater returns than other -land, the tithe on them was fixed at a much greater rate than on pasture -and arable land. While the tithe on these latter is but trifling, the -tithe on the former is about thirty shillings per acre. When few foreign -hops were imported, these very extraordinary tithes could be paid, but -now they are a most serious, not to say unjust, tax on the hop-grower -who in very bad years may not make thirty or even twenty shillings -per acre. It is common knowledge that a great agitation is on foot to -obtain their abolition, and there appears to be a very general feeling -that no land ought in the future to become subject to extraordinary -tithe by reason of any crop which may be grown on it. At present the -extraordinary tithes are a check on production and the most advantageous -cultivation of land. Being thus prejudicial to the welfare of the -State, they should have been abolished long ago, and no doubt would -have been, but for the circumstance that the immediate sufferers are -comparatively few in number.</p> - -<p>The hop gardens of Kent not only provide the brewer with the best -hops, but, as each autumn comes round, afford to some thirty thousand -or so of the poorer classes living in the densely-populated districts of the -east of London a few weeks of country life. The East-Enders, indeed, -look upon hop-picking in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex as their particular -prerogative, and mix but little with the “home” pickers, who, however, -are almost equal to them in numbers.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>When - the plants are laden with beautiful bloom</span> -<span class="spp00">And the air breathes around us its rich perfume,”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">the -grower sends word to the pickers, most of whom have had their -names down for a bin, or a basket, for weeks or even months previously. -In Mid Kent “bins” are used. These consist of an oblong framework of -wood supported on legs, and to which a piece of sackcloth is fastened. -The bins are divided down the centres, so that two families may pick -into one bin. At certain times in the day the hops in each bin are -measured and the number of bushels credited to the pickers. In East -Kent baskets are used; these contain distinct marks for each bushel, so -that the labour of measuring is dispensed with. From the baskets the -hops are emptied into sacks and carried to the oast house to be dried. -This is a simple operation. The oast house is a square brick building -with a chimney of large size in the centre of the roof. -The hops are <span class="xxpn" id="p093">{93}</span> -laid on cloths stretched between beams. The necessary heat is obtained -from a brick fireplace which is open at the top. After having been -sufficiently baked, the hops are allowed to cool, and are then put into -pockets, <i>i.e.</i>, long sacks, stamped down as tightly as possible, and are -ready for the market.</p> - -<p>As in Chaucer’s time pilgrims wound their way through the garden -of England, so now do pilgrims, but with different object, tramp along -the dusty highway or shady lane into that beautiful country. In -Chaucer’s time the monasteries provided food and shelter for the -pilgrims; but now they in most part are content with the blue sky or -spreading branch of tree as a roof, and hedge-row for a wall. If the -weather be but reasonably fine, the life of these latter-day pilgrims is not -a hard one, for the balmy country air, the soft turf and beautiful surroundings -must seem to these poor creatures a kind of paradise after -the dens of filth, disease, and darkness from which they have come.</p> - -<p>Not pleasant company are these pilgrims. As a rule they are uncleanly, -their habits coarse, their language foul, and their morality doubtful. -Many persons in Kent prefer to lose several pounds rather than let their -children go into the fields and associate with the mixed company from -the East-End. Poor people! they are after all what their circumstances -have made them; a sweep can hardly be blamed for having a black -face. A few years since men, women, and children all slept together -indiscriminately in barns and outhouses. Now, as regards sleeping -accommodation, there have been changes for the better,</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04"><span class="spquotebox">“</span>And far and near</span> -<span class="spp04"><span class="spquotespace">With</span> accent clear</span> -<span class="spp00">The hop-picker’s song salutes the glad ear:</span> -<span class="spp04"><span class="spquotespace">The</span> old and the young</span> -<span class="spp04"><span class="spquotespace">Unite</span> in the throng,</span> -<span class="spp00">And echo re-echoes their jocund song,</span> -<span class="spp00">The hop-picking time is a time of glee,</span> -<span class="spp00">So merrily, merrily now sing we:</span> -<span class="spp00">For the bloom of the hop is the secret spell</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the bright pale ale that we love so well;</span> -<span class="spp00">So gather it quickly with tender care,</span> -<span class="spp00">And off to the wagons the treasure bear.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The high road from London to the hopfields of Kent presents a -curious appearance immediately before the hop-picking season. A -stranger might imagine that the poorer classes of a big -city were flying <span class="xxpn" id="p094">{94}</span> -before an invading army. Grey-haired, decrepit old men and women -are to be seen crawling painfully along, their stronger sons and daughters -pressing on impatiently. Children by the dozens, some fresh and -leaping for very joy at the green fields and sunshine, others crying from -fatigue, for the road is long and dusty. Nearly all these people carry -sacks or baskets, or bundles, and some even push hand carts laden with -clothing, rags, and odds and ends. Most of these folk are careless, merry -people, and beguile the way as did Chaucer’s pilgrims, with many a -coarse jest, but here and there will be seen some hang-dog bloated-faced -ruffian tramping doggedly along, a discontented weary woman dragging -slowly a few yards in his rear, as likely as not carrying a half-starved -sickly child in her shawl. Such as these cause the coming of the hop-pickers -to be regarded with anything but satisfaction in country districts, -and at such time householders are doubly careful to see that their -windows and doors are properly barred. But the majority of the pickers -are well-behaved according to their lights, and guilty at most of a little -rough horseplay towards the solitary traveller or among themselves.</p> - -<p>Towards evening the pickers cease their tramp, and take up their -quarters for the night in woodland copse, or under hedge-row or -sheltering bank. Baskets, sacks, and hand carts are unpacked, and here -and there will be seen a whole family seated round a blazing wood fire, -over which boils the family kettle. Others, less fortunate in having no -family circle to join, betake themselves to more secluded quarters to -munch the lump of bread of which their supper consists.</p> - -<p>About half the pickers are taken into Kent by special trains, a larger -number, as might be expected, returning that way. The secretaries of -the South Eastern and London and Chatham Railway Companies have -very kindly furnished us with a few figures on the subject. In 1882—<i>the</i> -bad year for hops—the S.E.R. Company only carried 173 pickers to -the fields, and 3,094 on the return journeys; but in previous years the -numbers varied from 6,000 to 17,000 on the outgoing journey, and -9,000 to 19,000 on the return journey. Last year the L.C. & D.R. -Company carried 1,785 pickers to the fields, and brought back 4,035.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>But if the pickers are light-hearted and merry on the way to the -fields, with empty pockets, what are they on their return, after work is -over and wages paid? Everything is then the height of merriment, -and of such an uproarious kind as the people of the East End delight in. -Young men and girls, invigorated by their sojourn in the bracing -country air, alike garland themselves with hops, and decorate themselves -with gay ribbons. Laughing, dancing, and -singing, they hurry <span class="xxpn" id="p095">{95}</span> -to the station, or along the road to London. Practical jokes are played -by the score, the railway officials are distracted, the police look the other -way. As train after train full of shouting people leaves the station, the -crowd gradually becomes less thick. Night comes on, and many return -to their barns, obliged to put off their return home for another day. In a -few days this lively throng of humanity has disappeared; the hopfields, -robbed of their bright crops, are again quiet; and the more nervous of -the dwellers in Kent again breathe freely.</p> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p095.png" width="144" height="42" alt="" /></div> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> <img src="images/p096a.png" -width="144" height="48" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p096"><span -class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> V.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<p class="pverse"><span class="smcap">J<b>ACK</b></span> -<span class="smcap">C<b>ADE</b></span>—“There shall be in -England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny, the three -hooped pot shall have seven hoops, and I will make it -felony to drink small beer.”<span class="nowrap">—<i>Hen.</i></span> -VI., Part II. Act iv. Scene 2.</p> -</div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>ANCIENT AND CURIOUS LAWS RELATING TO THE -MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF ALE AND BEER.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p096b.png" -width="225" height="230" alt="K" /></span>INGS, -Parliaments and Local Authorities -have, from very early times up to the present, -more or less interfered with the production -and sale of alcoholic liquors. As -a rule, the laws and regulations made by -them had the benevolent object of preserving -the public health and pocket, but -to modern notions they appear for the most -part arbitrary and vexatious enactments -which unduly oppressed an important industry.</p> - -<p>Before dealing with the many early references to laws concerning -the brewing and sale of ale, it will be interesting to notice a few of the -curious regulations to be found in the Canons of ancient religious orders -enjoining sobriety on the members of their communities. Almost, if -not quite, the earliest of the kind is attributed to St. Gildas the Wise, -who lived towards the close of the sixth century, and is to the effect that, -if any monk through drinking too freely gets thick of speech, so that -he cannot join in the psalmody, he is to be deprived of his supper.</p> - -<p>The Canons of St. David’s contain further rules on the same matter. -Priests about to minister in the temple of God, and drinking wine or -strong drink through negligence, and not ignorance, must do penance -three days. If they have been warned, and despise, then forty days. -Those who get drunk from ignorance must do penance fifteen days; -if through negligence, forty days; if through -contempt, three <span class="xxpn" id="p097">{97}</span> -quarantains. He who forces another to get drunk out of hospitality, must do -penance as though he had got drunk himself. But he who out of hatred -or wickedness, in order to disgrace or mock at others, forces them to -get drunk, if he has not already sufficiently done penance, must do -penance as a murderer of souls.</p> - -<p>That these restrictions were not confined to clerics may be seen from -the decree of Theodore, seventh Archbishop of Canterbury (<span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> 668–693), -that if a Christian layman drink to excess, he must do a fifteen-days’ -penance.</p> - -<p>King Edgar seems to have gone nearer to the programme of the -United Kingdom Alliance. Strutt says of him that under the guidance -of Dunstan he put down many alehouses, suffering only one to exist in -a village. He also ordered that pegs should be fastened in the drinking -horns at intervals, that whosoever drank beyond these marks at one -draught should be liable to punishment. We find, however, that this -last-mentioned device defeated its own end, and became a provocative of -drinking, so that in 1102, Anselm decreed, “Let no priest go to drinking -bouts, nor drink to pegs (ad pinnas).” The custom was called -pin-drinking or pin-nicking, and is the origin of the phrase, “He is in a -merry pin,” and, doubtless, also of the expression, “Taking him down -a peg.”</p> - -<p>The peg-tankards, as they were called, contained two quarts, and -were divided into eight draughts by means of these pegs; they passed -from hand to hand, and each must drink it down one peg, no more, no -less, under pain of fine.</p> - -<p>In a code of Dunstan, for the regulation of the religious orders, were -further injunctions to the priesthood, in which it was enjoined that no -drinking be allowed <i>in the Church</i>, that men should be temperate at -Church-wakes, that a priest should beware of drunkenness, and should -in no wise be an ale-scop (<i>i.e.</i>, a reciter at an ale-house). If we may -believe the strange story of St. Dunstan, as recorded by the graphic pen -of the author of the <i>Ingoldsby Legends</i>, we shall have little difficulty in -accounting for the Saint’s abhorrence of strong drink. The legend is a -good illustration of the maxim, “A little knowledge is a dangerous -thing.” Lay-brother Peter discovers that the Saint’s miraculous powers -are due to his magical control over a broomstick, and that, on his -uttering certain mystic words, the broomstick is compelled to do his -bidding. Lay-brother Peter determines to apply his knowledge of the -broomstick’s powers to his own temporal advantage. Having spoken -the mystic words, <span class="xxpn" id="p098">{98}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp11">Peter, full of his fun,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cries, “Broomstick! you lubberly son of a gun!</span> -<span class="spp00">Bring ale!—bring a flagon—a hogshead—a tun!</span> -<span class="spp02">’Tis the same thing to you; I have nothing to do;</span> -<span class="spp00">And, ’fore George, I’ll sit here, and I’ll drink till all’s blue.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Alas! too literally the broomstick obeys the command; and the poor -lay-brother, not having at command the spell that may compel the -broomstick to desist, “after floating a while like a toast in a tankard,” -is at last overwhelmed, and perishes in the brown flood he has so -incautiously called up.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In vain did St. Dunstan exclaim, “Vade retro</span> -<span class="spp00">Strongbeerum! discede a Lay-fratre Petro!”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">However, the impression made upon the good Saint’s mind was -indelible, and has left its traces in the regulations made by him relating -to drunkenness.</p> - -<p>Elfric’s Canons, also, are directed towards putting down the custom -of drinking in churches. They lay down that men ought not to drink -and eat immoderately in churches, for “men often act so absurdly as to -sit up by night, and drink to madness in God’s house.”</p> - -<p>Some of the earliest laws directed against a particular custom in -which ale figured as the principal beverage, were the prohibitions to be -met with in the records of the 13th century with regard to what were -called scot-ales. A scot-ale was a meeting for the purpose of consuming -ale, and its name was derived from the fact that the drinkers <i>divided</i><a class="afnanc" href="#fn40" id="fnanc40">40</a> -the expenses of the entertainment amongst them. These feasts were -forbidden in the reign of King John by Fitz-piers and Peter of Winchester, -the regents of the kingdom, on the ground that they were -made occasions for extortion. The forests, which then spread over -great tracts of country, were not subject to the common law, but to the -laws of the forest only, and we are told that the foresters and their -minions not only set up ale-houses, but even compelled people living -near to come in and join in scot-ales, for the sake of the revenue -accruing therefrom. In 1256 Giles of Bridport, -Bishop of Salisbury, <span class="xxpn" id="p099">{99}</span> -interdicted scot-ales, and commanded rectors, vicars, and other parish -priests to exhort their parishioners that they violate not rashly the -prohibition. In certain places the term scot-ale was used to denote one -of the services paid by tenants to the lord or his bailiff on the periodical -tour of inspection, and Bracton mentions that the Itinerant Justices were -directed to inquire whether any viscounts or bailiffs brew their own ale, -“which they call scot-ale or filct-ale,” for the purpose of extorting -money from the tenants.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc40" id="fn40">40</a> -<i>Cf.</i> The modern expressions -<i>scot free</i> and <i>paying the shot</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Somewhat similar in practice, though distinct in origin and in the -purpose of their institution, were the festivals called Bede-ales. These -curious celebrations are described in Prynne’s <i>Canterburie’s Doome</i> -(1646) as public meetings, “when an honest man decayed in his fortune -is set up again by the liberal benevolence and contribution of friends at -a feast; but this is laid aside at almost every place.” The custom -somewhat reminds one of the saying that the British are wont to drink -themselves out of debt, an allusion, of course, to the enormous revenue -collected on malt and other liquors. We must suppose, however, that -the practice of bede-ale was abused; the more generous and kindly-hearted -a man might be, the more tipsy he would have to make himself -in order to help his unfortunate “decayed” friend in the manner -prescribed. Accordingly we find in ancient records prohibitions of this -custom. One such may be cited from the records of the Borough of -Newport, Isle of Wight: “Atte the Lawday holden here in the 8th day -of October, the second yeare of the Reigne of King Edward the iiijth in -the time of William Bokett and Henry Pryer, Bayliffs, Thomas Capford -and William Spring, Constables, it is enacted furthermore that none -hereafter, whether Burgesse or any other dweller or inhabitant, within -this Towne aforesaid, shall make or procure to bee made, any Ale, -commonly called Bede-Ale, within the liberty, nor within this Towne -or without, upon payne of looseing xxd. to be payde to the Keeper of -the Common Box.”</p> - -<p>About the time of Henry III., we begin to find mention -in the records of the period, of persistent attempts to -fix the prices of bread and ale. Laws made with this end -in view were termed collectively the <i>Assisa Panis et -Cervisiæ</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, The Assize of Bread and Ale). In the -fifty-first year of that reign, we find it enacted that -when a quarter of wheat is sold for iiis. or iiis. ivd., -and a quarter of barley for xxd. or iis., and a quarter -of oats for xvid., then brewers (<i>braciatores</i>) in cities -ought, and may well afford, to sell two gallons of ale -for a penny, and out of cities to sell three or four -gallons for the same sum. By a statute <span class="xxpn" -id="p100">{100}</span> passed in the same year it is -enacted that if a baker or a brewster<a class="afnanc" -href="#fn41" id="fnanc41">41</a> (<i>braciatrix</i>) be -convicted, because he or she hath not observed the Assise -of Bread and Ale, the first, second, or third time, he or -she shall be amerced according to the offence, if it be not -over grievous; but if the offence be grievous and often, -and will not be corrected, then he or she shall suffer -corporal punishment, to wit, the Baker to the pillory, -the brewster to the tumbrel (a cart for ignominious -punishment), or to flogging. (The illustration represents a -woman undergoing the punishment</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p100.png" width="473" height="417" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Tumbrel.</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">of the tumbrel, and is taken from the -MS. <i>Cent Nouvelles</i> in the Hunterian Library.) A jury of -six lawful men is to be summoned in every township, who are -to be sworn faithfully to collect all measures of the town, -to wit, bushels, half and quarter bushels, gallons, pottles -and quarts, as well from taverns as from other places. The -jurymen are to inquire how the assise of bread has been -kept, and adjudge accordingly; they are then to inquire of -the assise of Ale in the Court of the Town, what it is, and -whether it has been observed; and if <span class="xxpn" -id="p101">{101}</span> not, they are to inquire what -brewsters have sold contrary to the assises and they shall -present their names distinctly and openly, and adjudge them -to be fined or to the tumbrel.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc41" id="fn41">41</a> -The old word brewster is here used in its proper signification of a -female brewer. The Brewster Sessions, as Licensing Sessions are called -in many parts of the country, preserve the name, though the original -feminine signification has disappeared. For an account of the early -brewsters and ale-wives the reader is referred to Chapter VI.</p></div> - -<p>By another statute, of rather uncertain date, but passed about this -period, it is enacted that the standard of bushels, gallons, and ells -(<i>standardum busselli galonis et ulne</i>) is to be marked with an Iron Seale -of our Lord the King, and safe kept, under pain of £100, and no -measure is to be used in any town unless it do agree with the King’s -measure, and be marked with the seal of the shire town; and if any do -sell or buy by measures unsealed, and not examined by the Mayor or -Bailiffs, he shall be grievously amerced and all the measures of every -Town, both great and small, shall be viewed and examined twice in the -year; and if any be convict for a double measure, to wit, a greater for -to buy with, and a lesser for to sell with, he shall be imprisoned for his -falsehood (<i>tanquam falsarius</i>) and shall be grievously punished.</p> - -<div class="dright dwth-h"> -<img src="images/p101.png" width="153" height="322" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Pillory.</div></div> - -<p>The manner in which the various standard measures of capacity were -arrived at is worthy of mention. It is enacted that: “One English penny, -called a stirling, round and without any clipping, shall weigh twenty-two -wheat corns in the midst of the ear, and twenty pence shall make -an ounce, and twelve ounces a pound, and eight pounds shall make a -gallon of wine, and eight gallons of wine shall make one bushel London, -and eight bushels one quarter.”</p> - -<p>We are glad to observe that a subsequent statute was passed which -provided that both the pillory, or stretch-neck (<i>collistrigium</i>) as it was -called, and also the tumbrel, must be of suitable strength, so that -offenders might be punished without bodily peril.</p> - -<p>The <i>collistrigium</i> given below is taken from an old drawing in the -City Records, temp. Ed. III.</p> - -<p>In the City of London the comparative severity -of the punishments of the fraudulent baker and -brewer seems to have been the reverse of that -ordained by statute; the baker suffered the heavier -penalty, being condemned to what was called the -“<i>judicium claye</i>,” or condemnation to the hurdle, -which, as described in the Liber Albus, was -certainly a most unpleasant form of punishment. -On conviction for selling short weight the -defaulting baker was to be drawn upon a hurdle -from the Guildhall to his own house, “through -the great streets where there -be most people <span class="xxpn" id="p102">{102}</span> -assembled, and through the great streets <i>that are most dirty</i>.” -The illustration is taken from the <i>Assissa Panis</i> (temp. Edw. I.), -preserved among the City Records. The defaulting brewer or -brewster, in the reign of Edw. III., for the first offence was to forfeit the -ale, for the second to forswear the mistier (the mystery or art of brewing), -and on the third offence to forswear the City for ever. However, -the</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p102.png" width="451" height="241" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Punishment of the Hurdle.</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">penalties -varied from time to time, for in the reign of Henry V., -when the Liber Albus was compiled, the punishment of a brewster convicted -of selling ale contrary to the assize was, that for the first offence -she was to be fined 10s., for the second 20s., and for the third that she -should suffer the “punishment provided for her in Westchepe,” which -would probably be the tumbrel or the pillory. Some confusion as to the -appropriate punishment occasionally arose. In 1257, Sir Hugh Bygot, -as Grafton’s Chronicle tells us, “came to the Guylde-hall, and kept his -Court and Plees there, without all order of law, and contrary to the -libertyes of the citie, and there punished the bakers for lack of size by -the tombrell, where beforetymes they were punished by the Pillorye.”</p> - -<p>Offending brewers and bakers, in some places, suffered on the Cucking -Stool. In the Borrow Lawes of Scotland, speaking of Browsters -(“Wemen quha brewes aill to be sauld,”) it is said, “Gif she makes gude -ail, that is sufficient. Bot gif she makes euel ail, contrair to the use and -consuetude of the burg, and is convict thereof, she sall pay ane unlaw -of aucht shillinges, or sal suffer the justice of the brugh, that is, <i>she sall</i> -be put upon the Cock- stule, <i>and the aill sall be distributed to the pure -folke</i>.”</p> - -<p>In April, 1745, an ale-wife of Kingston-on-Thames was ducked in -the river, for scolding, in the presence of two thousand or more people.</p> - -<p>The following extracts from the old Assembly -Books of Great <span class="xxpn" id="p103">{103}</span> -Yarmouth give some idea of the powers possessed by corporate bodies -for the regulation of trade in olden -<span class="nowrap">times:―</span></p> - -<p>“Friday before Palm Sunday, 7 Edwd. VI. Agreed that no inhabitant -shall buy any beer to sell again but such as was brewed in the -town, under pain of 6s. 8d. a barrel.</p> - -<p>“Feb. 14. 1 Philip and Mary, 1554. M. Swansey, of Hickling, -being a foreigner, bought of a merchant stranger certain hopps—the -buyer to forfeit the Hopps, and he may buy them again of the Chamberlain.</p> - -<p>“March 19. 1 Mary, 1554. No inhabitant shall buy nor no ship -shall receive any beer brewed out of the town, under a penalty of 3s. 4d. -per gallon.</p> - -<p>“July 2. 1 Philip and Mary, 1554. No baker or brewer to bake or -brewe in the town unless appointed by the bailiffs.</p> - -<p>“Apl. 8. 15 Eliz., 1573. That brewers be ordered to brew with -coals instead of wood, from the latter’s exhorbitant price.”</p> - -<p>The Articles of the Free Fair (1658) held at Great Yarmouth, contain -the following -<span class="nowrap">regulation:―</span></p> - -<p>“Also that no brewer selle nor doe to be solde, a gallon of the beste -ale above <i>two pence</i>: a gallon of the second ale above one pennye -uppon the payne and perrille above sayde.”</p> - -<p>The records of the old municipal corporations of England that have -survived the destroying hand of time are very few, but it can hardly be -doubted that they contained very similar regulations to those given -above. In the <i>Domesday Book of Ipswich</i> an order of the reign of -Edward I. provides as to Brewsters, that “after Michelmesse moneth, -whan men may have barlych of newe greyn, the ballyves of the forseid -toun doo cryen assize of ale by all the toun, after that the sellyng of the -corn be. And gif ther be founden ony that selle or brewe a geyns the -assise and the crye, be he punysshed be the forseyed ballyves and by -the court for the trespas, after the form conteyned in the Statute of -merchaundise (13 Edw. I., s. 3) of oure lord the kyng, and after law -and usage of the same toun.”</p> - -<p>Ricart’s <i>Kalendar of the City of Bristol</i> contains the following record: -“Item, hit hath be usid, in semblable wyse, the seid maire anon aftir -Mighelmas, to do calle byfore theym in the seide Counseill hous, all the -Brewers of Bristowe; and yf the case require that malt be scant and -dere, then to commen there for the reformacion of the same, and to -bryng malte to a lower price, and that such price as shall be sette by the -maier upon malte, that no brewer breke it, upon payne -of XLs. forfeitable <span class="xxpn" id="p104">{104}</span> -to the Chambre of the Toune. And the shyftyng<a class="afnanc" href="#fn42" id="fnanc42">42</a> -daies of the woke, -specially the Wensdaies and Satirdaies, the mair hath be used to walke -in the morenynges to the Brewers howses, to oversee thym in servyng -of theire ale to the pouere commens of the toune, and that they have -theire trewe mesures; and his Ale-konner with hym to taste and undirstand -that the ale be gode, able, and sety keeping their sise, or to be -punyshed for the same, aftir the constitucion of the Toune.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc42" id="fn42">42</a> -The days when the ale was being moved to customers’ houses.</p></div> - -<p>Sometimes a whole township was fined for the default of some of -its members. In 1275 the township of Dunstable was fined 40s., because -the brewers had not kept the assize.</p> - -<p>Some curious and amusing entries are to be found in the <i>Munimenta -Academica</i> of the University of Oxford, as to the regulations for the -brewing trade in the fifteenth century. In the year 1434 we find it -recorded that, “Seeing how great evils arise both to the clerks and to -the townsmen of the City of Oxford, owing to the negligence and dishonesty -of the brewers of ale,” Christopher Knollys, commissary, -assembles the brewers together in the church of the Blessed Mary the -Virgin, and commands them to provide sufficient malt for brewing; -and that two or three shall twice or thrice in the week carry round -their ale for public sale, under a penalty of 40s.; and John Weskew -and Nicholas Core, two of their number, are appointed supervisors of -the brewers. Each brewer is then made to swear on the Blessed -Evangelists to brew good ale and wholesome, and according to the -assize, “so far as his ability and <i>human frailty permits</i>.”</p> - -<p>It would appear that very considerable disorders prevailed in that -ancient seat of learning at this period. The Warden of Canterbury -College, for instance, is accused of having incited his scholars to make a -raid upon the ale of other scholars of the town, which they accordingly -did, and carried off ale to the value of 12d.</p> - -<p>The fair brewsters of the period seem to have held much the same -ideas as to the relative importance of the patronage of Town and Gown -as a fashionable Oxford tailor of the present day may be supposed to -entertain. In 1439 Alice Everarde is suspended “ab arte pandoxandi” -(from practising brewing) for ever, because she refused to brew ale for -sale for the common people of Oxford.</p> - -<p>In 1444 the brewers were made to swear before the Chancellor that -they would brew wholesome ale, and in such manner -that the water <span class="xxpn" id="p105">{105}</span> -should boil until it emitted a froth, that they would skim the froth -away, and that they would give the ale sufficient time to settle before -they sold it in the University; and Richard Benet swore that he would -let his ale stand twelve hours to clear, before he carried it to hall or -college, and that he would not mix the dregs with the ale when he -carried it for sale within the University.</p> - -<p>In 1449 the stewards and manciples of the college swear that nine of -the brewers have broken the assize and have brewed “an ale of little or -no strength, to the grave and no mean damage of the University and -Town, and that they are obstinate and rebels and refuse to serve the -Principals and others of the Halls with ale.” In 1464 John Janyn is -ordered by the Commissary to refund to Anisia Barbour, without the -east gate of Oxford, the sum of 8d., because he had sold her a cask of -ale for 20d., and “in our opinion and that of others who have just tasted -it, it is not worth more than 12d.”</p> - -<p>The sister University exercised a similar jurisdiction over the brewing -trade, and it is mentioned in Rymer’s <i>Fœdera</i> (R. 2. 934) that in the -year 1336, on a petition of the Chancellor and scholars of the University -of Cambridge, the <i>ancient</i> privilege of the University, that, on the -demand of the Chancellor, the Mayor and bailiffs should make trial or -assize of the bread or ale, was restored. A curious survival of the -municipal jurisdiction over the vendors of Cambridge ale is recorded in -Hone’s <i>Every-Day Book</i>, as existing at the annual fair on Stourbridge -Common during the latter half of last century: “Besides the eight -servants called <i>red coats</i>, who are employed as constables attendant upon -the Mayor of Cambridge, who held a court of justice during the fair, -there was another person dressed in similar clothing, with a string over -his shoulders, from whence were suspended spigots and fossets, and also -round each arm many more were fastened. He was called <i>Lord of the -Tap</i>, and his duty consisted in visiting all the booths in which ale was -sold, to determine whether it was a fit and proper beverage for the -persons attending the fair.”</p> - -<p>In making the ale of Old England, wheat was frequently malted and -used with barley malt. In times of scarcity this practice was now -and again forbidden as tending to unduly enhance the price of bread. -In 1316, ground malt having risen during the preceding fourteen years -from 3s. 4d. to 13s. 4d. the quarter, a proclamation was issued prohibiting -the malting of wheat. The regulation, however, was unpopular and -difficult to enforce, and wheat continued to be malted and mixed with -the more appropriate grain. Receipts of more -recent times frequently <span class="xxpn" id="p106">{106}</span> -mention this use of wheat malt. One of these of the sixteenth century -is as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<p>“To brewe beer. 10 quarters of malte, 2 quarters of wheete, 2 quarters -of oates, 40 pound weight of hoppys—to make 60 barellys of sengyll -beer; the barel of aell contains 32 galones, and the barell of beer 36 -gallons.”</p> - -<p>The restrictive legislation was not confined to ale, for in 1330 we find -it enacted: “Because there are more taverners in the realm than were -wont to be, selling as well corrupt wines as wholesome, and have sold -the gallon at such price as they themselves would, because there was no -punishment ordained for them, as hath been for them that sell bread -and ale, to the great hurt of the people,” therefore wine must be sold at -a reasonable price. No sum, however, appears to have been fixed, and -we can well imagine that the ideas of the innkeeper and his customer -might not altogether agree on the question of what was a <i>reasonable</i> -price.</p> - -<p>Not only was the price of ale fixed, but its strength and quality were -also subjected to the experienced taste of the ale-conner, an officer -appointed to test the goodness of the brew. The ale-conner’s appellation -appears to be derived from his power of conning, <i>i.e.</i>, knowing of or -judging the liquor, and reminds one of Chaucer’s -<span class="nowrap">line:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">“Well coude he knowe a draught of London ale.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The ale-conners were appointed annually in the courts leet of every -manor; also in boroughs and towns corporate; and in many places, in -compliance with charters and ancient custom, appointments to this -office are still made, though the duties have fallen into disuse.</p> - -<p>The following is the oath of this ale official, taken from the <i>Liber -Albus</i>, compiled in the reign of Henry V. by John Carpenter, clerk, -and Richard Whittington, mayor:—“You shall swear, that you shall -know of no brewer, or brewster, cook, or pie-baker, in your ward, who -sells the gallon of best ale for more than one penny halfpenny, or the gallon -of second for more than one penny, or otherwise than by measure sealed -and full of clear ale; or who brews less than he used to do before this -cry, by reason hereof, or withdraws himself from following his trade the -rather by reason of this cry; or if any persons shall do contrary to any -one of these points, you shall certify the Alderman of your ward and of -their names. And that you, so soon as you shall be required to taste -any ale of a brewer or brewster, shall be ready to do the same; and in -case that it be less good than it used to be before this cry, -you, by assent <span class="xxpn" id="p107">{107}</span> -of your Alderman, shall set a reasonable price thereon, according to -your discretion; and if any one shall afterwards sell the same above the -said price, unto your Alderman you shall certify the same. And that for -gift, promise, knowledge, hate or other cause whatsoever, no brewer, -brewster, huckster, cook, or pie-baker, who acts against any one of the -points aforesaid, you shall conceal, spare or tortuously aggrieve; nor -when you are required to taste ale, shall absent yourself without reasonable -cause and true; but all things which unto your office pertains to -do, you shall well and lawfully do. So God you help, and the saints.” -No doubt this oath was regularly repeated with due solemnity, -but we can imagine with what a subtle irony the official described -in <i>The Cobler of Canterburie</i> would have repeated the part of -the oath having reference to absenting himself when required to -taste ale.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A nose he had that gan show,</span> -<span class="spp00">What liquor he loved I trow;</span> -<span class="spp00">For he had before long seven yeare,</span> -<span class="spp00">Beene of the towne the ale-conner.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Absent himself—not if he knew it!</p> - -<p>The ale-conners also had the power of presenting, <i>i.e.</i>, accusing at the -court leet, any brewer who refused to sell ale to his neighbours though -he had some for sale.</p> - -<p>The officials who tested ale bore various appellations. At the Court -Leet of the Manor of New Buckenham, in Norfolk, the name under -which this person was known was the <i>ale-founder</i>. In rolls of the same -Manor of earlier date he is called Gustator Cervisiæ. In the records of -the Manor Court of Hale in the 15th century, in a list of persons fined, -occurs the entry, “Thomas Layet, quia pandocavit semel iid., et quia -concelavit le fowndynge pot iiid.;” that is, a fine of 2d. was inflicted -because he brewed in some manner contrary to the custom of the manor; -as by not putting out his sign when he brewed, or by not summoning -the ale-founder to taste the brew as soon as he had finished; and a fine -of 3d. because he concealed the “fowndynge” pot, the vessel, probably, -in which he had brewed.</p> - -<p>In Scrope’s <i>History of Castle Coombe</i> we are told that the rules of -that place in reference to the making and sale of ale were numerous and -perplexing. No one was permitted to brew ale so long as any church-ale -lasted, nor so long as the keeper of the park had any to -sell, nor at <span class="xxpn" id="p108">{108}</span> -any time without licence of the lord or court; nor to sell without a -sign, or, during the fair, without an ale-stake hung out, nor to ask a -higher price for ale than that fixed by the jury of assize, nor to lower -the quality below what the ale-tasters approved, nor to sell at times of -Divine service, nor after nine o’clock at night, nor to sell at all without -entering into a bond for £10, with a surety of £5, to keep orderly -houses. The frequent changes in the price allowed show the difficulty -the authorities had in settling the problem, how to have good liquor -cheap. In the reign of Elizabeth all systematic attempts to set the -price of ale seem to have been discontinued. At a court held in May -in the tenth year of that queen, the tithing-man reported that “the -ale-wyves had broken all the orders of the last laweday.” The court -received the announcement in silence, and made no order. The -ale-wives had conquered; let us hope they used their victory with -discretion.</p> - -<p>The practice seems to have prevailed here as elsewhere of compelling -a brewer to put out his sign or ale-stake when he had brewed, as a -signal to the local ale-conner that his services were required. In 1402 -we find that John Lautroppe was presented to the court “quia brasiavit -iij vicibus sub uno signo,” <i>i.e.</i>, he had brewed three times but had only -displayed the legal signal once. The only penalties recorded as being -imposed for drunkenness appear to be one in 1618 and one in 1631; -but it would hardly be safe to argue that the inhabitants of the district -were an exceptionally sober race, for though the manor rolls of Castle -Coombe date from 1346, no legislative effort to restrain excess in -drinking was made till the reign of James I., and such laws were always -highly unpopular, and were very sparingly or not at all enforced.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Tierney, in his <i>History of Sussex</i>, gives the following extract from -the rolls of Arundel: “John Barbs, Roger Shadyngden, and others, -brewers, refuse to sell a gallon of ale for one farthing according to the -proclamation of the mayor, and are consequently fined twopence each.” -The passage in the <i>Taming of the Shrew</i>, in which the servant, seeking -to convince Christopher Sly that his former life is nothing but the -delusion of a crazy brain, tells him how he would</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">. . . rail upon the mistress of the house,</span> -<span class="spp00">And say you would present her at the leet,</span> -<span class="spp00">Because she brought stone jugs and no sealed quarts,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">shows -that this jurisdiction of the manor courts was still in full force in -Shakspere’s day. <span class="xxpn" id="p109">{109}</span></p> -</div> - -<p>Kitchen, in his work on <i>Courts</i> (1663), in writing of courts leet, -says:—“Also if tapsters sell by cups and dishes, or measures, sealed or -unsealed, is enquirable.” It is noted in Dr. Langbaine’s collections, -under January 23, 1617, that John Shurle had a patent from Arthur -Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, for the -office of ale-taster (to the University). The office required “that he -go to every ale-brewer that day they brew, according to their courses, -and taste their ale; for which his ancient fee is one gallon of strong ale, -and two gallons of less strong worth a penny.”</p> - -<p>In some places the office of ale-conner still survives. The appointment -of four ale-conners for the City of London is said to date as far -back as the first charter of William the Conqueror. Originally they -were elected by the folkesmote, afterwards at the wardmote, and from -the time of Henry V. till the present day by the livery. We have -before us an extract from a daily paper of the 16th September, 1884, in -which is recorded the appointment of an ale-taster for the ancient -borough of Christchurch.</p> - -<p>The following curious application was made in the year 1864 to the -manorial court of the Duke of Buccleuch:—“To the Manorial Court of -the Right Hon. Walter Francis, Duke of Buccleuch and Queensbury, -sitting at Haslingden, this 18th day of October, 1864.—This is to give -notice to your honourable court, that I, Richard Taylor, by appointment -for the last five years Ale-taster for that part of her Majesty’s -dominions called Rossendale, do hereby tender my resignation to hold -that office after this day, as I am wishful, while young and active, and -as my talents are required in another sphere of usefulness, to devote -them to that purpose. For five successive years your honourable court -has done me the honour of electing me to the above office, which I have -held, and performed the duties thereof efficiently, and without disgrace. -Having won your confidence by holding this office, at a late sitting of -your honourable court it pleased you to appoint me bellman for Bacup, -and while I resign the former office, am wishful to hold my connexion -with his Grace the Duke Francis Walter, to continue to cry aloud as -bellman for Bacup, and, as heretofore, to cry for nothing for those who -have nothing to pay with. Given under our hand and seal this 18th -day of October, in the year of our Lord 1864. Signed, Richard Taylor, -Ale-taster for Rossendale. God save the Queen.”</p> - -<p>As early as the days of Edward I. attempts were made to bring about -the early closing of taverns; but the authorities seem to have moved -rather in the interests of peace -than of temperance. <span class="xxpn" id="p110">{110}</span></p> - -<p>In a preamble to a statute passed in that reign it is stated that -“offenders, going about during the night, do commonly resort and -have their meetings and evil talk in taverns more than elsewhere, lying -in wait and watching their time to do mischief.” It is therefore enacted -that taverns are to be closed at the tolling of the curfew bell. And if any -taverner does otherwise, he shall be put on his surety, the first time -by the hanap (a two-handled tankard, sometimes of silver) of his tavern, -or by some other good pledge therein found, and fined 40d., with -various cumulative punishments for successive offences until on the -fifth conviction he shall forswear such trade in the City for ever.</p> - -<p>In the year 1455 it was enacted “that no person that in the County -of Kent shall commonly brew any ale or beer to sell, shall make nor do -to be made any malt in his house, or in any other place to his own use, -at his costs and expences above an C quarters in the year, under penalty -of x li., and this statute is to be in force for the space of 5 years.” This -act appears to have been passed to protect the maltsters of other places -from the competition of the Kentish men. An act was passed in 1496 -“against vacabonds and beggars,” which directs two justices of the peace -to “rejecte and put away comen ale-selling in townes and places where -they shall think convenyent, and to take suertie of the keepers of ale-houses -of their gode behavyng, by the discrecion of the seid justices, -and in the same to be avysed and aggreed at the time of their sessions.”</p> - -<p>In 1531 brewers were forbidden to take more than such prices -and rates as should be thought sufficient, at the discretion of the -justices of the peace within every shire, or by the mayor and sheriffs -in a city.</p> - -<p>By 5 and 6 Edward VI. c. 25, entitled “An Act for Keepers of Ale-houses -to be bounde by Recognizances,” it is enacted that “forasmuch as -intolerable hurts and troubles to the commonwealth do daily grow and -increase through such abuses and disorders as are had and used in -common ale-houses, the Justices of the Peace are authorized to close -such houses at their discretion.” And we find later, in Elizabeth’s time, -that Lord Keeper Egerton, in his charge to the judges when going on -circuit, bade them ascertain, for the Queen’s information, how many -ale-houses the justices of the peace had <i>pulled down</i>, so that the good -justices might be rewarded and the evil removed. Surely the advocates -for total suppression of the sale of alcoholic drinks were born some two -or three centuries too late! A quaint jingle, entitled “Skelton’s Ghost,” -which may be attributed to some post-Elizabethan rhymer, contains -an allusion to the legal -price of ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p111">{111}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To all tapsters and tiplers,</span> -<span class="spp00">And all ale-house vitlers,</span> -<span class="spp00">Inne-keepers and cookes,</span> -<span class="spp00">That for pot-sale lookes,</span> -<span class="spp00">And will not give measure,</span> -<span class="spp00">But at your owne pleasure,</span> -<span class="spp00">Contrary to law,</span> -<span class="spp00">Scant measure will draw</span> -<span class="spp00">In pot and in canne,</span> -<span class="spp00">To cozen a man</span> -<span class="spp00">Of his full quart a penny,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of you there’s too many.</span> -<span class="spp00">For in King Harry’s time,</span> -<span class="spp00">When I made this rime</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Elynor Rumming,</span> -<span class="spp00">With her good ale tunning,</span> -<span class="spp00">Our pots were full quarted,</span> -<span class="spp00">We were not thus thwarted</span> -<span class="spp00">With froth canne and neck pot</span> -<span class="spp00">And such nimble quick shot,</span> -<span class="spp00">That a dowzen will score</span> -<span class="spp00">For twelve pints and no more.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The -views of a cozening hostess of the period are amusingly set forth -in a quaint old ballad taken from the Roxburghe collection, a portion of -which finds place on the following page.</p> - -<p>The varying prices and qualities of ale and beer, as sanctioned by -legal authority, have been so fully treated of in another part of this -work (Chapter VIII.) that it is not necessary to dwell further upon the -subject.</p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr02" id="p112img"> -<img src="images/p112.png" width="600" height="562" alt=" -All is ours and our Huſbands, or the Country Hoſtelles -Vindication. | - -To the tune of The Carman’s Whiſtle, or High Boys up go -we." /><div class="dcaption"> - -<div class="dpoemctr"> -<div><span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span></div> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">For if any honeſt company</span> -<span class="spp01">Of boon good fellows come,</span> -<span class="spp00">And call for liquor merrily</span> -<span class="spp01">In any private room,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then I fill the Jugs with Froth,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or cheat them of one or two,</span> -<span class="spp00">If I can ſwear them out of both</span> -<span class="spp01">The reckoning is my due.</span></div> -<div><span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" - /></span></div> -<div><span class="poemcite"><i>Roxburghe Ballads.</i></span></div> -</div></div><!--dcaption--></div><!--dctr01--></div> - -<p>In the year 1531, brewers were forbidden to make the barrels in -which their ale was sold. The reason for this extraordinary prohibition -is thus given in the quaint words of the preamble of the act:—“Whereas -the ale-brewers and beer-brewers of this realm of England have used, -and daily do use, for their own singular lucre, profit, and gain, to make -in their own houses their barrels, kilderkins, and firkins, of much less -quantity than they ought to be, to the great hurt, prejudice, and damage -of the King’s liege people, and contrary to divers acts, statutes, ancient -laws and customs heretofore made, had, and used, and to the destruction -of the poor craft and mystery of coopers,” therefore -no beer-brewer or <span class="xxpn" id="p113">{113}</span> -ale-brewer is to “occupy . . . the mystery or craft of coopers.” The -coopers are commanded to make every barrel, which is intended to contain -beer for sale, of the capacity of xxxvi. gallons; ale barrels, however, -are to contain but xxxii. gallons, and so in proportion for smaller vessels. -The wardens of the coopers are empowered to search for illegal vessels, -and to mark every correct vessel with “the sign and token of St. -Anthony’s cross.” This cross is possibly the origin of the X, double X -and treble X now in use upon casks. A correspondent of <i>Notes and -Queries</i>, however, thinks that the letter X on brewers’ casks is probably -thus derived:—Simplex—single X or X. Duplex—double X or XX. -Triplex—treble X or XXX. This was suggested by Owen’s epigram, -<i>lib.</i> xii. 34.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Laudatur vinum simplex, cerevisia duplex</span> -<span class="spp00">Est bona duplicitas, optima simplicitas.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>From early times laws concerning our exports and imports were -considered as specially appertaining to the royal prerogative. Corn -and malt, ale and beer, could only be exported by royal licence. This -is instanced by the order of Edward III., in 1366, to the ports of -London, Sandwich, Bristol, Southampton, and eight other -<span class="nowrap">places:―</span></p> - -<p>“The King, to the collectors of customs in the port of London, -Greeting.</p> - -<p>“We command you, that all merchants and others, who wish to -export corn, malt, ale, and other victuals, be allowed, after first taking -an oath or some other sufficient security from them, to export such -things to our town of Calais and to other of our possessions, but not -elsewhere.”</p> - -<p>In later times a considerable revenue was raised for the Crown by -the profits of these export licences. In the reign of Edward VI. the -export of beer was regulated by an act (1543) which provides that no -larger vessel than a barrel was to be used for export purposes, under fine -of 6s. 8d., and that every exporter should give security for importing so -much “clapboard” as would be an equivalent for the barrels he took -out of the country. Queen Elizabeth jealously guarded the prerogative -in this matter, and in her thrifty way seems to have made a pretty -penny from the licences. English beer had at that time become widely -famed, and could be obtained in foreign parts, as may be learnt by -a letter from Charles Paget to Walsingham (1582), in which he -announces that he is going to Rouen for his health, and intends to -drink <i>English beer</i>. <span class="xxpn" id="p114">{114}</span></p> - -<p>In 1572, Thomas Cantata, a Venetian, sought permission to export -200 tuns of beer, on condition of his making known to her Majesty -certain inventions useful for the defence of the realm. In the same year -one Th. Smith had licence to export 4,000 tuns of beer.</p> - -<p>In 1586, Th. Cullen, of Maldon, Essex, applies to the Council by -letter in which he asks, as a recompense for having discovered Mr. -Mantell, a traitor, that he may have a licence as a free victualler for -twenty-one years, or a licence to transport 400 tuns of beer, or else to -have £40 in money. Even noblemen engaged in the export trade, -for in 1603, licence was granted to Lord Aubigny to export 6,000 -tuns of double beer.</p> - -<p>The power of granting licences to inns and ale-houses in the days of -Elizabeth and her immediate successors, was frequently given by letters -patent to favourites or to persons prepared to pay for the privilege. In -1590 Wm. Carr received a licence for seven years, to give leave to any -persons in London and Westminster to brew beer for sale. The abuses -that grew out of this system formed one of the grievances examined into -by Parliament in 1621.</p> - -<p>A statute was passed in the fourth year of James I. enacting that -“whereas the loathsome and odious sin of drunkenness is of late grown -into common use, being the root and foundation of many other -enormous sins, as bloodshed, etc., to the great dishonour of God and of -our nation, the overthrow of many good arts, and manual trades, the -disabling of divers good workmen, and the general impoverishment of -many good subjects, abusively wasting the good creatures of God,” a fine -of five shillings is imposed for drunkenness, together with six hours in -the stocks. Some attempt had been previously made at legislation in this -direction. In Townsend’s <i>Historical Collections</i> (1680) an account is -found under date Tuesday, November 3rd, 1601, of a debate on a Bill to -restrain the Excess and Abuse used in Victualling Houses. Mr. Johnson -moved, that “bodily punishment might be inflicted on Alehouse keepers -that should be offenders, and that provision be made to restrain Resort -to Alehouses.” In the same bill Sir George Moore spoke against -drunkenness, and desired “some special provision should be made against -it;” and, “touching the Authority of Justices of the Assize and of the -Peace, given by this bill, That they shall assign Inns, and Inn Keepers. -I think that inconvenient: for <i>an Inn is a man’s inheritance</i>, and they -are set at great rates, <i>and therefore, not to be taken away from any -particular man</i>.” The attempt of James who, to tell the truth, was -himself not by any means free from “the loathsome and -hideous sin,” to <span class="xxpn" id="p115">{115}</span> -make his subjects sober by compulsion, seems to have met with but poor -success, for in 1609 another statute was passed which, while confessing -that, “notwithstanding all former laws and provisions already made, the -inordinate and extreme vice of excessive drinking and drunkenness doth -more and more abound,” enacts that a person convicted under the -former act shall be deprived of his licence for the space of three years. -In 1627 a fine of twenty shillings and a whipping is imposed for keeping -an ale-house without a licence.</p> - -<p>Drunkenness seems to have been prosecuted with some severity -during the Commonwealth time, and the entries in the records of -convictions for being “drunk in my view” would seem to point to -the fact that the offenders were haled before the judgment seat ere -the effects of their debauches had passed away.</p> - -<p>As early as the middle of the fifteenth century some attempts were -made to bring about “Sunday closing.” They seem to have taken the -form, for the most part, of bye-laws of corporations, and to have been -generally unsuccessful. In 1428 the corporation of Hull prohibited the -vintners and ale-house keepers from delivering or selling ale upon the -Sunday, under penalty of 6s. 8d. for sellers and 3s. 4d. for buyers. In -1444 an act was made by the Common Council of London “that upon -the Sunday should no manner of thing within the franchise of the City -be bought or sold, neither victual nor other things.” The attempt was -apparently unsuccessful, as we are told that “it held but a while,” but -it was renewed from time to time in some form or other. In 1555 an -order was made by the Privy Council of Queen Mary, and directed to -the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, whereby taverns, -ale or beer houses, &c., are directed to be closed on “Sondaye, or other -festeyvall or hollye daye duringe all the severall tymes of mattyns, highe -masse, and evynsonge, or of eny sermon to be songe or sayde within -their severall parishe Churches upon payne of ymprysonmente, as well -of the boddyes of every suche howseholder, as also of the boddyes of -every suche persone as shall so presume to eate or drynke.” A hundred -years later many entries occur in parish and other records of penalties -for Sunday drinking.</p> - -<hr class="hrtb" /> - -<p>The books of St. Giles’ parish furnish the following -<span class="nowrap">extracts:―</span></p> - -<div class="dtablebox"> -<table class="fsz6" summary=""> -<tr> - <td class="tdright">1641.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of the - Vintner at the Catt in Queene Streete, for p’mitting of - tipling on the Lord’s day</p></td> - <td class="tdright">£1</td> - <td class="tdright">10</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright" id="p116">1644.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of three - poor men, for drinking on the Sabbath daie at Tottenham - Court</p></td> - <td class="tdright">£0</td> - <td class="tdright">4</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright">1646.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of Mr. - Hooker, for brewing on a Fast day</p></td> - <td class="tdright">0</td> - <td class="tdright">2</td> - <td class="tdright">6</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright">1648.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received from Isabel - Johnson, at the Cole Yard, for drinking on the sabbath - day</p></td> - <td class="tdright">0</td> - <td class="tdright">4</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright" rowspan="2">1655.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of a Mayd - taken in Mrs. Jackson’s Ale-house on the sabbath day</p></td> - <td class="tdright">0</td> - <td class="tdright">5</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of a - Scotchman drinking at Robert Owen’s on the Sabbath</p></td> - <td class="tdright">0</td> - <td class="tdright">2</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdright">1658.</td> - <td class="tdright"><p class="pfirst">Received of Joseph - Piers, for refusing to open his doores to have his house - searched on the Lord’s daie</p></td> - <td class="tdright">0</td> - <td class="tdright">10</td> - <td class="tdright">0</td></tr> -</table> -</div><!--dtablebox--> - -<p>In 1641, an amusing pamphlet was published on the subject of -Sunday closing. Its title, frontispiece, and an extract from its contents -are given on the opposite page.</p> - -<div class="dleft dwth-g"> -<img src="images/p116.png" width="175" height="292" alt="" /></div> - -<p>About this period was in vogue that curious old form of punishment -which was known as the drunkard’s, or Newcastle, -cloak. This garment was nothing more nor less -than a beer barrel, worn in the manner shown -in the accompanying illustration. Possibly the -inventor of sandwich men derived his idea from -this source.</p> - -<p>Locke, in his second letter on Toleration, -informs us that the intolerance of the age with -regard to Dissent was carried to such length -that hardly any walk in life was free from -obstacles thrown in the way of Dissenters pursuing it. -Amongst other things he mentions that those who had -licences to sell ale were compelled to receive the Sacrament -according to the rites of the Church of England. We are unable -to find in contemporary records any confirmation of this alleged -regulation.</p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr03" id="p117img"> -<img src="images/p117.png" width="652" height="700" -alt="The Lamentable Complaints of Nick Froth the Tapſter, -and Ruleroſt the Cooke, concerning the reſtraint lately ſet -forth, againſt drinking, potting, and piping on the Sabbath -day and againſt ſelling meat." /> -<div class="dcaption"> -<p><i>Cook.</i>—“There is ſuch news in the world will anger thee -to heare of, it is as bad, as bad may be.”</p> - -<p class="padtopc"><i>Froth.</i>—“Is there ſo? I pray thee what is it, tell me -whatever it be.”</p> - -<p class="padtopc"><i>Cook.</i>—“Have you not heard of the reſtraint lately come -out againſt us, from the higher powers; whereby we are -commanded not to ſell meat nor draw drink upon Sundays, as -will anſwer the contrary at our perils.”</p> - -<span class="sppctr"><img - class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" - /></span> - -<p class=""><i>Froth.</i>—“I much wonder, Maſter Ruleroſt, why my -trade ſhould be put downe, it being ſo neceſſary in a -Commonwealth.”</p> -</div><!--dcaption--></div><!--dctr01--></div> - -<p>Efforts were made by the brewers from time to time to bring about -an alteration in the law restricting the quality of beer to two sorts, the -strong and the small. <i>The Brewers’ Plea or a Vindication of Strong -Beer</i>, London, 1647, thus gives the views of the brewers on the advantages -to be obtained by allowing stronger beer to be brewed:—“For of -hops and malt, our native commodities (and therefore the more agreeable -to the constitutions of our native inhabitants), may be made such -strong beer (being well boiled and hopped, and kept its full -time) as that <span class="xxpn" id="p118">{118}</span> -it may serve instead of Sack, if authority shall think fit, whereby they -may also know experimentally the virtue of those creatures, at their full -height; which beer being well brewed, of a low, pure amber colour, -clear and sparkling, noblemen and the gentry may be pleased to have -English Sack in their wine cellars, and taverns also to sell to those who -are not willing, or cannot conveniently lay it in their own houses; -which may be a means greatly to increase and improve the tillage of -England, and also the profitable plantations of hop grounds . . . -and produce at lesser rates (than wines imported) such good strong beer -as shall be most cherishing to poor labouring people, without which -they cannot well subsist; their food being for the most part of such -things as afford little or bad nourishment, nay, sometimes dangerous; -and would infect them with many sicknesses and diseases, were they not -preserved (as with an antidote) with good beer, whose virtues and -effectual operations, by help of the hop well boiled in it, are more -powerful to expel poisonous infections than is yet publicly known, or -taken notice of.”</p> - -<p>Another ineffectual plea, somewhat later in date, may be here -mentioned. In <i>The grand concern of England explained in several -proposals to the consideration of the Parliament</i>, London, 1673, petition -is made to Parliament that legislation of a protective nature may be -granted to the brewers’ trade. The proposal is “That Brandy, Coffee, -Mum, Tea, and Chocolate may be prohibited,” for these greatly hinder -the consumption of Barley, Malt, and Wheat, the product of our land.</p> - -<p>“But the prohibition of Brandy would be otherwise advantageous to -the Kingdom, and prevent the destruction of his majesty’s subjects; -many of whom have been killed by drinking thereof, it not agreeing -with their constitutions.</p> - -<p>“Before brandy (which is now become common and sold in every -little alehouse) came over into England in such quantities as it now doth, -we drank good strong beer and ale; and all laborious people (which are -far the greatest part of the Kingdom), their bodies requiring, after hard -labour, some strong drink to refresh them, did therefore every morning -and evening use to drink a pot of ale, or a flagon of strong beer; which -greatly promoted the consumption of our own grain, and did them no -great prejudice; it hindered not their work, neither did it take away -their senses, nor cost them much money.”</p> - -<p>This petition, like the last, seems to have been of no effect, for we -find these “destructive” drinks, brandy, coffee, tea, and chocolate, still -in use in this country, and not yet -prohibited by law. <span class="xxpn" id="p119">{119}</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Arriving now at a period where the ancient gives way to the comparatively -modern, this chapter necessarily ends. In the laws of the -present day relating to ale and beer, are curiosities by the score; but we -should hardly earn the thanks of our readers for devoting half this book -to matters which are common knowledge. Suffice it to quote a verse -from the lays of the Brasenose College butler, written, doubtless, at a -time when it was first proposed to repeal the old beer tax, and which -tells in simple words the probable -<span class="nowrap">result:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Yet beer, they tell us, now will be</span> -<span class="spp01">Much cheaper than before;</span> -<span class="spp00">Still, if they take the duty off,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>In duty</i> we drink more.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p119.png" width="144" height="49" alt="" /></div> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p120a.png" width="144" height="49" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p120"><span -class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VI.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap30"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Come all that love good company,</span> -<span class="spp01">And hearken to my ditty,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis of a lovely Hoastess fine,</span> -<span class="spp01">That lives in London City,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which sells good ale, nappy and stale,</span> -<span class="spp01">And always thus sings she,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>My - ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">And a little above my knee.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>The Merry - Hoastess.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap30"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>. . doughty - sons of Hops and Malt.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>A Vade Mecum for - Malt Worms.</i></span></div></div></div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>BREWING AND MALTING IN EARLY -TIMES. — THE ALE-WIVES. — THE BREWERS OF OLD LONDON AND THE -BREWERS’ COMPANY. — ANECDOTES. — QUAINT EPITAPHS.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" -src="images/p120b.png" width="229" height="232" alt="I" -/></span>T seemeth well that before we record the doings of -departed brewers, brewsters, and ale-wives, a page or so -should be devoted to the two principal ingredients—malt and -water—used by those ancient worthies in compounding their -“merrie-goe-downe.”</p> - -<p>Old Fuller thus moralizes on the art of -malting:—“Though commonness causeth contempt, excellent -the Art of first inventing thereof. I confesse it facile -to make Barley Water, an invention which found out itself, -with little more than the joyning of the ingredients -together. But to make mault for Drink, was a masterpiece -indeed. How much of Philosophy concurred to the first Kill -of Mault, and before it was turned on the floor, how often -was it toss’d in the brain of the first inventor thereof. -First, to give it a new growth more than the earth had -bestowed thereon. Swelling it in water to make it last the -longer by breaking it, and taste the sweeter by corrupting -it. Secondly, by making it to passe the fire, the grain (by -Art fermented) <span class="xxpn" id="p121">{121}</span> -acquiring a lusciousnesse (which by nature it had not) -whereby it doth both strengthen and sweeten the water -wherein it is boyled.”</p> - -<p>Those practically engaged in the production of our English national -drink, whether maltsters or brewers, will no doubt be interested to -compare the art of malting as it was carried on three hundred years -ago in this country, with the more familiar processes of to-day. A -description of malting in the sixteenth century is given by Harrison. -“Our drinke,” he says, “whose force and continuance is partlie touched -alreadie, is made of barleie, water and hops, sodden and mingled together, -by the industrie of our bruers, in a certain exact proportion. But -before our barleie doo come unto their hands, it susteineth great alteration, -and is converted into malt, the making whereof I will here set -downe in such order as my skill therein may extend unto. . . Our -malt is made all the yeare long in some great townes, but in gentlemen’s -and yeomen’s houses, who commenlie make sufficient for their owne -expenses onelie, the winter half is thought most meet for that commoditie, -howbeit the malt which is made when the willow doth bud, is -commonlie worst of all, nevertheless each one indeuereth to make it of -the best barleie, which is steeped in a cesterne, in greater or less -quantitie, by the space of three daies and three nights, untill it be -thoroughly soaked. This being doone, the water is drained from it by -little and little, till it be quite gone. Afterward they take it out and -laieng it upon the cleane floore on a round heape, it resteth so -until it be readie to shoote at the roote end, which maltsters call -‘comming.’ When it beginneth, therefor, to shoote in this maner, -they saie it is ‘come,’ and then foorthwith they spread it abroad, first -thick and afterward thinner and thinner upon the said floore (as it commeth) -and there it lieth (with turning every day foure or five times) by -the space of one and twenty daies at the least, the workemen not suffering -it in any wise to take any heat, whereby the bud end should spire, that -bringeth foorth the blade, and by which oversight or hurt of the stuffe -it selfe the malt would be spoiled, and turne small commoditie to the -bruer. When it has gone or been turned so long upon the floore, they -carie it to a kill covered with haire cloth, where they give it gentle -heats (after they have spread it there verie thin abroad) till it be dry, -in the meane while they turne it often that it may be uniformelie -dried. For the more it be dried (yet must it be doone with soft fire) -the sweeter and better the malt is, and the longer it will continue, -whereas if it be not dried downe (as they call it) but slackelie -handled, it will breed a kind of worme, called -a wivell, which <span class="xxpn" id="p122">{122}</span> -groweth in the floure of the corne, and in processe of time will -so eat out it selfe, that nothing shall remaine of the graine -but even the verie rind or huske. The best malt is tried by -hardnesse and colour for if it looke fresh with a yellow hew and -thereto will write like a peece of chalke, after you have bitten a kirnell -in sunder in the middest, then you may assure yourselfe that it is dried -downe. In some places it is dried at leisure with wood alone, or strawe -alone, in other with wood and straw together, but of all the straw dried -is the most excellent. For the wood dried malt when it is brued, beside -that the drinke is higher of colour, it dooth hurt and annoie the head -of him that is not used thereto, bicause of the smoake. Such also as -use both indifferentlie doo barke, cleave, and drie their wood in an oven, -thereby to remove all moisture that should procure the fume, and this -malt is in the second place, and with the same likewise, that which is -made with dried firze, broome, &c.: whereas if they also be occupied -greene, they are in a maner so prejudicial to the corne as is the moist -wood. And thus much of our malts, in bruing whereof some grind the -same somewhat groselie, and in seething well the liquor that shall be put -unto it, they adde to everie nine quarters of mault one of headcorne, -which consisteth of sundrie graine as wheate and otes groond . . .”</p> - -<p>Though the reasons which caused one kind of water to be more suitable -than another for brewing, were not so well understood in olden -days as they are at present, our ancestors had learned in the school of -experience that the quality of the water had much to do with the -quality of the ale and beer brewed from it. Speaking of brewing, -Harrison says: “In this trade also our Bruers observe verie diligentlie -the nature of the water, which they dailie occupy, and soile through -which it passeth, for all waters are not of like goodnesse, sith the fattest -standing water is alwaies the best; for although the waters that run by -chalke and cledgie soiles be good, and next unto the Thames water which -is the most excellent, yet the water that standeth in either of these is -the best for us that dwell in the countrie, as whereon the sunne lyeth -longest, and fattest fish are bred. But of all other the fennie and -morish is the worst, and the clerist spring water next unto it.”</p> - -<p>The silver Thames—very different then from the turbid noisome sewer -of to-day—by reason of the excellence of its water, formed the ordinary -source of supply for the old London Brewers, many of whom erected -their breweries on or near its banks. As early as 1345, however, there -seems to have been a tendency on the part of certain brewers to get -their water elsewhere. In that year a complaint was -made to the <span class="xxpn" id="p123">{123}</span> -authorities on behalf of the Commonalty of the City of London, “that -whereas of old a certain conduit” (probably the Cheapside conduit constructed -in Henry III.’s reign) “was built in the midst of the City of -London, that so the rich and middling persons therein might there -have water for preparing their food, and the poor for their drink; the -water aforesaid was now so wasted by Brewers and persons keeping -brewhouses and making malt, that in these modern times it will no -longer suffice for the rich and middling, nor yet for the poor.” In consequence -of this state of things, the brewers were forbidden to use the -conduit water under penalty, for the first offence to forfeit the <i>tankard</i> -or vessel in which the water was carried, on a second conviction to suffer -fine, and on the third, imprisonment.</p> - -<p>More than four hundred years ago the waters of the Thames were -at some states of the tide too turbid for use, and accordingly in the -reign of Henry VI., the Wardens of the Brewers’ Company were -commanded not to take water for brewing from the Thames when it was -disturbed, but to wait till low water and the turn of the tide. In -Queen Elizabeth’s reign the Thames was beginning to acquire an evil -repute, if we may believe the author of <i>Pierce Penilesse, his supplication -to the Deuill</i> (1592), who refers to the London Brewers in terms of -contempt. “Some” says he, “are raised by corrupt water, as gnats, to -which we may liken brewers, that, by retayling <i>filthie Thames water</i>, -come in a few yeres to be worth fortie or fiftie thousand pound.” Stow -remarks of the London Brewers that “for the more part they remain -near the friendly waters of the Thames.” In his time many brewhouses -were gathered together in the parish of St. Catharine, near the -Tower, and are distinguished on the map of London given in the -Civitates Orbis by the name of “Beer Houses.”</p> - -<p>Many years ago a canal led up from the Thames to the Stag Brewery -at Pimlico, and provided that now famous brewhouse with water.</p> - -<p>All through the reign of Elizabeth, and for some time afterwards, -the Thames in the neighbourhood of the City, continued to afford the -greater part of the water used by the London Brewers. Until the New -River water was brought to London, an event which took place in the -time of James I., the Thames would naturally furnish the chief supply.</p> - -<p>The regulations in force touching the Thames water, had regard to -the manner in which it was carried from the river to the Breweries, and -did not in any way seek to restrict the use of the water as unfit for its -purpose. For instance, in the third year of Elizabeth’s reign the -Wardens of the Brewers were called before the -Common Council and <span class="xxpn" id="p124">{124}</span> -charged not to fetch the water of the Thames in a “liquor-cart,”<a class="afnanc" href="#fn43" id="fnanc43">43</a> -but to -make use of “boge” horses (horses carrying boges, <i>i.e.</i> water-barrels), -according to the ancient laws and ordinances. The command was -subsequently relaxed in favour of brewers living close to the River, and -drawing water from “the Water-gate at the Tower Hill or at the -Whitefriars.” The reason for this regulation is not stated, but the partial -removal of the restriction would seem to show that it was intended -to prevent the crowding of the narrow thoroughfares of the City with -brewers’ carts passing and repassing. The horse with his “boge” would -pass another horse with ease, while two “liquor carts” meeting would -certainly block the way. This interpretation is rather confirmed by a -subsequent regulation, made three years before the Great Fire cleared -away many of the narrow lanes of the City, that brewers’ drays should -not go abroad in the streets after 11 a.m. on account of the obstruction -to traffic thereby occasioned.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc43" id="fn43">43</a> -“Liquor” had then, and also at a far earlier date, the same -technical sense as it now has, and meant water.</p></div> - -<p>Turning now from the ingredients used in brewing to the actual -brewers, it will not surprise any one who has read the chapter immediately -preceding the present one, to be informed that in early times -a great part of the brewing trade was in the hands of the gentler sex. -Alreck, King of Hordoland, is said to have chosen Geirhild for his queen, -in consequence of her proficiency in this necessary art, and what was -not derogatory to the dignity of a queen might of course be performed -by a subject. Accordingly, as has been already shown, even as late as the -seventeenth century the brewing of ale and beer for the household was -looked upon as belonging to the special province of the housewife and -her female servants. Anciently the same custom prevailed in regard to -the brewing of ale for sale, and the brewsters or ale-wives had at one -time a great part of the trade, both in the country and the city. Mr. -Riley, in his preface to the <i>Liber Albus</i>, goes so far as to say that even -down to the close of the fifteenth century, if not later, the London -brewing trade was almost entirely in the hands of women, and he states -that Fleet Street was at that time nearly wholly tenanted by ale-wives -and felt-cap makers. With all respect for Mr. Riley’s intimate knowledge -of the ancient lore connected with London Town, it must be said -that this view seems to be incorrect, for in a list of the London Brewers, -made in the reign of Henry V., and still existing in the City Records, -out of about three hundred names, only fifteen are -those of women. <span class="xxpn" id="p125">{125}</span> -The ale-wives of Fleet Street were probably not brewers, but hucksters -or retailers.</p> - -<p>The first ale-wife deserving of special mention is the Chester “tapstere,” -whose evil doings and fate are recorded in one of the Chester -Misteries, or Miracle Plays, of the fourteenth century. The good folk of -Chester seem to have had a peculiar dislike to being subjected to the -tricks of dishonest brewers and taverners. Even in Saxon times it was -a regulation of the City that one who brewed bad ale should be placed -on a cucking-stool and plunged in a pool of muddy water. For the ale-wife -of the old play a worse fate was reserved, and though she was a -fictitious person, many of the audience would no doubt find little -difficulty in fitting some of their acquaintances with the character depicted. -With that mixture of the sacred and profane which to a modern ear is, -to say the least, somewhat startling, the Mystery in question describes -the descent of Christ into Hell and the final redemption of all men out -of purgatory—all, save one. A criminal remains whose sins are of so -deep a dye that she may not be forgiven. She thus confesses her -<span class="nowrap">guilt:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Some time I was a tavernere,</span> -<span class="spp00">A gentel gossepp, and a tapstere</span> -<span class="spp00">Of wine and ale, a trusty brewer,</span> -<span class="spp03">Which woe hath me bewrought.</span> -<span class="spp00">Of cannes I kept no true measure,</span> -<span class="spp00">My cuppes I solde at my pleasure,</span> -<span class="spp00">Deceavinge many a creature,</span> -<span class="spp03">Tho’ my ale were nought.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p125.png" width="491" height="325" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Sad Fate of a - Mediæval Ale-wife.</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p126">{126}</span></div> - -<p>The ale-wife is then carried off into Hell’s mouth by the attendant -demons, and the play closes.</p> - -<p>The illustration is taken from a <i>miserere</i> seat in Ludlow Church. -The scene is a very similar one to that just described. A demon is -about to cast the deceitful ale-wife into Hell’s mouth. She carries her -gay head attire and her false measure. Another demon reads the -roll of her offences, and a third is playing on the pipes by way of -accompaniment.</p> - -<p>Elynour Rummynge, the celebrated ale-wife of Leatherhead in the -reign of Henry VIII., has been handed down to fame by the pen of -Skelton, the Poet Laureate of the day. It may be, as Mr. Dalloway, one -of Skelton’s editors, suggests, that the poet made the acquaintance of -Elynour while in attendance upon the Court at Nonsuch Palace, which -was only eight miles from her abode. That the Laureate had a very -intimate knowledge of this lady, may be gathered from his minute -description of her unprepossessing -<span class="nowrap">person:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem18"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her lothely lere</span> -<span class="spp00">Is nothynge clere</span> -<span class="spp00">But ugly of chere,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her face all bowsy,</span> -<span class="spp00">Comely crynkled</span> -<span class="spp00">Wondrously wrinkled,</span> -<span class="spp00">Lyke a rost pigges eare,</span> -<span class="spp00">Brystled wyth here,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her nose somdele hoked,</span> -<span class="spp00">And camously croked,</span> -<span class="spp00">Her skynne lose and slacke,</span> -<span class="spp00">Grained like a sacke;</span> -<span class="spp00">With a croked backe.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her kyrtel Brystow red</span> -<span class="spp00">With clothes upon her hed</span> -<span class="spp00">That wey a sowe of led.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p127">{127}</span></div> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p127.png" width="528" height="562" alt=" - Eleanor Rummyng, Alewife." /> -<div class="dcaption"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> - <span class="spp00">When Skelton wore the Laurell Crowne,</span> - <span class="spp00">My Ale put all the Ale-wiues downe.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dcaption--></div><!--dctr02--></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p128">{128}</span></div> - -<p>Thus, and with many more unpleasing qualities, does the poet garnish -the subject of his verse, going on to describe -<span class="nowrap">how―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">She breweth noppy ale</span> -<span class="spp00">And maketh thereof fast sale,</span> -<span class="spp00">To trauellers, to tynkers,</span> -<span class="spp00">To sweters, to swinkers</span> -<span class="spp00">And all good ale drynkers.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>So fond are many of her customers of her ale, that they will come -to it, even though they cannot pay in coin of the realm.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Instede of coyne and monney,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some brynge her a conny,</span> -<span class="spp00">And some a pot of honny,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some a salt, and some a spone,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some theyr hose, and some theyr shone.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The writers of the Elizabethan age make frequent reference to the -ale-wives. “Ask Marian Hacket, the ale-wife of Wincot,” says -Christopher Sly, “if she know me not; if she say I am not fourteen -pence on the score for sheer ale, score me up for the lyingest knave in -Christendom.” One would think that the ale-wife mentioned in <i>The -Knight of the Burning Pestle</i> would have a large, if not a very -lucrative, -<span class="nowrap">trade:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For Jillian of Berry she dwells on a hill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And she hath good beer and ale to sell,</span> -<span class="spp00">And of good fellows she thinks no ill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And thither shall we go now, now, now,</span> -<span class="spp04">And thither shall we go now.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And when you have made a little stay,</span> -<span class="spp00">You need not ask what is to pay,</span> -<span class="spp00">But kiss your hostess and go your way,</span> -<span class="spp00">And thither will we go now, now, now,</span> -<span class="spp04">And thither will we go now.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">All -ale-wives, however, had not so good a repute as Jillian of Berry. -Harrison, whose knowledge of ale was indisputable, speaking of the -fraudulent ale-wives of his time, says: “Such sleights have they for the -utterance of this drink (ale) that they will mire it with resin and salt, -but if you heat a knife red-hot, and quench it in the ale, -so near the <span class="xxpn" id="p129">{129}</span> -bottom of the pot as you can put it, you shall see the rosen come forth -hanging on the knife. As for the force of salt, it is well known by the -effect; for the more the drinker tipleth, the more he may, and so dooth -he carry oft a drie drunken noll to bed with him, except his luck be the -better.”</p> - -<p>The lady, whose tall hat and large white frill appear upon the -next page, went by the unpleasant name of Mother Louse. She is -mentioned by Anthony Wood, in 1673, as an ale-wife of Hedington -Hill, and was supposed to be the last woman who wore a ruff in -England. The verses under the engraving indicate that the dun hat -and ruff had gone out of vogue, and were objects of merriment.</p> - -<p>From the <i>Accounts of the Lord Treasurer of Scotland</i> (fifteenth -century) it may be gathered that the customs and regulations respecting -the brewing and sale of ale were much the same in Scotland as in -this country. The price of ale was fixed from time to time “efter the -imposicioune of the worthi men of the toune,” who regulated it according -to the price of malt. “Browster wives” brewed the greater part -of the ale, and kept most of the ale-houses. Their ale was frequently -made from a barley and oat malt, as was the practice in England at the -same date. As in this country, the lack of piquant flavour, afterwards -supplied by the hop, was in those days compensated by the addition of -ginger, pepper, spices, and aromatic herbs. Though the use of hops -spread but slowly into Scotland, a considerable import trade in beer -(hopped ale) was carried on with Germany. In 1455 the accounts -already quoted show a payment for German beer supplied to the garrison -at Dunbar. Some curious entries also appear for the years 1497–8: -“Item, to Andrew Bertoune, for ten pipe of cider and beir, the price of -all IX li; item, for <i>aill that the Kinges horse drank</i>, viiijd.; item, for -the King’s ships, xij barrellis of ail; for ilk barrell xiiijs. iiijd.”</p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p130.png" width="538" height="746" alt=" -Mother Louſe of Louſe Hall, near Oxford. | - -An Alewife at Hedington Hill (1678) mentioned by Anthony Wood. -Probably the laſt woman in England who wore a ruff." /> -<div class="dcaption"> -<div class="dkeeptgth"> - <div>AN ALEWIFE.</div> - <div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> - <span class="spp00">You laugh now Goodman two ſhoes, but at what?</span> - <span class="spp00">My Grove, my Manſion Houſe, or my dun Hat;</span> - <span class="spp00">Is it for that my loving Chin and Snout</span> - <span class="spp00">Are met, becauſe my Teeth are fallen out;</span> - <span class="spp00">Is it at me, or at my Ruff you titter;</span> - <span class="spp00">Your Grandmother, you Rouge, nere wore a fitter.</span> - <span class="spp00">Is it at Forehead’s Wrinkle, or Cheeks’ Furrow,</span> - <span class="spp00">Or at my Mouth, ſo like a Coney Borrough,</span> - <span class="spp00">Or at thoſe Orient Eyes that nere ſhed tear</span> - <span class="spp00">But when the Exciſemen come, that’s twice a year.</span> - <span class="spp00">Kiſs me and tell me true, and when they fail,</span> - <span class="spp00">Thou ſhalt have larger potts and ſtronger Ale.</span></div> -</div></div></div><!--dcaption--></div><!--dctr02--></div> - -<p>The following extracts from old Scotch laws show the similarity of -the old English and Scotch usages:—“All women quha brewes aill to -be sould, sall brew conforme to the use and consuetude of the burgh all -the yeare. And ilk Browster sall put forth ane signe of her aill, without -her house, be the window or be the dure, that it may be sene as common -to all men; quhilk gif she does not, she sall pay ane unlaw (fine) of foure -pennies.” “It is statute that na woman sel the gallon of aill fra Pasch -until Michaelmes, dearer nor twa pennies; and fra Michaelmas untill -Pasch, dearer nor ane pennie.” A verse or two of the “<i>Ale-wife’s Supplication</i>; -or, the Humble Address of the Scotch Brewers to his Majesty -King George III., for taking away the License and -charging some less <span class="xxpn" id="p131">{131}</span> -duty on Malt and Ale,” must close this reference to the old Scotch -brewing -<span class="nowrap">trade:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s to thee, neighbour, ere we part,</span> -<span class="spp01">But your Ale is not worth the mou’ing</span> -<span class="spp00">You must make it more stout and smart,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or else give over your brewing.</span> -<span class="spp00">It’s nineteen Times ’courg’d thro’ the Draff,</span> -<span class="spp01">So whipt by Willy Water,</span> -<span class="spp00">That Barm and Hop bears a’ the Scoup;</span> -<span class="spp01">I swear I’ve made far better.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Cries Maggy, then, you speak as you ken,</span> -<span class="spp01">Consider our Taxations;</span> -<span class="spp00">And brew it stout, you’ll soon run out,</span> -<span class="spp01">Of both your Purse and Patience:</span> -<span class="spp00">For these gauging Men, with nimble Pen,</span> -<span class="spp01">Can count each Pile of Barley;</span> -<span class="spp00">And he that cheats them of a Gill,</span> -<span class="spp01">Will get up very early.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Returning now to London, it is proposed to give some account of -the brewing trade in olden times, and of the Brewers’ Company.</p> - -<p>The first differences that strike one in contrasting the ancient and -modern breweries are that the former were on a very small scale -compared with the huge establishments of to-day, and that originally -nearly every brewer was also a retailer. In Chaucer’s time a brewhouse -was often synonymous with an -<span class="nowrap">ale-house:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>In - al the toun nas brewhouse ne taverne</span> -<span class="spp00">That he ne visited with his solas.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>We have no knowledge of any representations of brewhouses at this -early period. The interesting picture of a sixteenth-century brewery is -taken from a rare work by Hartman Schopper, entitled, “Πανοπλια, -omnium illiberalium, mechanicarum, aut sedentariarun artium genera -continens, carminibus expressa, cum venustissimis imaginibus omnium -artificum negociationes ad vivum representantibus,” published at -Frankfort-on-Main, 1568. The illustration would no doubt stand as -well for a brewhouse of a much earlier period, judging from the written -descriptions which we possess. The engraver of <i>Der Bierbreuwer</i> was -Jost Ammon, and the engraving is considered one of -the best examples <span class="xxpn" id="p133">{133}</span> -of the art at this very early period. A plate taken from the same work, -representing a cooperage, will be found on page -<a href="#p334" title="go to p. 334">334.</a></p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"><div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p132.png" width="489" height="938" - alt="Der Bierbreuwer. | -Auß Gerſten ſied ich gutes Bier, | -Feißt und ſüß, auch bitter monier, | -In ein Breuwfeſſel weit und groß | -Darein ich denn den Hopſſen ſtoß, | -Laß den ich denn in Brennten fühlen daß | -Damit ſüll ich darnach die Faß, | -Wohl gebunden und wohl gebicht, | -Denn giert er und iſt zugericht. | -Beschreibung aller Stände (1568)." /> -</div><!--dctr04--></div> - -<p>The old German lines under the engraving of the Beer-brewer may -be thus rendered into English: From barley I boil good beer, rich and -sweet and bitter fashion. In a wide and big copper I then cast the hops. -Then [after boiling the wort] I leave it to cool, and therewith I straightway -fill the well-hooped and well-pitched [fermenting] vat; then it -[the wort] ferments, and [the beer] is ready.</p> - -<p>There is no doubt that the brewers’ trade was originally held in little -esteem, and was considered as mean and sordid (<i>de vile juggement</i>). -The ignominious punishments and restrictions (some of which have -been already mentioned) to which the old London brewers were subjected, -prove that their status only slowly improved. In the time of -Henry VIII., however, their position had so far advanced in repute -that in the grant of arms then made to them, they are specified as -“the Worshipful Occupation of the Brewars of the City.”</p> - -<p>The Records of the City of London are particularly full of details -concerning the brewers and the brewing trade, and it will probably give -the best idea of the conditions under which the business was carried on -in former days to mention a few of the principal regulations gathered -from that valuable body of information, and to supplement them by -extracts from the records of the Brewers’ Company. Truth to say, the -brewers and the City authorities were never the best of friends, and -long accounts are to be found from time to time of disputes between -them as to the legal price and quality of the liquor with which the -lieges were to be supplied—struggles in which the action of the authorities -seems, according to our modern notions, to have been arbitrary in -the extreme. An instance of this tyranny over a trade is given in the -<i>Liber Aldus</i>, from which it appears that not only was a brewer compelled -to brew ale of a specified price and quality, but he was not even -allowed to leave off brewing in case he found it did not pay him to continue. -The regulation runs thus: “If any shall refuse to brew, or shall -brew a less quantity than he or she used to brew, in consequence of this -ordinance, he or she shall be held to be a withdrawer of victual from -this city and shall be punished by imprisonment, and shall forswear his -trade as a brewer within the liberties of the City for ever.”</p> - -<p>The same idea, formerly so prevalent, that persons ought to be compelled -by the strong hand to pursue their avocations, and the arbitrary -manner in which the authorities acted in obtaining a supply of victuals, -may be illustrated from the <i>Annals of Dunstaple</i> (1294), in -which it is <span class="xxpn" id="p134">{134}</span> -recorded that the King’s long stay at St. Albans and Langley “enormously -injured the market of Dunstaple and all the country round. . . -The servants of the King seized all victual coming to the market, even -cheese and eggs; they went into the houses of the citizens and carried -away even what was not for sale, and scarce left a tally with any one. -They took bread and ale from the ale-wives, and if they had none <i>they -made them make bread and ale</i>.” In 1297 the Sheriffs of Notts and -Derby are ordered by Edward I. (Rymer R. 1. 883) to proclaim in every -town that the bakers and brewers should bake and brew a sufficient -store of bread and ale for certain Welshmen, who were marching to -chastise the Scots, “because the King is unwilling that, by reason of -such victuals failing, the men of those parts should suffer damage at the -hands of the sd Welshmen.”</p> - -<p>The persons employed in the malt liquor trade, whether as manufacturers -or retailers, are specified in an ordinance of the reign of Henry -IV. to be Brewers, Brewsters, Hostillers (<i>i.e.</i>, Innkeepers), Kewes (<i>i.e.</i>, -Cooks), Pyebakers, and Hucksters. The hucksters were undoubtedly -at one time accustomed to sell their ale in the streets of London. In -1320 they were prohibited by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen from -selling ale on London Bridge. In the sixth year of Richard II. Juliana -atte Vane, huckster, was charged with selling her ale in “hukkesterie;” -she is asked from whom she bought the ale, and replies that she bought -the said ale, viz., one barrel of 30 gallons, from Benedicta (brewster), who -lived at “Crepulgate.” It was accordingly adjudged that Juliana had -broken the City regulations, and the ale was forfeited. The brewers -were forbidden at this time to sell to hucksters under pain of forfeiture -and imprisonment <i>at the will of the Mayor</i>, the intention apparently -being that only a brewer should be a vendor of ale.</p> - -<p>By the reign of Henry IV. the brewers, although they had as yet no -royal charter, had joined themselves together for purposes of mutual -protection and social intercourse. They are mentioned in an ordinance -of the seventh year of that reign as the Mystery (<i>i.e.</i>, trade or craft) of -Free Brewers within the City, and a constitution is ordained for them -by the City Fathers. The freemen of the Mystery are yearly to elect -eight persons, four of the part of the City east of Walbrook, viz., two -masters and two wardens, and four like persons of the part west of -Walbrook. These eight are to make regulations for those using the -mystery of brewing, as to the hiring of servants, the sale of ale, and -such like matters, as they should be charged by the Mayor and Aldermen; -they are also to see “that the good men of -the mystery may <span class="xxpn" id="p135">{135}</span> -have a proper place to go to to transact their own business,” and are -called together upon the proper occasions “by summons of their beadle -in such a manner as other mysteries are;” they are to supervise those -who make and supply ale, and to see that “good, able and seyn (sound) -ale” is brewed according to the legal price, and to report offenders to -the Chamberlain of the City.</p> - -<p>Considerable difficulty was at this time experienced in compelling the -sellers of ale to keep to the lawful measures of barrel, kilderkin, and lesser -vessels. On a complaint being made to the Common Council in the -ninth year of Henry IV., that whereas “each barrel ought to contain -thirty gallons of just measure, but each is deficient by two gallons or -more . . . if the dregs are reckoned as clear ale, and that the brewers -will make no rebate in the price on that account to the great deceit and -damage of the Lords, Gentles and Citizens,” therefore the deputies of -the Chamberlain are ordered to mark every barrel as containing 27 -gallons, and the half barrel as containing 14 gallons by reason of the -aforesaid dregs. Five years later further evil doings are recorded. The -Brewers and brewsters, “to the displeasure of God and contrary to the -profit of the City, sell their ale three quarts for a gallon, one quart and -a half for a potell (<i>i.e.</i>, a two-quart measure); and one hanap (<i>i.e.</i> a two-handled -tankard), for a half quart of which six or seven hanaps scarcely -make a gallon,” and they are therefore ordered for the future to sell -only by sealed measure and not by hanap, tankard, or any such vessel.</p> - -<p>In the reign of Henry V. the famous Lord Mayor, Richard Whitington, -and the Brewers seem to have been perpetually at daggers -drawn.</p> - -<p>The records of the Brewers’ Company contain a quaint account of -an information laid against them for selling dear ale; the complainant -in the case being Sir Richard, whose mayoralty had then expired. The -substance of it, translated from the original Norman French, is as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<p>“On Thursday, July 30th, 1422, Robert Chichele, the Mayor, sent -for the masters and twelve of the most worthy of our company to appear -at the Guildhall; to whom John Fray, the recorder, objected a breach -of government, for which £20 should be forfeited, for selling dear ale. -After much dispute about the price and quality of malt, wherein -Whityngton, the late mayor, declared that the brewers had ridden into -the country and forestalled the malt, to raise its price, they were convicted -in the penalty of £20; which objecting to, the masters were -ordered to be kept in prison in the Chamberlain’s -company, until they <span class="xxpn" id="p136">{136}</span> -should pay it, or find security for payment thereof.” Whereupon, the -Mayor and Court of Aldermen, having “gone homeward to their meat,” -the masters, who remained in durance vile, “asked the Chamberlain and -clerk what they should do; who bade them go home, and promised that -no harm should come to them; for all this proceeding had been done -but to please Richard Whityngton, for he was the cause of all the aforesaid -judgment.” The record proceeds to state that “the offence taken -by Richard Whityngton against them was for their having fat swans at -their feast on the morrow of St. Martin.” Whether this unctuous dish -had offended the famous Mayor’s mind by way of his digestion, does not -appear.</p> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p136.png" width="426" height="486" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Whityngton.</div></div> - -<p>The same Robert Chichele is recorded to have issued the following -curious regulation in 1423:—“That retailers of ale should sell the same -in their houses in pots of “peutre,” sealed and open; and that whoever -carried ale to the buyer should hold the pot in one hand and a cup in -the other; and that all who had cups unsealed should be fined.”</p> - -<p>Many other complaints of the “oppressive” acts of Whitington -towards the Company are also recorded. <span class="xxpn" id="p137">{137}</span></p> - -<p>The Company, as appears from these records, had the power of fining -its members for breach of discipline. In 1421 one William Payne, at -the sign of the Swan, by St. Anthony’s Hospital, Threadneedle Street, -was fined 3s. 4d., to be expended in a swan for the masters’ breakfast, for -having refused to supply a barrel of ale to the King when he was in -France. Simon Potkin, of the Key, Aldgate, was fined for selling short -measure, whereupon he alleged that he had given money to the masters -of the Brewers’ Company, that he might sell ale at his will. This -excuse embroiled him with the Company, who were not to be appeased -until he had paid 3s. 4d. for a swan to be eaten by the masters, but of -which, it is added, “he was allowed his own share.”</p> - -<p>In 1420 Thomas Greene, master, and the wardens of the Company -agreed that they should meet at “Brewershalle” every Monday for the -transaction of their business. It would appear that the first Hall had -then been recently erected, for, as we have seen, the Brewers had in the -preceding reign no fixed place to which “the good men of the mystery” -might resort. Many curious accounts are to be found of election -feasts. The presence of females was allowed. The brothers of the -Company paid 12d., and the sisters 8d., and a brother and his wife -20d. A <i>menu</i> of one of these feasts, given in the ninth year of -Henry V., is subjoined. It shows the nature of these entertainments -at that period.</p> - -<div class="dtablebox"> -<table class="fsz6" summary=""> -<caption>LA ORDINANCE DE NOSTRE FESTE EN CESTE AN.</caption> -<tr> - <th><i>La premier Cours</i></th> - <th><i>The First Course</i></th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Brawne one le mustarde</td> - <td class="tdleft">Brawn with mustard</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Caboch à le potage</td> - <td class="tdleft">Cabbage soup</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Swan standard</td> - <td class="tdleft">Swan standard</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Capons rostez</td> - <td class="tdleft">Roast capons</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Graundez Costades.</td> - <td class="tdleft">Great costard apples.</td></tr> -<tr> - <th><i>La seconde Cours</i></th> - <th><i>The Second Course</i></th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Venyson en broth one</td> - <td class="tdleft">Venison in broth</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Blanche mortrewes<a class="afnanc" href="#fn44" id="fnanc44">44</a></td> - <td class="tdleft">Mortreux soup <span class="xxpn" id="p138">{138}</span></td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Cony standard</td> - <td class="tdleft">Rabbit standard</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Pertriches on cokkez rostez</td> - <td class="tdleft">Partridges with roasted cocks</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Leche Lombard<a class="afnanc" href="#fn45" id="fnanc45">45</a></td> - <td class="tdleft">Leche Lombard</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Dowsettes one pettiz parneux.</td> - <td class="tdleft">Sweetmeats and pastry.</td></tr> -<tr> - <th><i>La troisme Cours</i></th> - <th><i>The Third Course</i></th></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Poires en serope</td> - <td class="tdleft">Pears in syrup</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Graundezbriddes one</td> - <td class="tdleft">Great birds and</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Petitz ensemblez</td> - <td class="tdleft">Little ones together</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Fretours</td> - <td class="tdleft">Fritters</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Payne puff one</td> - <td class="tdleft">Bread puff</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">Un cold bakemete.</td> - <td class="tdleft">A cold baked meat.</td></tr> -</table></div><!--dtablebox--> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc44" id="fn44">44</a> -<i>Mortreux</i> was a kind of white soup. Chaucer says of the Cook -<span class="nowrap">that:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>He - coude roste, and sethe, and broille, and frie,</span> -<span class="spp00">Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc45" id="fn45">45</a> -An old receipt for <i>leche lombard</i> describes it as made of pork -pounded with eggs; sugar, salt, raisins, currants, dates, pepper, and -cloves were added; the mixture was put in a bladder and boiled; raisins, -wine and more spices were added, and the whole was served in a wine -gravy.</p></div> - -<p>It will be gathered from a study of this bill of fare that, though the -Brewers frequently alluded to themselves in petitions as “the poor -men of the Mystery of Brewers,” “your poor neighbours the Berebruers,” -and such like, they nevertheless fared rather sumptuously than -otherwise. Here is their drink bill for a similar -<span class="nowrap">entertainment:―</span></p> - -<div class="dtablebox"> -<table class="fsz6" summary=""> -<caption>BOTERYE.</caption> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">item for xxii galons of red wine</td> - <td class="tdleft">xiiijs. viijd.</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">item for iij kilderkyns of good ale at ijs. iiijd.</td> - <td class="tdleft">viis.</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">item for ij kilderkyn of iij halfpeny Ale at xxij</td> - <td class="tdleft">iijs. viijd.</td></tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdleft">item for j kilderkyn of peny ale</td> - <td class="tdleft">xijd.</td></tr> -</table></div><!--dtablebox--> - -<p>In 1422 Parliament ordered that all the weirs or “kydells” in the -Thames from Staines to Gravesend should be destroyed, and the Lord -Mayor and Aldermen ordained that two men from each of the City -Companies should assist in the work. Thomas Grene and Robert -Swannefeld were accordingly chosen on behalf of the Brewers to go to -Kingston. The expenses were defrayed by a general contribution by -the members of the Company. “These be the names,” -says the old <span class="xxpn" id="p139">{139}</span> -writer, “of Brewers of London, the wheche dede paien diverse somes -of monye for to helpe to destruye the weres yn Tempse for the comynalte -of the Cite of London shulde have the more plente of fissh.” The -names of some two hundred and fifty subscribers are subjoined to the -record.</p> - -<p>In 1424 the Brewers had a Lord Mayor to their mind in John -Michelle, who was “a good man, and meek and soft to speak with.” -When he was sworn-in, the Brewers gave him an ox, that cost 21s. 2d., -and a boar valued at 30s. 1d.; “so that he did no harm to the Brewers, -and advised them to make good ale, that he might not have any -complaint against them.”</p> - -<p>Returning to the ordinances of the City, we find that about this -time (7 Hen. V.) there were some three hundred brewers in the City -and liberties. In that year another precaution was taken to ensure -a proper measure of cask. The coopers were ordered by Whitington to -mark with an iron brand all casks made by them. Each cooper was to -have his own brand, and the marks were to be entered of record. This -regulation was carried into effect, and the mark chosen by each cooper -appears on the City Records with his name annexed, as -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p139.png" width="1200" height="288" alt="" /></div> - -<p>In -the sixteenth year of the reign of Henry VI. the first charter was -granted to the Brewers’ Company. It empowered the freemen of the -Mystery of Brewers of the City of London thenceforward to be a -corporate body, with a common seal and powers of taking and holding -land. The Company was yearly to elect four of their number as -wardens, who were to have power to regulate the members of the -Mystery and their brewing operations, and also to govern and rule all -men employed in, and all processes connected with, the brewing of <i>any -kind of liquor from malt</i> within the City and suburbs for ever. This -last provision was probably intended to extend the power of the -Company to the Fellowship of the Beer-brewers, then beginning to come -into existence. Some years afterwards a coat-of-arms was granted to -the Company by William Hawkeslowe, Clarencieux King of Arms of -the South Marches of Ingelond. It is thus described -in the grant: <span class="xxpn" id="p140">{140}</span> -“They beren asure thre barly sheues gold, bound of the same, a -cheveron, gowles, in the cheveron thre barels, Sylvir, garnyshed with -sable.”</p> - -<div class="dleft dwth-d"> -<img src="images/p140a.png" width="291" height="273" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Ancient Arms.</div></div> - -<p class="pleft">The Brewers had taken for their patron saints St. Mary -and St. Thomas the Martyr, and bore the arms of Thomas -à Becket impaled with their own, until Henry VIII., -discovering that St. Thomas was no saint after all, -desecrated his tomb, scattered his dust to the four winds -of heaven, and compelled the Brewers to adopt another -escutcheon. The new coat, discarding the obnoxious saint’s -insignia, was a good deal like the old one, and is borne -by the Company to this day. It is described in the grant -as follows: “Geules on a Cheueron engrailed silver three -kilderkyns sable hoped golde between syx barly sheues in -saultre of the same, upon the Helme on a torse siluer and -asur a demy Morien in her proper couler, vestid asur, -fretid siluer, the here golde, holding in either hande thre -barley eres of the same manteled sable, dobled siluer.”</p> - -<div class="dright dwth-c"> -<img src="images/p140b.png" width="772" height="707" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Arms of the Brewers’ Company.</div></div> - -<p class="pleft">With regard to the old Hall of the Brewers’ Company, it -occupied the site of the present Hall, and is described by -Stowe as a “faire house;” it was destroyed in the Great -Fire. Of the present edifice, which sprang Phœnix-like -from the ashes of the yet smoking City—it bears date -1666—suffice it to say that it is a fine building, -characteristic of the architectural style of the period, -and that for lovers of old oak carvings its interior is -worthy a visit.</p> - -<p>This notice of the Brewers’ Company, its foundation, its -feasts, and <span class="xxpn" id="p141">{141}</span> its -troubles has taken us rather in advance of our tale, and we -must hark back to the middle of the fifteenth century.</p> - -<p class="pclearfix">To judge from an entry in the City -Records of the sixteenth year of Edward IV. the Brewers -were sometimes openly resisted by force of arms. The actual -occasion on which this was done is not specified, but it is -recorded that Richard Geddeney was committed to prison for -having said that the Brewers had made new ordinances, and -that it would be well to oppose them, as had formerly been -done, with swords and daggers, when they were assembled in -their Hall.</p> - -<p>Six years afterwards a petition was presented to the Lord Mayor -and Aldermen by the Brewers, which is so good a specimen of the usual -style of their supplications that some portions of it are given. It begins -by “petieously compleynyng that where in tyme passed thei have -honestly lyved by the meanes of bruyng, and utteryng of their chaffer -as well within the fraunchises of the saide Citee as withoute. And hath -ben able to bere charges of the same citee after their havours and powers -as other freemen of the saide citee. Where now it is so that for lak of -Reules and other directions in the saide Crafte they ben disordered and -none obedience nor goode Rule and Guydyng is hadd within the saide -Crafte to the distruction thereof.” It is therefore prayed—“That eny -persone occupying the Craft or feat of bruying within the franchise or -the saide citee make or do to be made good and hable ale and holesome -for mannys body. . . and that no manner ale after it be clensed and -set on yeyst be put to sale or borne oute to eny custumers hous till that -it have fully spourged (worked).” That no brewer shall occupy a house -or a “seler” <i>apart from his own dwelling-house</i> for the sale of his ale. -That no brewer shall “entice or labour to taak awey eny custumer from -a brother brewer,” or “serve or do to be served any typler (<i>i.e.</i>, retailer -of ale) or huxster as to hym anewe be comen custumer of any manner -ale for to be retailed till he have verrey knowlage that the saide typler -or huxster be clerely <i>oute of dett and daunger for ale to any other -person</i>” . . . . . That every person keeping a house and being a -<i>brother of Bruers</i> do pay to the Wardens of the Company a sum of 4s. -yearly. “That no manner persone of the said crafte . . . presume -to goo to the feeste of the Maior or the Sherriff <i>unless he be invited</i> . . -that members of the crafte shall appear in livery when so commanded -that is to sey gowne and hode . . . That the livery of the crafte be -changed and renewed every third year agenst the day of the Election of -the newe Wardeyns of the crafte . . .” That once a quarter the -ordinances of the Company shall be read to the -assembled brewers in <span class="xxpn" id="p142">{142}</span> -their common hall. That no brewer is to buy malt except in the market. -That malt brought to market must not be “capped in the sakke, nor -raw-dried malte, dank or wete malte or made of mowe brent barly, -belyed malt, Edgrove malte, acre-spired malte, wyvell eten malte or -meddled<a class="afnanc" href="#fn46" id="fnanc46">46</a>, in the deceite of the goode people of the saide citee, upon -payn of forfaiture of the same.” No one is to buy his own malt or -corn in the market, “to high the price of corn in the Market,” under -pain of the pillory. No one is to sell malt “at the Market of Gracechurch -or Greyfreres before 9 of the clock till market bell therfor -ordeigned be rongen,” and at one o’clock all the unsold malt is to be -cleared away.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc46" id="fn46">46</a> -“Capped in the sakke” = probably with some good malt put -on the top and defective malt beneath. Mowe brent barley = barley -that has heated in the stack. Belyed = swollen. Acre-spired = with -the shoot of the plant projecting from the husk. Wyvell-eten = weevil-eaten. -Meddled = mixed.</p></div> - -<p>All these rules and ordinances the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were -graciously pleased to sanction and confirm.</p> - -<p>The records contain many entries showing the difficulties the -authorities had to contend with in keeping the brewers to the legal -price and qualities of ale, a subject already touched on in Chapter V. -The prices being fixed by law, and no allowance being made for the natural -fluctuations of the market, it is not to be supposed that the brewers -would give their customers any better ale than they were absolutely -compelled by law to give. As old Taylor quaintly -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I find the <i>Brewer</i> honest in his <i>Beere</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">He sels it for small Beere, and he should cheate,</span> -<span class="spp00">Instead of <i>small</i> to cosen folks with <i>Greate</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">But one shall seldome find them with that fault,</span> -<span class="spp00">Except it should invisibly raine Mault.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Disputes arising between the officers of the Brewers’ Company and -any members of the guild, were sometimes referred for settlement to -the Lord Mayor and Aldermen. In 1520 there was “variance and -debate in the Court of Aldermen between the Master and Wardens of -the ale-brewers and Thomas Adyson, ale-brewer, concerning the making -of a growte” by the latter. The parties having submitted their case to -the Court, it was adjudged that Adyson should go to -the Brewers’ Hall, <span class="xxpn" id="p143">{143}</span> -and there, before the Master and Wardens, “with due reverence as to -them apperteynyng, standing before them his hed uncovered, shall say -these words: ‘Maysters, I pray you to be good masters to me, and fromhensforth -I promytte you that I shall be good and obedient to you . . -and obey the laws and customs of the house.’”</p> - -<p>Foreign brewers (<i>i.e.</i>, brewers not members of the Company) were -only allowed to sell ale within the City on paying 40s. annually to the -use of the City, and in default of payment the Chamberlain “shall -distreyne their carts from tyme to tyme.” There was also a duty called -ale-silver, which had been paid from time immemorial to the Lord -Mayor by the sellers of ale within the City.</p> - -<p>Complaints of short measure were still common, and as it is shown -that the barrels were delivered to customers without being properly filled, -so that “thynhabitants of the City paye for more ale and bere than -they doo receive, which is agenst alle good reason and conscience,” -therefore the brewers were ordered to take round “filling ale” to fill up -their customers’ casks.</p> - -<p>In the eighteenth year of Henry VIII. a striking instance of the insubordination -of the Brewers is recorded. The four Wardens of the -Company were ordered to produce their books of fines, “the whiche to -doo they utterly denyed.” Therefore the four Wardens and their Clerk, -Lawrence Anworth, “were comytted to the prisn of Newgate ther to -remayne.” This seems to have awakened the Wardens to a sense of -their duties, for on the same day they brought in “ij. boks inclosed in a -whytte bagge.” A committee was appointed to inspect the same, “forasmuche -as it is thought that mayne unreasonable fynes and other -ordynannces be conteyned in theym.”</p> - -<p>It has been already mentioned (p. 68) that from the time of Henry -VI. beer had begun slowly to displace the old English ale. The Beer-brewers -had gathered themselves together into a “fellowship” for the -protection of their interests, and were quite distinct from the Ale-brewers, -who composed the Brewers’ Company. Whatever may have -been the case earlier, in the reign of Henry VIII. the Beer-brewers -numbered in their fellowship a certain proportion of Dutchmen. In -the twenty-first year of that reign it was ordained that “no maner Berebruer, -<i>Ducheman or other</i>, selling any bere shall, etc.” “Also that -no maner of berebruer <i>Englise</i> or <i>straunger</i>, shall have and kepe in -his house above the nomber of two Coblers to amende their vessells.” -Constant reference is made to the Beer-brewers as being a fellowship -separate from the Ale-brewers until the reign of Edward -VI., by which <span class="xxpn" id="p144">{144}</span> -time they had united, apparently without obtaining the sanction of any -authority to the change. In the fifth year of that reign a resolution -was passed by the Court of Common Council that, “forasmoche as the -beare-bruers in the last commen counseyll here holden most dysobedyentlye, -stubborenelye, and arrogantlye behaved theymselfes toward this -honourable Courte,” the whole craft of the Beer-brewers are for ever -disqualified from being elected to serve upon the Common Council; if, -however, the Beer-brewers make humble submission, they may be -restored to their old status, “if your lordship and the wysdomes of this -Citee shall then thynke it mete.” And forasmuch as “most evydently -yt hathe apperyd that this notable stobernes of the beare-bruers hath -rysen by the counseyll and provocatioun of the ale-bruers, which have -unyted to theym all the beare-bruers,” it is ordered that for the future -the two crafts shall not unite, nor shall the Ale-brewers compel any one -to come into their Company. This state of things continued till the -third year of Queen Mary’s reign, when a petition was presented by -the Brewers to the Common Council, which recited that the two crafts -had formerly been united, “as mete and verye convenyente it was and -yet is,” and prayed that the restriction might be removed. The petition -ended thus: “and they with all their hartes accordinge to theire -dueties shall daylye praye unto almightye god longe to prosper and -preserve your honours and worshippes in moche helthe and felycytie.” -This affecting appeal, which would have moved a heart of stone, had -the desired effect, and from that day to the present the Beer-brewers -and Ale-brewers have been united, “as mete and very convenyente it -is” that they should be. Different governance, however, was applied to -the former, and for long after this period four Surveyors of the Beer-brewers, -being “substantyall sadd men,” were elected every year to -supervise the trade.</p> - -<p>An instance of the tyranny with which the trades were regulated in -the old days has been already given; a very similar one may be taken -from an order of the Star Chamber in the twenty-fourth year of -Henry VIII., which commands that “in case the Maire and Aldermen -of the same Citie shall hereafter knowe and perceyve or understonde -that any of the saide Brewers of their frowarde and perverse myndes -shall at any tyme hereafter sodenly forbere and absteyne from bruynge, -whereby the King’s subjects shulde bee destitute or onprovided of -Drynke,” the brewhouses of such “wilfull and obstynate” brewers shall -be taken possession of by the City, who are to allow others to brew there, -and provide them materials “in case their lak greynes -to brew with.” <span class="xxpn" id="p145">{145}</span></p> - -<p>Regrators and forestallers (<i>i.e.</i>, persons who bought large stocks of -provisions with the object of causing a rise in price) were in old times -severely treated by the authorities, who generally checked their -iniquitous dealings by ordering them to sell their stores at a <i>reasonable</i> -price. The forestaller, indeed, might think himself lucky if he escaped -so easily. In the fourth year of Edward VI. four persons who had -accumulated great quantities of hops in a time of scarcity were ordered -to sell their whole stock at once at a reasonable price.</p> - -<p>All through the reign of Queen Elizabeth the unfortunate brewers -were vexed with frequent and, in some cases, contradictory regulations: -This beer was to be allowed; that beer was prohibited; prices were still -fixed by law, and qualities must correspond to the City regulations. -Even though a man be ruined, he could not leave off brewing, for fear of -being held a “rebel.”</p> - -<p>A curious ordinance, made in the fourteenth year of Elizabeth’s -reign, shows the extreme newness of the ale and beer consumed by the -good men of the City of London in those days. The ordinance is -expressed to be for the reformation of “dyvers greate and foule abuses -disorderlye bigonne by the Brewers,” and, reciting that the Brewers -have begun to deliver their beer and ale but two or three hours after -the same be cleansed and tunned, it provides that no beer or ale is to be -delivered to customers till it has stood in the brewer’s house six hours -in summer and eight in winter.</p> - -<p>There seems to have been a smoke question in London even as early -as this period, for in the twenty-first year of Elizabeth we find that -John Platt was committed to prison, “for that he contrarye to my -Lorde Maior’s comaundement to refraine from burninge of seacoles -during her Majestie’s abode at Westminster, he did continually burn -seacole notwithstanding.” A petition from the Brewers to Her -Majesty’s Council about the same period recites that the Brewers understand -that Her Majesty “findeth hersealfe greately greved and anoyed -with the taste and smoke of the seacooles used in their furnaces.” They -therefore promise to substitute wood in the brewhouses nearest to -Westminster Palace. What would have been Her Majesty’s “grief” if -she could have experienced a modern November in London?</p> - -<p>In Peter Pindar’s poem on the visit of King George III. to Whitbread’s -Brewery, allusion is made to the once popular belief that -brewers’ horses are usually fed on grains. The origin of this idea may -possibly be found in the regulations enforced in London as to the price -of and the dealings in brewers’ grains. In a -proclamation of Elizabeth’s <span class="xxpn" id="p146">{146}</span> -time it is recited that “forasmuche as brewers’ graines be victuall for -horses and cattell as hey and horsebread and other provinder be,” therefore -a price is to be set upon grains by the Lord Mayor, and the buying -of grains to sell again is forbidden. The difficulties of enforcing the -rules as to price and quality of ale and beer are shown in the frequent -complaints of the brewers, and in the numerous trials that were made -from time to time by the City authorities to ascertain how much drink -ought to be brewed from a fixed quantity of malt. In the thirty-fifth -year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, a large Committee was appointed to -make trial, at the charges of the City, of twenty quarters of malt, to be -brewed into two sorts of beer, viz., strong beer at 6s. 8d. the barrel, and -“doble” beer at 3s. 4d. the barrel. As a result of the trial, the brewers -promised to draw only five barrels and a half of double beer from a -quarter of malt until the price of malt had fallen to 18s. the quarter; -a strong proof this of the growing taste for strong ale and beer. -Shortly before this time the strongest ale allowed by law had been this -same “doble.” Now the “doble” had taken the place of the single, and -the strong ale of twice the strength of the “doble” had stepped into its -place.</p> - -<p>A very summary way had the City authorities in the sixteenth -century, of treating any drink or victual which did not come up to the -required standard of excellence. In 1597 we find it ordered that two -and fifty pipes of corrupt beer, “being nether fitt for man’s body, nor -to be converted into sawce (<i>i.e. vinegar</i>) . . . shall have the heades -of all the same pipes beaten owte and the beer poured out into the -channells, part in Cheapside, part in Cornhill and part in Bishopsgate.”</p> - -<p>After the reign of Elizabeth the entries concerning the Brewers and -their delinquencies become fewer and farther between. The prices of -ale and beer were still fixed by law, but more common-sense views on -the subject of trade and trade regulation were slowly beginning to prevail, -and we soon lose all traces of the tyrannous and vexatious regulations -of which so many instances occur in earlier times. One more such -instance may be mentioned of an arbitrary attempt to force trade out of -its natural channels, and to lower prices and compel sobriety at one and -the same time. In 1614 the Lord Mayor, “finding the gaols pestered -with prisoners, and their bane to take root and beginning at ale-houses, -and much mischief to be there plotted, with great waste of corn in -brewing heady strong beer, many consuming all their time and means -sucking that sweet poison,” had an exact survey taken of all victualling -houses and ale-houses, which were above a thousand. -As above 300 <span class="xxpn" id="p147">{147}</span> -barrels of beer were in some houses, the whole quantity of beer in -victualling houses amounting to above 40,000 barrels, he had thought -it high time to abridge their number and limit them by bonds as to -the quantity of beer they should use, and as to what orders they -should observe, whereby the price of corn and malt had greatly fallen. -The Brewers, however, seem to have been too many for his Lordship, for -though he limited the number of barrels to twenty per house, and the -quality of the two sorts of beer to 4s. and 8s. a barrel, so that the price -of malt and wheat was in a fortnight reduced by 5s. or 6s. per quarter, -yet the Brewers brewed as before, alleging that the beer was to be -used for export, and, “combining with such as kept tippling houses,” -conveyed the same to the ale-houses by night, so that in a few weeks’ -time the price of malt had risen to much the same figure as before.</p> - -<p>In 1626 the Brewers’ Company was in evil case, as may be judged -from a petition presented by them in that year to the City Fathers, in -which they allege that they are in a decayed state and not able to -govern their trade, that their Company consists of but six beer-brewers -and a small number of ale-brewers, and that other brewers are free of -other Companies. The petition goes on to pray that no other person -than a freeman of the Company be allowed to set up a brewhouse in -the City. The petition was referred to a Committee, and nothing more -was heard of it. A similar petition, presented to the Common Council -in the year 1752, was considered and the prayer granted.</p> - -<p>While, however, the Brewers’ Company had been allowed to fall -into decay, the City regulations of the trade had become less and less -irksome, and the brewers themselves increased in wealth and prosperity. -Many allusions may be found in the writers of the middle of the -seventeenth century, which prove that the status of the brewers had -greatly improved. The old Water Poet thus describes how the -brewers “are growne -<span class="nowrap">rich”:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus Water boyles, parboyles, and mundifies,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cleares, cleanses, clarifies, and purifies.</span> -<span class="spp00">But as it purges us from filth and stincke:</span> -<span class="spp00">We must remember that it makes us drinke,</span> -<span class="spp00">Metheglin, Bragget, Beere, and headstrong Ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">(That can put colour in a visage pale)</span> -<span class="spp00">By which meanes many Brewers are growne rich,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in estates may soare a lofty pitch.</span> -<span class="spp00">Men of Goode Ranke and place, and much command,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who have (by sodden Water) purchast land: - <span class="xxpn" id="p148">{148}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Yet sure I thinke their gaine had not been such</span> -<span class="spp00">Had not good fellowes usde to drinke too much:</span> -<span class="spp00">But wisely they made Haye whilst Sunne did shine,</span> -<span class="spp00">For now our Land is overflowne with Wine:</span> -<span class="spp00">With such a Deluge, or an Inundation</span> -<span class="spp00">As hath besotted and halfe drown’d our Nation.</span> -<span class="spp00">Some there are scarce worth 40 pence a yeere</span> -<span class="spp00">Will hardly make a meale with Ale or Beere:</span> -<span class="spp00">And will discourse, that wine doth make good blood,</span> -<span class="spp00">Concocts his meat, and make digestion good,</span> -<span class="spp00">And after to drink Beere, nor will, nor can</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>He lay a churl upon a Gentleman</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem38"> -<p>A somewhat similar moral may be drawn from the humorous little -poem, written a century and a half later by a namesake of the Water -<span class="nowrap">Poet:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">THE BREWER’S COACHMAN.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Honest William, an easy and good natur’d fellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">Would a little too oft get a little too mellow;</span> -<span class="spp00">Body coachman was he to an eminent brewer,</span> -<span class="spp00">No better e’er sat on a coach-box to be sure.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">His coach was kept clean, and no mothers or nurses,</span> -<span class="spp00">Took more care of their babes, than he took of his horses;</span> -<span class="spp00">He had these, aye, and fifty good qualities more,</span> -<span class="spp00">But the business of tippling could ne’er be got o’er.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So his master effectually mended the matter,</span> -<span class="spp00">By hiring a man who drank nothing but water,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Now - William,” says he, “you see the plain case,</span> -<span class="spp00">Had you drank as he does you’d have kept a good place.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Drink - water!” cried William; “had all men done so,</span> -<span class="spp00">You’d never have wanted a coachman, I trow.</span> -<span class="spp00">They are soakers, like me, whom you load with reproaches,</span> -<span class="spp00">That enable you brewers to ride in your coaches.”</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A short space only may be devoted to a record of a few of the more -remarkable brewers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Jan -Steen, of Delph, seems to have been a brewer famed rather for his -eccentricities than for his beer. He flourished in the days of Charles II., -and Arnold Hinbraken, his biographer, says that a -whole book might <span class="xxpn" id="p149">{149}</span> -be filled with droll episodes of his life. “He was so attached to boon -companions, that his Brewery came to grief. He bought wine with his -money instead of malt. His wife, seeing this, said one day to him, ‘Jan, -our living is vanishing, our customers call in vain, there is no beer in -the cellar, nor have we malt for a Brew, what will become of us? You -should bring life into the brewery.’ ‘I’ll keep it alive,’ said Jan, and -walked away. He went to market and bought several live ducks, having -first told his men to fill the largest kettle with water and heat it. He -then threw a little malt in it, and threw in the Ducks, which, not -accustomed to hot water, flew madly through the Brewery making a -horrid noise, so that his wife came running in to see what the matter -was, when Jan, turning to her, said, ‘My love, is it not lively now in -our Brewery?’ However, he gave up brewing, and turned Painter.”</p> - -<p>William Hicks, who died in the year 1740, was one of the most -remarkable Brewers of the last century. He was brewer to the Royal -household, and left behind him a well-earned reputation for honesty -and loyalty. A striking proof of his loyalty may be seen to this day in -the statue of George I., which he set up on the summit of Bloomsbury -steeple, and of which a facetious person -<span class="nowrap">wrote:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The King of Great Britain was reckon’d before</span> -<span class="spp00">The head of the Church by all good Christian people,</span> -<span class="spp00">But his brewer has added still one title more</span> -<span class="spp00">To the rest, and has made him the head of the steeple.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Another celebrated brewer of last century was Humphrey Parsons, -twice Lord Mayor of London. This gentleman, when upon a hunting -party with Louis XV., happened to be exceedingly well mounted, and, -contrary to the etiquette observed in the French Court, outstripped -the rest of the company, and was first in at the death. On the King -asking the name of the stranger, he was indignantly informed that he -“was un chevalier de malte.” The King entered into conversation -with Mr. Parsons, and asked the price of his horse. The Chevalier, -bowing in the most courtly style, replied that the horse was beyond any -price other than his Majesty’s acceptance. The horse was delivered, -and from thenceforward the <i>chevalier</i> Parsons had the exclusive -privilege of supplying the French Court and people with his far-famed -“black champagne.”</p> - -<p>It has been the sad reflection of many an one, on wandering in a -churchyard and reading the epitaphs of the departed, that certainly the -most virtuous and highly-gifted of mankind -have already passed <span class="xxpn" id="p150">{150}</span> -away—that is, if the epitaphs are absolutely to be relied on. Mr. Tipper, the -Newhaven brewer, who died in 1785, and lies buried in Newhaven -Churchyard, is an instance in point. Surely none but himself could -have been Mr. Tipper’s parallel. His epitaph runs -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Reader! with kind regards this grave survey,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor heedless pass where Tipper’s ashes lay.</span> -<span class="spp00">Honest he was, ingenuous, blunt and kind,</span> -<span class="spp00">And dared do, what few dare do—speak his mind.</span> -<span class="spp00">Philosophy and History well he knew,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was versed in Physick and in Surgery too.</span> -<span class="spp00">The best old Stingo he both brewed and sold,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor did one knavish trick to get his gold.</span> -<span class="spp00">He played thro’ life a varied comic part,</span> -<span class="spp00">And knew immortal Hudibras by heart.</span> -<span class="spp00">Reader, in real truth, such was the man,</span> -<span class="spp00">Be better, wiser, laugh more if you can.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The last resting place of Mr. Pepper, sometime brewer of Stamford, -in Lincolnshire, bears these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Though <i>hot</i> my name, yet mild my nature,</span> -<span class="spp00">I bore good will to every creature;</span> -<span class="spp00">I brew’d good ale and sold it too,</span> -<span class="spp00">And unto each I gave his due.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The following lines were composed on a brewer who, becoming too -big a man for his trade, retired from business—and -<span class="nowrap">died:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ne’er quarrel with your craft,</span> -<span class="spp01">Nor with your shop dis’gree.</span> -<span class="spp00">He turned his nose up at his Tub</span> -<span class="spp01">And the bucket kicked he.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>And so the old Brewers are dead and gone, with their virtues and -their faults, their troubles and their successes, and the modern Brewers -reign in their stead.</p> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p150.png" width="144" height="37" alt="" /></div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p151a.png" width="144" height="50" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p151"> - <span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VII.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<p>“The Almaynes with their smale Rhenish wine are - contented; but we must have March beere, double beere, - dagger ale, and bracket . . .”</p> - -<div class="psignature"><i>Gascoygne’s Delicate Dyet for - Daintie-Mouthed Droonkards.</i></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"> - <div class="dnowrap30"> - <div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Alum si fit stalum non est malum</span> -<span class="spp00">Beerum si fit clerum est - sincerum.</span></div><!--dstanzactr--> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Old - Rhyme.</i></span></div><!--dnowrap30--> -</div><!--dpoemctr--></div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>VARIOUS KINDS OF ALES AND BEERS.—SOME -FOREIGN BEERS. — RECEIPTS. — SONGS. — ANECDOTES.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"><span class="spdropcap"> -<img class="idropcap" src="images/p151b.png" width="232" -height="237" alt="A" /></span>N attempt to describe, or -even to specify, all the ales and beers that have gained a -local or more wide-spread fame, would be a lengthy task. -Nearly every county in England, and nearly every town -of any size, has been at one time or another noted for -its malt liquors. The renown of some localities has been -evanescent, having depended probably upon the special art -of some “barmy” brewer or skilful ale-wife, whilst of -others it may be said that years only increase their fame -and spread their reputation.</p> - -<p>From a perusal of those queer old collections of quackery, magic, -herb-lore and star-lore, the Saxon Leechdoms, it may be gathered that -our Saxon ancestors brewed a goodly assortment of malt liquors. They -made beer, and strong beer; ale, and strong ale; clear ale, lithe (clear) -beer; and <i>twybrowen</i>, or double-brewed ale, the mighty ancestor of -the “doble-doble” beer of Elizabethan times. Besides all these, there -was foreign ale for those whose tastes were too fastidious to be satisfied -with their native productions. <span class="xxpn" id="p152">{152}</span></p> - -<p>On the authority of the <i>Alvismál</i>, it may be said that no distinction -was originally drawn between ale and beer, except, perhaps, that the -latter was considered to be a somewhat more honourable designation; -“öl heitir meth mönnum en meth Asum bjoor” (<i>i.e.</i>, ale it is called -among men, and among the gods beer).</p> - -<p>The <i>Exeter Book</i>, a collection of Anglo-Saxon poems, contains the -expressions, “a good beer-drinker,” “angry with ale,” “drunken with -beer,” in close juxtaposition and apparently without any distinction of -meaning. A distinction must, however, have arisen in very early -times, for in the collection of Saxon Leechdoms, mentioned above, -a direction is to be found that a patient is on no account to drink -beer, although he may partake in moderation of ale and wine; and -the same work contains the remarkable and apparently impossible -statement that while a pint of ale weighs six pennies more than a -pint of water, a pint of beer weighs twenty-two pennies less than a -pint of water.</p> - -<p>The word beer seems gradually to have given place to the word ale, -and though the former may have lingered in some parts of the country, -and the passage from <i>King Horn</i> already quoted shows that in the -thirteenth century it was not quite forgotten—ale became the usual word -to express malt liquor. It was English <i>ale</i> that strengthened the arm -of English bowmen at Crecy and Poictiers, and on many another well-fought -field; and English <i>ale</i> was the “barley-broth” which “decocted” -the cold blood of the dwellers in this land of fogs and mist “to such -valiant heat” and stubborn endurance in their constant struggles with -the valour and chivalry of France.</p> - -<p>The old English word “beor,” indeed, had become so weakened and -specialised, even as early as the tenth century, that it is to be found in -a Vocabulary of that date as an equivalent for idromellum, a word -properly signifying an inferior sort of mead, but also denoting the sweet -wort, before fermentation had changed it into <i>ale</i>. It is curious to -observe that when next the word “beer” came into common use in our -language, it was by introduction of our neighbours the Flemings, and -was specially applied to malt liquor in which the bitter of the hop was -an important ingredient. The word left us in sweetness, it returned in -bitterness, and so the whirligig of time brings in its revenges. Beer -became the name for hopped ale, but that distinction soon began to be -less significant, for as early as 1616 we find Gervase Markham, in his -<i>Maison Rustique</i>, recommends the use of a small quantity of hops in -ale-brewing. <span class="xxpn" id="p153">{153}</span></p> - -<p>Taylor, in <i>Drink and Welcome</i>, dwells upon this distinction between -ale and beer in the seventeenth century as follows:—“Now to write of -Beere I shall not need to wet my pen much with the naming of it, it -being a drinke which Antiquitie was an <i>Aleien</i> or a meere stranger to, -and as it hath scarcely any name, so hath it no habitation, for the places -or houses where it is sold doth still retain the name of an Alehouse. -This comparison needs a <i>Sir Reverence</i> to usher it, but being Beere is -but an Upstart and a Foreigner or Alien, in respect of <i>Ale</i>, it may serve -instead of a better; Nor would it differ from Ale in anything, but onely -that an Aspiring <i>Amaritudinous</i> Hop comes crawling lamely in, and -makes a Bitter difference betweene them, but if the Hop be so crippled, -that he cannot be gotton to make the oddes, the place may poorely bee -supply’d with chopp’d Broome (new gathered) whereby Beere hath -never attained the sober Title of <i>Ale</i>, for it is proper to say <i>A Stand of -Ale</i>, and a <i>Hoggeshead of Beere</i>, which in common sense is but a -swinish phrase or appellation.”</p> - -<p>That curious ballad entitled <i>Skelton’s Ghost</i>, which was probably the -work of a rhymer of the seventeenth century, points to the same -distinction. The ghost of Skelton the Laureate is supposed to be -addressing some of the jovial characters of the period much in the tone -of one who, having lived in the golden age (of liquor), looks down with -pity and scorn at a later-day’s degenerate topers. These are the -particular lines in -<span class="nowrap">point:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">For in King Harry’s time</span> -<span class="spp00">When I made this rhyme</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">Full Winchester gage</span> -<span class="spp00">We had in that age</span> -<span class="spp00">The Dutchman’s strong beere</span> -<span class="spp00">Was not hopt over here,</span> -<span class="spp00">To us ’twas unknowne;</span> -<span class="spp00">Bare ale of our owne,</span> -<span class="spp00">In a bowle we might bring,</span> -<span class="spp00">To welcome the King.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At the present day, in the eastern counties, and indeed over the -greater portion of the country, <i>ale</i> means strong, and <i>beer</i> means small -malt liquor; in London <i>beer</i> usually means porter (<i>i.e.</i>, the small beer -of stout); while in the west country <i>beer</i> is the “mighty” liquor, and -<i>ale</i> the small. In the trade, however, <i>beer</i> is the comprehensive word -for all malt liquors. <span class="xxpn" id="p154">{154}</span></p> - -<p>Ale was not the only word employed in late Saxon times to signify -the “oyle of barly,” for <i>wœt</i>, from the Saxon <i>swatan</i>, was in common -use as a synonym, and now, perhaps, finds its representative in the slang -phrase, “heavy wet.” The same term lingers in Scotland, and lovers of -Burns will remember his line, “It gars the <i>swats</i> gae glibber doun.” -In former times wheat and oats were malted, as well as barley, and -though, as has been previously stated (p. 105), the law from time to time -prohibited this use of wheat, as tending to enhance the price of bread, -the practice was stronger than the precept, and continued to prevail -down to a comparatively recent date.</p> - -<p>Cogan, in <i>The Haven of Health</i> (1586), thus describes the effect of -the different malts on the resultant liquor:—“For beere or ale being -made of wheat inclineth more to heat, for wheat is hot. If it be made -of barley malt, it enclineth more to cold, for barley is cold. And if -it be made of barley and otes together it is yet more temperate and of -less nourishment.” In the reign of Edward VI. even beans were used in -brewing, for the Brewers’ Company, in a petition to the Common Council -asking for a revision of the prices of ale and beer, complain that the -articles they use in brewing, viz., “wheate, malte, oates, beanes, -hoppes . . . . . . at these days are comen unto greate and exceeding -pryces.”</p> - -<p>It has been shown that for several hundred years the prices and -qualities of ale were fixed by law. As a rule, only two kinds were -allowed to be brewed for sale, the better and the second, or, as they were -called in some places, and notably in London, the double and the single. -The prices in Henry III.’s reign for the better kind were fixed at 1d. -for two gallons sold within cities, and 1d. for three or four gallons sold -in country places. In Edward III.’s reign three sorts of ale might -be brewed, the best at 1½d. a gallon, the middling at 1d., and the third -at three farthings; and these prices seem to have been in force in the -City of London with slight variations down to the time of Henry VIII., -when the Brewers upon several occasions stirred themselves to get the -prices raised, but met with varying success. In the early part of the -reign the retail price of the best ale was still 1½d. the gallon, and of the -second, called threehalfpenny ale, 1d. per gallon. Double beer was to be -1d. per gallon, and single ½d. and a half-farthing. The wholesale price -for beer was also fixed, and three kinds were allowed, viz., “Dobyll” at -15d. the kilderkin, “Threehalfpenny” at 12d., and “Syngyll” at 10d.</p> - -<p>In the twenty-fourth year of Henry VIII. the Brewers, after much -agitation, got the prices of beer raised to 2s. the kilderkin -for the “doble,” <span class="xxpn" id="p155">{155}</span> -and 1s. for the “syngyll”; but even with that they were not satisfied, and -expressed their dissatisfaction in protests to the Common Council, who -listened to their complaint, “but after long consideration it was agreed, -that whereas the Serjeaunt Gybson hath exhibited and rote a boke of -the gaynes of the said bere-brewers,” their case should be remitted to -the care of a committee appointed to look into it. In the result no -alteration was then sanctioned, but five years afterwards the price was -raised to 3s. 4d. the kil. for the best, and 2s. 8d. for the threehalfpenny. -The strength of ale usually brewed about this time may be judged from -answers given by London brewers when interrogated on the subject. -John Sheffield, on being asked (36 Henry VIII.) how many kilderkins of -<i>good ale</i> he draws from a quarter of malt, answers, “Little above five.” -Other brewers say much the same thing, though Richard Pyckering -evades the question by saying that “he commytteth the whole to his -wife, and what she draweth from a quarter he knoweth not.” This -would point to an ale of very considerable strength. In the thirty-seventh -year of Henry VIII., another committee was appointed to consider -this all-important question, “on account of the grete derthe and scarcitye -at this present of all kinds of grayne;” but nothing resulted from their -deliberations. The Brewers, however, seem to have stuck to their text -with great pertinacity, and in the fifth year of Edward VI. obtained a -decision of a committee of the Common Council, that they could no -longer supply the City at the then existing prices. Two kinds of beer -only are to be allowed, our old friends, “doble” and “syngyll,” and the -strength and quality are defined as follows: “Of every quarter of grayne -that any beare-bruer shall brewe of doble beare, he shall drawe fowre -barrells and one fyrkyn of goode holsome drynke for mannes bodye,” -and double that quantity of single beer. The price of the double beer -is to be 4s. 8d. the barrel, and of single beer 2s. 4d., until the price of -malt is reduced to 15s. the quarter, and of wheat to 12s., when the old -prices are to be revived. Little variations of price occurred until the -reign of Elizabeth, who seems, from contemporary accounts, to have -been frequently exercised by the behaviour of the London Brewers. In -a Royal proclamation of the second year of her reign, she complains -that the Brewers have left off brewing any single beer, but brew “a -kynde of very strong bere calling the same doble-doble-bere which they -do commenly utter and sell at a very greate and excessyve pryce,” and -orders the old rules and rates to be observed; and in particular that -every Brewer shall once a week brew “as much syngyl as doble beare -and more.” Twenty years later the “doble-doble” seems -to have been <span class="xxpn" id="p156">{156}</span> -sanctioned in practice if not in name, for the Brewers are ordered to -sell two sorts of beer only, the double at 4s. the barrel and “the other -sort of beare of the best kynde at 7s. 6d.”</p> - -<p>Three years later still the Queen declares that the disorders of -the Brewers, through their “ungodly gredyness,” have grown to such -lengths that something must be done; and an Act of Common Council -brings back the beer to double and single, and applies other remedies.</p> - -<p>In 1654 three sorts of beer are allowed—the best at 8s. the barrel, -the second at 6s., and the small at 4s.; and shortly afterwards a fourth -kind was added at 10s. The efforts of the authorities to fix the prices -of ale and beer by arbitrary means were not long afterwards finally -discontinued.</p> - -<p>The limitation and classification of ale and beer according to their -strength, was maintained down to quite recent times because of the -duties laid upon them, but on the repeal of those duties ales of every -strength, kind and description were, and have since been, extensively -manufactured. Every want, whim, and fancy of the ale-drinker may -now be gratified. There is old Scotch or old Burton for the lover of -strong beer, porter for the labouring classes, stout for the weakly, and -last, but far from least, that splendid liquid, pale ale, which, when -bottled, vies with champagne in its excellence and delicacy of flavour, -and beats it altogether out of the field when we take into consideration -its sustaining and restorative powers.</p> - -<p>A tale is told of a man who asserted that tea was stronger than beer. -“A pot of beer,” said he, “will seldom attract more than a couple of -men about it, but a pot of tea will draw half-a-dozen or more old -women.”</p> - -<p>A potent drink, much in vogue with the roystering blades of former -times, was that known as “huff-cap.” The name was a cant expression -for strong ale, which was so called because it induced people to set their -caps in a bold huffing fashion. The term huff-cap was also used to -denote a swaggering fellow, as may be gathered from Clifford’s <i>Note on -Dryden</i> (1687):—“Prethee tell me true, was not this huff-cap once -the Indian Emperour, and at another time did he not call himself -Maximine?” <i>Fulwel’s Art of Flattery</i> thus mentions this variety of -the juice of barley:—“To quench the scorching heat of our parched -throtes, with the best nippitatum in this toun, which is commonly -called <i>huff-cap</i>, it will make a man look as though he had seen the devil -and quickly move him to call his own father a ———” (naughty name). -Harrison, writing on the food and diet of the English -in 1587, also <span class="xxpn" id="p157">{157}</span> -mentions huff-cap, and speaks of the mightiness of the ale in which our -ancestors indulged; ale, in fact, as an old Proverb has it, “that would -make a cat speak.” “Howbeit,” he writes, “though they are so nice in -the proportion of their bread, yet in lieu of the same their is such headie -ale and beere in moste of them, as for the mightinesse thereof among -suche as seeke it oute, is commonly called huffe cap, the mad dog, -angel’s food, dragon’s milke, etc. And this is more to be noted, that -when one of late fell by God’s prouvidence into a troubled conscience, -after he had considered well of his reachlesse life, and dangerous estate; -another thinking belike to change his colour and not his mind, carried -him straightwaie to the strongest ale, as to the next physician. It is -incredible to saie how our malte bugs lug at this liquor, even as pigs -should lie in a rowe, lugging at their dame’s teats, till they lie still -againe and be not able to wag. Neither did Romulus and Remus sucke -their shee woolfe or sheepherd’s wife Lupa with such eger and sharpe -devotion as these men hale at hufcap, till they be red as cockes, and -little wiser than their combs.” A strong ale, called “Huff,” is still -brewed at Winchester, and is kept for the use of the fellows (not the -boys) of that ancient institution.</p> - -<p>Some idea of the strength of the ale usually drunk in the country -districts in Elizabeth’s reign, may be gathered from a passage in a letter -from Leicester to Burleigh, written while the Queen was on one of her -famous progresses through the country: “There is not one drop of good -drink here for her. We were fain to send to London, and Kenilworth, -and divers other places where ale was; her own bere was so strong as -there was no man able to drink it.”</p> - -<p>To quote again from old Harrison on the fondness of his contemporaries -for strong ale, speaking of workmen and others attending bride-ales -(<i>i.e.</i>, marriage feasts) and such like festivities, he says: “If they -happen to stumble upon a peece of venison and a cup of wine or verie -strong beere or ale (which latter they commonlie provide against their -appointed daies) they thinke their cheere so great, and themselves to -have fared so well, as the Lord Maior of London, with whom, when -their bellies be full, they will not stick to make comparison.”</p> - -<p>In the year 1680, during the debate on the Act to restrain the -excess and abuse used in Victualling Houses, one member said that he -wished “there might be a reformation of Ale, which is now made so -strong, that he offered to affirm it upon oath, that it is commonly -sold for a Groat a quart. <i>It is as strong as wine, and will burn -like Sack.</i>” <span class="xxpn" id="p158">{158}</span></p> - -<p>The Water Poet thus describes the different qualities of mild and -stale beer as known to the topers of the seventeenth century: “The -stronger <i>Beere</i> is divided into two parts (viz.), mild and stale; the first -may ease a man of a drought, but the latter is like water cast into -a Smith’s forge, and breeds more heart-burnings, and as rust eates into -Iron, so overstale Beere gnawes aulet holes in the entrales, or else my -skill failes, and what I have written of it is to be held as a Jest.”</p> - -<p>Nipitatum or nipitato was another slang name for very strong ale. -It is mentioned in <i>The Knight of the Burning</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>Pestle</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My father oft will tell me of a drink,</span> -<span class="spp00">In England found and <i>Nipitato</i> called,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which driveth all the sorrow from your hearts.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Another epithet applied to ale, and denoting great strength, was -“humming,” and a reason for the term is shown by the extract from -a letter from John Howell to Lord Ciffe (seventeenth century), who, in -speaking of metheglin, says “that it keeps a humming in the brain, -which made one say that he loved not metheglin because he was used -to speak too much of the house he came from, meaning the hive.” The -humming in the head would be equally applicable to the effects of ale as -of metheglin, though the hive would only apply to the latter. The -same idea is sometimes expressed by the term <i>hum-cup</i>, as in the lines -from the old Sussex sheep-shearing song, -<span class="nowrap">beginning:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Tis a barrel then of <i>hum-cup</i>, which - we call the black ram.</span></div></div> - -<p>Besides these strong ales and others too numerous to mention, there -was, at the beginning of last century, a certain strong beer called -Pharaoh, which gave its name to an ale-house at Barley, in Cambridgeshire. -The reason of the name is not certainly known, although it was -said in the county that it was so called because it <i>would not let the -people go</i>. This drink is no longer made in England, but a strong beer -of the same name is much appreciated in Belgium. The same liquor is -mentioned in the <i>Praise of Yorkshire Ale</i> (1685):</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00"> . . . Coffee, Twist, Old Pharaoh and old Hoc,</span> -<span class="spp00">Juniper Brandy and Wine de Langue-Dock.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>As there have been many strong and mighty ales since the days -<span class="nowrap">when―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">King Hardicanute, ’midst Danes and Saxons stout,</span> -<span class="spp00">Carous’d on nut-brown ale and dined on growt, - <span class="xxpn" id="p159">{159}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">so -there have been an abundance of small poor drinks, which have been -from time to time known by various terms of contempt, the titles -“whip-belly-vengeance” and “rotgut” being, perhaps, on the whole, -the most expressive. Shakspere sums up the humdrum of retired -matronly life in the well-known line, “To suckle fools and chronicle -small beer.” Beer which had been kept so long that it had turned -sour was at one time known as “broken beer,” much as we speak now -of broken victuals. Ben Jonson, in his <i>Masque of Gypsies</i>, makes -mention of an infant “very carefully carried at his mother’s back, -rock’d in a cradle of Welsh cheese like a maggot, and there fed with -<i>broken beer</i>, and blown wine of the best daily.”</p> - -<p>In olden times small beer discharged that friendly office assigned by -later and more fastidious days to soda-water, namely, the cooling of the -parched throat after a too earnest devotion to the rites of <i>Bacchus</i>.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Welcome to my lips, great king of frolic,</span> -<span class="spp00">Stern foe to headache, devils blue, and <span class="nowrap">cholic—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">No dandy soda-water bring to me,</span> -<span class="spp00">No Lady’s lemonade, no soft bohea;</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy sterner aid I claim, and ask thy might</span> -<span class="spp00">To quell the riots of that punch last night;</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">wrote -one of the Brasenose College poets. Christopher Sly, awakening -from his debauch, cries aloud for “a pot of small ale . . . and once -again a pot of the smallest ale,” and Prince Hal “remembers the poor -creature small beer.”</p> - -<p>A nameless author, writing in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i>, 1746, -describes this function of small beer, and in poetic vein tells how after -a “wine,” awaking from a feverish sleep, he sees before him a venerable -man,</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Old, but not bending with the weight of years;</span> -<span class="spp00">His face was ruddy, and he smiled benign,</span> -<span class="spp00">As if nor sickness had his form impair’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor anxious cares his soul: his silver’d head</span> -<span class="spp00">Was bound with wreaths of salutary flow’rs,</span> -<span class="spp00">Call’d <i>Hops</i> by men, but <i>Panace</i> by Gods.</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>My - son,” he said (and at his voice divine</span> -<span class="spp00">New life beat vig’rous in each throbbing vein)</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Long - has my friendly influence mov’d the scorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">My name the laughter of the sons of men,</span> -<span class="spp00">The sons of men, regardless of their weal - <span class="xxpn" id="p160">{160}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And health, the greatest sublunary good!</span> -<span class="spp00">The genius I of liquor, call’d below</span> -<span class="spp00">Small Beer, and doubtless you have heard me damn’d</span> -<span class="spp00">Full oft, by Belials rude, outrageous sons;</span> -<span class="spp00">But yet, were honour due, to Temp’rance given,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mine were the favours of th’ applauding crowd,</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">——Here, taste and live, live soberly and well.”</span> -<span class="spp00">This said, a vase with steady hand he gave,</span> -<span class="spp00">Full to the brim, I quaft’d the tender’d draught;</span> -<span class="spp00">Swift the cool stream refresh’d my burning <span class="nowrap">throat,—</span></span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">In haste my visionary guest retir’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">And left me deep in contemplation drown’d</span> -<span class="spp00">Resolving reason never more to quench</span> -<span class="spp00">In floods <i>Lethean</i> of deceitful wine;</span> -<span class="spp00">Deceitful wine! embrew’d with mixtures dire,</span> -<span class="spp00">By the curs’d vintner’s art for sordid pelf.</span> -<span class="spp00">O! grant me, Heav’n, to live with health and ease,</span> -<span class="spp00">My books, a sober friend, <i>Small Beer</i>, and sense:</span> -<span class="spp00">So shall my years the smiling fates prolong,</span> -<span class="spp00">And each auspicious morn shall see me happy.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Even in distant times particular localities became noted for the -excellence of their brewers. London early attained, and has maintained -until the present day, a great reputation for its ale. Chaucer alludes to -the taste of the Cook for a “draught of London ale.” Tyrwhitt says -that in 1504 London ale was of such excellence that it fetched 5s. a -barrel more than Kentish ale. This can hardly be, as we have already -seen that at that period the barrel of London double ale only fetched 4s. -Probably Tyrwhitt intended to refer to a tun and not to a barrel. The -occasion referred to was the enthronement of William Wareham as -Archbishop of Canterbury, when the provision made for washing down -the vast stores of eatables was something tremendous. Besides great -quantities of wine of many sorts, there were four tuns of London ale, six -of Kentish, and twenty of English beer.</p> - -<p>The malt liquors of London, and especially London porter and stout, -are known from pole to pole, and Burton ales have a no less world-wide -reputation. Indeed, the word Burton has in itself come to be -synonymous with ale, and the expression “a glass of Burton” has -become a household word. <span class="xxpn" id="p161">{161}</span></p> - -<div class="section dwthem38"> -<p>Burton and its famous brew are treated of elsewhere in these pages, -and it must suffice here to insert an old song in praise of this nineteenth -century <span class="nowrap">nectar:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">BURTON ALE.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ne’er tell me of liquors from Spain or from France,</span> -<span class="spp00">They may get in your heels and inspire you to dance,</span> -<span class="spp00">But the Ale of Old Burton if mellow and right</span> -<span class="spp00">Will get in your head and inspire you to fight.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Your Claret and Rhenish and fine Calcavella</span> -<span class="spp00">Were never yet able to make a good fellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">But of stout Burton Ale, if you drink but enough,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make you all jolly and hearty and tough.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then let meagre Frenchmen still batten on Wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">They ne’er will digest a good English Sirloin,</span> -<span class="spp00">Parbleu they may caper and Vapour along,</span> -<span class="spp00">But right Burton can make us both valiant and strong.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come here then ye Mortals who’re prone to despair</span> -<span class="spp00">From frowns of Dame Fortune or frowns of the fair,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whate’er your disorder, three nips will prevail,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the best Panacea you’ll find, Burton Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then Molly approach with your Peacock and <span class="nowrap">Cann—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Not Juno herself brought more blessings to <span class="nowrap">Man—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">With nip after nip, all my sorrows beguile,</span> -<span class="spp00">And my Fortune and Mistress shall presently smile.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Old strong beer is sometimes known by the name of Stingo, and -this appellation seems, for a couple of hundred years at least, to have -been specially applied to Yorkshire Ale. The estimation in which this -liquor was held at the end of the eighteenth century, and the wonders it -was deemed capable of bringing about, may be learned from a perusal of -<i>The Praise of Yorkshire Ale</i>, an old poem, extracts from which may be -found in the chapter devoted to Ballads. We have been given to -understand that the brewers of Yorkshire Stingo have not forgotten -their ancient skill.</p> - -<p>Our old friend Taylor mentions a goodly number of places where -especially good ale was brewed in his day. “I should be voluminous,” -he says, “if I should insist upon all pertinent -and impertinent passages <span class="xxpn" id="p162">{162}</span> -in the Behalfe of <i>Ale</i>, as also of the retentive fame that <i>Yorke</i>, <i>Chester</i>, -<i>Hull</i>, <i>Nottingham</i>, <i>Darby</i>, <i>Gravesende</i>, with a Toaste, and other Countries -still enjoy, by making this untainted liquor in the primitive way, and -how <i>Windsor</i> doth more glory in that composition than all the rest of -her speculative pleasures. . . . . Also there is a Towne neere -<i>Margate in Kent</i> (in the Isle of Thanet) called <i>Northdowne</i>, which -Towne hath ingrost much Fame, Wealth, and Reputation from the -prevalent potencie of their attractive <i>Ale</i>.”</p> - -<p>Derby had as early as the sixteenth century a great reputation for its -ales. Sir Lionel Rash, in <i>Green’s Tu Quoque</i>, an Elizabethan comedy, -says: “I have sent my daughter this morning as far as Pimlico to fetch -a draught of Derby Ale, that it may fetch a colour into her cheeks.” -Fuller, in his <i>Worthies of England</i>, with an evident conservative taste -for ale, that “authenticall drinke of old England,” mentions the repute -of Derby ale with some circumlocution, but with no stinted praise. “Ceres -being our English Bacchus,” he remarks, “this was our ancestors’ -common drink, many imputing the strength of their Infantry (in drawing -so stiff a bow) to their constant (but moderate) drinking thereof. Yea, -now the English begin to turn to Ale (may they in due time regain their -former vigorousnesse) and whereas in our remembrance, Ale went out -when swallows came in, seldom appearing after Easter; it now hopeth -(having climbed up May Hill) to continue its course all the year. Yet -have we lost the Preservative, what ever it was, which (before Hops were -found out) made it last so long in our land some two hundred years -since, for half a year at least after the brewing thereof; otherwise of -necessity they must brew every day, yea pour it out of the Kive into the -Cup, if the prodigious English Hospitality in former ages be considered, -with the multitude of menial servants and strangers entertained. Now -never was the wine of Sarepta better known to the Syrians, that of -Chios to the Grecians, of Phalernum to the Latines, than the Canary of -Derby is to the English thereabout.”</p> - -<p>Manchester at about the same period seems to have had a great -assortment of Ales and Beers, if we are to believe Taylor, who, in his -<i>Pennyless Pilgrimage</i>, tells</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">How men of Manchester did use me well,</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">We went into the house of one John Pinners</span> -<span class="spp00">(A man that lives among a crew of sinners)</span> -<span class="spp00">And there eight severall sorts of Ale we had,</span> -<span class="spp00">All able to make one starke drunke or mad. <span class="xxpn" id="p163">{163}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">But I with courage bravely flinched not,</span> -<span class="spp00">And gave the Towne leave to discharge the shot,</span> -<span class="spp00">We had at one time set upon the table,</span> -<span class="spp00">Good Ale of Hisope, ’twas not Esope fable:</span> -<span class="spp00">Then had we Ale of Sage, and Ale of Malt,</span> -<span class="spp00">And Ale of Woorme-wood, that could make one halt,</span> -<span class="spp00">With Ale of Rosemary, and Bettony,</span> -<span class="spp00">And two Ales more, or else I needs must lye.</span> -<span class="spp00">But to conclude this drinking Alye tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">We had a sort of Ale called scurvy Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The southern district of Devon, which is locally known as South -Hams, has long been famed for a curious liquor known as “white -ale.” The beverage is of great antiquity, and has been subject to tithe -from time immemorial. Kingsbridge is supposed to have been the -place where white ale was first brewed. It used to be made of malt, a -small quantity of hops, flour, spices, and a mysterious compound known -as “grout,” or “ripening,” the manufacture of which was, and may be -still, preserved as a great secret in a few families. In another receipt for -making this ale it is stated that a number of eggs should be added to -the liquor before it is allowed to ferment, and this seems to have been -an essential of the original brew, or at any rate was so considered in -1741. A writer at that date says:—“The Ale-wives, whose province -of making this Ale it commonly falls under to manage from the beginning -to the end, are most of them as curious in their brewing it, as the -Dairy women in making their butter, for as it is a White Ale it soon -sullies by dirt . . . . ; the wort is brewed by the hostess, but the -fermentation is brought on by the purchase of what they call ‘ripening,’ -or a composition, as some say, of flower of malt and white of eggs . .”</p> - -<p>This luscious liquid has been described as “not the sparkling -beverage brewed from malt and hops, but a milky-looking compound, -of which, judging from the flavour, milk, spice and gin seemed to be -among the ingredients. It does not improve by keeping, and is brewed -only in small quantities for immediate consumption. It is kept in large -bottles, and you will scarcely pass a public-house from Darmouth to -Plymouth without seeing evidence of its consumption by the empty -bottles piled away outside the premises.”</p> - -<p>At the present time a considerable quantity of white ale is made in -and about Tavistock. It is now, however, brewed in a simpler manner -than of yore, and consists simply of common ale with -eggs and flour <span class="xxpn" id="p164">{164}</span> -added. The labourers of that part of the country much affect it, and as -it is highly nutritious it is regarded by many of them as “meat, drink -and cloth” combined. A bloated habit of body is said to arise from a -too faithful adherence to this luscious fluid. A former great connoisseur -of this West-country ale, one Bone Phillips, lies buried just outside the -church door at Kingsbridge; the following lines were inscribed over -his grave at his -<span class="nowrap">request:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here lie I at the church door,</span> -<span class="spp00">Here be I because I’m poor,</span> -<span class="spp00">The further in the more you pay,</span> -<span class="spp00">Here lie I as warm as they.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>While -on the subject of epitaphs, the following may be quoted -as having some bearing on the subject specially treated of in this -<span class="nowrap">chapter:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Poor John Scott lies buried here;</span> -<span class="spp00">Tho’ once he was both <i>hale</i> and <i>stout</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">Death stretched him on his bitter bier:</span> -<span class="spp00">In another world he <i>hops</i> about.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">An -ale of a similar nature to white ale goes in Cornwall by the rather -uneuphonious title of “Laboragol.” Somewhat similar to the foregoing -was grout<a class="afnanc" href="#fn47" id="fnanc47">47</a> -ale, which is said by Halliwell, on the authority of -Dean Milles’ MS. glossary, to have been different from white ale, of a -brownish colour, and known only to the people about Newton Bussel, -who kept the method of preparing it a secret. A physician, a native of -that place, informed him that the preparation was made of “malt -almost burnt in an iron pot, mixed with some of the barm which rises -on the first working in the keeve, a small quantity of which invigorates -the whole mass and makes -it very heady.” <span class="xxpn" id="p165">{165}</span></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc47" id="fn47">47</a> -The word grout properly signifies ground meal or malt. Kennett -says that in Leicestershire the infusion of malt and water before it is -fully boiled is called grout, and after it is tunned up it is called wort. -Ray explains it as wort of the last running. Pegge says it is only drank -by poor people, who are on that account called “grouters.” See -Halliwell’s Dict. of Arch. and Prov. Words. In the old play, <i>Tom Tyler -and his Wife</i>, growt is used to signify a kind of ale.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">This jolly growt is jolly and stout</span> -<span class="spp00">I pray you stout it still-a,</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>While mentioning some few of the places specially noted for their -ales, our ancient seats of learning must not be forgotten. Who has not -heard of Trinity audit, and of that scarcely less famous liquor, Brasenose -Ale? Many who have tasted the former have had no words to express -their feelings; some have said that it is as superior to all other mortal -brews as Chateau Lafitte is to vin ordinaire. These may seem words of -extravagant praise; but let the reader who has never tasted this famous -drink reserve his judgment on the point until he has, and above all let -him lose no time in putting his judgment to the test. Trinity audit -would justify the eulogy of the host in the <i>Beaux’ Stratagem</i>—“As -smooth as oil, sweet as milk, clear as amber, strong as brandy; fancy it -Burgundy, only fancy it, and it is worth ten shillings a quart.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Oh, in truth, it gladdens the heart to see</span> -<span class="spp00">What may spring from the Ale of <span class="nowrap">Trinitie,—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">A scholar—a fellow,—a rector blithe,</span> -<span class="spp00">(Fit to take any amount of <span class="nowrap">tithe)—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Perhaps a bishop—perhaps, by grace,</span> -<span class="spp00">One may mount to the Archiepiscopal place,</span> -<span class="spp00">And wield the crosier, an awful thing,</span> -<span class="spp00">The envy of all, and—the parsons’ King!</span> -<span class="spp00">O Jove! who would struggle with learning pale,</span> -<span class="spp00">That could beat down the world by the strength of Ale!</span> -<span class="spp00">For <i>me</i>,—I avow, could my thoughtless prime</span> -<span class="spp00">Come back with the wisdom of mournful time,</span> -<span class="spp00">I’d labour—I’d toil—by night and day,</span> -<span class="spp00">(Mixing liquors and books away,)</span> -<span class="spp00">Till I conquer’d that high and proud degree,</span> -<span class="spp00">M. A. (Master of Ale) of Trinitie.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn48" id="fnanc48">48</a></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc48" id="fn48">48</a> -A Panegyric on Ale addressed to W. L. Birkbeck, Esq., by Barry -Cornwall.</p></div> - -<p>Brasenose College, Oxford, has long been noted for its ale. As each -Shrovetide comes round, the college butler, as a condition of the tenure -of his office, presents a barrel of the strongest nappy, and celebrates the -event in verse, handing on to generations yet unborn the name and -fame of the Brasenose brew. The earlier of these ale poems, which are -in reality the effusions of some poetical undergraduate, had a fleeting -existence, but some years ago Mr. Prior, who was then -and still continues, <span class="xxpn" id="p166">{166}</span> -the butler of the College, published a collection of them in a small -volume, entitled <i>Brasenose Ale</i>. In his little book, which we commend -to the perusal of all good ale-knights, occur the following lines, written -by R. J. B., in -<span class="nowrap">1835:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Lo! Prior hastens with his motley crew,</span> -<span class="spp00">To pour the foaming liquor to our view:</span> -<span class="spp00">Clasps his firm hand in all a Butler’s pride</span> -<span class="spp00">The cup no Brasenose Fellow e’er denied:</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet secret triumph o’er his brow has cast</span> -<span class="spp00">That Ale the sweetest, as that brew the last!</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Away, - ye lighter drinks! ye swipes, away,</span> -<span class="spp00">Where masters bully, and where boys obey,”</span> -<span class="spp00">The brewer cried; and taught the Ale to live</span> -<span class="spp00">With all the charms that malt and hops could give.</span> -<span class="spp00">Warm’d at his touch, behold the vapours rise</span> -<span class="spp00">In all their genuine fragrance to the skies:</span> -<span class="spp00">No beer-shops bev’rage, such as Cockneys buy,</span> -<span class="spp00">Foul to the taste, and loathsome to the eye;</span> -<span class="spp00">No dingy mixture, vulgarly call’d swipes;</span> -<span class="spp00">No quassia juice, promoter of the gripes;</span> -<span class="spp00">But true proportions of good hops and malt,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mingled with care, then stow’d within the vault:</span> -<span class="spp00">The hue that tells its potency—the scent</span> -<span class="spp00">That breathes as if from blest Arabia sent.</span> -<span class="spp00">Still o’er his Ale fond Prior hangs confest,</span> -<span class="spp00">And joy and triumph swell his manly breast.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">Such, glorious liquor of the olden time,</span> -<span class="spp00">When to be drunk with Ale was deem’d no crime;</span> -<span class="spp00">When in the morn and eve and mid-day stood</span> -<span class="spp00">Upon our fathers’ boards old English food;</span> -<span class="spp00">Such hast thou been, ’mid war and change the same,</span> -<span class="spp00">Link’d with the poet’s and the scholar’s name,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mellow’d by age—but still with flavour higher,</span> -<span class="spp00">The pride of Brasenose, and the boast of Prior.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>How Brasenose College came by its peculiar name is a much disputed -point. There is a legend that in the far-off time of long ago -certain students of the temporary university at Stamford, the iron ring -of whose door-knocker was fitted in a nose of brass, -migrated to Oxford, <span class="xxpn" id="p167">{167}</span> -and there set up a brazen nose over the entrance of their college as a -souvenir of their former abode. Equally plausible is the tradition -that upon the site of the college brewery once stood King Alfred’s -brasinium (brewhouse), and that the name, clinging to the place through -all the changes and chances of a thousand years, now appears under the -slightly modified form of Brasenose. If the latter theory be correct, the -Shrovetide feast and the yearly ode in praise of Brasenose Ale may be -attributed to the desire to keep green the memory of the famous -brewhouse of the good King, and the mighty liquor therein brewed -for the royal table.</p> - -<p>The merits of a celebrated Oxford butler, John Dawson of Christ -Church, are commemorated in the following -<span class="nowrap">elegy:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Dawson, the butler’s dead. Although I think</span> -<span class="spp00">Poets were ne’er infus’d with single drink</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ll spend a farthing, Muse; a wat’ry verse</span> -<span class="spp00">Will serve the turn to cast upon his hearse.</span> -<span class="spp00">If any cannot weep amongst us here,</span> -<span class="spp00">Take off his cap, and so squeeze out a tear:</span> -<span class="spp00">Weep, O ye Barrels! make waste more prodigal</span> -<span class="spp00">Than when our Beer was good, that John may float</span> -<span class="spp00">To Styx in beer, and lift up Charon’s boat</span> -<span class="spp00">With wholsome waves; and as the conduits ran,</span> -<span class="spp00">With claret at the Coronation,</span> -<span class="spp00">So let your channels flow with single tiff,</span> -<span class="spp00">For John, I hope is crown’d: take off your whiff,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ye men of rosemary, and drink up all,</span> -<span class="spp00">Rememb’ring ’tis a Butler’s funeral;</span> -<span class="spp00">Had he been master of good double Beer</span> -<span class="spp00">My Life for his, John Dawson had been here.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>For a hundred years or more the town of Nottingham has been -famous for its ales, and the song “Nottingham Ale” commemorates -the many virtues of this justly celebrated “barley-wine.” Amongst -others, it has virtues -<span class="nowrap">ecclesiastical:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ye bishops and deacons, priests, curates and vicars,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come taste, and you’ll certainly find it is true,</span> -<span class="spp00">That Nottingham Ale is the best of all liquors,</span> -<span class="spp00">And who understand the good creature like you?</span> -<span class="spp00">It dispels every vapour, saves pen, ink, and paper;</span> -<span class="spp00">For when you’re disposed in the pulpit to rail <span class="xxpn" id="p168">{168}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">It will open your throats, you may preach without notes,</span> -<span class="spp00">When inspired with full bumpers of Nottingham Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">This song, which was a great favourite at the end of last century, was -composed by one Gunthorpe, a naval officer, by way of payment for -a cask of the “particular,” received as a present from his brother, who -was a Nottingham Brewer.</p> - -<p>To go further north, Newcastle, besides its coals, has long had the -reputation for what, if we are to believe the townsmen of the place, is -the best, the stoutest, the brightest “Stingo” that the heart of man -can desire. As every Jack will have his Jill, so famous ale ever finds its -appropriate verses. The song <i>Newcastle Beer</i>, of which a verse is, -given below, extols the wonders wrought by English beer in general, -and by that of Newcastle in -<span class="nowrap">particular:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Twas Stingo like this made Alcides so bold,</span> -<span class="spp01">It brac’d up his nerves, and enliven’d his powers;</span> -<span class="spp00">And his mystical club, that did wonders of old,</span> -<span class="spp01">Was nothing, my lads, but such liquor as ours.</span> -<span class="spp04">The horrible crew</span> -<span class="spp04">That Hercules slew,</span> -<span class="spp00">Were Poverty—Calumny—Trouble—and Fear;</span> -<span class="spp04">Such a club would you borrow,</span> -<span class="spp04">To drive away sorrow,</span> -<span class="spp00">Apply for a jorum of Newcastle Beer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p><i>Warrington Ale</i>, a song of last century, describes in glowing -terms the good ale of that Lancashire town, and the poet, if he is to -be believed, is evidently a man of some experience in various -<span class="nowrap">drinks:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">D’ye mind me, I once was a Sailor,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in different countries I’ve been;</span> -<span class="spp00">If I lie, may I go for a tailor,</span> -<span class="spp00">But a thousand fine sights I have seen.</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ve been crammed with good things like a wallet,</span> -<span class="spp00">And I’ve guzzled more drink than a whale;</span> -<span class="spp00">But the very best stuff to my palate</span> -<span class="spp00">Is a glass of your Warrington Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>De Foe in his <i>Tour through Great Britain</i> eulogises the Lancashire -ale of the period. In travelling through the northern parts of the -county, “though it was but about the middle of August, and in some -places the harvest hardly got in, we saw the -mountains covered with <span class="xxpn" id="p169">{169}</span> -snow, and felt the cold very acute and piercing, but we found, as in all -these northern countries, the people had a happy way of mixing the -warm and the cold together; for the store of good ale which flows plentifully -in the most mountainous parts of this country, seems abundantly -to make up for all the inclemencies of the season, or difficulties of -travelling.”</p> - -<p>A certain very strong ale called Morocco is, or was, made at Levens -Hall, in the County of Cumberland. Beef, or other meat, is an ingredient -of this mighty brew, but the exact receipt is kept a secret. There -is a tradition that the method of brewing Morocco was brought by a -Crusader named Howard from certain unknown regions beyond the -seas, and it is said that the receipt was buried during the Parliamentary -wars, and was only unearthed many years afterwards. It is always -brought in an immense and curiously wrought glass to everyone who -dines at Levens for the first time, and the visitor is expected on no -account to refuse the glass, but to take it and say, “To the health of -the Lady of Levens.”</p> - -<p>To go a little further north, the ales of Edinburgh are justly celebrated, -old Scotch ale being as favourite a beverage as old Burton. -Scotch brewers are great believers in malt and hops, and at the present -day brew excellent light ales, as well as the mightier brew which has -given them their world-wide reputation.</p> - -<p>A curious ale is mentioned in the <i>Buik of Chroniclis of Scotland</i> -(fifteenth century). Owing to a very severe winter in the reign of -William the Lion, liquids of many kinds were frozen solid, and ale was -sold by <span class="nowrap"><i>weight</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So furious ouir all part wes that frost</span> -<span class="spp00">Of bestiall that thair wes mony lost;</span> -<span class="spp00">The starkest aill of malt that mycht be browin,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thocht it war keipit neuir so clois and lowin,</span> -<span class="spp00">It wald congeill <i>and freis into hard yis</i>.</span> -<span class="spp00">The thing of all men thocht wes then most nys</span> -<span class="spp00">That this be weycht, and nocht mesour, wes sauld</span> -<span class="spp00">That tyme for drink as that my author told.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The wanderings of the <i>Penniless Pilgrim</i> took him to Scotland, and -he wonders much at the powers of ale-suction shown by the natives. -“The Scots,” he says, “doe allow almost as large measure of their miles -as they doe of their drinke, for an English gallon either of ale or wine -is but their quart.” After rising from a repast, he -tells how “the <span class="xxpn" id="p170">{170}</span> -servants of the house have enforced me into the seller or Buttery, where -(in the way of kindnesse) they will make a man’s belly like a sowse-tub, -and inforce mee to drinke as if they had a commission under the devil’s -great seale, to murder men with drinking, with such a deal of complimentary -oratory as, ‘off with your lap,’ ‘wind up your bottome,’ ‘up -with your toplash,’ and many other eloquent phrases, which Tully and -Demosthenes never heard of; that in conclusion I am persuaded three -days fasting would have been more healthfull to mee, then two hours -feeding and swilling in that manner.”</p> - -<p>Christopher North, in his <i>Noctes Ambrosianæ</i>, mentions some -of the famous Scotch ales of his day. After alluding to the ales of -Berwick and of Giles, he -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<p>“Maitland and Davison—again—has inspired my being with a <i>new</i> -feeling, for which no language I am acquainted with can supply an -adequate name. That feeling impels me to say these simple words on -behalf of the Spirit of Ale in general—speaking through me, its organ—<i>Ale -loquitur</i>—“If not suffered by Fate to fix my abode in barrels of -Berwick or Giles, where I have long reigned alternate years, in all my -glory, scarcely should I feel myself priviledged to blame my stars, were -I ordered for a while to sojourn in one of Maitland—and Davison.”</p> - -<p>A notice of Scoth ales, however short, would be incomplete without -some reference to the great Scotch national poet, who sometimes, at -any rate, would seem to have owed his inspiration to the “barley bree.” -The song of Burns, <i>O, Willie brew’d a peck o’ maut</i>, is too well known -to need repetition here. Who does not remember the chorus of this -admirable -<span class="nowrap">chanson-à-boire:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">We are na fou, we’re no that fou,</span> -<span class="spp01">But just a drappie in our e’e,</span> -<span class="spp00">The cock may craw, the day may daw,</span> -<span class="spp01">And aye we’ll taste the barley bree!</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The -occasion which the song was intended to celebrate is not so -commonly known. The “three merry boys,” Willie, Rob, and Alan -were respectively William Nicol, of the High School, Edinburgh, our -poet, and Alan Masterton, who was a schoolmaster and musical -amateur. The place of meeting was a small farm named Laggan, -belonging to Nicol. The inspiring ale was Nicol’s, the song was -Burns’, and the music was Alan Masterton’s. “We had such a joyous -meeting,” says Burns, “that Mr. Masterton and I agreed, each in our -own way, to celebrate the business.” <span class="xxpn" id="p171">{171}</span></p> - -<p>To pass to the Principality, Welsh ales were in Saxon times well -known and highly esteemed. In the laws of Hywel Dda two kinds of ale -are mentioned—Bragawd<a class="afnanc" href="#fn49" id="fnanc49">49</a>, which was paid as tribute to the King by a free -township, and Cwrwf, which was more common, and was paid by the -servile township in cases where the former kind ran short. It may be -hence gathered that in early times the highly-flavoured Bragawd was -held in greater estimation than the Cwrwf; yet the latter has out-lived -the former, and is still to be had in various parts of Wales, where it is -consumed with great gusto by Cambria’s patriotic sons.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc49" id="fn49">49</a> -Bragawd or Bragot. See p. 379.</p></div> - -<p>The neighbouring county of Hereford, now a great cider-drinking -locality, had in former times at least one town with a reputation for -good ale. “Lemster bread and Weobley ale” had passed into a proverb -before the seventeenth century. The saying seems, however, to have -been affected chiefly by the inhabitants of the county, who, perhaps, -were not quite impartial. Ray, writing in 1737, ventures to question -the pre-eminence ascribed to the places mentioned. For wheat he gives -Hesten, in Middlesex, “and for ale Derby town, and Northdown in the -Isle of Thanet, Hull in Yorkshire, and Sandbich in Cheshire, will -scarcely give place to Weobley.” Herrick mentions this celebrated -Northdown ale in the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">That while the wassaile bowle here</span> -<span class="spp00">With North-down ale doth troule here,</span> -<span class="spp00">No sillable doth fall here,</span> -<span class="spp00">To marre the mirth at all here.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Norfolk was once celebrated for a -strong ale, bearing the euphonious name of <i>Norfolk Nog</i>. -It is mentioned in Vanbrugh’s <i>Journey to London</i>, “Here, -John Moody,” says Sir Francis, “get us a tankard of good -hearty stuff presently.” “Sir,” is the reply, “here’s -Norfolk Nog to be had next door.” Swift also knew something -of this brew, and mentions that “Walpole laid a quart of -nog on it.” “Clamber-skull” is probably a variety of this -strong Norfolk ale, and earned its name from the rapidity -with which it mounted to the heads of its votaries. Norfolk -still holds a high place as an ale-producing county, -and the ales of Great Yarmouth and Norwich are justly -celebrated.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Banbury produced a mighty ale in the seventeenth century, if we -may judge from the couplet in <i>Wit</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>Restored</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Banbury ale a half-yard pot</span> -<span class="spp00">The devil a tinker dares stand to ’t. <span class="xxpn" id="p172">{172}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">It must have been strong indeed, for according to the old -<span class="nowrap">proverb―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Cobblers and tinkers</span> -<span class="spp00">Are your true ale drinkers.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Dorsetshire, amongst the southern -counties, has long been noted for a fine pale ale. This -is the liquor mentioned in <i>English Ale</i> (1737) <span -class="nowrap">as―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bright amber priz’d by the luxurious town,</span> -<span class="spp00">The pale hu’d <span class="nowrap">Dorchester——</span></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Its strength may be judged from the entry in John Byrom’s diary of -about the same period (1725):—“I found the effect of last night’s -drinking that foolish Dorset, which was pleasant enough, but it did -not agree with me at all, for it made me very stupid all day.” These -are the words of a man who has evidently loved not wisely but too -well.</p> - -<p>Cox, in his <i>History of Dorsetshire</i> (1700), states that “since by the -French wars the coming of French wine is prohibited, the people here -have learned to brew the finest malt liquors in the kingdom, so delicately -clean and well tasted that the best judges . . . . prefer it to the ales -most in vogue, as Hull, Derby, Burton, &c.” Great quantities of Dorchester -beer were consumed in London during the seventeenth and the -early part of the eighteenth centuries, but from that time the trade with -London, for some reason—probably the expense of transit—gradually fell -away. The excellence of the Dorset beer depended in a great measure -upon the fact that the water of the neighbourhood possessed peculiarly -good qualities for brewing purposes, and, that advantage being of a permanent -character, there seems to be no reason why the Dorchester ales of -the present day should not regain throughout the country the position -they had at the beginning of last century. In the south and south-western -portions of England they are held in very high esteem.</p> - -<p>Barnstaple was famous for its ales in the middle of the last century; -a writer in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i> of Jan., 1753, says that they are -as good as Derby ales, though not quite so famous.</p> - -<p>Mum, a popular drink early in the last century, was a strong ale brewed -chiefly from wheat-malt with the addition of various aromatic herbs. -Mum-houses were in existence in 1664, for Mr. Samuel Pepys records -that on a certain occasion he went “with Mr. Norbury near hand to -the Fleece, a mum-house in Leadenhall, and there drank <i>mum</i>, and -by-and-by broke up.” A receipt of the date 1682, describes the -brewing of mum as follows:— <span class="xxpn" id="p173">{173}</span></p> - -<p>“To make a vessel of sixty-three gallons, we are instructed that, the -water must be first boiled to the consumption of a third part, then let -it be brewed according to art with seven bushels of wheat-malt, one -bushel of oat-malt, and one bushel of ground beans. When the mixture -begins to work, the following ingredients are to be added: three pounds -of the inner rind of the fir; one pound each of the tops of the fir and -the birch; three handfuls of <i>Carduus Benedictus</i>, dried; two handfuls -of flowers of <i>Rosa solis</i>; of burnet, betony, marjoram, avens, pennyroyal, -flowers of elder, and wild thyme, one handful and a half each; -three ounces of bruised seeds of cardamum; and one ounce of bruised -bayberries. Subsequently ten new-laid eggs, not cracked or broken, are -to be put into the hogshead, which is then to be stopped close, and not -tapped for two years, a sea voyage greatly improving the drink.”</p> - -<p>The origin of the word “mum” is somewhat disputed, but the best -derivation seems to be from the name of Christopher Mummer, who is -said to have been the first to brew it. Others assign to the word an -origin from <i>mummeln</i>, to mutter, and this seems to have been Pope’s idea -when he wrote the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The clamorous crowd is hushed with mugs of mum,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till all, turned equal, send a general hum.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Others, again, -find the derivation in the word mum, meaning silence.</p> - -<p>Brunswick is always given as its birthplace, and it was certainly -known as early as the sixteenth century, for in an old work, <i>De generibus -ebriosorum et ebrietate vitanda</i> (1515), “mommom sive mommum -Brunsvigen” is mentioned as one of the drinks of Germany.</p> - -<p>An old book, <i>England’s Improvement by Sea and Land</i> (1677), -contains a remarkable proposition for bringing over the mum trade -from Brunswick, and establishing it at Stratford-on-Avon.</p> - -<p>The old writer, from whom the receipt before-quoted is taken, lays -considerable stress on the fact that “the ingredients in its composition -are very rare and choice simples, there being scarcely any disease -in nature against which some of them is not a sure specific,” the -implication apparently being that the combination of these ingredients -would largely increase their healing power.</p> - -<p>In one of the 400 letters addressed by Sir Richard Steele to his wife -we find him writing under date December 6th, 1717:—“I went to bed -last night after taking only a little broth; and all the day before a little -tea and bread and butter, with two glasses of mum and a -piece of bread. <span class="xxpn" id="p174">{174}</span> -at the House of Commons. Temperance and your company, as -agreeable as you can make it, will make life tolerable if not easy, -even with the gout.”</p> - -<p>A particular variety of this beverage was known as Hamburgh mum, -and a catch in its praise of the early part of last century mentions it as -hailing from that -<span class="nowrap">city:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There’s an odd sort of liquor</span> -<span class="spp01">New come from Hamborough,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill stick a whole wapentake</span> -<span class="spp01">Thorough and thorough;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis yellow, and likewise</span> -<span class="spp01">As bitter as gall,</span> -<span class="spp00">And as strong as six horses,</span> -<span class="spp01">Coach and all.</span> -<span class="spp00">As I told you ’twill make you,</span> -<span class="spp01">As drunk as a drum;</span> -<span class="spp00">You’d fain know the name on’t,</span> -<span class="spp01">But for that my friend, <i>mum</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Readers of Sir Walter Scott will remember that Mr. Oldbuck is -described at breakfast as despising the modern slops of tea and coffee -and substantially regaling himself “more majorum, with cold roast beef -and mum.”</p> - -<p>An Act of Parliament, which was passed annually during the greater -part of the first half of this century, prescribed certain duties on “malt, -mum, cyder and perry,” and a tale is told that when Mr. Perry, editor of -the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, was indicted for libel, he conducted his own case, -and by his able defence secured a verdict of “Not guilty.” Cobbett, -who was shortly afterwards tried on a similar charge, also conducted his -own defence, but was convicted. Erskine remarked that Cobbett had -tried to be Perry, when he should have been mum.</p> - -<p>In the eighteenth century patriotic sentiment was invoked to -support the failing popularity of mum, as may be gathered from -the old work <i>Political Merriment, or Truths to some Tune</i> (1714), in -which these lines -<span class="nowrap">occur:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now, now true Protestants rejoice,</span> -<span class="spp01">Stand by your laws and King,</span> -<span class="spp00">Now you’ve proclaimed the nation’s choice,</span> -<span class="spp01">Let traitorous rebels swing; - <span class="xxpn" id="p175">{175}</span></span></div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Let Royal George, the Papists scourge,</span> -<span class="spp01">To England quickly come;</span> -<span class="spp00">His health till then, let honest men,</span> -<span class="spp01">Drink all in Brunswick Mum.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">But -all would not avail, and the liquor is now as dead as Christopher -Mummer, the first inventor of it.</p> - -<p>There is a tradition lingering in the northern parts of this -island, that the Picts possessed the secret of making an ale from -heather. Sir David Smith, in a MS. in the possession of the Duke of -Northumberland, mentions a large trough cut in the solid rock at -Kutchester, near the Roman wall. “The old peasants,” he says, -“have a tradition that the Romans made a beverage somewhat like -beer, of the bells of heather, and that this trough was used in the -process of making it.” The tradition in Caithness runs that three Picts—an -old blind man and his two sons—survived the rest of their race; -that these alone of all mankind possessed the secret of making heather -ale; that they guarded their secret with jealous care, and that they were -in consequence much persecuted by their conquerors. At last the old -Pict, in answer to the frequent importunities of his persecutors, -promised to tell the secret, on condition that his two sons should be -put to death. This was done, but the task was as far from accomplishment -as ever, and nothing could be got from the old man but the truly -Delphic words which are handed down in the -<span class="nowrap">couplet:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Search Brockwin well out and well in,</span> -<span class="spp00">And barm for heather crop you’ll find within.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The secret died with him.</p> - -<hr class="hrtb" /> - -<p>True or false, this is the legend as related in the north, and certain -it is that <i>a</i> heather beer was made until quite recently in some parts -of Scotland and Ireland. The heather, however, is used as a flavouring -rather than as an actual basis for making the drink. The blossoms of -the heather are carefully gathered and cleansed, and are then placed -in the bottom of vessels; wort of the ordinary kind is allowed to drain -through the blossoms, and gains in its passage a peculiar and agreeable -flavour, which is well known to all who are familiar with heather -honey.</p> - -<p>Pennant, in his <i>Voyage to the Hebrides</i>, mentions -heather <i>ale</i>, and says that the proportions were -two-thirds of the plant to one of hops (hops being -sometimes added); and Mr. Weld, in his <i>Two Months in the -Highlands</i>, <span class="xxpn" id="p176">{176}</span> -says that “although the art of brewing the Pictish -heather ale is lost, old grouse shooters have tasted a -beverage prepared by shepherds, on the moors, principally -from heather flowers, though honey or sugar, to produce -fermentation, was added.”</p> - -<p>In some parts of Ireland there is a tradition that the Danes possessed -the knowledge of making an intoxicating liquor from heather bells; -this drink the peasants speak of as beoir-lochlonnach (<i>i.e.</i>, strong at sea), -an epithet by which the savage Northmen were known to the Celtic -races. It is possible that there is some connection between this heather -ale and the ale formerly made by the Swedes and flavoured with the -<i>Myrica gale</i>. Reference to this plant is made in a Swedish law of the -fifteenth century, in which it is forbidden to gather the blossoms before a -certain period. The probability of this connection seems to be increased -by the fact that in Yorkshire, a county which contains many descendants -of the old Northmen, a beer is still made called “gale beer,” and is -flavoured with the blossoms of a species of heather found growing on the -moors in that part of the country.</p> - -<p>As late as the commencement of this century an ale flavoured with -heather, and differing little from the heather ale described, was brewed -in many parts of Ireland. The practice, it is believed, is now almost if -not quite extinct.</p> - -<p>Irish moss ale is made in the following manner:—Take one ounce -of Irish moss, one ounce of hops, one ounce of ginger, one ounce of -Spanish juice, and one pound of sugar. Ten gallons of water are added -and the mixture is boiled, fermented, and bottled. The consideration of -the name of this liquor and the actual constituents may possibly remind -readers of the old tale of that very clever person who made soup out of -a stone with the assistance of a few such trifles as beef, vegetables, and -flavourings.</p> - -<p>Beer powders have been made, from which a good and refreshing -drink may be procured by the simple addition of water. Various -substances and juices have been used from time to time to improve the -flavour or strength of ale. In Wales berries of the Mountain Ash -were once used, and were said to greatly improve the flavour of the -beverage. The sap of the sycamore tree is mentioned by Evelyn as -being a most useful adjunct to the brewhouse; he says that one -bushel of malt with sycamore sap makes as good ale as four bushels -with water alone.</p> - -<p>The service tree, the name of which is said to be a corruption of -cerevisia, was so called because in former times a kind of -ale was brewed <span class="xxpn" id="p177">{177}</span> -from its berries. Evelyn says that ale and beer, “brewed with these -berries, being ripe, is an incomparable drink.”</p> - -<p>Maize, beet-root, potatoes, parsnips, and other vegetables have each -and all been used in the making of beer, but it seems very doubtful -whether any combination of ingredients will ever equal the time-honoured -partnership of malt and hops.</p> - -<p>A writer in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i> in 1758 says: “In many parts -of the Kingdom, a beer is made of treacle—thus: to eight quarts of -boiling water put a pound of treacle, a quarter of an ounce of ginger, -and two bay leaves. Boil these for a quarter of an hour, then cool and -work with yeast the same as beer.”</p> - -<p>From treacle we naturally come to sugar. This chapter would be -very incomplete without some mention of a kind of beer which is -extensively brewed in England at the present day. It is brewed sometimes -wholly of sugar, or sugar and malt. Occasionally rice is added. -Looking at this sugar-beer from a chemist’s point of view, there is -absolutely no fault to find with it; it is perfectly pure and perfectly -wholesome. Nor is it found to differ, when analysed, from beer made -from malt. There is certainly a popular prejudice against it, which may -arise in a great measure from the love of the people for the historic -drink made from malt. Though analysts cannot distinguish between -malt liquors and beers made from sugar, there is usually a slight -difference in flavour between them. It is a noteworthy fact that most -of the largest firms, having extensive <i>private</i> businesses, brew from malt -and hops. Their success certainly indicates the direction in which the -popular taste runs. If Englishmen prefer malt liquors, it is surely to -the interest of the brewers to give them the genuine barley-bree, and -not beer brewed from sugar, however excellent it may be.</p> - -<p>The use of malt by brewers is of no little importance to English -grain-growers, and is rightly looked upon by many as of national -concern. Considerable misconception, however, may exist on this point, -for the brewing trade generally, say that of late years English -barley, from climatic or other causes, has not been found altogether -suitable for brewing purposes, rendering an admixture of foreign grain -necessary. All we can do is to express a hope that the brewers are -somewhat mistaken in their estimate of English barley; but that if they -are correct, England may in future years be accorded its due share of -sunshine—that blessing of which Dame Nature has been somewhat -niggardly of late, so that malt made from English grain alone, may -again fill our mash-tuns. <span class="xxpn" id="p178">{178}</span></p> - -<p>A distinction between beers arises, in name at least, from the vessels -in which they are contained. We have beer in casks and beer in bottles. -Fuller, in his <i>Worthies of England</i>, ascribes the invention of bottled -beer to Alexander Newell, Dean of St. Paul’s and a master of Westminster -School in the reign of Queen Mary. The Dean was a devoted -angler. “But,” says old Fuller, “whilst Newell was catching of fishes, -Bishop Bonner was catching of Newell, and would certainly have sent -him to the shambles, had not a good London merchant conveyed him -away upon the seas.” Newell was engaged in his favourite pursuit on -the banks of the Thames, when such pressing notice of his danger -reached him, that he was obliged to take immediate flight. On his -return to England, after Mary’s death, he remembered, when resuming -his old amusement, that on the day of his flight he had left his simple -repast, the liquor of which consisted of a bottle of beer, in a safe place in -the river bank; there he sought it, and, as the quaint language of Fuller -informs us, he “found it no bottle, but a gun, such the sound at the -opening thereof; and this is believed (casualty is the mother of more -invention than industry) the original of bottled ale in England.” If -this be the true origin of bottled ale, the use of it must have spread -rapidly, for we find it mentioned in many Elizabethan writers. In Ben -Jonson’s <i>Bartholomew fair</i>, Ursula calls to the drawer to bring -“A Bottle of Ale, to quench me, rascal,” and many other quotations -could be given proving its use in those days. Of course ale must have -been carried in bottles long before Newell’s time, almost as early, indeed, -as bottles came into use, but the bottled ale referred to is that which -has been so long in bottle as to have acquired a peculiar and delicious -flavour combined with a certain briskness not found in draught ale.</p> - -<p>The country which next to our own has for generations stood -pre-eminent in matters of beer and brewing is Germany; there, as here, -beer is the national drink, though the character of the liquors is somewhat -different. The usual German beer is of an exceedingly light -character, and so perishable that it is impossible to preserve it for any -length of time even in the coolest cellar; four-and-twenty hours after a -cask is tapped it must be emptied, or what remains is spoilt. Nearly -every considerable town in Germany gives its name to the beer that is -brewed there and consumed by the inhabitants. The beer of each town -has its own peculiarities, and the worthy burghers are, of course, always -ready to support both in deed and in word the superiority of their -native drink. There is, for instance, the Jena beer, famous in that -university, which is of a very peculiar character, and is -only made at <span class="xxpn" id="p179">{179}</span> -Lichtenhain, a little village adjoining the university town. It is a -species of white beer, and is brewed from wheat malt. The taste for -this liquor must be one not easy of acquisition, for the author of -<i>German Life in Saxony</i> describes it as being much like “cider and -water, with a dash of camomile tea added to it.” The students, however, -assure you that the taste once acquired remains so strong through life -that Lichtenhainer is preferred to any other kind of beer.</p> - -<p>So much has been written about student life and drinking customs -that the subject will hardly bear repetition. Suffice it to say that in -Heidelberg, Jena, and other large German universities there exist -elaborate codes of drinking rules, in which <i>Persons</i> are classified in -accordance with their seniority at the university, and the beer-honours -and labours which their position entail; <i>Things</i> are divided into -Principal things, subordinate things and appurtenances; Principal -things are specified as “Lager-beer,” “black Cöstritzer-beer,” “Lichtenhainer-beer,” -and all other white beers; appurtenances are “cans, -doctors (a kind of measure), popes (another measure)” and other -necessities of the drinking bouts. The actual laws of the code are -far too long and complicated to be more than referred to here.</p> - -<p>Lager beer is not unknown in England, and is sold at restaurants -and hotels in most of our large towns. Much of it is imported; the -rest comes from Lager-beer brewers, who have, within the last few -years, started business in this country. Neither German nor Anglo-German -beers appear to make much headway over here, nor is this -very surprising when we remember how far superior our own ales and -beers are to any brewed in Germany. The chief difference between -lager<a class="afnanc" href="#fn50" id="fnanc50">50</a> -and English beers is in the time occupied in the fermentation. -Lager-beer brewers keep the wort at an exceedingly low temperature all -through the process, the result being that fermentation is delayed over -several days. Lager beer simply means beer which can be kept in lagers -or stores. Germany has from very early times maintained a large -export trade in Beer. It has already been shown that in the fifteenth -century large quantities were exported into Scotland, and another -instance is to be found in Rymer (H. 5. 1. 22), where there is a record of -an appeal made by the consuls of Hamburgh to Henry VI. The appeal -states “that certain of your Magnificence’s Subjects and Servants to wit -Michael Schotte and Molchun Poerter of Calais, rulers or captains of a -certain great ship of war specially fitted out, did with their Complices -in that present year, about the feast of St. James the Apostle, hostilely -seize, detain, and carry off at their pleasure two -vessels laden with <span class="xxpn" id="p180">{180}</span> -Hamburg ale, to the no small hurt and injury of our fellow townsmen.” -They therefore pray that the ships may be restored to them and -compensation made for the outrage.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc50" id="fn50">50</a> -Readers curious as to the technical details of the -brewing of Lager Beer are referred to Liebig’s Chemistry of Agriculture -(Playfair).</p></div> - -<p>Roberts, in his <i>Map of Commerce</i> (1638), says of Lubeck: “The place -is famous for the beere made, and hence transported into other regions, -and by some used medicinally for bruises of the body . . . though by -them in use commonly both for their own drinke and food and -rayment.”</p> - -<p>One of the characteristics of Bavaria is the inordinate love of its -inhabitants for their Bavarian beer, a love remarkable even amongst the -beer-drinking Germans. In the towns the brewhouses are amongst the -most important buildings, and the traveller remarks the number of beer -cellars, whither the inhabitants resort to drink their favourite liquor. -Brewing is the most flourishing trade, and the produce of Bavarian -brewhouses is the best of continental beers. One of its chief peculiarities -is that, although exposed to the air for lengthened periods, it will not -turn acid as other beers do. This valuable quality is obtained for it by -the peculiar management of the fermentation, and has been already -referred to. Very little space can be afforded even for a general -description of German beers, suffice it to say that their name is legion; -there is black beer, white beer, brown beer, thin beer, strong beer, -double beer, bitter beer, and countless local varieties of each and all -these various liquors. One more <i>special</i> variety may be noted, and -that is the strong ten-years-old ale known by the people of Dortmund -as “Adam.” It is mentioned by Corvin in <i>An Autobiography</i>, who -relates that “when King Frederick William IV. of Prussia visited -Dortmund a deputation of the magistrates waited upon him, one of -them bearing a salver with a large tankard filled with Adam. When -the King asked what it was, and heard that it was the celebrated beer, he -said ‘Very welcome; for it is extremely warm,’ and drained off the -contents of the tankard at a draught. The members of the deputation, -who were better acquainted with old Adam than the unsuspecting King, -smiled at each other, for they knew what would be the result. His -Majesty was unconscious for more than twenty-four hours.”</p> - -<p>The best beer brewed in Norway is a more or less faithful imitation -of the Bavarian beer, and travellers should be careful to ask for -“Baiersk öl,” <span class="xxpn" id="p181">{181}</span> -as the ordinary “barley-wine” of the country is not described as being -of a very choice character. Much the same may be said of Swedish -beer, one variety of which, however, has obtained a place in history. -The beer of Arboga was of so seductive a character that on the occasion -of the invasion of Hako and his Norwegian and Danish levies, a large part -of the army loitered behind in the various inns of the place, quaffing the -luscious beverage, and their King, in consequence, lost the day.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Russia has been behindhand in matters of brewing from the days -when Catherine had to send to Burton for her private supply, even until -now; but during the last few years the gentle Mujik has been taking so -kindly to his “Bavarski Peavah” (Russo-Bavarian beer), that a triumph -apparently awaits John Barleycorn in Russia similar to that old victory -of his over Bacchus commemorated in the song of “Yorkshire Ale,” -which finds place in the chapter devoted to Ballads.</p> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p181.png" width="144" height="47" alt="" /></div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p182a.png" width="144" height="42" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p182"><span - class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> VIII.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<p>“Come on, you mad-cap. I’ll to the Alehouse with you presently, where, -for one shot of fivepence, thou shalt have five thousand welcomes.”</p> - -<p class="psignature"><i>Two Gentlemen of Verona.</i> Act ii., sc. 5.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap30"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Whoe’er has travelled life’s dull round,</span> -<span class="spp01">Where’er his stages may have been,</span> -<span class="spp00">May sigh to think he still has found</span> -<span class="spp01">The warmest welcome at an inn.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Shenstone.</i></span></div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>ALE HOUSES: THEIR -ORIGIN. — HOSPITALITY IN MEDIÆVAL TIMES. — OLD LONDON INNS -AND TAVERNS. — ANECDOTES OF INNS AND INN KEEPERS. — CURIOUS -SIGNS. — SIGN-BOARD AND ALE-HOUSE VERSES. — SIGN-BOARD -ARTISTS. — ALE-HOUSE SONGS AND CATCHES.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p182b.png" -width="229" height="234" alt="“N" /></span>O, -SIR;” said Dr. Johnson, “there is -nothing which has yet been contrived by -man, by which so much happiness is produced, -as by a good tavern or inn.” The -argument by which the great Doctor leads -up to this oracular deliverance is as follows:—“There -is no private house in -which people can enjoy themselves so well -as in a capital tavern. Let there be ever -so great plenty of good things, ever so much grandeur, ever so much -elegance, and ever so much desire that everybody should be easy, in the -nature of things it cannot be; there must always be some degree of -care and anxiety. The master of the house is anxious to entertain his -guests, the guests are anxious to be agreeable to him, and no man but a -very impudent dog indeed, can as freely command what -is in another <span class="xxpn" id="p183">{183}</span> -man’s house as if it were his own; whereas, at a tavern there is a general -freedom from anxiety. You are sure you are welcome, and the more -noise you make, the more trouble you give, the more good things you call -for, the welcomer you are. No servant will attend you with the alacrity -which waiters do who are incited by the prospect of an immediate -reward in proportion as they please.” The Doctor seems most conscientiously -to have made his practice square with his preaching. Till -the end of his life, although generally an abstemious man, he was regular -in his attendance at the various taverns he patronised, and his burly -figure was as well known amongst the frequenters of the inns and -taverns of Fleet Street, as that of the most notorious roysterer of the -time.</p> - -<p>In his day the tavern—the London tavern especially—attained the -highest point of social importance which it has ever reached; and many -of those convivial and social functions, now for the most part discharged -by the clubs and by private hospitality, were then considered to fell -within its special province. During the last century the tavern gathered -around its hospitable hearth those groups of savants and wits, which -have been the starting points of many a scientific and literary society of -the present day.</p> - -<p>It is, of course, impossible for us in the space we are able to devote to -the history of public hospitality in England, to do more than give a -very slight sketch of the subject.</p> - -<p>Most of the functions of the modern inn were in early days discharged by the -hospitality of the Church. In the laws and constitutions of the various -religious bodies are to be found directions to the clergy to observe the rites -of hospitality, and a law of Ecgbright commands bishops and priests to have a -house for the entertainment of strangers, not far from the church. The house -here referred to would probably be the Almonry, where strangers and travellers, -too poor or lowly to be entertained within the walls of the monastery, were fed -and tended.</p> - -<p>Persons of higher rank were received into the monastery, -which was always furnished with a <i>hospitium</i>, or guest hall, for the -entertainment of visitors and travellers. The importance of this -monastic function may be judged from the size of some of the guest -halls belonging to the larger religious bodies: one at Canterbury was -a hundred and fifty feet long, and forty feet wide.</p> - -<p>Visitors on their arrival at a monastery were met by the <i>hosteler</i> in -the <i>parletory</i>, and after receiving greeting were conducted to the guest -hall, where they were refreshed with meat and drink -according to their <span class="xxpn" id="p184">{184}</span> -rank and importance. A small present was usually given at the gate -on arrival, but, save for that, the entertainment seems to have been free. -The guests were allowed to stay on these terms for two days and two -nights; but on the third day after dinner, unless prevented by sickness -or other just cause, they were to depart in peace.</p> - -<p>Many constitutions of religious houses enjoin that hospitality should -be shown to all comers, clerical or lay, and we are told that in some -cases this liberality was much abused. The heirs of persons who had -made large donations to religious houses, when they could not injure -the monks by means of law, did their best to ruin them by constant -visits with large retinues, and thus literally eat them out of house and -home; and to such lengths did this custom extend that, in the reign of -Edward I., it was found necessary to pass certain laws restraining such -abuses.</p> - -<p>By the rules of the Benedictine order, an officer was appointed, -called the <i>terrer</i>, whose duty it was to see that the guest-chambers were -kept clean. He was always to have on hand two tuns of wine for the -entertainment of strangers, and also provender for their horses; and -four yeomen were appointed to attend upon strangers, that nothing -might be wanting to pilgrims and travellers of whatever rank they -might be. In the middle ages the denial of hospitality was looked upon -as disgraceful, and an ancient anecdote is related of the revenge taken -by a travelling minstrel upon his host, on account of the meagre nature -of the entertainment afforded. The minstrel sought a night’s food and -lodging at an Abbey, when the abbot, a parsimonious man, happened -to be absent. The monk in attendance at the hospitium, acting upon -instructions, gave the poor minstrel nothing but black bread and water -and a bed of straw. Next morning the traveller proceeded on his way, -and meeting the abbot in the course of the journey, took occasion to -thank him in good set phrase for the princely hospitality dispensed at -his house, enlarging upon the choice viands and costly presents he had -received. The abbot hastened home in great rage, and caused the monk, -whom he believed to be guilty of the lavish waste, to be flogged and -dismissed from his office.</p> - -<p>One of the few instances of the public hospitality of the religious -orders surviving down to our own days is to be found at the Hospital of -Saint Cross, Winchester, where whoever knocks at the porter’s lodge is -entitled to a slice of bread and a mug of small beer—<i>very small</i>, if -rumour lies not.</p> - -<p>Side by side with this monastic hospitality were -the shelter and <span class="xxpn" id="p185">{185}</span> -entertainment afforded at the houses of the nobility and gentry when -their owners were absent; and when they were at home, the practice -of keeping open house seems to have been by no means rare. The -traveller of gentle blood would be entertained at the lord’s table, -while the servant, the travelling mechanic, the disbanded soldier, -and other wanderers of lowly rank, would find rest and refreshment -in the keep.</p> - -<p>In process of time, however, this custom of promiscuous entertainment -seems to have fallen into disuse; the accommodation before -provided by the castle or manor house being now afforded by a separate -inn set up close by, and frequently kept by some worn-out servant of -the castle, who would naturally bear upon his sign the arms of the -dominant family, and would, for the purpose of entertaining travellers, -be regarded as representing the lord. It is possible that to this custom, -or the preceding one, may be attributed the use of the expression landlord, -as signifying the host of an inn.</p> - -<p>In towns, those of the citizens who had large enough houses -frequently made a practice of receiving guests, and taking money for -their pains, thus adding the profession of a host to their other callings. -Persons who practised this letting of lodgings were called <i>herbergeors</i> -(<i>i.e.</i>, harbourers), to distinguish them from the hostelers or innkeepers; -and a further extension of the use of coats-of-arms for signs was thus -brought about, the herbergeor frequently taking as his sign the arms of -his most frequent or most influential guest. The <i>Liber Albus</i> mentions -both classes of entertainers, and records that by the regulations of the -City of London herbergeours and hostelers must be freemen of the City, -and persons of a strange land desirous of being herbergeour or hosteler -within the City must dwell in the heart of the City and not upon the -waterside of the Thames.</p> - -<p>Although hospitality was so freely exercised by the monks and great -landowners, it must not be imagined that inns were unknown. Even -in Saxon days, to go no further back, inns and village alehouses seem to -have existed. Bracton tells us of a regulation of Edward the Confessor -that if any man lay a third night in an inn he was called a <i>third-night-awn-hinde</i>, -that is to say, he was looked upon in the same light as a servant -of the house would be, and the host was answerable for him if he -committed any offence—a curious illustration of that local and vicarious -responsibility for crime which was so prominent a feature of our ancient -polity. In much later times a similar regulation is to be found applying -to “hostelers” in the City of London. The <i>Liber -Albus</i> gives, as <span class="xxpn" id="p186">{186}</span> -one of the City rules, that no hosteler shall harbour a man beyond a day -and a night, if he be not willing to produce such person to stand his -trial, and in case such a person shall commit an offence, and absent -himself, his host shall answer for him.</p> - -<p>Goldsmith’s description of a village inn is probably as applicable to -the old Saxon <i>eala-hus</i> of a thousand years ago as it was to the alehouse -of his own time, and as it is to many in the present -<span class="nowrap">day:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspired,</span> -<span class="spp00">Where grey-beard mirth and smiling toil retired;</span> -<span class="spp00">Where village statesmen talked with looks profound,</span> -<span class="spp00">And news, much older than the Ale, went round.</span> -<span class="spp00">Obscure it sinks, nor shall it more impart</span> -<span class="spp00">An hour’s importance to a poor man’s heart,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">and the following descriptive verses of Leigh Hunt, entitled <i>The Village -Alehouse, a Picture in Detail</i>, with but slight alterations, would serve -equally as -<span class="nowrap">well:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Dear ramblers all—an Alehouse sign</span> -<span class="spp01">You’ll own as good a sight as greets ye;</span> -<span class="spp00">When summer’s long, long mornings shine,</span> -<span class="spp01">Where leisure reigns, and ‘All hail’ meets ye.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There rests the waggon in its <span class="nowrap">track,—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">A corn bag round each horse’s nose is;</span> -<span class="spp00">There comes the miller and his sack:</span> -<span class="spp01">And there at ease the beggar dozes.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There limps the ostler with his pails,</span> -<span class="spp01">And there the landlord stalks inspector;</span> -<span class="spp00">Two farmers there discuss their sales,</span> -<span class="spp01">And drain by turns one goblet’s nectar.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hay ricks are near and orchard fruit;</span> -<span class="spp01">The cock’s shrill crow and flapping wing;</span> -<span class="spp00">The low contented neigh of brute;</span> -<span class="spp01">The pipe’s perfume, and tankard’s ding.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The fiddle’s scrape,—the milking <span class="nowrap">cows,—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">The snapping cork,—the roaring <span class="nowrap">joke:—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">The birds by thousands in the <span class="nowrap">boughs:—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">The creaking wheel and whip’s loud stroke. <span class="xxpn" id="p187">{187}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sunshine strews all the kitchen floor,</span> -<span class="spp01">Reposes on the home-field <span class="nowrap">crop—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Blisters the Doctor’s fine new door,</span> -<span class="spp01">And kisses copse and chimney top.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Clouds fleecy dot the blue <span class="nowrap">immense—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">Farm-houses—cities—vales—and <span class="nowrap">streams—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And seats and parks and forests dense,</span> -<span class="spp01">Sleep stretch’d afar, in floods of beams.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dright dwth-e"> -<img src="images/p187.png" width="250" height="270" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">A Mediæval Innkeeper.</div></div> - -<p>An inn or an alehouse, however, was at the time of the -Conquest and for long after, far to seek. In the reign of -Edward I. there were only three taverns in London, one -in Chepe, one in Wallbrooke, and one in Lombard Street, -and in country districts the proportion to the population -would doubtless be as -small, the want being supplied in the manner before -alluded to. Even in the year 1552 the following list of the -numbers of taverns allowed for the chief towns in England, -no doubt shows a much smaller proportion to population -than is seen at the present day. There were to be allowed -forty in London, eight in York, four in Norwich, three -in Westminster, six in Bristol, four in Hull, three in -Shrewsbury, four in Exeter, three in Salisbury, four in -Gloucester, four in Chester, three in Hereford, three -in Worcester, three in Oxford, four in Cambridge, three -in Southampton, four in Canterbury, three in Ipswich, -three in Winchester, three in Colchester, and four in -Newcastle-upon-Tyne.</p> - -<p>Even parsonages seem to have been licensed as alehouses in very -out-of-the-way districts. A survival of this custom, almost to our own -times, is mentioned by Southey, who states that the parsonage house of -Langdale was licensed as an alehouse, because it was so poor a living -that the curate could not have otherwise supported himself.</p> - -<p>The regulation previously mentioned as to the number of taverns, -seems never to have been formally repealed; it could, however, only -have been very slackly enforced, and doubtless soon became a dead -letter. It was not, however, altogether forgotten, for in -a letter from <span class="xxpn" id="p188">{188}</span> -the Lords in Council, in reply to a petition presented in the year 1618 -by the parishioners of St. Mildred, in London, it is stated that “whereas -the number of taverns had been limited to forty, and their places -assigned,” there were then no less than four hundred in the City alone. -The Lord Mayor and Common Council are therefore directed to put -some restraint on this “enormous liberty of setting up taverns.”</p> - -<p>The latter part of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth -centuries seem to have been remarkable for a great excess of alehouses, -having regard to the wants of the population at the time. In 1591 a -report of the Queen’s Council on the state of Lancashire and Cheshire -states that the streets and alehouses are so crowded during service time -that there was none in church but the curate and his clerk; that alehouses -were innumerable, and that great abuses prevailed. In 1639 the -Justices of Middlesex made presentment to the Council that there were -twenty-four alehouses in Covent Garden, and that most of their -keepers were chandlers who had got licensed surreptitiously at general -meetings, and that the said Justices had reduced the number of the alehouses -to <i>four</i>.</p> - -<p>Old John Taylor, in <i>Drinke and Welcome</i>, gives evidence of the excessive -facilities for drinking afforded at the fairs then so common. “Concerning -the fructifying or fruitfulnesse of ale,” he says in his quaint way, “it -is almost incredible, for twice every yeere there is a Faire at a small -Towne called Kimbolton or Kimolton in Northamptonshire (as I take -it), in which towne there are but thirty-eight Houses, which at the Faire -time are encreased to thirty-nine <i>Alehouses</i>, for an old woman and her -daughter doe in those dayes divide there one house into two, such is the -operation and encreasing power of our English Ale.” Decker, writing -in 1632, says that “a whole street is in some places but a continuous alehouse, -not a shop to be seen between red lattice and red lattice.” This -mention of the red lattice recalls the custom now extinct, but once well -nigh universal, for the alehouses to have open windows to enable the -guests to enjoy the fresh air. Privacy was ensured by a trellis or lattice, -which was fixed in front of the window, and prevented a passer-by from -seeing in, though those within could see out. Whether or not the red -colour of the lattices was intended to harmonise with the noses of the -frequenters may be considered a moot point; the page seems to have -intended some such insinuation when he says of Bardolph, “He called -me even now, my Lord, through a red lattice, and I could see no part of -his face from the window; at last I spied his eyes and methought he had -made two holes in the ale-wife’s new petticoat, -and peeped through.” <span class="xxpn" id="p189">{189}</span></p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr01"> -<div class="dcaption"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A merry new Ballad, bothe pleaſant and ſweet,</span> -<span class="spp00">In praiſe of a Blackſmith, which is very meet.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<img src="images/p189.png" width="742" height="391" - alt="An Ale-Houſe Lattice." /> - -<div class="dcaption"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Of - all the trades that ever I ſee</span> -<span class="spp00">There is none which the Blackſmith - compared may be.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Roxburghe Ballads.</i></span></div> -</div></div><!--dctr01--></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p190">{190}</span></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">So usual did the red lattice become that it was regarded as a distinctive -mark, as shown in Marston’s <i>Antonio and Mellida</i>, in which occurs the -passage, “As well known by my wit as an alehouse by a red lattice.” -Green lattices were occasionally used, and the memory of them still -survives in the sign of <i>The Green Lettuce</i>.</p> - -<p>Another feature peculiar to old country inns was the ale-bench, a -seat in front of the house where the thirsty wayfarer might rest and take -his modest quencher. An ancient institution was the ale-bench. It is -mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poem <i>Beowulf</i> and in the sixteenth -century seems to have been considered the appropriate resting place of -sententious and argumentative persons. One of the old Homilies (1547) -alludes to those “which upon the ale-benches delight to set forth -certain questions.”</p> - -<p>Another institution of the old alehouse, corresponding in fact to the -modern <i>bar</i>, was called the <i>ale-stond</i>, an allusion to which is to be -found in <i>Marprelate’s Epistle</i>: “Therefore at length Sir Jefferie -bethought him of a feat whereby he might both visit the ale-stond -and also kepe his othe.”</p> - -<p>In the sixteenth century the keeper of an alehouse was fancifully -called an <i>ale-draper</i>. Chettle, in his <i>Kind-Hearts’ Dreame</i> (1592), has -the following:—“I came up to London and fell to be some tapster, -hostler, or chamberlaine in an inn. Well, I got me a wife; with her a -little money; when we are married seeke a house we must; no other -occupation have I but an ale-draper.” <i>The Discoverie of the Knights of -the Poste</i> (1597) also contains an allusion to the phrase:—“‘So that -nowe hee hath left brokery, and is become a draper.’ ‘A draper!’ -quoth Freeman, ‘what draper? of woollin or of linnen?’ ‘No,’ qd -he, ‘an ale-draper, wherein he hath more skil then in the other.’” -Innkeepers in Whitby are denominated ale-drapers in the parish -registers of last century.</p> - -<p>In those good old days before the introduction of mail-coaches, to -say nothing of the more modern means of transit, hospitality to the -traveller was the rule in country districts. The Water Poet tells in his -<i>Pennilesse Pilgrimage</i> that he travelled “on foot from London to -Edinburgh in Scotland, not carrying money to or fro, neither begging, -borrowing or asking meat.” However, from what he goes on to relate, -this description of his journey needs to be accepted with some slight -reservation, for he gives a comical recital of how “from Stamford we -<i>rode</i> the next day to Huntingdon, where we lodged at the Post-master’s -house at the signe of the Crowne.” The landlord -appears, and “very <span class="xxpn" id="p191">{191}</span> -bountifully called for three quarts of wine and sugar and some jugges of -beere. He did drink and begin healths like a horse-leach, and swallowed -downe his cuppes without feeling, as if he had had the dropsie, or nine -pound of spunge in his maw. In a word, as he is a Poste, he dranke -poste, striving and calling by all means to make the reckoning great, -or to make us men of great reckoning. But in his payment he was -tyred like a jade, leaving the gentleman that was with me to discharge -the terrible shott, or else one of my horses must have laine in pawne for -his superfluous calling and unmannerly intrusion.”</p> - -<p>The opinion of the great Doctor already quoted was not confined -either to himself or to his times. Bishop Earle, writing in the seventeenth -century of those social functions of the tavern or alehouse, now in a -great measure discharged by the Clubs, sums up his description as -follows:—“To give you the total reckoning of it, it is the busy man’s -recreation, the idle man’s business, the melancholy man’s sanctuary, the -stranger’s welcome, the inns of court man’s entertainment, the scholar’s -kindness, and the citizens’ courtesy. It is the study of sparkling wits, -and a cup of comedy their book; whence we leave them.”</p> - -<p>Old Izaak Walton had a lively appreciation of the comforts of an -inn and the virtues of English ale. Piscator, of <i>The Complete Angler</i>, -thus addresses the hostess of an inn: “Come, hostess, dress it (a trout) -presently, and get us what other meat the house will afford, and give -us some of your best barley wine, the good liquor that our honest forefathers -did use to drink of; the drink which preserved their health, and -made them live so long and do so many good deeds.”</p> - -<p>The quaint old author of <i>The Haven of Health</i> (1584) gives his readers -directions how to find out the best alehouse in a strange town, and also -some prudent maxims as to the behaviour there:—“But if you come as -a stranger to any towne, and would faine know where the best ale is, -you neede do no more than marke where the greatest noyse is of good -fellows, as they call them, and the greatest repaire of beggars. But -withall take good heed that malt bee not above wheat before you part. -For it is worse to be drunke of Ale than wine, and the drunkenness -indureth longer: by reason that the fumes and vapours of ale that -ascend to the head, are more grosse, and therefore cannot be so soone -resolved as those that rise up of wine.”</p> - -<p>Malvolio is alluding to the custom of alehouse singing when he -says: “Do you make an alehouse of my lady’s house, that ye squeak out -your cozier’s catches without any mitigation or remorse of voice?”</p> - -<p>The English custom of wives following their -husbands to the ale <span class="xxpn" id="p192">{192}</span> -house is mentioned with reprehension by Gascoigne in <i>A Delicate Diet -for Daintie-mouthed Droonkards</i> (1576). “What woman,” he exclaims, -“(even among the droonken Almaines), is suffered to follow her husband -into the Alehouse or Beerhouse?” However, if we are to believe the -author of the following verses, the practice does not always seem to -have been unfavourable to -<span class="nowrap">temperance:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem26"> -<div class="padtopb">BACCHANALIAN JOYS DEFEATED.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">While I’m at the Tavern quaffing,</span> -<span class="spp01">Well disposed for t’other quart,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come’s my wife to spoil my laughing,</span> -<span class="spp01">Telling me ’tis time to part:</span> -<span class="spp00">Words I knew, were unavailing,</span> -<span class="spp01">Yet I sternly answered, no!</span> -<span class="spp00">’Till from motives more prevailing,</span> -<span class="spp01">Sitting down she treads my toe:</span> -<span class="spp00">Such kind tokens to my thinking,</span> -<span class="spp01">Most emphatically prove</span> -<span class="spp00">That the joys that flow from drinking,</span> -<span class="spp01">Are averse to those of love.</span> -<span class="spp00">Farewell friends and t’other bottle,</span> -<span class="spp01">Since I can no longer stay,</span> -<span class="spp00">Love more learn’d than Aristotle,</span> -<span class="spp01">Has, to move me, found the way.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Many a tale is told of wordy passages of arms between travellers and -innkeepers. Dame Halders, of Norwich, was a stingy ale-wife. Upon -one occasion a passing pedlar begged of her a mug of water. “You had -better,” said she, “have a jug of my home-brewed.” The pedlar -complied and paid for it, remarking after tasting it that it was a very -satisfying tipple. “Yes,” rejoined the dame, pleased at the supposed -compliment uttered in the hearing of her country customers, “it’s my -own brewing—nothing but malt and hops.” “Indeed,” exclaimed the -pedlar; “what!—no water?” “O yes,” cried the dame, “I forgot the -water.” “No,” quickly added the pedlar, “I’m d—d if you did.”</p> - -<p>“I say,” a wag asked of a publican, “if we were to have a Coroner’s -Inquest on your beer, what verdict should we arrive at?” “Give it -up,” said Boniface. “Found drowned,” was the cruel reply.</p> - -<p>“Have you a pair of steps?” asked a customer of an ale-wife, who was -notorious for giving short measure. “Yes; what do you -want it for?” <span class="xxpn" id="p193">{193}</span> -inquired the woman. “To go down and get at this ale,” was the reply -pointing to the half-filled pewter.</p> - -<p>It is not, however, always the host or the ale-wife who is made the -object of these shafts of wit; as often as not it is Boniface who assumes -the character of the joker. In illustration of his jests, the following -extract is taken from the <i>Mirror</i>: “About half a century ago, when it -was more the fashion to drink ale at Oxford than it is at present, -a humorous fellow, of punning memory, established an alehouse near -the pound, and wrote over his door, ‘Ale sold by the pound.’ As his -ale was as good as his jokes, the Oxonians resorted to his house in great -numbers, and sometimes staid there beyond the college hours. This -was made a matter of complaint to the Vice-Chancellor, who was -directed to take away his licence by one of the Proctors of the -University. Boniface was summoned to attend, and when he came into -the Vice-Chancellor’s presence he began hawking and spitting about -the room; this the Chancellor observed, and asked what he meant by -it. ‘Please your worship,’ said he, ‘I came here on purpose to <i>clear</i> -myself.’ The Vice-Chancellor imagined that he actually weighed his -ale and sold it by the pound. ‘Is that true?’ ‘No, an’t please your -worship,’ replied the wit. ‘How do you, then?’ said the Chancellor. -‘Very well, I thank you, sir,’ replied he; ‘how do you do?’ The -Chancellor laughed, and said, ‘Get away for a rascal; I’ll say no more -to you.’ The fellow departed, and crossing the quadrangle met the -Proctor who laid the information. ‘Sir,’ said he, ‘the Chancellor wants -to speak to you,’ and returned with him. ‘Here, sir,’ said he when he -came into the Chancellor’s presence, ‘you sent me for a <i>rascal</i>, and I’ve -brought you the greatest that I know of.’”</p> - -<p>There is a good tale told of a certain innkeeper, who, had he received -the advantages of an university education, would certainly have taken -high mathematical honours. To him came a traveller, who demanded -a tankard of treble X. Thereupon the innkeeper, having hesitated -a moment, left the tap-room, to reappear shortly afterwards with a foam-crowned -pewter. The traveller tasted, and exclaimed angrily, “This is -not what I ordered!” “It is,” shortly replied Boniface; and retired to -avoid discussion. The traveller was a connoisseur in beer, and knew he -had been given table ale. Calling the potboy, he questioned him -“No, master kept no strong beer,” said the lad; “nothing more than -double X.” The traveller then summoned the landlord, and the -meeting was stormy. The traveller asserted, the host denied, and -came off finally triumphant with, “I know I don’t -keep treble X, <span class="xxpn" id="p194">{194}</span> -but I can make it. I just gave you half double X and t’other half -single X, and if two and one don’t make three, my name’s not -Boniface.”</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p194.png" width="500" height="650" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Cornelius Caton.</div></div> - -<p>The very grotesque figure which adorns this page represents -Cornelius Caton, landlord of the “White Lion,” Richmond, about the -middle of last century. Beginning life as a potboy, he rose through -various stages till he became landlord of the house. He was almost a -dwarf, and his whimsical character and unfailing good humour brought -him much custom. The illustration is taken from a very rare print.</p> - -<p>The portrait of an old Cumberland landlord of the hard-drinking -days is drawn in the following ballad, which was written by some -wandering bard, in the album kept at the “Rising Sun,” Pooley -Bridge:— <span class="xxpn" id="p195">{195}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Will Russell was a landlord bold,</span> -<span class="spp01">A noble wight was he,</span> -<span class="spp00">Right fond of quips and merry cranks,</span> -<span class="spp01">And every kind of glee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Full five and twenty years agone,</span> -<span class="spp01">He came to Pooley Height,</span> -<span class="spp00">And there he kept the Rising Sun,</span> -<span class="spp01">And drunk was every night.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">No lord, nor squire, nor serving man,</span> -<span class="spp01">In all the country round,</span> -<span class="spp00">But lov’d to call in at the Sun,</span> -<span class="spp01">Wherever he was bound.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To hold a crack with noble Will,</span> -<span class="spp01">And take a cheerful cup</span> -<span class="spp00">Of brandy, or of Penrith ale,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or pop, right bouncing up.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But now poor Will lies sleeping here,</span> -<span class="spp01">Without his hat or stick,</span> -<span class="spp00">No longer rules the Rising Sun,</span> -<span class="spp01">As he did well when quick.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Will’s honest heart could ne’er refuse</span> -<span class="spp01">To drink with ev’ry brother:</span> -<span class="spp00">Then let us not his name <span class="nowrap">abuse—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">We’ll ne’er see sic another.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But let us hope the gods above,</span> -<span class="spp01">Right minded of his merits,</span> -<span class="spp00">Have given him a gentle shove</span> -<span class="spp01">Into the land of spirits.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Tis then his talents will expand,</span> -<span class="spp01">And make a noble figure,</span> -<span class="spp00">In tossing off a brimming glass,</span> -<span class="spp01">To make his belly bigger.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Adieu, brave landlord, may thy portly ghost</span> -<span class="spp01">Be ever ready at its heavenly post;</span> -<span class="spp00">And may thy proud posterity e’er be</span> -<span class="spp01">Landlords at Pooley to eternity. <span class="xxpn" id="p196">{196}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Rather profane the last verse; but, perhaps, not more so than the -epitaph on one Matilda -<span class="nowrap">Brown:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here lies the body of Matilda Brown,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who while alive was hostess of the Crown.</span> -<span class="spp00">Her son-in-law keeps on the business still,</span> -<span class="spp00">Patient, resigned to the Eternal Will.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">At King’s Stanley, in Gloucestershire, is the following epitaph to -another hostess, one Ann -<span class="nowrap">Collins:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Twas as she tript from cask to cask,</span> -<span class="spp01">In at a bung-hole quickly fell,</span> -<span class="spp00">Suffocation was her task,</span> -<span class="spp01">She had no time to say farewell.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p196.png" width="344" height="464" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The George Inn, Salisbury.</div></div> - -<p>The ancient George Inn, Salisbury, depicted in our illustration, was -in the vicinity of the Royal residence at Clarendon, and four hundred -years ago was one of the best and most commodious inns in the west -of England. In the records of the Corporation of the town a lease of -this house is found, dated April 9th, 1473; it is made to one John -Gryme, a saddler, and contains a description of the rooms of the inn, -and an inventory of furniture. The house contained -at that date <span class="xxpn" id="p197">{197}</span> -thirteen guest chambers, viz.:—The Principal Chamber, the Earl’s -Chamber, the Pantry adjoining, the Oxford Chamber, the Abingdon -Chamber, the Squire’s Chamber, the Lombard’s Chamber, the Garret, -the George, the Clarendon, the Understent, the Fitzwaryn, and the -London Chamber.</p> - -<div class="dctr01"> -<img src="images/p197.png" width="591" height="542" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Falcon Inn, Chester.</div></div> - -<p>There was also the <i>taberna</i> or wine-cellar, the Buttery, the Tap -House, the Kitchen, the Hostry, and the Parlour. The furniture, of -which a full inventory is appended, seems to have been of a very -homely type. No difference seems to have been made between the -living and the sleeping rooms; each room was supplied with beds, the -relative importance of which was measured by the number of <i>planks</i> -they contained, and the only other articles of furniture were tables on -tressels for dining and forms of oak and beech for the guests to sit at -table. The Principal room was distinguished by the possession of a -cupboard, and each room contained three beds.</p> - -<p>Another fine old inn is the Falcon of Chester. It is notable as -a good example of old half-timbered work. <span class="xxpn" id="p198">{198}</span></p> - -<p>Malone, in his <i>Supplement</i> to Shakspere, mentions the fact that -many of our old plays were acted in the yards of Carriers’ Inns, in -which, he says, “in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the -comedians, who then first united themselves in companies, erected an -occasional stage. The form of these temporary play-houses seems to be -preserved in our modern theatre. The galleries are in both ranged -over each other, on three sides of the building. The small rooms -under the lowest of these galleries answer to our present boxes; and it -is observable that these, even in theatres which were built in a subsequent -period, expressly for dramatic exhibitions, still retained their -old name, and are frequently called rooms by our ancient writers. The -yard bears a sufficient resemblance to the pit, as at present in use. We -may suppose the stage to have been raised in this area, on the fourth -side, with its back to the gateway of the inn, at which the money for -admission was taken. Here, in the middle of the Globe, and, I suppose, -of the other public theatres in the time of Shakespeare, there was an -open yard or area, where the common people stood to see the exhibition, -from which circumstances they are called groundlings, and by Ben -Jonson, ‘the understanding gentlemen of the ground.’”</p> - -<p>At the beginning of the present century the Angel at Islington was -a typical, old-fashioned country inn, long and low, with deep overhanging -eaves, and a central yard surrounded by double galleries, -open to the air and communicating with the bedrooms. Travellers -approaching London from the north would frequently remain at the -Angel the night, rather than venture into London by dark along a road -dangerous alike from its ruts and its footpads. Persons whose business -took them to Islington after dark usually waited at an avenue, which -then existed on the site of John Street, until a sufficient number of -them had assembled to go on in safety to their destination, whither -they were escorted by an armed patrol appointed for that purpose. -What a striking picture of the insecurity of life and limb in districts -close to the metropolis not one hundred years ago!</p> - -<p>A curious custom, known as the Highgate Oath, held its ground for -many a long year, and has only fallen into disuse within living memory. -When a traveller passed through Highgate towards London for the -first time he was brought before a pair of horns at one of the taverns, -and there a mock oath was administered to him, to the effect that he -would never drink small beer when he could get strong, unless he liked -it better; that, with a similar saving clause, he would never drink gruel -when he could command turtle soup; nor make love to -the maid, when <span class="xxpn" id="p199">{199}</span> -he could court the mistress, unless he preferred the maid; with much -more to the same effect. In the old coaching days scarcely a coach -passed through Highgate without some of its occupants being initiated -and we may well imagine that copious streams of ale would flow to -“wet” the time-honoured custom. It is to this custom that Byron -makes allusion in Childe -<span class="nowrap">Harold:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">    .    .    many - to the steep of Highgate hie;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ask ye, Bœotian shades, the reason why?</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis to the worship of the solemn horn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Grasped in the holy hand of Mystery,</span> -<span class="spp00">In whose dread name both men and maids are sworn,</span> -<span class="spp00">And consecrate the oath with draught and dance till morn.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The privileges belonging to a freeman of Highgate who had taken -the oath are described as follows:—“If at any time you are going -through Highgate, and want to rest yourself, and you see a pig lying in -the ditch, you have liberty to kick her out and take her place; but if -you see three lying together, you must only kick out the middle one -and lie between the two others.”</p> - -<p>The custom is said to have been originated by a club of graziers -who were wont to tarry at Highgate on their way to London, and who, -in order to keep their company select, would admit none to their society -before he had gone through a process of initiation, which consisted of -kissing between the horns, one of their oxen brought to the door for -the purpose.</p> - -<p>Interesting as are many of our old country inns and village ale-houses, -and numberless the tales that might be told of the doings within -their time-stained walls; “of quips and cranks and wanton wiles”; of the -village feast, the village minstrelsy, the “jocund rebeck’s” sound to ears -long since deaf; the song; the toast pledged by lips long since cold—interesting -as all these are, it is when we come to the history of our old -London taverns, fragmentary though it be, that we really find ourselves -face to face with the clearest pictures of the social life and customs of the -past. It is here that memories gather thickest of the</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Peals of genial clamour sent</span> -<span class="spp00">From many a tavern door,</span> -<span class="spp00">With twisted quirks and happy hits,</span> -<span class="spp01">From misty men of letters;</span> -<span class="spp00">The tavern hours of mighty <span class="nowrap">wits—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">Thine elders and thy betters.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p200">{200}</span></div> - -<p>In the history of the old London taverns may be seen the habits, the -customs, and the amusements of by-gone generations of Londoners. -Innumerable pictures of society, and modes of life and thought, might -be gathered from among the records of these houses of entertainment. -For centuries before these days of telegraphs and newspapers, it was to -the tavern that men resorted to hear the latest news, to exchange ideas -and to refresh their minds, as well as bodies, after the labours of the day. -It was here the traveller told his tale of marvels, of “contrees and the -yles that ben beyond Cathay”; it was here the stay-at-home gathered -what information he possessed of lands and nations over the seas.</p> - -<p>Space forbids us to mention more than a very few of these old -London Inns. That old Tabard—what a picture of fourteenth-century -life does its very name recall! The earliest mention of this typical old -Southwark Inn—an inn which after seeing all the changes and chances -of five centuries, fell a victim but yesterday to that modern Vandal, the -improver (save the mark!)—occurs in a register of the Abbey of Hyde, -near Winchester, where we find that two tenements were conveyed by -William de Ludegarsale to the Abbot in 1306, the site being described as -extending in length from the common ditch of Southwark eastwards, as -far as the royal way towards the west. This royal way was none other -than the old Roman road which connected London with Kent and the -south. Stow, writing three centuries later, thus mentions the inn and -its sign: “From thence towards London Bridge,” he writes, “bee many -faire Innes, for receit of travellers, by these signes, the Spurre, Christopher, -Bull, Queen’s Head, <i>Tabard</i>, George, Hart, King’s Head, etc. -Amongst the which the most ancient is the Tabard, so called of the -signe, which as wee do now terme it, is of a Jacket or sleevelesse coate -whole before, open on both sides, with a square collar, winged at the -shoulders; a stately garment, of old time commonly worne of noblemen -and others, both at home and abroad in the warres; but then, (to wit -in the warres) their Armes embroidered, or otherwise depict upon them -that every man by his coate of Armes might be knowne from others: -But now these Tabards are onely worne by the Heralds, and bee called -their coates of Armes in service. Of the Inne of the Tabard, -Geffrey Chaucer Esquire, the most famous poet of England, in commendation -thereof, writeth -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Byfel, - that in that sesoun, on a day</span> -<span class="spp00">In Southwark at the Tabard as I lay,</span> -<span class="spp00">Redy to wenden on my pilgrimage</span> -<span class="spp00">To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, <span class="xxpn" id="p201">{201}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">At night was come into that hostelrie</span> -<span class="spp00">Wel nyne and twenty in a compainye,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of sondry folk, by aventure i-falle,</span> -<span class="spp00">In felawship and pilgrims were thei alle,</span> -<span class="spp00">That toward Caunterbury wolden ryden.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Then follows an unrivalled description of typical fourteenth-century -society.</p> - -<p>The Knight,</p> -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp06">. . . . a worthy man,</span> -<span class="spp00">That from the tyme that he first bigan</span> -<span class="spp00">To ryden out, he lovede chyvalrye,</span> -<span class="spp00">Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">He was a very perfight gentil knight.”</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">—The Squire, whose gay dress is thus -<span class="nowrap">described:―</span></p> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Embrowded was he, as it were a mede</span> -<span class="spp00">Al ful of fresshe flouers, white and <span class="nowrap">reede—</span></span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">—The Yeoman attending him, - “clad in coote and hood of greene.”</p> -<p class="pcontinue">—The “Nonne, a Prioresse,” - so “symple and coy,” whose “gretteste - ooth was but by seynt -<span class="nowrap">Loy”:―</span></p> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And Frensch sche spak ful faine and fetysly,</span> -<span class="spp00">After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe</span> -<span class="spp00">For Frensch of Parys was to hire unknowe.</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">—The Sporting Monk, the prototype of the - Hunting Parson of more recent -<span class="nowrap">days:―</span></p> -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">An outrydere that lovede venerye;</span> -<span class="spp00">A manly man, to ben an abbot able.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ful many a deynte hors hadde he in stable:</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">Greyhoundes he hadde as swifte as fowel in flight;</span> -<span class="spp00">Of prikyng and of huntyng for the hare</span> -<span class="spp00">Was al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare.</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">—The easy-going Friar, who - “sweetely herde -<span class="nowrap">confessioun”:―</span></p> -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And pleasant was his absolucioun</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">He knew the tavernes well in every toun,</span> -<span class="spp00">And everych hostiler and tappestere.</span> -</div></div><!--dpoemlft--></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p202">{202}</span></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">—The Merchant with his forked beard -and “Flaundrisch bevere hat”—The Clerk of Oxenford—The -Sergeant of Law, “war and wys”—The Franklin—The -Ploughman—The Cook, and every other of that goodly -company—How fresh their pictures are to-day! Each touch, -each tint, as clear, as bright, as though the great father -of English poetry had but yesterday laid aside his pencil! -And then the Host, none other than the Henry Bayley of -the Tabard, who represented the borough of Southwark in -Parliament in 1376, and again in 1378, how interesting it -is to observe his demeanour, as depicted by Chaucer. Quite -at his ease, and on an equality with his guests, he talks -with them, jests with them, in person presides over the -table, acts as umpire and judge of the tales they tell upon -the journey, and generally behaves more like a man who -entertains his friends than a landlord serving his guests; -and, be it remembered, these guests were not by any means -of the lowest rank of life:</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A seemly man our hoste was withal,</span> -<span class="spp00">For to have ben a marshall in an hall,</span> -<span class="spp00">A large man he was with eyen steep,</span> -<span class="spp00">A fairer burgess was there none in Chepe:</span> -<span class="spp00">Bold of his speeche, and wys and well y-taught,</span> -<span class="spp00">And of manhood him lackede righte noughte.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dleft dwth-e"> -<img src="images/p202.png" width="277" height="205" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Tabard in 1722.</div></div> - -<p>The old Tabard was partly burnt down in the great -Southwark fire in 1676, and on rebuilding the ruined -portion “that ignorant landlord or tenant,” Aubrey tells -us, “instead of the ancient sign of the Tabard put up the -Talbot or doge.” In this condition it remained until a few -years ago, when, despite the protests of the antiquarian -world, despite the pages of remonstrance with which the -newspapers and magazines were filled, it was pulled down, -and is now replaced by a tall brick building. Had we not -enough and to spare of these tall brick buildings?</p> - -<p>At the time when Knight wrote his <i>History of London</i>, the original -house was sufficiently complete for him to leave us a description of the -old arched entrance to the inn-yard, the balustraded galleries on which -the bedrooms opened, the gabled roofs, the panelled -rooms, and last, <span class="xxpn" id="p203">{203}</span> -but not least, the Pilgrim’s room, which tradition said was the -veritable scene of the supper on the night before the guests set out -upon their world-famed pilgrimage.</p> - -<p>John Lydgate, a Benedictine monk of Bury St. Edmunds, writing -about the same time as Chaucer, mentions that Cornhill was in his time -noted for its taverns, where was “wine one pint for a pennie, and bread -to drink it was given free at every tavern.”</p> - -<p class="pclearfix">In -a black-letter sheet entitled <i>Newes from Bartholomew Fayre</i>, of -probably the early part of the seventeenth century, some of the most -famous inns of London are thus whimsically -<span class="nowrap">enumerated:―</span></p> - -<div id="p203list"><ul> -<li class="lihangb">There has been great sale and utterance of wine,</li> -<li class="lihangb">Besides Beer, Ale, and Hippocrass fine,</li> -<li class="lihangb">In every country, region, and Nation,</li> -<li class="lihangb">Chiefly at Billings-gate, at the Salutation;</li> -<li class="lihangb">And Boreshead near London Stone,</li> -<li class="lihangb">The Swan at Dowgate, a tavern well knowne;</li> -<li class="lihangb">The Mitre in Cheap, and the Bull-head,</li> -<li class="lihangb">And many like places that make noses red;</li> -<li class="lihangb">The Boreshead in Old Fish Street, Three Cranes in the Vintree</li> -<li class="lihangb">And now, of late, Saint Martin’s in the Sentree;</li> -<li class="lihangb">The Windmill in Lothbury, the Ship at the Exchange,</li> -<li class="lihangb">King’s Head in New Fish Street, where Roysters do range;</li> -<li class="lihangb">The Mermaid in Cornhill, Red Lion in the Strand,</li> -<li class="lihangb">Three Tuns in Newgate Market, in Old Fish Street the Swan.</li> -</ul></div> - -<p>Most of these hostelries, famous in their day and generation, were -swept away in the Great Fire of London.</p> - -<p>The Boar’s Head in Eastcheap, “near London stone,” was one of the -oldest inns in London. It stood near the site whereon the statue to -William IV. in King William Street has been erected. It was there that -Prince Hal and “honest Jack Falstaff” played their wildest pranks. Carved -oak figures of the two worthies stood at the door of the house until the -Great Fire; and the proud inscription, “This is the chief tavern in -London,” appeared upon the signboard until the house was finally -pulled down in 1831, to make way for the approaches of London Bridge. -In the year 1718 one James Austin, the inventor of “Persian inkpowder,” -whatever that may have been, desiring to entertain his chief customers, -and also, no doubt, to advertise his wonderful powder, issued invitations -for a Brobdingnagian repast to be partaken of at the Boar’s Head. The -feast was to consist of an enormous plum-pudding, -weighing 1,000 lbs., <span class="xxpn" id="p204">{204}</span> -and the best piece of an ox roasted; this wonderous pudding was put to -boil on Monday, May 12th, in a copper at the Red Lion Inn in Southwark, -where it had to boil for fourteen days. As soon as this mighty -feat of cookery was accomplished, a triumphant procession was formed, -and the pudding set out on its journey, escorted by a band playing -<i>What lumps of pudding my mother gave me</i>; but, alas, for the vanity of -all things human! the tempting dish had not proceeded far upon its -way, when the mob, goaded to madness by the savoury odour of the -pudding, fell upon the escort, and, having put them to the rout, tore -the pudding in pieces, and devoured it there and then.</p> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p204.png" width="422" height="398" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">The Boar’s Head.</div></div> - -<p>Some years ago a great mound of rubbish in Whitechapel, supposed -to be the carted remains of the City after the Great Fire, was cleared -away, and the relic, of which we give a representation, was discovered. -It is an oak carving, dated at the back 1568, and had a name written -upon it which was found to correspond with that of the landlord of the -Boar’s Head, Eastcheap, in that year.</p> - -<p>A ballad, which assigns to each inn its particular class of customers, -is introduced by Thomas Heywood into his <i>Rape of</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>Lucrece</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Gintry to the King’s Head,</span> -<span class="spp01">The Nobles to the Crown,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Knights unto the Golden Fleece,</span> -<span class="spp01">And to the Plough the Clowne. <span class="xxpn" id="p205">{205}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Churchman to the Mitre,</span> -<span class="spp01">The Shepherd to the Star,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Gardiner hies him to the Rose,</span> -<span class="spp01">To the Drum the Man of War.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Huntsman to the White Hart,</span> -<span class="spp01">To the Ship the Merchants goe,</span> -<span class="spp00">And you that doe the Muses love,</span> -<span class="spp01">The sign called River Po.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Banquer out to the World’s End,</span> -<span class="spp01">The Fool to the Fortune hie,</span> -<span class="spp00">Unto the Mouth the Oyster-wife,</span> -<span class="spp01">The Fiddler to the Pie.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The taverns of the seventeenth century seem in many cases to have -occupied the upper part of a house, the lower portion being devoted to -some other trade. Izaak Walton’s <i>Complete Angler</i> was to be “sold at -his shopp in Fleet Street, under the King’s Head Tavern.” Bishop -Earle, who wrote in the early part of that century, seems to signify that -there was often a tavern above and an alehouse below. “A tavern,” he -says, “is a degree or (if you will) a pair of stairs above an alehouse -where men are drunk with more credit and apology. . . . Men -come here to be merry, and indeed make a noise, and the music above -is answered with a clinking below.”</p> - -<p>Amongst the inns and taverns frequented by Shakspere may be -mentioned the Falcon Tavern, by the Bankside, which was the place -of meeting of the mighty poets and wits of the Elizabethan age—of -Shakspere, Ben Jonson, Marlowe, Massinger, Ford, Beaumont, -Fletcher, Drayton, Herrick, and a host of lesser names. An assemblage, -indeed, unique in any country or in any age! Here took place those -“wit combats,” of which Fuller speaks, between Shakspere and Ben -Jonson, “which two I behold like a Spanish great galleon, and an -English man-of-war; Master Jonson (like the former) was built far -higher in learning; solid, but slow, in his performances. Shakspere, -like the English man-of-war, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, -could turn with all tides, tack about, and take advantage of all winds -by the quickness of his wit and invention.”</p> - -<p>An example of the kindly passages of wit between these two great -spirits has come down to us, having been preserved from the oblivion -that shrouds the bulk of them by Sir Nicholas -Lestrange, in his <span class="xxpn" id="p206">{206}</span> -<i>Merry Passages and Jests</i>. The passage, in the compiler’s own words -is as follows:—“Shakspere was god-father to one of Ben Jonson’s -children; and after the christening, being in a deep study, Jonson came -to cheer him up, and asked him why he was so melancholy. ‘No, -faith, Ben,’ (says he), ‘not I; but I have been considering a great while -what should be the fittest gift for me to bestow upon my god-child; -and I have resolved at last.’ ‘I prythee what?’ says he, ‘I ’faith, Ben, -I’ll e’en give him a dozen good Latin spoons (<i>i.e.</i> latten, an inferior -metal), and thou shalt translate them.’” Whether the Spanish great -galleon could bring his guns to bear upon his nimble antagonist in this -encounter is left unrecorded; but we can imagine that the great scholar -would not be without a retort to a jest which was directed against his -classic learning by one who had “little Latin and less Greek.”</p> - -<p>The great poet seems to have had many god-children. Of one, Sir -William Davenant, while yet a boy, the following tradition remains. -The father of Sir William was host of the Crown at Oxford, and at this -house Shakspere would frequently lodge on his journeys between -Stratford-on-Avon and London. Malicious rumour had it that the lad -was of a closer relationship than that of god-son only, and upon -one occasion, on the poet’s arrival at Oxford, the boy, who was sent for -to meet him, was asked by a grave master of one of the colleges -whither he was going. “Home,” said the lad, “to see my god-father.” -“Fie, child,” said the don, “why art thou so superfluous? Hast not -thou yet learnt not to use the name of God in vain?”</p> - -<p>The Mermaid, in Bread Street, was often the place of meeting of -these convivial wits. Beaumont, then a mere lad, addressing Jonson in -verse, -<span class="nowrap">writes:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">—What things have we seen</span> -<span class="spp00">Done at the Mermaid! heard words that have been</span> -<span class="spp00">So nimble and so full of subtle flame,</span> -<span class="spp00">As if that everyone from whence they came</span> -<span class="spp00">Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,</span> -<span class="spp00">And had resolved to live a fool the rest</span> -<span class="spp00">Of his dull life: . . . .</span> -<span class="spp00">We left an air behind us, which alone</span> -<span class="spp00">Was able to make the two next companies</span> -<span class="spp00">Right witty;—though but downright fools, mere wise.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Sir -Walter Raleigh established a literary club at this house in the year, -1603. Amongst the members were -Shakspere, Jonson, Beaumont <span class="xxpn" id="p207">{207}</span> -Fletcher, Selden, Donne, and many scarcely less illustrious names. -Herrick, in graceful lyrics, bears witness to similar sparkling gatherings -of a somewhat later date, and to other houses where they were -<span class="nowrap">held:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Ah, Ben!</span> -<span class="spp04">Say how, or when,</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall we thy guests,</span> -<span class="spp00">Meet at those lyric feasts</span> -<span class="spp00">Made at the Sun,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Dog, the Triple Tun?</span> -<span class="spp00">Where we such clusters had,</span> -<span class="spp00">As made us nobly wild, not mad;</span> -<span class="spp00">And yet each verse of thine</span> -<span class="spp00">Out-did the meat, out-did the wine.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Ben Jonson, in inviting a friend to sup with him at the Mermaid, -promises -<span class="nowrap">him―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A cup of pure Canary wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which is the Mermaid’s now, but shall be mine.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Swan at Charing Cross, however, was the house where Jonson -was always most sure of getting the best draught of his favourite liquor.</p> - -<p>Aubrey relates that the poet was upon one occasion dining with -King James, and when called upon to say grace produced the following -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Our King and Queen, the Lord God blesse,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Palsgrave and the Lady Besse,</span> -<span class="spp00">And God blesse every living thing</span> -<span class="spp00">That lives and breathes and loves the King.</span> -<span class="spp00">God blesse the Councill of Estate,</span> -<span class="spp00">And Buckingham the fortunate.</span> -<span class="spp00">God blesse them all, and keep them safe,</span> -<span class="spp00">And God blesse me, and God blesse Ralph.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Whereupon -“the King was mighty inquisitive to know who this Ralph -was. Ben told him ’twas the drawer at the Swanne Taverne by Charing -Crosse, who drew him good canarie. For this drollerie his Ma<sup>tie.</sup> -gave him an hundred pounds.”</p> - -<p>The legend of St. Dunstan, who, being tempted of the devil in bodily -form, took the prince of darkness by the nose, and</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With redhot tongs he made him roar</span> -<span class="spp00">Till he was heard three miles or more, <span class="xxpn" id="p208">{208}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">was -commemorated on the signboard of a celebrated inn in Fleet Street, -which was called “The Devil” for short. The old inn stood on the site -now occupied by Child’s Bank, and it was there that the meetings of -the celebrated Apollo Club were held, and rare Ben Jonson, with other -kindred spirits, passed the sparkling wine and still more sparkling -jest. Here over the entrance of the Apollo Chamber were inscribed the -well-known lines beginning</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Welcome all who lead or follow</span> -<span class="spp00">To the oracle of Apollo.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Sim -Wadlow, whom Jonson dubbed “the king of skinkers,”<a -class="afnanc" href="#fn51" id="fnanc51">51</a> was one of -the famous landlords of this house. The following epitaph -on this notorious character is recorded by Camden in his -<span class="nowrap"><i>Remaines</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Apollo et cohors Musarum,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bacchus vini et uvarum,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ceres pro pane et cervisia,</span> -<span class="spp00">Adeste omnes cum tristitia.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Dii, Deæque, lamentate cuncti,</span> -<span class="spp00">Simonis Vadloe funera defuncti,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sub signo malo bene vixit, mirabile!</span> -<span class="spp00">Si ad cœlum recessit gratias Diaboli.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">These lines may be thus -<span class="nowrap">rendered:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Apollo and the Muses nine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bacchus the god of grapes and wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ceres the friend of “cakes and ale,”</span> -<span class="spp00">Assembled, list to my sad tale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Gods, goddesses, lament ye all,</span> -<span class="spp00">At Simon Wadlow’s funeral,</span> -<span class="spp00">He lived right well tho’ his sign was evil,</span> -<span class="spp00">If heaven he won, ’tis thanks to ‘the Devil.’</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"> -<a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc51" id="fn51">51</a> -Skinkers = tapsters; from the old -English verb schenchen, to pour out.</p></div> - -<p>Our illustration depicts two innkeepers, who were probably Sim -Wadlow’s contemporaries. <span class="xxpn" id="p209">{209}</span></p> - -<p>During the last century The Devil Tavern was the resort of the -wits and literary men of the day. Addison and Dr. Garth often dined -here; and Dr. Johnson here once presided at a supper that lasted till -dawn peeped in at the windows. The inn was pulled down in the year -1788.</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p209.png" width="540" height="380" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Innkeepers, 1641.</div></div> - -<p>Nearly opposite to the Devil stood the Cock Tavern, for centuries, -and until a few months ago, when it was closed for alterations, -frequented by the Templars. We hope that it was not for this reason -that its internal arrangements were spoken of by the Laureate -<span class="nowrap">as―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The haunts of <i>hungry sinners</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">Old boxes, larded with the steam</span> -<span class="spp00">Of thirty thousand dinners.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">This -Tavern, once known as the Cock and Bottle, and subsequently as -the Cock Alehouse, was a noted house in the seventeenth century. The -effigy of the Cock, which until recently used to stand over the door, was -reputed to have been carved by the great Grinling Gibbons. At the time -of the Plague of London the following advertisement appeared in the -<i>Intelligencer</i>:—“This is to certify that the Master of the Cock and -Bottle, commonly called the Cock Alehouse, hath dismissed his servants, -and shut up his house for this long vacation, intending (God willing) to -return at Michaelmass next, so that all persons who -have any accounts <span class="xxpn" id="p210">{210}</span> -or farthings belonging to the said house are desired to repair thither -before the 8th of this instant July, and they shall receive satisfaction.” -The Cock, however, seems to have soon resumed its hospitality, for we -read that Pepys shortly afterwards went “by water to the Temple, and -then to the Cock Alehouse, and drank, and ate a lobster, and sang, and -mighty merry. So almost night, I carried Mrs. Pierce home; and then -Knipp and I to the Temple again, and took boat, it being darkish, and -to Foxhall, it being now night, and a bonfire burning at Lambeth for -the King’s coronation day.”</p> - -<p>A waiter at this house is commemorated in the well-known lines of -Will Waterproof’s -<span class="nowrap">Monologue:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">O plump head waiter at the Cock</span> -<span class="spp01">To which I most resort,</span> -<span class="spp00">How goes the time? ’tis five o’clock,</span> -<span class="spp01">Go fetch a pint of port.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The old Cock alehouse is now no more; but the sign which for -two hundred years has looked down upon the bustling Fleet Street -crowds, together with the “old boxes” and carved oak over-mantel, -have found a resting-place at “The Temple Bar,” on the other side -of the way.</p> - -<p>The Mitre was the sign of several celebrated London Taverns, the -most famous of all being that situated in Mitre Court, Fleet Street, -where Dr. Johnson and Goldsmith, Boswell, and other lesser lights used -to meet. It was here that Boswell first made acquaintance with the -great Doctor. “He agreed to meet me in the evening at the Mitre. I -called on him, and we went thither at nine. We had a good supper -and port wine, of which he then sometimes drank a bottle. The -orthodox, High Church sound of the Mitre,—the figure and manner of -the celebrated Samuel Johnson—the extraordinary power and precision -of his conversation, and the pride from finding myself admitted as his -companion, produced a variety of sensations and a pleasing elevation of -mind beyond what I had ever experienced.” The great name of -Shakspere is also connected by tradition with this house.</p> - -<p>The old Globe Tavern in Fleet Street survived down to about the -beginning of the present century. It was the favourite resort of Oliver -Goldsmith, who took great delight in hearing a certain “tun of a man,” -who frequented the house, sing the song entitled <i>Nottingham Ale</i>, in -which Bacchus himself is said to have sprung from a barrel of that -famous liquor:— <span class="xxpn" id="p211">{211}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Fair Venus, the Goddess of beauty and love,</span> -<span class="spp00">Arose from the froth that swam on the sea,</span> -<span class="spp00">Minerva leap’d out of the cranium of Jove,</span> -<span class="spp00">A coy sullen slut, as most authors agree;</span> -<span class="spp00">Bold Bacchus they tell us, the prince of good fellows,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was his natural son, but attend to my tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">For they that thus chatter mistake quite the matter,</span> -<span class="spp00">He sprang from a barrel of Nottingham Ale,</span> -<span class="spp02">Nottingham Ale, boys; Nottingham Ale; no liquor</span> -<span class="spp04">on earth is like Nottingham Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">This -song was a great favourite in the eighteenth century, and was -sung to the tune of “Lilabolero.”</p> - -<p>The Crown and Anchor in the Strand was one of the most famous -houses in London during the first part of the present century. A tragic -story is related of how one Thomas Simpkin, the first landlord after the -rebuilding of the house in 1790, on the occasion of an inaugural dinner, -in leaning over a balcony to look into the street, broke the balustrade -and, falling to the ground, was killed on the spot. Here were held the -famous Westminster political meetings, and here the birthday of Fox -was celebrated in 1794, when two thousand persons sat down to -dinner. Many another tavern in this region so famous for houses of -entertainment, brings back memories of the past, but space forbids -us to linger over the recital.</p> - -<p>John Taylor, the Water Poet (poeta Aquaticus, as he was fond of -calling himself), who was the author of many whimsical works in prose -as well as verse, was a Thames waterman, and the keeper of an alehouse -in Phœnix Alley, Long Acre. It is related of him that on the death of -Charles I. he changed his sign, which had formerly been the Crown, -into the Mourning Bush, as expressing his grief and loyalty. He was, -however, soon compelled to take this sign down, and he then substituted -the Poet’s Head, his own portrait, with this -<span class="nowrap">inscription:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There is many a head hangs for a sign;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then, gentle reader, why not mine?</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">At the same time he issued the following poetical -<span class="nowrap">advertisement:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My signe was once a Crowne, but now it is</span> -<span class="spp00">Changed by a sudden metamorphosis.</span> -<span class="spp00">The Crowne was taken downe, and in the stead</span> -<span class="spp00">Is placed John Taylor’s, or the Poet’s Head. <span class="xxpn" id="p212">{212}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">A painter did my picture gratis make,</span> -<span class="spp00">And (for a signe) I hanged it for his sake.</span> -<span class="spp00">Now if my picture’s drawing can prevayle,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill draw my friends to me, and I’ll draw ale.</span> -<span class="spp00">Two strings are better to a bow than one;</span> -<span class="spp00">And poeting does me small good alone.</span> -<span class="spp00">So ale alone yields but small good to me,</span> -<span class="spp00">Except it have some spice of poesie.</span> -<span class="spp00">The fruits of ale are unto drunkards such,</span> -<span class="spp00">To make ’em sweare and lye that drink too much.</span> -<span class="spp00">But my ale, being drunk with moderation,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will quench thirst and make merry recreation.</span> -<span class="spp00">My booke and signe were published for two ends,</span> -<span class="spp00">T’ invite my honest, civill, sober friends.</span> -<span class="spp00">From such as are not such I kindly pray,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till I send for ’em, let ’em keep away.</span> -<span class="spp00">From Phœnix Alley, the Globe Taverne neare</span> -<span class="spp00">The Middle of Long Acre, I dwell there.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>An old dodge of some of the London tavern-keepers was to hang up -in a conspicuous place in the taproom, a notice to the effect that no one -could have more than one glass at a sitting. The result of this notable -device was the very opposite to what one might expect; it is thus -quaintly told by old Decker, in his <i>Seven Deadly Sins, seven times -pressed to death</i>: “Then you have another brewing called Huff’s ale, -at which, because no man must have but a pot at a sitting, and so be -gone, the restraint makes them more eager to come in, so that by this -policie one may huffe it four or five times a day.”</p> - -<p>Last century was pre-eminently the century for Clubs, some literary -some political, and some purely social, many partaking of all these -characters. The October Club, which was so called on account of the -quantities of October ale which the members drank, used to meet at the -Bell Tavern, King Street, Westminster, and drink confusion to the -Whigs. Swift was a member. “We are plagued here,” he writes to -Stella, “with an October Club; that is a set of above a hundred -Parliament men of the country, who drink October beer at home, and -meet every evening at a tavern near the Parliament, to consult affairs -and drive matters to extremes against the Whigs, to call the old Ministry -to account, and get off five or six heads.”</p> - -<p>The Mug Houses, famous early in the last -century, were distinguished <span class="xxpn" id="p213">{213}</span> -by the rows of pewter mugs placed in the window, or hung up outside -as in the illustration, which is taken from the <i>Book of Days</i>. In <i>A -Journey through England</i> (1722) the original Mug-house is thus described: -“But the most diverting and amusing of all is the Mug-house -Club in Long Acre. They have a grave old gentleman, in his own gray -hairs, now within a few months of ninety years old, who is their President, -and sits in an arm’d chair some steps higher than the rest of the -company, to keep the whole room in order. A harp plays all the time -at the lower end of the room; and every now and then one or other of -the company rises and entertains the rest with a song, and (by-the-by) -some are good masters. Here is nothing drunk but ale, and every -gentleman hath his separate Mug, which he chalks on the table where -he sits as it is brought in; and everyone retires when he pleases as from -a Coffee House. The Room is always so diverted with songs, and -drinking from one table to another to one another’s healths, that there -is no room for Politicks, or anything that can sow’r conversation. One -must be there by seven to get Room, and after ten the Company are for -the most part gone. This is a Winter’s amusement, that is agreeable -enough to a Stranger for once or twice, and he is well diverted with the -different Humours, when the Mugs overflow.”</p> - -<div class="dctr06"> -<img src="images/p213.png" width="307" height="449" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Mug House.</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p214">{214}</span></div> - -<p>A few years earlier, however, “Politicks” had much troubled this -House and others of which it was the parent. “On King George’s -accession,” says the <i>Mirror</i>, “the Tories had so much the better of -the friends to the Protestant succession, that they gained the mobs -on all public days to their side. This induced a set of gentlemen -to establish Mug-houses in all the corners of this great city, for well -affected tradesmen to meet and keep up the spirit of loylty to the -Protestant succession, and to be ready, upon all tumults, to join their -forces to put down the Tory mobs.” The frequenters of these houses -formed themselves into Mug-house Clubs after the fashion of their -prototype, and discussed their Whig -<span class="nowrap">sentiments―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>While - ale inspires and lends its kindly aid</span> -<span class="spp00">The thought perplexing labour to pursue.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Whenever Tory mobs assembled, these disorderly champions of -order would sally forth and attack them with sticks and staves and -divers other offensive weapons. “So many were the riots,” continues -the <i>Mirror</i>, “that the police was obliged, by Act of Parliament, to -put an end of this City strife, which had this good effect, that upon -pulling down of the Mug-house in Salisbury Court, for which some -boys were hanged on this Act, the City has not been troubled with -them since.”</p> - -<p>A still earlier Club, more renowned than any for its marvellous -powers of suction, was the Everlasting Club, instituted during the -Parliamentary wars; it was so called because it sat night and day, one -set of members relieving another. It is recorded of them early in the -eighteenth century that “since their first institution they have smoked -fifty tons of tobacco, drank thirty thousand butts of ale, one thousand -hogsheads of red port, two hundred barrels of brandy, and <i>one kilderkine -of small beer</i>. They sang old catches at all hours to encourage one -another to moisten their clay, and grow immortal by drinking.”</p> - -<p>No work on the Curiosities of Ale and Beer would be complete -without some notice of signboards. Their connection with taverns -and alehouses is so ancient and intimate, and many of them are in -themselves so exceedingly curious, that they may be said to constitute -some of the chief curiosities of the subject. The history of signboards -has been so exhaustively written by Mr. Larwood and Mr. Hotten -that it would be superfluous, even if space did not forbid, to present -to our readers anything but a slight sketch of so voluminous a -subject. <span class="xxpn" id="p215">{215}</span></p> - -<p>Signboards at the present day may be said to inspire their historian -with something of a melancholy feeling. A history of them is a -history of a bygone art, which has long passed its zenith, which has -served its purpose, and which is destined to decay more and more -before the advance of modern education. Truly the glory of signboards -is departed! Though one sees here and there a barber’s pole, -a golden fleece, and a few other signs of divers trades, innkeepers and -alehouse-keepers are the only persons who as a class keep to their old -distinctive marks. Formerly, when persons who could read and write -were few, every craft and occupation had its own peculiar sign, for the -huge letters and notice-boards, now so common, would at that time -have been of little use.</p> - -<p>There seems to be no doubt that we derived the signboard from the -Romans; the old Latin proverb <i>Vino vendibili suspensa hedera non -opus est</i> finds its counterpart in the English <i>Good wine needs no bush</i>, -and the common sign of the Bush is the lineal descendant of the old -Roman bunch of ivy. In the excavations at Herculaneum and -Pompeii many examples have been brought to light of signs appropriate -to various trades: thus, a goat is the sign of a dairy; a mule -driving a mill is the sign of a miller or baker; and two men carrying -a large amphora of wine is the sign of the vintner, and brings to mind -the well-known English sign of the <i>Two Jolly Brewers</i> carrying a -barrel of ale strung on a long pole.</p> - -<p>The ale-stake, which was a long pole either attached to the front of -the house or standing in the road before the door, seems to have been -the first sign in use with English ale-sellers. In early times every -person who brewed ale for sale was, as has been already mentioned, -compelled by law to exhibit the ale-stake as a signal to the local -ale-conner that his services were required. Very early mention is to -be found of these signs. In 1393 Florence North, a Chelsea ale-wife, -was presented for neglecting to put up an ale-stake in front -of her house. Similar allusions are to be found in many early writers. -Chaucer’s Pardoner when asked to begin his -<span class="nowrap">tale―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>It - shall be donn,” quod he, “and that anoon.</span> -<span class="spp00">But first,” quod he, “here at this ale-stake,</span> -<span class="spp00">I will both drynke and byten on a cake.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The accompanying cut is taken from a manuscript of the fourteenth -century. The figures are doubtless an ale-wife -and a pilgrim. <span class="xxpn" id="p216">{216}</span></p> - -<p>“The ale-pole doth but signifie that there is good ale in the house -where the ale-pole standeth,” writes an old author, “and will tell him -that he muste go near the house and there he shall find the drinke, and -not stand sucking the ale-pole in vayne.” And -<span class="nowrap">again:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For lyke as the jolly ale-house</span> -<span class="spp01">Is always knowen by the good <i>ale-stake</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">So are proude jelots sone perceaved, to,</span> -<span class="spp01">By their proude folly, and wanton gate.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p216a.png" width="520" height="208" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">An Ale-stake.</div></div> - -<p>Skelton, writing of the fame of - Elynour Rummynge’s “noppy ale,” alludes to the ale-pole - <span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Another brought her bedes</span> -<span class="spp00">Of jet or of cole,</span> -<span class="spp00">To offer to the <i>ale-pole</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="dleft dwth-i"> -<img src="images/p216b.png" width="199" height="188" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Signboard and Bush.</div></div> - -<p>In process of time it became usual for the -publican to affix some further distinctive -mark to his ale-stake. At first a mere bush or -bunch of ivy seems to have been used, and in -Scotland a wisp of straw long served the -same purpose. In Chaucer’s time the bush -had developed into an ale-garland of considerable -size, as we are informed by the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr pclearfix"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A garlond hadde he sette uhede</span> -<span class="spp00">As grete as it wer for an ale-stake.</span> -</div></div></div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>The signboard and bush shown above are taken from a print of -Cheapside in 1638. <span class="xxpn" id="p217">{217}</span></p> - -<p>Porter’s <i>Angry Woman</i> shows that a mere bush was still frequently -used at that period (1599) by the passage: “I might have had a pumpe -set up with as good Marche beere as this was and nere set up an ale-bush -for the matter,” and the <i>Country Carbonadoed</i> (1632) shows that -the bush had not yet become specialised to the use of the wine-seller. -Referring to alehouses, it is stated that “if these houses have a boxe-bush, -or an old post, it is enough to show their profession, but if they -be graced with a signe compleat, it is a signe of good custome.” -Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the ivy-bush, the sacred -emblem of Bacchus, came to denote that wine as well as ale was sold -within. In <i>Poor Robin’s Perambulation from Saffron Walden to -London</i> (1678) the author mentions -<span class="nowrap">that―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some ale-houses upon the road I saw,</span> -<span class="spp00">And some with bushes, showing they wine did draw.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dright dwth-f"> -<img src="images/p217.png" width="254" height="332" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Ancient Alehouse.</div></div> - -<p>The following illustrations represent -an ancient road-side alehouse -and a hostel by night. The -former is taken from a manuscript of -the early part of the fifteenth century. -The latter is from an illumination -in the <i>Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles</i> -in the Hunterian Library at Glasgow, -and is of about the same date. In one -a conventional bush appears above the -door; while in the other there is both -bush and sign. The absence of any -night attire other than night-caps—the -usual custom of the period—and the -number of persons sleeping in one room, are noticeable. Night-caps -were no doubt very necessary in an age when glass windows were -little used.</p> - -<p>The next step in the historical development of the -signboard was the addition of a carved and painted effigy -of a Swan, a Cock, a Hen, or some other bird or beast. The -effigy was fixed in a hoop and hung from the end of the -ale-pole, and it is suggested that the term “cock-a-hoop,” -signifying a rather offensively jubilant demeanour, may be -traced to the attitude of Chanticleer upon the ale-house -hoop. Hazlitt gives a different origin to the phrase. -Quoting from Blount’s Dictionary (1681), he says: “The -Cock was the tap and being taken out <span class="xxpn" -id="p218">{218}</span> and laid</p> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p218.png" width="424" height="431" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Night Scene in a Fifteenth-century - Inn.</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">on the hoop of the vessel, -they used to drink up the ale as it ran out without -intermission (in Staffordshire now called stunning a barrel -of ale) and then they were <i>cock-on-hoop</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, at the -height of mirth and jolity).” Old Heywood seems to support -the latter derivation in the <span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft pclearfix"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He maketh havok and setteth the cock on hoope;</span> -<span class="spp00">He is so lavies, the stooke beginneth to droope.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>From the painted effigy to the painted signboard was an easy step, -and then began the signboard’s palmy days. If mine host were a man -of small imagination, he might still be content with a bush or with the -arms of some local magnate, but if he were a man of fancy, his imagination, -in quest of a worthy sign, might revel unrestrained through the -highways and byways of history ancient and modern, political and -natural. The sign was and is usually painted on a board and suspended -from the front of the house, or from a sign-post set up in the street in -front of the door. In country places signboard ambition went so far as -to erect a kind of triumphal arch in front of the house, from the centre -of which the signboard swung.</p> - -<p>A good example of a signboard stretching across a street -may be seen in the illustration of the Black Boy Inn, -Chelmsford, which is taken from a print by Ryland of the -date 1770. <span class="xxpn" id="p219">{219}</span></p> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p219.png" width="578" height="495" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p>Even as early as the reign of Henry V. the eagerness of the ale-house -keepers to outstrip one another in the size of their signboards had -become obnoxious to the authorities. The <i>Liber Albus</i> contains a -direction to the Wardmotes of the City of London, to make inquiry -whether the ale-stake of any tavern “is longer or extends further than -ordinary,” and the Common Council ordained that “whereas the ale-stakes -projecting in front of taverns in Chepe, and elsewhere in the said -City, extend too far over the King’s highways, to the impeding of riders -and others, and by reason of their excessive weight, to the great -deterioration of the houses to which they are fixed,” therefore the -taverners are ordered that on pain of 40s. fine they shall not have a -stake, bearing a sign or leaves extending over the King’s highway, of -greater length than seven feet at most.</p> - -<p>The restriction on the length of the projecting signboards seems to -have been little regarded. Charles I., in his Charter to the City of -London, granted on his accession to the throne, permits the use of -suspended signs, and the Charter contains no mention -of any restriction <span class="xxpn" id="p220">{220}</span> -as to size. The nuisance caused by the extravagant size of signboards -at length became very great, and in the reign of Charles II. it was -ordained that “in all the streets no signboard shall hang across, but -that the sign shall be fixed against the balconies or some convenient -part of the side of the house.” Even this specific regulation seems to -have been generally disregarded, as we learn from an account written -in 1719, by Misson, a French traveller. Speaking of the signs, he says: -“At London, they are commonly very large, and jut out so far, that in -some narrow streets they touch one another; nay, and run across -almost quite to the other side. They are generally adorned with carving -and gilding; and there are several that, with the branches of iron which -support them, cost above a hundred guineas. . . . . Out of London, -and particularly in villages, the signs of inns are suspended in the -middle of a great wooden portal, which may be looked upon as a kind -of triumphal arch to the honour of Bacchus.”</p> - -<p>About the middle of last century various Acts of Parliament were -passed, the result of which was that London signboards have from that -time been fixed to the face of the house, and are no longer allowed -to project over the street.</p> - -<p>We must go to the country districts, and best of all to one of our -old cathedral towns, to see really old-fashioned signs. In some cases a signboard -may still be seen hanging beneath beautifully scrolled iron work, -from which in more artistic days the “ale-house painted signs” depended. -Even in such a stronghold of conservative and antiquarian feeling as a -cathedral city, these relics of the past are yearly becoming more and more -scarce, though in those out-of-the-world places, where a change in the situation -of the parochial pump must be preceded by about a proportionate -amount of discussion as would attend the proposal to make a new underground -railway for London, the removal of an old signboard is usually -a matter causing grave public agitation. The authors of the <i>History of -Signboards</i> have given an account of the demolition of the time-honoured -sign of Sir John Falstaff, which for many a generation had -gladdened the hearts of the good citizens of Canterbury. However, as -a matter of fact, the signboard was only removed to be repainted, and -in spite of the orders of Local Boards and City Authorities, in spite of -law suits and various other disagreeable attempts at persuasion, the -owner of the house has persisted in maintaining in its place this fine -old sign with its elaborate iron-work, and there to this day may the -gallant knight be seen, with sword and buckler, ready to make instant -assault on those men in buckram, or on -any other foes. <span class="xxpn" id="p221">{221}</span></p> - -<p>The close connection that existed between the profession of host and -the signboard, may be judged from the fact that the publican who was -deprived of his licence also had his sign removed by the minions of the -law. <i>A New Way to Pay Old Debts</i> illustrates this fact in the -<span class="nowrap">lines―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For this gross fault I here do damn thy licence,</span> -<span class="spp00">Forbidding thee ever to tap or draw;</span> -<span class="spp00">For instantly I will in mine own person</span> -<span class="spp00">Command the constables to pull down thy sign.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In 1629 one Price was forbidden to open a certain house in Leadenhall -Street as a tavern, “whiche house was heretofore never used for a taverne, -and standeth unfitly for that purpose, being neare unto the Church -and two auncient tavernes already neere unto the same in the same -streete.” Price, however, persisted, and accordingly the Common -Council issued orders for the closing of his doors and the taking down -of his bush.</p> - -<p>Probably the most elaborate signboard that ever existed, a marvel -even in the palmy days of signs, was hung before The White Hart -at Scole, in Norfolk. Sir Thomas Brown mentions it in the year 1663. -“About three miles further,” he says, “I came to Scoale, where there -is a very handsome inne, and the noblest signnepost in England, about -and upon which are carved a great many stories as of Charon and -Cerberus, Actæon and Diana, and many others; the signe itself is -a White Hart, which hanges downe carved in a stately wreath.” This -king of signboards was built in the year 1655 by James Peck, a merchant -of Norwich, and is said to have cost over £1,000. It was in existence -up till the end of the last century.</p> - -<p>Goldsmith, in making some comments on the influence of signs, -relates how “an alehouse keeper, near Islington, who had long lived at -the sign of the French King, upon the commencement of the last war, -pulled down his old sign and put up that of the Queen of Hungary. -Under the influence of her red face and golden sceptre, he continued to -sell ale, till she was no longer the favourite of his customers; he -changed her, therefore, some time ago, for the King of Prussia, who -may probably be changed in turn for the next great man that shall be -set up for vulgar admiration.”</p> - -<p>An anecdote is related which illustrates the danger incurred by -altering a sign. It seems that the landlord of the Magpie and -Crown in Aldgate, a house famous for its ale, was -minded to discard <span class="xxpn" id="p222">{222}</span> -the Magpie and to have his house known by the sign of the Crown -only. He did so, and the results were disastrous, for the customers -fancied that the Crown ale did not taste as good as that formerly sent -out from the Magpie and Crown, and the custom fell off. The -landlord died, and the business came into the hands of a waiter of the -house, one Renton, who restored the Magpie to his old place on the -signboard, and with such good effect that on his death the ex-waiter left -behind him an estate worth some £600,000, chiefly the produce of the -Magpie and Crown ale.</p> - -<p>Space only permits that we should mention a very few of the more -curious signs in use. The Pig and Whistle is said to be a corruption -of the old sign the Peg and Wassail, alluding to the peg-tankards -introduced in Saxon times. The Goose and Gridiron is a whimsical -variation on the Swan and Harp, which was once common, the -inartistic execution of the latter sign no doubt affording the suggestion. -The Tumbling Down Dick is supposed to be a derisive sign -commemorating the fall of Richard Cromwell.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then Dick, being lame, rode holding the pummel,</span> -<span class="spp01">Not having the wit to get hold of the rein;</span> -<span class="spp00">But the jade did so snort at the sight of a Cromwell,</span> -<span class="spp01">That poor Dick and his kindred turn’d footmen again.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Crooked Billet is a sign for which it is difficult to suggest an -explanation. It is generally represented by a rough untrimmed stick -hanging before the door. Near Bridlington is one such, to which are -appended the following -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When this comical stick grew in the wood</span> -<span class="spp00">Our ale was fresh and very good;</span> -<span class="spp00">Step in and taste, O do make haste,</span> -<span class="spp00">For if you don’t ’twill surely waste.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">On the other side is the -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When you have viewed the other side,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come read this too before you ride,</span> -<span class="spp00">And now to end we’ll let it pass;</span> -<span class="spp00">Step in, kind friends, and take a glass.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Bull and Mouth, a favourite London sign in former days, and -one still to be found, is represented by a huge gaping mouth and a small -black bull just within its verge. This sign dates from -the time of <span class="xxpn" id="p223">{223}</span> -Henry VIII., and celebrates his capture of Boulogne Harbour, or -Boulogne Mouth. The Beetle and Wedge at first sight seems a very -strange association, but when we remember Shakspere’s line,</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Filip me with a three-man beetle,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">the -matter is clear enough. The “three-man beetle” was a hammer or -mallet wielded by three men and used for pile driving. The three -Lubberheads is a corruption of the three Libbards’ Heads, “libbard” -being a popular form of the word leopard; Falstaff is “invited to dinner -at the Libbard’s Head in Lumbert Street to Master Smooth’s the -silkman.” The Two Pots was the sign under which the far-famed -ale-wife, Eleanor Rumyng, brewed her “noppy ale” at Leatherhead, -where, according to Skelton, she made</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp02">thereof fast sale,</span> -<span class="spp01">To travellers, to tinkers,</span> -<span class="spp00">To sweaters, to swinkers,</span> -<span class="spp01">And all good ale drinkers.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Stewponey Inn, between Kinver and Stourbridge, might -suggest to some that the Parisian Hippophagic Society was not much -of a novelty after all. It is therefore rather disappointing to find -that the name is a popular version of the Stourponte Inn, so called -from a bridge over the Stour hard by.</p> - -<p>The Four Alls, though probably once the sign of a house frequented -by the fraternity of Cobblers, now generally presents itself in the -following lines with suitable -<span class="nowrap">illustrations:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The Ploughman works for All,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Parson prays for All,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Soldier fights for All,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the Farmer pays for All.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>It seems sad to think that in some places a pessimistic -Publican has added a fifth “All,” the picture representing -the Prince of Darkness, rampant, and looking anything but -“a gentleman,” with the grim legend writ beneath that he -“takes All.” Old Pick-my-Toe would seem to be a popular -perversion of the Roman fable of the faithful slave who -carried his message before he stooped to remove the thorn -which was all the while in his foot. The Shoe and Slap was -an old sign, the “Slap” being a lady’s shoe with a loose -sole. <span class="xxpn" id="p224">{224}</span></p> - -<p>A poetical landlord or a poetical customer has frequently produced -verses, more or less appropriate, for a signboard. We give a selection -of these effusions. At an inn at Norwich, known as the Waterman, -kept by a barber, this couplet is written under the -<span class="nowrap">sign:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Roam not from pole to pole, but step in here,</span> -<span class="spp00">Where nought excels the shaving but the beer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At an Inn at Collins’ End, where the unfortunate King Charles, -while a prisoner at Caversham, is said to have played at bowls, are -these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Stop, traveller, stop; in yonder peaceful glade,</span> -<span class="spp00">His favourite game the royal martyr played;</span> -<span class="spp00">Here stripped of honours, children, freedom, rank,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drank from the bowl and bowled for what he drank;</span> -<span class="spp00">Sought in a cheerful glass his cares to drown,</span> -<span class="spp00">And changed his guinea ere he lost his crown.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Robin Hood and Little John is not an uncommon sign in that -part of the country which was the scene of their exploits, and where -their fame still lingers. The sign is frequently accompanied with a -rhyme, of which the following is a -<span class="nowrap">specimen:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To Gentlemen and Yeomen good,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come in and drink with Robin Hood,</span> -<span class="spp00">If Robin Hood is not at home,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come in and drink with Little John.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A tale is told of how a poor author, who was once staying at the -sign of the White Horse on the Old Bath Road, after partaking rather -heartily of the good cheer provided, found that he could not discharge -the <i>shot</i>. In recompense to his host for letting him off, he wrote -beneath his signboard the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My White Horse shall beat the Bear,</span> -<span class="spp01">And make the Angel fly;</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall turn the Ship quite bottom up,</span> -<span class="spp01">And drink the Three Cups dry.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In consequence, it is alleged, of this facetious praise of his own house -at the expense of his rivals, mine host got a good deal of their custom. -On one of the windows of the same White -Horse was written:— <span class="xxpn" id="p225">{225}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">His liquor’s good, his pot is just,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Landlord’s poor, and cannot trust;</span> -<span class="spp00">For he has trusted to his sorrow,</span> -<span class="spp00">So pay to-day, he’ll trust to-morrow.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>These lines occur on the signboard of the Waggon and Horses, -<span class="nowrap">Brighton:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Long have I travelled far and near,</span> -<span class="spp00">On purpose to find out good beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And at last I’ve found it here.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The couplet, written on a signboard at Chadderton, near Manchester, -seems, at any rate from the outside of the Inn, to be what a logician -might call a <i>non</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>sequitur</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Although the engine’s smoke be black,</span> -<span class="spp00">If you walk in I’ve ale like sack.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The following doggerel inscription is said in the <i>Year Book</i> to have -been written over the door of an ale house between Sutton and Potton, -in -<span class="nowrap">Bedfordshire:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp07">Butte Beere, Solde Hear,</span> -<span class="spp08">by Timothy Dear.</span> -<span class="spp00">Cum. tak. a. mugg of mye. trinker. cum trink.</span> -<span class="spp00">Thin. a. ful. Kart. of mye. verry. stron. drink</span> -<span class="spp00">Harter, that. trye. a. cann. of mye. titter, cum. tatter</span> -<span class="spp00">And. wynde. hup. withe, mye. sivinty-tymes weaker, thin, water.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At Creggin, Montgomeryshire, the Rodney Pillar Inn is distinguished -by a double signboard, on one side of which is the following -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Under these trees, in sunny weather,</span> -<span class="spp00">Just try a cup of ale, however;</span> -<span class="spp00">And if in tempest, or in storm,</span> -<span class="spp00">A couple then to make you warm:</span> -<span class="spp00">But when the day is very cold.</span> -<span class="spp00">Then taste a mug a twelvemonth old.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">On the reverse are these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Rest and regale yourself, ’tis pleasant,</span> -<span class="spp00">Enough is all the present need,</span> -<span class="spp00">That’s the due of the hardy peasant,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who toils all sorts of men to feed. <span class="xxpn" id="p226">{226}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Then muzzle not the ox when he treads out the corn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor grudge honest labour its pipe and its horn.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Another queer -old inscription is the -<span class="nowrap">following:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">John Uff</span> -<span class="spp00">Sells good ale and that’s enough;</span> -<span class="spp00">A mistake here,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sells foreign spirits as well as beer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At a public-house in Devonshire the landlord has painted outside -his door, “Good beer sold here, but don’t take my word for it;” and at -the Bell Inn, Oxford, kept by John Good, are these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My name, likewise my ale, is Good,</span> -<span class="spp00">Walk in and taste my own home brew’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">For all that know John Good can tell</span> -<span class="spp00">That like my sign it bears the Bell.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>One more example of Boniface’s wit must conclude this notice of -Signboard poesy. At a public-house in Sussex, the sign of which is the -White Horse, there is painted under the figure of that animal the -<span class="nowrap">couplet:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To the roadsters who enter a welcome he snorts,</span> -<span class="spp00">While they fill up his quarters and empty his quarts.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In addition to signboard verses, inscriptions within the alehouse -are by no means uncommon. Burns, who was fond of this style of -composition, inscribed these lines on the window of the Globe Tavern -at <span class="nowrap">Dumfries:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The grey-beard, old wisdom, may boast of his treasures,</span> -<span class="spp01">Give me with gay folly to live;</span> -<span class="spp00">I grant him his calm-blooded, time-settled pleasures,</span> -<span class="spp01">But Folly has raptures to give.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Dowie’s Tavern, in Libberton’s Wynd, Edinburgh, was the favourite -resort of Burns, and is said by the able recorder of the <i>Traditions of -Edinburgh</i> “to have been formerly as dark and plain an old-fashioned -house as any drunken lawyer of the last century could have wished to -nestle in.” <span class="xxpn" id="p227">{227}</span></p> - -<p>Dowie’s was much resorted to by the Lords of Session for “Meridians,” -as well as in the evening for its Edinburgh ale. The ale was -Younger’s. That brewer, together with his friends, instituted a Club -there, which they sportively called the “College of Doway.” Johnnie -Dowie is described as having been the sleekest and kindest of landlords. -Nothing could equal the benignity of his smile when he brought in a -bottle of “the Ale” to a company of well-known and friendly customers. -It was a perfect treat to see his formality in drawing the cork, his precision -in filling the glasses, his regularity in drinking the healths of all -present in the first glass (which he always did, and at every successive -bottle), and then his douce civility in withdrawing. Johnnie always -wore a cocked hat, and buckles at knees and shoes, as well as a -crutched cane.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn52" id="fnanc52">52</a> -Not so polished as Burns’ verses, but perhaps more -suited to the Genius loci, are the lines written up in a certain old -<span class="nowrap">tap-room:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">He that doath upon the table sit,</span> -<span class="spp00">A pot of porter shall for-fe-it.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc52" id="fn52">52</a> -Hone’s Year Book.</p></div> - -<p>The following additional specimens of tap-room verse are typical of -their kind, and may be said to contain the be-all and end-all of the -host’s proverbial philosophy. The first is taken from an Inn at -Sittingbourne, where it hangs framed and glazed over the -<span class="nowrap">door:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Call frequently,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drink moderately,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pay honourably,</span> -<span class="spp00">Be good company,</span> -<span class="spp00">Part friendly,</span> -<span class="spp00">Go home quietly.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The -second is longer, but perhaps not quite so -<span class="nowrap">comprehensive:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">All you that bring tobacco here,</span> -<span class="spp00">Must pay for pipes as well as beer;</span> -<span class="spp00">And you that stand before the fire,</span> -<span class="spp00">I pray sit down by good desire; - <span class="xxpn" id="p228">{228}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">That other folks as well as you,</span> -<span class="spp00">May see the fire and feel it too.</span> -<span class="spp00">Since man to man is so unjust,</span> -<span class="spp00">I cannot tell what man to trust:</span> -<span class="spp00">My Liquor’s good, ’tis no man’s sorrow,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pay to-day. I’ll trust to-morrow.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">It -may not be amiss to devote a few lines to the signboard artists. The -following passage in <i>Whimzies: or a New Cast of Characters</i> (1631) -gives an early example of the way in which many a village signboard -has been painted. “He (a painter) bestowes his Pencile on an aged -piece of decayed canvas in a sooty ale-house, when <i>Mother Redcap</i> must -be set out in her Colours. Here hee and his barmy Hostess drew -both together, but not in like nature; she in <i>Ale</i>, he in <i>Oyle</i>, but her -commoditie goes better downe, which he meanes to have his full share -of, when his worke is done. If she aspire to the Conceite of a Signe, -and desire to have her Birch-pole pulled downe, he will supply her -with one.”</p> - -<p>It seems that in the last century, the palmy days of signboards, the -best signs were produced by the coach-painters, who derived their skill -from the custom amongst the wealthy of having their coach panels -decorated with a variety of subjects.</p> - -<p>Artists of renown have lent their genius to this branch of art. -Hogarth painted a sign called the Man loaded with Mischief, and this -sign is still in existence in an alehouse in Oxford Street; it represents -a man bearing on his back and shoulders a woman, a magpie and an -ape. A similar painting may be seen before an inn on the road to -Madingley, about a mile from Cambridge. Richard Wilson, R.A., -painted a sign called The Loggerheads, which has given its name to a -village near Mold, in North Wales. The Royal Oak, by David Cox, -which is the sign of an inn at Bettws-y-Coed, is well known to -all lovers of North Wales, and was a few years ago the subject of -a law-suit. At Wargrave, a pretty Thames-side village near Henley, -is an inn called the George and Dragon. One side of its sign was -painted by Mr. G. D. Leslie, R.A., who has chosen the battle with the -dragon for his subject. The other side was painted by Mr. Hodgson, -A.R.A., and is a representation of St. George refreshing himself with -a pot of beer after the mighty encounter.</p> - -<p>Not often, however, has the signboard been so fortunate as to -obtain the attention of such masters of -the limner’s art. <span class="xxpn" id="p229">{229}</span></p> - -<p>In the vast majority of cases the village sign-painter has been a -person of limited ideas and but small skill, painting and re-painting the -old familiar patterns. The following tale is related illustrative of this -conservative bent of the sign-painter’s mind.</p> - -<p>A pious old couple, who had taken a Public wherein they hoped -peacefully to end their days, determined that they would not have any -of your common wordly signs, such as the Crown, the Blue Boar, and -the like, but something of a quite uncommon and even of a quasi-religious -nature, and after much cogitation their choice fell upon the title -of the Angel and Trumpet. The village sign-painter was summoned to -the conclave, and the case was solemnly opened to him.</p> - -<p>Landlord: “Well, John, me and my missis have been thinking -about this sign, and we hear as you’re up to painting amost anythink.”</p> - -<p>Sign Painter (with proper professional pride): “Yes, mister, I can -do you pretty well what you like; the Red Lion, and so as that.”</p> - -<p>L.: “No, John, that a’n’t quite what we wants. Me and my missis -has been a-thinking as we’d like to have the Angel and Trumpet. -Now, can you do it?”</p> - -<p>S. P. (doubtfully): “Well, mister, I can do un; but you’d better by -half have the Red Lion; it’s a dell a thirstier sign.”</p> - -<p>L. (with decision): “No, John, we must have the Angel and -Trumpet, so if you can’t do un, say so, and we must get some un as -can.”</p> - -<p>S. P. (driven to bay): “All right; I’ll paint the Angel and Trumpet, -but (aside) I specs it’ll be a good dell like the Red Lion.”</p> - -<p>Unfortunately the history breaks off at this point, and we are left in -doubt as to the result. The troubles of the unfortunate sign-painter -may be imagined; the unwilling hands striving to depict the benign -features of the angel; the fierce and truculent visage of the lion making -its appearance, whether the artist would or not.</p> - -<p>The unskilfulness of the signboard painter has even been considered -of sufficient importance to form the subject of a Royal Proclamation. -Our good Queen Bess, with that vigour of language which endeared her -to the hearts of her faithful subjects, and proved her to be her father’s -daughter, issued an order, “that portraits of herself, made by unskilful -and common painters, should be knocked in pieces, and cast into the -fire.” The reasons for this summary treatment, and also a promised -remedy for the woes of her faithful subjects, thus deprived of the -counterfeit presentment of her most gracious Majesty, are set forth in a -proclamation shortly afterwards issued. “Forasmuch” -said this weighty <span class="xxpn" id="p230">{230}</span> -document, “as thrugh the natural desire that all sorts of subjects and -people, both noble and mean, have to procure the portrait and picture -of the Queen’s Majestie, great nomber of Paynters, and some Printers, -and Gravers, have already, and doe daily, attempt to make in divers -manners portraictures of hir Majestie, in paynting, graving and -prynting, wherein is evidently shown, that hytherto none have -sufficiently expressed the naturall representation of hir Majestie’s person, -favor, and grace . . . . “Therfor”—after much more to the same -effect—“hir Majestie being as it were overcome with the contynuall -requests of hir Nobility and Lords, whom she can not well deny, is -pleased that for their contentations, some coning persons, mete therefore, -shall shortly make a pourtraict of hir person or visage,” and, in -short, that her loving subjects shall be enabled to take copies thereof, -but in the meantime shall perpetrate no further libellous “pourtraicts,” -under pains and penalties.</p> - -<p>The phrase “to grin like a Cheshire cat” is said to have originated -from the well-meant but inartistic attempts of a sign-painter of that -county to depict a Lion Rampant.</p> - -<p>This chapter may be appropriately concluded with one of the best -examples of the alehouse catch of former days: <i>Bryng us in good Ale</i>, -contained in the Ipswich Song Book (Sloane Collection of MSS.). -Our readers will be better able to comprehend the verses, if they -bear in mind that ys as a termination is used where we should now -use es, s, se or ce.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem30"> -<div class="padtopb">BRYNG US IN GOOD ALE.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in good ale, and bryng us in good ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">For our blyssyd lady sak, bryng us in good ale</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no browne bred, for that is mad of brane,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor bryng us in no whyt bred, for therein is no game.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in good ale, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no befe, for ther is many bonys,</span> -<span class="spp00">But bryng us in good ale, for that goth downe at onys.</span> -<span class="sppctr">And bryng us in, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no bacon, for that is passyng fate,</span> -<span class="spp00">But bryng us in good ale, and give us i-nough of that.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in, etc. -<span class="xxpn" id="p231">{231}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no mutton, for that is often lene,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor bryng us in no trypes, for they be syldom clene.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no eggys, for ther ar many shelles,</span> -<span class="spp00">But bryng us in good ale, and give us nothing ellys.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no butter, for therin are many herys,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor bryng us in no pygge’s flesch, for that will make us borys.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no podynges, for therein is al Gode’s good,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor bryng us in no venesen, for that is not for our blod.</span> -<span class="sppctr">But bryng us in, etc.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bryng us in no capon’s flesch for that is ofte der,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor bryng us in no doke’s flesch for thei slober in mer - (mire).</span> -<div><div id="idp231chorus"> -<span class="spp00">But bryng us in good ale, and bryng us in good ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">For our blyssyd lady sak, bryng us in good - ale.</span></div><!--idp231chorus--> -<div class="dctr11"> - <img src="images/p231.png" width="144" height="44" alt="" /></div><!--dctr11--> -</div><!--no class--> -</div><!--dstanzalft--></div><!--dpoemlft--> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p232a.png" width="144" height="44" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p232"><span - class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> IX.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<p class="pverse">Sir Toby.—“Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more -cakes and ale?”</p> - -<p class="pverse">Clown.—“Yes, by Saint Anne; and ginger shall be hot i’ the mouth too.”</p> - -<p class="psignature"><i>Twelfth Night.</i> Act ii. Sc. 3.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">England was Merry England then,</span> -<span class="spp00">Old Christmas brought his sports again,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;</span> -<span class="spp00">A Christmas gambol oft would cheer</span> -<span class="spp00">A poor man’s heart through half the year.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Marmion.</i></span> -</div></div></div><!--depigraph--> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>ANCIENT MERRY-MAKINGS, FEASTS AND CEREMONIES -PECULIAR TO CERTAIN SEASONS, AT -WHICH ALE WAS THE PRINCIPAL DRINK. — HARVEST -HOME, SHEEP SHEARING, AND OTHER SONGS.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p232b.png" -width="221" height="226" alt="E" /></span>NGLAND -was merry England then, and -whatever may be thought of the utility of -attempting to revive the ancient sports -and amusements of the people, it is undeniable -that when the old customs and -games went out of vogue, they left behind -them a void which seems without any -immediate prospect of being filled. We -have no doubt gained in many ways by -changed habits of life and modes of thought, but it must not be forgotten -that at the same time life has lost much of its old picturesqueness -and variety. These simple, hearty festivals of old, in which our -ancestors so much delighted, served to light up the dull round of the -recurring seasons, and to mark with a red letter the day in the calendar -appropriate to their celebration. It was these that gained for our -country in mediæval times the name of “Merrie England.” The purpose -of this chapter, however, is not to compose a dirge -on the departed <span class="xxpn" id="p233">{233}</span> -glories of our English merry-makings, but rather to give in short limits -some account of the principal feasts and ceremonies in which the -national beverage, personified by the familiar name of John Barleycorn, -figured as a constant and well-tried friend, a provocative to mirth and -good feeling, to jollity and hearty enjoyment. The principal merry-makings -of old England were associated with certain special days of the -year, or with various events, important in the life of the people, which -though not fixed to any particular day in the calendar, were from their -nature connected with certain seasons. May Day and Christmas Day, -New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night, the Harvest Home, the Sheep-shearing -Supper, and many another minor festival, all served to make -the labourer’s lot seem an easier one, and to vary the monotonous round -of toil. Herrick thus alludes to the number and variety of the sports -and pastimes incidental to the country life in his -<span class="nowrap">day:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thy wakes, thy quintals, here thou hast,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy maypoles too with garlands graced,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy morris dance, thy Whitsun-ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy shearing feasts which never fail,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy harvest home, thy wassail bowl,</span> -<span class="spp00">That’s tossed up after fox-i’-th’ hole,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn53" id="fnanc53">53</a></span> -<span class="spp00">Thy mummeries, thy twelfth-tide kings</span> -<span class="spp00">And queens, thy Xmas revellings,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy nut-brown mirth, thy russet wit,</span> -<span class="spp00">And no man pays too dear for it.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">In -many a village at the present day the only representative, if so it -may be called, of all these rustic jollifications, is the annual dinner of -the members of the sick club, if funds will permit, or perhaps tea and a -magic lantern.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc53" id="fn53">53</a> -Fox-i’-th’ hole = the tongue.</p></div> - -<p>Where can we begin better than with New Year’s Day and the -ancient custom of the wassail? New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day -were anciently, and still are to some extent, celebrated with various -observances; presents and good wishes for the coming year were freely -exchanged, and sometimes the lasses and lads would pay their neighbours -the compliment of singing a carol to bury the old and usher in -the glad new year. But more generally the practice was -observed of a <span class="xxpn" id="p234">{234}</span> -crowd of youths and maidens entering their friends’ houses in the first -hours of New Year’s Day, bearing with them the wassail-bowl of spiced -ale, and singing verses appropriate to the occasion. The origin of the -name wassail and of the ceremonies connected with it, is well known -and better authenticated than that of most of our ancient customs. -Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, on being presented to Vortigern at a -feast which her father had prepared for him, kneeled before him and -offered him a bowl with the words “Louerd king wœs hœil,” that is, -“Lord King, your health.” Vortigern is represented in <i>Layamon’s -Brut</i> as not understanding the -<span class="nowrap">phrase―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The King Vortigerne</span> -<span class="spp00">Haxede his cnihtes</span> -<span class="spp00">What were the speche</span> -<span class="spp00">That the mayde speke.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The answer -<span class="nowrap">is―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hit is the wone (<i>wont</i>)</span> -<span class="spp00">Ine Saxe-londe,</span> -<span class="spp00">That freond saith to his freond,</span> -<span class="spp00">Wan he sal drink</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Leofue - (<i>dear</i>) freond wassail,”</span> -<span class="spp00">The other saith “drinc hail.”</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Old Geoffrey of Monmouth, after relating the legend, remarks that -from that time down to his own day it had been the custom in Britain -for one who drinks to another to say, “Wacht heil!” and for that -other who pledges him in return, to answer, “Drink heil!” The word -wassail, from being used to signify a pledge or greeting, in time came -to denote feasting in general, and in the phrase, “wassail-bowl,” to -con-note the particular liquor, spiced ale, with which the bowl was filled.</p> - -<p>Milner, in a dissertation on an ancient cup, supposed to be a wassail-cup, -inserted in the eleventh volume of the <i>Archæologia</i>, states that -the introduction of Christianity amongst our ancestors did not at all -interfere with the practice of wassailing. On the contrary, the custom -began to assume a sort of religious aspect; and the wassail-bowl itself, -which in great monasteries was placed on the Abbot’s table, at the -upper end of the refectory, to be circulated amongst the community -at his discretion, received the honourable appellation of <i>Poculum -Caritatis</i>. The wassail-bowl is probably the original of the Grace -Cup and Loving Cup. <span class="xxpn" id="p235">{235}</span></p> - -<p>It was also customary in some places for the poor of a village at -Christmas time or on New Year’s Eve, to go round to the doors of their -richer neighbours, bearing a wassail-bowl, decked with ribbons and -a golden apple, and singing a carol appropriate to the occasion. This -interesting custom is still carried out to the letter at Chippenham, in -Wiltshire. On Christmas Eve five or six burly labourers, carrying a -bowl gaily decorated with ribbons, go round from house to house and -sing a peculiarly quaint rhyme, of much the same character as that -given below, which was once common in Gloucestershire, particularly -in the neighbourhood of “Stow on the Wold where the wind blows -cold.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Wassail! wassail! all over the town,</span> -<span class="spp00">Our toast it is white, and our ale it is brown;</span> -<span class="spp00">Our bowl is made of a maplin-tree;</span> -<span class="spp00">We be good fellows all;—I drink to thee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s to our horse, and to his right ear,</span> -<span class="spp00">God send our measter a happy new year;</span> -<span class="spp00">A happy new year as e’er he did <span class="nowrap">see,—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s to our mare, and to her right eye,</span> -<span class="spp00">God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;</span> -<span class="spp00">A good Christmas pie as e’er I did <span class="nowrap">see,—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s to our cow, and to her long tail,</span> -<span class="spp00">God send our measter us never may fail</span> -<span class="spp00">Of a cup of good beer: I pray you draw near,</span> -<span class="spp00">And our jolly wassail it’s then you shall hear.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Be here my maids? I suppose here be some;</span> -<span class="spp00">Sure they will not let young men stand on the cold stone!</span> -<span class="spp00">Sing hey O, maids! come trole back the pin,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the fairest maid in the house, let us all in.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come, butler, come, bring us a bowl of the best,</span> -<span class="spp00">I hope your soul in heaven will rest;</span> -<span class="spp00">But if you do bring us a bowl of the small,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then down fall butler, and bowl, and all.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p236">{236}</span></div> - -<p>From this wassail-song it may be gathered that the persons visited -were expected to contribute to the wassail-bowl. Another example of -a wassailing song begins -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp01">Here we come a-wassailing</span> -<span class="spp02">Among the leaves so green;</span> -<span class="spp01">Here we come a wandering,</span> -<span class="spp02">So fair to be seen.</span> -</div> - -<p class="pcontinue"><span class="nowrap">Chorus―</span></p> - -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp03">Love and joy come to you,</span> -<span class="spp03">And to your wassail too,</span> -<span class="spp00">And God send you a happy new year—new year;</span> -<span class="spp00">And God send you a happy new year;</span> -<span class="spp00">Our wassail cup is made of the rosemary tree,</span> -<span class="spp00">So is your beer of the best barley.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>A quaint custom, doubtless a survivor from pagan times, was -wassailing the fruit trees with a view to a productive crop in the -coming year. In some places the trees were wassailed on New Year’s -Eve, in others on Christmas Eve. The pretty superstition has -been commemorated by Herrick in the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Wassaile the trees, that they may beare</span> -<span class="spp00">You many a plum and many a peare;</span> -<span class="spp00">For more or lesse fruits they will bring,</span> -<span class="spp00">As you do give them wassailing.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">In -Devonshire the eve of the Epiphany was devoted to this custom, and -in that apple-bearing country, cider was the wassail used on the occasion, -and the apple tree the chief recipient of the country folks’ good wishes. -The wassailers, with good supply of their favourite beverage, would -proceed to some gnarled and crooked, but productive apple tree, and -there, forming a circle about his ancient trunk, would drink his health -with some such incantation as -<span class="nowrap">this:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s to thee, old apple tree,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whence thou mayest bud, and whence thou mayest blow,</span> -<span class="spp00">And whence thou mayst bear apples enow.</span> -<span class="spp04">Hats full, caps full,</span> -<span class="spp04">Bushel, bushel, sacks full,</span> -<span class="spp04">And my pockets full too; hurrah!</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p237">{237}</span></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">A variety of the New Year’s Wassail-Bowl custom was, until a few -years ago, practised in Scotland. What is called a <i>hot pint</i> (<i>i.e.</i>, a great -kettle full of hot sweetened ale), was prepared, and when the clock had -sounded out the knell of the old year, each member of the family drank -“A good health and a Happy New Year to all.” A move was then -made by the revellers with what remained of the hot pint, and -a store of short-bread and <i>bun</i> to visit their friends and neighbours, -and to give them seasonable greeting. If the party were -the first to enter a friend’s house since twelve o’clock had struck, they -were called the <i>first foot</i>, and must come in with hands full of cakes, of -which all the inmates must partake; and so they went from house to -house until either their endurance or that long, long hot pint, failed. -Even within this century the custom was so religiously observed that the -streets of Edinburgh are described as having been more thronged at -midnight than at mid-day. This old practice is said to have received its -death-blow in 1812, when the descent of gangs of thieves and pickpockets -upon the wassailers caused such scenes of rioting and violence -that, after languishing for a few years, it came to an untimely end.</p> - -<p>It was customary at the beginning of the present century for the -inhabitants of the parish of Deerness, in Orkney, to assemble on New -Year’s Eve, and pay a round of visits through the district, drinking -their neighbours’ healths, and singing various old songs, of which the -following may be taken as a -<span class="nowrap">specimen:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">This night it is guid New Year’s E’en night</span> -<span class="spp00">We’re a’ here Queen Mary’s Men;</span> -<span class="spp00">And we’re come here to crave our right,</span> -<span class="spp00">And that’s before our lady.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Gae fill the three pint cog o’ ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">The maut maun be aboun the meal.</span> -<span class="spp00">We houp your ale is stark and stout</span> -<span class="spp00">For men to drink the old year out.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The composition of the wassail-bowl has been dealt with elsewhere, -and it only remains to be added that though the drinking of its spiced -contents was very usual on New Year’s Eve, it was not peculiar to that -day, but accompanied most occasions of mediæval festivity, and, indeed, -was so common that in the days of Queen Elizabeth the wassail-bowl -was frequently referred to by the writers of that Golden -Age of English <span class="xxpn" id="p238">{238}</span> -literature as symbolical of feasting and good cheer in general. It is thus -that Herrick mentions it in his beautiful little poem, entitled <i>A -Thanksgiving for his</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>House</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Lord, I confess too when I dine,</span> -<span class="spp00">The pulse is thine,</span> -<span class="spp00">And all those other bits that be</span> -<span class="spp00">There placed by Thee.</span> -<span class="spp00">The worts, the purslain, and the mess</span> -<span class="spp00">Of water-cress,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent:</span> -<span class="spp00">And my content</span> -<span class="spp00">Makes those, and my beloved beet,</span> -<span class="spp00">To be more sweet.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis Thou that crown’st my glittering hearth</span> -<span class="spp00">With guiltless mirth;</span> -<span class="spp00">And giv’st me wassail bowls to drink,</span> -<span class="spp00">Spiced to the brink.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Twelfth Night was specially celebrated with wassailing, accompanied -with the consumption of spiced cakes, the combination giving rise to -the phrase “cakes and ale.”</p> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p238.png" width="360" height="423" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">“Cakes and Ale.” - <div>From the “Good-Fellow’s Counsel, or - the Bad Husband’s Recantation.”</div> - <p class="psignature">(<i>Roxburghe Ballads</i>).</p></div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p239">{239}</span></div> - -<p>The twelfth day after Christmas was celebrated in the old days in -honour of the three Kings, as the Wise Men were called who came out -of the East to worship the Messiah. One of the chief ceremonies connected -with the day was the election of the King and Queen of the Bean. -A large cake—the Twelfth Cake—had been previously made, in which a -bean and a pea were inserted, the cake was cut up and distributed by -lot among the company, and whoever got the piece which contained the -bean was crowned King of the Bean, while the pea conferred the -distinction of Queen upon its happy recipient.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp03">Now, now the mirth comes,</span> -<span class="spp03">With the cake full of plums,</span> -<span class="spp00">Where beane’s the king of the sport here;</span> -<span class="spp03">Besides we must know,</span> -<span class="spp03">The pea also</span> -<span class="spp00">Must revell as queene in the court here.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp03">Give then to the king</span> -<span class="spp03">And queen wassailing;</span> -<span class="spp00">And though with ale ye be whet here,</span> -<span class="spp03">Yet part ye from hence,</span> -<span class="spp03">As free from offence</span> -<span class="spp00">As when ye innocent met here.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn54" id="fnanc54">54</a></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"> -<a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc54" id="fn54">54</a> -Herrick’s <i>Twelfth Night</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Dr. Plot, in his <i>Natural History of Staffordshire</i> (1685), describes a -curious custom called the Hobby-horse dance, which he says had been -practised at Pagets Bromley within memory of persons living when he -wrote. On Twelfth Day a man on a hobby-horse used to dance down -the village street, holding in his hand a bow and arrow, and accompanied -by six men, carrying deers’ heads on their shoulders. “To this Hobby-horse -dance,” says our author, “there also belong’d a <i>pot</i>, which was -kept by turnes by 4 or 5 of the <i>chief</i> of the <i>Tow</i>, whom they call’d -<i>Reeves</i>, who provided <i>Cakes</i> and <i>Ale</i> to put in this <i>pot</i>; all people who -had any kindness for the good intent of the Institution of the <i>sport</i>, -giving pence a piece for themselves and families; and so <i>forraigners</i> -too, that came to see it: with which mony (the charge of the -<i>Cakes</i> and <i>Ale</i> being defrayed) they not only repaired -their <i>Church</i> but <span class="xxpn" id="p240">{240}</span> -kept their <i>poore</i> too: which <i>charges</i> are not now perhaps so cheerfully -boarn.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>It would be going too far from the special subject of this work to -detail the more elaborate festivities of the Court and the Universities, or -the masques and revels of those ancient abodes of legal learning, the -Inns of Court, where Twelfth Night formed the annual excuse for much -feasting and pageantry. On these occasions, no doubt, costly wines and -liqueurs formed the staple of the liquids consumed,</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Both Ippocras and Vernage wine</span> -<span class="spp00">Mount Rose and wine of Greek,</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">and -not the honest juice of barley. Suffice it to note in passing that on -the 2nd of February, 1601, John Manningham, a student of the Middle -Temple, records in his Diary: “At our feast we had a play called <i>Twelfth -Night or What You Will</i>.” This is the earliest recorded mention of -that grand Twelfth-night revel, and was, perhaps, its first performance.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The appearance of Twelfth Cake is the signal for the disappearance -of mince pies, in accordance with the farewell words an old carolist -puts into the mouth of -<span class="nowrap">Christmas:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mark well my heavy doleful tale,</span> -<span class="spp01">For Twelfth-day now is come,</span> -<span class="spp00">And now I must no longer stay</span> -<span class="spp01">And say no word but mum.</span> -<span class="spp00">For I, perforce, must take my leave</span> -<span class="spp01">Of all my dainty <span class="nowrap">cheer—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Plum porridge, roast beef, and minced-pies,</span> -<span class="spp01">My strong ale and my beer.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A minor festival, Plough Monday, used to be celebrated on the first -Monday after Twelfth Night. A plough, dressed up with ribbons by -the villagers, was taken round from house to house. Its escort consisted -of a number of rustics dressed up in various mummers’ guises, and -chanting verses, the text of which was “God speed the Plough.” The -principal performers were Bessy and the Clown, Bessy being, in fact, -a man dressed up in fantastic female weeds. Bread, cheese, and ale -were asked for at the farmhouses and seldom refused, and a variety -of curious dances and uncouth antics completed the entertainment -of the day. <span class="xxpn" id="p241">{241}</span></p> - -<p>The season of Lent, of course, was marked by no special festivities, -but when Easter Sunday was passed, the reaction from the enforced -restraint of the previous period made the enjoyment of the Easter-week -festivities all the keener. Easter Monday and Tuesday were in some -places noted for the curious custom known as “heaving;” on the -Monday the men “heaved” the women (<i>i.e.</i>, lifted them off the ground -and kissed them), and on the Tuesday the women’s turn came, and -they heaved the men. “Many a time have I passed along the streets -inhabited by the lower orders of people,” says one who has witnessed -the ceremony, “and seen parties of Jolly matrons assembled round -tables on which stood a foaming tankard of Ale. Woe to the luckless -man that dared to invade their prerogatives! as sure as seen he was -pursued, as sure taken, heaved and kissed, and compelled to pay a fine -of sixpence for ‘leave and license’ to depart.”</p> - -<p>The antiquity of the custom is proved by an entry in one of the -Tower Rolls of payments made to certain maids-of-honour for having -taken Edward I. in his bed and “lifted him.”</p> - -<p>The second Monday and Tuesday after Easter were known in olden -days as Hock-tide. The Tuesday was the principal day, and was designated -Hock Day. Many derivations have been suggested for the name; -the best seems to be that which connects it with the German <i>hoch</i> (high). -Hock Day would thus denote a day of high festivity. Be that as it may, -the name is of great antiquity. In the Annals of Dunstaple we read -that in 1242 “Henry III., King of England, crossed over on <i>Ochedai</i> -with a great army against the King of France.” On Hock Day the -women of the village would go into the streets with cords in their hands, -and every one of the opposite sex whom they could catch, was bound -until he purchased his release by a contribution for the purposes of the -common feast. On this day the feasting seems to have frequently -passed into excess, and sometimes with direful results; the Annalist of -Dunstaple tells that on Hokke-day in the year 1252 the village of -Esseburne was “burned down miserably.” In 1450 a Bishop of Worcester -prohibited the celebrations of Hock-tide, on the ground that they -led to dissipation and other evils. There seems to be no connection -between this festival and the Hock-cart spoken of by Herrick, and to -be mentioned anon, save that the name of each takes its derivation, -if our surmise be the correct one, from the word <i>hoch</i>. The Hock Day -meaning High Day; and the Hock Cart, the harvest-home wain piled -<i>high</i> with the trophies of autumn.</p> - -<p>We next come to the May Day festivities, which -in many respects <span class="xxpn" id="p242">{242}</span> -may be regarded as the most joyous and picturesque of all the year. -Without staying to inquire whether the origin of the festival is to be -traced to the old Roman Floralia, or games in honour of the goddess who -ushered in the spring and strewed the earth with flowers, let us pause -for a while to contemplate the old ceremony of “bringing home the -May,” as it was performed some few centuries ago. On May Day -morning the inhabitants of every village would go out at an early hour -into the fields to gather garlands of hawthorn blossom and other -flowers, with which they decorated the May-pole and every door -and window of the village. These floral trophies were brought -home to the tune of pipe and drum; the fairest maid in all the -hamlet was crowned with flowers as Queen of the May, and, embowered -in hawthorn branches, presided over the mirth and feasting of the day. -Stubbe, in his <i>Anatomy of Abuses</i> (1585), describes the ceremony of -raising the May-pole, in language which gives some notion of the pretty -scene, and which is all the more likely not to be overdrawn, from the -evident abhorrence of the writer to what he regarded as the impiety of -the whole affair. “They have twenty or fourtie yoke of oxen,” he -writes, “every one having a sweet nosegay of flowers tyed on the tippe -of his hornes, and these oxen draw home this Maie pole (this stinckyng -Idoll rather) which is couered all ouer with flowers and hearbes bounde -rounde aboute with stringes, from the top to the bottome, and sometyme -painted with variable colours, with two or three hundred women -and children following it with great devotion. And thus being reared -up with handkerchiefs and flagges streaming on the toppe they strowe -the grounde aboute, binde green boughes aboute it, sett up sommer -houses, Bowers and Arbours hard by it. And then fall they to banquet -and feast, to leape and daunce aboute it, as the Heathen people did at -the dedication of their Idolles, whereof this is a perfect pattern or rather -the thing itself.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The May-pole once raised, of course the next thing to be done was -to pour a libation in honour of the day, and in most cases this would, -equally of course, be performed with the ale of Old England.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">The May-pole is up,</span> -<span class="spp04">Now give me the cup,</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ll drink to the garlands around it,</span> -<span class="spp04">But first unto those,</span> -<span class="spp04">Whose hands did compose,</span> -<span class="spp00">The glory of flowers that crown’d it.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p243">{243}</span></div> - -<p>In olden days even the King and Queen condescended to mingle -with their lieges, and to assist in commemorating the time-honoured -custom. Chaucer, in his <i>Court of Love</i>, describes how on May Day, -“Forth goeth all the Court both most and least, to fetch the flowers -fresh.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Spenser, in his <i>Shepherd’s Calendar</i>, thus describes the May Day -festival of Elizabethan -<span class="nowrap">times:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Siker this morrow, no longer ago,</span> -<span class="spp00">I saw a shole of shepherds out go</span> -<span class="spp00">With singing and shouting and jolly cheer;</span> -<span class="spp00">Before them rode a lusty Tabrere,</span> -<span class="spp00">That to the many a hornpipe played,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whereto they dancen each one with his maid.</span> -<span class="spp00">To see these folks make such jouissance,</span> -<span class="spp00">Made my heart after the pipe to dance.</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to the green-wood they speeden them all,</span> -<span class="spp00">To fetchen home May with their musical;</span> -<span class="spp00">And home they bring him in a royal throne</span> -<span class="spp00">Crowned as king; and his queen attone</span> -<span class="spp00">Was Lady Flora, on whom did attend</span> -<span class="spp00">A fair flock of fairies, and a fresh bend</span> -<span class="spp00">Of lovely nymphs—O that I were there</span> -<span class="spp00">To helpen the ladies their May-bush to bear!</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Probably the most famous May-pole that ever existed was the one -which gave its name to the parish of St. Andrew-Undershaft. It was -of such a height that it towered above all the houses and even above -the church spire. Chaucer alludes to this mighty pole in the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Right well aloft and high ye beare your head,</span> -<span class="spp00">As ye would beare the greate shaft of Cornhill.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">When this May-pole was not required for festive purposes, it lay -suspended on great iron hooks above the doors of the neighbouring -houses. In the reign of Edward VI., after a sermon preached at the -cross of St. Paul’s against the iniquity of May games, the inhabitants of -these houses in a fit of pious enthusiasm, desiring, doubtless, to replenish -their wood-cellars and to destroy an “idoll” at the same time, cut the -pole in pieces, each man retaining that portion of it which had been -before his house. The May-pole in the Strand -was another celebrated <span class="xxpn" id="p244">{244}</span> -shaft. It was erected at the Restoration, when there was a revival of -the popular sports which the sour-faced Puritans had so unsparingly -condemned. It was 134 ft. high, and was raised with great ceremony -and public rejoicings.</p> - -<p>At Helston, in Cornwall, on the 8th of May, called “Furry Day,” -may still be witnessed a survival of the old May Day festivities. Very -early in the morning the young men and maidens of the place go -off into the country to breakfast. About seven o’clock they return -bearing green branches, and decked with flowers, they dance through -the streets to the tune of the “Furry Dance.” At eight o’clock -the “Hal-an-Tow” (Heel and Toe?) song is sung, and dancing and -merriment fill the remainder of the day.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem26"> -<div class="padtopb">THE HAL-AN-TOW.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Robin Hood and little John,</span> -<span class="spp01">They both are gone to fair O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And we will go to the merry green wood,</span> -<span class="spp01">To see what they to do there O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And for to chase O !</span> -<span class="spp01">To chase the buck and doe O !</span> -<span class="spp03">With Hal-an-tow,</span> -<span class="spp03">Jolly rumble O !</span> -</div> -<p class="pcontinue">Chorus:</p> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">And we were up as soon as any day O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And for to fetch the summer home,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Summer and the May O !</span> -<span class="spp00">For Summer is a come O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And Winter is a gone O !</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Where are those Spaniards</span> -<span class="spp01">That makes so great a boast O !</span> -<span class="spp00">They shall eat the grey goose feather</span> -<span class="spp01">And we will eat the roast O !</span> -<span class="spp03">In every land O !</span> -<span class="spp03">The land where’er we go,</span> -<span class="spp04">With Hal-an-tow,</span> -<span class="spp05">Jolly rumble O !</span> -</div> -<p class="pright"> -Chorus: And we were up, &c. - <span class="xxpn" id="p245">{245}</span></p> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">As for St. George O !</span> -<span class="spp01">St. George he was a knight O !</span> -<span class="spp00">Of all the knights in Christendom</span> -<span class="spp01">St. George he is the right O !</span> -<span class="spp03">In every land O !</span> -<span class="spp03">The land where’er we go,</span> -<span class="spp04">With Hal-an-tow,</span> -<span class="spp05">Jolly rumble O !</span></div> -<p class="pright"> -Chorus: And we were up, &c.</p> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">God bless Aunt Mary Moyses,</span> -<span class="spp01">And all her power and might O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And send us peace in merry England,</span> -<span class="spp01">Both day and night O !</span> -<span class="spp00">And send us peace in merry England,</span> -<span class="spp01">Both now and evermore O !</span> -<span class="spp03">With Hal-an-tow,</span> -<span class="spp04">Jolly rumble O !</span></div> -<p class="pright"> -Chorus: And we were up, &c.</p> -</div></div> - -<p>The custom is popularly attributed to the escape of the town from -the threatened attack of a fiery dragon, who, in days when dragons were -more common than they are now, hung in mid-air over the place, -driving the inhabitants to the greenwood tree for shelter. On his -disappearance the people returned with great rejoicings and to -this day commemorate their fortunate escape. The true explanation is -probably that the festival is simply a survival of the old celebration in -honour of <i>Flora</i>.</p> - -<p>In some few country villages a May-pole still survives. One such is -to be seen in the little village of Welford, in Gloucestershire, painted in -stripes of red, white, and blue. It was decked with flowers on May Day -not many years ago, owing to the exertions of some of the local lovers of -things ancient; but the genuine spirit of the festival seems to have -entirely disappeared, and the ceremony has not been repeated.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">What’s not destroyed by Time’s relentless hand?</span> -<span class="spp00">Where’s Troy? and where’s the May-pole in the Strand?</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In the early days of May occur what used to be known as the Gange -Days, on which the ceremony of beating the parish bounds -was, and still <span class="xxpn" id="p246">{246}</span> -is in some places, undertaken, the work of the day being wound up by a -more or less liberal distribution of buns and ale. Sums of money were -occasionally left to provide the refreshments for these parish perambulations. -At Edgcott, in Buckinghamshire, there was an acre of land -called “Gang Monday Land,” the income of which was devoted to the -provision of cakes and ale for those who took part in the business of the -day; and in Clifton Reynes, in the same county, a devise of land for a -like purpose provides that one small loaf, a piece of cheese, and a pint of -ale, should be given to every married person, and half a pint of ale to -every unmarried person, resident in Clifton, when they walked the -parish boundaries in Rogation week.</p> - -<p>When Whitsuntide came round, the time arrived for those quaint -festivals to which Ale gave not only his support, but also his name, and -which were known as Whitsun Ales. The Whitsun Ale was a special -form of the Church Ale, to be mentioned anon. It is thus described by -an old writer:—“Two young men of the Parish are yerely chosen by -their last foregoers to be wardens, who, dividing the task, make collection -among the parishioners of whatsoever provision it pleaseth them -voluntarily to bestow. This they employ in brewing, baking, and other -acates<a class="afnanc" href="#fn55" id="fnanc55">55</a> -against Whitsuntide; upon which holy days the neighbours -meet at the Church-house, and there merrily feed on their owne victuals -contributing some petty portion to the stock, which by many smalls, -groweth to a meetly greatness: for there is entertayned a kind of -emulation between these wardens, who, by his graciousness in gathering, -and good husbandry in expending, can best advance the churche’s -profit. Besides, the neighbour parishes at those times lovingly visit -each one another, and this way frankly spend their money together. -The afternoones are consumed in such exercises as olde and yong folke -(having leisure) doe accustomably weare out the time withall. When -the feast is ended, the wardens yield in their account to the parishioners: -and such money as exceedeth the disbursement is layd up in store, to -defray any extraordinary charges arising in the parish, or imposed on -them for the good of the country, or the prince’s service: neither of -which commonly so gripe but that somewhat still remayneth to cover -the purse’s bottom.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc55" id="fn55">55</a> -acates = purchases.</p></div> - -<p>The Morris Dancers regarded Whitsuntide as their chief festival. -Introduced into this country from Spain, the -Morisco or Moorish <span class="xxpn" id="p247">{247}</span> -Dance had, in the reign of Henry VIII., attained a great popularity. -There seems to have been at that time two principal performers, Robin -Hood and Maid Marian; then there was a friar, a piper, a fool, and -the rank and file of the dancers. In the parish accounts of Kingston-on-Thames -for the year 1537 the Morris Dancers’ wardrobe, then in -the charge of the churchwardens, consisted of “A fryers cote of russet -and a kyrtele weltyd with red cloth, a Mowren’s (Moor’s) cote of -buckram, and four morres daunsars cotes of white fustian spangelid -and two gryne saten cotes, and disardde’s (fool’s) cote of cotton, and six -payre of garters with belles.”</p> - -<p>In Elizabethan times the Morris Dance, and indeed every other kind -of picturesque country festivity, may be said to have reached the zenith -of popularity, soon, alas! to be followed by the chilling austerity of the -Puritans, of whom it was so truly said that they “like nothing; no -state, no sex; music, dancing, etc., unlawful even in kings; no kind of -recreation, no kind of entertainment,—no, not so much as hawking; -all are damned.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">These teach that Dauncing is a Jezabell</span> -<span class="spp00">And barley-break the ready way to Hell,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Morrice, Idolls; Whitson-ale can bee</span> -<span class="spp00">But profane Reliques of a Jubilee.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn56" id="fnanc56">56</a></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc56" id="fn56">56</a> -Thomas Randal—<i>Annalia Dubrensia</i>.</p></div> - -<p>Whitsuntide, with its lengthening days, was specially set apart for -sports and old-fashioned games, and amongst the many meetings for -such purposes, none attained a wider popularity than the Cotswold or -Dover’s Games. Those who are familiar with the country made classic -by its associations with the great Master of English poetry, know well -the green hill, still called Dover’s Hill, which forms an outpost of the -main body of the Cotswolds, and overlooks the smiling vale of Evesham. -On this spot, time out of mind, rural sports and festivities had been held -under the name of the Cotswold Games. “How does your fallow -greyhound, sir?” says Slender to Page, “I heard say he was outrun at -Cotsale.” This was the site chosen by Robert Dover, an attorney -of Barton-on-the-Heath, for the enlargement and perpetuation of those -national sports in which he took so keen an interest, -and which he <span class="xxpn" id="p248">{248}</span> -hoped would counteract the narrow spirit of bigotry which was beginning -in his day to curtail the innocent amusements of the people. -Armed with a formal authority from King James, Dover was so successful -in his organization of the Games that, with a short interregnum -during the Commonwealth days, their popularity continued until well -into the present century. A curious old volume of poems, called -<i>Annalia Dubrensia</i>, published in 1636, contains many quaint descriptions -of the Games and their object. Drayton, Ben Jonson, Thomas -Randall and others of lesser note, contributed each a poem to this -collection. One of the contributors thus eulogises the sports and -their -<span class="nowrap">patron:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">. . . . . . Oh most famous Greece!</span> -<span class="spp00">That for brave Pastimes, wert earth’s Master-piece!</span> -<span class="spp00">Had not our English DOVER, thus out-done</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy foure games, with his Cotswoldian one.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Dover -himself composed the poem which closes the volume. Some -of his motives he thus -<span class="nowrap">describes:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I’ve heard our fine refined clergy teach,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the commandments, that it is a breach</span> -<span class="spp00">To play at any game for gain or coin;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis theft they say; men’s goods you do purloin;</span> -<span class="spp00">One silly beast another to pursue</span> -<span class="spp00">’Gainst nature is, and fearful to the view,</span> -<span class="spp00">And man with man their activeness to try</span> -<span class="spp00">Forbidden is—much harm doth come thereby;</span> -<span class="spp00">Had we their faith to credit what they say,</span> -<span class="spp00">We must believe all sports are ta’en away;</span> -<span class="spp00">Whereby I see, instead of active things,</span> -<span class="spp00">What harm the same unto our nation brings;</span> -<span class="spp00">The pipe and pot are made the only prize</span> -<span class="spp00">Which all our spriteful youth do exercise.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Yet I was bold for better recreation</span> -<span class="spp00">T’invent these sports to countercheck that fashion,</span> -<span class="spp00">And bless the troope that come our sports to see,</span> -<span class="spp00">With hearty thankes and friendly courtesie</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p249">{249}</span></div> - -<p>The nature of the sports may be gathered from an inspection of the -curious old cut taken from the frontispiece of the above-named work. -Dancing, tumbling, wrestling, sword-play, quarter-staff, cudgel play, -casting the hammer, dog-racing, horse-racing, coursing—must have -made up a highly varied programme, while the table in the midst of -the field of view shows, both by its conspicuous position and by the</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p249.png" width="527" height="681" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Cotswold Games.</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">size -of the cups and tankards in use, that the good creatures, meat and -ale, were by no means neglected. The wonderful structure at the top of -the picture represents the wooden castle erected every year, and called -Dover Castle in honour of the founder of the sports. The artist does -not appear to have quite done justice to his subject if we may credit the -account of the Castle given by one -of the versifiers:— <span class="xxpn" id="p250">{250}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">What Ingineere, or cunning Architect</span> -<span class="spp00">A Fabricke of such pompe did ere erect?</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ve heard men talk, of Castles in the aire,</span> -<span class="spp00">Inchanted Cells, Towers, Pageants most faire,</span> -<span class="spp00">Fortifications, Trophies, Theaters,</span> -<span class="spp00">Laborinths, Puppet-workes, strange Meteores,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of those that have their substance wholie spent</span> -<span class="spp00">To shew their Puppets dauncing with content;</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Egypts Pharoes stately glasen Tower,</span> -<span class="spp00">Built by King Ptolomies’ art magick power,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Cheops, Pyramids; of Rhodes Colosse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Joves Olympick golden Ivorie Bosse.</span> -<span class="spp00">These to thy famous works compared will be</span> -<span class="spp00">Of small account; like them in no degree.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The figure of the founder occupies a prominent place in the -foreground. He used to appear in clothes that had belonged to King -James, and it is said wore them with much greater dignity than did the -King. Dover seems to have been a remarkable person in more ways -than one, as may be gathered from the following quaint note, to be -found in one of the editions of the <i>Annalia</i>:—“He was bred an -Attorney, who never try’d but two causes, <i>always made up the -Difference</i>.”</p> - -<p>The next in order of the country celebrations in which ale formed -the principal drink, were the sheep-shearing feasts, formerly so common, -but now in most places things of the past. Many songs have been -preserved which record these old merry-makings when the day’s work -was done, and the farm labourers were gathered round their master’s -hospitable board. One of these, taken from the Sussex Archæological -Collections, is given below. It is a sample of many.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come all my jolly boys, and we’ll together go</span> -<span class="spp00">Abroad with our masters, to shear the lamb and ewe.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And there we must work hard, boys, until our backs do ache,</span> -<span class="spp00">And our master he will bring us beer whenever we do lack.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And then our noble captain doth unto our master say,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Come, - let us have one bucket of your good Ale, I pray”</span> -<span class="spp00">He turns unto our captain, and makes him this reply <span class="xxpn" id="p252">{252}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>You - shall have the best of beer, I promise, presently,”</span> -<span class="spp00">Then out with the bucket pretty Bess she doth come,</span> -<span class="spp00">And master says “Mind, mind and see that every man has some.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> </div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">This is some of our pastime while the sheep we do shear,</span> -<span class="spp00">And though we are such merry boys, we work hard, I declare;</span> -<span class="spp00">And when ’tis night, and we have done, our master is more free,</span> -<span class="spp00">And stores us well with good strong beer, and pipes and tobaccee</span> -<span class="spp00">So we do sit and drink, we smoke, and sing and roar,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till we become more merry far than e’er we were before,</span> -<span class="spp00">When all our work is done, and all our sheep are shorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then home to our Captain, to drink the Ale that’s strong.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis a barrel, then, of <i>hum cup</i>, which we call the <i>black ram</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">And we do sit and swagger, and swear that we are men;</span> -<span class="spp00">But yet before ’tis night, I’ll stand you half a crown,</span> -<span class="spp00">That if you ha’nt a special care, the <i>ram</i> will knock you down.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr03" id="p251img"> -<img src="images/p251.png" width="587" height="632" alt=" - The Merry Bagpipes. | - - The Pleaſant Paſtime betwixt a Jolly Shepherd and a - Country Damſel on a Midſummer-Day in the Morning. | - - To the tune of March Boys, &c." /> -<div class="dcaption"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A Shepherd ſat him under a Thorn</span> -<span class="spp02">he pulled out his pipe and began for to play</span> -<span class="spp00">It was on a Mid-Summer’s-day in the Morn</span> -<span class="spp02">for honour of that Holy-day:</span> -<span class="spp00">A Ditty he did chant along</span> -<span class="spp02">goes to the tune of Cater-Bordee,</span> -<span class="spp00">And this was the burden of his ſong</span> -<span class="spp02">if thou wilt pipe lad, I’ll Dance to thee</span> -<span class="spp00">To thee, to thee, derry, derry, to thee, &c.</span> -</div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Roxburghe Ballads.</i></span> -</div></div></div><!--dctr03--></div> - -<p>The Haymakers’ song given below is, or rather was, a great favourite -at festive gatherings during the hay -<span class="nowrap">harvest:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In the merry month of June,</span> -<span class="spp01">In the prime time of the year;</span> -<span class="spp00">Down in yonder meadows</span> -<span class="spp01">There runs a river clear;</span> -<span class="spp00">And many a little fish</span> -<span class="spp01">Doth in that river play;</span> -<span class="spp00">And many a lad and many a lass,</span> -<span class="spp01">Go abroad a-making hay.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In come the jolly mowers,</span> -<span class="spp01">To mow the meadows down;</span> -<span class="spp00">With budget and with bottle</span> -<span class="spp01">Of ale both stout and brown.</span> -<span class="spp00">All labouring men of courage bold</span> -<span class="spp01">Come here their strength to try;</span> -<span class="spp00">They sweat and blow, and cut and mow,</span> -<span class="spp01">For the grass cuts very dry.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Gratitude to the Giver of all good things has been the mainspring -of rejoicings that in nearly all nations have -celebrated the safe <span class="xxpn" id="p253">{253}</span> -ingathering of the fruits of the earth. In England the festival is -known by the expressive title of the Harvest Home. An ancient -ballad expresses <i>The Farmer’s Delight in the Merry</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Harvest</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come all my Lads and Lasses</span> -<span class="spp01">Let us together go,</span> -<span class="spp00">To the pleasant Corn-field,</span> -<span class="spp01">Our courage for to show,</span> -<span class="spp00">With sickle and with knapsack,</span> -<span class="spp01">So well we clean our Land,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Farmer crys work on Boys</span> -<span class="spp01">Here’s Beer at your command.</span> -<span class="spp00">In a good old Leather Bottle,</span> -<span class="spp01">Of ale that is so brown,</span> -<span class="spp00">We’ll cut and strip together,</span> -<span class="spp01">Until the Sun goes down;</span> -<span class="spp00">Every morning Sun,</span> -<span class="spp01">The small Birds they do sing;</span> -<span class="spp00">The Echoes of their Harmony,</span> -<span class="spp01">Do make the Wood to ring.</span> -<span class="spp00">Young Nanny she came to me,</span> -<span class="spp01">Some wheat-seed for to lase.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn57" id="fnanc57">57</a></span> -<span class="spp00">She is a pretty Creature,</span> -<span class="spp01">I must speak in her Praise:</span> -<span class="spp00">I wish she was some keeper,</span> -<span class="spp01">She is my whole delight</span> -<span class="spp00">In the Groves and Forests,</span> -<span class="spp01">To range both Day and Night.</span> -<span class="spp00">Thus the industrious Farmer</span> -<span class="spp01">By the Sweat of his Brow</span> -<span class="spp00">He labours and endeavours</span> -<span class="spp01">To make his Barley Mow.</span> -<span class="spp00">Sir John produces Liquor,</span> -<span class="spp01">’Tis very often said,</span> -<span class="spp00">Good Beer makes Good Blood</span> -<span class="spp01">Good Blood makes pretty maid. <span class="xxpn" id="p254">{254}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">When Harvest it is over</span> -<span class="spp01">And the Corn secure from Harm</span> -<span class="spp00">And for to go to Market,</span> -<span class="spp01">We must thrash in the Barn.</span> -<span class="spp00">The Flail which we do handle</span> -<span class="spp01">So stoutly we do swing,</span> -<span class="spp00">And after Harvest Supper,</span> -<span class="spp01">So merry we will sing:</span> -<span class="spp00">With good Success to the Farmer,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or else we are to blame,</span> -<span class="spp00">I wish them Health and Happiness,</span> -<span class="spp01">Till Harvest comes again.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Beer -has always been <i>the</i> drink in the harvest field.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Beneath some shelt’ring heap of yellow corn</span> -<span class="spp00">Rests the hoop’d keg, and friendly cooling horn,</span> -<span class="spp00">That mocks alike the goblet’s brittle frame,</span> -<span class="spp00">It’s costlier potions, and its nobler name.</span> -<span class="spp00">To Mary first the brimming draught is given,</span> -<span class="spp00">By toil made welcome as the dews of heaven,</span> -<span class="spp00">And never lip that press’d its homely edge,</span> -<span class="spp00">Had kinder blessings or a heartier pledge.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc57" id="fn57">57</a> -To lase or lease, provincial term for “to glean.”</p></div> - -<p>In most parts of England the grain last cut was brought home in the -Hock Cart or Horkey Cart. The name “Horkey,” is probably a corruption -of “Hock,” and is equivalent to the German <i>hoch</i>, the allusion -being to the wain piled <i>high</i> with sheaves. The cart decked with -ribbons and surmounted with a sheaf dressed up to represent a -woman—perhaps -Ceres, goddess of the harvest; the horses pranked out in gay -trappings; a crowd of labourers and all the youthful inhabitants of -the village hurrahing in the wake presented such a scene as that -described by Herrick in his poem of the <i>Hock</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Cart</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come, sons of summer, by whose toile</span> -<span class="spp00">We are the Lords of wine and oile;</span> -<span class="spp00">By whose tough labours and rough hands</span> -<span class="spp00">We rip up first, then reap our lands,</span> -<span class="spp00">Crown’d with the ears of corne, now come,</span> -<span class="spp00">And, to the pipe, sing harvest home.</span> -<span class="spp00">Come forth, my Lord, and see the cart,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drest up with all the country art. <span class="xxpn" id="p255">{255}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">See here a maukin, there a sheet</span> -<span class="spp00">As spotless pure as it is sweet;</span> -<span class="spp00">The horses, mares, and frisking fillies,</span> -<span class="spp00">Clad all in linen white as lillies,</span> -<span class="spp00">The harvest swaines and wenches bound</span> -<span class="spp00">For joy to see the hock-cart crown’d.</span> -<span class="spp00">About the cart heare how the rout</span> -<span class="spp00">Of rural younglings raise the shout,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pressing before, some coming after,</span> -<span class="spp00">Those with a shout and these with laughter.</span> -<span class="spp00">Some blesse the cart; some kisse the sheaves</span> -<span class="spp00">Some prank them up with oaken leaves;</span> -<span class="spp00">Some cross the fill-horse; some with great</span> -<span class="spp00">Devotion stroak the home-borne wheat;</span> -<span class="spp00">While other rusticks, lesse attent</span> -<span class="spp00">To prayers than to merryment,</span> -<span class="spp00">Run after with their breeches rent.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">A verse was sung to start the hock-cart on its way; generally some -thing of this -<span class="nowrap">kind:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Harvest home, harvest home,</span> -<span class="spp00">We have ploughed, we have sowed;</span> -<span class="spp00">We have reaped, we have mowed,</span> -<span class="spp00">We have brought home every load,</span> -<span class="spp04">Hip, hip, hip, harvest home!</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In Hampshire it was years ago the custom at the end of harvest -to send to the harvest-field a large bottle containing seven or eight -gallons of strong beer; and the head carter, while the beer was being -discussed, said or sang the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Well ploughed—well sowed,</span> -<span class="spp00">Well reaped—well mowed,</span> -<span class="spp02">Well carried, and</span> -<span class="spp00">Never a load overthro’d.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">He then raised his hand, and all -cheered. This was called the custom of the Hollowing -Bottle. <span class="xxpn" id="p256">{256}</span></p> - -<p>For a description of the harvest-home supper we may again turn to -<span class="nowrap">Herrick:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Well, on, brave boyes, to your Lord’s hearth</span> -<span class="spp00">Glittering with fire, where, for your mirth,</span> -<span class="spp00">You shall see first the large and cheefe</span> -<span class="spp00">Foundation of your feast, fat beefe;</span> -<span class="spp00">With upper stories, mutton, veale,</span> -<span class="spp00">And bacon, which makes full the meale;</span> -<span class="spp00">With severall dishes standing by,</span> -<span class="spp00">As here a custard, there a pie,</span> -<span class="spp00">And here all-tempting frumentie.</span> -<span class="spp00">And for to make the merry cheer,</span> -<span class="spp00">If smirking wine be wanting here,</span> -<span class="spp00">There’s that which drowns all care, stout beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which freely drink to your lord’s health,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to the plough, the commonwealth,</span> -<span class="spp00">Next to your flails, your fans, your vats;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to the maids with wheaten hats;</span> -<span class="spp00">To the rough sickle and the crooked scythe,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drink, frolic, boys, till all be blithe.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Robert Bloomfield alludes to the horkey-beer as to a brew specially -prepared for the -<span class="nowrap">occasion:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And Farmer Cheerum went, good man,</span> -<span class="spp01">And broach’d the horkey-beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And sich a mort of folks began</span> -<span class="spp01">To eat up our good cheer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>When supper was finished the horkey-beer was freely sent about the -board, with the effect noticed by old Lydgate in his <i>Story of Thebes</i>:—“They -were in silence for a tyme tyl good ale gan arise.”—Slow -tongues are loosened, and the time is passed in songs and mirth.</p> - -<p>The following extracts are taken from old Suffolk songs which have -descended from father to son for generations. They are typical of many -more that might be -<span class="nowrap">given:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s a health to our master,</span> -<span class="spp01">The founder of the feast!</span> -<span class="spp00">God bless his endeavours</span> -<span class="spp01">And send him increase. - <span class="xxpn" id="p257">{257}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Now our harvest is ended</span> -<span class="spp01">And supper is past,</span> -<span class="spp00">Here’s our mistress’ good health</span> -<span class="spp01">In a full flowing glass!</span> -<span class="spp00">She is a good <span class="nowrap">woman,—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">She prepared us good cheer;</span> -<span class="spp00">Come all my brave boys,</span> -<span class="spp01">And drink off your beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Drink, my boys, drink until you come unto me,</span> -<span class="spp00">The longer we sit, my boys, the merrier shall we be!</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft padtopc"> -<span class="spp00">In yon green wood there lies an old fox,</span> -<span class="spp00">Close by his den you may catch him, or no;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ten thousand to one you catch him, or no.</span> -<span class="spp00">His beard and his brush are all of one - <span class="nowrap">colour,—</span></span> -<p class="pright">(<i>Takes the glass and empties it off.</i>)</p> -<span class="spp00">I am sorry, kind sir, that your glass is no fuller.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis down the red lane! ’tis down the red lane!</span> -<span class="spp00">So merrily hunt the fox down the red lane!”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>There is another version of these concluding -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Down the red lane there lives an old fox,</span> -<span class="spp00">There does he sit a-mumping his chops:</span> -<span class="spp00">Catch him, boys, catch him, catch if you can;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis twenty to one if you catch him or Nan.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The red lane is the throat, and the fox is the tongue.</p> - -<p>A favourite old Norfolk harvest-home song was “The Pye upon the -Pear Tree Top,” the following version of which is taken from Mr. -Rye’s admirable <i>History of</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Norfolk</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemfarlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The pye upon the pear-tree top,</span> -<p class="pright">(<i>The singer holds up a glass of beer</i>)</p> -<span class="spp00">The pear-tree top—the pear-tree top,</span> -<span class="spp00">I hold you a crown she is coming down.</span> -<p class="pright">(<i>Brings down the glass slowly</i>)</p> -<span class="spp00">She is coming down, she is coming down,</span> -<span class="spp00">I hold you a crown she is come down.</span> -<p class="pright">(<i>Offers the glass to his right-hand neighbour.</i>) - <span class="xxpn" id="p258">{258}</span></p> -<span class="spp00">She <i>is</i> come down, she <i>is</i> come down,</span> -<span class="spp00">So lift up your elbow, and hold up your chin,</span> -<span class="spp00">And let your neighbour joggle it in.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The drinker then tries to drink, and his neighbour tries to prevent -him.</p> - -<p>During the evening one of the reapers, who had been chosen as “lord,” -would retire from the table, and, putting on a kind of mummer’s garb, -return, calling “Lar-gess.” He then carried a hat or plate round and -collected money to prolong the jollification at the village alehouse.</p> - -<p>A laughable custom prevalent at Sussex harvest-homes, was the -following: Each person at the table—perhaps twenty or thirty men—had -to drink, without spilling, a glass of ale placed on the top of a tall -hat; when he had finished, he must toss the glass up in the air and -catch it in the hat as it fell. Sometimes a man would fail four or five -times, and at length get too drunk even to try. Meantime the -company kept up the -<span class="nowrap">refrain:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I’ve been to London, I’ve been to Dover,</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ve been a rambling, boys, all the world over,</span> -<span class="spp00">Over, over, over and over,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drink up the liquor and turn the bowl over.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>These lines were sung over and over again, getting louder at the -critical moments. If the drinker’s effort was crowned with success the -fourth line was changed -<span class="nowrap">to―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The liquor’s drinked up, and the bowl is turned over,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">while -ill success was greeted -<span class="nowrap">by―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The liquor’s drinked up, and the bowl <i>ain’t</i> turned over.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Another Sussex custom practised not many years ago, and perhaps -still, at harvest-home suppers consisted in a harvester sticking a lighted -candle in a glass of beer and drinking the beer while he held the candle -in position with his nose. The company meantime sing a song, of -which the chorus -<span class="nowrap">runs―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Your nose’s alight, your nose’s alight,</span> -<span class="spp00">Your hair’s alight, your hair’s alight,</span> -<span class="spp00">Your hair’s alight, afire. <span class="xxpn" id="p259">{259}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p>Frequently the greasy candle would slip from between the nose and the -rim of the glass, really bringing about a conflagration of hair or eyebrows.</p> - -<p>In Scotland a dish always to be met with at harvest home, or <i>Kirn</i>-suppers, -as they are called, is composed of porridge, strong ale and -whisky. Had such dish as this been found at Sabine harvest-homes, -well might Horace have exclaimed, “<i>O dura messorum ilia!</i>” Much the -same course of feasting, strong-ale drinking, and singing is observed as -at the English -<span class="nowrap">festival―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp06">—the frothing bickers,<a class="afnanc" -href="#fn58" id="fnanc58">58</a> soon as filled,</span> - -<span class="spp00">Are drained, and to the gauntrees<a -class="afnanc" href="#fn59" id="fnanc59">59</a> oft -return.</span></div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" -href="#fnanc58" id="fn58">58</a> The beakers.</p> - -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" -href="#fnanc59" id="fn59">59</a> The frame supporting the -barrel.</p></div> - -<p>Such were some of the principal ceremonies connected with the harvest-home. -It is to be regretted that such observances are now comparatively rare. -The kindly association of master and man at these and -such-like gatherings, did much to keep alive a mutual spirit of good -will, and to grease the wheels of toil, and it is to be feared that such -feelings when once lost cannot easily be recalled. Bloomfield well describes -this peculiarity of former times, which to that extent, at any rate, -may be called the “good old -<span class="nowrap">days”:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here, once a year, distinction lowers its crest,</span> -<span class="spp00">The master, servant, and the merry guest,</span> -<span class="spp00">Are equal all; and round the happy ring,</span> -<span class="spp00">The reaper’s eyes exulting glances fling;</span> -<span class="spp00">And, warmed with gratitude, he quits his place,</span> -<span class="spp00">With sun-burnt hands, and ale-enlivened face,</span> -<span class="spp00">Refills the jug his honored host to tend,</span> -<span class="spp00">To serve at once the master and the friend;</span> -<span class="spp00">Proud thus to meet his smiles, to share his tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">His nuts, his conversation, and his Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Last of all the great festivals of the year comes Christmas, celebrated -from early ages with feasting and hearty boisterous merriment. In -olden times the closing days of the old year, and the opening days of -the new, were devoted to holiday-making. From Christmas Day to -Twelfth Night was one long Saturnalia of -feasting, dancing, and <span class="xxpn" id="p260">{260}</span> -wassailing. One of the chief ceremonies of the time was the bringing -in of the Yule Log on Christmas Eve. Escorted by troops of shouting -men and boys, and greeted with strains of village minstrelsy, the yule -log was drawn from its resting place, lighted in the great hall fireplace -with some of the charred fragments of the last Christmas log, and -consumed as a token of hospitality and good cheer. Herrick thus -describes the -<span class="nowrap">ceremony:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come, bring with a noise, my merry, merry boys,</span> -<span class="spp01">The Christmas log to the firing,</span> -<span class="spp00">While my good Dame she—bids ye all be free,</span> -<span class="spp01">And drink to your heart’s desiring.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With the last year’s brand—light the new block, and</span> -<span class="spp01">For good success in his spending,</span> -<span class="spp00">On your psaltries play—that sweet luck may</span> -<span class="spp01">Come while the log is teending.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn60" id="fnanc60">60</a></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Drink now the strong beare, cut the white loafe here,</span> -<span class="spp01">The while the meat is a-shredding,</span> -<span class="spp00">For the rare mince-pie, and the plums stand by,</span> -<span class="spp01">To fill the paste that’s a-kneeding.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc60" id="fn60">60</a> -Blazing.</p></div> - -<p>As an accompaniment to the yule log, an immense candle, called the -Yule Candle, shed its light upon the scene of merriment, and neighbours -all began</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To quaff brown Ale foam’d high from tall stone jugs</span> -<span class="spp00">And pledge deep healths in oft-replenished mugs.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The custom of wassailing the fruit trees has been already mentioned. -In some counties the practice extends to the field and pastures, and -a song is still sung on Christmas Eve in Hampshire, of which the chorus -<span class="nowrap">is:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Apples and pears with right good corn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come in plenty to every one,</span> -<span class="spp00">Eat and drink good cake and hot ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Give Earth to drink and she’ll not fail.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p261">{261}</span></div> - -<p>The time-honoured amusement appropriate to Christmas Eve was -provided by the Mummers and the Lord of Misrule.</p> - -<p>The Mummers (or Maskers, as the name imports) were to be found -in every village. They dressed themselves to represent various -characters, and the chief pageant exhibited by them was a version of -the national legend of St. George and the Dragon. The principal -characters of course were the gallant Knight, and as close a copy of -the Dragon as the wit and ingenuity of the village could contrive; -then there was Old Father Christmas, the Turk, the Maiden, and a -Doctor with a huge box of pills ready to execute any repairs rendered -necessary by the internecine fury of the Knight, the Turk, and the -Dragon. The performance varied a good deal according to the fancy -of the performers, but in all places there seems to have been a set form -of recitation in verse describing the various antics of the players. -The Lord of Misrule, or Master of Merry Disports, was elected as -Master of the Ceremonies, and his term of office extended from All-hallow -Eve to Candlemas Day. He directed the revels, exercised full -power and authority over high and low in the ordering of the festivities, -and played the wit and fool with what skill nature had endowed -him.</p> - -<p>And so in mirth and jollity the evening rolls away, and Christmas -Day appears. Sir Roger de Coverley says, or at any rate the <i>Spectator</i> -reports that he said: “I have often thought it happens very well that -Christmas should fall out in the middle of winter. It is the most dead, -uncomfortable time of the year, when the poor people would suffer very -much from their poverty and cold, if they had not good cheer, warm -fires, and Christmas gambols to support them. I love to rejoice their -poor hearts at this season, and to see the whole village merry in my -great hall. I allow a double quantity of malt to my small beer, and set -it a-running for twelve days for everyone that calls for it.”</p> - -<p>From <i>Round about our Coal Fire</i> it may be gathered that “an -English Gentleman at the opening of the great day (<i>i.e.</i>, on Christmas -day in the morning) had all his tenants and neighbours enter his hall -by daybreak. The strong beer was broached, and the black jack went -merrily about with toast, nutmeg, and good Cheshire Cheese.”</p> - -<p>It may not be generally known that the <i>Old English -Gentleman</i> is but a version of a very similar song -published in 1600, in a book entitled <i>Le Prince d’Amour</i>. -The earlier song contains the following verse relating to -our subject:— <span class="xxpn" id="p262">{262}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With an old fashion when Christmas was come</span> -<span class="spp00">To call in all his neighbours with a bagpipe or drum.</span> -<span class="spp00">And good cheer enough to furnish out every old rome,</span> -<span class="spp00">And beer and ale would make a cat speak and a wise man dumb</span> -<span class="spp06">Like an old Courtier of Queens,</span> -<span class="spp06">And the Queen’s old Courtier.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>On Christmas Day, and indeed during all the Christmas holidays, -the tables were spread from morn till eve; sirloins of beef, mince pies -and foaming ale formed the chief ingredients of the feast. In many -places, in the houses of the great, the ceremonious custom was observed -of bringing in the boar’s head on a dish of costly plate, the whole -company following in procession, chanting the well-known lines -<span class="nowrap">beginning:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Caput apri defero,</span> -<span class="spp00">Reddens laudes Domino.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The custom still observed at Queen’s College, Oxford, of bringing in -the boar’s head at Christmas is said to have arisen from the adventure -of a student of that house in far-off legendary days, who, according -to the wont of students in those distant times, was walking abroad -studying his Aristotle, when a wild boar, who happened to be in the -neighbourhood, whether annoyed at having his lair disturbed, or out of -mere malice, charged down upon him with open mouth. However, the -student’s presence of mind did not desert him; with a loud cry of -“Græcum est” he thrust the volume down the throat of the monster, -who, choked by the tough morsel, then and there expired.</p> - -<p>Turning from the tables of the great to the cottage of the humble, -we find a description of the effect of Old Father Christmas’s approach -upon the labourer’s home in Bampfylde’s <i>Sonnet on</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Christmas</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With footstep slow, in furry pall yclad,</span> -<span class="spp00">His brows enreathed with holly never sere,</span> -<span class="spp00">Old Christmas comes, to close the waned year,</span> -<span class="spp00">And aye the shepherd’s heart to make right glad,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who, when his teeming flocks are homeward had,</span> -<span class="spp00">To blazing hearth repairs, and nut-brown beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And views well pleased the ruddy prattlers dear</span> -<span class="spp00">Hug the grey mongrel; meanwhile maid and lad</span> -<span class="spp00">Squabble for roasted crabs—Thee, Sire, we hail, <span class="xxpn" id="p263">{263}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Whether thine aged limbs thou dost enshroud,</span> -<span class="spp00">In vest of snowy white, and hoary veil,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or wrap’st thy visage in a sable cloud:</span> -<span class="spp00">Thee we proclaim with mirth and cheer, nor fail</span> -<span class="spp00">To greet thee well with many a carol loud.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>It is the practice in many parts of Cumberland at Christmas to roast -apples before the fire on a string, and hold under them a bowl of spiced -or mulled ale. The apples roast on until they drop into the ale.</p> - -<p>Many an ancient Christmas carol tells of the joviality which at that -time reigned supreme. The following example is taken from a collection -of rare old songs and -<span class="nowrap">carols:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mye boyes come here</span> -<span class="spp00">Theres capital cheere</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis Christmas tyme, let myrthe goe rounde</span> -<span class="spp00">With a flaggon of ale, by tyme well brown’d.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Drink boyes drinke</span> -<span class="spp00">And never thinke</span> -<span class="spp00">Of crustie old tyme, his scythe and his glasse,</span> -<span class="spp00">He cannot, nor dare not, this waye passe.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Drinke and be wise</span> -<span class="spp00">Till red Phœbus arise</span> -<span class="spp00">And banish colde care from the good waning year:</span> -<span class="spp00">The Old year he shall dye, mid plenty of cheere.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My boyes, come passe</span> -<span class="spp00">Your empty glasse,</span> -<span class="spp00">And fill them with Ale, as the world is of strife</span> -<span class="spp00">And toaste to the widow, the maide and the wife.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come drink success</span> -<span class="spp00">You cannot do less,</span> -<span class="spp00">To the new coming yere, may it be loaded with funne</span> -<span class="spp00">And ne’er bring us worse than the old one has done.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p264">{264}</span></div> - -<p>Another verse from a good old song specially celebrates our - -<span class="nowrap">theme―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">Come, help us to raise</span> -<span class="spp02">Loud songs to the praise</span> -<span class="spp02">Of good old England pleasures:</span> -<span class="spp00">To the Christmas cheer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the foaming Beer.</span> -<span class="spp00">And the buttery’s solid treasures.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Many pages might be compiled of these old English carols, all in -praise of the same theme, the roast beef and good ale of Old England; -but one more quotation must suffice. It is from <i>Poor Robin’s Almanack</i> -<span class="nowrap">(1695):―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now, thrice welscome, Christmas!</span> -<span class="spp01">Which brings us good cheer;</span> -<span class="spp00">Mince pies and <span class="nowrap">plum-pudding—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">Strong Ale and strong Beer;</span> -<span class="spp00">But as for curmudgeons</span> -<span class="spp01">Who will not be free,</span> -<span class="spp00">I wish they may die</span> -<span class="spp01">On a two-legged tree.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>And so the cycle of the waning year is nearly completed. Midst -sounds of revelry and mirth the old year is dying, and dying hard, and -New Year’s Eve comes round again. The principal customs of New -Year’s Eve have been already described, being inextricably blended with -those appropriate to New Year’s Day.</p> - -<p>One scene more; a custom of very ancient origin and still observed. -An ivy-mantled tower, from which to-night, at all events, the moping -owl has been driven, for within are lights and the sounds of busy -preparation. Those who are about to perform the last offices for the -dying year are here assembled, and a great brown bowl of foaming ale -passes from hand to hand. The old church clock, not bating one jot -of his accustomed space from stroke to stroke, for all the impatience of -listeners in many a house and cottage near, but deliberately, and with a -solemnity befitting the occasion, tolls out the hour of midnight. A -moment’s pause; but ere the last echo of its brazen tongue has died upon -the ear, a merry peal of clashing music bursts from the ancient pile, -carrying over hill and dale, over flood and field, on the -rapid wings of <span class="xxpn" id="p265">{265}</span> -sound, the tidings that the old year is dead and the new year reigns in -his place.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>As we gaze back on these old scenes of fun and frolic, their rougher -outlines perchance softened by distance, their true-heartiness and -geniality shining through the golden mist of time, which of us will -be found to deny that in some respects the old was better?</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Happy the age and harmless were the days,</span> -<span class="spp01">For then true love and amity were found,</span> -<span class="spp00">When every village did a May-pole raise,</span> -<span class="spp01">And Whitsun ales and May-games did abound.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p265.png" width="144" height="55" alt="" /></div> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p266a.png" width="144" height="42" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p266"><span - class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> X.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>And - then satten some and songe - at the Ale.”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>The Vision of Piers - Ploughman.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"><div class="dnowrap34"> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Be mine each morn with eager appetite</span> -<span class="spp00">And hunger undissembled to repair</span> -<span class="spp00">To friendly buttery; there on smoking crust</span> -<span class="spp00">And foaming Ale to banquet unrestrained;</span> -<span class="spp00">Material breakfast! Thus in ancient days</span> -<span class="spp00">Our ancestors robust with liberal cups</span> -<span class="spp00">Usher’d the morn, unlike the squeamish sons</span> -<span class="spp00">Of modern times.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Panegyric on Oxford Ale.</i></span></div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>THE ALES. — ALE AT -BREAKFAST. — BEQUESTS OF ALE. — DRINKING CUSTOMS. — A -SERMON ON MALT. — EXCESSES OF THE CLERGY. — ANECDOTES.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" -src="images/p266b.png" width="226" height="228" alt="S" -/></span>O far we have only considered those merry-makings -which were peculiar to certain seasons of the year. It need -hardly be said that there were also a number of festivals -in which ale figured as the chief beverage, in no way -related to any particular day, and these, together with a -variety of curious customs connected with ale and beer, -will be now treated of.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Prominent among the many convivial meetings indulged in by our -ancestors were the <i>Ales</i>, at which, as their name indicates, malt liquor -was largely consumed. Such a feast is referred to in Chaucer:</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">“And make him grete feestes atte <i>nale</i>.”</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>And in <i>Two Gentlemen of Verona</i>, Launce says to Speed, “Thou -hast not so much charity in thee as to go to the <i>Ale</i> with a Christian.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Ben Jonson also mentions Wakes and Ales in his <i>Tale of a -Tub</i>:— <span class="xxpn" id="p267">{267}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And all the neighbourhood from old records</span> -<span class="spp00">Of antique proverbs, drawn from Whitson-lords,</span> -<span class="spp00">And their authorities at Wakes and Ales,</span> -<span class="spp00">With country precedents and old wives’ tales,</span> -<span class="spp00">We bring you now to show what different things</span> -<span class="spp00">The cotes of clowns are from the courts of kings.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Of Ales there were several kinds—Church-Ales, Bride-Ales, Scot-Ales -and many others. The Church-Ales, of which the Easter-Ales and -Whitsun-Ales and Wakes were varieties, must be considered the most -important of this class of festival. The grotesque carvings on many -old churches have been considered by some to represent the humours -of these curious gatherings. Their origin is no doubt to be traced to -the Agapæ, or Love Feasts of the early Christian Church. Stubbe, in his -<i>Anatomie of Abuses</i> (1585), gives the following account of the manner -and intent of these Ales: “In certain townes where dronken Bacchus -beares swaie, against Christmas and Easter, Whitsondaie, or some other -tyme, the churchwardens of every Parishe provide half a score or -twentie quarters of mault, whereof some they buy of the churche-stocke -and some is given them of the Parishioners themselves, everye one -conferring somewhat, according to his abilitie; whiche maulte being made -into very strong beere or ale, is sette to sale, either in the church or -some other place assigned to that purpose. Then when this is set abroche, -well is he that can gete the soonest to it, and spend the most at it. In -this kinde of practise they continue sixe weekes, a quarter of a yeare, -yea, halfe a year together. That money, they say, is to repaire their -churches and chappels with, to buye bookes for service, cuppes for the -celebration of the Sacrament, surplesses for Sir John, and other -necessaries. And they maintain extraordinarie charges in their Parish -besides.”</p> - -<p>The account contains some obvious exaggerations. Stubbe was one -of those of whom the Earl of Dorset might have said as he said of -Prynne,—“My Lords, when God made all His works, He looked upon -them and saw that they were good; this gentleman, the devil having -put spectacles on his nose, says that all is bad.” It will not do for -Macaulay’s New Zealander in looking through the files of old newspapers, -discovered in the ruins of the British Museum, to accept every -statement of the modern teetotal platform as representing an actual fact.</p> - -<p>Carew gives an account of the matter which probably represents the -actual state of the case:—“Touching Church-Ales: -these be mine <span class="xxpn" id="p268">{268}</span> -assertions, if not my proofs:—Of things induced by our forefathers, -some were instituted to a good use, and perverted to a bad; again, some -were both naught in the invention and so continued in the practice. -Now that Church Ales ought to be sorted in the better rank of these -twaine, may be gathered from their causes and effects, which I thus -raffe up together:—entertaining of Christian love; conforming of men’s -behaviour to a civil conversation; compounding of controversies; appeasing -of quarrels; raising a store, which might be converted partlie -to good and goodlie uses, as relieving all sorts of poor people; repairing -of bridges, amending of highways, and partlie for the Prince’s service, -by defraying, at an instant, such rates and taxes as the magistrate -imposeth for the countrie’s defence. Briefly, they do tend to an -instructing of the mind by amiable conference, and an enabling of -the bodie by commendable exercise.”</p> - -<p>The curious old Indenture of pre-Reformation times given below, is -an agreement between the inhabitants of the parishes of Elvarton, -Thurlaston, and Ambaston of the one part, and the good folk of -Okebrook of the other part, by John, Abbot of the Dale, Ralph -Saucheverell, Esqre., John Bradshaw, and Henry Tithell. It provides -that—“the inhabitants, as well of the said Parish of Elvarton, as of the -town of Okebrook, shall brew four Ales, and every ale of one quarter -of malt, and at their own costs and charges, betwixt this and the feast -of St. John Baptist next coming. And that every inhabitant of the -said town of Okebrook shall be at the several Ales; and every husband -and his wife shall pay two pence, every cottager one penny; and all -the inhabitants of Elvarton, Thurlaston and Ambaston shall have and -receive all the profits and advantages coming of the said Ales to the use -and behoof of the said Church of Elvarton; and that the inhabitants -of the said towns of Elvarton, Thurlaston, and Ambaston, shall brew -eight Ales betwixt this and the feast of St. John the Baptist; at the -which Ales, and every one of them, the inhabitants of Okebrook shall -come and pay as before rehearsed: and if he be away at one Ale, to pay -at t’oder Ale for both, or else to send his money. And the inhabitants of -Okebrook shall carry all manner of Tymber being in the Dale wood -now felled, that the said Prestchyrch of the said towns of Elvarton, -Thurlaston, and Ambaston shall occupye to the use and profit of the -said Church.” Shakspere mentions these festivals in <i>Pericles</i>:</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">It hath been sung at festivals,</span> -<span class="spp00">On ember eves and holy ales;</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p269">{269}</span></div> -<p class="pcontinue">and -an old writer (1544) speaks of “keapinge of Church-Ales, in the -whiche with leapynge, dansynge and kyssynge they maynteyne the -profett of their Church.”</p> - -<p>The Church-Ale was usually celebrated in a house known as the -Church House, which was either hired for the festival, or was a house -to which the parishioners had a right to resort upon occasions of this -character. By an old lease, mentioned in Worsley’s <i>History of the Isle -of Wight</i>, a house, called the Church House held by the inhabitants of -Whitwell, parishioners of Gatcombe, of the Lord of the Manor, was -demised by them to John Brode on condition “that, if the Quarter shall -need at any time to make a <i>Quarter-Ale</i> or <i>Church-Ale</i>, for the -maintenance of the Chapel, it shall be lawful for them to have the use -of the s<sup>d</sup> house, with all the rooms, both above and beneath, during -their Ale.”</p> - -<p>Considerable sums were raised by these means. The parish books -of Kingston-upon-Thames show that in the year 1526 the proceeds of -the Church-Ale amounted to £7 15s., and an ancient church book of -Great Marlow contains the entry in the year 1592, “Received of the -torchmen, for the profytte of the Whitsun Ale £5.”</p> - -<p>No doubt some amount of abuse and excess occurred upon these -occasions. Many writers of the sixteenth century stigmatise the Church-Ales -and Wakes as the sources of “gluttonie and drunkenness,” and -other evils; and Harrison, writing in 1587, states as of a subject for congratulation, -that “The superfluous numbers of idle wakes, church-ales, -helpe-ales, and soule-ales, called also dirge ales, with the heathenish -rioting at bride-ales, are well diminished.” Some, however, were found -to uphold them. Pierce, Bishop of Bath and Wells, writes in answer -to an inquiry of Archbishop Laud, that “Church-Ales were when the -people went from afternoon prayers on Sundays to their lawful sports -and pastimes in the churchyard, or in the neighbourhood, or in some -public-house, where they drank and made merry. By the benevolence -of the people at these pastimes, many poor parishes have cast their bells -and beautified their churches, and raised stock for the poor.”</p> - -<p>The Puritan movement was, of course, strongly opposed to all these -festivals, and the influence of these “unco’ righteous” folk in the year -1631, procured an order from Judge Richardson, putting an end to all -such gatherings in the county of Somerset, whereupon, on report being -made to the King, an order was made annulling the decree of the Judge, -and seventy-two of the most orthodox and able of the clergy of the -county certified that “on these days (which generally fell -on a Sunday) <span class="xxpn" id="p270">{270}</span> -the service of God was more solemnly performed, and the services better -attended than on other days.”</p> - -<p>A previous attempt by the Justices of the Peace to suppress these -gatherings seems to have been equally unsuccessful. In 1596, John and -Alexander Popham, George Sydenham, and seven other Justices of -Bridgewater, ordered that no Church-Ale, Clerk’s-Ale, or tippling should -be suffered; but the decree seems to have been disregarded. A custom -somewhat similar to the Church-Ale was that of “drinking ale at the -Church stile.” Ale and in some cases food as well, were consumed on -certain occasions on the parish account. Pepys, under date April 14, -1661, mentions that “After dinner we all went to the Church stile (at -Walthamstow) and there eat and drank;” and a writer in the <i>Gentleman’s -Magazine</i> (November, 1852) states that in an old book of parish -accounts belonging to Warrington the entry occurs: “Nov. 5, 1688. -Paid for drink at the Church steele, 13s.”</p> - -<p>Clerk-Ales, or lesser Church-Ales, were held for the maintenance of -the parish clerk. Bishop Pierce, from whom we have before quoted, -says of them that “in poor country parishes, where the wages of the -clerk were but small, the people thinking it unfit that the clerk should -duly attend at the church, and not gain by his office, sent him in -provision, and then came on Sundays and feasted with him; by which -means he <i>sold more Ale</i>, and tasted more of the liberality of the people, -than their quarterly payments would have amounted to in many years; -and since these have been put down, many ministers have complained -to me (says his Lordship) that they were afraid they should have no -parish clerks.”</p> - -<p>There is a tradition well known in the Vale of the Warwickshire -Avon, which connects the name of Shakspere with the Whitsun-Ale. -It is related that the ale of Bidford was in Shakspere’s day famed for its -potency, and that on the occasion of a Whitsun-Ale held at that place, -young Shakspere and some of his friends attended it, having accepted -a challenge of the Bidford men to try their powers as ale-drinkers. The -Bidfordians proved the better men, and the others endeavoured to -return to Stratford. They had not gone far, however, when, overcome -by the fumes of the ale, they were forced to rest under a crab-tree about -a mile out of Bidford. Here sleep overcame them, and their nap lasted -from Saturday night till Monday morning, when they were aroused by -a labourer who was on his way to his work. Shakspere’s companions -urged him to return and renew the contest, but he refused. “I have -had enough” he said; “I have drunk with <span class="xxpn" id="p271">{271}</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Piping - Pebworth, dancing Marston,</span> -<span class="spp00">Haunted Hillbro’, hungry Grafton,</span> -<span class="spp00">Dudging Exhall, papist Wixford,</span> -<span class="spp00">Beggarly Broom, and drunken Bidford.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">These -villages are all visible from the spot where the Bard’s long sleep -is related to have taken place, and it is said retained their characteristics -until very recently. The Crab, long known as “Shakspere’s Crab,” was -cut down some time in the early part of this century by the Lady of -the Manor, who is said to have given the somewhat Irish reason for -this act of Vandalism, that the tree was gradually being demolished by -curiosity hunters. A new crab has recently been planted upon the spot, -and will, it is to be hoped, hand down to future generations the memory -of the Poet’s youthful escapade.</p> - -<p>The term Christian-Ale was in all probability used to denote some -kind of Church or Whitsun Ale. The expression is to be found in a -curious old pamphlet entitled “The Virgins’ Complaint for the loss of -their sweethearts in the present wars . . . presented to the House -of Commons in the names and behalfes of all Damsels both of Country -and City, Jan. 29, 1642, by sundry Virgins of the City of London,” in -which occurs this passage: “Since the departure of the lusty young -gentlemen, and courtiers, and cavaliers, and the ablest prentices and -handsome journeymen, with whom we had used to walk to Islington -and Pimlico to eat Cakes and drink Christian-Ale on holy daies.”</p> - -<p>Somewhat akin to Church-Ales were the guild-feasts held by the old -fraternities. The records of the ancient guild at Lynn Regis, in -Norfolk (Rye’s <i>Hist. of Norfolk</i>), show that in the time of Richard II. -the annual election of officers of the fraternity was followed by “a -guild-feast,” in which great quantities of ale were consumed. An alderman’s -allowance of ale, “while it lasteth,” was two gallons, a steward had one -gallon, and the dean and clerk a pottle each. The feast was apparently -prolonged night after night, till all the ale brewed for the occasion was -expended, and those brethren who from any urgent cause were absent, -had a gallon of ale reserved for them. Before the carouse commenced, -the guild-light was lit, and the clerk read prayers. Anybody who -“jangled” during prayer-time, or who fell asleep over his ale afterwards, -was liable to a fine.</p> - -<p>A curious old custom of a similar nature to the Whitsun-Ale is -recorded in Curll’s <i>Miscellanies</i>. It was observed at Newnton, in -Wiltshire, and was intended to preserve the memory of -a donation from <span class="xxpn" id="p272">{272}</span> -King Athelstan of a common, and a house for the hayward (the hay -keeper). “Upon every Trinity Sunday, the parishioners being come to -the door of the hayward’s house, the door was struck thrice, in honour -of the Holy Trinity; they then entered. The bell was rung; after -which, silence being ordered, they read their prayers aforesaid. Then -was a ghirland of flowers made upon a hoop, brought forth by a maid -of the town upon her neck; and a young man (a bachelor) of another -parish, first saluted her three times in honour of the Trinity, in respect -of God the Father. Then she put the ghirland upon his neck and -kissed him three times in honour of the Trinity, particularly God the -Son. Then he put the ghirland on her neck again, and kissed her three -times, in respect of the Holy Trinity, particularly the Holy Ghost. -Then he took the ghirland from her neck, and, by the custom, gave her -a penny at least. The method of giving this ghirland was from house -to house annually, till it came round. In the evening every commoner -sent his supper up to this house, which was called the Eale-house; and -having before laid in there equally a stock of malt which was brewed in -the house, they supped together; and what was left was given to the -poor.”</p> - -<p>Thoroton, in his <i>Nottinghamshire</i>, gives an account of a shepherd -who kept ale to sell <i>in</i> the Church of Thorpe. He was the sole -inhabitant of a village depopulated by inclosure. Besides the <i>Ales</i> -already mentioned, there were Bid-Ales, Bride-Ales, Give-Ales, Cuckoo-Ales, -Help-Ales, Tithe-Ales, Leet-Ales, Lamb-Ales, Midsummer-Ales, -Scot-Ales, and Weddyn-Ales. Some of these are sufficiently explained by -their names. Bid-Ales, or Bede-Ales, and Scot-Ales have been mentioned -in Chapter V. Bride-Ale, also called Bride-bush, Bride-wain and Bride-stake, -was the custom of the bride selling ale on the wedding-day, for -which she received by way of contribution any sum or present which her -friends chose to give her. In the <i>Christen State of Matrimony</i> (1545) -we read: “When they come home from the church, then beginneth -excesse of eatyng and drynking, and as much is waisted in one daye as -were sufficient for the two newe-married folkes halfe a yeare to lyve -upon.” Modern wedding breakfasts and the presents given to the -happy pair are, doubtless, descendants of this old custom. In Norway -at the present day, a peasant’s wedding is celebrated with much the -same ceremony as the old English Bride-Ale. Ale is handed round to -the guests, and they are each expected to contribute, according to their -ability, to form a purse to assist the bride in commencing housekeeping.</p> - -<p>Regulations were made in some places to -restrain the excesses <span class="xxpn" id="p273">{273}</span> -attending on the keeping of Bride-Ales. In the Court Rolls of Hales -Owen is an entry:—“A payne ye made that no person or persons that -shall brewe any weddyn ale to sell, shall not brewe aboue twelve stryke -of mault at the most, and that the said persons so marryed shall not -keep nor have above eyght messe of persons at hys dinner within the -burrowe, and before hys brydall daye he shall keep no unlawful games -in hys house, nor out of hys house on payne of 20s.”</p> - -<p>The old custom of Cuckoo-Ale appears to have been only of local -observance. In Shropshire the advent of the first cuckoo was celebrated -by general feasting amongst the working classes; as soon as his first -note was heard, even if early in the day, the men would leave their -work and spend the rest of the day in mirth and jollity.</p> - -<p>The Tithe-Ale was a repast of bread, cheese and ale, provided by the -recipient of the tithe and enjoyed by the tithe-payers. At Cumnor, in -Berkshire, a curious custom of this kind still obtains. On Christmas -Day, after evening service, the parishioners who are liable to pay tithe, -repair in a body to the vicarage and are there entertained on bread and -cheese and ale. This is not by any means considered in the light of a -benefaction on the part of the vicar, but is demanded as a right by the -tithe-payers, and even the quantity of the good things which the vicar -is to give is strictly specified. He must brew four bushels of malt in -ale and small beer, he must provide two bushels of wheat for bread -making, and half a hundred-weight of cheese; and whatever remains -unconsumed is given to the poor. Leet-Ales, in some parts of England, -denoted the dinner given at the Court Leet of a Manor to the jury -and customary tenants. Another somewhat similar custom was known -by the name of Drink-lean, and was a festive day kept by the tenants -and vassals of the Lord of the Manor, or, as some say, a potation of ale -provided by the tenants for the entertainment of the Lord or his -steward. The origin of the term is not known; it probably has no -connection with the effect which a lover of old ale said that beverage -had upon him. “I always find it makes me lean,” said he. “Lean!” -cries his friend, in amazement; “why, I always thought ale made folks -fat.” “That may be,” was the reply, “but it makes me lean, for all -that—against a lamp-post.”</p> - -<p>Another variety of the Ale was called Mary-Ale, and was a feast held -in honour of the Virgin Mary. Foot-Ales seem to have meant not so -much feasts as sums of money paid to purchase ale on a man’s entering -a new situation. We still talk of a man “paying his footing.”</p> - -<p>A short consideration may now be devoted to the use of -ale in former <span class="xxpn" id="p274">{274}</span> -times in the household. It is easy to picture to oneself the English -squire or yeoman of old times, an article of whose creed it was that</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Old - England’s cheer is beef and beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">Soup-meagre is Gallia’s boast,”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">as -he sat in his hard, uncompromising chair before the fire on a winter’s -evening, with perhaps a few of his cronies gathered round him, quaffing -their bright March beer or mellow old October as they talked and -ruminated in turns on the crops, the market or the hunt. It is not, -however, so easy for the degenerate sons of modern days to realise the -mighty draughts of ale taken at breakfast, soon after daylight. Yet, -before the introduction of tea and coffee, ale was the morning drink in -the palace of the king as in the cottage of the labourer. In 1512 the breakfast -of the Earl and Countess of Northumberland on a fast-day in Lent -was “a loaf of bread, two manchetts (<i>i.e.</i>, rolls of fine wheat), a quart of -beer, a quart of wine, two pieces of salt fish, six bawned herrings, four -white herrings, or a dish of sprats.” On flesh days “half a chyne of -mutton or a chyne of boiled beef” was substituted for the fish. In the -same household, the boys, “my lord Percy and Mr. Thomas Percy,” -were allowed “half a loaf of household bread, a manchett, a pottle (2 -quarts) of beer and three mutton bones boiled.” “My lady’s gentlewoman” -seems to have been a rather thirsty soul; she was allowed for -breakfast “a loaf of bread, a pottle of beer and three mutton bones -boiled.” Even the two children in the nursery were brought up on this -diet of beer; their breakfast consisted of “a manchett, a quart of beer, -a dish of butter, a piece of salt fish and a dish of sprats.” The <i>liveries</i>, -or evening meal, produced even a greater supply of malt liquor. My -Lord and Lady then had “two manchetts, a loaf of bread, a <i>gallon</i> of -beer and a quart of wine.”</p> - -<p>The allowance of food and drink made from the Court to Maids of -Honour and other attendants, was called the <i>bouche of Court</i>, a name -corrupted into the <i>bouge of Court</i>, and “to have bouge of Court” signified -to have meat and drink free. In the Ordinances, of Eltham, 17 -Henry VIII., Maids of Honour of the Queen are each allowed for -breakfast “one chet lofe, one manchet, <i>two gallons of ale</i>, dim’ pitcher of -wine.” Lady Lucy, one of the Maids of Honour in the same reign, -was allowed for breakfast—a chine of beef, a loaf, and a gallon of ale; -for dinner—a piece of boiled beef, a slice of roast meat and a gallon of -ale; and for supper—porridge, mutton, a loaf and a -gallon of ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p275">{275}</span></p> - -<p>Queen Elizabeth’s breakfast seems frequently to have consisted of -little else but ale and bread. In the household accounts for the year -1576, are to be found certain items of her diet. One morning it is -“Cheate and mancheate 6d., ale and beare 3½d., wine 1 pint. 7d:” -another day it is bread as before, “ale and beare 10½d., wine, 7d;” and -considering the prices of the times, the amount of ale represented by -these figures must have been very considerable. Even well into last -century ale was a common drink for breakfast among those who affected -the manners of the old school. Applebie’s Journal, under date September -11th, 1731, makes mention of “an old gentleman near ninety, who -has a florid and vigorous constitution, and tells us the difference between -the manners of the present age, and that in which he spent his youth. -With regard to <i>eating</i> in his time, <i>Breakfast</i> consisted of good hams, -cold sirloin, and good beer, succeeded with wholesome exercise, which -sent them home hungry and ready for dinner.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>In an old song, <i>Advice to Bachelors; or, the Married Man’s Lamentations</i>, -occurs this -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">If I but for my breakfast ask</span> -<span class="spp01">then doth she laugh and jeer;</span> -<span class="spp00">Perhaps give me a hard dry crust</span> -<span class="spp01">and strong four shilling beer;</span> -<span class="spp00">She tells me that is good enough</span> -<span class="spp01">for such a rogue as me;</span> -<span class="spp00">And if I do but seem to pout</span> -<span class="spp01">then hey, boys, flap goes she.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Between breakfast and dinner there was generally a “nunchion”<a class="afnanc" href="#fn61" id="fnanc61">61</a> -(noon draught), a word curious from its having been confounded with -lunch, which signifies a large piece or hunch of bread. When uneducated -people speak of their “nunchions,” they are unconsciously using a -more correct form of word than more refined persons when they speak of -“luncheon.” On any occasion when a drink between meals was needed, -it was called a “russin,” as in the lines of the old poem, <i>The Land of -Cockaigne</i> (thirteenth -<span class="nowrap">century):―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In Cockaigne is met and drink,</span> -<span class="spp00">Without care, how, or swink,</span> -<span class="spp00">The met is trie (choice), the drink is clere,</span> -<span class="spp00">To none, <i>russin</i> and sopper. <span class="xxpn" id="p276">{276}</span></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">An -evening draught in the religious houses was called a “potatio.” -When the afternoon reading was finished, the monks proceeded “<i>ad -potationem</i>” (<i>i.e.</i>, to take their evening draught of ale).</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc61" id="fn61">61</a> -From <i>noon</i>, and <i>schenchen</i>, to pour out.</p></div> - -<p>Ale, generous ale, was the beverage with which all meals alike were -washed down; and ale and beer were in old times considered as having -a peculiar suitability to the stomach of an Englishman. A letter from -John Stile to Henry VIII. (1512) on the condition of the army in -France bears witness to this common notion. “And hyt plese your -grace,” he writes, “the greteyst lacke of vytuals, that ys here ys of bere, -for your subjectys had lyver for to drynk bere than wyne or sydere, for -the hote wynys dothe burne theym, and the syder dothe caste theym -yn dysese and sekenysys.”</p> - -<p>The custom of women resorting to ale-houses and taking provisions -with them wherewith to make a common feast, seems to have been an -early form of the modern picnic. In one of the Chester Miracle Plays -Noah is represented as being greatly annoyed at finding his wife eating -and drinking with her gossips in an ale-house when it is time to be -getting into the Ark. Several women meet together, and one of them -proposes to the others an <i>al fresco</i> entertainment of this character.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The ale is recommended in these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I know a draught of merry-go-downe,</span> -<span class="spp00">The best it is in all thys towne,</span> -<span class="spp00">But yet wold I not for my gowne,</span> -<span class="spp00">My husband it wyst, ye may me trust.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>One of the women says, “God might send me a strype or two, if -my husband should see me here.” “Nay,” said Alice, “she that is -afraid had better go home; I fear no man.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And ich off them will sumwhat bryng,</span> -<span class="spp00">Gosse, pygge, or capon’s wing,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pastes off pigeons, or sum other thyng.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ech of them brought forth their dysch,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sum brought flesh and sum fysh.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Nor was the “mery-go-downe” forgotten. On going home these -revellers represent to their husbands that they have been <i>to church</i>.</p> - -<p>It may be gathered from Dean Swift’s satirical advice to servants that -ale and beer in his day formed the principal dinner beverages in polite -society. In his directions to the butler, he tells him, -“If any one <span class="xxpn" id="p277">{277}</span> -desires a glass of bottled ale, first shake the bottle, to see if anything be -in it; then taste it, to see what liquor it is, that you may not be mistaken; -and, lastly, wipe the mouth of the bottle with the palm of your -hand, to show your cleanliness.</p> - -<p>“If any one calls for small beer towards the end of the dinner, do not -give yourself the trouble of going down to the cellar, but gather the -droppings and leavings out of the several cups and glasses and salvers -into one; but turn your back to the company, for fear of being -observed. On the contrary, when any one calls for ale towards the end -of dinner, fill the largest tankard cup topful, by which you will have -the greatest part left to oblige your fellow-servants without the sin of -stealing from your master.”</p> - -<p>In the seventeenth century there lived an interesting person named -John Bigg, better known as the Dinton Hermit, who subsisted chiefly -on bread and ale supplied him by his friends. He only begged one -thing—leather—with which he patched his shoes in innumerable places. -A portrait of him is to be seen in Lipscombe’s <i>History of Buckinghamshire</i>. -Two leather bottles hang at his girdle, the one for ale, the other -for small beer.</p> - -<p>Many records are in existence illustrative of the custom of distributing -ale for charitable purposes. The following instances are -selected from a collection of <i>Old English Customs and various Bequests -and Charities</i>.</p> - -<p>“At Piddle Hinton, Dorsetshire. An ancient custom is for the Rector -to give away, on Old Christmas Day, annually, a pound of bread, a pint -of ale, and a mince pie to every poor person in the parish. This distribution -is regularly made by the Rector to upwards of 300 persons.”</p> - -<p>“At Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambridgeshire. Before the enclosure, the -tenant of the Abbey Farm in this parish, during those years in which -the open field land was under tillage, used to give a slice of cake and a -glass of ale to all parishioners who applied for it.”</p> - -<p>“At Giggleswick, Yorkshire. By the will of William Clapham (1603) -4s. 4d. was left towards a potation for the poor scholars of the Freeschool -there on St. George’s Day; and the custom was formerly to give figs, -bread, and ale.”</p> - -<p>“At Edgcott, Buckinghamshire. Robert Marcham, Esq., pays the -overseers £3 a year, a rent charge upon an acre of land.” This was -formerly distributed to the tenants in the shape of two cakes each, and -as much beer as they could drink at the time.</p> - -<p>“At St. Giles’, Norwich. By the will of John -Ballestin, 1584, the <span class="xxpn" id="p278">{278}</span> -rent from three tenements was to be distributed to the poor in the -following manner: viz., that in the week before Christmas, the week -before Michaelmas, and the week after Easter, in the Church of St. -Giles, the Minister should request the poor people, all that should -receive or have need of alms, to come to Church, and pray for the -preservation of the Prince, &c.; that the poor should place themselves -four and four together, all that should be above the age of eleven years, -and that every four of them should have set before them a twopenny -wheat loaf, a gallon of best beer, and four pounds of beef and broth.”</p> - -<p>“At Prince’s Risborough, Buckinghamshire. Up to 1813, a Bull and -a boar, a sack of Wheat, and a sack of Malt were given away to the -poor by the Lord of the Manor, every Christmas morning about six -o’clock.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>In many houses small beer was always kept to dispense in charity, -Ben Jonson, in <i>The Alchemist</i>, describes a mean, stingy person -<span class="nowrap">as―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp09">. . one who could keep</span> -<span class="spp00">The buttery-hatch still locked, - and save the chippings,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sell the <i>dole</i> beer to aqua vitæ men.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Visitors at Leicester’s Hospital, Warwick, may have noticed a huge -copper beer-tankard reposing on a shelf. This great cup holds six -quarts, and is filled with strong ale thrice a year on <i>gaudy</i> days, and -passed round among the old brethren, pensioners of the house.</p> - -<p>In the fourteenth century there was a custom for one of the fishermen -engaged upon the river Thames to present a salmon to the Abbot -of Westminster once a year. The fisherman who bore the tribute had -that day a right to sit at the prior’s table, and might demand bread and -ale of the cellarer; the cellarer on his part might take from the fish’s -tail as much as he could with “four fingers and his thumb erect.”</p> - -<p>Superstitious observances were rife in former times. The Roman -augurs observed the flight of birds, and scrutinised the palpitating vitals -of fresh slain victims, thinking thereby to steal a march upon the future. -Our ancestors would draw omens from the barking of dogs, the cries of -wild fowl, or from the manner in which beer, accidentally spilt from the -cup, distributed itself upon the floor. Melton, in his <i>Astrolagaster</i>, -observes that “if the beere fall next a man it is a signe of good luck.”</p> - -<p>The customs and ceremonies attending the actual consumption of -ale and other liquors now require some few words. First in order -stands the old custom of pledging, which was in -origin distinct from <span class="xxpn" id="p279">{279}</span> -toasting or health-drinking. William of Malmesbury says that the -treacherous murder of King Edward while drinking a horn of wine -presented to him by his stepmother Elfrida, gave rise to the old custom -of pledging. A person before drinking would ask one who sat next to -him whether he would <i>pledge</i> him. The other thereupon drew his -sword and held it over the drinker as a <i>pledge</i> to him that no secret foe -should strike him in an unguarded moment while he drained the bowl. -Others have referred the origin of the custom to the treachery of the -Danes, who would take advantage of the attitude of a man when -drinking a horn of ale or mead, to stab him unawares. Be the origin -what it may, the custom prevailed for many centuries, and was one of -the things noted by that lively and inquisitive French physician, Stephen -Perlin, who visited England about the middle of the sixteenth century. -Amongst many other entertaining observations made by him is the -following:—“The English, one with the other, are joyous, and are very -fond of music; they are also great drinkers, . . . and they will say -to you usually at table, ‘Goude chere,’ and they will also say to you -more than one hundred times, ‘Drind oui,’ and you will reply to them -in their language, “I plaigui’ (‘I pledge you’).”</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p279.png" width="456" height="331" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Health-Drinking.</div></div> - -<p>The custom of health-drinking seems to have been at one time or -another common to all European nations. The Romans had their -<i>commissationes</i>, or drinking bouts, and their “<i>bene te, bene tibi</i>.” Our own -immediate ancestors the Saxons, as we have already seen, observed the -custom of health-drinking with their “Wacht heil” -and “Drinc heil.” <span class="xxpn" id="p280">{280}</span> -The picture of an Anglo-Saxon dinner-party is taken from a MS., -supposed to be of the tenth century (Tiberius, c. vi., fol. 5, v.). The -peculiar weapons borne by the attendants are, no doubt, spits from -which the guests are carving meat. The preceding illustration occurs -in Alfric’s version of Genesis (MS. Cotton. Claudius, B. IV., fol. 36, v.) -and represents Abraham’s feast at the birth of his child.</p> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p280.png" width="594" height="341" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Anglo-Saxons Feasting and - Health-Drinking.</div></div> - -<p>The Danes, also, were great health-drinkers. It is recorded that -previous to the invasion of England by these ravaging pirates of the -North, in the reign of Sweyne, that monarch gave a great banquet on his -accession to the throne. First, the ale-horns were filled and emptied in -memory of the dead King Harold; the next draught was in honour of -Christ, and the third of St. Michael the Archangel. A writer of the -year 1623 thus describes the ceremonies of health-drinking as practised -at that time:—“He that begins the health first uncovering his head, -he takes a full cup in his hand, and setting his countenance with a -grave aspect, he craves for audience; silence being once obtained, he -begins to breathe out the name, peradventure, of some honourable -personage, whose health, is drunk to, and he that pledges must likewise -off with his cap, kiss his fingers, and bow himself in sign of a reverent -acceptance. When the leader sees his follower thus prepared, he sups -up his broth, turns the bottom of the cup upward, and, in ostentation -of his dexterity, gives the cup a fillip to make it cry <i>twango</i>. And -thus the first scene is acted. The cup being newly replenished to the -breadth of a hair, he that is the pledger must now begin -his part; and <span class="xxpn" id="p281">{281}</span> -thus it goes round throughout the whole company.” To prove that -each person had drunk off his measure, he had to turn the glass over -his thumb, and if so much liquor remained as to make more than a -drop which would stand on the nail of his thumb without running -off, he had to drink off another bumper. This latter practice went -by the name of <i>supernaculm</i>, and is mentioned in an old ballad, -<i>The Winchester</i> <span class="nowrap"><i>Wedding</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then Phillip began her health,</span> -<span class="spp00">And turn’d a beer-glass o’er his thumb,</span> -<span class="spp00">But Jenkin was reckoned for drinking,</span> -<span class="spp00">The best in Christendom.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The author of <i>Memoires d’Angleterre</i> (1698) mentions the absolute -universality of this practice of health-drinking amongst the -English. “To drink at table,” he writes, “without drinking to the -health of some one in especial, would be considered drinking on the -sly, and as an act of incivility. There are in this proceeding two -principal and singular grimaces, which are universally observed. . . .” -The person whose health is drunk must remain as inactive as a statue -while the drinker drinks, after which the second grimace is “to make -him an <i>inclinabo</i>, at the risk of dipping his periwig in the gravy. -. . . -I confess that when a foreigner first sees these manners he -thinks them laughable.” And yet one would have thought that a -Frenchman’s familiarity with toasting would have rendered the proceeding -not so singular an one after all, for that custom was carried to an -extreme in his own nation, among the choice spirits of which it was not -unusual to give a toast which necessitated the drinking of a glass to -each letter of a mistress’s name, as illustrated in the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Six fois je m’en vas boire au beau nom de Cloris,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cloris, le seul desire de ma chaste pensée.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Space forbids that we should go very fully into all these old drinking -customs, though some of them are fantastic and curious enough. One -or two more, however, may be mentioned. In Elizabethan times it was -customary for hard drinkers to put some inflammable substance on the -surface of their liquor, and so to swallow the draught and the blazing -fragment at a gulp. This was called flap-dragoning, and the fiery -morsel was known as a flap-dragon. Shakspere has many allusions to -this practice. Falstaff says of Prince Hal, -that he “drinks off <span class="xxpn" id="p282">{282}</span> -candle-ends for flap-dragons.” And in <i>Winter’s Tale</i> an instance of the verb -occurs in the passage, “But to make an end of the ship; to see how the -sea flap-dragoned it.” The captain in <i>Rowley’s Match at Midnight</i> -asserts that his corporal “was lately choked at Delf by swallowing a -flap-dragon.”</p> - -<p>The term hob-nob as denoting pot-companionship, has been said by -some to be a corruption of “Habbe or nabbe?” <i>i.e.</i>, Will you have or not -have (a drink)? Others suggest a more whimsical derivation. It is said -that the Maids of Honour of the Tudor Court, who we have seen were -ale-ladies, if they cannot be called ale-knights, frequently liked their -beer warm, and had it placed upon the hob of the grate “to take the -chill off.” It was therefore natural for their attendants to ask the -question, “From the hob or not from the hob?” which in process of -time became “Hob or nob?”</p> - -<p>The above remarks on drinking customs lead to the consideration of -the extravagant drinking and eating of days gone by. Our ancestors, -both Saxon and Dane, were tremendous drinkers, and their sole -amusement after the labours of the day seems to have been drinking down -mighty draughts of ale and mead, and getting themselves under the -table as quickly as possible. An ancient anecdote is told of a Saxon -bishop, who invited a Dane to his house for the purpose of making him -drunk. After dinner “the tables were taken away, and they passed the -rest of the day until evening in drinking.” The cupbearer manages -matters in such a manner that the Dane’s turn comes round much -oftener than that of the others, as, indeed, “the bishop had directed -him,” and the desired end is at last attained. Whether Iago was -right when he gave to the English the palm in drinking over “your -Dane, your German, and your swag-bellied Hollander,” and whether -one taught the other his own particular drinking vices, we cannot -stop now to inquire. The English were always famed for their -love of strong ale, and passing over the intervening centuries and -coming down to the Tudor period, many instances could be quoted -from contemporary writers showing the proneness of our ancestors -to drench deep thought in tankards of the nappy nut-brown ale. -Stubbe, in his <i>Anatomie of Abuses</i> (1585), says that the ale-houses -in London were crowded from morning to night with inveterate -drunkards, whose only care was how to get as much heady ale into -their carcases as possible. Ale, strong ale, was all the cry; one who -could not or would not quaff of the strongest was -counted a milksop,</p> - -<div class="dfullpgimg"> -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p283a.png" width="800" height="279" - alt="The Ale-Wives’ Invitation to Married Men and - Bachelors: | - Shewing | - How a good fellow is ſlighted when he is brought to - Poverty." /> -<div class="dcaption"> - - <div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> - <span class="spp00">Therefore take my Counſel and Ale-wives don’t truſt.</span> - <span class="spp00">For when you have waſted and ſpent all you have</span> - <span class="spp00">Then out of doors ſhe will you headlong thruſt,</span> - <span class="spp00">Calling you raſcal and ſhirking Knave,</span> - <span class="spp00">But ſo long as you have money, come early or late</span> - <span class="spp00">You ſhall have her command, or elſe - her maid Kate.</span></div> - <span class="poemcite">To a new tune, or <i>Digbys - Farewell.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p283b.png" width="504" height="440" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dcaption"> -<p>A Ballad ſuppoſed to be ſung by a young man who, having ſpent -his money in Ale-houſes, offers ſome advice on the ſubject.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>And - thus all young men, you plainly may ſee</span> -<span class="spp00">This ſong it will learn you good - huſbands to be.”</span></div> - -<span class="poemcite"><i>Collec. Eng. - Ballads.</i></span></div> -</div></div><!--dctr01--></div><!--dfullpgimg--> - -<p class="pcontinue"><span class="xxpn" id="p284">{284}</span> -while he who could drink longest of it without (or rather before), -getting tipsy, was the king of the company. It must have been of -such an one that Herrick -<span class="nowrap">wrote―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Tap, better known than trusted, as we hear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sold his old mother’s spectacles for beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And not unlikely, rather too than fail,</span> -<span class="spp00">He’ll sell her eyes and nose for beer and ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">The love for the strong and the -contempt for the small is illustrated in the well-known -lines of the old <span class="nowrap">song:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He who drinks small beer, goes to bed sober,</span> -<span class="spp00">Falls as the leaves do fall, that fall in October;</span> -<span class="spp00">He who drinks strong ale, goes to bed mellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">Lives as he ought to live, and dies a jolly fellow.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Such -was the love of strong ale in the sixteenth century that a term was -actually invented to describe madness produced by excessive ale-drinking. -A writer in the year 1598 affords us an instance of the word in question, -when he says that “to arrest a man that hath no likeness to a horse is -flat lunasie or <i>alecie</i>.” Harrison, whom we have frequently had occasion -to quote, in speaking of the heavy ale-drinking of his days, though the -ale was then “more thick and fulsome” than the beer, says, “Certes I -know some ale-knights so much addicted thereunto, that they will not -cease from morow until even to visit the same, clensing house after -house, till they either fall quite under the boord, or else, not daring to -stirre from their stooles, sit still pinking with their narrow eies as halfe -sleeping, till the fume of their adversarie be digested that he may go to -it afresh.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Herrick has left us an epigram upon a person of the class described -by -<span class="nowrap">Harrison:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Spunge makes his boast that he’s the onely man,</span> -<span class="spp00">Can hold of beere and ale an ocean;</span> -<span class="spp00">Is this his glory? then his triumph’s poore;</span> -<span class="spp00">I know the Tunne of Hidleberge holds more.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Profuseness in drinking was accompanied with enormous gluttony -in eating. At one of the feasts of the Court of King James -<span class="nowrap">I.―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They served up venison, salmon, and wild boars,</span> -<span class="spp00">By hundreds, and by dozens, and by scores. <span class="xxpn" id="p285">{285}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Hogsheads of honey, kilderkins of mustard,</span> -<span class="spp00">Muttons and fatted beeves, and bacon swine;</span> -<span class="spp00">Herons, and bitterns, peacocks, swan, and bustard.</span> -<span class="spp00">Teal, mallard, pigeons, widgeon, and in fine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Plum puddings, pancakes, apple pie and custard.</span> -<span class="spp00">And therewithal they drank good Gascon wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">With mead, and <i>Ale</i>, and cider of our own.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>This, however, was only a mild repetition of some of the prodigious -feasts of former days. On the enthronement of George Nevile as archbishop -of York, in the reign of Edward IV., the following was the -list of eatables which furnished the tables:—104 oxen, 6 wild bulls, -1,000 sheep, 304 calves, 304 swine, 400 swans, 2,000 geese, 1,000 capons, -2,000 pigs, many thousand of various small birds such as quail, plovers, -&c., 4,000 cold venison pasties, 500 stags, 608 pike and bream, 12 -porpoises and seals, and many other delicacies. These solids were -washed down with 300 tuns of ale and 100 tuns of wine and “one pynt -of hypocrass.”</p> - -<p>Nor were the clergy behind the laity in their devotion to good living. -In Saxon times the frequent directions to the monks and friars to abstain -from excess in eating and drinking, from haunting ale-houses and from -acting the ale-scop or gleeman at such places, all tell their own tale. -The frequency with which from that period the intemperance of the -clergy called forth the rebukes of their superiors and the satire of the -writers of the day, show that matters did not mend much as mediæval -times advanced. Friar Tuck, as depicted in <i>Ivanhoe</i>, is probably a type -of many a jolly monk of his day. For his drink is assigned “a but of -sack, a rumlet of malvoisie, and three hogsheads of ale of the first strike. -And if,” continues the King, “that will not quench thy thirst, thou -must come to court, and be acquainted with my butler.” Chaucer -describes his monk as a free liver and a jolly good fellow, whose sentiments -with regard to the duties of his order are shown in the -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The reule of seynt Maure or of seint Beneyt,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bycause that it was old and somdel streyt,</span> -<span class="spp00">This ilke monk let olde things pace,</span> -<span class="spp00">And held after the newe world the space.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Friar, too, who “knew the taverns well in every town,” may be -taken as a true portrait of a prominent figure of the times. It is recorded -that the Abbey of Aberbrothwick -expended annually 9,000 <span class="xxpn" id="p286">{286}</span> -bushels of malt in ale-brewing, and a popular satire, perpetuated by Sir -Walter Scott on the monks of Melrose, declares -<span class="nowrap">that―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The monks of Melrose made fat kail</span> -<span class="spp01">On Fridays when they fasted;</span> -<span class="spp00">And neither wanted beef nor ale,</span> -<span class="spp01">So long as their neighbours’ lasted.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The names of some of the drinks in vogue are exceedingly suggestive; -we read of Bishop, Cardinal, Lawn Sleeves, Pope, and others of -a similar character.</p> - -<p>The Glutton-masses of the secular clergy, as described by Henry in -his <i>History of England</i>, “were celebrated five times a year, in honour -of the Virgin Mary, in this manner. Early in the morning the people -of the parish assembled in the church, loaded with ample stores of meats -and drinks of all kinds. As soon as mass ended, the feast began, in -which the clergy and laity engaged with equal ardour. The church -was turned into a tavern, and became a scene of excessive riot and -intemperance. The priests and people of different parishes entered into -formal contests, which of them should have the greatest glutton mass, -<i>i.e.</i>, which of them should devour the greatest quantity of meat and -drink in honour of the Holy Virgin.”</p> - -<p>The Tudor period seems to have produced but little amendment in -this respect. Satirists of the day make constant allusion to the fondness -of ecclesiastics, both exalted and humble, for strong drink and every -kind of sensual indulgence. Skelton, in <i>Colin Clout</i>, speaking of the -angry disputes of churchmen when under the influence of drink, -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Such logic men will chop,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in their fury hop</span> -<span class="spp00">When the good ale-sop</span> -<span class="spp00">Doth dance in their foretop.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In the old Comedy of <i>Gammer Gurton’s Needle</i>, already referred to, -the parson is wanted, and the old Gammer gives the boy the following -directions for finding -<span class="nowrap">him:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hence swithe to Doctor Rat, hye thee that thou were gone,</span> -<span class="spp00">And pray him come speke with me, cham not well at ease,</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall find him at his chamber, or els at Mother Bees,</span> -<span class="spp00">Els seek him at <i>Hobfilcher’s</i> shop; for as charde it reported</span> -<span class="spp00">There <i>is the best Ale in the Town, and now is most resorted</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p287">{287}</span></div> - -<p>The boy goes forth to seek him as he is ordered; and when he -returns, Gammer thus -<span class="nowrap">inquires:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00"><i>Gammer</i>: “Where did’st thou finde him, - Boy? was he not wher I told thee?”</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Cock</i>: “Yes, yes, even at <i>Hobfilcher’s</i> house, by him that bought and sold me:</span> -<span class="spp04">A <i>cup of ale</i> had in his hand, and a <i>crab</i> lay in the fier . .”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Drunkenness amongst the clergy was probably at this period too -common for much mention of it to be made in the various records of -ecclesiastical offences. An occasional prosecution, however, seems to -have been instituted before the Ordinary. One such may be found in -the Records of the Ecclesiastical Court of Chester, 1575, where the -Vicar of Whalley is charged with being “a common dronker and ale-knight.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The time has happily gone by when a Swift could write of</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Three - or four parsons full of October,</span> -<span class="spp00">Three or four squires between drunk and sober,”</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">or -a Pope of “a parson much bemused with beer,” or when the -following old Ballad could be supposed to give a true picture of the -habits of village -<span class="nowrap">clergymen:―</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem34"> -<div class="padtopb">THE PARSON.</div> - -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A parson who had the remarkable foible</span> -<span class="spp00">Of minding the bottle much more than the Bible,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was deemed by his neighbours to be less perplex’d</span> -<span class="spp00">In handling a tankard than handling a text.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Perch’d up in his pulpit, one Sunday, he cry’d,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Make - patience, my dearly beloved, your guide,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in your distresses, your troubles, your crosses,</span> -<span class="spp00">Remember the patience of Job in his losses.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The parson had got a stout cask of beer,</span> -<span class="spp00">By way of a present—no matter from <span class="nowrap">where—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Suffice it to know, it was toothsome and good,</span> -<span class="spp00">And he lov’d it as well as he did his own blood. <span class="xxpn" id="p288">{288}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">While he the church service in haste rambled o’er,</span> -<span class="spp00">The hogs found a way thro’ his old cellar door,</span> -<span class="spp00">And by the strong scent to the beer barrel led</span> -<span class="spp00">Had knock’d out the spiggot or cock from its head.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Out spurted the liquor abroad on the ground,</span> -<span class="spp00">The unbidden guests quaffed it merrily round,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor from their diversion and merriment ceas’d</span> -<span class="spp00">Till ev’ry hog there was as drunk as a beast.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And now the grave lecture and prayers at an end,</span> -<span class="spp00">He brings along with him a neighbouring friend,</span> -<span class="spp00">To be a partaker of Sunday’s good cheer,</span> -<span class="spp00">And taste the delightful October brew’d beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The dinner was ready, the things were laid snug,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Here, - wife,” says the parson, “go fetch us a mug,”</span> -<span class="spp00">But a mug of what?—he had scarce time to tell her,</span> -<span class="spp00">When, “yonder,” says she, “are the hogs in the cellar.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To be sure they got in when we’re at prayers,”</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>To - be sure you’re a fool,” said he, “get you down stairs,</span> -<span class="spp00">And bring what I bid you, and see what’s the matter.</span> -<span class="spp00">For now I myself hear a grunting and clatter.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">She went, and returned with sorrowful face,</span> -<span class="spp00">In suitable phrases related the case,</span> -<span class="spp00">He rav’d like a madman about in the room,</span> -<span class="spp00">And then beat his wife and the hogs with the broom.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Lord, - husband,” said she, “what a coil you keep here,</span> -<span class="spp00">About a poor beggarly barrel of beer.</span> -<span class="spp00">You should, ‘<i>in your troubles, mischances, and crosses,</i></span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Remember the patience of Job in his losses</i>.’”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>A - plague upon Job,” cried the priest in his rage,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>That - beer, I dare say, was near ten years of age;</span> -<span class="spp00">But you’re a poor ignorant jade like <i>his</i> wife;</span> -<span class="spp00">For Job never had such a cask in his life.”</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>A curious tale is related of one Mr. Dod, who had a country living -near Cambridge. Being impressed by the intemperance then prevalent -in the University, he on one occasion preached a very vigorous condemnatory -sermon on the vice of drunkenness. Soon after, -several of the <span class="xxpn" id="p289">{289}</span> -undergraduates, who were disporting themselves at some little distance -from the town, perceived Mr. Dod jogging along towards them on his -old horse. Annoyed at the sermon on drinking, which had probably -seemed to them as directed specially against themselves, the undergraduates -rapidly consulted together, and determined in revenge to make -the old man preach a sermon from a text of their own choosing. At -first he declined, but his persecutors were inexorable, and he was forced -to submit with the best grace he could. “Well, gentlemen,” he said, -“as you are thus urgent for my compliance, pray what is the subject I -am to handle?” They answered, “Sir, the word <i>malt</i>; and, for want -of a better, here, Sir, is your pulpit,” pointing to the stump of a hollow -tree that stood by. Whereupon the venerable man mounted the -rostrum, and spoke as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<div class="section"> -<p id="p289-pa">“Beloved,</p> - -<p id="p289-pb">“I am a little man, come at a short warning,—to deliver a -brief discourse,—upon a small subject,—to a thin congregation, and from -an unworthly pulpit.</p> - -<p id="p289-pc">“Beloved, my text -<span class="nowrap">is―</span></p> - -<div>“M A L T,</div> - -<p>“Which cannot be divided into words, it being but one; nor into -syllables, it being but one: therefore, of necessity, I must reduce it into -letters, which I find to be these,</p> - -<div>“M—A—L—T.</div> - -<p>“M—my beloved, is Moral. A—is Allegorical. L—is Literal, -T—is Theological.</p> - -<p>“The moral is set forth to teach you drunkards good manners, -therefore: M—my Masters. A—All of you. L—Listen. T—to my -Text.</p> - -<p>“The allegorical is when one thing is spoken, and -another is intended: the thing expressed is <span -class="smmaj">MALT</span>; the thing signified is the oil -of Malt, which you Bacchanals make: M—your Meat. A—your -Apparel. L—your liberty. T—your Text.</p> - -<p>“The Literal is according to the letter: M—Much. A—Ale. -L—Little. T—Thrift.</p> - -<p>“The Theological is according to the effects it produces, which I -find to consist of two kinds. The first respects this life, the second, -that which is to come.</p> - -<p>“The effects it produces in this world are in some: M—Murder. -A—Adultery. L—Licentious Lives. T—Treason. <span class="xxpn" id="p290">{290}</span></p> - -<p>“The effects consequent in the world to come are: M—Misery. -A—Anguish. L—Lamentation. T—Torment.</p> - -<p>“Thus, sirs, having briefly opened and explained my short text, give -me leave to make a little use and improvement of the foregoing. First, -by way of exhortation: M—My Masters. A—All of you. L—Look -for. T—Torment.</p> - -<p>“Now to wind up the whole and draw to a close, take with you -the characteristics of a drunkard. A drunkard is the annoyance of -modesty, the spoil of civility, his own shame, his children’s curse, -his neighbour’s scoff, the alehouse man’s benefactor, the devil’s -drudge, a walking swill-bowl, the picture of a beast, and monster -of a man.”</p></div><!--section--> - -<p>There was a curious custom in vogue at the beginning of the seventeenth -century known as “muggling.” It was thus described by Young, -in <i>England’s Bane</i>: “I have seen a company amongst the very woods -and forests drinking for a muggle. Sixe determined to try their -strengths who could drinke most glasses for the muggle. The first -drinkes a glasse of a pint, the second two, the next three, and so every -one multiplieth till the last taketh sixe. Then the first beginneth -againe and taketh seven, and in this manner they drinke thrice a peece -round, every man taking a glasse more than his fellow, so that he that -dranke least, which was the first, dranke one and twenty pints, and the -sixth man thirty-six.” So great was the ale-drinking at this time, that -the headache brought on by it was known by the common expression, -“the ale passion,” and one in liquor was said to have been “kicked by -the brewer’s horse.”</p> - -<p>One or two instances, only, of the drinking songs popular in olden -times can be given here. The <i>Merry Fellows</i>, a song of the Restoration, -well illustrates the old idea that merriness must be accompanied -with potations “pottle <span class="nowrap">deep”:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now, since we’re met, let’s merry, merry be,</span> -<span class="spp01">In spite of all our foes;</span> -<span class="spp00">And he that will not merry be,</span> -<span class="spp01">We’ll pull him by the nose.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<p class="pfirst"><i>Chorus.</i></p> -<span class="spp00">Let him be merry, merry there,</span> -<span class="spp01">While we’re all merry, merry here;</span> -<span class="spp00">For who can know where he shall go,</span> -<span class="spp01">To be merry another year. - <span class="xxpn" id="p291">{291}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He that will not merry, merry be,</span> -<span class="spp01">With a generous bowl and a toast,</span> -<span class="spp00">May he in Bridewell be shut up,</span> -<span class="spp01">And fast bound to a post.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Let him, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He that will not merry, merry be,</span> -<span class="spp01">And take his glass in course,</span> -<span class="spp00">May he be obliged to drink small beer,</span> -<span class="spp01">Ne’er a penny in his purse.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Let him, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He that will not merry, merry be</span> -<span class="spp01">With a company of jolly boys,</span> -<span class="spp00">May he be plagued with a scolding wife</span> -<span class="spp01">To confound him with her noise.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Let him, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He that will not merry, merry be,</span> -<span class="spp01">With his sweetheart by his side,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let him be laid in the cold church-yard</span> -<span class="spp01">With a head-stone for his bride.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Let him, &c.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Cobblers have already been mentioned as devotees of strong malt -drinks, and many a cozier’s catch celebrates this propensity. Here is -<span class="nowrap">one:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come, sit we here by the fire-side,</span> -<span class="spp01">And roundly drink we here,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till that we see our cheeks ale-dyed,</span> -<span class="spp01">And noses tanned with beer.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Shoemakers and cobblers used to call a red-herring a pheasant, and -in the same inflated style term half a pint of beer half a gallon, and a -pint of beer a gallon, much after the manner of Caleb Balderstone in -<i>The Bride of Lammermoor</i>.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Tinkers, too, swore by Ceres and not by Bacchus, as Herrick shows -in his <i>Tinker’s Song</i>.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Along, come along,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let’s meet in a throng</span> -<span class="spp01">Here of tinkers; <span class="xxpn" id="p292">{292}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And quaff up a bowl,</span> -<span class="spp00">As big as a cowl,</span> -<span class="spp01">To beer-drinkers.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The pole of the hop</span> -<span class="spp00">Place in the ale shop,</span> -<span class="spp01">To bethwack us,</span> -<span class="spp00">If ever we think</span> -<span class="spp00">So much as to drink</span> -<span class="spp01">Unto Bacchus.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Who frolic will be</span> -<span class="spp00">For little cost, he</span> -<span class="spp01">Must not vary</span> -<span class="spp00">From beer-broth at all</span> -<span class="spp00">So much as to call</span> -<span class="spp01">For canary.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Last century may be said to have brought the vice of heavy drinking -to its highest pitch. Statesmen, Judges, dignitaries of the Church—all -joined in the riotous living of the time. The usual allowance for a -<i>moderate</i> man at dinner seems to have been two bottles of port. Men -were known as two-bottle men, three and four-bottle men, and even in -some instances <i>six-bottle men</i>. Lord Eldon, who was himself inclined -to get a little merry after dinner, relates an amusing story in his -<i>Anecdote Book</i>, which is illustrative of the habits of the day. He tells -how Jemmy Boswell, Dr. Johnson’s Biographer, while on assize, so -exceeded the bounds of moderation one evening, that he was found by -his friends lying on the pavement very drunk. His comrades, of whom -Lord Eldon (then Mr. Scott) was one, subscribed a guinea amongst -them, and sent Boswell a bogus brief, instructing him to move the -Court the next day for a writ of <i>Quare adhæsit pavimento</i>. Much to -the astonishment of the learned Judge who presided, Mr. Boswell -actually made the application in due course. The whole court was -convulsed with laughter, and the unfortunate counsel, turning this way -and that in his perplexity, knew not what to make of it. At last a -learned friend came to his assistance. “My lord,” he said, “Mr. -Boswell <i>adhæsit pavimento</i> last night; there was no moving him for -some time. At length he was carried to bed, and has been dreaming of -what happened to himself.” Where such manners -prevailed in the <span class="xxpn" id="p293">{293}</span> -upper ranks of life, the lower orders were not likely to be more sober. -As a matter of fact, gin ran riot amongst the working classes in the -great centres of population, spreading corruption of morals and ruin of -health on every side.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>One more instance of a huge drinker may be given: One Jedediah -Buxton was curious enough in his drinking habits to calculate the -number of pints of ale or strong beer that he had drunk free of cost to -himself since he was twelve years of age, and the names of the gentlemen -at whose houses he had consumed them. The list began with the -Duke of Kingston, 2,130 pints; Duke of Norfolk, 266 pints; Duke of -Leeds, 232, and so on through a long list, of which it need only be said -the total amounted to 5,116 pints or <i>winds</i>, as he termed them, because, -he said, he never took more than one wind, or breath, to a pint and two -to a quart. Surely this man deserves to rank among the curiosities of -the subject. Happily times have changed and drunkenness, we may -hope, will soon cease to be counted a national vice. Bearing in mind -the excesses to which drinking was carried in the last century, it -cannot be denied that much progress has been made in the direction -of moderation; and that the habits of the whole people—slow and -difficult as such habits are to change—have undergone a very marked -improvement. Ere the next century has had time to grow from -youth to old age, it may be impossible to find in any rank of the -population a man who could say of an evening’s amusement like the -old Scotch Shepherd, “It was a grand treat, for before the end o’t -there was na ane of us able to bite his ain thoomb!”</p> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p293.png" width="144" height="52" alt="" /></div> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p294a.png" width="144" height="54" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p294"><span - class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XI.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"> - <div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">’Tis Ale, immortal Ale I sing!</span> -<span class="spp00">Bid all the Muses throng!</span> -<span class="spp00">Bid them awake each slumbering string,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till the loud chords responsive ring</span> -<span class="spp01">To swell the lofty song!</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Brasenose College - Shrovetide Poem.</i></span> -</div></div> -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"> - <div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">These venerable ancient song inditers</span> -<span class="spp00">Soar’d many a pitch above our modern writers;</span> -<span class="spp00">Our numbers may be more refin’d than those,</span> -<span class="spp00">But what we’ve gained in verse we’ve lost in prose;</span> -<span class="spp00">Their words no shuffling double meaning knew,</span> -<span class="spp00">Their speech was homely, but their - hearts were true.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Rowe.</i></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>OLD BALLADS, SONGS AND VERSES RELATING TO -ALE AND BEER.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p294b.png" -width="225" height="227" alt="L" /></span>ONG -ago, in the merry days when the chilling influence of -Puritanism had not yet put an end to the majority of our -sports and pastimes, and when anyone who had ventured -to speak of a May-pole as a “Stinckyng Idoll” would -most likely have been ducked in the nearest pond as -a proper reward for his calumny, the lower orders of -England were far more musical than at present; and there -existed a great demand for ballads to be sung at village -merry-makings, ale-house gatherings, and during the -long winter evenings which would have been dull indeed -without the cheering influence of song. <span class="xxpn" -id="p295">{295}</span></p> - -<p>Of the quaint old ballads, written mostly in the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries, a splendid collection was made by the Earl of Oxford -(born in 1661), to whom we are also indebted for the Harleian MSS., -now in the British Museum. These ballads are known as the <i>Roxburghe -Collection</i>, and a selection of them is given in this chapter, -together with facsimile reproductions of the curious woodcuts with -which the originals are adorned.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn62" id="fnanc62">62</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc62" id="fn62">62</a> -Most of the Roxburghe Ballads have been reprinted by the Ballad -Society, and for the very scanty information we have been able to -gather concerning them we are in a great measure indebted to the -Editors of these reprints. Our illustrations have been taken in every -case from the original ballads, and are, we believe, the only exact -facsimile reproductions in existence.</p></div> - -<p>The most important ballad connected with the subject of ale and -beer is <i>Sir John Barley-corne</i>, of which there are many versions. It -seems very probable that the original is not in existence, for at a very -early date songs bearing the same name, and containing in effect the -same words, were known both in the North of England and in the West -Country. In later editions of Sir John Barley-corne old printers seem -to have frequently varied the text, and in recent times Burns has recast -the verses of the old ballad.</p> - -<p>The version given below is the oldest in the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>, and -must have been written at some time previous to the reign of James I. -To anyone who has perused these pages so far, the pretty allegory -contained in the ballad will not require explanation, but it may be well -to point out that Sir John is the grain of barley which the farmer, the -maltster, the miller, and the brewer do their best to destroy. However, -after having forced Sir John to go through the various processes -of agriculture, malting, and brewing, a friend, Thomas Good-ale, comes -to the poor fellow’s assistance with mickle might, and takes “their -tongues away, their legs or else their sight.” The illustration is taken -from a later version.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="padtopb">SIR JOHN BARLEY-CORNE.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A pleasant new Ballad to sing both even and morne</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the bloody Murther of Sir John Barley-corne.</span> -</div></div> -<div>To the tune of <i>Shall I lye beyond thee</i>. - <span class="xxpn" id="p296">{296}</span></div> -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p296.png" width="356" height="365" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">As I went through the North countrey,</span> -<span class="spp01">I heard a merry greeting,</span> -<span class="spp00">A pleasant toy and full of joy,</span> -<span class="spp01">two noblemen were meeting.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And as they walkèd for to sport,</span> -<span class="spp01">upon a summer’s day,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then with another nobleman,</span> -<span class="spp01">they went to make a fray.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Whose name was Sir John Barley-corne;</span> -<span class="spp01">he dwelt down in a dale;</span> -<span class="spp00">Who had a kinsman dwelt him nigh,</span> -<span class="spp01">they cal’d him Thomas Good-ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Another namèd Richard Beere</span> -<span class="spp01">was ready at that time,</span> -<span class="spp00">Another worthy Knight was there,</span> -<span class="spp01">call’d Sir William White-wine.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some of them fought in a Blacke-Jack,</span> -<span class="spp01">some of them in a Can;</span> -<span class="spp00">But the chiefest in a blacke-pot,</span> -<span class="spp01">like a worthy alderman. <span class="xxpn" id="p297">{297}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sir Barly-corn fought in a Boule,</span> -<span class="spp01">who wonne the victorie;</span> -<span class="spp00">And made them all to fume and swear</span> -<span class="spp01">that Barly-corne should die.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some said Kill him some said Drown</span> -<span class="spp01">others wisht to hang him <span class="nowrap">hie—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">For as many as follow Barly-corne,</span> -<span class="spp01">shall surely beggers die.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then with a plough they plow’d him up,</span> -<span class="spp01">and thus they did devise,</span> -<span class="spp00">To burie him quicke within the earth,</span> -<span class="spp01">and swore he should not rise.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With harrowes strong they combèd him,</span> -<span class="spp01">and burst clods on his head,</span> -<span class="spp00">A joyful banquet then was made,</span> -<span class="spp01">when Barly-corne was dead.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">He rested still within the earth,</span> -<span class="spp01">till raine from skies did fall,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then he grew up in branches greene,</span> -<span class="spp01">which sore amaz’d them all.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And so grew up till midsommer,</span> -<span class="spp01">which made them all afeard;</span> -<span class="spp00">For he was sprouted up on hie</span> -<span class="spp01">and got a goodly beard.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then he grew till S. James’s-tide,</span> -<span class="spp01">his countenance was wan,</span> -<span class="spp00">For he was growne unto his strength,</span> -<span class="spp01">and thus became a man.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With hookes and sickles keene</span> -<span class="spp01">into the field they hide,</span> -<span class="spp00">They cut his legs off by the knees,</span> -<span class="spp01">and made him wounds full wide. <span class="xxpn" id="p298">{298}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus bloodily they cut him downe,</span> -<span class="spp01">from place where he did stand,</span> -<span class="spp00">And like a thiefe for treachery,</span> -<span class="spp01">they bound him in a band.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So then they tooke him up againe,</span> -<span class="spp01">according to his kind,</span> -<span class="spp00">And packt him up in severall stackes</span> -<span class="spp01">to wither with the wind.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And with a pitchforke that was sharpe,</span> -<span class="spp01">they rent him to the heart;</span> -<span class="spp00">And like a thiefe for treason vile,</span> -<span class="spp01">they bound him in a cart.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And tending him with weapons strong,</span> -<span class="spp01">unto the towne they hie,</span> -<span class="spp00">And straight they mowed him in a mow,</span> -<span class="spp01">and there they let him lie.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then he lay groning by the wals,</span> -<span class="spp01">till all his wounds were sore,</span> -<span class="spp00">At length they tooke him up againe,</span> -<span class="spp01">and cast him on the floore.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They hyrèd two with holly clubs,</span> -<span class="spp01">to beat on him at once,</span> -<span class="spp00">They thwackèd so on Barly-corne</span> -<span class="spp01">that flesh fell from his bones.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And then they tooke him up againe,</span> -<span class="spp01">to fulfill women’s minde,</span> -<span class="spp00">They dusted and they sifted him,</span> -<span class="spp01">till he was almost blind.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And then they knit him in a sacke,</span> -<span class="spp01">which grievèd him full sore,</span> -<span class="spp00">They steep’d him in a Fat, God-wot,</span> -<span class="spp01">for three days space and more. <span class="xxpn" id="p299">{299}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then they took him up againe,</span> -<span class="spp01">and laid him for to drie,</span> -<span class="spp00">They cast him on a chamber floore,</span> -<span class="spp01">and swore that he should die.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They rubbèd him and stirrèd him,</span> -<span class="spp01">and still they did him turne</span> -<span class="spp00">The malt-man swore that he should die,</span> -<span class="spp01">his body he would burne.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They spightfully tooke him up againe</span> -<span class="spp01">and threw him on a Kill;</span> -<span class="spp00">So dried him there with fire hot,</span> -<span class="spp01">and thus they wrought their will.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then they brought him to the mill</span> -<span class="spp01">and there they burst his bones,</span> -<span class="spp00">The miller swore to murther him,</span> -<span class="spp01">betwixt a paire of stones.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then they tooke him up againe</span> -<span class="spp01">and serv’d him worse then that;</span> -<span class="spp00">For with hot scalding liquor store,</span> -<span class="spp01">they washt him in a Fat.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But not content with this, God-wot,</span> -<span class="spp01">they did him mickle harme,</span> -<span class="spp00">With threatening words they promisèd,</span> -<span class="spp01">to beat him into barme.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And lying in this danger deep,</span> -<span class="spp01">for feare that he should quarrell,</span> -<span class="spp00">They tooke him straight out of the fat</span> -<span class="spp01">and tunn’d him in a barrell.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And then they set a tap to him,</span> -<span class="spp01">even thus his death begun,</span> -<span class="spp00">They drew out every dram of blood,</span> -<span class="spp01">whilst any drop would run. <span class="xxpn" id="p300">{300}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some brought jacks, upon their backes,</span> -<span class="spp01">some brought bill and bow,</span> -<span class="spp00">And every man his weapon had</span> -<span class="spp01">Barly-corne to overthrow.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When Sir John Good-ale heard of this,</span> -<span class="spp01">he came with mickle might,</span> -<span class="spp00">And there he tooke their tongues away,</span> -<span class="spp01">their legs, or else their sight.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And thus Sir John in each respect,</span> -<span class="spp01">so paid them all their hire,</span> -<span class="spp00">That some lay sleeping by the way,</span> -<span class="spp01">some tumbling in the mire.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some lay groning by the wals,</span> -<span class="spp01">some in the streets downe right,</span> -<span class="spp00">The best of them did scarcely know</span> -<span class="spp01">what they had done ore-night.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">All you good wives that brew good Ale,</span> -<span class="spp01">God turne from you all teene,</span> -<span class="spp00">But if you put too much water in</span> -<span class="spp01">the devill put out your eyne!</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<p>“Printed for John Wright and are to be sold at his Shop in Guilt -Spurre Street at the sign of the Bible.”</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Another version -<span class="nowrap">commences:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There were two brothers liv’d under yon hill,</span> -<span class="spp00">As it might be you and I;</span> -<span class="spp00">And one of them did solemnly swear</span> -<span class="spp00">That Sir John Barley-corn should die.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Burns’ ballad -<span class="nowrap">commences:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There went three Kings into the East,</span> -<span class="spp00">Three Kings both great and high,</span> -<span class="spp00">And they have sworn a solemn oath</span> -<span class="spp00">John Barleycorn should die, -<span class="xxpn" id="p301">{301}</span></span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">and -<span class="nowrap">ends―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then let us toast John Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">Each man a glass in hand,</span> -<span class="spp00">And may his great posterity</span> -<span class="spp00">Ne’er fail in old Scotland.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Burns, no doubt, founded his ballad on the West Country <i>Sir John -Barleycorn</i>, which, according to Robert Bell, in his annotated edition -of ancient ballads, can set up a better claim to antiquity than any copy -in the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>. It commences -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There came three men out of the West</span> -<span class="spp01">Their victory to try;</span> -<span class="spp00">And they have taken solemn oath,</span> -<span class="spp01">Poor Barleycorn should die.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">This, -by the way, reads like the origin of a teetotal movement.</p> - -<p>Printed on the same sheet as the <i>Sir John Barley-corne</i> of the -<i>Roxburghe Collection</i> is another old ballad of probably the same date, -the author of which is unknown. It has no illustration, and is -<span class="nowrap">entitled:―</span></p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">A new Ballad for you to looke on,</span> -<span class="spp00">How mault doth deale with everyone.</span> -</div></div> - -<hr class="hr08" /> - -<div>To the tune of <i>Triumph and Joy</i>.</div> - -<hr class="hr08" /> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mas Mault he is a genleman,</span> -<span class="spp00">And hath beene since the world began,</span> -<span class="spp00">I never knew yet any man,</span> -<span class="spp02">That could match with Master Mault, Sir,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I never knew any match Mault but once,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Miller with his grinding stones,</span> -<span class="spp00">He laid them so close that he crusht his bones;</span> -<span class="spp02">You never knew the like, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mault, Mault, thou art a flowre;</span> -<span class="spp00">Thou art beloved in every bowre,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thou canst not be missing one halfe howre;</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For laying of his stones so close</span> -<span class="spp00">Mault gave the Miller a copper nose,</span> -<span class="spp00">Saying, Thou and I will never be foes,</span> -<span class="spp02">But unto thee I sticke, Sir. <span class="xxpn" id="p302">{302}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Mault gave the miller such a blow,</span> -<span class="spp00">That from his horse he fell full low;</span> -<span class="spp00">He taught him his master Mault for to know;</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Our hostesse maid she was to blame,</span> -<span class="spp00">She stole Master Mault away from her dame,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in her belly she hid the same,</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So when the Mault did worke in her head,</span> -<span class="spp00">Twice a day she would be sped,</span> -<span class="spp00">At night she could not goe to bed,</span> -<span class="spp02">Nor scarce stand on her feet, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then came in the Master Smith,</span> -<span class="spp00">And said that Mault he was a thief;</span> -<span class="spp00">But Mault gave him such a dash in the teeth,</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For when his iron was hot and red,</span> -<span class="spp00">He had such an ach all in his head,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Smith was faine to get him to bed,</span> -<span class="spp02">For then he was very Sicke, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The carpender came a peece to square,</span> -<span class="spp00">He bad Mault come out if he dare,</span> -<span class="spp00">He would empty his belly and beat his sides bare,</span> -<span class="spp02">That he knew not where to sit, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To fire he went, with an arme full of chips,</span> -<span class="spp00">Mault hit him right betweene his lips,</span> -<span class="spp00">And made him lame in both his hips;</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The shooe-maker sitting upon his seat,</span> -<span class="spp00">With Master Mault he began to fret,</span> -<span class="spp00">He said he would the Knave so beat,</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>The writer, in a number of verses, then shows how “Mas Mault” -deals with the shoemaker, the weaver, the tailor, the tinker, and the -sailor, including the chapman, a person of interest to us as the retailer -of such ballads as these.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then came the Chapman travelling by,</span> -<span class="spp00">And said, ‘my Masters I will be w’ ye, <span class="xxpn" id="p303">{303}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Indeed, Master Mault, my mouth is dry,</span> -<span class="spp02">I will gnaw you with my teeth, Sir.</span> -<span class="spp00">The chapman he laid on apace,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till store of blood came in his face,</span> -<span class="spp00">But Mault brought him in such a case,</span> -<span class="spp02">You never saw the like, Sir.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Several other persons are then dealt with, and the ballad ends with -the <span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus of my song I will make an end</span> -<span class="spp00">And pray my hostesse to be my friend,</span> -<span class="spp00">To give me some drink now my money is spend,</span> -<span class="spp02">Then Mault and I am quite, Sir.</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The tune to which this ballad is to be sung is probably the same as -the old air <i>Greene Sleeves</i>.</p> - -<p>A song near akin to the foregoing, also showing the effects of barley -wine, is <i>The Little Barley Corn</i>. It is evidently of the time of Charles I., -from the allusions it contains to the King’s great Porter, and to Banks, -whose performing horse is mentioned.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="padtopb">THE LITTLE BARLEY-CORN.</div> - -<hr class="hr08" /> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Whose properties and vertues here</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall plainly to the world appeare;</span> -<span class="spp00">To make you merry all the yeere.</span> -</div><div>To the tune of <i>Stingo</i>.</div></div> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p303.png" width="576" height="366" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft" id="p304"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come, and doe not musing stand,</span> -<span class="spp01">if thou the truth discerne;</span> -<span class="spp00">But take a full cup in thy hand</span> -<span class="spp01">and thus begin to learne,</span> -<span class="spp00">Not of the earth nor of the ayre,</span> -<span class="spp01">at evening or at <span class="nowrap">morne,—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">But joviall boys your Christmas keep</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>with the Little Barley-corn</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It is the cunningst alchymist</span> -<span class="spp01">that e’re was in the land;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill change your mettle when it list,</span> -<span class="spp01">in turning of a hand.</span> -<span class="spp00">Your blushing gold to silver wan,</span> -<span class="spp01">your silver into <span class="nowrap">brasse,—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill turn a taylor to a man,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>and a man into an asse</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make a poore man rich to hang</span> -<span class="spp01">a sign before his doore;</span> -<span class="spp00">And those that doe the pitcher bang,</span> -<span class="spp01">though rich, ’twill make them poor,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make the silliest poorest snake</span> -<span class="spp01">the King’s great Porter scorne;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make the stoutest lubber weak,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>this little Barley-Corn</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It hath more shifts than Lambe ere had,</span> -<span class="spp01">or <i>Hocus-pocus</i> too;</span> -<span class="spp00">It will good fellowes shew more sport</span> -<span class="spp01">then <i>Bankes</i> his horse could doe;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill play you faire above the boord,</span> -<span class="spp01">unlesse you take good heed,</span> -<span class="spp00">And fell you, though you were a Lord,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>and justify the deed</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It lends more yeeres unto old age,</span> -<span class="spp01">than ere was lent by nature;</span> -<span class="spp00">It makes the poet’s fancy rage,</span> -<span class="spp01">more than Castalian water. <span class="xxpn" id="p305">{305}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make a huntsman chase a fox,</span> -<span class="spp01">and never winde his horne;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill cheer a tinker in the stockes,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>this little barley-corn</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It is the only Will o’ th’ Wisp</span> -<span class="spp01">which leades men from the way;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make the tongue-ti’d lawyer lisp,</span> -<span class="spp01">and nought but (hic up) say.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make the Steward droope and stoop,</span> -<span class="spp01">his bils he then will scorne,</span> -<span class="spp00">And at each post cast his reckoning up,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>this little barley-corn</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make a man grow jealous soone,</span> -<span class="spp01">whose pretty wife goes trim,</span> -<span class="spp00">And raile at the deceiving moone</span> -<span class="spp01">for making hornes at him:</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make the maidens trimly dance,</span> -<span class="spp01">and take it in no scorne,</span> -<span class="spp00">And helpe them to a friend by chance,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>this little barley-corn</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It is the neatest serving-man,</span> -<span class="spp01">to entertaine a friend;</span> -<span class="spp00">It will doe more than money can</span> -<span class="spp01">all jarring suits to end:</span> -<span class="spp00">There’s life in it, and it is here,</span> -<span class="spp01">’tis here within this cup;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then take your liquor, doe not spare,</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>but cleare carouse it up</i>.</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<p class="pcontinue">To this ballad there is a second part -to much the same effect. We give the illustration and a few -verses. Both parts are in the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The Second Part of the Little Barley-corne</span> -<span class="spp00">That cheereth the heart both evening and morne.</span> -</div><div><i>To the same tune.</i></div></div> - -<div class="dctr02" id="p306"> -<img src="images/p306.png" width="583" height="317" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">If sicknesse come, this physick take,</span> -<span class="spp01">it from your heart will set it;</span> -<span class="spp00">If feare incroach, take more of it,</span> -<span class="spp01">your head will soone forget it;</span> -<span class="spp00">Apollo, and the Muses nine,</span> -<span class="spp01">doe take it in no scorne;</span> -<span class="spp00">There’s no such stuffe to passe the time</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>as the little Barley-corne</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make a weeping widdow laugh</span> -<span class="spp01">and soone incline to pleasure;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make an old man leave his staffe</span> -<span class="spp01">and dance a youthful measure:</span> -<span class="spp00">And though your clothes be nere so bad</span> -<span class="spp01">all ragged rent and torne,</span> -<span class="spp00">Against the cold you may be clad</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>with the little Barley-corne</i>.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">Thus the Barley-Corne hath power</span> -<span class="spp01">even for to change our nature,</span> -<span class="spp00">And make a shrew, within an houre,</span> -<span class="spp01">prove a kind-hearted creature:</span> -<span class="spp00">And therefore here, I say againe,</span> -<span class="spp01">let no man tak’t in scorne,</span> -<span class="spp00">That I the vertues doe proclaime</span> -<span class="spp01"><i>of the little Barley-corne</i>.”</span> -</div> -<span class="poemcite">Printed at London for E. B.</span></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<div class="section"> -<p>The following song in praise of ale is taken from -<i>London Chanticleers</i>, a rude sketch of a play printed in -1659, but evidently much older. The <span class="xxpn" -id="p307">{307}</span> reference to being “without hops” -in the verse vii. is noticeable. It will be remembered that -the ale which our forefathers drank was made without hops, -which “pernicious weeds” were only used in the “Dutchman’s -strong beere.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">I.</p> -<span class="spp00">Submit, Bunch of Grapes,</span> -<span class="spp00">To the strong Barley ear;</span> -<span class="spp00">The weak wine no longer</span> -<span class="spp00">The laurel shall wear.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">II.</p> -<span class="spp00">Sack, and all drinks else,</span> -<span class="spp00">Desist from the strife:</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale’s the only Aqua Vitæ,</span> -<span class="spp00">And liquor of life.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">III.</p> -<span class="spp00">Then come my boon fellows,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let’s drink it around;</span> -<span class="spp00">It keeps us from grave,</span> -<span class="spp00">Though it lays us on ground.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">IIII.</p> -<span class="spp00">Ale’s a Physician,</span> -<span class="spp00">No Mountebank Bragger:</span> -<span class="spp00">Can cure the chill Ague,</span> -<span class="spp00">Though it be with the Stagger.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">V.</p> -<span class="spp00">Ale’s a strong Wrestler,</span> -<span class="spp00">Flings all it hath met;</span> -<span class="spp00">And makes the ground slippery,</span> -<span class="spp00">Though it be not wet.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">VI.</p> -<span class="spp00">Ale is both Ceres</span> -<span class="spp00">And good Neptune too;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale’s froth was the sea,</span> -<span class="spp00">From which Venus grew.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">VII.</p> -<span class="spp00">Ale is immortal:</span> -<span class="spp00">And be there no stops</span> -<span class="spp00">In bonny lad’s quaffing,</span> -<span class="spp00">Can live without hops.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst" id="p308">VIII.</p> -<span class="spp00">Then come my boon fellows,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let’s drink it around:</span> -<span class="spp00">It keeps us from grave,</span> -<span class="spp00">Though it lays us on ground.</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<p>The ballad entitled the <i>Merry Hoastess</i> is probably of an earlier -date than 1664. It bears the initials T. R., and was, perhaps, composed -by Thomas Randal. The tune to which it was sung is a capital one, -and is to be found in Mr. William Chappell’s <i>Popular Music</i>. This -ballad is in the first volume of the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="dctr03">THE MERRY HOASTESS<br /> -or<br /> -A pretty new Ditty, compos’d by an -Hoastess that lives in the City,</div> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">To wrong such an Hoastess it were a great Pitty,</span> -<span class="spp00">By reason she caused this pretty new Ditty.</span> -</div><div>To the tune of <i>Buffcoat has no fellow</i>.</div></div> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p308.png" width="397" height="576" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft" id="p309"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come all that loves good company,</span> -<span class="spp01">and hearken to my ditty,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis of a lovely Hoastess fine,</span> -<span class="spp01">that lives in London City;</span> -<span class="spp00">Which sells good ale, nappy and stale,</span> -<span class="spp01">and alwayes thus sings she,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d, when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her ale is lively, strong and stout,</span> -<span class="spp01">if you please but to taste;</span> -<span class="spp00">It is well brew’d you need not fear,</span> -<span class="spp01">but I pray you make no waste:</span> -<span class="spp00">It is lovely brown, the best in town,</span> -<span class="spp01">and alwayes thus sings she,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The gayest lady with her fan,</span> -<span class="spp01">doth love such nappy ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Both city maids and country girls</span> -<span class="spp01">that carries the milking pail:</span> -<span class="spp00">Will take a touch and not think much</span> -<span class="spp01">to sing so merrily,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Both lord and esquire hath a desire</span> -<span class="spp01">unto it night and day,</span> -<span class="spp00">For a quart or two be it old or new,</span> -<span class="spp01">and for it they will pay,</span> -<span class="spp00">With pipe in hand, they may her command</span> -<span class="spp01">to sing most merrily,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">You’r welcome all brave gentlemen,</span> -<span class="spp01">if you please to come in,</span> -<span class="spp00">To take a cup I do intend,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a health for to begin:</span> -<span class="spp00">To all the merry joval blades,</span> -<span class="spp01">that will sing for company,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee. -<span class="xxpn" id="p310">{310}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s a health to all brave Englishmen,</span> -<span class="spp01">that loves this cup of ale;</span> -<span class="spp00">Let every man fill up his can,</span> -<span class="spp01">and see that none do fail;</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis very good to nourish the blood,</span> -<span class="spp01">and make you sing with me,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="dctr03"><span class="smcap">S<b>ECOND</b></span> - <span class="smcap">P<b>ART</b>.</span></div> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p310.png" width="408" height="491" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The bonny Scot will lay a plot</span> -<span class="spp01">to get a handsome tutch</span> -<span class="spp00">Of this my ale, so good and stale,</span> -<span class="spp01">so will the cunning Dutch:</span> -<span class="spp00">They will take a part with all their heart,</span> -<span class="spp01">to sing this tune with me,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It will make the Irish cry A-hone!</span> -<span class="spp01">if they but take their fill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And put them all quite out of tune</span> -<span class="spp01">let them use their chiefest skill. <span class="xxpn" id="p311">{311}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So strong and stout it will hold out</span> -<span class="spp01">in any company,</span> -<span class="spp00">For my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Welchman on St. David’s day</span> -<span class="spp01">will cry, Cots plutter a nail,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hur will hur ferry quite away,</span> -<span class="spp01">from off that nappy ale;</span> -<span class="spp00">It makes hur foes with hur red nose,</span> -<span class="spp01">hur seldom can agree,</span> -<span class="spp00">But my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Spaniard stout will have a bout,</span> -<span class="spp01">’cause he hath store of gold,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till at the last, he is laid fast,</span> -<span class="spp01">my ale doth him so hold:</span> -<span class="spp00">His ponyard strong is laid along,</span> -<span class="spp01">yet he is good company,</span> -<span class="spp00">For my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There’s never a tradesman in England,</span> -<span class="spp01">that can my ale deny,</span> -<span class="spp00">The weaver, taylor and glover</span> -<span class="spp01">delights it for to buy,</span> -<span class="spp00">Small money they do take away,</span> -<span class="spp01">if that they drink with me,</span> -<span class="spp00">For my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There is Smug the honest Blacksmith,</span> -<span class="spp01">he seldom can pass be,</span> -<span class="spp00">Because a spark lies in his throat</span> -<span class="spp01">which makes him very dry:</span> -<span class="spp00">But my old ale tells him his tale,</span> -<span class="spp01">so finely we agree,</span> -<span class="spp00">For my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The brewer, baker and butcher,</span> -<span class="spp01">as well as all the rest, <span class="xxpn" id="p312">{312}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Both night and day will watch where they</span> -<span class="spp01">may find ale of the best:</span> -<span class="spp00">And the gentle craft will come full oft,</span> -<span class="spp01">to drink a cup with me,</span> -<span class="spp00">For my ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">So to conclude good fellows all,</span> -<span class="spp01">I bid you all adieu,</span> -<span class="spp00">If that you love a cup of ale,</span> -<span class="spp01">take rather old than new,</span> -<span class="spp00">For if you come where I do dwell,</span> -<span class="spp01">and chance to drink with me,</span> -<span class="spp00">My ale was tunn’d when I was young,</span> -<span class="spp01">and a little above my knee.</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<p>The following poem in praise of Yorkshire Ale was written in the -seventeenth century. The author is given on the title page as -“G. M. Gent.” The little volume, somewhat rare nowadays, was -printed at York in 1697, by F. White, for Francis Hildyard, at the -sign of the Bible in Stone Gate.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem38"> -<div class="dctr03">THE PRAISE OF YORKSHIRE ALE<br /> -Wherein is enumerated several sorts of Drink, and a -Description of the Humors of most sorts of Drunkards.<br /> -To<br /> -Which is added, a Yorkshire Dialogue, in its pure -natural Dialect, as it is now commonly spoken in the North -parts of Yorkshire.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bacchus having called a Parliament of late,</span> -<span class="spp00">For to consult about some things of state,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nearly concerning the honour of his Court</span> -<span class="spp00">To the Sun, behind th’ Exchange, they did resort:</span> -<span class="spp00">Where being met, and many things that time</span> -<span class="spp00">Concerning the Adulterating Wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">And other liquors; selling of Ale in Muggs,</span> -<span class="spp00">Silver Tankards, Black-Pots, and little Jugs:</span> -<span class="spp00">Stronge Beer in Rabits, and cheating penny cans,</span> -<span class="spp00">Three pipes for two pence and such like Trepans:</span> -<span class="spp00">Vintners’ small bottles, silver-mouthed black Jacks, - <span class="xxpn" id="p313">{313}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And many other things were there debated,</span> -<span class="spp00">And Bills passed upon the cases stated;</span> -<span class="spp00">And all things ready for Adjournment, then</span> -<span class="spp00">Stood up one of the Northern countrymen,</span> -<span class="spp00">A boon good fellow, and lover of strong Ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whose tongue well steep’d in Sack begun this Tale.</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>My - bully Rocks, I’ve been experienced long</span> -<span class="spp00">In most of liquors, which are counted strong;</span> -<span class="spp00">Of Claret, White-wine and Canary Sack,</span> -<span class="spp00">Renish and Malago, I’ve had no lack,</span> -<span class="spp00">Sider, Perry, Metheglin, and Sherbet,</span> -<span class="spp00">Coffee and Mead, with Punch and Chocolet:</span> -<span class="spp00">Rum and Tea, Azora wine, Mederry,</span> -<span class="spp00">Vin-de-Paree, Brag, wine with Rosemary:</span> -<span class="spp00">Stepony, Usquebath, besides all these,</span> -<span class="spp00">Aqua Cœlestis Cinnamon, Heart’s ease;</span> -<span class="spp00">Brave Rosa Solis, and other Liquors fine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Rasberry Wine, Pur-royal, and Shampine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Malmsey and Viper-wine, all these I pass;</span> -<span class="spp00">Frontineack; with excellent Ipocras:</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Tent, - Muskatine, Brandy and Alicant</span> -<span class="spp00">Of all these liquors I’ve had no scant,</span> -<span class="spp00">And several others; but none do I find,</span> -<span class="spp00">Like humming Northern Ale to pleas my mind,</span> -<span class="spp00">It’s pleasant to the taste, strong and mellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">He that affects it not, is no boon fellow.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>It - warms in winter, in summer opes the pores,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill make a Sovereign Salve ’gainst cuts and sores;</span> -<span class="spp00">It ripens wit, exhillerates the mind,</span> -<span class="spp00">Makes friends of foes, and foes of friends full kind;</span> -<span class="spp00">It’s physical for old men, warms their blood,</span> -<span class="spp00">Its spirits makes the Coward’s courage good:</span> -<span class="spp00">The tatter’d Beggar being warmed with Ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor rain, hail, frost, nor snow can him assail,</span> -<span class="spp00">He’s a good man with him can then compare,</span> -<span class="spp00">It makes a Prentise great as the Lord Mayor;</span> -<span class="spp00">The Labouring man, that toiles all day full sore,</span> -<span class="spp00">A pot of ale at night, doth him restore, <span class="xxpn" id="p314">{314}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And makes him all his toil and paines forget,</span> -<span class="spp00">And for another day’s work, hee’s then fit.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Oh - the rare virtues of this Barly Broth;</span> -<span class="spp00">To rich and poor it’s Meat Drink and Cloth.”</span> -<span class="spp00">The Court here stopt him, and the Prince did say,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Where - can we find this Nectar, I thee pray,”</span> -<span class="spp00">The boon good fellow answered, “I can tell,</span> -<span class="spp00">North Allerton in Yorkshire doth excell</span> -<span class="spp00">All England, nay all Europe for strong Ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">If thither we adjourn we shall not fail</span> -<span class="spp00">To taste such humming stuff, as, I dare say,</span> -<span class="spp00">Your Highness never tasted to this day.”</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<p class="pcontinue">Bacchus’ Court -then adjourns to North Allerton, and imbibes the -noble ale kept at Madame Bradley’s, with this -<span class="nowrap">result:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem34"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">For arguments some were and learned discourses,</span> -<span class="spp00">Som talk’d of greyhounds, som of running horses,</span> -<span class="spp00">Som talk’d of hounds, and some of Cock o’ th game,</span> -<span class="spp00">Som nought but hawks, and setting dogs did name,</span> -<span class="spp00">Som talk’d of Battels, Sieges and great wars,</span> -<span class="spp00">And what great Wounds and cutts they had and scars,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some there were all for drinking healths about,</span> -<span class="spp00">Others did rub the table with their Snout</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some broke the pipes, and round about them threw,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some smoak’d tobacco till their nose was blew.</span> -<span class="spp00">Some called for victuals others for a crust,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some op’d their Buttons and were like to bust,</span> -<span class="spp00">Som challeng’d all the people that were there</span> -<span class="spp00">And some with strange invented oaths did sweer,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some fill’d the room with noise yet could not speak,</span> -<span class="spp00">One word of English, Latine, French and Greek</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some burnt their Hats, others the Windowes broke,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some cry’d more liquor we are like to choke,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /> <span class="xxpn" id="p315">{315}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Lame gouty men did dance about so sprightly,</span> -<span class="spp00">A boy of fifteen scarce could skip so lightly,</span> -<span class="spp00">Old crampy Capts. that scarce a sword could draw,</span> -<span class="spp00">Swore now they’d keep the King of France in awe,</span> -<span class="spp00">And new commissions get to raise more men,</span> -<span class="spp00">For now they swore they were grown young again;</span> -<span class="spp00">Off went their Perriwigs, Coats and Rapers,</span> -<span class="spp00">Out went the candles, Noses for Tapers</span> -<span class="spp00">Serv’d to give light, while they did daunce around,</span> -<span class="spp00">Drinking full healthes with caps upon the ground:</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">This moved Bacchus presently to call</span> -<span class="spp00">For a great jug which held about five quarts,</span> -<span class="spp00">And filling to the Brim; come here my hearts</span> -<span class="spp00">Said he, wee’l drink about this merry health,</span> -<span class="spp00">To th’ honour of the Town, their state, their wealth,</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">And for the sake of this good nappy ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of my great favour it shall never fail,</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">Bacchus -and his party having once tasted the ale, drink all the casks -<span class="nowrap">out―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp05">then out they pull’d the Taps</span> -<span class="spp00">And stuck the Spiddocks finely in their hats,</span> -</div></div></div> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p class="pcontinue">The Court then adjourns to -<span class="nowrap">Easingwold―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">With Nanny Driffield there to drink a glass</span> -<span class="spp00">For Bacchus having heard of her strong ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">He swore by Jupiter, he would not fail</span> -<span class="spp00">To have a merry bout if he did find</span> -<span class="spp00">Her nappy ale to please his princely Mind;</span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Bacchus -is so delighted with the ale that he grants her letters -patent.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Bacchus Prince of good fellows; To all to whom</span> -<span class="spp00">These our brave letters Pattents shall now come,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whereas wee’ve been informed now of late,</span> -<span class="spp00">That Nanny Driffield our great court and state</span> -<span class="spp00">For many years last past has much advanced</span> -<span class="spp00">By her strong humming ale. . . .</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /> <span class="xxpn" id="p316">{316}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">This land-lady unto the noble state,</span> -<span class="spp00">And honour of a countess we create;</span> -<span class="spp00">And by our merry fuddling subjects, she</span> -<span class="spp00">Countess of Stingo henceforth call’d shall be.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Some townsmen -then come in, and a contest is arranged between the -ale-drinkers and the wine-drinkers, in which the latter are of course -worsted.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">1</p> - -<span class="spp00">Colonus and Bacchus did meet</span> -<span class="spp00">Each one to commend his own liquor;</span> -<span class="spp00">The Juice of the Grape was sweet;</span> -<span class="spp00">But Barly Oyle ran down the quicker;</span> -<span class="spp00">Colonus did challenge the Gods,</span> -<span class="spp00">To fight in defence of his Barley,</span> -<span class="spp00">But Bacchus perceiving the odds,</span> -<span class="spp00">Desir’d a friendly parley.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">2</p> - -<span class="spp00">They drunk full Bumpers about,</span> -<span class="spp00">And Bacchus an health did begin,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Bacchanalians gave a great shout,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Colonians then thronged fast in:</span> -<span class="spp00">They drunk double Tankards around,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till the Grape Boyes begun for to glore,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Rusticks neer flinch’d their ground,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till Bacchus fell down to the Floor.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="pfirst">3</p> - -<span class="spp00">Colonus did heartily laugh,</span> -<span class="spp00">And about the God they did daunce,</span> -<span class="spp00">Full pots about they did quaff:</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilest Bacchus lay still in a Trance;</span> -<span class="spp00">The grape boyes were beat out of play,</span> -<span class="spp00">And at length poor Bacchus did rise;</span> -<span class="spp00">To Colonus he yielded the day,</span> -<span class="spp00">So the Rusticks obtainèd the Prize.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Bacchus, -on coming to, adjourns his court to York, where they again -<span class="nowrap">taste―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Both from North Allerton and Easingwold,</span> -<span class="spp00">From Sutton, Thirke, likewise from Rascal Town,</span> -<span class="spp00">. . . Ale also that’s called <span class="nowrap">Knocker-down—</span></span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /> <span class="xxpn" id="p317">{317}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">They tasted all; And swore they were full glad,</span> -<span class="spp00">Such Stingoe, Nappy, pure ale they had found,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let’s loose no time said they but drink around.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The Yorkshire Ale, -however, proves too strong for Bacchus and his -Court, and a final adjournment South is made, -<span class="nowrap">though―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">Bacchus swore to come he would not fail</span> -<span class="spp00">To glut himself with Yorkshire nappy ale.</span> -<span class="spp00">It is so pleasant, mellow too and fine,</span> -<span class="spp00">That Bacchus swore hee’d never more drink wine.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Those who wish to peruse the “Yorkshire Dialogue in its pure -natural Dialect” are referred to the British Museum.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem30"> -<p>In the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i> are nineteen ballads by Lawrence -Price, a celebrated writer of the time of Charles I. He wrote chap-books, -riddles, and political squibs in rhyme. The following rollicking -drinking song is from his pen. Only one copy of it is known to be in -existence.</p> - -<div class="padtopb">GOOD ALE FOR MY MONEY.</div> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The Good-fellowes resolution of strong Ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">That cures his nose from looking pale.</span> -</div> -<div>To the tune of <i>The Countrey Lasse</i>.</div></div> - -<div class="dctr05"> -<img src="images/p317.png" width="354" height="507" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft" id="p318"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Be merry my friends, and list a while</span> -<span class="spp01">unto a merry jest,</span> -<span class="spp00">It may from you produce a smile</span> -<span class="spp01">when you hear it exprest,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of a younge man lately married,</span> -<span class="spp01">which was a boone good fellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">This song in ’s head he alwaies carried,</span> -<span class="spp01">when drinke had made him mellow,</span> -<span class="spp00">I cannot go home, nor I will not go home</span> -<span class="spp01">its long of the oyle of Barly;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ile tarry all night for my delight,</span> -<span class="spp01">and go home in the morning early.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">No tapster stout, or Vintner fine</span> -<span class="spp01">quoth he shall euer get</span> -<span class="spp00">One groat out of this purse of mine</span> -<span class="spp01">to pay his master’s debt:</span> -<span class="spp00">Why should I deal with sharking Rookes,</span> -<span class="spp01">that seeke poore gulls to cozen,</span> -<span class="spp00">To giue twelue pence for a quart of wine,</span> -<span class="spp01">of ale ’twill buy a dozen.</span> -<p class="pright">’Twill make me sing, I cannot, &c.</p> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The old renowned Ipocrist</span> -<span class="spp01">and Raspie doth excell,</span> -<span class="spp00">But neuer any wine could yet</span> -<span class="spp01">my honour please to swell,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Rhenish wine or Muskadine,</span> -<span class="spp01">sweet Malmsie is too fulsome</span> -<span class="spp00">No giue me a cup of Barlie broth,</span> -<span class="spp01">for that is very wholesome,</span> -<p class="pright">’Twill make me sing, I cannot, &c.</p> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Hot waters ar to me as death,</span> -<span class="spp01">and soone the head oreturneth,</span> -<span class="spp00">And Nectar hath so strong a breath</span> -<span class="spp01">Canary when it burneth,</span> -<span class="spp00">It cures no paine but breaks the braine,</span> -<span class="spp01">and raps out oaths and curses,</span> -<span class="spp00">And makes men part with heauiy heart,</span> -<span class="spp01">but light it makes their purses,</span> -<span class="sppctr">I cannot go home, &c. - <span class="xxpn" id="p319">{319}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some say Metheglin beares the name,</span> -<span class="spp01">with Perry and sweet Sider,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twill bring the body out of frame,</span> -<span class="spp01">and reach the belly wider</span> -<span class="spp00">Which to preuent I am content</span> -<span class="spp01">with ale that’s good and nappie,</span> -<span class="spp00">And when thereof I haue enough</span> -<span class="spp01">I thinke myself most happy.</span> -<span class="sppctr">I cannot go home, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">All sorts of men when they do meet</span> -<span class="spp01">both trade and occupation,</span> -<span class="spp00">With curtesie each other greet,</span> -<span class="spp01">and kinde humiliation;</span> -<span class="spp00">A good coale fire is their desire,</span> -<span class="spp01">whereby to sit and parly</span> -<span class="spp00">Theyle drink their ale and tell a tale,</span> -<span class="spp01">and go home in the morning early.</span> -<span class="sppctr">I cannot go home, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Your domineering swaggering blades,</span> -<span class="spp01">and caualiers that flashes,</span> -<span class="spp00">That throw the Jugs against the walls</span> -<span class="spp01">and break in peeces glasses</span> -<span class="spp00">When Bacchus round cannot be found</span> -<span class="spp01">they will in merriment</span> -<span class="spp00">Drinke ale and beere and cast of care</span> -<span class="spp01">and sing with one consent</span> -<span class="sppctr">I cannot goe home, &c.</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<div class="section dwthem38"> -<p>The title-page of the following poem tells its -<span class="nowrap">history:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE COMMENDATION OF THE -VERTUE OF A POT OF GOOD ALE.</div> -<hr class="hr08" /> -<div>Full of wit without offence, of mirth without - obscenities, of pleasure without scurrelitie and of good - content without distaste</div> -<hr class="hr08" /> -<div id="p320">Whereunto is added the valiant battell - fought betweene the Norfolk Cock and the Wisbich Cock.</div> -<hr class="hr08" /> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p320.png" width="440" height="339" alt="" /></div> -<div class="dcaption"> -<div>Written by Thomas Randall.</div> -<div>London:</div> -<div>Printed for F. Cowles; T. Bates; and J. Wright.</div> -<div><span class="smmaj">MDCXLII</span></div></div> - -<div class="padtopb">THE HIGH AND MIGHTIE - COMMENDATION OF THE VERTUE OF A POT OF GOOD ALE.</div> -<hr class="hr08" /> - -<div class="dpoemlft padtopc"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Not drunk nor sober, (but neighbour to both,)</span> -<span class="spp00">I met with a friend in Alesberry vale;</span> -<span class="spp00">He saw by my face, that I was in the case,</span> -<span class="spp00">To speak no great harm of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And as we did meet, and friendly did greet,</span> -<span class="spp00">He put me in mind of the name of the Dale,</span> -<span class="spp00">That for <i>Alesberries</i> sake, some paines I would take,</span> -<span class="spp00">And not burie the praise of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The more to procure me, then did he adjure me,</span> -<span class="spp00">(If the <i>ale</i> I drank last, were nappie and stale,)</span> -<span class="spp00">To doe it its right, and stir up my spright,</span> -<span class="spp00">And fall to commend a Pot of Good Ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p321">{321}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Quoth I, to commend it, I dare not begin,</span> -<span class="spp00">Lest therein my cunning might happen to faile,</span> -<span class="spp00">For many there be that count it a sin,</span> -<span class="spp00">But once to look towards a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Yet I care not a pin, for I see no such sin,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor any else that my courage may quaile,</span> -<span class="spp00">For this I do find, being taken in kind,</span> -<span class="spp00">Much vertue there is in a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When heavinesse the mind doth oppresse,</span> -<span class="spp00">And sorrow and griefe the heart doth assaile,</span> -<span class="spp00">No remedy quicker but take up your liquour,</span> -<span class="spp00">And wash away care with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Priest and the Clark, whose sights are dark,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the print of the letter doth seeme too small,</span> -<span class="spp00">They will con every letter, and read service better,</span> -<span class="spp00">If they glaze but their eyes with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Poet divine, that cannot reach wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Because that his money doth oftentimes faile,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will hit on the veine, and reach the high straine,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he be but inspired with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">All writers of Ballads, for such whose mishap</span> -<span class="spp00">From Newgate up Holbourne to Tyburne doe saile,</span> -<span class="spp00">Shall have sudden expression of all their confession,</span> -<span class="spp00">If the Muse be but dew’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Prisoner that is enclos’d in the grate,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will shake off remembrance of bondage and jaile,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of hunger or cold, or fetters or fate,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he pickle himself with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Salamander Blacksmith that lives by the fire,</span> -<span class="spp00">While his Bellowes are puffing a blustring gale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will shake off his full Kan, and sweare each true Vulcan,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will Hazzard his witts for a Pot of Good Ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p322">{322}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The woer that feareth his suit to begin,</span> -<span class="spp00">And blushes, and simpers, and often looks pale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thogh he miss in his speech and his heart were at his breech,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he liquors his tongue: with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Widdow, that buried her husband of late,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will soon have forgotten to weep and to waile;</span> -<span class="spp00">And think every day twaine, till she marry againe,</span> -<span class="spp00">If she read the contents of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Plowman and Carter that toyles all the day,</span> -<span class="spp00">And tires himself quite at the Plough-taile,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will speak no lesse things, than of Queens and Kings,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he do but make bold with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And indeed it will make a man suddenly wise,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ere while was scarce able to tell a right tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">It will open his Jaw, he will tell you the Law,</span> -<span class="spp00">And straight be a Bencher with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I doe further alledge, it is fortitudes edge,</span> -<span class="spp00">For a very Coward that shrinks like a Snaile,</span> -<span class="spp00">Will sweare and will swagger, and out goes his Dagger,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he be but well arm’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The naked man taketh no care for a coat,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor on the cold weather will once turne his taile,</span> -<span class="spp00">All the way as he goes, cut the wind with his nose,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he be but well lin’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The hungrie man seldome can mind his meat,</span> -<span class="spp00">(Though his Stomach could brook a Ten Penny Nail,)</span> -<span class="spp00">He quite forgets hunger, thinks of it no longer,</span> -<span class="spp00">If his guts be but sows’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Reaper, the Mower, the Thresher, the Sower,</span> -<span class="spp00">The one with his Sithe, and the other with his flaille,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pull ’em out by the pole, on the perill of my sole,</span> -<span class="spp00">They will hold up their caps at a Pot of Good Ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p323">{323}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Beggar, whose portion is alwayes his Prayer,</span> -<span class="spp00">Not having a tatter, to hang at his taille,</span> -<span class="spp00">Is as rich in his rags, as a Churle with his bags,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he be but entic’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It puts his povertie out of his mind,</span> -<span class="spp00">Forgetting his browne bread, his wallet, his maile,</span> -<span class="spp00">He walks in the house like a six footed Lowse,</span> -<span class="spp00">If he be but well drench’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Souldier, the Saylor, the true man, the Taylor,</span> -<span class="spp00">The Lawyer that sels words by weight and by tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Take them all as they are, for the War or the Bar,</span> -<span class="spp00">They all will approve of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Church and Religion to love it hath cause,</span> -<span class="spp00">(Or else our Fore-fathers, their wisdomes did faile,)</span> -<span class="spp00">For at every mile, close at the Church stile,</span> -<span class="spp00">An house is ordain’d for a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And Physick will flavour <i>Ale</i> (as it is bound)</span> -<span class="spp00">And stand against Beere both tooth and naile,</span> -<span class="spp00">They send up and downe, all over the towne,</span> -<span class="spp00">To get for their Patients a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Your Ale-berries, Cawdles, and Possets each one,</span> -<span class="spp00">And sullabubs made at the milking pale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Although they be many, Beere comes not in any,</span> -<span class="spp00">But all are compos’d with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And in very deed, the Hop’s but a weed,</span> -<span class="spp00">Brought o’re ’gainst law, and here set to sale;</span> -<span class="spp00">He that first brought the Hop, had reward with a rope,</span> -<span class="spp00">And found that his Beere was bitter than ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The antient tales that my Grannam hath told,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the mirth she had in Parlour and Hall,</span> -<span class="spp00">How in Christmas time, they would dance, sing, and rime,</span> -<span class="spp00">As if they were mad, with a Pot of Good Ale. <span class="xxpn" id="p324">{324}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Beere is a stranger, a Dutch Upstart come,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whose credit with us, sometimes is but small;</span> -<span class="spp00">But in the records of the Empire of Rome,</span> -<span class="spp00">The old Catholic drink is a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To the praise of Gambinius, the old British King,</span> -<span class="spp00">Who devised for his nation (by the Welshmen’s tale),</span> -<span class="spp00">Seventeene hundred years before Christ did spring,</span> -<span class="spp00">The happie invention of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But he was a Pagan, and Ale then was rife,</span> -<span class="spp00">But after Christ came, and bade us, <i>All haile,</i></span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Saint Tavie was neffer trink peere in her life,</i></span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Put awle Callywhiblin</i>, and excellent Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">All religions and nations, their humours and fashions</span> -<span class="spp00">Rich or poore, knave or whoore, dwarfish or tall</span> -<span class="spp00">Sheep or shrew, Ile avow, well I know will all bow,</span> -<span class="spp00">If they be but wel steep’d, with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">O Ale, <i>ab alendo</i>, thou liquor of life,</span> -<span class="spp00">I wish that my mouth were as big as a Whale,</span> -<span class="spp00">But then ’twere to little, to reach thy least title,</span> -<span class="spp00">That belongs to the Praise of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus many a vertue to you I have showed,</span> -<span class="spp00">And not any vice in all this long tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">But after the Pot, there commeth a shot,</span> -<span class="spp00">And that is the Blot of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Well, said my friend, the blot I will beare,</span> -<span class="spp00">You have done very well, it is time to strike saile,</span> -<span class="spp00">We’ll have six Pots more, though we dye on the score,</span> -<span class="spp00">To make all <i>this good</i> of a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">We may -be pardoned for omitting “the valiant battell fought -between the Norfolk Cock and the Wisbich Cock.”</p> -</div><!--section--> - -<div class="section dwthem38"> -<p>Returning again to the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>. <i>A Health to all Good -Fellowes</i> is a very quaint old drinking song, having beneath its title a -wood-cut no less quaint than the letterpress. It was printed about the -commencement of the seventeenth century, for Henry Gossen. The -author is unknown; possibly he was Martin Parker -or Lawrence Price. <span class="xxpn" id="p325">{325}</span> -No copy beyond that in the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i> is known to be in -existence. The tune is a good one.</p> - -<div class="padtopb">A HEALTH TO ALL GOOD-FELLOWES:</div> - -<div>or,</div> - -<div>The good Companions Arithmeticke.</div> - -<div>To the tune of <i>To drive cold Winter away</i>.</div> - -<div class="dctr02"> -<img src="images/p325.png" width="593" height="364" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Be merry my hearts, and call for your quarts,</span> -<span class="spp01">and let no liquor go lacking,</span> -<span class="spp00">We have gold in store, we purpose to roar</span> -<span class="spp01">until we set care a packing.</span> -<span class="spp00">Then Hostis make haste, and let no time waste,</span> -<span class="spp01">let every man have his due,</span> -<span class="spp00">To save shooes and trouble, bring in the pots double</span> -<span class="spp01">for he that made one, made two.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn63" id="fnanc63">63</a></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Then while we are here, wee’le drinke Ale and Beer,</span> -<span class="spp01">and freely our money wee’le spend,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let no man take care for paying his share,</span> -<span class="spp01">if need be Ile pay for my friend,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then Hostesse make haste, and let no time waste;</span> -<span class="spp01">you’re welcome all kind Gentlemen; <span class="xxpn" id="p326">{326}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Never feare to carowse, while there is beere in the house,</span> -<span class="spp01">for he that made nine made ten.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now I thinke it is fit, and most requisit,</span> -<span class="spp01">to drinke a health to our wives,</span> -<span class="spp00">The which being done, wee’le pay and be gone,</span> -<span class="spp01">strong drinke all our wits now deprives:</span> -<span class="spp00">Then Hostesse lets know, the summe that we owe,</span> -<span class="spp01">twelve pence there is for certaine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then fill t’other pot, and here’s money for’t,</span> -<span class="spp01">for he that made twelve made thirteen.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The poet was probably at a loss for a word to rhyme with fourteen, -or the ballad would have been longer.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc63" id="fn63">63</a> -The “he that made” is probably the brewer. The numbers -increase by ones in the last line of each verse, the last verse reaching -thirteen.</p></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<div class="section dwthem38"> -<p>Another song of much the same character is <i>Monday’s Work</i>, the -work being no work at all, but a day spent at the alehouse. The only -known copy of this ballad is in the <i>Roxburghe Collection</i>. The author -is unknown.</p> - -<div class="padtopb">MONDAYS WORK</div> - -<div>or</div> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">The Two honest neighbours both birds of a feather</span> -<span class="spp00">Who are at the Alehouse both merry together.</span> -</div></div> -<div>To the tune of <i>I owe my Hostesse Money</i>.</div> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p326.png" width="478" height="426" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="dpoemlft" id="p327"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Good morow neighbour Gamble</span> -<span class="spp00">Come let you and I goe ramble,</span> -<span class="spp00">Last night I was shot,</span> -<span class="spp00">Through the braines with a pot</span> -<span class="spp02">and now my stomach doth wamble;</span> -<span class="spp00">Your Possets and your Caudles,</span> -<span class="spp00">Are fit for babies in Cradles;</span> -<span class="spp00">A piece of salt Hogge,</span> -<span class="spp00">And a haire of the old Dogge</span> -<span class="spp02">is good to cure our drunken Noddles.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Come hither mine host, come hither,</span> -<span class="spp00">Here’s two birds of a feather,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come hither my host</span> -<span class="spp00">With a pot and a tost,</span> -<span class="spp00">and let us be merry together.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I rose in the morning early,</span> -<span class="spp00">To take this juice of barly,</span> -<span class="spp00">But if my wife Jone,</span> -<span class="spp00">Knew where I were gone,</span> -<span class="spp02">shee’d call me to a Parley.</span> -<span class="spp00">My bones I do not fauour,</span> -<span class="spp00">But honestly doe labour:</span> -<span class="spp00">But when I am out</span> -<span class="spp00">I must make a mad bout</span> -<span class="spp02">come here’s halfe a pot to thee neighbour.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Come hither, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Gramarcy, neighbour Jinkin,</span> -<span class="spp00">I see thou louest no shrinking,</span> -<span class="spp00">And I for my part</span> -<span class="spp00">From thee will not start,</span> -<span class="spp02">come fill us a little more drinke in.</span> -<span class="spp00">I’th weeke we aske but one day,</span> -<span class="spp00">And that’s next after Sunday</span> -<span class="spp00">Our custome wee’le hold</span> -<span class="spp00">Although our Wiues scold</span> -<span class="spp02">the Maultman comes a Monday.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Come hither, &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Come let us haue our Liquor about us</span> -<span class="spp00">Mine host does not misdoubt us, - <span class="xxpn" id="p328">{328}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Yet if we should call,</span> -<span class="spp00">And pay none at all,</span> -<span class="spp02">you were better be without us:</span> -<span class="spp00">But we are no such fellowes,</span> -<span class="spp00">Though some in clothes excell us</span> -<span class="spp00">And yet haue no coyne</span> -<span class="spp00">For Liquor to joyne</span> -<span class="spp02">yet we haue both whites and yellowes.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Come hither, &c.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">There is -a second part to this song, which ends with the -<span class="nowrap">words:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now lest our wiues should find us</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis fit we should look behind us</span> -<span class="spp00">Let’s see what is done</span> -<span class="spp00">Then pay and begone,</span> -<span class="spp02">as honesty hath assigned us.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis strong ale I conceiue it</span> -<span class="spp00">’Tis good in time to leaue it</span> -<span class="spp00">Or else it will make</span> -<span class="spp00">Our foreheads to ake,</span> -<span class="spp02">’tis vanity to outbraue it.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Come hither, &c.</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--section--> - -<p>Coming now to works of a later date, the following comicality seems -worthy of reproduction. It is hardly necessary to point out that the -verses are a smart hit upon female ale-bibbers. They are attributed to -Samuel Bishop, M.A., rector of St. Stephen’s, Walbrook (1783). “A -worthy man and generally beloved,” says Dr. Hughson, LL.D., in his -<i>London</i>.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem26"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<div class="padtopb">QUOD PETIS HIC EST.</div> - -<span class="spp00">No plate had John and Joan to hoard,</span> -<span class="spp01">Plain folks in humble plight;</span> -<span class="spp00">One only tankard crown’d the board,</span> -<span class="spp01">And that was filled each night.</span> -<span class="spp00">Along whose inner bottom sketched</span> -<span class="spp01">In pride of chubby grace,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some rude engravers hand had etch’d</span> -<span class="spp01">A babys angels face,</span> -<span class="spp00">John swallowed first a moderate sup;</span> -<span class="spp01">But Joan was not like John; - <span class="xxpn" id="p329">{329}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">For when her lips once touched the cup,</span> -<span class="spp01">She swill’d till all was gone.</span> -<span class="spp00">John often urged her to drink fair,</span> -<span class="spp01">But she ne’er changed a jot;</span> -<span class="spp00">She loved to see that angel there,</span> -<span class="spp01">And therefore drain’d the pot.</span> -<span class="spp00">When John found all remonstrance vain,</span> -<span class="spp01">Another card he play’d;</span> -<span class="spp00">And where the angel stood so plain,</span> -<span class="spp01">He got a devil pourtrayed.</span> -<span class="spp00">John saw the horns, Joan saw the tail,</span> -<span class="spp01">Yet Joan as stoutly quaffed;</span> -<span class="spp00">And ever when she seized her ale</span> -<span class="spp01">She cleared it at a draught.</span> -<span class="spp00">John star’d with wonder petrify’d,</span> -<span class="spp01">His hairs rose on his pate;</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>And - Why dose guzzle now?” he cryd,</span> -<span class="spp01">“At - this enormous rate?”</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Oh, - John,” says she, “am I to blame,</span> -<span class="spp01">I can’t in conscience stop;</span> -<span class="spp00">For sure ’twould be a burning shame</span> -<span class="spp01">To leave the devil a drop.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A collection of ale ballads and songs would hardly be complete without -at least one on the “guid yill of Scotland.” Burns’ works are so -well known that we fall back upon a capital Scotch song written at the -close of the last century, and bearing the title <i>A Coggie O’ Yill</i>. The -author was Andrew Sheriffs of Shirrefs, at one time Editor of the -<i>Aberdeen Chronicle</i>. He also wrote a Scotch pastoral entitled <i>Jamie and -Bess</i>, which was published in 1787, and a second time in 1790. Burns, -in his Third <i>Northern Tour</i>, speaks of Sheriffs, who was a bookbinder -by trade, as “a little decrepit body with some abilities.” The words of -the song were set to music by a celebrated violin player, named Robert -Macintosh.</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<div class="padtopb">A COGGIE O’ YILL.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">A Coggie o’ Yill,</span> -<span class="spp02">And a pickle aitmeal,</span> -<span class="spp00">And a dainty wee drappie o’ whiskey,</span> -<span class="spp02">Was our forefathers dose,</span> -<span class="spp02">For to sweel down their brose</span> -<span class="spp00">And keep them aye cheery and friskey— <span class="xxpn" id="p330">{330}</span></span> -<span class="spp02">Then hey for the wiskey, and hey for the meal,</span> -<span class="spp02">And hey for the Cogie, and hey for the yill,</span> -<span class="spp02">Gin ye steer a’ thegither they’ll do unco weel,</span> -<span class="spp00">To keep a chiel cherry and brisk aye.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">When I see our Scots lads,</span> -<span class="spp02">Wi’ their kilts and cockauds,</span> -<span class="spp00">That sae often ha’e loundered our foes, man:</span> -<span class="spp02">I think to mysel’,</span> -<span class="spp02">On the meal and the yill,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the fruits o’ our Scottish Kail brose, man.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Then hey, &c., &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">Then our brave Highland blades,</span> -<span class="spp02">Wi’ their claymore and plaids,</span> -<span class="spp00">In the field drive like sheep a’ our foes, man:</span> -<span class="spp02">Their courage and <span class="nowrap">pow’r—</span></span> -<span class="spp02">Spring from this to be sure,</span> -<span class="spp00">They’re the noble effects o’ the brose, man.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Then hey, &c., &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But your spyndle-shank’d sparks</span> -<span class="spp02">Wha sae ill fill their sarks,</span> -<span class="spp00">Your pale-visaged milksops and beaux, man:</span> -<span class="spp02">I think when I see them,</span> -<span class="spp02">’Twere kindness to gie <span class="nowrap">them—</span></span> -<span class="spp00">A cogie o’ yill or o’ brose, man.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Then hey, &c., &c.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">What John Bull despises,</span> -<span class="spp02">Our better sense prizes,</span> -<span class="spp00">He denies eatin’ blanter ava, man;</span> -<span class="spp02">But by eatin o’ blanter,</span> -<span class="spp02">His mare’s grown, I’ll warrant her,</span> -<span class="spp00">The manliest brute o’ the twa, man.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Then hey, &c., &c.</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"><p>It would not be difficult to fill a volume of considerable size with -songs and ballads having ale or beer for their subject, but the foregoing, -together with many others to be found in these pages, are among the -best of their kind, and will doubtless give a fair idea of the poetry of -malt liquor.</p></div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p331a.png" width="144" height="47" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p331"> -<span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XII.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">“Blessing of your heart, - you brew good Ale.”</span></div> -<div class="poemcite"><i>Two Gentlemen of Verona.</i> Act iii., Sc. 1.</div> -</div></div> -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">“The bigger the - brewing the better the browst.”</span></div> -<div class="poemcite"><i>Old Yorkshire Proverb.</i></div> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>BREWING IN THE PRESENT -DAY. — ANECDOTAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF SOME -REPRESENTATIVE LONDON, DUBLIN, BURTON, AND COUNTRY BREWING -FIRMS. — EDINBURGH ALES.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" -src="images/p331b.png" width="228" height="231" alt="P" -/></span>ASSING on to modern times and bidding adieu to the -old brewers, brewsters, ale-wives, and tapsters, it behoves -us to devote ourselves to giving some account of the -brewing of the present day, thereby bringing our history -up to date. With this intent, we cannot do better than -commence with a few figures, startling enough, no doubt, to -others than the <i>cognoscenti</i>, as to the magnitude of what -are commonly called the Liquor Trades.</p> - -<p>From a report drawn up by Professor Leoni Levi in 1878, at the -request of the late Mr. M. T. Bass, M.P., and from recent Parliamentary -returns, it appears that the total amount of capital invested in the liquor -trades of the United Kingdom amounts to about one hundred and -seventeen million pounds sterling. This sum is equal to more than half -the total value of our exports, and is more than double the annual -receipts of all the railways. About one-third of the whole National -Revenue is drawn from this source.</p> - -<p>Making due allowance for families, the persons -employed directly in <span class="xxpn" id="p332">{332}</span> -the various trades connected with the production and distribution of -alcoholic drinks are not fewer in number than one and a half million.</p> - -<p>From these startling facts, it follows that teetotallers, before they -can accomplish the total abolition of spirituous liquors, must arrange for -either emigrating or giving employment to over a million persons, and -must be prepared to pay one-third more taxes than they do at present.</p> - -<p>It may be well, before proceeding further, to give a short and very -simple account of brewing as it is now carried on in nearly every brewhouse -in the country, for without a few general ideas on the subject -many of our readers would no doubt be a little puzzled by the references -to mashing tuns, vats, union rooms and such like, which occur in this -chapter.</p> - -<p>In brewing there are three principal operations: 1.—Mixing the -malt with hot water; 2.—Adding hops to the infusion obtained and -boiling them together; and 3.—Fermenting the liquid by putting yeast -in it.</p> - -<p>The malt when brought to the brewery is first screened to remove -dirt, dust and foreign particles; nails and other odds and ends of metal -being caught on a bar magnet over which the malt passes. It is then -crushed between rollers and, by an ingenious mechanical contrivance, -is carried to large bins or hoppers situated above the mash tuns, the -huge tubs in which the malt and hot (not boiling) water are mixed. -This process is called mashing, and was formerly done by merely stirring -water and malt together with a long oar or pole, a practice of course -still followed by home brewers.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">See, the welcome Brewhouse rise,</span> -<span class="spp00">See, the priest his duty plies!</span> -<span class="spp00">And, with apron duly bound,</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Stirs the liqour round and round</i>.</span> -<span class="spp00">O’er the bubbling cauldron play</span> -<span class="spp00">Mirth and merriment so gay;</span> -<span class="spp00">Melancholy hides her head,</span> -<span class="spp00">The frowns of Envy, all are fled;</span> -<span class="spp00">Youthful Wit and Attic Salt</span> -<span class="spp00">Infuse their savour in the Malt.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Mashing is now carried on in various ways, machinery entirely taking -the place of manual labour. Sometimes the water—always spoken of as -“liquor” in a brewery—rises in the tun, and the malt -comes in from <span class="xxpn" id="p333">{333}</span> -above, but in many breweries the malt and water run in together, a -machine mixing them before they enter. When the malt-tea has stood -long enough—huge revolving rakes mixing the mash meanwhile—the -amber infusion (technically “wort”) is drawn off and more water added, -until all the goodness has been extracted from the malt, the empty husks -or “grains” only being left. With grains pigs and cows are often fed, -and not brewers’ horses, as is popularly imagined.</p> - -<p>“Mashing” over, the next process is to give the malt-tea its bitter -flavour, and this is done by boiling it in a huge copper with a quantity -of hops. When sufficiently boiled, the hops and wort are run off from -the copper into huge square vessels (technically “hop-backs”) with -perforated bottoms, which act as strainers or colanders, the liquid passing -through the holes, leaving the hops behind, which are subsequently -pressed to get all the liquid out of them. The brewer has now a -quantity of unfermented hot beer, which he must first cool by passing -it among pipes containing icy cold water. Refrigerators and ice-making -machines are, it need hardly be said, of the greatest assistance to the -modern brewer, who without them could only brew in the cold months. -Some firms have spent as much as £8,000 on their ice-making machines. -The beer, which at present is a teetotal drink devoid of alcohol, having -been cooled, is turned into large tubs or square boxes, and yeast is added -to it. Fermentation now sets in, and by various ingenious contrivances -the froth as it rises to the top is skimmed off or carried away. During -this process the beer is kept at a low temperature by means of cold -water-pipes which are taken through the fermenting tuns. When the -fermentation has almost ceased, the beer is put into smaller vessels,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn64" id="fnanc64">64</a> -where a little fermentation still goes on, and the froth either works over -the side or is skimmed off or, as in the “union” system at Burton, -works up through pipes. Fermentation being now practically at an -end, the beer goes into huge vats, from which it is drawn into casks -as required. This last operation is termed “racking.” Even then -the bung-holes are left open for a day or two to allow a little froth -to work out.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc64" id="fn64">64</a> -There are several varieties of these vessels: Pontoons, unions, &c., -the most approved being shallow trays. On these the yeast rises very -quickly. The process is termed “cleansing.”</p></div> - -<p>The foregoing process seems, and is, of a simple -character, but to <span class="xxpn" id="p334">{334}</span> -obtain the very best results great skill is necessary. The colour of the -malt, the temperature of the water in the mash tun, the temperature -during fermentation, the proper proportion of the materials, and many -other matters are of the greatest importance. Some brewers, and -notably Messrs. Guinness & Sons, keep their beer in vats for a -considerable length of time before racking it into the casks, but the -practice is gradually dying out, and huge vats such as that built some -years ago by Messrs. Meux & Co. are now but little used.</p> - -<p>The racking room of a large brewery is a wonderful sight. All -round the sides are huge vats—twenty or thirty, perhaps—in each of -which fifteen to twenty people could dine comfortably. These giant -tubs tower above thousands of barrels which line the floor, and which -look like pigmies by comparison.</p> - -<p>One of the most interesting portions of a modern brewery is the -cooperage. Coopers are highly-skilled workmen, and it is more or less -of a marvel to see how without any measurement they plane down -planks into staves for casks, and fit them together so -closely that the <span class="xxpn" id="p335">{335}</span> -cask is perfectly sound and incapable of leaking. The length of the -staves is measured, for the rest the Cooper trusts to his eye. Coopering -is a most ancient trade, and appears from the illustration by Jost -Ammon, in Schopper’s rare book, Πανοπλια, to be carried on in much -the same way now as it was in Germany in the year 1568.</p> - -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p334.png" width="499" height="700" alt="Der Bender." /> -<div class="dcaption">A Sixteenth-century Cooperage.</div></div> - -<p>Before giving any account of the firm known as -Allsopp & Sons,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn65" -id="fnanc65">65</a> it is only fitting to devote a few -lines to the Pale Ale Metropolis.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc65" id="fn65">65</a> -The following Sketches of certain of our great brewing firms are -in alphabetical order. The task of placing the firms according to their -importance or size was of a character too invidious to be attempted.</p></div> - -<p>The history of Burton has been so exhaustively treated by Mr. -Molyneux that it is not an easy matter to add anything fresh on the -subject. In the monastic establishments which were inaugurated at a -very early date in the neighbourhood of the town, enormous quantities -of ale were brewed. There is no record, however, of any public breweries -at that date (1295), though there is little doubt that the trade of malting -was largely carried on. By the sixteenth century a small local trade in -brewing had been established. In a series of letters written by Walsingham, -in 1584, to Sir Ralph Sadler, governor of Tutbury Castle, to -the inquiry, “What place neere Tutbury beere may be provided for her -Majestie’s use?” is the answer that “beere” may be had “at Burton -three myles off.” Information of the progress of the Babbington -conspiracy is said to have been conveyed to Mary Queen of Scots, -while in Tutbury Castle, by a Burton brewer; and a load of beer on its -way from Burton to Fotheringay was intercepted, and among the casks -were found correspondence throwing fatal light on the plot.</p> - -<p>In 1630 the fame of the Burton ale had spread to London, and that -excellent liquor was sold at “The Peacock” in Gray’s Inn Lane. In -the <i>Spectator</i> of May 20th, 1712, is recorded how the writer and Sir -Roger de Coverley visit Vauxhall, where, after inspecting the garden, -they concluded their walk “with a glass of Burton ale and a slice of -hung beef.”</p> - -<p>The history of Burton as a great brewing centre cannot be traced -back much beyond 1708, at least so far as export is concerned. When, -as the result of an Act passed in 1698, water communication was opened -up between Burton and the Baltic ports, the brewers were not slow to -take advantage of their opportunities, and in 1748 a considerable export -trade had been established, the Russians being by far -the best customers. <span class="xxpn" id="p336">{336}</span> -Both Peter the Great and the Empress Catherine were extremely fond -of Burton ale. The Empress, indeed, is said to have loved it not wisely -but too well. In 1791 there were nine brewers in the town, their -names being Bass, Clay, Evans, Leeson, Musgrave, Sherratt, Wilson -(two) and Worthington. Previous to the year 1822 Burton ale was -better known on the Continent than in England, but about that time -the brewers turned their attention to increasing their home trade, and -met with marked success. In 1851 the breweries had increased to -sixteen, giving employment to 867 men and 61 boys.</p> - -<p>The special recommendation of the spring water at Burton consists in -the fact that whatever saccharine may be put into it, appears to remain -there for any length of time without being chemically injured by those -mineral combinations which are generally present in spring water.</p> - -<p>Burton of the present day is a city of breweries. Tall chimneys -tower on all sides, the smell of new beer pervades the air, great red -brick buildings block the way in every direction; engines glide noiselessly -about dragging trucks loaded with casks; burly brewers’ men -meet you at every corner; it is, in fact, the very home of John Barleycorn. -The Breweries of Burton in this present year of grace are thirty -in number, and give employment to about eight thousand men and boys.</p> - -<p>In a view of Burton-on-Trent, engraved in 1720, is a small brewery, -which was then the property of one Benjamin Wilson, the founder of -the great firm of S. Allsopp and Sons. Though not the creator of the -Burton Beer trade, he was the first to carry on an extensive business as a -common brewer, and was, it is believed, the originator of the extensive -export trade which Burton carried on during the eighteenth century. -Letters of his are still extant, from which it may be gathered that he had -established a flourishing trade in Burton ales so early as 1748. His -account books show that in 1770 the business done with Russia was an -extensive one, and partly carried on by barter.</p> - -<p>In 1774, in a letter to Mr. Charles Best, Mr. Wilson writes: “We -have already two large Brewhouses Employ’d, and are about to use a -third, the whole of which will take all the money I can raise with convenience -to myself, beyond which I do not choose to go.” In a letter -dated Oct. 23, 1775, from Messrs. B. Wilson & Co. to Messrs. J. D. Newman -& Co., St. Petersburg, occur the following interesting passages:—“To -people who have the Credit of their own Manufacture and y inseparable -Interest of their Friends at Heart, we cannot but feel an accumulated -Satisfaction at every additional instance of our Ale proving fine and -distinguishing itself, wch, in Justice to its Character, -we have y<sup>e</sup> <span class="xxpn" id="p337">{337}</span> -happiness to say our Friends have universally confirmed. To y<sup>e</sup> several -Queries of y<sup>r</sup> Letter, we beg leave to acquaint you that tho’ many -Merchants from St. Petersburg are supplied with Burton Ale from our -House, yet there are many we are not intimately connected with, their -orders being transmitted through y<sup>e</sup> Houses of Hull and London . . . . . The -Price of Ale last year at Burton from y<sup>e</sup> extravagant -Price of Grain sold for 17<sup>d</sup> per Gallon.”</p> - -<p>In the order book for 1770 are many entries which appear curious -enough to modern readers. Some of the customers order their casks -to be cased, <i>i.e.</i>, enclosed in a larger cask—a process necessary to prevent -the “Gainsboro’ Captains,” as the bargees were called, from “sucking -the monkey.” One customer writes: “Send me 24-gallon casks strong -ale and let y<sup>e</sup> casks be iron-hooped at the head.” Another wants “two -14-gallon casks of strong ale by <i>sea</i>” to London, and another “a hogshead -by <i>land</i>” also to London, the carriage of which must have been -very extensive.</p> - -<p>There may possibly be persons still living who recollect an old fellow -named Dyche, who was full of information regarding the early history -of the Burton Ale trade. He remembered John Wilson well, and described -him as a kind, hearty, portly, well-favoured old gentleman, somewhat -peppery withal, but never angry without a cause. Dyche’s father -worked for Mr. Wilson during forty years as a sawyer, his business -being to cut up into staves for the coopers, the timber brought from the -Baltic in exchange for ale. At fourteen years of age the younger Dyche -was apprenticed to the cooper at the brewery. The commonest ale -was then, according to Dyche, as strong as the strongest ale now brewed.</p> - -<p>Dyche used to tell how old Benjamin Wilson had two sons, and -a daughter renowned far and wide for her beauty. This Miss Wilson -became the wife of Mr. James Allsopp, and her son Samuel was father -of the Mr. Henry Allsopp, now Lord Hindlip of Hindlip, who for many -years was head of the firm.</p> - -<p>Benjamin Wilson the younger, having no children, took his nephew -Samuel into the business, much against the wish of Mr. James Allsopp, -who had intended his son for the church. John Walker Wilson, -another son of old Benjamin, also joined the firm, but soon left it and -started a brewery (now Worthington’s) on his own account. On the -death of Benjamin Wilson the younger, who never married, the business -came altogether into the hands of his nephew, Mr. Samuel Allsopp, and -was carried on under the style of “Wilson & Allsopp” until 1822, when -the name was changed to “Samuel -Allsopp & Son.” <span class="xxpn" id="p338">{338}</span></p> - -<p>The Allsopps come of an ancient family. One Hugh de Allsopp (or -Elleshope) went with Richard I. to the Holy Land, and was knighted -for good service during the siege of Acre. He married a niece of Sir -Ralph de Farington, who presented Sir Hugh with certain lands in -Derbyshire, which, for seventeen generations, the Allsopps-of-the-Dale -enjoyed as their patrimony. Anthony Allsopp, who married a daughter -of Sir John Gell of Hopton, sold the family seat in 1691 to Sir Philip -Gell, his brother-in-law. Mr. James Allsopp, whom we have mentioned -as being the first of the name who joined the firm, was a grandson of -Anthony. He married a member of the old Staffordshire family of -Fowlers.</p> - -<p>Several ancient deeds, some of the early part of the thirteenth -century, in the possession of Lord Hindlip, contain conveyances of land -to and from various members of the Alsop family, the chief names -mentioned being Henry de Alsop, Ranulf de Alsop, and Thomas de -Alsop.</p> - -<p>In Pepys’ <i>Diary</i> mention is made of a Mr. Alsop, brewer to -Charles II. Whether any connection existed between him and the -Allsopp family is not known.</p> - -<p>Returning now to the history of the firm—in 1822 high import -duties were imposed by the Russian Government upon English ales, -and this fact led for a time to the almost total suspension of the trade -which Messrs. Allsopp & Son had for so long carried on with Russia. -The results were not, however, altogether disastrous, for the Burton -firm now saw the necessity of pushing their home trade, and the ales -which had hitherto been better known in St. Petersburg than in -London came into considerable demand in the southern portions of this -country.</p> - -<p>An eye-witness of a banquet given by Peter the Great has left the -following description:—“As soon as you sit down you are expected to -drink a cup of brandy, after which they ply you with great glasses of -adulterated Tokay and other vitiated wines, and between whiles with a -bumper of the strongest English beer.” Burton ales then were of a -very different character to the excellent bitter of to-day; Dyche spoke -as to their strength, and they were so rich and luscious that if a little -was spilled on a table the glass would stick to it.</p> - -<p>At this time a brewer named Hodgson had the whole of the Indian -export trade, but Messrs. Allsopp & Son, at the suggestion of a Mr. -Majoribanks, brewed and exported ale similar to Hodgson’s. Their -venture met with marked success, and for many years the -firm held the <span class="xxpn" id="p339">{339}</span> -chief place among the exporters of Indian Pale Ale. The first Burton -specimen of that beverage, many thousand hogsheads of which are now -brewed annually, was compounded by Job Goodhead, Mr. Allsopp’s -veteran maltster, in a <i>tea-pot</i>.</p> - -<p>Space forbids a long account of Mr. S. Allsopp’s life. To his -endeavours was chiefly due the bringing of the Derby and Birmingham -railway system close to Burton. In both public and private life Mr. -Allsopp was charitable to a fault, and greatly beloved. He died in 1838, -and was succeeded by his two sons, Charles James and Henry. The -latter, so long the head of the firm, is too well known to need mention -here. He it was who took a leading part in refuting certain mischievous -charges, which were to the effect that the Burton brewers used noxious -materials in the manufacture of their bitter beer. He represented -Worcestershire from 1874 to 1880, and in 1880 was created a Baronet. -In the early part of 1886 he had the honour of being raised to the -peerage under the title of Lord Hindlip of Hindlip and Alsop-en-le-Dale, -having retired from the firm for some years in favour of his three -sons, the Hon. Charles, George and Percy Allsopp.</p> - -<p>A word now as to the breweries, which rank among the best and most -perfect of their kind. They are three in number, and are connected -together, and with the makings, cooperages, &c., by about ten miles -of railway.</p> - -<p>The New Brewery is an immense structure, no single building being -in existence which has a greater brewing capacity. The union room is -of very fine proportions, being 375 feet in length and 105 in breadth. -It contains 1,424 unions, which can cleanse 230,688 gallons at one time. -The union rooms, taken altogether, contain about 4,500 unions, each -with a capacity of 695 gallons.</p> - -<p>Next to the New Brewery comes the Old Brewery, and lastly the -Model Brewery, which seems a mere toy compared with the others. It -is used chiefly for experiments, and for occasional brews of stout and -porter. The firm also possesses extensive maltings, and, it is almost -needless to say, large cooperages, stables, &c.</p> - -<p>A feature in the conduct of Messrs. Allsopp & Sons’ business is the -consideration shown to the employés, who, without counting clerks and -the office staff, number 1,600. For their benefit the firm maintains a -cricket ground, bowling green, a sick and funeral club, and a library -managed by a scripture reader, who also visits the men and their -families. Here and there about the breweries and maltings may be -seen tottering old men, who seem out of place among so -much life and <span class="xxpn" id="p340">{340}</span> -bustle. These are the pensioners, who work as much or as little as they -like. We believe that Messrs. Allsopp and Sons rank third among the -brewing firms of the United Kingdom, and the extent of their business -may be inferred from the simple fact that they have an annual expenditure -of £1,400 to £1,500 in postage stamps alone. In the busy periods -of the year upwards of 20,000 casks pass weekly through their racking -rooms. It would be presumption to attempt to criticise the malt liquor -produced by this firm or, indeed, that of any of our leading brewers.</p> - -<p>Early in the eighteenth century, as early indeed as the year 1710, if -the Commercial List is correct, a building called the Anchor Brewery -existed on the Surrey side of the Thames, in Southwark, owned by a -Mr. Halsey, whose beer is mentioned in State papers of Queen Anne’s -reign as being exported to Flanders for the use of the army. This -gentleman having amassed a large fortune, and married his daughter -to Lord Cobham, severed his connection with trade, and sold the -business to Mr. Thrale, the member for the Borough of Southwark, and -Sheriff for the County of Surrey. Mr. Thrale died in 1781, and was -succeeded by his son, whose wife Hester was the intimate friend of the -great Dr. Johnson.</p> - -<p>Even at that time a great business was done by the firm, about -30,000 barrels of beer being produced annually. According to the -<i>Annual Register</i> for 1759, Thrale’s was the fourth largest London -brewery, Calvert’s, Whitbread’s and Truman’s coming before it. It is -said that Thrale lost £130,000 by unfortunate speculations, but so profitable -was the brewery that at the end of nine years he had saved a -sum which enabled him to pay all the debts contracted by reason -of his losses.</p> - -<p>Dr. Johnson’s friendship with the Thrales commenced in 1765, and -continued until the brewer’s death. The Doctor lived sometimes in a -house near the brewery, and sometimes in the villa at Streatham. Up -to 1832, when the brewery was destroyed by fire, a room near the -entrance gate used to be shown, which was said to have been the -Doctor’s study. In Boswell’s <i>Life of Johnson</i> are numerous letters -and reports of conversations relating more or less to the Brewery. One -of the last letters written by the Doctor was to Sir Joshua Reynolds, -and contained proposals for the establishment of a convivial club, as <i>The</i> -Club was getting overweighted with Bishops. The Doctor scoffed at -the idea that persons, however learned, could meet habitually merely for -the purpose of discussing philosophy or the sciences without material -refreshment, and he gravely warned Mrs. Thrale that -if she forbade <span class="xxpn" id="p341">{341}</span> -card-tables in her drawing room, she must at least give her guests plenty -of sweatmeats, else nobody would come to see her. But the Doctor, and -not the bonbons or card-tables, must have been the loadstone which -filled Mrs. Thrale’s reception rooms. At Thrale’s death Dr. Johnson, -Mrs. Thrale, and three gentlemen, named Cator, Smith and Crutchley, -found themselves appointed Executors, and determined to carry on the -business; but Dr. Johnson, who by nature could not help taking the -lead in whatever he was concerned, was not born to be a brewer, and -the undertaking was not a success. Mrs. Thrale, in <i>Anecdotes of Dr. -Johnson</i>, has left a very lively account of these amateur brewers’ proceedings. -In June, 1781, when the Executors had made the resolve to -sell the business, she wrote: “Dear Dr. Johnson was somewhat unwilling—but -not much at last—to give up a trade by which in some years -£15,000 or £16,000 had undoubtedly been got, but by which in some -years its possessor had suffered agonies of terror and tottered twice upon -the verge of bankruptcy . . . adieu to brewing and borough wintering; -adieu to trade and tradesmen’s frigid approbation. May virtue and -wisdom sanctify our contract, and make buyer and seller happy in the -bargain!”</p> - -<p>When the brewery was offered for sale, Dr. Johnson appeared -bustling about with his ink-horn and pen in his buttonhole, -like any excise man. On being asked what he really considered to be -the value of the property, he spoke the celebrated words: “We are not -here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing -rich beyond the dream of avarice.” The brewery was finally sold by -private contract for £135,000 to Messrs. Robert Barclay and John -Perkins, who were associated in the transaction with Mr. David Barclay, -junr., and Mr. Sylvanus Bevan, of the banking firm of Barclay, -Bevan & Co. Mr. Robert Barclay was succeeded by his son Charles, -who represented Southwark in Parliament, and his sons and grandsons. -In 1827, the last year of the old Beer-tax, Barclays’ headed the list of -London firms, having brewed 341,331 barrels of beer.</p> - -<p>The present brewery and its belongings adjoin Bankside, extend -from the land arches of Southwark Bridge nearly half the distance to -London Bridge, and cover about twelve acres. Within the brewery is -said to be the site of the old Globe Theatre. In an account of the -neighbourhood, dated 1795, it is stated that “the passage which led to -the Globe Tavern, of which the playhouse formed a part, was till -within these few years known by the name of Globe Alley, and upon its -site now stands a large -storehouse for porter.” <span class="xxpn" id="p342">{342}</span></p> - -<p>In the Globe Theatre, which was built by Henslowe and his son-in-law -Alleyn, the founder of Dulwich College, Shakspere produced and acted -in several of his plays. It is curious that with Barclay and Perkins’ -brewery should be associated the names of our greatest poet and perhaps -our most brilliant conversationalist—Dr. Johnson—who did so much to -revive the popularity of his predecessor.</p> - -<p>A rather amusing anecdote used to be told of Madame Malibran, -who, like many singers, knew the beneficial effects of stout on the voice, and -whose favourite evening’s repast after the Opera consisted of oysters -and bottled stout. Once hearing the name of the Honourable Craven -Berkeley announced in company, she tripped up to him, and, with great -animation, said, “Ah, Mr. Barclay and Perkins, I do owe you so much!” -This reminds us of another anecdote, told of Madame Pasta. When -in England she was asked by a literary lady of high distinction whether -she drank as much stout as usual. “No, mia cara,” was the reply -“prendo half and half adessa.”</p> - -<p>Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Co.’s brewery ranks among the sights -of London, and is visited by thousands of foreigners during the year. -The present brewhouse is nearly as large as Westminster Hall, and each -of the three malt bins could, if required, contain an ordinary three-storied -house. The vats number a hundred and fifty, with capacities -varying from one hundred to three thousand five hundred barrels; the -largest of these weigh when full no less than 500 tons. The full capacity -of the mash tuns is 690 quarters. The water used in brewing is drawn -from an artesian well 623 feet deep, and the firm give employment to -over six hundred men.</p> - -<p>Among the collection of Hearne’s Letters, in the Bodleian Library, -is one from Saml. Catherall, dated “Luscom, near Bath, Nov. 2, 1729.” -It contains a few semi-humorous verses on the death of two mutual -friends, named Whiteside and Craster, and ends -<span class="nowrap">thus:―</span></p> - -<div id="p342verses"> -<div class="dpoemfarlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Ev’en - you alas! with grief o’ercome, shall lend</span> -<span class="spp00">Some tears, and lose y<sup>e</sup> stoick in y<sup>e</sup> Friend:</span> -<span class="spp00">So stern Achilles wept—But you, and I</span> -<span class="spp00">Observant of Decorum, will not cry</span> -<span class="spp00">Like children (for we all were born to Die);</span> -<span class="spp00">Basse’s Immortal Ale shall make us gay,</span> -<span class="spp00">He Holds out longest y<sup>t</sup> dilutes his clay.</span> -</div></div> -<p class="pctr">“Your faithful Friend,</p> -<p class="psignature">“<span class="smcap">S<b>AM</b></span> - <span class="smcap">C<b>ATHERALL</b>.</span></p> -<p>“To Mr. Thomas Hearne</p> -<p class="pright">“At Edmund Hall, in Oxford.</p> -<p class="pcontinue">“By the cross post.”</p></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p343">{343}</span></div> - -<p>Though there are records extant of persons bearing the name of Bass -who did various notable things, such as undertaking a pilgrimage to -Canterbury in 1506 (not forgetting a certain Mrs. Laura Bassi, who was -promoted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Bologna, in Italy -“having first passed a strict examination and answered all points with -surprising capacity and learning), this is nevertheless the first mention -of Basse’s ale. Who was this Basse”? Frankly, we cannot say, but from -the date of the letter it is certain that he was not the founder of the -present firm.</p> - -<p>The year 1877 was the centenary of that great commercial enterprise -now known as Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton, Limited. It was when George -the Third was King, and Pitt, the youngest Prime Minister this -country has ever known, was in power, that Mr. William Bass, the -proprietor of a considerable carrying business, commenced to brew ale -at Burton. His brewhouse was situated in the High Street, and the -building on that site, still in the hands of the firm, is always spoken of -as the “Old Brewery.” The land occupied was about equal in extent -to a moderately large garden, and the power in the brewery was probably -altogether manual, for Watt had not at that time fully developed -the greatest invention the world has ever known. Bass and Co.’s -Brewery and its belongings now cover forty-five acres of freehold and -over a hundred of leasehold land, on which are thirty-two steam engines -of altogether 610 horse power!</p> - -<p>Mr. William Bass, finding that his new undertaking was proving a -success, sold his carrying business to the well-known house of Pickford -& Co. The brewery did not, however, begin to take any important -place in the trade until the beginning of the present century, some few -years after Mr. Michael Thomas Bass, grandson of the founder, had -been taken into the business, which then soon began to increase with -marvellous rapidity, owing, there can be no doubt, to the fact that Mr. -Michael Bass’s principal aim was to brew the very best beer that could -possibly be brewed. In 1834 Mr. Ratcliff was taken into partnership, -and a few years later Mr. Gretton joined the firm. In 1853 was built -the middle brewery, between Guild Street and Station Street. In 1864 -a third brewhouse was opened in Station Street, only thirty-six weeks -after the foundations were commenced. Both the Middle Brewery and -the New Brewery have been greatly enlarged within the last few years, -and the Old Brewery has been entirely rebuilt. In 1884 Mr. M. T. -Bass died, and was probably more deeply lamented than any other -inhabitant of Burton since that place became a town. -In 1880 the <span class="xxpn" id="p344">{344}</span> -business was turned into a private Limited Company, of which the -eldest son of Mr. M. T. Bass is the chairman.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn66" id="fnanc66">66</a></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc66" id="fn66">66</a> -Created (1886) Baron Burton of Rangemore and of Burton-on-Trent, -in the county of Stafford.</p></div> - -<p>Before attempting to give any idea of the enormous business transacted -by Messrs. Bass & Co., a few words respecting the man by whose -strict integrity, business qualifications, and persistent and successful -efforts to produce the best possible article, and none other, the name of -Bass has been rendered a familiar word throughout the whole civilised -world. He was born in 1799, and entered the business immediately -after leaving school. The trade then done was so limited that he had -for a time to act as a traveller; but year by year the demand for Bass’s -Ale became greater and greater, and for a considerable period before his -death Mr. Bass was at the head of the greatest pale ale brewery in the -world. He was a genial, kindly man, and had a genuine pride in the -success of his great undertaking. Those who had the pleasure of being -his guests will no doubt remember his translation of two lines from -<i>Martial</i>, Book vi. Epigram -<span class="nowrap">69:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Non Miror quod potat aquam tua Bassa, Catulle!</span> -<span class="spp00">Miror quod <i>Bassi filia</i> potat aquam.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">“I -am not the least surprised, O Catullus, that your nymph -Bassa drinks water; what I <i>am</i> surprised at is that Bass’s -daughter drinks water.” The epigram has also been rendered -into English <span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Not strange, my friend, I’m thinking,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy Bassa water drinking,</span> -<span class="spp00">Most strange that Bass’s daughter</span> -<span class="spp00">Should think of drinking water.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Mr. M. T. Bass represented Derby in Parliament for thirty-five -years, being eight times elected in succession, only resigning in 1883, -having lived to be the oldest member in the House. He gave Derby a -Free Library, a Museum, an Art Gallery, a Public Bath, and a Recreation -Ground, at a cost of £50,000. Railway Companies’ servants have -reason to be grateful to him, for through his endeavours their hours of -labour, though still in some case left far too long, have on many lines -been considerably shortened. For some years many of them worked -sixteen, eighteen, and even twenty hours out of the twenty-four. He -also strenuously exerted himself to obtain the abolition of imprisonment -for debt. His benefactions to Burton are too numerous to mention. -The chief of them were the gifts of St. Paul’s -and St. Margaret’s <span class="xxpn" id="p345">{345}</span> -Churches, with a Parsonage House, Schools, and an endowment of -£500 a year, and a Workman’s Club and Institute at a total cost of over -£100,000. Mr. Bass was repeatedly offered a Peerage, and as often refused -it. We cannot better conclude this short and very inadequate description -than by quoting the words used by Sir William Harcourt when opening -St. Paul’s Institute at Burton-on-Trent: “We are met here to-day to -commemorate the munificent benefaction of Mr. Bass. He is a man -advanced in years, in honour, and in wealth, which is the fruit of a life -of intelligent industry. He was a Liberal in his youth; he is a Liberal -in his age. Years and wealth have not brought to him selfish timidity. -In his grey hairs he cherishes the generous sentiments which inspired -his earlier days. He has received freely, and freely has he bestowed.”</p> - -<p>The liberality of the firm was not confined to Mr. Michael Bass. -The Messrs. Gretton have erected and endowed a Church in the suburbs -of Burton at a cost of nearly £20,000, and Public Baths and Wash-houses, -costing nearly £10,000, have been presented to the town by -Messrs. Ratcliff.</p> - -<p>The firm of Bass & Co. alone contribute to the National Revenue -upwards of £780 per day, and its breweries at Burton-upon-Trent are -the largest of their kind in the world, the business premises extending, -as we have said, over 145 acres of land. Locomotives have to a large -extent superseded brewers’ drays at Burton, and this firm has connection -with the outer railway systems by twelve miles of rails on the premises, -and use as many as 60,000 railway trucks in the course of six months. -The casks required to carry on the business number 600,000, of which -46,901 are butts, and 159,608 are hogsheads. Some ingenious calculations -have been made with regard to these casks. Piled one above another -they would make 3,300 pillars, each reaching to the top of St. Paul’s. -The great Egyptian Pyramid is 763 ft. square at the base; the butts, -standing on end and placed bulge to bulge, would furnish bases for <i>five</i> -such pyramids, and the other casks would be more than sufficient for -the superstructure 460 ft. high.</p> - -<p>Though labour-saving machinery is used as much as possible, Bass -& Co. employ at Burton alone 2,250 men and boys. In 1821 only -867 men and 61 boys were engaged in all the Burton breweries. In the -course of a season the firm now sends out over 800,000 barrels, and -manufacture raw material weighing 85,000 tons. In the year ending -June 30th, 1883, 250,000 quarters of malt were used and 31,000 cwt. of -hops. The amount of business now done by the firm in one year -cannot be less than £2,400,000, figures which will give some idea of the -capital employed. <span class="xxpn" id="p346">{346}</span></p> - -<p>A detailed description of the three brewhouses would fill the whole -of the space devoted to this chapter; suffice it, therefore, to say that the -racking rooms on the ground floor of the new brewery cover more than -one and a half acre, the tunning rooms of the same area contain 2,548 -tunning casks of 160 gallons each; and the copper house contains three -water coppers that will boil 12,000 gallons each; and eleven wort -coppers that will each boil 2,200 gallons of wort.</p> - -<p>On the cooperage great demands are made, for about 40,000 casks, -which are made in part by machinery, are annually exported. The -firm has thirty-two maltings at Burton, and others elsewhere, which, -during the malting season, make 7,600 qrs. per week.</p> - -<p>The annual issue of Bass and Co.’s labels amounts to over one -hundred millions. Some idea of this quantity may be gathered from -the fact that if they were put end to end in one long line they would -reach to New York and back again, a distance of five thousand miles.</p> - -<p>Both the late Mr. Bass’s sons are members of the firm. The eldest, -Lord Burton of Rangemore, late member for the Burton division -of Staffordshire, represented Stafford from 1865 to 1868, and East -Staffordshire from 1868 to 1886. Mr. Hamar Bass, the second son, -represented Tamworth for some years, and in the general elections of -1885–6 was returned for West Staffordshire.</p> - -<p>Between the firms of Bass and Allsopp there is a friendly rivalry as -to which shall brew the best ale. A few years since Sir M. Arthur -Bass and Mr. Charles Allsopp while fishing on Loch Quvich, in Inverness-shire, -were nearly drowned. Sir Arthur had hooked a large fish, and -Mr. Allsopp, eager to see it, stepped on one side of the boat, which at -once capsized. The anglers and their attendants clung to the bottom -of the boat, and were ultimately thrown on an island in an exhausted -condition! The following paragraph shortly afterwards appeared in the -<i>World</i>:—“The exciting accident which nearly proved the death of the -rival brewers of Burton-on-Trent, at once so touching in its record of -disinterested friendship, and so highly satisfactory in its sequel to the -world at large, has suddenly inundated me with facetious rhyme and -caustic epigram. This is how one of my correspondents treats the -<span class="nowrap">subject:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Let friends who go fishing for salmon or wrasse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Take a hint from the story of Allsop and Bass;</span> -<span class="spp00">When you hook a fine fish, of your brother keep clear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or your salmon, when caught, may <i>embitter your beer</i> (bier).</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p347">{347}</span></div> - -<p>One of the most ancient and important brewing centres in the -kingdom is the city of Dublin. With one exception, all its breweries -are exclusively devoted to the manufacture of stout, that sturdy beverage -the fame of which has gone forth into all lands; and just as Burton has -acquired the right to be termed the Pale Ale Metropolis, so does -Ireland’s chief town contend with London for the honour of being called -the Capital of Black Beer.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable that so early as the commencement of the seventeenth -century, Dublin was already a notable brewing centre, producing -a description of brown ale. Barnaby Ryche, writing about that time, -gives a quaint account of the manners and customs of the people, and -calls attention to the great number of alehouses in Dublin during the -reign of James I.</p> - -<p>“I am now,” he says, “to speake of a certaine kind of commodity, -that outstretcheth all that I have hitherto spoken of, and that is the -selling of ale in Dublin, a quotidian commodity that hath vent in every -house in the towne, every day in the weeke, at every houre in the day, -and in every minute in the houre: There is no merchandise so vendible, -it is the very marrow of the commonwealth in Dublin: the whole -profit of the towne stands upon ale-houses, and selling of ale, but yet -the cittizens, a little to dignifie the title, as they use to call every pedlar -a merchant, so they use to call every ale-house a taverne, whereof there -are such plentie, that there are streates of tavernes.</p> - -<p>“. . . . This free mart of ale selling in Dublyne is prohibited -to none, but that it is lawfull for every woman (be she better or be she -worse) either to brewe or else to sell ale.”</p> - -<p>About the time of the Restoration there were ninety-one public -brewhouses in Dublin, and in the early part of the eighteenth century -the trade, though on the decrease, was evidently thriving, the brewhouses -being seventy in number. It seems, however, that, as the -century wore on, the trade died away, for in 1773 there were only -thirty-five Breweries surviving. The decay of so important an industry -was chiefly due to three causes: In the first place, the Irish brewers -were saddled with a heavy tax, and, secondly, English Porter was taking -the place of old Irish brown ale in the popular fancy. An old song -on the Tavern of the Cross Keys, in Dublin, composed about the middle -of the century, opens with the -<span class="nowrap">lines―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When London Porter was not known in town</span> -<span class="spp00">And Irish ale or beer went glibly down.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p348">{348}</span></div> - -<p>It does not seem that the Dublin brewers, who were frequently -petitioning Parliament for assistance, faced the difficulty by brewing -Porter themselves until the year 1778. The third adverse influence was -the taste for ardent spirits, especially rum and brandy, which had sprung -up; and the Irish records of the day are full of allusions to the injury -which this was working, not only to the trade of the Brewers, but to the -morals and health of the people.</p> - -<p>A remarkable letter is still preserved, written by Henry Grattan on -this subject at the close of the century. It appears to be addressed to -the Brewers of Dublin, probably in answer to one of their numerous -petitions for protection. It is as -<span class="nowrap">follows:―</span></p> - -<p>“Gentlemen,</p> - -<p id="p348-pa">“The Health of Ireland -and the prosperity of her breweries I -consider as intimately connected. I have looked to your trade as to a -source of life and a necessary means of subsistence. I have considered it -as the natural nurse of the people and entitled to every encouragement, -favour, and exemption. It is at your source the Parliament will find -in its own country the means of Health with all her flourishing -consequences, and the cure of intoxication with all her misery.</p> - -<p>“My wishes are with you always. My exertions, such as they are, -you may ever command.</p> - -<p>“I have the honour to be your sincere and your humble servant,</p> - -<p class="psignature">“<span class="smcap">H<b>ENRY</b></span> -<span class="smcap">G<b>RATTAN</b></span>.”</p> - -<p>At present (1886) there are only seven firms of any note in Dublin; -and of those existing a hundred years ago but two survive—Messrs. -Sweetman’s and the well-known house of Messrs. Guinness, which has -long been at the head of the trade in Ireland. To some English readers -it may come as a revelation that at the present time this Irish firm is -the greatest producer of malt liquors in the whole world.</p> - -<p>Some account of the rise and progress of so vast a business cannot -but be of interest to the student of industrial enterprise, but in the -compass of the present work it will of course only be possible to give the -merest outline of its growth.</p> - -<p>Arthur Guinness, the great-grandfather of Sir Edward Guinness, the -present owner, purchased the original premises from a Mr. Ransford in -the year 1759. The business appears to have been of very modest -dimensions, for the plant, as acquired by Arthur Guinness, included only -one mash tun and one seventy-barrel copper. The brewery had, even -at that time, been worked for a considerable period, certainly from the -earliest years of the eighteenth century, and -probably before that. <span class="xxpn" id="p349">{349}</span></p> - -<p>The property, about one acre in extent, thus acquired in 1759, forms -the nucleus of the present gigantic establishment. The principal brewhouse -stands to-day precisely on the site once occupied by Ransford’s -mash tun and copper; but since the commencement of the nineteenth -century many additional properties have from time to time been -acquired, until at present the total area occupied by the brewhouses and -their belongings amounts to between forty and fifty statute acres.</p> - -<p>For many years the dimensions of the business were but moderate. -Wakefield, writing in 1809, states that Guinness was then only the -second brewer in Ireland, Beamish and Crawford of Cork, who brewed -upwards of 100,000 barrels a year, standing first.</p> - -<p>Without attempting to account for or to describe the advance, -since Wakefield’s day, of the great Dublin firm (made a limited liability -company in October, 1886), we may briefly notice one or two points of -special interest connected with the manufacture.</p> - -<p>The materials used are absolutely confined to malt, pale and roasted, -and hops. Of the latter a preference has always been shown for those -of Kent, no other English varieties being used. But of late years -American Hops have been largely consumed as well. The water for -brewing is drawn from the City Watercourses, and not from the Liffey, -as some people unacquainted with Dublin have supposed.</p> - -<p>It would be impossible here to describe in detail the process or the -plant of the St. James’ Gate Brewery, and owing to the position held -by the firm it seems almost unnecessary to say that every modern -improvement of the Engineer and the Scientist, whether for facilitating -the operations of Brewing or for ensuring the safety and welfare of those -employed, has been carefully investigated and judiciously applied. The -minute attention which is paid to every detail of the process, from the -manufacture and selection of the malt, to the treatment and storage of -the beer in every stage, is matched by the liberal provision made for the -men engaged in the work and their families.</p> - -<p>To the visitor nothing is more astonishing than the size and number -of the vats. Some of these huge erections of Oak and Iron contain no -less than 90,000 gallons apiece; and to a lengthened storage in these is -due in great measure the peculiar character of the Stout devoted to the -foreign export trade. The tendency in most modern breweries has been -to dispense with lengthened storage in vat. Not so here, and the -erection of vats of great capacity has kept pace with the extension -of the export trade.</p> - -<p>Another remarkable feature is the large provision -of ice machines, <span class="xxpn" id="p350">{350}</span> -or rather of engines for the cooling, by the evaporation of ether and -ammonia, of fluid brine, which circulates by a complicated system of -copper pipes through every part of the vast storehouses, and ensures a -winter temperature on the hottest summer day. It is the extent to -which this system is applied that is so striking in this establishment, -where all is on so vast a scale that the ordinary units of measurement -seem inadequate to convey a notion of the truth. The same may be -said of the multitude of mains by which the finished beer is conveyed -from the storage vats, a distance of half a mile beneath one of the -principal streets of the city, to the lower portion of the works where -the beer is “racked” into cask.</p> - -<p>It is related that the Empress of Brazil, who a few years since visited -the Brewery, went away under the impression—a not unnatural one—what -beer was laid on like gas and water to all the houses in Dublin.</p> - -<p>A small railway of 22-inch gauge, and which is altogether about -two miles in length, penetrates every part of the Brewery. The rolling -stock includes six locomotives and upwards of one hundred and sixty -trucks and bogies.</p> - -<p>The descent from the Brewery to the lower level of the river side -has been engineered with remarkable skill. In order to avoid crossing -the street which bisects the works a spiral tunnel has been constructed, -by means of which the line descends thirty feet in three circuits, the -diameter of which is only forty yards, while the gradient is 1 in 39. -Much of the internal traffic of the Brewery is thus carried on with ease -and rapidity by means of this unique underground railway.</p> - -<p>So far as is possible in a Brewery which has been added to from time -to time, advantage has been taken of the physical features of the locality -in the general arrangement of the plant. Thus the finished beer runs -by gravitation from the Brewery to the Racking Stores, which are -situated upon the Quays. Full advantage has been taken of this -excellent position, and the firm possesses a fleet of steamers and barges -which convey the filled casks to the docks, a distance of a mile and a -half. The Export trade is entirely carried on by river, while a branch -line from the Great Southern and Western Railway terminus bears -away many a train-load of porter every day, to be distributed over the -whole length and breadth of Ireland.</p> - -<p>We have already borne witness to the increasing popularity of porte -in Ireland, and feel sure that no better thing could happen to the -“distressful country” than that the drinking of whisky and the bad -substitutes that are sold under that name should -be brought within <span class="xxpn" id="p351">{351}</span> -reasonable limits, and that malt liquor should become the daily drink -of every Irish farmer, who from that source will find, to again -quote Grattan’s words, “the means of Health with all her flourishing -consequences, and the cure of intoxication with all her misery.”</p> - -<p>Romford, in Essex, is known to the few as the birthplace of Sir -Anthony Cooke and Francis Quarles, the poet; but to the many it is -the source whence come certain excellent and deservedly popular ales. -Through the town wanders a little stream now called the Rom, but -described in old country Maps as the Bourne Brooke, and which in the -fifteenth century was called the Mercke-dyche.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn67" id="fnanc67">67</a> -Towards the close of -the eighteenth century there stood by the bridge which carries the High -Street over this rivulet, a small Inn called the Star. The innkeeper, -according to the fashion of the times, brewed his own beer, and at the -rear of his hostel was a small brewhouse. His mash tub was no doubt -of modest dimensions, and his “liquor” was possibly drawn from the -Mercke-dyche, for in that day pure water could be got from most streams -and rivers. Now, sad to say, an unpolluted stream is almost unknown, -and nine wells supply the water which, with a due admixture of malt -and hops, forms that admirable compound known as Romford Ale.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc67" id="fn67">67</a> -It is curious that the river now takes its name from the town, and -not <i>vice versa</i>, as is generally the case. “Romford” is mentioned in -the Red Book of the Exchequer in 1166, when the stream was called the -Mercke-dyche. Some antiquarians derive the word from Roman-ford, -but it probably simply means broad-ford, the first syllable being the -Saxon word for broad and akin to roomy.</p></div> - -<p>In the year 1799 two important events happened in the town. -That which probably created the most profound sensation among the -inhabitants was the death of a most eccentric person, James Wilson, -the corpulent butcher of Romford. This worthy was in the habit of -going to church on Sunday sometime before the hour of service, and -loudly singing psalms by himself, until the minister came to the desk. -On the last fast-day before his death he remained in church between -morning and evening services, repeating the Lord’s Prayer and singing -psalms in each of the pews, only leaving the church when there -remained no pew in which he had not performed his devotions. Another -peculiarity was the peripatetic manner in which he sometimes took his -meals. Armed with a shoulder of mutton in one hand, some salt in the -bend of his arm, a small loaf, and a large knife, he would wander up and -down the street until all was consumed. He was, -moreover, an <span class="xxpn" id="p352">{352}</span> -excellent penman, as the vestry books to this day witness, and his meat bills -were well worthy of framing. One line would be in German text, -another in Roman characters; no two meats being written in the same -coloured ink. The death of such a man naturally attracted more -attention than the second event alluded to, a small commercial -transaction, which we venture to think was of more importance to the -community at large than the decease of the butcher. This was the -purchase of the Star Inn and Brewery by Mr. Ind, who, in conjunction -with a Mr. Grosvenor, carried on the business of a brewer. Seventeen -years later the partnership was dissolved, Mr. John Smith took the place -of Mr. Grosvenor, and until 1845 the firm traded as Ind and Smith. In -that year Mr. Smith sold his share in the Brewery, and Mr. O. E. Coope -and his brother, George Coope, joined the firm, which then, for the first -time, adopted its present title of Ind, Coope & Co.</p> - -<p>A few years back the following epigram appeared in one of the -London comic papers in connection with the name of the firm and -<i>Drink</i>, the English version of the play -<span class="nowrap"><i>L’Assomoir</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The drunkards in the play of <i>Drink</i></span> -<span class="spp01">All reeling in a group, O,</span> -<span class="spp00">Close on intoxication’s brink,</span> -<span class="spp01">Swill stronger stuff than soup, O,</span> -<span class="spp00">What is their liquor do you <span class="nowrap">think?—</span></span> -<span class="spp01">It should be Ind and Coope, O (Coupeau).</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Mr. Ind, the founder of the Romford Brewery, died in 1848, his -place being taken by his son, the present Mr. Ind. Mr. E. V. Ind, -another son of the founder, was also made a partner, as was Mr. Charles -Peter Matthews, to whose skill as a brewer Romford Ales owe much of -their reputation. In 1858, Mr. Thomas Helme (who has recently -assumed the name of Mashiter) joined the firm, which consisted in 1886 of -Messrs. O. E. Coope; Edward Ind; C. P. Matthews (the general -managing partner); T. Mashiter; together with their four sons, and -Major F. J. N. Ind, son of the late Mr. E. V. Ind.</p> - -<p>In 1853 Messrs. Ind, Coope & Co. purchased a brewery at Burton, -which, having been enlarged from time to time, now rivals in size the -old brewhouse at Romford. It is under the direction of Mr. E. J. Bird, -the Burton managing partner.</p> - -<p>The mash tuns, vats, coppers, &c., of the Romford brewery differ -but little from those used by other firms of the first rank. In the -brewhouse are thirty-two malt bins, the eight largest of which hold -900 quarters, and are each about as large as -a small dwelling-house. <span class="xxpn" id="p353">{353}</span> -Altogether 10,000 quarters of malt can be stored. Extensive hop rooms, -one of which is 110 feet long by 80 feet wide, afford storage for 5,000 -pockets of hops. There are six coppers, the largest of which holds -32,400 gallons. In the fermenting room are twenty-four squares with -capacities ranging up to 500 barrels. The stores are in seventeen buildings -connected by tramways, and the tram lines on which the casks are -rolled are about eight miles in length. About 600,000 full casks of -various sizes are sent out from the store every year. In the stores are -twenty-three huge vats used for storing old ale.</p> - -<p>The cooperage is one of the largest departments in the brewery, -giving employment to thirty-two coopers and fifty-six assistants. In the -stables are some forty or fifty horses, and the more thoroughly to dispel -the popular delusion that brewers’ horses are fed on grains, it may be -worth while stating that these have each an allowance of 42 lbs. per day -of oats, beans, clover, meadow-hay, oat-straw and bran, all either cut or -bruised and mixed together.</p> - -<p>On the brewery are kept three fire-engines (a steamer and two -manuals) and a well organised fire-brigade of ten men, which is ever -ready to render its services at fires in the neighbourhood. A laudable -feature in connection with the brewery is a Friendly Society, to which -all the employés belong, and which ensures their receiving, among other -benefits, a substantial allowance during sickness.</p> - -<p>At Romford the firm give employment to three hundred men and -boys, exclusive of officials, collectors, &c., and are large employers of -labour at their London stores (where eighty horses are in use); at their -Burton brewery, and at their twenty-five country depôts. The firm is a -great supporter of the Volunteer movement. For many years Mr. Coope -was Major of the Essex Volunteers, and one company of the battalion to -which he was attached is entirely made up of brewery employés, -“doughty sons of malt and hops.”</p> - -<p>Messrs. Ind, Coope & Co. stick to the old-fashioned materials for -their beer, and the large extent of what may be termed their private -family trade is an indication not to be lightly disregarded that we -English still adhere to our ancient friendship for Sir John Barleycorn.</p> - -<p>One other Burton Brewery yet remains to be mentioned, that of -Messrs. Thomas Salt & Company, at the head of which firm is Mr. -Henry Wardle, the present (1886) member for South Derbyshire, the -other partners being Messrs. Edward Dawson Salt, William Cecil Salt, -and Henry George Tomlinson.</p> - -<p>To trace the origin of the firm, it is necessary to go back -as far as <span class="xxpn" id="p354">{354}</span> -the year 1774, when Messrs. Salt & Co.’s maltings were worked in conjunction -with the brewery of Messrs. Clay & Sons. It was about this -time that the great-grandfather of two present members of the firm -added a brewery to the malting business, and thus, in the list of brewers, -then few in number, given in the records of the town for 1789, we find -the name of Thomas Salt. In 1822 the only Burton Brewers mentioned -in Pigott’s <i>Commercial Directory</i> were S. Allsopp & Co.; Bass and -Ratcliffe; Thomas Salt & Co.; John Sherrard; and William -Worthington.</p> - -<p>When in 1823 the Burton brewers determined to brew an ale which -could compete with Hodgson’s then well-known India pale ale, -Salt & Co. were among the first to bring the idea to a practical issue. -There must indeed have been no lack of energy on the part of the firm, -for in 1884 they came off with flying colours at the International Health -Exhibition, gaining a gold medal for the excellence of their ale.</p> - -<p>Salt & Co.’s brewery is bounded on the front by the High Street, -while at the back flows the silvery Trent, the waters of which are not -used in brewing, as many people suppose. Even in Burton, famous -as it is for its waters, every well sunk does not produce the right sort of -“liquor,” and Messrs. Salt & Co., after many fruitless borings on their -own premises, were obliged to sink an artesian well a quarter of a mile -distant before they could obtain the water most suitable for their -purpose.</p> - -<p>The firm have several maltings in Burton, the most important of -which is that situated on the Wallsitch. It consists of three huge -blocks of buildings, each of which is seventy yards long, thirty wide, -and four storeys high. As a malting has not yet been described in -this book, some account of the interior of John Barleycorn’s Crematory, -taking that last erected by Messrs. Salt & Co. as a sample, may be read -with interest.</p> - -<p>On the ground floor is the cistern, into which the barley, after being -cleansed (technically “screened”), is placed for the purpose of being -steeped. At the end of about fifty hours the clear water is drained off, -and the soaked barley is thrown into the couch frame, where it remains -about twenty-five hours. The grain has now commenced to germinate. -The next process is to distribute it over various floors (by means of -baskets lowered and raised by steam windlasses), where it is spread on -clean red tiles, in layers varying from two to four inches in thickness, -according to the temperature of the weather. For four or five days the -barley is left to grow. At the end of that time its vitality -begins to flag <span class="xxpn" id="p355">{355}</span> -for lack of moisture, and more water is added, the skill of the maltster -being taxed to the utmost in assigning such a proportion of water as -will develop the grain into perfect malt. At the end of about ten days -germination is complete. A great and wonderful transformation has -now taken place, the hard stubborn corn having been reduced to tender -friable malt. The next process is to dry the malt, and for this purpose -it is placed in a kiln and subjected to a high temperature until the vital -principle of germination is extinguished, and the desired colour has been -acquired. Any dry rootlets which adhere to the grain are then -separated by trampling, a second screening takes place, and the malt -is measured into sacks, every precaution being taken to prevent -exposure to the atmosphere, until it is finally placed in the big bins -above the mash tub.</p> - -<p>In the process of malting the most ingenious apparatus used is the -screen, which may be described as a <i>multum in parvo</i> piece of mechanism. -Of these machines there are three, each being worked by an endless -leathern rope, and by an ingenious system of graduated riddles, performing -four distinct operations. In one compartment the dust is -blown away by revolving fans, in another the broken half-corns are -removed; the third action clears all stones, rubbish, &c., away, and -finally the thin inferior corns are separated.</p> - -<p>To avoid repetition, we are obliged to omit a description of the -brewery, those of the first class at Burton being very similar to one -another. In order to give some idea of the extent of Messrs. Salt and -Co.’s operations, it may be mentioned that in the new house are five -mash tubs, each with a capacity of fifty-five qrs. of malt. The cooperage -belonging to this firm is noteworthy, the casks being made by elaborate -machinery worked by steam, a system followed in very few English -breweries, but which is not uncommon in America.</p> - -<p>In the archives of the firm of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co., is -a document bearing the date 1719, which purports to be “An Inventory -of the Goods, Chattels, and Credits of Joseph Truman, which since his -death have come into the hands, possession and knowledge of Benjamin -Truman, Daniel Cooper, and the Executors named in the will of Joseph -Truman.” No earlier written record of the firm is in existence, but -there is a tradition that at some remote period of history there existed -one John Oliver Truman, who carried on the business in Brick Lane, -and to this day all casks leaving the brewery are branded I.O.T. Even -in 1741 the business transacted was considerable. There were then -four partners—Benjamin Truman, John Denne, Francis -Cooper and the <span class="xxpn" id="p356">{356}</span> -executors of Alud Denne. Among the customers were two hundred -and ninety-six publicans, one of whom was John Denne, who retailed -the beer made by this firm.</p> - -<p>To the Benjamin Truman above-mentioned must be given the -credit of having made the brewery one of the most important in London. -In 1737, when the Duchess of Brunswick (grand-daughter of George II.) -was born, the Prince of Wales ordered bonfires to be made before -Carlton House, and four barrels of beer to be given to the populace. -But the brewer to the royal household provided beer of the smallest, and -the mob threw it in each other’s faces and into the fire. The Prince -good-naturedly ordered a second bonfire the succeeding night, and -Benjamin Truman supplied the beer. He had the wisdom to send a -sturdy brew, the best his cellars could produce, and the people were -greatly pleased. With such a shrewd trader at its head, it is not -surprising that by 1760 Truman’s had taken its place as third among -the great London Breweries. Calvert and Seward came first with -74,704 barrels, Whitbread’s next with 60,508 barrels, Truman’s -following with 60,140 barrels.</p> - -<p>Benjamin Truman was knighted by George III., and portraits of -him and his daughter, by Gainsborough, still hang in the drawing room -of the house in Brick Lane. In the same room is a portrait of Mr. -Sampson Hanbury (the first of the name who joined the firm), a famous -sportsman, who for thirty-five years was Master of the Puckeridge -Hounds. He entered the firm in 1780, and was subsequently joined by -his brother. Sampson Hanbury’s sister, Anna, married Thomas Fowell -Buxton, of Earle’s Colne. This gentleman was High Sheriff of his -county, and served the office with special credit. He died in 1792, -leaving a widow, three sons, and two daughters. The eldest son, -Thomas Fowell Buxton, was only six years old at his father’s death. -This little fellow was destined to be, perhaps, the most distinguished -partner in the firm. He was educated at Greenwich, and Trinity -College, Dublin, at which latter place he carried off the highest honours, -and when only twenty-one years of age received an influential requisition -to represent the University in Parliament. This honour he -declined. He had originally been intended for the Bar, but in 1808, -when on a visit to the brewery, his uncles, Osgood and Sampson -Hanbury, being struck with his undoubted abilities, offered him a situation -in the business, and in 1811 made him a partner. The other -members of the firm at that time were Mr. Sampson Hanbury, Mr. -John Truman Villebois, and -Mr. Henry Villebois. <span class="xxpn" id="p357">{357}</span></p> - -<p>To the young partner was soon given the work of re-modelling the -Establishment, a task in which he succeeded admirably. A few years -later he began to take an interest in public affairs, devoting himself -more particularly to a consideration of subjects connected with prison -discipline and the criminal code, into which his early training for the -Bar gave him some insight. In 1818 he was elected for Weymouth, and, -owing in a great measure to his exertions and co-operation, Sir Robert -Peel carried his Bill for the abolition of capital punishment for trivial -offences. Mr. Buxton’s great work was in connection with the Slavery -question. Into the cause of Liberty he threw himself heart and soul, -and to his unceasing endeavours were in great measure due the glorious -results ultimately achieved. The Beer Act, passed in 1830, had Mr. -Buxton’s approval. “I have always voted for free trade when the -interests of others are concerned,” he said, “and it would be awkward -to change when my own are in jeopardy. I am pleased to have an -opportunity of proving that our real monoply is one of skill and capital.”</p> - -<p>In June, 1831, occurred a noteworthy event in the history of the firm. -This was a visit by a number of Cabinet Ministers to inspect the brewery. -Mr. Buxton had provided an elaborate banquet, but Lord Brougham said -that beef-steaks and porter were more appropriate to the occasion, so of -those excellent comestibles the dinner in great part consisted. Of this visit -Mr. Buxton has left a very lively account, too long, unfortunately, to -be given here. Among the guests, who numbered twenty-three, were -the Lord Chancellor, Lord Grey, the Duke of Richmond, the Marquis -of Cleveland, Lords Shaftesbury, Sefton, Howick, Durham, and Duncannon, -General Alava, Dr. Lushington, Spring Rice and W. Brougham. -Mr. Buxton first took them to see the steam engine. Lord Brougham -immediately delivered a little lecture upon steam power, and, as the -party went through the brewery, had so much to say about the -machinery that Joseph Gurney said he understood brewing better than -any person on the premises. At dinner “the Chancellor lost not a -moment, he was always eating, drinking, talking or laughing.” Later -on the Ministers inspected the stables, and the Lord Chancellor surprised -everyone by his knowledge of horseflesh. Some one proposed -that he should mount one of the horses and ride round the yard, which -he seemed very willing to do—such is the power of brown stout!</p> - -<p>On the 9th November, 1841, a large new structure was opened, and -to celebrate the event a supper was given to the men. In the midst of -it the good news came that the Queen had given birth to a son. In -honour of Her Majesty’s first-born, a huge vat -was christened. “The <span class="xxpn" id="p358">{358}</span> -Prince of Wales.” The inscription can still be seen. Twenty-five years -later, when on a visit to the brewery, his Royal Highness had the satisfaction -of drinking a glass of stout drawn from his namesake.</p> - -<p>In 1837, after twenty years’ faithful service, Mr. Buxton was defeated -at Weymouth. Finding his health demanded repose, though -invited by twenty-seven constituencies to represent them, he determined -to leave Parliamentary life, and in 1841 a baronetcy was conferred -on him by Lord John Russell. Even when out of Parliament he -gave himself no rest, his mind being full of philanthropic schemes. He -died in 1845, at the age of fifty-nine, and was buried in Westminster -Abbey.</p> - -<p>In 1820 Mr. Robert Hanbury, nephew of Mr. Sampson Hanbury, -became a partner in the firm, of which he was the head for many years. -He was born in 1796, and during the few years previous to his death -was the oldest member of the London brewing trade. He is remembered -for his philanthropy and benevolence. During the period when Mr. -Thomas F. Buxton was engaged with public affairs nearly the whole -management and control of the brewery fell on Mr. Hanbury.</p> - -<p>In 1814 the first steam-engine was erected in the brewery. Previously -the mashing was accomplished with long oars worked by -sturdy Irishmen, and each brewing occupied twenty-four hours.</p> - -<p>At the present time (1886) the members of the firm are Messrs. -Arthur Pryor; C. A. Hanbury; T. F. Buxton; Sir T. Fowell Buxton, -Bart.; Messrs. E. N. Buxton; J. H. Buxton; E. S. Hanbury; A. V. -Pryor; R. Pryor; J. M. Hanbury; and Gerald Buxton. Of these -perhaps the best known to the public is Mr. Edward North Buxton, -whose name has long been before them in connection with many -measures of national importance.</p> - -<p>Messrs. Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co. have always been a little -ahead of the times, and it is not surprising to find in the brewery appliances -of the most improved description. As an instance of this, when -Lord Palmerston was at the Home Office he ordered that all London -manufacturers should erect smoke-consuming furnaces. Mr. Buxton -had, however, already adopted the principle, so that when the Home -Secretary was abused by the manufacturers for ordering them to do the -impossible, he was able to point out that what he desired had been -already done. Palmerston publicly thanked the firm for this in the -House of Commons.</p> - -<p>The brewery, cooperage, and stables in Brick Lane cover about five -acres, and near at hand are the Coverley -Fields, where are the <span class="xxpn" id="p359">{359}</span> -signboard and wheelwright shops, cellars, &c., covering about three and a -half acres. As may be imagined, a small army of men is employed in -the brewery, numbering in all about four hundred and fifty.</p> - -<p>Worthy of special notice in the brewhouse are the cleansing vessels, -which, being very shallow, do their work with great rapidity. On the -ground-floor is a novelty, one room being completely filled with shallow -slate vessels for holding the yeast in summer. Each of these vessels has -a false bottom, under which cold liquor (in vulgar parlance, water) -constantly circulates, rendering the yeast so cool that is may be kept -for some time in the hottest summer weather.</p> - -<p>In the brewery are ninety-five vats, which have a total capacity of -3,463,992 gallons, an amount which it has been calculated is about five -times the capacity of all the swimming-baths in London put together. -These huge vats are, however, but rarely used. Nearly 80,000 casks -are always in use.</p> - -<p>When the light ales came into fashion Messrs. Truman & Co. -wisely determined to start a pale-ale brewery at Burton. They -carried out their resolve in 1874. Of this it can only be said that -everything Science could do to make the brewery perfect was done, and -that the pale ales are brewed on the most approved Burton principles.</p> - -<p>The founder of the firm of Whitbread & Co. was the son of a -yeoman who lived on a small estate at Cardington, in Bedfordshire. -On his father’s death he improved the property by building, and from -one propitious circumstance to another gradually amassed an immense -fortune. It was in the year 1742 that Mr. Whitbread commenced -business as a brewer, at the Brew House, Old Street, St. Luke’s, the -premises now occupied by the firm of More & Co. In 1750 he removed -to Chiswell Street, where for fifty years previously had been a brewery. -Here the business was developed with great vigour, and from the -returns made necessary in 1760 by the imposition of a Beer-tax, we learn -that in that year Whitbread’s brewed no less than 63,408 barrels of beer, -only one other London firm—Calvert & Seward—brewing a greater -quantity. In 1785 steam power was introduced into the brewery. In -connection with this event are two very celebrated names, for the Sun -and Planet engine, still in use, was manufactured by the firm of which -Watt was a partner; and John Rennie adapted the other machinery to -the new motive power. About the same period six huge underground -cisterns were made, after designs by Smeaton, varying in capacity from -700 to 3,600 barrels each. Two years later Mr. Whitbread had the -honour of a visit from King George and Queen -Charlotte, the particulars <span class="xxpn" id="p360">{360}</span> -of which are recorded in a humorous poem of considerable length, by -Peter Pindar (Dr. Walcot), a few verses from which will suffice to give -some idea of what took place on that auspicious occasion. A more -prosaic, and no doubt more credible, account will be found in the <i>Daily -Chronicle</i> of that period.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -<span class="spp00">Full of the art of brewing beer,</span> -<span class="spp02">The monarch heard of Whitbread’s fame;</span> -<span class="spp00">Quoth he unto the queen, “My dear, my dear,</span> -<span class="spp02">Whitbread hath got a marvellous great name;</span> -<span class="spp00">Charly, we must, must, must see Whitbread brew—</span> -<span class="spp00">Rich as us, Charly, richer than a Jew;</span> -<span class="spp00">Shame, shame, we have not yet his brewhouse seen!”</span> -<span class="spp00">Thus sweetly said the king unto the queen.</span> -<span class="spp00">Red-hot with novelty’s delightful rage,</span> -<span class="spp00">To Mister Whitbread forth he sent a page,</span> -<span class="spp02">To say that Majesty proposed to view,</span> -<span class="spp00">With thirst of knowledge deep inflam’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">His vats, and tubs, and hops, and hogsheads fam’d,</span> -<span class="spp02">And learn the noble secret how to <i>brew</i>.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>The preparations at the brewery are then described, followed by the -arrival of King, Queen, Princesses and Courtiers. The conversation of -the King, who “asked a thousand questions with a laugh, before poor -Whitbread comprehended half,” was, according to the poet, as “five -hundred parrots, gabbling just like Jews.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Thus was the brewhouse fill’d with gabbling noise,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilst drayman, and the brewer’s boys,</span> -<span class="spp00">Devour’d the questions that the King did ask:</span> -<span class="spp02">In diff’rent parties were they staring seen,</span> -<span class="spp02">Wond’ring to think they saw a <i>King</i> and <i>Queen</i>!</span> -<span class="spp00">Behind a tub were some, and some behind a cask.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some draymen forc’d themselves (a pretty luncheon)</span> -<span class="spp00">Into the mouth of many a gaping puncheon;</span> -<span class="spp00">And through the bunghole wink’d with curious eye,</span> -<span class="spp02">To view and be assur’d what sort of things</span> -<span class="spp02">Were princesses, and queens, and kings;</span> -<span class="spp00">For whose most lofty stations thousands sigh!</span> -<span class="spp00">And, lo! of all the gaping clan,</span> -<span class="spp00">Few were the mouths that had not got a man!</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p361">{361}</span></div> - -<p>George III. was no doubt of opinion that a thing worth doing was -worth doing well, and no detail of the manufacture of beer seemed too -insignificant to interest him. “Thus microscopic geniuses explore,” -says Peter Pindar.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And now his curious majesty did stoop</span> -<span class="spp00">To count the nails on ev’ry hoop;</span> -<span class="spp00">And, lo! no single thing came in his way,</span> -<span class="spp00">That, full of deep research, he did not say,</span> -<span class="spp00">“What’s this? he, he? What’s that? What’s this?</span> -<span class="spp02">What’s that?”</span> -<span class="spp00">So quick the words too when he deign’d to speak,</span> -<span class="spp00">As if each syllable would break its neck.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The extent of the business at that time may be gathered from the -following -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now boasting Whitbread, serious did declare,</span> -<span class="spp00">To make the majesty of England stare,</span> -<span class="spp00">That he had buts enough, he knew,</span> -<span class="spp00">Plac’d side by side, to reach along to Kew:</span> -<span class="spp00">On which the king with wonder swiftly cry’d,</span> -<span class="spp02">“What if they reach to Kew then, side by side,</span> -<span class="spp02">What would they do, what, what, plac’d end to end?”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>To this Mr. Whitbread replies that they would probably reach to -Windsor.</p> - -<p>After awhile the King began to take notes.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem38"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now, majesty, alive to knowledge, took</span> -<span class="spp00">A very pretty memorandum-book,</span> -<span class="spp00">With gilded leaves of asses’ skins so white,</span> -<span class="spp00">And in it legibly did write—</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Memorandum,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">A charming place beneath the grates,</span> -<span class="spp02">For roasting chesnuts or potates,</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Mem.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">’Tis hops that gives a bitterness to beer—</span> -<span class="spp00">Hops grow in Kent, says Whitbread, and elsewhere.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Quaere.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Is there no cheaper stuff? where doth it dwell?</span> -<span class="spp00">Would not horse-aloes bitter it as well? <span class="xxpn" id="p362">{362}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Mem.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp02">To try it soon on our small beer—</span> -<span class="spp02">’Twill save us sev’ral pounds a year.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp04">Mem.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Not to forget to take of beer the cask</span> -<span class="spp01">The brewers offer’d me, away.</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">To Whitbread now deign’d majesty, to say,</span> -<span class="spp01">“Whitbread are all your horses fond of hay?”</span> -<span class="spp01">“Yes, please your Majesty!” in humble notes,</span> -<span class="spp00">The brewer answered—“also fond of oats:</span> -<span class="spp00">Another thing my horses too maintains—</span> -<span class="spp00">And that, an’t please your Majesty are grains.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Grains—grains,” - said majesty, “to fill their crops?</span> -<span class="spp00">Grains, grains, that comes from - hops—yes, hops, hops, hops.”</span> -<p id="p362versenote">Later on the brewery pigs were - reviewed by the King,</p> -<span class="spp00">On which the observant man who fills a - throne</span> -<span class="spp00">Declar’d the pigs were vastly like his - own.</span></div></div> - -<p>After the brewery had been inspected Mr. Whitbread entertained -the King and Queen at a banquet.</p> - -<p>For several sessions Mr. Whitbread sat in Parliament as the member -for Bedford. He was a man of much benevolence, and it is said of him -that his charity, which was as judicious as it was extensive, was felt in -every parish where he had property. His private distributions annually -exceeded 3,000. Among the records of the Brewers’ Company we -came upon a conveyance from him to the Company of three freehold -farms in Bedfordshire, the income arising from which was to be devoted -to supporting “one or two Master brewers of the age of fifty years or -upwards, who had carried on the trade of a brewer within the bills of -mortality or two miles thereof for many years in a considerable and -respectable manner with good characters but by losses in the brewing -trade only shall have come to decay or been reduced in circumstances -and want relief.” By another indenture of the same date three -dwelling houses in Whitecross Street, London, are conveyed to the -Company, the income to be devoted towards the “support and relief -of poor freemen of the Co<sup>y</sup>. of Brewers being proper objects and their -widows (particularly preferring such objects as shall -be blind, lame <span class="xxpn" id="p363">{363}</span> -afflicted with palsy or very aged).” The date of the gift is 1794. Only -two years later the donor died. His portrait, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, -is still to be seen in the Hall of the Brewers’ Company.</p> - -<p>Mr. Samuel Whitbread, son of the founder, and remembered as Mr. -Whitbread the politician, now became the head of the firm, and, having -associated with himself partners, carried on the business as Whitbread -& Co. He sat in Parliament for several years, and was a firm -supporter of the Liberal party. It is related of him that being one -evening at Brooks’s he talked loudly and largely against the Ministers -for laying what was called the <i>war-tax</i> upon malt; every one present -of course concurred with him in opinion; but Sheridan could not -resist the gratification of displaying his ever ready wit. Taking out his -pencil, he wrote upon the back of a letter the following lines, which he -handed to Mr. Whitbread across the -<span class="nowrap">table:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They’ve raised the price of table drink;</span> -<span class="spp00">What is the reason, do you think?</span> -<span class="spp00">The tax on malt’s the cause, I hear:</span> -<span class="spp00">But what has malt to do with beer?</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Mr. Whitbread the politician is mentioned in <i>Rejected Addresses</i>, -and it is worthy of note that he took a considerable part in the rebuilding -of Drury Lane Theatre after it had been destroyed by fire.</p> - -<p>Since 1760 the business had wonderfully increased. In 1806 we -find Whitbread & Co. stand fourth among the London brewers, brewing -101,311 barrels. In the succeeding ten years the business more -than doubled itself, the beer brewed in 1815 amounting to 261,018 -barrels.</p> - -<p>Mr. Whitbread, the son of the founder, died in 1820. A writer in -the <i>London Magazine</i> of that date gives a careful study of his character -as a politician. “He was an honest man, and a true Parliamentary -speaker. He had no artifices, no tricks, no reserve about him. He -spoke point-blank what he thought, and his heart was in his broad, -honest, English face. . . . . If a falsehood was stated, he -contradicted it instantly in a few brief words: if an act of injustice was -palliated, it excited his contempt; if it was justified, it roused his -indignation; he retorted a mean insinuation with manly spirit, and -never shrank from a frank avowal of his sentiments.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Whitbread the politician left two sons, the younger of whom -represented Middlesex for several years, and died in 1879. Of the present -member for Bedford, grandson of the politician, we need -say but little. <span class="xxpn" id="p364">{364}</span> -He was born in 1830, was educated at Rugby and Cambridge, has sat for -Bedford since 1852, and is one of the most respected members of the -House of Commons.</p> - -<p>There are, it need hardly be said, many other brewing firms of the -first rank in the United Kingdom. The length to which this chapter -has grown absolutely prohibits us from giving, as we had intended, a -sketch of a large Edinburgh firm. There is, however, scattered through -these pages continual reference to the good ale—“jolly good ale and old”—of -Scotland. The old ales of Edinburgh are now giving way somewhat -to the pale ales affected by the temperate drinkers of the period, but old -Scotch ale is by no means a thing of the past, and has a world-wide -reputation. Most of the Edinburgh breweries have been established a -very long time, in some cases over a hundred years.</p> - -<p>In the earlier portions of this book punning allusions to ale by old -writers have been freely quoted; with them may be compared the -following extract from a modern play, <i>Little Jack Sheppard</i>, written by -Messrs. Stephens and Yardley, and which contains facetious references -to some of the firms whose histories have just been related.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b></span> - <span class="smcap">D<b>ARRELL</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp00">When out at sea the crew set me, Thames Darrell,</span> -<span class="spp00">Afloat upon the waves within a barrel.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">W<b>INIFRED</b></span> - <span class="smcap">W<b>OOD</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp00">In hopes the <i>barrel</i> - would turn out your <i>bier</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp00">But I’m <i>stout</i>-hearted and I didn’t fear.</span> -<span class="spp00">I nearly died of thirst.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">W<b>IN</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp14">Poor boy! Alas!</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp00">Until I caught a fish—</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">W<b>IN</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp14">What sort?</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp20"><i>A bass.</i></span> -<span class="spp00">Then came the worst, which nearly proved my ruin,</span> -<span class="spp00">A storm, a thing I can’t <i>abear, a brewin’</i>.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">W<b>IN</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp00">It makes me pale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp09">It made <i>me pale</i> and <i>ail</i>.</span> -<span class="spp00">When nearly <i>coopered</i> I descried a sail;</span> -<span class="spp00">They didn’t hear me, though I loudly whooped.</span> -<span class="spp00">Within the barrel I was <i>inned</i> and <i>cooped</i>.</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>All’s up</i>, I thought, when round they quickly brought her,</span> -<span class="spp00">That ship to me of safety was the <i>porter</i>;</span> -<span class="spp00">Half dead and half alive. Ha! ha!</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">W<b>IN</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp20">Don’t laugh.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twas very bitter.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<p class="p364speaker"><span class="smcap">T<b>HAMES</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spp10">No, ’twas <i>half and half</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p365a.png" width="144" height="48" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p365"><span - class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XIII.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"> -<div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">And what this flood of deeper brown,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which a white foam does also crown,</span> -<span class="spp00">Less white than snow, more white than mortar?</span> -<span class="spp00">Oh, my soul! can this be Porter?</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>The Déjeunè.</i></span></div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"> -<div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">P raised and caress’d, the tuneful Philips sung</span> -<span class="spp00">O f Cyder fam’d, whence first his laurel sprung;</span> -<span class="spp00">R ise then, my muse, and to the world proclaim</span> -<span class="spp00">T he mighty charms of Porter’s potent name:</span> -<span class="spp00">E ach buck from thee shall sweetest pleasure taste,</span> -<span class="spp00">R evel secure, nor think to part in haste.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>An Acrostick.</i></span></div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>PORTER AND -STOUT. — CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED TO THEIR -INTRODUCTION. — VALUE TO THE WORKING -CLASSES. — ANECDOTES. — “A -POT OF PORTER OH!”</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p365b.png" -width="226" height="229" alt="B" /></span>EFORE -the Blue Last, an old public-house -situate in Curtain Road, Shoreditch, -there formerly hung a board which bore -this legend:—“The house where porter -was first sold.”</p> - -<p>Whether this was true or false we -cannot say; certain it is, however, that -the drink which has made London and -Dublin brewers famed far and wide had its -birthplace not far from this spot.</p> - -<p>It appears that in the early years of last century the lovers of malt -liquors in London were accustomed to regale themselves upon three classes -of these beverages; they had ale, beer, and twopenny. Many who preferred -a more subtle combination of flavours than either -of these liquors <span class="xxpn" id="p366">{366}</span> -alone could impart, would ask for <i>half-and-half</i>, that is, half of ale and -half of beer, half of ale and half of twopenny, or half of beer and half of -twopenny. Others again—and these were the real connoisseurs of malt -liquors—would call for a pot of three threads, or three thirds, <i>i.e.</i>, one-third -of ale, one-third of beer, and one-third of twopenny. The drawer would -therefore have to go to three different casks, and through three distinct -operations, before he could draw a pint of liquor. But the hour had -come—and the man. One Ralph Harwood, whose name is too little -known to an ungrateful posterity of beer-drinking Britons, some time -about the year 1730, kept a brewhouse on the east side of High Street, -Shoreditch. In that year, or perhaps a little earlier, as this great man -brooded over the inconvenience and waste occasioned by the calls for -the “three threads,” which became more and more frequent, he conceived -the idea of making a liquor which would combine in itself the -several virtues of ale, beer, and twopenny. He carried the idea into -action, and brewed a drink which he called “Entire,” or “Entire -Butts.” It was tasted; it was approved; it became the fruitful parent -of a mighty offspring; and from that day to this has gone on increasing -in name and fame.</p> - -<p>Visitors to the great brewery in Brick Lane are shown a hole from -which steam issues to the accompaniment of awful rumbling noises. -“In there once fell a man,” they are told—“a negro. Nothing but -his bones were found when the copper was emptied, and it is said -that the beer drawn off was of an extraordinary dark colour. Some -say this was the first brew of porter. Oh yes” (this in answer to -a question), “we soon learnt how to make it without the negro.” -We must confess that we have some doubts as to this account of -the origin of porter. We do not believe that brew could have been -much darker on account of the accident, though no doubt, under the -circumstances, it contained plenty of “body.” A similar tale is told -of nearly every London porter brewery, and later on it will be -found in verse.</p> - -<p>It seems to be to some extent a moot point among the learned how -porter obtained its present name, for no record seems to have been kept -of its christening. Harwood, no doubt, stood godfather to his interesting -infant, but, as we have seen above, he called it “Entire;” and how -or when it came to be known as porter is not quite clear. There are -several theories on the subject, each more or less plausible. One is -that being a hearty, appetizing, and nourishing liquor, it was specially -recommended to the notice of the porters, who then, as -now, formed a <span class="xxpn" id="p367">{367}</span> -considerable proportion of the Shoreditch population. Pennant, in his -<i>London</i> seems, to have held this view; he calls it “a wholesome liquor, -which enables the London porter-drinkers to undergo tasks that ten gin-drinkers -would sink under.” Another explanation of the origin of the -name is that Harwood sent round his men to his customers with the -liquor, and that the men would announce their arrival and their business -by the cry of “Porter”—meaning, not the beer, but the bearer. -Be this how it may, the embodiment of Harwood’s great idea had not -attained its majority before it was known far and wide by its present -name.</p> - -<hr class="hrtb" /> - -<p>In <i>The Student</i> (1750) is thus related the first appearance of -porter at Oxford—. . . “Let us not derogate from the merits of -porter—a liquor entirely British—a liquor that pleases equally the -mechanic and the peer—a liquor which is the strength of our nation, -the scourge of our enemies, and which has given <i>immortality</i> to aldermen. -’Tis with the highest satisfaction that we can inform our Oxford -students that <i>Isis</i> herself has taken this divine liquor into her protection, -and that the <i>Muses</i> recommend it to their votaries, as being far -preferable to Hippocrene, Aganippe, the Castalian spring, or any <i>poetical -water</i> whatever. Know, then, that in the middle of the High Street, at -the sign of the King’s Arms, opposite to its opposite, Juggins’s Coffee -House, lives Captain Jolly; who <i>maugrè</i> the selfish opposition of his -brother publicans, out of a pure affection to this University, and regardless -of private profit, reduc’d porter from its original price of Sixpence, -and in large golden characters generously informs us that he sells</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp02">“London Porter</span> -<span class="spp00">At Fourpence a Quart.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>“As the Captain is a genius and a choice spirit he meets with the -greatest encouragement from the gown, and sends porter to all the common-rooms. -He therefore intends shortly (in imitation of the great -Ashley, of the Punch House, Ludgate Hill) to have the front of his -house new vamp’d up, and decorated with the following -<span class="nowrap">inscription:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="sppctr">“Pro bono academico.</span> -<span class="spp00">Here lives Captain Jolly</span> -<span class="sppctr">who first</span> -<span class="spp00">reduced Porter to its’ present price</span> -<span class="sppctr">and</span> -<span class="spp00">Brought that liquor into University esteem.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p368">{368}</span></div> - -<p>Though we fear the great Harwood does not fill the niche in the -Temple of Fame to which he is entitled, yet his praises are not entirely -unsung. Gutteridge, himself a native of Shoreditch, has commemorated -the discovery of porter in these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Harwood, my townsman, he invented first</span> -<span class="spp00">Porter to rival wine, and quench the thirst:</span> -<span class="spp00">Porter, which spreads its fame half the world o’er,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whose reputation rises more and more;</span> -<span class="spp00">As long as Porter shall preserve its fame,</span> -<span class="spp00">Let all with gratitude our Parish name.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>“It is not in my power,” says Pennant in the work we have before -quoted, “to trace the progress of this important article of trade. Let -me only say that it is now a national concern; for the duty on malt -from July 5th, 1785, to the same day 1786, produced a million and a -half of money to the support of the State, from a liquor which invigorates -the bodies of its willing subjects, to defend the blessings they enjoy. -One of these Chevaliers de Malte (as an impertinent Frenchman -styled a most respectable gentleman of the trade) has, within one -year, contributed not less than fifty thousand pounds to his own -share.”</p> - -<p>The person to whom the Frenchman applied the title of Chevalier -de Malte was Humphrey Parsons, a brewer of last century, and the -incident which gave rise to the name has already been referred to.</p> - -<p>Pennant gives a list of the chief porter brewers of London at the end -of last century, with the number of barrels of strong beer they brewed -from Midsummer, 1786, to Midsummer, 1787. Samuel Whitbread heads -the list with 150,280 barrels, and among the others may be noted -Calvert, now the City of London Brewery; Hester Thrale, now -Barclay and Perkins; W. Read; and Richard Meux. Most of the other -names, though famous in their day and generation, are not familiar to -the modern reader. The total amount produced by some twenty-four -of the chief London brewers was considerably over one million -barrels.</p> - -<p>It is interesting to contrast the state of the Brewing trade a hundred -years ago with the proportions to which it has attained to-day. According -to a Parliamentary return made in 1884, there are now six brewers -of the United Kingdom who produce annually over three and a half -million barrels of malt liquor, and who pay to the revenue in Licence -and Beer duty nearly one million and a half -sterling per annum. <span class="xxpn" id="p369">{369}</span></p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<p>A fine flavour has occasionally been given to stout by extraordinary -means, as witness the following legend, entitled</p> - -<div class="padtopb">PATENT BROWN STOUT.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A Brewer in a country town</span> -<span class="spp01">Had got a monstrous reputation;</span> -<span class="spp00">No other beer but his went down.</span> -<span class="spp01">The hosts of the surrounding station,</span> -<span class="spp00">Carving his name upon their mugs,</span> -<span class="spp01">And painting it on every shutter;</span> -<span class="spp01">And though some envious folks would utter,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hints that its flavour came from drugs,</span> -<span class="spp00">Others maintained ’twas no such matter,</span> -<span class="spp01">But owing to his monstrous vat,</span> -<span class="spp01">At least as corpulent as that</span> -<span class="spp00">At Heidelberg—and some said fatter.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">His foreman was a lusty Black,</span> -<span class="spp01">An honest fellow;</span> -<span class="spp00">But one who had a ugly knack</span> -<span class="spp01">Of tasting samples as he brewed,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till he was stupefied and mellow.</span> -<span class="spp01">One day in this top-heavy mood,</span> -<span class="spp00">Having to cross the vat aforesaid,</span> -<span class="spp01">(Just then with boiling beer supplied),</span> -<span class="spp00">O’ercome with giddiness and qualms he</span> -<span class="spp01">Reel’d—fell in—and nothing more was said,</span> -<span class="spp01">But in his favourite liquor died,</span> -<span class="spp00">Like Clarence in his butt of Malmsey.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">In all directions round about</span> -<span class="spp01">The negro absentee was sought,</span> -<span class="spp01">But as no human noddle thought</span> -<span class="spp00">That our fat <i>Black</i> was now <i>Brown Stout</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">They settled that the rogue had left</span> -<span class="spp00">The place for debt, or crime, or theft.</span> -<span class="spp00">Meanwhile the beer was day by day</span> -<span class="spp00">Drawn into casks and sent away,</span> -<span class="spp00">Until the lees flowèd thick and thicker,</span> -<span class="spp01">When, lo! outstretched upon the ground,</span> -<span class="spp01">Once more their missing friend they found,</span> -<span class="spp00">As they had often done before—in liquor. <span class="xxpn" id="p370">{370}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>See,” - cried his moralising master,</span> -<span class="spp01">“I always knew the fellow drank hard,</span> -<span class="spp00">And prophesied some sad disaster:</span> -<span class="spp01">His fate should other tipplers strike,</span> -<span class="spp00">Poor Mungo! there he welters like</span> -<span class="spp01">A toast at bottom of a tankard!”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Next morn a publican, whose tap,</span> -<span class="spp01">Had help’d to drain the vat so dry,</span> -<span class="spp00">Not having heard of the mishap,</span> -<span class="spp01">Came to demand a fresh supply,</span> -<span class="spp00">Protesting loudly that the last</span> -<span class="spp00">All previous specimens surpass’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">Possessing a much richer <i>gusto</i></span> -<span class="spp00">Than formerly it ever us’d to,</span> -<span class="spp00">And begging, as a special favour,</span> -<span class="spp00">Some more of the exact same flavour.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Zounds!” - cried the brewer, “that’s a task</span> -<span class="spp01">More difficult to grant than ask;</span> -<span class="spp00">Most gladly would I give the smack</span> -<span class="spp01">Of the last beer to the ensuing,</span> -<span class="spp00">But where am I to find a Black</span> -<span class="spp01">And boil him down at every brewing?”</span> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<p>Professor Wilson, writing on brewing,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn68" id="fnanc68">68</a> -thus relates his conversion to -the porter-drinker’s creed.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc68" id="fn68">68</a> -<i>Blackwood’s Magazine</i>, vol. xxi.</p></div> - -<hr class="hrtb" /> - -<p class="padtopc">“From -ale we naturally get to porter—porter—drink ‘fit for the -gods,’ being, in fact, likely to be, now and then, <i>too potent</i> for mere -mortals. With porter we are less imbued than with ale (not but that -for some years we have imported our annual butt of Barclay); and this -we hold to be one of the great misfortunes of our life. We were early -nurtured in love and affection for ‘good ale’ by our great aunt, with -whom we were a young and frequent visitant. Excellent old Aunt -Patty! She was a Yorkshire woman, and cousin (three times removed) -to Mr. Wilberforce (the father). She too hated <i>rum</i> as the devil’s own -brewage, but then she loved sound ale in the same ratio. Thus it -happened, as we derived our faith in malt liquor from -her, that we <span class="xxpn" id="p371">{371}</span> -penetrated not the mysteries of porter until our elder days. Our heresy -was first effectually shaken by Charles Lamb, who, in his admirable -way, proved to us that, in a hot forenoon, a draught of Meux or Barclay -is beyond all cordial restoratives, and after a broiling peregrination (the -stages were all full) from Coleridge’s lodgings at Highgate to town, gave -us a specimen of the inspiring powers of porter in a perspiration, which -we shall remember until the day of our death.” Lamb was known by -all his friends to have an amiable weakness for porter, and the poet, in -<i>An Ode to Grog</i>, thus commemorates the -<span class="nowrap">fact:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The spruce Mr. Lamb (’pon my word it’s no flam)</span> -<span class="spp01">With Whitbread’s Entire makes his Pegasus jog;</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ll grant he’s a poet, but then he don’t show wit,</span> -<span class="spp01">In thinking that Porter is better than grog.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Burns was fond of porter, as of all other extracts of malt. He -addressed the following lines to his friend Mr. Syme, along with a -present of a dozen of bottled -<span class="nowrap">porter:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">O, had the malt thy strength of mind,</span> -<span class="spp01">Or hops the flavour of thy wit,</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twere drink for first of human kind,</span> -<span class="spp01">A gift that e’en for Syme were fit.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>We have given what we believe to be a correct historical account -of the origin of porter. Peter Pindar, in the <i>Lamentations of the Porter -Vat</i>, a poem in which he celebrates the bursting of a mighty porter vat -at Meux’s Brewery, gives a somewhat less prosaic -<span class="nowrap">account:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here—as ’tis said—in days of yore,</span> -<span class="spp00">(Such days, alas! will come no more),</span> -<span class="spp00">Resided Sir John Barleycorn,</span> -<span class="spp00">An ancient Briton, nobly born,</span> -<span class="spp00">With Mrs. Hop—a well-met pair,</span> -<span class="spp00">For he was rich, and she was fair.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Yet they—like other married Folke,</span> -<span class="spp00">When their past vows they can’t revoke—</span> -<span class="spp00">Were opposite in disposition,</span> -<span class="spp00">And quarrell’d without intermission;</span> -<span class="spp00">For He alone produc’d the <i>Sweets</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which She, with <i>Bitters</i> only, meets! <span class="xxpn" id="p372">{372}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Howe’er by dint of perseverance,</span> -<span class="spp00">By gentle conjugal endearance,</span> -<span class="spp00">The <i>Sweets</i> predominating most,</span> -<span class="spp00">In strength excelling, <i>rul’d the roast</i>;</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilst she, obedient, did her duty—</span> -<span class="spp00">That greatest ornament of beauty.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Her <i>Bitters</i>, thus by him controll’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">Their wholesome properties unfold,</span> -<span class="spp00">And give to him superior pow’rs—</span> -<span class="spp00">Superior charms for social hours;</span> -<span class="spp00">As <i>Beauty</i>, with persuasive tongue,</span> -<span class="spp00">Tempers the mind, by <i>passion</i> wrung.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">At length, from this domestic Pair,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was born a well-known Son and Heir;</span> -<span class="spp00">Whose deeds o’er half the world are fam’d,</span> -<span class="spp00">By Britons, Master Porter, nam’d.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Meux’s great vat then contained about 3,555 barrels, and was 22 ft. -high. In October, 1814, owing to the defective state of its hoops, it -burst, and the results were most disastrous. The brewery in the Tottenham -Court Road was at that time hemmed in by miserable tenements, -which were crowded by people of the poorer classes. Some of -these houses were simply flooded with porter, two or three collapsed, -and no less than eight persons met their death, either in the ruins or -from drowning, the fumes of the porter, or by drunkenness. At the -inquest the jury returned the verdict: “Death by Casualty.” Seven -huge vats—the largest holding 15,000 barrels—now take the place of -the one that burst. The <i>Times</i> of April 1, 1785, says, “There is a cask -now building at Messrs. Meux & Co.’s brewery in Liquorpond Street, -Gray’s Inn Lane, the size of which exceeds all credibility, being designed -to hold 20,000 barrels of porter; the whole expense attending the same -will be upwards of £10,000.” About this time the London porter -brewers vied with each other in building large vats, a practice they have -now discontinued.</p> - -<hr class="hrtb" /> - -<p>It would be difficult to imagine a liquor more suitable for the -working classes than good porter—taken in moderation, of course. Not -only does it afford the slight stimulant which, in another place, we have -shown to be beneficial to the human body, but it -also contains much <span class="xxpn" id="p373">{373}</span> -nutritive matter, both organic and inorganic, together with saccharine. -The old writer who spoke of ale as being meat, drink, and clothing -probably had no highly scientific knowledge of the chemical properties -of the liquor he was extolling, but the statement—based, no doubt, on experience—can -be called an exaggerated one.</p> - -<p>Very satisfactory is it to know that in Ireland porter is steadily displacing -whisky. Even in the western portions of the island, the younger -generation—excepting, perhaps, on holidays, at fairs, and on other festive -occasions—are taking most kindly to their “porther.” It will be a -happy thing for that country when “porther” shall have altogether -displaced poteen. The whisky sold at threepence for each small wine-glassful -in most of the country spirit shops in Ireland, and always taken -neat by the natives, is of a most injurious character, being new, and consequently -containing much fusel oil. Far be it from us to say a word -against good, well-matured whisky, which, taken in moderation, is a most -wholesome drink; but, good or bad, it is not the drink for working men -who require a more sustaining and less expensive liquor. What have -the total abstainers to suggest? <i>Water</i>, the diffuser of epidemics, and -hardly ever obtained pure by the labouring classes; <i>tea</i>, which is almost -as injurious as spirits to the nervous system, which lacks nutritive -properties, and which is by no means an inexpensive liquor; <i>coffee</i> -and <i>cocoa</i>, both hot drinks and most unsuitable to slake the thirst -of a labouring man; various effervescing drinks, all more or less -injurious to the digestive organs, when taken habitually, and -of whose composition no man hath knowledge, save the makers, -and <i>temperance wines</i>, certain vendors of which were not long back -prosecuted for attempting to defraud the revenue, when this abstainer’s -tipple was found to contain some twenty per cent. of alcohol. One -liquor, alone, have the teetotal party invented, which is nourishing, inexpensive, -and wholesome. This we may term <i>oatmeal mash</i>, or cold -comfort. It consists of scalded oatmeal, water, and some flavouring -matter. For harvesters working in the almost tropical heat of an -August sun, this is, no doubt, a wholesome drink, but it can hardly be -called palatable. As a matter of fact, no non-alcoholic substitute has -been put forward by the teetotal party which is in the least likely to -take the place of porter; and until such beverage is invented—an event -which we feel perfectly certain will never come to pass—the porter and -stout brewers of the United Kingdom will have every opportunity of -continuing to confer on the working classes the benefits of cheap and -wholesome liquor. <span class="xxpn" id="p374">{374}</span></p> - -<p>One temperance drink we had almost overlooked—herb-beer. In -the House of Commons, on May 6, 1886, Mr. Fletcher asked the -Chancellor of the Exchequer why the Excise officers had interfered -with the sale of herb-beer, a non-intoxicating beverage. To this the -Chancellor of the Exchequer replied, that the Inland Revenue did -not interfere with any liquors which contained less than three degrees -of proof spirit, though legally no beer could be brewed under the name -of herb-beer which had more than two degrees of alcohol. Some of -these non-intoxicating liquors, sold as temperance drinks, had been -found to be of considerably greater strength than London porter. -For the protection of the revenue it was necessary—and so on. -Comment is needless.</p> - -<p>As illustrative of the sustaining powers of brown beer, we may -mention an instance which recently came under our notice. A valuable -horse belonging to a member of the firm of Truman, Hanbury, Buxton, -& Co. had a serious attack of influenza, with slight congestion of the -lungs, and was so ill that it could take no food, and was evidently -dying. As a last resource it was offered stout, which it drank greedily. -For two weeks it entirely subsisted on this novel diet, and at the end -of that time the bad symptoms had almost disappeared. The horse -subsequently recovered.</p> - -<p>The name Stout was used originally to signify strong or stout -beer. This excellent brown beer only differs from Porter in being brewed -of greater strength and with a greater proportion of hops. Swift -thus mentions the -<span class="nowrap">liquor:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Should - but the Muse descending drop</span> -<span class="spp00">A slice of bread and mutton chop,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or kindly when his credit’s out,</span> -<span class="spp00">Surprise him with a pint of stout;</span> -<span class="spp00">Exalted in his mighty mind</span> -<span class="spp00">He flies and leaves his stars<a class="afnanc" href="#fn69" id="fnanc69">69</a> -behind.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc69" id="fn69">69</a> -Cf. Horace’s “<i>Sublimi feriam sidera vertice</i>,” which was once -construed by an ingenuous school-boy, “I will whip the stars with my -sublime <i>top ! !</i>”</p></div> - -<p>Many actors, actresses and singers imbibe largely of porter, both for -its excellent effects upon the voice and for its restorative and sustaining -powers. Fanny Kemble used frequently to apply herself to a vulgar -pewter pot of stout in the green room both during -and after her <span class="xxpn" id="p375">{375}</span> -performances. Peg Woffington was president of the Beefsteak Club, then -held in the Covent Garden Theatre; and after she had been pourtraying -on the stage “The fair resemblance of a martyr Queen,” she might -have been seen in the green room holding up a pot of porter, and exclaiming -in a tragic voice, “Confusion to all order, let liberty thrive.”</p> - -<p>Macklin, the actor, who lived to be a centenarian, was accustomed to -drink considerable quantities of stout sweetened with sugar, at the -Antelope, in White Hart Yard, Covent Garden. Porson used to -breakfast on bread and cheese and a pot of porter.</p> - -<p>A favourite mixture of modern Londoners is known by the name of -“Cooper,” and consists of porter and stout in equal proportions. The -best account of the origin of this name is one which attributes it to a -publican by the name of Cooper, who kept a house in Broad Street, -City, opposite to where the Excise Office stood. Cooper was a jolly, -talkative host, and associated a good deal with his customers—principally -officers of the Excise, bankers’ and merchants’ clerks, and men of that -stamp. His guests found on bits of broken plates, pieces of beef steak and -mutton chops already priced with paper labels. These they had but to -choose, mark their name on the ticket, and carry to the cook at the gridiron, -which was in the room in which they dined. Cooper drank and -recommended a mixture of porter and stout, the fame of which spread -very rapidly. The combination became the fashion in the City, and -finally it was brewed entire.</p> - -<p>An equally plausible but more invidious derivation of the name is -given by Andrew Halliday in his <i>Every-Day Papers</i>. His account is -that “Some brewers who are jealous for the reputation of their beer -employ a traveller, who visits the houses periodically, and tastes the -various beers, to see that they are not reduced too much. This -functionary is called the ‘Broad Cooper.’ When the Broad Cooper -looks in upon Mr. Noggins, and wants to taste the porter, and the -porter is below the mark, Mr. Noggins slyly draws a dash of stout into -it; and this trick is so common, and so well known, that a mixture of -stout and porter has come to be known to the public and asked for by -the name of ‘Cooper.’”</p> - -<p>It has been well observed that “Porter-drinking needs but a beginning: -whenever the habit has once been acquired, it is sure to be kept -up. London is a name pretty widely known in the world; some -nations know it for one thing, and some for another. But all nations -know that London is the place where porter was invented: and Jews, -Turks, Germans, Negroes, Persians, Chinese, -New Zealanders, <span class="xxpn" id="p376">{376}</span> -Esquimaux, copper Indians, Yankees and Spanish Americans, are united in -one feeling of respect for the native city of the most universally favourite -liquor the world has ever known.” When the Persian ambassador left -England some years ago, many of his suite shed tears. One of them, -struck with the security and peace of an Englishman’s life, when compared -to a Persian’s, declared that his highest ideal of Paradise was to -live at Chelsea Hospital, where for the rest of his life he would willingly -sit under the trees and drink as much porter as he could get.</p> - -<p>Much as porter’s praises have been sung, one depreciatory remark -is recorded to have been made by the late Judge Maule. “Why do you, -brother Maule, drink so much stout?” he was asked by one of the -judges. “To bring my intellect down to the level of the rest of the -bench,” was the not very flattering reply. It may be mentioned that -Judge Maule’s joke was not a new one, for L’Estrange has it thus: -“One ask’t Sir John Millesent how he did so conforme himself to the -grave justices his brothers when they mette. ‘Why, in faith,’ sayes he, -‘I have no way but to drink myselfe downe to the capacitie of the -Bench.’”</p> - -<div class="section dwthem34"> -<p>A song well known in the early part of the century is much -heartier, and redounds with patriotic -<span class="nowrap">sentiment:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">A POT OF PORTER OH!</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">When to Old England I came home,</span> -<span class="spp03">Fal lal, fal lal la !</span> -<span class="spp00">What joy to see the tankard foam</span> -<span class="spp03">Fal lal, fal lal la !</span> -<span class="spp00">When treading London’s well-known ground,</span> -<span class="spp01">If e’er I feel my spirits tire,</span> -<span class="spp00">I haul my sail and look up around</span> -<span class="spp01">In search of Whitbread’s best entire.</span> -<span class="spp00">I spy the name of Calvert,</span> -<span class="spp01">Of Curtis, Cox, and Co.;</span> -<span class="spp00">I give a cheer and bawl for’t,</span> -<span class="spp01">“A pot of Porter, ho !”</span> -<span class="spp00">When to Old England I come home,</span> -<span class="spp00">What joy to see the tankard foam !</span> -<span class="spp00">With heart so light and frolic high,</span> -<span class="spp00">I drink it off to liberty ! <span class="xxpn" id="p377">{377}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Where wine or water can be found</span> -<span class="spp03">Fal lal, fal lal la !</span> -<span class="spp00">I’ve travell’d far the world around,</span> -<span class="spp03">Fal lal, fal lal la !</span> -<span class="spp00">Again I hope before I die,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of England’s can the taste to try;</span> -<span class="spp00">For many a league I’d go about</span> -<span class="spp00">To take a draught of Gifford’s stout;</span> -<span class="spp00">I spy the name of Truman,</span> -<span class="spp01">Of Maddox, Meux, and Co.;</span> -<span class="spp00">The sight makes me a new man,—</span> -<span class="spp01">“A pot of porter, ho !”</span> -<span class="spp00">When to Old England I come home,</span> -<span class="spp00">What joy to see the tankard foam !</span> -<span class="spp00">With heart so light and frolic high,</span> -<span class="spp00">I drink it off to liberty.</span> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p377.png" width="144" height="45" alt="" /></div> -</div></div></div><!--section--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p378a.png" width="144" height="45" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p378"><i> -<span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XIV.</i></h2> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"> -<div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Then hail, thou big and foaming bowl,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hail, constant idol of my soul;</span> -<span class="spp00">How laughingly the bubbles ride</span> -<span class="spp00">Upon thy rich and sparkling tide.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Brasenose College Shrovetide Verses.</i></span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dpoemctr padtopc"> -<div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">This, I tell you, is our jolly <i>wassel</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">And for twelfth-night more meet too.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>Christmas Masque (Jonson).</i></span> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>BEVERAGES COMPOUNDED OF ALE OR BEER WITH -A NUMBER OF RECEIPTS.—ANCIENT DRINKING -VESSELS.—VARIOUS USES OF ALE OTHER THAN AS A -DRINK.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst dwthem38"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" -src="images/p378b.png" width="226" height="231" alt="V" -/></span>ERY few people, when warming themselves in -the winter months with Mulled Ale, know that they are -quaffing a direct descendant of that famous liquor known -to our forefathers as the Wassail-Bowl, and near akin -to Lambs-Wool, of which Herrick wrote in his <i>Twelfth</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Night</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr pclearfix"> -<div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Next crowne the bowle full</span> -<span class="spp00">With gentle Lambs wooll,</span> -<span class="spp02">Adde sugare nutmeg and ginger,</span> -<span class="spp00">With store of ale too</span> -<span class="spp00">And thus ye must doe,</span> -<span class="spp02">To make the Wassaile a swinger.</span> -</div></div> -</div><!--chapter--> - -<p>A beverage of still greater antiquity, but certainly a family connection, -is Bragget or Bragot, which is, or was, until quite recently, drunk -in Lancashire. The word, according to the writer of -<i>Cups and their <span class="xxpn" id="p379">{379}</span> -Customs</i>, is of Northland origin, and derived from “Braga,” the name -of a hero, one of the mythological Gods of the Edda. In its Welsh -form of Bragawd, the drink is mentioned in a very ancient poem, <i>The -Hirlas or Drinking Horn of Owen</i>, which has been thus rendered into -<span class="nowrap">English:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Cup-bearer, when I want thee most,</span> -<span class="spp00">With duteous patience mind thy post,</span> -<span class="spp00">Reach me the horn, I know its power</span> -<span class="spp00">Acknowledged in the social hour;</span> -<span class="spp00"><i>Hirlas</i>, thy contents to drain,</span> -<span class="spp00">I feel a longing, e’en to pain;</span> -<span class="spp00">Pride of feasts, profound and blue,</span> -<span class="spp00">Of the ninths wave’s azure hue,</span> -<span class="spp00">The drink of heroes formed to hold,</span> -<span class="spp00">With art enrich’d and lid of gold !</span> -<span class="spp00">Fill it with <i>bragawd</i> to the brink,</span> -<span class="spp00">Confidence inspiring drink;—</span> -</div></div> - -<p>We have been at no little trouble to discover the nature of the -drink called bragot, bragawd, &c., and have come to the conclusion that -the composition of the beverages bearing those names varied considerably. -To define Bragot with any degree of preciseness would be as -difficult as to give an accurate definition of “soup.” In the fourteenth -century, according to a MS. quoted in Wright’s <i>Provincial Dialects</i>, -“Bragotte” was made from this -<span class="nowrap">receipt:―</span></p> - -<p>“Take to x galons of ale iij potell of fyne worte, and iij quartis of -hony, and put thereto canell (cinnamon) oz: iiij, peper schort or long -oz: iiij, galingale (a sort of rush) oz: i, and clowys (cloves) oz i, and -gingiver oz ij.”</p> - -<p>Halliwell tells us that Bragot was a kind of beverage formerly -esteemed in Wales and the West of England, composed of wort, sugar -and spices. It was customary to drink it in some parts of the country -on Mothering Sunday.</p> - -<p>Bracket must at one time have been a liquor in common use in -London, for in Mary’s reign the constables were ordered to make weekly -search at the houses of the Brewers and “typlers,” to see whether they -sold any ale or beer or <i>bracket</i> above ½d. a quart without their houses, -and above ½d. -the “thyrdendeale”<a class="afnanc" href="#fn70" id="fnanc70">70</a> -within. <span class="xxpn" id="p380">{380}</span></p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc70" id="fn70">70</a> -The thyrdendale was a measure containing a pint and a half.</p></div> - -<p>In the <i>Haven of Health</i> (1584) are directions for making bragot, -which are similar to those in the fourteenth-century receipt. “Take -three or four galons of good ale or more as you please, two dayes -or three after it is cleansed, and put it into a pot by itselfe, then draw -forth a pottle thereof and put to it a quart of good English hony, -and sett them over the fire in a vessell, and let them boyle faire and -softly, and alwayes as any froth ariseth skumme it away, and so clarifie -it, and when it is well clarified, take it off the fire and let it coole, and -put thereto of peper a pennyworth, cloves, mace, ginger, nutmegs, -cinnamon, of each two pennyworth, stir them well together and sett -them over the fire to boyle againe awhile, then being milke-warme put -it to the rest and stirre all together, and let it stand two or three daies, -and put barme upon it and drinke it at your pleasure.”</p> - -<p>Harrison (1578), in his Preface to <i>Holinshed’s Chronicles</i>, relates -that his wife made a composition called Brakwoort, which seems to -have been rather used for flavouring ale than as a distinct beverage. -It contained no honey.</p> - -<p>In <i>Oxford Nightcaps</i> metheglin, mead, and Bragon, or Bragget, are -all mentioned as being compounded of honey. Idromellum, which -by-the-by did not always contain honey,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn71" id="fnanc71">71</a> -was sometimes spoken of as -Bragget. In Chaucer’s <i>Miller’s Tale</i> is mention of -<span class="nowrap">Braket:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">“Hire mouth was sweete as braket or the meth.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc71" id="fn71">71</a> -See p. 53.</p></div> - -<p>The Wassail Bowl, according to Warton, was the “Bowl” referred -to in the <i>Midsummer Night’s</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Dream</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sometimes lurk I in a <i>gossip’s bowl</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">In very likeness of a roasted crab,</span> -<span class="spp00">And when she drinks, against her lips I bob,</span> -<span class="spp00">And on her wither’d dewlap pour the <i>ale</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In <i>Hamlet</i> our great dramatist uses the word -<span class="nowrap">“wassail”:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The King doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse,</span> -<span class="spp00">Keeps <i>wassail</i>, and the swaggering upspring reels.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The chief ingredients of the ancient Wassail Bowl were, without -doubt, strong ale, sugar, spices, and roasted -apples. The following <span class="xxpn" id="p381">{381}</span> -receipt—the best of some half-dozen before us—is the one adopted at -Jesus College, Oxford, where, on the festival of St. David, an immense -silver-gilt bowl, which was presented to the college by Sir Watkin W. -Wynne in 1732, is partly filled with this admirable composition, and -passed round the festive board. Into the bowl is first placed half a -pound of Lisbon sugar, on which is poured one pint of warm beer; a -little nutmeg and ginger are then grated over the mixture, and four -glasses of sherry and five pints of beer are added to it. It is then stirred, -sweetened to taste, and allowed to stand covered up for two or three -hours. Three or four slices of thin toast are then floated on the -creaming mixture, and the wassail bowl is ready. Sometimes a couple -or three slices of lemon and a few lumps of sugar rubbed on the peeling -of a lemon are introduced. The slang term at Oxford for this beverage -is “Swig.” In another receipt it is said that the liquor, when mixed, -should be made hot (but not boiled), and the liquid poured over roasted -apples laid in the bowl.</p> - -<p>In some parts of the kingdom there are, it is to be hoped, some few -persons who still adhere to the ancient custom of keeping Wassail on -Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve; and these, if they are orthodox, -should ignore the toast of the Oxford receipt in favour of the roasted -crab. Not that there is much virtue in either apple or toast, the -excellence of the drink being due to the spices, sack, and quality of the -ale. It can easily be understood that when ale was for the most part -brewed without hops, and consequently rather insipid in taste, many -people would have a craving for something more highly flavoured, and -would put nutmeg, ginger and other spices into their liquor. It is not -unlikely that the introduction of hops was the cause which ultimately -led to beer cups going out of fashion. At the present day they are but -rarely compounded, even at the Universities. From experience we can -say that, if skilfully made, they are excellent, and some of the receipts -given in this chapter are well worthy a trial.</p> - -<p>Lambs-wool is a variety of the Wassail Bowl. Formerly the first day -of November was dedicated to the angel presiding over fruits, seeds, &c., -and was called <i>La Mas ubal</i> (The Day of the Apple-fruit), pronounced -lamasool. According to Vallancey these words soon became corrupted -by the country people into Lambswool, the liquor appropriate to the -day bearing the same name.</p> - -<p>To make this beverage, mix the pulp of half a dozen roasted apples -with some raw sugar, a grated nutmeg, and a small quantity of ginger; -add one quart of strong ale made moderately warm. -Stir the whole <span class="xxpn" id="p382">{382}</span> -together, and, if sweet enough, it is fit for use. This mixture is sometimes -served up in a bowl, with sweet cakes floating in it.</p> - -<p>In Ireland Lambswool used to be a constant ingredient at the -merry-makings on Holy Eve, or the evening before All Saints’ Day, and -milk was sometimes substituted for the ale. It is now rarely or never -heard of in that country, having been superseded by more ardent -potations.</p> - -<p><i>The Miller of Mansfield</i> contains a reference to -<span class="nowrap">Lambswool:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Doubt not, then sayd the King, my promist secresye:</span> -<span class="spp01">The King shall never know more on’t for mee.</span> -<span class="spp00">A cupp of <i>lambswool</i> they dranke unto him then,</span> -<span class="spp01">And to their bedds they past presentlie.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Old writers frequently made allusion to the spicing of ale. In -Chaucer’s <i>Rime of Sir Thopas</i> occur these -<span class="nowrap">lines:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And <i>Notemuge</i> to put in ale</span> -<span class="spp00">Whether it be moist or stale—</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">and -again, in <i>The Knight of the Burning Pestle</i>, by Beaumont and -<span class="nowrap">Fletcher:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Nutmegs and ginger, cinnamon and cloves,</span> -<span class="spp00">And they gave me this jolly red nose.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The ale, apparently, -had nothing to do with the colouration.</p> - -<p>Even the sublime Milton condescended to make allusion to spiced ale -in his <span class="nowrap"><i>L’Allegro</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Till the livelong daylight fail</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to the <i>spicy nut-brown ale</i>.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Wither, -in <i>Abuses Stript and Whipt</i> (1613), -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Will he will drinke, yet but a draught at most,</span> -<span class="spp00">That must be spiced with a nut-browne tost.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The last quotation -is only one out of the many to be found in our -literature having reference to the toast with which the spiced ale was -so often crowned. Perhaps the most curious is one -from Greene’s <i>Friar <span class="xxpn" id="p383">{383}</span> -Bacon</i> (sixteenth century). The Devil and Miles are conversing on the -pleasures of Hell, whence they soon afterwards proceed. “Faith ’tis a -place,” says Miles, “I have desired long to see; have you not good -tippling houses there?—May not a man have a lusty fire there, a pot -of good ale, a pair of cards, a swinging piece of chalk, and a <i>brown -toast</i> that will clap a white waistcoat on a cup of good drink?”</p> - -<p>Even in the last century toast and spices were not uncommonly put -into ale. Warton, in his <i>Panegyric on Oxford Ale</i>, -<span class="nowrap">wrote:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">My sober evening let the tankard bless</span> -<span class="spp00">With <i>toast</i> embrown’d, and fragrant <i>nutmeg</i> fraught,</span> -<span class="spp00">While the rich draught, with oft-repeated whiffs,</span> -<span class="spp00">Tobacco mild improves.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Anglo-Saxon custom of drinking healths and pledging has -been, at any rate, since the eighteenth century, termed <i>toasting</i>. In the -twenty-fourth number of <i>The Tatler</i> the word is connected with the -toast put in ale cups. This is probably correct, though Wedgewood -considers it a corruption of <i>stoss an!</i> knock (glasses), a German drinker’s -cry. The explanation given in <i>The Tatler</i> of the connection between -the two meanings of the word “toast” is, however, open to question. -It runs thus: “It is said that while a celebrated beauty was indulging in -her bath, one of the crowd of admirers who surrounded her took a glass -of the water in which the fair one was dabbling and drank her health -to the company, when a gay fellow offered to jump in, saying, ‘Though -he liked not the liquor, he would have the <i>toast</i>.’”</p> - -<p>In the reign of Charles II. Earl Rochester -<span class="nowrap">writes:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Make it so large that, filled with Sack</span> -<span class="spp00">Up to the swelling brim,</span> -<span class="spp00">Vast <i>toasts</i> on the delicious lake,</span> -<span class="spp00">Like ships at sea, may swim.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A very ancient composition was ale-brue, called later ale-berry. It -was composed of ale boiled with spice, sugar, and sops of bread. An old -receipt (1420) for it -<span class="nowrap">is:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp01">Alebrue thus make thou schalle</span> -<span class="spp00">With grotes, safroune and good ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p384">{384}</span></div> - -<p>Ale-brue was perhaps originally merely a brew of ale, but the word -soon came to mean a peculiar beverage. It is mentioned in <i>The Becon -against Swearing</i> (1543): “They would taste nothing, no not so much -as a poor <i>ale-berry</i> until they had slain Paul,” and in Boorde’s <i>Dyetary</i>, -“Ale brues, caudelles and collesses” are recommended for “weke men -and feble stomackes.” The word also occurs in <i>The High and Mightie -Commendation of the Vertue of a Pot of Good</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Ale</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Their ale-berries, cawdles and possets each one,</span> -<span class="spp01">And sullabubs made at the milking pail,</span> -<span class="spp00">Although they be many, Beer comes not in any</span> -<span class="spp01">But all are composed with a Pot of Good Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Taylor, in <i>Drinke and Welscome</i>, says: “Alesbury (or Aylesbury), in -Buckinghamshire, where the making of <i>Aleberries</i>, so excellent against -Hecticks, was first invented.” This is probably only a punning allusion.</p> - -<p>All who have been at City festivities have tasted the Loving Cup, -which, so it is stated in <i>Cups and their Customs</i>, is identical with the -Grace Cup, a beverage the drinking of which has been from time immemorial -a great feature at Corporation dinners both in London and -elsewhere. Mr. Timbs, in <i>Walks and Talks about London</i>, says the -Loving Cups are filled with “a delicious composition immemorially -termed sack, consisting of sweetened and exquisitely flavoured white -wine,” and Will of Malmsbury, describing the customs of Glastonbury -soon after the Conquest, says that on certain occasions the monks had -“mead in their cans, and <i>wine</i> in their <i>Grace Cup</i>.” The Oxford -Grace Cup, however, according to <i>Oxford Nightcaps</i> (1835), contains -ale. The receipt runs thus: “Extract the juice from the peeling of a -lemon and cut the remainder into thin slices; put it into a jug or bowl, -and pour on it three half pints of strong home-brewed beer and a bottle -of mountain wine: grate a nutmeg into it; sweeten it to your taste; -stir it till the sugar is dissolved, and then add three or four slices of -bread toasted brown. Let it stand two hours, and then strain it off into -the Grace Cup.”</p> - -<p>Many of the cups drunk by our forefathers had medicinal qualities -attributed to them, and did in fact, often contain drugs of various descriptions. -The famous Hypocras, for instance, was flavoured with an -infusion of brandy, pepper, ginger, cloves, grains of paradise, ambergris, -and musk. A Duchess of St. Albans has left us a receipt for making -“The Ale of health and strength,” which, it sufficeth to -say, was a <span class="xxpn" id="p385">{385}</span> -decoction of nearly all the herbs in the garden (agreeable and otherwise) -boiled up in small beer. Old worthies, when induced to give up their -receipts for the public good, described these drinks under the head -of “Kitchen physic.” “I allowed him medicated broths, <i>Posset Ale</i> -and pearl julep,” writes Wiseman in his book on surgery.</p> - -<p>The name of the unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh is dear to Britons -in connection with tobacco and potatoes. He has yet another claim on -our sympathy as the inventor of an excellent receipt for Sack Posset, -which a high authority has declared to show full well the propriety of -taste in its compounder. It runs thus:—“Boil a quart of cream -with <i>quantum sufficit</i> of sugar, mace and nutmeg; take half a pint of -sack<a class="afnanc" href="#fn72" id="fnanc72">72</a>” (sherry), “and the same quantity of ale, and boil them well together, -adding sugar; these being boiled separately are now to be added. -Heat a pewter dish very hot, and cover your basin with it, and let it -stand by the fire for two or three hours.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc72" id="fn72">72</a> -There were several kinds of Sack—Sherris, Malmsey, &c. The -word is derived from <i>saco</i>, the skin in which Spanish wines were -imported.</p></div> - -<p>“We’ll have a posset at the latter end of a sea-coal fire,” wrote -Shakspere.</p> - -<p>A favourite drink of the seventeenth century was Buttered Ale. It -was composed of ale (brewed without hops), butter, sugar and cinnamon. -In <i>Pepys’ Diary</i> for December 5th, 1662, “a morning draught of -<i>buttered ale</i>,” is mentioned. There is also reference to it in <i>The -Convivial</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Songster</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And now the merry spic’d bowls went round,</span> -<span class="spp01">The gossips were void of shame too;</span> -<span class="spp00">In <i>Butter’d Ale</i> the priest half drown’d,</span> -<span class="spp01">Demands the infant’s name too.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At the beginning of the eighteenth century Beer Cups were much in -vogue. Cuthbert Bede specifies, but does not describe, cups bearing the -following names: Humpty-dumpty, Clamber-clown, Hugmatee, Stick-back, -Cock Ale and Knock-me-down, and there were others called Foxcomb, -Stiffle, Blind Pinneaux, Stephony and Northdown. Cock Ale -was supposed to be, and no doubt was, a very strengthening and restorative -compound. The receipt runs thus:—“Take a cock of half a year -old, kill him and truss him well, and put into a cask twelve gallons of -Ale to which add four pounds of raisins of the sun well picked, stoned, -washed and dryed; sliced Dates, half a pound; nutmegs -and mace two <span class="xxpn" id="p386">{386}</span> -ounces: Infuse the dates and spices in a quart of canary twenty-four -hours, then boil the cock in a manner to a jelly, till a gallon of water is -reduced to two quarts; then press the body of him extremely well, and -put the liquor into the cask where the Ale is, with the spices and fruit, -adding a few blades of mace; then put to it a pint of new Ale yeast, and -let it work well for a day, and, in two days, you may broach it for use -or, in hot weather, the second day; and if it proves too strong, you may -add more plain Ale to palliate this restorative drink, which contributes -much to the invigorating of nature.”</p> - -<p>Among the various beverages which good house-wives deemed it -their duty to brew were Elderberry Beer, or Ebulon, Cowslip Ale, -Blackberry Ale, China Ale and Apricot Ale. Their names indicate -to a great extent their composition. China Ale, however, was not -a term applied by wits to tea, as has been suggested, but was composed -of ale flavoured with China root and bruised coriander seed, -which were tied up in a linen bag, and left in the liquor until it had -done working. The ale then stood fourteen days, and was afterwards -bottled. This was the proper China Ale, but, according to an old -cookery book, “the common sort vended about Town is nothing more -(at best) than ten-shilling beer, put up in small stone bottles, with a little -spice, lemon peel, and raisins or sugar.”</p> - -<p>Ebulon, which is said to have been preferred by some people to -port, was made thus: In a hogshead of the first and strongest wort -was boiled one bushel of ripe elderberries. The wort was then strained -and, when cold, worked (<i>i.e.</i> fermented) in a hogshead (not an open tun -or tub). Having lain in cask for about a year it was bottled. Some -persons added an infusion of hops by way of preservative and relish, -and some likewise hung a small bag of bruised spices in the vessel. -White Ebulon was made with pale malt and white elderberries.</p> - -<p>Blackberry Ale was composed of a strong wort made from two -bushels of malt and ¼lb. hops. To this was added the juice of a peck -of ripe blackberries and a little yeast. After fermentation the cask -was stopped up close for six weeks, the ale was then bottled, and was -fit to drink at the end of another fortnight.</p> - -<p>In the <i>London and County Brewer</i> (1744), is this receipt for Cowslip -Ale: Take, to a barrel of ale a bushel of the flowers of cowslip pick’d -out of the husks, and when your ale hath done working put them -loose in the barrel without bruising. Let it stand a fortnight before you -bottle it, and, when you bottle it, put a lump of sugar -in each bottle. <span class="xxpn" id="p387">{387}</span></p> - -<p>The same book enlightens us as to the composition of “an ale that -will taste like Apricot Ale”:—“Take to every gallon of ale one ounce -and a half of wild carrot seed bruised a little, and hang them in a -leathern bag in your barrel until it is ready to drink, which will be in -three weeks; then bottle it with a little sugar in every bottle.”</p> - -<p>Egg Ale was a somewhat remarkable composition, and was doubtless -highly nutritious. To twelve gallons of ale was added the gravy of -eight pounds of beef. Twelve eggs, the gravy beef, a pound of raisins, -oranges and spice, were then placed in a linen bag and left in the barrel -until the ale had ceased fermenting. Even then an addition was made -in the shape of two quarts of Malaga sack. After three weeks in cask -the ale was bottled, a little sugar being added. A monstrously potent -liquor truly! Can this have been one of the cups with which “our -ancestors robust with liberal cups usher’d the morn”?</p> - -<p>Coming now to beverages more familiar, a word or two as to Purl, -once, and not so long ago either, the common morning draught of -Londoners. Tom Hood, in <i>The Epping Hunt</i>, thus puns upon the -<span class="nowrap">word:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Good lord, to see the riders now,</span> -<span class="spp01">Thrown off with sudden whirl,</span> -<span class="spp00">A score within the purling brook,</span> -<span class="spp01">Enjoy’d their “early purl.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>According to one receipt, common Purl contained the following -ingredients:—Roman wormwood, gentian root, calamus aromaticus -snake root, horse radish, dried orange peel, juniper berries, seeds or -kernels of Seville oranges, all placed in beer, and allowed to stand for -some months. The writer who gives this receipt says a pound or two -of galingale improves it—as if anything could improve such a perfect -combination! According to an anecdote told of George III., a somewhat -simpler beverage in his day went by the name of Purl. One -morning the King, when visiting his stables, heard one of his grooms -say to another: “I don’t care what you say, Robert, but the man at -the Three Tuns makes the best <i>purl</i> in Windsor.”</p> - -<p>“Purl, purl,” said the King; “Robert, what’s Purl?”</p> - -<p>The groom explaining that purl was hot beer with a dash of gin -in it, in fact, the compound now known to ’bus conductors as “dogsnose,” -the King -<span class="nowrap">remarked:―</span></p> - -<p>“Yes, yes; I daresay very good drink; but too strong for the -morning; never drink -in the morning.” <span class="xxpn" id="p388">{388}</span></p> - -<p>A mixture of warmed ale and spirits is called Hot-Pot in Norfolk -and Suffolk, and a similar compound, to which is added sugar and -lemon-peel, used to be called Ruddle.</p> - -<p>A somewhat remote ancestor of Purl, Dogsnose, Ruddle and other -mixtures of ale or beer and spirits, was Hum, to which Ben Jonson -refers in <i>The Devil is an</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Ass</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp16">—Carmen</span> -<span class="spp00">Are got into the yellow starch and chimney sweepers</span> -<span class="spp00">To their tobacco, and strong waters, <i>hum</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">Meath and Obarni.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">And it is also -mentioned in Beaumont and Fletcher’s <i>Wildgoose -Chase</i>: “What a cold I have over my stomack; would I’d some <i>hum</i>.” -In Shirley’s <i>Wedding</i> is a reference to hum glasses, the small size -being indicative of the potency of the -<span class="nowrap">liquor:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">They say that Canary sack must dance again</span> -<span class="spp00">To the apothecarys, and be sold</span> -<span class="spp00">For physic in hum glasses and thimbles.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Flip, once a popular drink, and not altogether without its patrons -in the present day, is made in a variety of ways. The following receipt -is a good one. Place in a saucepan one quart of strong ale together -with lumps of sugar which have been well rubbed over the rind of a -lemon, and a small piece of cinnamon. Take the mixture off the fire -when boiling and add one glass of cold ale. Have ready in a jug the -yolks of six or eight eggs well beaten up with powdered sugar and -grated nutmeg. Pour the hot ale from the saucepan on to the eggs, -stirring them while so doing. Have another jug at hand and pour -the mixture as swiftly as possible from one vessel to the other until a -white froth appears, when the flip is ready. One or two wine glasses -of gin or rum are often added. This beverage made without spirits is -sometimes called Egg-hot, and Sailor’s Flip contains no ale. A quart of -Flip is styled in the <i>Cook’s Oracle</i> a “Yard of Flannel.”</p> - -<p>There is a tale told of a Frenchman, who, stopping at an inn, asked -for Jacob.</p> - -<p>“There’s no such person here,” said the landlord.</p> - -<p>“’Tis not a person I want, sare, but de beer warmed with de -poker.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” said mine host, -“that is flip.” <span class="xxpn" id="p389">{389}</span></p> - -<p>“Ah! yes,” exclaimed the Frenchman, “you have right; I mean -Philip.”</p> - -<p>Purl, Flip, and Dog’s Nose have been immortalised by Dickens in -his description of the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters. The tap and parlour -of this hostel were provided with “comfortable fireside tin utensils, -like models of sugar-loaf hats, made in that shape that they might, with -their pointed ends, seek out for themselves glowing nooks in the depths -of the red coals when they mulled your ale, or heated for you those -delectable drinks, Purl, Flip, and Dog’s Nose. The first of these humming -compounds was a speciality of the Porters, which, through an inscription -on its door-posts, gently appealed to your feelings as ‘The Early Purl -House.’ For it would seem that Purl must always be taken early; though -whether for any more distinctly stomachic reason than that, as the early -bird catches the worm, so the early purl catches the customer, cannot -here be resolved.”</p> - -<p>Of other receipts for beer cups there are many—too many, indeed, -to be given here; most of them differ from one another more in name -than anything else. Brown Betty, an Oxford cup, deriving its name -from its inventor, a bedmaker, is similar to the Oxford Wassail Bowl. -The famous Brasenose Ale, which is by no means a modern institution -and is introduced at Brasenose College on Shrove Tuesday, immediately -after dinner, consists merely of ale sweetened with pounded sugar, and -served with roasted apples floating on it.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Not all the liquors Rome e’er had</span> -<span class="spp00">Can beat our matchless Beer;</span> -<span class="spp00">Apicius self had gone stark mad,</span> -<span class="spp00">To taste such noble cheer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Thus wrote an undergraduate of Brasenose Ale.</p> - -<p>A cup bearing the euphonious name of Tewahdiddle had the reputation -of being most excellent tipple. It consists of a pint of beer, a -tablespoonful of brandy, a teaspoonful of brown sugar, a little grated -nutmeg or ginger, and a roll or very thinly-cut lemon-peel.</p> - -<p>Among beverages which hold a high place as cool summer drinks is -The Parting Cup, which is made thus: Place in a bowl two slices of very -brown toast, a little nutmeg, a quart of mild ale, and two-thirds of a -bottle of sherry; sweeten the liquor with syrup, and immediately before -drinking add a bottle of soda-water. Another good cup is made with -two quarts of light draught beer, the juice of five lemons, and about -three-quarters of a pound of sugar. The mixture -should then be <span class="xxpn" id="p390">{390}</span> -strained and allowed to stand for a short time. If flat, a little carbonate -of soda should be added.</p> - -<p>A very favourite summer drink at Oxford was Cold Tankard; and a -certain fair damsel, who was skilful in the preparation of this pleasant -beverage, was so honoured by the undergraduates that songs were -written in her praise by the boating men and other frequenters of the -riverside inn where she presided. She was, according to one poet, cheerful, -blithe, merry, neat, comely, gay and obliging, and above all she -excelled in making Cold Tankard.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">She looks up the oars, and the old tavern scores,</span> -<span class="spp00">And now and then cleans out a wherry;</span> -<span class="spp02">The sails she can mend,</span> -<span class="spp02">And the parlour attend,</span> -<span class="spp00">For obliging’s the Maid of the Ferry.</span> -<span class="spp00">She serves in the bar, and excels all by far</span> -<span class="spp00">In making Cold Tankard of Perry;</span> -<span class="spp02">How sweet then at eve,</span> -<span class="spp02">With her leave to receive</span> -<span class="spp00">A kiss from the Maid of the Ferry.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Though “perry” is mentioned in the verse, Cold Tankard is also made -with Ale or Cider. The ingredients are the juice from the peeling of -one lemon, extracted by rubbing loaf sugar on it; two lemons cut into -thin slices; the rind of one lemon cut thin, a quarter of a pound of -loaf sugar, and a half pint of brandy. To make the cup, put the foregoing -into a large jug, mix them well together, and add one quart -of cold spring water. Grate a nutmeg into the jug, add one pint of -white wine, and a quart of strong beer, ale, perry or cider, sweeten the -mixture to taste with capillaire or sugar, put a handful of balm and the -same quantity of borage in flower (<i>borago officinalis</i>) into it, stalk downwards. -Then put the jug containing this liquor into a tub of ice, and -when it has remained there one hour it is fit for use. The balm and -borage should be fresh gathered.</p> - -<p>The use of Borage in cups is very ancient, and old writers have -ascribed to the flower many virtues. In Evelyn’s <i>Acetaria</i> it is said -“to revive the hypochondriac, and cheer the hard student.” In Salmon’s -<i>Household Companion</i> (1710) Borage is mentioned as one of the four -cordial flowers; “it comforts the heart, cheers melancholy, and revives -the fainting spirits.” It may be doubted whether -the comforting effects <span class="xxpn" id="p391">{391}</span> -of this inward application were rightly attributed to the borage alone. -A modern writer has gone so far as to say that he never found any -benefit apparent from the presence of Borage at Lord Mayor’s feasts and -other such festive gatherings, beyond that of so stinging the noses of those -other persons who have desired to drink deeply that the cup undrained -has been. Though granting this undeniable advantage, we cannot -concur that Borage possesses no other qualities, for it gives to cups a -peculiarly refreshing flavour which cannot be imitated.</p> - -<p>In <i>Cups and their Customs</i> are three Beer Cups which have not yet -been mentioned. The first of these is Copus Cup. It consists of two -quarts of hot ale, to which are added four wine glasses of brandy, three -wine glasses of noyau, a pound of lump sugar, the juice of one lemon, a -piece of toast, a dozen cloves, and a little nutmeg. Was it of such a -cup as this that the lines were -<span class="nowrap">written?―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Three cups of this a prudent man may take;</span> -<span class="spp00">The first of these for constitution’s sake,</span> -<span class="spp00">The second to the girl he loves the best,</span> -<span class="spp00">The third and last to lull him to his rest.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Donaldson’s Beer Cup is of a more simple and lighter character. To -a pint of ale is added the peel of half a lemon, half a liquor-glass of -noyau, a bottle of seltzer-water, a little nutmeg and sugar, and some ice.</p> - -<p>“Hungerford Park” is an excellent beverage, and is especially suitable -for shooting parties in hot weather. To make it—cut into slices -three good-flavoured apples, which put into a jug; add the peel and -juice of one lemon, a very little grated nutmeg, three bottles of ginger-beer, -half a pint of sherry, two and a quarter pints of good draught ale, -sweeten to taste with sifted loaf sugar, stir a little to melt the sugar, -and let the jug stand in ice. “The addition of half a bottle of champagne -makes it <i>awfully</i> good,” wrote a certain Colonel B., in <i>the Field</i>, -a few years ago.</p> - -<p>Freemasons’ Cup, which may be drank either hot or cold, is of a -very potent character, and consists of a pint of Scotch ale, a similar -quantity of mild beer, half a pint of brandy, a pint of sherry, half a -pound of loaf sugar, and plenty of grated nutmeg. Freemasons must -have strong heads.</p> - -<p>It will, no doubt, have been noted ere this that between mulled ale -and the majority of hot beer-cups the distinction is rather in name than -composition, and the various receipts for mulling ale so closely resemble -the Wassail Bowl, Flip, &c., that it is quite unnecessary to -quote any of <span class="xxpn" id="p392">{392}</span> -them. A word or two on cup making. Cups are easily made and -easily marred. All the ingredients must be of good quality, and the -vessels used sweet and clean. Everything required should be at hand -before the mixing commences, and that important process should -proceed as quickly as possible. Few servants can be trusted to brew -cups, but if the matter is placed in their hands you cannot do better -than caution them in terms similar to those addressed by Dr. King to -his maid -<span class="nowrap">Margaret:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">O Peggy, Peggy, when thou go’st to brew,</span> -<span class="spp00">Consider well what you’re about to do;</span> -<span class="spp00">Be very wise—very sedately think</span> -<span class="spp00">That what you’re going to make is—drink;</span> -<span class="spp00">Consider who must drink that drink, and then</span> -<span class="spp00">What ’tis to have the praise of honest men;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then future ages shall of Peggy tell,</span> -<span class="spp00">The nymph who spiced the brewages so well.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Yet two more beverages compounded of ale or beer, and then this -portion of the subject is completed. First, Shandy Gaff, the very -writing of which word brings to us visions of a shining river, of shady -backwaters, of sunny days, of two-handled tankards, and of deep cool -draughts well earned. For the sake of the unfortunate few who are -unacquainted with the beverage, the receipt is given: One pint of -bitter beer, one bottle of the old-fashioned ginger-beer mixed together, -and imbibed only on the hottest summer days, after rowing. Why, -we cannot say; but Shandy Gaff always seems to us out of place -anywhere but on the river.</p> - -<p>Secondly and lastly—Mother-in-law, which, also, to some of us may -bring visions—but of another kind. The drink of this name is composed -of equal proportions of “old and bitter.”</p> - -<p>If there is one season of the year more appropriate than another to -hot beer-cups, be they Wassail Bowls, Lambswool, Flip or Mulled Ale, it -is Christmas. Edward Moxon, a poet who flourished about the commencement -of this century, presents in his <i>Christmas</i> a charming -picture of the merry circle gathered round the crackling yule log, -regaling themselves with mulled -<span class="nowrap">ale:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Right merry now the hours they pass,</span> -<span class="spp00">Fleeting thro’ jocund pleasure’s glass,</span> -<span class="spp00">The yule-log too burns bright and clear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Auspicious of a happy year: <span class="xxpn" id="p393">{393}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">While some with joke and some with tale,</span> -<span class="spp00">But all with sweeter <i>mullèd ale</i>,</span> -<span class="spp00">Pass gaily life’s sweet stream along,</span> -<span class="spp00">With interlude of ancient song—</span> -<span class="spp00">And as each rosy cup they drain,</span> -<span class="spp00">Bounty replenishes again.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>From the excellent beverages compounded of ale or beer, concerning -which so much has been said in this chapter, let us turn to the cups, -flagons, horns, bowls and other vessels used by ale drinkers, and in some -of which these beverages were compounded.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Come - troll the jovial flagon,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come fill the bonny bowl,</span> -<span class="spp00">Come, join in laughing sympathy</span> -<span class="spp00">Of soul with kindred soul.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A few pages must suffice for a very short notice of this interesting -part of our subject.</p> - -<div class="dright dwth-d"> -<img src="images/p393.png" width="335" height="295" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Anglo-Saxon Tumblers.</div></div> - -<p>Mr. Sharon Turner, in his <i>History of the Anglo-Saxons</i>, -gives many instances of the high estimation in which cups -and drinking vessels were held by our Teutonic forefathers. -Even in very early times the precious metals were largely -used in their construction, and gold and silver cups are -frequently the subjects of Anglo-Saxon bequests. In the -old poem <i>Beowulf</i> evidence may be found bearing upon -this point. One of the treasures in the ancient barrow -guarded by the dragon Grendel is “The solid cup, the -costly drinking vessel (<i>drync fœt deore</i>).” Drinking -vessels are frequently found in Anglo-Saxon tombs. The -cups represented in the cut are made of glass, and were -found chiefly in barrows in Kent. They are of the “tumbler” -species, <i>i.e.</i>, on being filled they must be emptied -at a draught, and cannot be set down with any liquor in -them. Mr. Wright suggests that the example to the left -represents the “twisted” pattern mentioned in <i>Beowulf</i>.</p> - -<p>The savage custom, observed both by the Celts and -Saxons, of drinking ale or mead from <span class="xxpn" -id="p394">{394}</span> a cup made out of the skull of a -fallen foe, has left a trace in mediæval times in the word -“scole,” signifying a cup or bowl, and may probably still -be recognised in the provincial word “skillet,” which has -the same meaning.</p> - -<p>Henry, in his <i>History of England</i>, relates that the Celtic inhabitants -of the Western Islands of Scotland spoke in their poetical way of -intoxicating liquors as “the strength of the shell,” from the fact that -they used shells as drinking vessels.</p> - -<p>Returning to the Anglo-Saxons—besides metal and glass cups, they -used drinking horns, and cups or bowls of wood, and in some respects -the horn was the most important of their drinking vessels. Investiture -of lands was frequently made by the horn both among the Saxons and -Danes. The celebrated Horn of Ulphus, kept in the Sacristy of York -Minster, was, according to Camden, given to the Cathedral by a noble -Dane named Ulphus, who, when his sons quarrelled as to the succession -to his estate, cut short the dispute by repairing to the Minster, and there -enfeoffed the Cathedral with all his lands and revenues, draining the -horn before the high altar as a pledge and evidence of the gift. The -Mercian King Witlaf gave a drinking horn to the Abbey of Croyland -“that the elder monks may drink from it on feast days, and remember -the soul of the donor.”</p> - -<div class="dctr04"> -<img src="images/p394.png" width="386" height="363" alt="" /> -<div class="dcaption">Cup found in the Ruins of - Glastonbury Abbey.</div></div> - -<p>The peg-tankards of the Anglo-Saxons have been already -referred to in Chapter V. The Glastonbury Peg Tankard, -illustrated in the cut, is made of oak. On the lid is a -representation of the Crucifixion, and round the sides -are the figures of the Apostles. It contains two quarts, -and is divided with eight pegs. <span class="xxpn" -id="p395">{395}</span></p> - -<p>While engaged on this subject of measured drinks, it may also be -mentioned that hoops were used as well as pegs by the old topers, and -hence the promise of Jack Cade that “the three-hooped pot shall have -ten hoops.” From the same fact is derived the old phrase, “carousing -the hunter’s hoop,” signifying a prolonged drinking bout. In certain -parts of Essex it has been customary, until quite recently, for topers to -drink out a pot of ale in three equal draughts, and with some ceremony; -the first draught was called <i>neckum</i>, the second <i>sinkum</i>, and the third -<i>swankum</i>.</p> - -<p>Passing on to mediæval times, We find, as might have been expected, -a great increase of variety in the drinking vessels in common use. The -tankard, which was one of the chief vessels used for ordinary drinking -purposes, was originally a vessel containing three gallons, and used, not -to drink out of, but to carry water in. Before Sir Hugh Middleton -brought the New River water into London, the inhabitants were supplied -by the tankard bearers. The tankard was usually made of metal -and the common use of pewter in the fifteenth century is shown by an -extract from a letter of that period, in which the recipient is reminded, -that “If ye be at home this Christmas, it were well done ye should do -purvey a garnish or twain of pewter vessel.” The <i>hanap</i> was a kind of -first cousin to the tankard, it came down from Saxon times, and the -name is found in old Vocabularies under the form <i>hnæp</i>. The minds -of the learned have been greatly exercised as to the connection of this -word hanap with our word hamper, and with the older form still found -in the term, the Hanaper Office. We would humbly suggest that the -old work of Alexander Neckam, to which we have already had occasion -to refer, makes the matter tolerably clear. The writer, in describing the -contents of a cellar, mentions <i>ciphi</i> and <i>cophini</i>, which of course mean -<i>cups</i> and <i>baskets</i>. An ancient annotator, however, gives us just the -hint we want by writing in the MS. over the word <i>ciphi</i> “anaps,” -and over <i>cophini</i> “anapers.” The hanap therefore was the cup, the -hanaper or hamper was the basket in which the cups were carried.</p> - -<p>As an example of the number and value of the various drinking -vessels in use, the following extracts are given from an inventory of the -goods of Sir John Fastolfe, who died in 1459:</p> - -<ul id="p395list"> -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">Item</span> - j payre galon Bottels of one sorte.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">—</span> - j payre of potell Bottellys one sorte.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">—</span> - j nother potell Bottell—Item 1 payre Quartletts of one sorte.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">Item</span> - iiij galon pottis of lether—Item iij Pottelers of lether.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">Item</span> - j grete tankard. <span class="xxpn" id="p396">{396}</span></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">Item</span> - ij grete and hoge botellis.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">—</span> - ij Pottis of silver, percell gilte and enameled with violetts and -dayseys.</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><span class="p395item">—</span> - ij Pottes of sylver, of the facion of goods enamelyd on the toppys -withe hys armys.</li> -</ul> - -<p>Leather was a very usual material for drinking vessels in former -times, and black-jacks were to be seen in every village alehouse. Many -such are still to be found in various parts of the country, though they -are not now used.</p> - -<p>The venerable song the <i>Leather Bottel</i> is too well known to bear -repetition, but a verse or two of <i>Time’s Alterations or the Old Man’s -Rehersal</i>, an ancient black-letter ballad, may be given to show the -common use of the leather drinking -<span class="nowrap">vessel:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Black jacks to every man</span> -<span class="spp01">Were filled with wine and beer;</span> -<span class="spp00">No pewter pot nor can</span> -<span class="spp01">In those days did appear:</span> -<span class="spp00">Good cheer in a nobleman’s house</span> -<span class="spp01">Was counted a seemly shew;</span> -<span class="spp00">We wanted no brawn nor souse,</span> -<span class="spp01">When this old cap was new.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">We took not such delight</span> -<span class="spp01">In cups of silver wine;</span> -<span class="spp00">None under the degree of a Knight</span> -<span class="spp01">In plate drunk beer or wine:</span> -<span class="spp00">Now each mechanical man</span> -<span class="spp01">Hath a cupboard of plate for a shew;</span> -<span class="spp00">Which was a rare thing then,</span> -<span class="spp01">When this old cap was new.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Taylor, the water poet, in his <i>Jack a Lent</i>, makes mention of these -vessels (<span class="smmaj">A.D.</span> -<span class="nowrap">1630):―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">————— nor of Jacke Dogge, Jack Date,</span> -<span class="spp00">Jacke foole, or Jack a Dandy, I relate:</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor of Black Jacks at gentle Buttry bars,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whose liquor often breeds household wars:</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A variety of Black Jack was the Bombard, to which Ben Jonson -refers in the lines from the <i>Masque of Love -Restored</i>. “With that <span class="xxpn" id="p397">{397}</span> -they knocked hypocrisy on the pate and made room for a bombard-man, -that brought bouge<a class="afnanc" href="#fn73" id="fnanc73">73</a> -for a country lady or two, that fainted, he said, -with fasting.” Shakspere calls Falstaff “that swollen parcel or -dropsies, that huge bombard of sack.” “Baiting of bombard” was a slang -term for heavy drinking. Small Jacks were also in use. Decker, in -his <i>English Villaines Seven Times Pressed to Death</i>, says: “In some -places they have little leather Jacks, tip’d with silver, and hung with -small silver bells (these are called Gyngle-Boyes), to ring peales of -drunkennesse.”</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc73" id="fn73">73</a> -bouge = an allowance of meat and drink.</p></div> - -<p>The Black Jack was frequently taken for a sign. The house with -that sign-board in Clare Market, London, was once the haunt of -Joe Miller, of comic fame, and from the window of this tavern -Jack Sheppard is said to have made a desperate leap, in escaping -from the clutches of Jonathan Wild and his myrmidons.</p> - -<p>Heywood, in his <i>Philocothonista or Drunkard Opened, Dissected -and Anatomized</i> (1635), gives a very full list of the various drinking -vessels in use in his day. “Of drinking cups,” he says, “divers and -sundry sorts we have; some of elme, some of box, some of maple, some -of holly, etc. Mazers, broad-mouthed dishes, naggins, whiskins, -piggins, creuzes, ale-bowles, wassel-bowles, court dishes, tankards, -kannes, from a pottle to a pint, from a pint to a gill. Other bottles -we have of leather, but they are mostly used amongst the shepherds -and harvest people of the countrey; small jacks we have in many -ale houses of the citie and suburbs tipt with silver: black-jacks and -bombards at the court; which when the Frenchmen first saw, they -reported at their return unto their country that the Englishmen used -to drink out of their bootes. We have besides cups made of horns -of beastes, of cockernuts, of goords, of eggs of estriches; others made -of the shells of divers fishes brought from the Indies and other places, -and shining like mother of pearle. Come to plate, every tavern can -afford you flat bowles, french bowles, prounet cups, beare bowles, -beakers; and private householders in the citie, when they make a feast -to entertain their friends, can furnish their cupboards with flagons, -tankards, beere cups, wine bowles, some white, some percell guilt, some -guilt all over, some with covers, others without, of sundry shapes and -qualities.”</p> - -<p>During the religious feuds that raged so fearfully in Holland, the -Protestant party gave the name of <i>Bellarmines</i> to -the bearded jugs <span class="xxpn" id="p398">{398}</span> -they used. This was done in ridicule of their opponent, Cardinal -Bellarmine. The Cardinal’s figure was stout and squat, and well -suited the form of the stone beer-jug in use. To make the resemblance -more complete, the Cardinal’s face with his great square-cut beard was -placed in front of the jug, which became known in England as the -<i>Bellarmine</i> or <i>Greybeard</i> Jug. Many fragments of these jugs, of the -reign of Elizabeth and James the First, have been exhumed, and the -jug entire is not uncommon. Ben Jonson, alluding to the Greybeard, -says of a drunkard that “the man with the beard has almost struck up -his heels,” and an excellent description of this quaint old jug is to be -found in Cartwright’s play <i>The Ordinary</i> -<span class="nowrap">(1651):―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp17">——thou thing</span> -<span class="spp00">Thy very looks like to some strutting hill,</span> -<span class="spp00">O’ershadow’d with thy rough beard like a wood;</span> -<span class="spp00">Or like a larger jug that some men call</span> -<span class="spp00">A Bellarmine, but we a conscience,</span> -<span class="spp00">Wheron the tender hand of Pagan workman</span> -<span class="spp00">Over the proud ambitious head hath carved</span> -<span class="spp00">An idol large, with beard episcopal.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The Greybeard Jug is still to be found in some parts of Scotland, -and the following tale, in which it figures, was taken down some years -ago from the conversation of a Scotch Church dignitary. About 1770 -there flourished a Mrs. Balfour, of Denbog, in the County of Fife. The -nearest neighbour of Denbog was a Mr. David Paterson, who had the -character of being a good deal of a humorist. One day, when Paterson -came to the house, he found Mrs. Balfour engaged in one of her half-yearly -brewings, it being the custom in those days, each March and -October, to make as much ale as would serve for the ensuing six months. -She was in a great pother about bottles, her stock of which fell far -short of the number required, and she asked Mr. Paterson if he could -lend her any? “No,” said Paterson, “but I think I could bring you a -few greybeards that would hold a good deal, perhaps that would do.” -The lady assented, and appointed a day when he should come again and -bring his greybeards with him. On the proper day Mr. Paterson made -his appearance, in Mrs. Balfour’s parlour.</p> - -<p>“Well, Mr. Paterson, have you brought your greybeards?”</p> - -<p>“O, yes, they are down stairs waiting for you.”</p> - -<p>“How many?”</p> - -<p>“Nae less than ten.” <span class="xxpn" id="p399">{399}</span></p> - -<p>“Well I, hope they are pretty large, for really I find I have a great -deal more Ale than I have bottles for.”</p> - -<p>“I’se warrant ye, Mem, ilka ane o’ them will hold twelve gallons.”</p> - -<p>“O, that will do extremely well.”</p> - -<p>Down goes the lady.</p> - -<p>“I left them in the dining-room,” said Paterson. When the lady -went in she found ten of the most bibulous old lairds of the North of -Fife. She at once perceived the joke, and entered into it. After a -hearty laugh had gone round, she said she thought it would be as well -to have dinner before filling the greybeards, and it was accordingly -arranged that the gentlemen should take a ramble and come in to dinner -at two o’clock.</p> - -<p>The extra ale is understood to have been duly disposed of.</p> - -<p>Closely allied to the Greybeard was the Toby Philpot beer jug; it -was, however, a more elaborate article, and represented the whole -figure of a portly toper. Its origin is thus described in the humorous -verses entitled <i>Toby Philpot</i>, by Francis -<span class="nowrap">Fawkes:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Dear Tom, this brown jug, which now foams with mild ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Out of which I now drink to sweet Nan of the Vale,</span> -<span class="spp00">Was once Toby Philpot, a thirsty old soul,</span> -<span class="spp00">As e’er crack’d a bottle, or fathom’d a bowl:</span> -<span class="spp00">In bousing about, ’twas his pride to excel,</span> -<span class="spp00">And amongst jolly topers he bore off the bell.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">It chanc’d as in dog days he sat at his ease,</span> -<span class="spp00">In his flower-woven arbour, as gay as you please,</span> -<span class="spp00">With his friend and a pipe, puffing sorrow away,</span> -<span class="spp00">And with honest Old Stingo sat soaking his clay,</span> -<span class="spp00">His breath-doors of life on a sudden were shut,</span> -<span class="spp00">And he died full as big as a Dorchester Butt.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">His body when long in the ground it had lain,</span> -<span class="spp00">And time into clay had dissolv’d it again,</span> -<span class="spp00">A potter found out, in its covert so snug,</span> -<span class="spp00">And with part of Fat Toby he form’d this brown jug:</span> -<span class="spp00">Now sacred to friendship, to mirth, and mild Ale—</span> -<span class="spp00">So here’s to my lovely sweet Nan of the Vale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The wooden ale bowls used by the Saxons continued common in -England for many a century, and constant reference to them -is to be <span class="xxpn" id="p400">{400}</span> -found. In the <i>Miller of Mansfield</i> King Henry II. is represented -drinking out of a brown bowl:</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">This caus’d the King, suddenlye, to laugh most heartilye,</span> -<span class="spp01">Till the teares trickled fast downe from his eyes.</span> -<span class="spp00">Then to their supper were they set orderlye,</span> -<span class="spp01">With hot bag puddings, and good apply pyes;</span> -<span class="spp00">Nappy ale, good and stale, in a browne bowle,</span> -<span class="spp01">Which did about the board merrilye trowle.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>At the time when the <i>Liber Albus</i> was composed (1419), the gallons, -pottles and quarts used in the City of London were made of wood, as -may be judged from the fact that they are mentioned as shrinking if -they were stamped when <i>green</i>.</p> - -<p>Dryden mentions the brown bowl as characteristic of the country -<span class="nowrap">life:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The rich, tir’d with continual feasts,</span> -<span class="spp00">For change become their next poor tenant’s guests;</span> -<span class="spp00">Drink heavy draughts of Ale from plain brown bowls,</span> -<span class="spp00">And snatch the homely Rasher from the coals.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Mr. Pepys records that on the 4th of January, 1667, he had -company to dinner; and “at night to sup, and then to cards, and last -of all to have a flagon of ale and apples, drank out of a wood cup, as a -Christmas draught, which made all merry.” Brown bowls were also the -drinking vessels used in singing the old song, <i>The Barley Mow</i> “which -cannot,” says Bell “be given in words, it should be heard to be appreciated -properly, particularly with the West Country dialect.”</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Here’s a health to the barley-mow, my brave boys,</span> -<span class="spp01">Here’s a health to the barley-mow!</span> -<span class="spp00">We’ll drink it out of the jolly brown bowl,</span> -<span class="spp01">Here’s a health to the barley-mow!</span> -<p class="pcontinue">Chorus:—</p> -<span class="spp00">Here’s a health to the barley-mow, my brave boys,</span> -<span class="spp01">Here’s a health to the barley-mow!</span> -<span class="spp00">We’ll drink it out of the nipperkin, boys.</span> -<span class="sppctr">Here’s, &c.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">and so it proceeds, “quarter-pint,” -“half-pint,” “pint,” “quart,” “pottle,” “gallon,” -“half-anker,” “anker,” “half-hogshead,” “hogshead,” -“pipe,” “well,” “river,” “ocean,” always in the third line -repeating the whole of the previously-named “measures” -backwards. <span class="xxpn" id="p401">{401}</span></p> - -<p>Among curious drinking vessels must be classed the Wager or -Puzzle Jugs, which, in the seventeenth century, were great favourites at -village inns. Some are to be seen in the South Kensington Museum. -These jugs had usually many spouts, from most of which it was difficult -to drink owing to perforations in the neck. But a secret passage for the -liquor up the hollow handle or through one spout or nozzle afforded a -means of sucking out the contents, the fingers of the drinker stopping -up the other spouts and holes during the operation. On many of these -jugs were inscriptions, such -<span class="nowrap">as―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">From Mother Earth I claim my birth,</span> -<span class="spp00">I’m made a joke to man,</span> -<span class="spp00">But now I’m here, fill’d with good beer</span> -<span class="spp00">Come, taste me if you can.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">One -more curious drinking vessel must be mentioned, and then this -short account of a subject upon which a large volume might well be -written, must close.</p> - -<p>The “Ale-yard” has been described by a writer in <i>Notes and Queries</i> -as “a trumpet-shaped glass vessel, exactly a yard in length, the -narrow end being closed, and expanded into a large ball. Its internal -capacity is little more than a pint, and when filled with ale many a -thirsty tyro has been challenged to empty it without taking away his -mouth. This is no easy task. So long as the tube contains fluid it flows -out smoothly, but when air reaches the bulb it displaces the liquor -with a splash, startling the toper, and compelling him involuntarily to -withdraw his mouth by the rush of the cold liquid over his face and -dress.”</p> - -<p>The Ale-yard is known at Eton under the name of the “Long Glass.” -Those boys who attain to a certain standing either as Dry Bobs or Wet -Bobs (<i>i.e.</i>, in the boats or at cricket) are invited to attend “Cellar,” -which is held at “Tap” once a week during the summer term. On -attending the first time the novice has to “floor the Long Glass” (<i>i.e.</i>, to -finish it without drawing breath). Many have to make several attempts, -and some never succeed.</p> - -<p>It is, no doubt, generally supposed that the uses of ale other than -as a drink are but few in number, yet malt liquors have been applied -to a variety of queer purposes. From a letter of Pope Gregory to -Archbishop Nidrosiensi, of Iceland, it would seem that in the thirteenth -century children were sometimes baptized in ale instead of water.</p> - -<p>“Forasmuch as we learn from your letter that -it has sometimes <span class="xxpn" id="p402">{402}</span> -happened that infants in your country have been baptized in ale owing -to the lack of water in that region, we return in answer that since the -heart ought to be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, those ought -not to be considered as duly baptized who have been baptized in ale.</p> - -<p>“Given at the Lateran VIII. Idus Julii, anno XV.”</p> - -<p>In another letter of an earlier date (1237) the use of ale in the -administration of the Eucharist was forbidden, though Nashe, speaking -of the Icelanders in his <i>Terrors of the Night</i> (1594), says: “It is -reported that the Pope long since gave them a dispensation to receive -the Sacrament in ale, since owing to their incessant frosts there, no -wine but was turned to red emagle” (<i>i.e.</i>, enamel) “as soone as euer it -came amongst them.”</p> - -<p>To leave Theology for the Stable, it is worth recording that it is -alleged that during the King’s progress through the country, in Norman -times, such was the extravagance and waste of the royal household -that the servants even washed the horses’ feet in ale. Grooms at the -present day often mix ale with lampblack and oil for rubbing on -the hoofs of horses. Possibly this was all that was done by the royal -grooms. Ancient chroniclers are notoriously inaccurate.</p> - -<p>None appreciate good ale more than anglers, and this is clearly -evidenced in the following receipt, written by Christopher North, for -staining gut or hair lines a pale watery green:—“To a pint of strong -ale add (as soon as possible, as it is so apt to evaporate when good) -half-a-pound of soot, a small quantity of walnut leaves, and a little -powdered alum (then drink the remaining pint of ale, if you happen -to have drawn a quart); boil these materials for half or three-quarters -of an hour, and when the mixture is cold, steep the gut or hair in it -for ten or twelve hours.” Yes, good ale is apt to evaporate very -quickly; the moral is obvious.</p> - -<p>Dame Juliana Berners, in <i>The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an -Angle</i>, gives two receipts “to coloure your lynes of here,” in which -ale is used. One consists of ale and alum, the other of ale and soot.</p> - -<p>When every county had its monasteries, and every monastery its fish -stew well stocked with fine carp for Fridays’ dinners, the fattening of -fish was a matter of no little importance. In an old angling book it is -stated that “Raspins and Chippins of Bread, or almost any scraps from -the Table, placed under a cask of strong Beer or Ale, in such a manner -that the Droppings of the Liquor may fall among them, is excellent Food -for Carp. Two quarts of this is sufficient for thirty, and if they are fed -Morning and Evening it will be better than once a Day only.” Stilton <span class="xxpn" id="p403">{403}</span> -cheeses, by the way, treated in a similar manner to that directed -for the “Raspins,” are immensely improved in flavour and general -excellence. Brewers’ grains are greedily eaten by most kinds of freshwater -fish, and are used by anglers as groundbait for bream, roach, and -carp in the Eastern counties.</p> - -<p>In a work entitled <i>Practical Economy</i>, published in 1821, persons -desirous of fattening their fowls quickly are recommended to feed them -on ground-rice, milk and sugar, made into a paste, and to let them drink -beer.</p> - -<p>The ladies who preside over the culinary department of our households -do not, so far as we know, make any use of ale other than as a -drink, excepting the occasional use of beer in the preparation of Welsh -rare-bits. From old cookery books, however, we gather that this has -not always been the case. Beer mixed with brown sugar was a -favourite sauce for pancakes; red herrings were steeped in small beer -before being broiled; and catsup for sea stores was made principally of -beer and vinegar, a few mushrooms being added for conscience’ sake. -Then, from the same source, we find that beer has other domestic uses. -An admirable method of cleaning crape is to steep it in beer, wring it -gently, and hang it out to dry; stale beer formed, and still forms, the -liquid part of the best blacking; ale or beer plus elbow grease makes -capital furniture polish; and, leaving the interior of the house, beer -grounds have been used for washing the outside of walls and houses -covered with cement to harden the latter, a change which they are said -likewise to effect on bricks and mortar.</p> - -<p>Beer mixed with brown sugar or honey is usually rubbed over the -interiors of hives in which swarms of bees are intended to be taken. A -bunch of mint and other sweet herbs forms the brush to spread the -mixture. Not only is the sweet dressing agreeable to the taste and -smell, but the beer has doubtless a lulling and soporific effect on the -bees, and renders them less anxious to leave their new abode.</p> - -<p>In the medicine books of the Saxon Leeches are references to the use -of ale in the composition of various lotions. Ale and beer are, indeed, -often prescribed by medical practitioners of the present day, as will be -seen by a perusal of Chapter XV. The valuable properties of bitter -beer as an incentive to appetite and a promoter of digestion, and the -nourishing qualities of the brown beers, are too well known to need -comment.</p> - -<p>In many breweries large quantities of vinegar are manufactured from -malt liquor. This is an ancient practice, for in the -City of London <span class="xxpn" id="p404">{404}</span> -Records of the time of Good Queen Bess it is stated that officials were -appointed to search the premises of the brewers for “vyneagre, bear-eagre -and ale-eagre,” and to report to the Common Council touching the same. -The words “beare-eagre” and “ale-eagre” have now gone out of use, and -the acid liquid made from malt liquor is improperly called Vinegar -though in no way connected with the Vine.</p> - -<p>A use of ale, which is additional rather than alternative to the -common one, is commemorated by the old proverb, “Fair chieve good -ale, it makes folk speak what they think.” Another such supplementary -use, but of a character less commendable, is expressed in the ancient -<span class="nowrap">couplet:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The Good Noppy Ale of Southwerk</span> -<span class="spp00">Keeps many a goodwife from the Kirk.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Moore, in his <i>Odes of Anacreon</i>, sings the praise of ale as an incentive -to literary -<span class="nowrap">labours:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">If with water you fill up your glasses,</span> -<span class="spp00">You’ll never write anything wise,</span> -<span class="spp00">For Ale is the horse of Parnassus</span> -<span class="spp00">Which hurries a bard to the skies.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The following curious lines, copied from a MS. in the Cottonian -Library, indicate some other supplementary uses, or to speak more -correctly, the unwished-for effects of the strong ale in which our forefathers -<span class="nowrap">indulged:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Doll thi, doll, doll, doll this ale, dole,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a man to have a doly poll.</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to styk at a brere;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to ly in the myere;</span> -<span class="spp00">And ale mak many a mane to stombyl at a stone;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to dronken home;</span> -<span class="spp00">And ale mak many a mane to brek his tone;</span> -<span class="sppctr">With doll.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to draw hys knyfe;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to bet hys wyf.</span> -<span class="sppctr">With doll.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to wet hys chekes,</span> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /> <span class="xxpn" id="p405">{405}</span></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to stomble in the blokkis;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to mak hys hed have knokkes,</span> -<span class="spp00">And ale mak many a mane to syt in the stokkes.</span> -<span class="sppctr">With doll.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak many a mane to ryne over the falows;</span> -<span class="spp00">Ale mak a mane to swere by God and alhalows</span> -<span class="spp00">And ale mak many a mane to hang upon the galows.</span> -<span class="sppctr">With doll.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>A strange use of good liquor was that which anciently prevailed -of partly intoxicating criminals before execution. The ladies of -Jerusalem used to provide such a potion, consisting of frankincense and -wine. There is a curious similarity between this custom and the old -practice of giving to condemned men on their way to Tyburn Tree, a -great bowl of ale as their last earthly refreshment. It is stated in -Hone’s <i>Year Book</i> that a court on the south side of the High Street, -St. Giles’, derives its name of Bowl Yard from the circumstance of -criminals on their way to execution being presented with a bowl of ale -at the Hospital of St. Giles. Different maxims came ultimately to -prevail in reference to this matter, and we are told that Lord Ferrers, -when on his way to execution in 1760, for the murder of his land -steward, was denied his request for some wine and water, the Sheriff -stating that he was sorry to be obliged to refuse his lordship, but by -recent regulations they were enjoined not to let prisoners drink when -going to execution, as great indecencies had been frequently committed -in these cases, through the criminals becoming intoxicated. The old -saying that the “Saddler of Bawtry was hanged for leaving his liquor,” -arose from the following circumstances: Being sick at heart from his -impending death, the Saddler refused the bowl of ale offered him on his -way to the gallows. One minute after the poor fellow’s last struggle -his reprieve arrived, so that had he but tarried to drink the ale he had -been saved.</p> - -<p>Very different was the fortune of the Tinkler who had the good luck -to meet</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp08">——King Jamie, the first of our throne</span> -<span class="spp00">A pleasanter monarch sure never was known.</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">The little -incident is best told in the words of the old -<span class="nowrap">ballad:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">As he (the King) was a hunting the swift fallow deer,</span> -<span class="spp00">He dropped all his nobles; and when he got clear, - <span class="xxpn" id="p406">{406}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">In hope of some pastime away he did ride</span> -<span class="spp00">Till he came to an ale-house, hard by a wood side.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">And there with a Tinkler he happened to meet,</span> -<span class="spp00">And him in kind sort he so freely did greet:</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Pray - thee, good fellow, what hast in thy jug,</span> -<span class="spp00">Which under thy arm thou dost lovingly hug?”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>By - the mass!” quoth the Tinkler, “it’s nappy brown ale,</span> -<span class="spp00">And for to drink to thee, friend, I will not fail;</span> -<span class="spp00">For although thy jacket looks gallant and fine,</span> -<span class="spp00">I think my twopence as good as is thine.”</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>By - my soul! honest fellow, the truth thou has spoke,”</span> -<span class="spp00">And straight he sat down with the Tinkler to joke;</span> -<span class="spp00">They drank to the King and they pledged to each other;</span> -<span class="spp00">Who’d seen ’em had thought they were brother and brother.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>In their merry conversation the Tinkler remarks that the King is on -the border chasing deer, and that he would much like to see a King. -James immediately says he will show him one, if he will but mount -behind him. This the Tinkler does, “with his sack, his budget of -leather and tools at his back.” Doubts arising in his mind as to how -he shall recognise the King, James tells him,</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Thou’lt - easily ken him when once thou art there;</span> -<span class="spp00">The King will be covered, his nobles all bare.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Together -the two ride through the merry greenwood, and come upon -the nobles, when the Tinkler again asks to be shown the King.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">The King did with hearty good laughter reply,</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>By - my soul! my good fellow, its thou or its I!</span> -<span class="spp00">The rest are bare-headed, uncovered all round.”</span> -<span class="spp00">With his bag and his budget he fell to the ground,</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">and -beseeches mercy. Then says -<span class="nowrap">James―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Come - tell me thy name?” “I am John of the Dale,</span> -<span class="spp00">A mender of kettles, a lover of ale.”</span> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Rise - up! Sir John, I will honour thee here,</span> -<span class="spp00">I make thee a Knight of three thousand a year.”</span> -</div></div> - -<div><span class="xxpn" id="p407">{407}</span></div> - -<p>“This was a good thing for the Tinkler indeed,” writes the poet, who -concludes with the -<span class="nowrap">verse:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sir John of the Dale he has land, he has fee,</span> -<span class="spp00">At the Court of the King who so happy as he?</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet still in his hall hangs the Tinkler’s old sack,</span> -<span class="spp00">And the budget of tools which he bore at his back.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>There are two instances on record of ale being used to extinguish -fire. One January in the seventeenth century occurred a devastating -fire which burnt down the greater portion of the Temple in the -neighbourhood of Pump Court. “The night was bitterly cold,” writes -Mr. Jeafferson, in <i>Law and Lawyers</i>, “and the Templars, aroused -from their beds to preserve life and property, could not get an -adequate supply of water from the Thames, which the unusual -severity of the season had frozen. In this difficulty <i>they actually brought -barrels of ale from the Temple butteries, and fed the engines with the -malt liquor</i>.” If the ale was old and potent the flare up thereof -must have been great indeed.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>In the year 1613 the Globe Theatre was burnt down in consequence -of the wadding from a cannon fired off during the performance of <i>Henry -VIII.</i>, setting fire to the thatched roof. Sir Henry Wotton, in a letter -to his nephew giving an account of the occurrence, wrote: “One man -had his breeches set on fire that perhaps had broiled him if he had -not by the benefit of a provident wit put it out with bottle ale.” To -what base uses may we return!</p> - -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p407.png" width="144" height="40" alt="" /></div> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> <img src="images/p408a.png" - width="144" height="52" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p408"> - <span class="smcap">C<b>HAPTER</b></span> XV.</h2></div> - -<div class="depigraph"> -<div class="dpoemctr"> -<div class="dnowrap34"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<p class="pfirst"><span class="smcap">C<b>ONSTABLE</b></span> - <span class="smmaj">OF</span> - <span class="smcap">F<b>RANCE</b>.</span></p> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Dieu - de batailes! Where have they this mettle?</span> -<span class="spp09">. . . can sodden water,</span> -<span class="spp00">A drench for sur-rein’d jades, their barley broth,</span> -<span class="spp00">Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat?”</span></div> -<span class="poemcite"><i>King Henry V.</i>, Act iii., Scene 5.</span></div> -</div><!--dpoemctr--> -<p class="padtopc"> -“If every man is to forego his freedom of action because many make a -licentious use of it, I know not what is the value of any freedom.”</p> -<p class="psignature"><i>J. Risdon Bennett, M.D.</i></p> -</div> - -<p class="psynopsis"><i>OLD MEDICAL WRITERS ON ALE. — ADULTERATION -OF ALE. — ADVANTAGES OF MALT LIQUORS TO -LABOURING CLASSES. — TEMPERANCE</i> versus <i>TOTAL -ABSTINENCE. — ANECDOTES. — GAY’S BALLAD.</i></p> - -<p class="pfirst"> -<span class="spdropcap"><img class="idropcap" src="images/p408b.png" -width="229" height="229" alt="C" /></span>HAMPIONS -of the so-called temperance -cause, have gone so far towards <i>in</i>temperance -as to say that a moderate drinker is -worse than a drunkard. This absurd -declaration stands self-condemned, and -without labouring thrice to slay the -slain by disproving an assertion which -carries upon its face the unmistakable -marks of a suicide’s death, we propose -in this chapter to prove beyond question, from the works of ancient, -mediæval, and modern writers, that sound malt liquors possess valuable -medicinal and restorative qualities, and that their proper use is in -nowise injurious to health.</p> - -<p>In Anglo-Saxon times ale was considered to be possessed of the -highest medicinal virtues. It is mentioned in the <i>Saxon Leechdoms</i> -as an ingredient in many of the remedies therein prescribed, and for -the most serious as well as for the most trifling -complaints. In lung <span class="xxpn" id="p409">{409}</span> -disease a man is to “withhold himself earnestly from sweetened ale,” -to drink clear ale, and in the wort of the clear ale “boil young oak-rind -and drink.” Fever patients are recommended to drink during a -period of thirty days an infusion of clear ale and wormwood, githrife, -betony, bishop-wort, marrubium, fen mint, rosemary and other herbs. -For one “fiend-sick” the receipt runs thus:—A number of herbs having -been worked up in clear ale, “sing seven masses over the worts, add -garlic and holy water and let him drink out of a church bell”; finally -the lunatic is to give alms and pray for God’s mercies. Another -remedy for lunacy is much simpler: “Take skin of a mere-swine -(porpoise), work it into a whip, swinge the man therewith, soon he will -be well, Amen.” Another remarkable receipt runs thus: “Take a -mickle handfull of sedge and gladden, put them into a pan, pour a -muckle bowlfull of ale upon them, boil, and then rub into the mixture -twenty-five libcorns. This is a good drink against the devil.”</p> - -<p>For less serious evils the receipts in these Anglo-Saxon pharmacopœias -are numerous. Hiccup is cured thus: Take the root of jarrow, -pound it, and put it into good beer, and give it to the patient to sup -lukewarm.“ Then I ween that it may be of good benefit to him either -for hiccup or for any internal difficulty.”</p> - -<p>In Anglo-Saxon veterinary surgery beer was also used. “Take -a little new ale and pour it into the mouth of each of the sheep; and -make them swallow it quickly; that will do them good,” says the old -<i>Lœce-boc</i>. (<i>i.e.</i>, Medicine book.)</p> - -<p>At the present day, in some country places, cows which have lost -their milk soon after calving, are given warm ale in which aniseed has -been boiled, and ale has often been given to horses with advantage.</p> - -<p>Not only as an inward, but also as an outward application, was ale -recommended: For pains in the knees, woodwax and hedge-rife -pounded and put into ale, and used both inwardly and outwardly, was -the Saxon remedy.</p> - -<p>The foregoing receipts are sufficient to show the character of the -medicine prescribed in Saxon times. At a later period ale still held its -high position as a cure for most of the evils to which unfortunate -humanity is subject. In the eighth <i>Book of Notable Things</i>, a rare -work, supposed to have been written in the sixteenth century, the -following curious remedies are -<span class="nowrap">mentioned:―</span></p> - -<p>No. 45. An excellent medicine and a noble restorative for man or -woman that is brought very low with sickness. Take two pounds of -dates and wash them clean in Ale, then cut them and -take out the <span class="xxpn" id="p410">{410}</span> -stones and white skins, then cut them small, and beat them in a mortar, -till they begin to work like wax, and then take a quart of Clarified -Honey or Sugar, and half an ounce of the Podder of Long Pepper, as -much of Mace of Cloves, Nutmegs, and Cinnamon, of each one Drachm, -as much of the Powder of Lignum Aloes; beat all the Spices together -and Seeth the Dates with the Sugar or Honey with an easie fire, and -let it seeth; cast in thereto a little Powder, by little and little, and stir -it with a spatula of wood, and so do until it come to an Electuary, and -then eat every morning and evening thereof, one ounce at a time, and -it will renew and restore again his Complexion, be he never so low -brought. This hath been proved, and it hath done good to many -a Man and Woman.</p> - -<p>No. 46. A notable Receipt for the black Jaundice. Take a Gallon -of Ale, a Pint of Honey, and two Handfuls of Red Nettles, and take -a penny-worth or two of Saffron, and boil it in the Ale, the Ale being -first skimmed and then boil the Hony and Nettles therein all together -and strain it well, and every Morning take a good Draught thereof, for -the space of a fortnight. For in that space (God willing) it will clean -and perfectly cure the black Jaundice.</p> - -<p>In the Twelfth Book is a receipt which was probably far more -effective than most of the ancient -<span class="nowrap">remedies:―</span></p> - -<p>No. 49. For a cough; Take a quart of Ale and put a Handful of -Red Sage into it, and boyl it half away; strain it, and put to the -Liquor a Quarter of a pound of Treacle, drink it warm going to -Bed.</p> - -<p>In Ben Jonson’s <i>Alchemist</i>, of about the same date, is a mention of -ale used as -<span class="nowrap">medicine:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Yes, faith, she dwells in Sea-coal lane, did cure me</span> -<span class="spp00">With sodden ale, and pellitory of the wall,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cost me but twopence.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>We have before us an old pamphlet bearing the title “<i>Warme -Beere</i>, or a Treatise wherein is declared by many reasons, that Beere so -qualified is farre more wholesome than that which is drunk cold. With -a confutation of such objections that are made against it; published for -the preservation of Health. Cambridge. Printed by R. D. for Henry -Overton, and are to be sold at his shop entering into Pope’s-Head Alley -out of Lumbard Street -in London, 1641.” <span class="xxpn" id="p411">{411}</span></p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth dwthem38"> -<p>The following verses form an apt commencement to this -whimsical old <span class="nowrap">treatise:―</span></p> - -<div class="padtopb">IN COMMENDATION OF WARME BEERE.</div> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">We care not what stern grandsires now can say,</span> -<span class="spp00">Since reason doth and ought to bear the sway.</span> -<span class="spp00">Vain grandames saysaws ne’er shall make me think,</span> -<span class="spp00">That rotten teeth come most by warmed drink.</span> -<span class="spp00">No, grandsire, no; if you had us’d to warm</span> -<span class="spp00">Your mornings draughts, as I do, farre less harme</span> -<span class="spp00">Your raggie lungs had felt; not half so soon,</span> -<span class="spp00">For want of teeth to chew, you’d us’d the spoon.</span> -<span class="spp00">Grandame, be silent now, if you be wise,</span> -<span class="spp00">Lest I betray your skinking niggardize:</span> -<span class="spp00">I wot well you no physick ken, nor yet</span> -<span class="spp00">The name and nature of the vitall heat.</span> -<span class="spp00">’Twas more to save your fire, and fear that I</span> -<span class="spp00">Your pewter cups should melt or smokifie,</span> -<span class="spp00">Then skill or care of me, which made you swear,</span> -<span class="spp00">God wot, and stamp to see me warm my beer.</span> -<span class="spp00">Though grandsire growl, though grandame swear, I hold</span> -<span class="spp00">That man unwise that drinks his liquor cold.</span></div> -<span class="poemcite">W. B.</span></div> -</div><!--dkeeptgth--> - -<p>After giving instances of the value of warm beer as opposed to cold, -the author gives the following sage account of the reasons he hath for -the faith that is in him:—“When a man is thirstie, there are two -master-qualities which do predominate in the stomach, namely heat -and drinesse, over their contraries, cold and moisture. When a man -drinketh cold beer to quench his thirst, he setteth all four qualities -together by the ears in the stomach, which do with all violence oppose -one another and cause a great combustion in the stomach, breeding -many distempers therein. For if heat get the mastery, it causeth inflamation -through the whole body, and bringeth a man into fluxes and -other diseases. But hot beer prevents all these dangers, and maketh -friendship between all these enemies, viz., hot and cold, wet and drie, -in the stomach; because when the coldnesse of the beer is taken away -by actuall heat, and made as hot as the stomach, then heat hath no -opposite, his enemie cold being taken away, and there only remains -these two enemies, dry and wet in the stomach: which heat laboureth -to make friends. When one is exceeding thirstie, the beer being made -hot and then drunk into the dry stomach, -it immediately quencheth <span class="xxpn" id="p412">{412}</span> -the thirst, moistening and refreshing nature abundantly. Cold beer is -very pleasant when extreme thirst is in the stomach; but what more -dangerous to the health. Many by drinking a cup of cold beer in -extreme thirst, have taken a surfet and killed themselves. Therefore -we must not drink cold beer, because it is pleasant, but hot beer, -because it is profitable, especially in the Citie for such as have cold -stomachs, and inclining to a consumption. I have known some that -have been so farre gone in a consumption, that none would think in -reason they could live a week to an end: their breath was short, their -stomach was gone, and their strength failed, so that they were not able -to walk about the room without resting, panting and blowing: they -drank many hot drinks and wines to heat their cold stomachs, and cure -their diseases, especially sweet wines, but all in vain: for the more wine -they drank to warm their stomachs, the more they inflamed their livers, -by which means they grew worse and worse increasing their disease: -But when they did leave drinking all wine and betook themselves onely -to the drinking of hot beer so hot as blood, within a moneth, their -breath, stomach and strength was so increased, that they could walk -about their garden with ease, and within two moneths could walk four -miles, and within three moneths were perfectly made well as ever they -were in their lives.”</p> - -<p>Another curious old pamphlet of about the same period, entitled -<i>Panala Alacatholica</i> (1623) follows the text “That ale is a wholesome -drinke contrary to many men’s conceits,” and after a description of the -way in which ale is spoilt in the brewing and rendered injurious we are -told: “But let a neat huswife, or canny Alewright have the handling of -good Ingredients (sweet Maulte and wholesome water) and you shall see -and will say, there is Art in brewing, (as in most actions) and that many -more, even of those that ayme at brewing the Best Ale, doe yet for all -their supposed dexteritie, misse the marke, than hit upon the mysterie. -For you shall then have a neat cup of Nappie Ale (right <i>Darbie</i>, not -Dagger Ale, though effectually animating) well boyled, desecated and -cleared, that it shall equall the best Brewed Beere in transparence, -please the most curious Pallate with milde quicknesse of relish, quench -the thirst, humect the inward parts, helpe concoction and distribution -of meate, and by its moderate penetration, much further the attractive -power of the parts (especially being rectified with that Additament and -<i>Vehiculum</i> which the best Alistra boyles with it; to wit, such a proportion -of Hop as gives not any the least tact of bitternesse to the Pallate -after it growes Drinkable) and being free from all -those former foule <span class="xxpn" id="p413">{413}</span> -imputations, doth by its succulencie much nourish and corroborate the -Corporall, and comfort the Animall powers.”</p> - -<p>A long description here follows of the manner in which Panala, a -medicated ale, is to be manufactured. Of its virtues our quaint author -gives the following account:—“This Ale neither offends the Eye with -the loathed object of a muddie substance, nor the smell with any ill -vapour or favour, nor the tast nor stomacke with disgust or ingrate -relish, but ’tis a pure, cleere, delicate, and singular Extract impregnated -with the sincere spirits and vertuosities of excellent Ingredients, of a -moderate temperature, indifferently accommodated to every Age, Sex, -and Constitution, and so familiar and pleasing to Nature.”</p> - -<p>Medicated ales of this nature were held in high estimation by our -ancestors. Such was the celebrated Dr. Butler’s ale, which held its -sway for many generations; the following receipt for this ale is given in -the <i>Book of Notable Things</i>: “Take Senna and Polypedium each four -ounces, Sarseperilla two ounces, Agrimony and Maidenhair of each a -small handful, scurvy grass a quarter of a peck, bruise them grossly in a -stone mortar, put them into a thin canvass bag, and hang the bag in -nine or ten gallons of ale; when it is well worked and when it is three -or four days old, it is ripe enough to be drawn off and bottled, or as you -see fit.” This ale was sold at houses that had Butler’s head for a sign, -and we meet with further mention of it in a news-sheet of 1664:—“At -Tobias’ Coffee House, in Pye Corner, is sold the right drink, called Dr. -Butler’s Ale, it being the same that was sold by Mr. Lansdale in -Newgate Market. It is an excellent stomach drink, it helps digestion, -and dissolves congealed phlegm upon the lungs, and is therefore good -gainst colds, coughs, ptisical and consumptive distempers; and being -drunk in the evening, it moderately fortifies nature, causeth good rest -and hugely corroborates the brain and memory.”</p> - -<p>A few years earlier than this Thomas Cogan was advocating in <i>The -Haven of Health</i> (1584), beer for persons inclined to “rewmes and -gout.” Such persons must avoid “idleness, surfet, much wine and -strong, especially fasting, and not condemn Beere as hurtful in this -respect which was so profitably invented by that worthy Prince -<i>Gambrinius</i>, anno 1786 years before the incarnation of our Lord Jesus -Christ, as Lanquette writeth in his chronicle.”</p> - -<p>The same writer gives a curious receipt for “<i>Buttered Beere</i>,” which -is good for a cough or shortness of wind:—Take a quart or more of -Double Beere and put to it a good piece of fresh butter, sugar candie an -ounce, of liquerise in powder, of ginger grated, of each -a dramme, and <span class="xxpn" id="p414">{414}</span> -if you would have it strong, put in as much long pepper and Greynes, -let it boyle in the quart in the manner as you burne wine and who so -will drink it, let him drinke it as hot as hee may suffer. Some put in -the yolke of an egge or two towards the latter end, and so they make it -more strengthfull.“</p> - -<p>The following year John Taylor published in <i>Drinke and Welcome</i> -many modes of application of ale in the various ills to which the flesh -is heir. He thus concludes his somewhat remarkable statements:—”<i>Ale</i> -is universale, and for Vertue it stands allowable with the best -recipes of the most antientest Physisians; and for its singular force in -expulsion of poison is equall, if not exceeding that rare antidote so -seriously invented by the Pontique King, which from him (till this time) -carries his name of <i>Mithridate</i>. And lastly, not onely approved by a -Nationall Assembly, but more exemplarily remonstrated by the frequent -use of the most knowing Physisians, who for the wonderfull force that -it hath against all diseases of the Lungs, justly allow the name of a -<i>Pulmonist</i> to every <i>Alebrewer</i>.</p> - -<p>“The further I seeke to goe the more unable I finde -myselfe to expresse the wonders (for so I may very well -call them) operated by <i>Ale</i> for that I shall abruptly -conclude, in consideratione of mine owne insufficiency, -with the fagge-end of an old man’s old will, who gave -a good somme of mony to a Red-fac’d <i>Ale-drinker</i>, -who plaid upon a Pipe and Tabor, which was <span -class="nowrap">this:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>To - make your Pipe and Tabor keepe their sound,</span> -<span class="spp00">And dye your Crimson tincture more profound,</span> -<span class="spp00">There growes no better medicine on the ground</span> -<span class="spp00">Than <i>Aleano</i> (if it may be found)</span> -<span class="spp00">To buy which drug I give a hundred pound.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Prynne, the author of the famous <i>Histrio-Mastix</i>, seldom dined; -every three or four hours he munched a manchet, and refreshed his -exhausted spirits with <i>ale</i> brought to him by his servant; and when “he -was put into this road of writing,” as Anthony Wood telleth, he fixed -on “a long quilted cap, which came an inch over his eyes,” serving as a -shade, “and then hunger nor thirst did he experience, save that of his -voluminous pages.” Evidence of the high regard in which English ale -was held among foreign doctors in the seventeenth century may be -gathered from an account given in <i>Hone’s Table Book</i> of how, about -1620 some doctors and surgeons during their attendance on an English -gentleman, who was diseased at Paris, discoursed on -wines and other <span class="xxpn" id="p415">{415}</span> -beverages; and one physician, who had been in England, said the English -had a drink which they call Ale, and which he thought the wholesomest -liquor that could be drunk; for whereas the body of man is -supported by natural heat and radical moisture, there is no drink conduceth -more to the preservation of the one, and the increase of the -other, than <i>Ale</i>, for, while the Englishmen drank <i>only ale</i>, they were -strong, brawny, able men, and could draw an arrow an ell long; but, -when they fell to wine and <i>Beer</i>, they are found to be much impaired -in their strength and age.</p> - -<p>English doctors would always, it may be supposed, give their approbation -to the nut-brown ale. There must have been some who even in -the good old days leaned to the doctrines of the abstainers; but such -was the faith of our ancestors in the virtues of the national beverage, -that we may imagine the doctor’s advice was disregarded and, indeed, -was even set down to anything but an amiable motive. This we may -see from a verse of the old ballad, <i>Nottingham</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Ale</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ye doctors, who more execution have done</span> -<span class="spp00">With bolus and potion, and powder and pill,</span> -<span class="spp00">Than hangman with halter, and soldier with gun,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or miser with famine, or lawyer with quill,</span> -<span class="spp00">To dispatch us the quicker, you forbid us malt liquor,</span> -<span class="spp00">Till our bodies grow thin, and our faces look pale;</span> -<span class="spp00">Observe them who pleases, what cures all diseases,</span> -<span class="spp00">Is a comforting dose of good Nottingham Ale.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The following receipt is quite gravely given by Dr. Solas Dodd, in -whose <i>Natural History of the Herring</i> (1753) it may be found: “Take -the oil pressed out of fresh Herrings, a pint, a boar’s gall, juices of henbane, -hemlock, arsel, lettuce, and wild catmint, each six ounces, mix, -boil well, and put into a glass vessel, stoppered. Take three spoonfuls -and put into a quart of warm ale, and let the person to undergo any -operation drink of this by an ounce at a time, till he falls asleep, which -sleep he will continue the space of three or four hours, and all that time -he will be unsensible to anything done to him.” Whether or no we -have here an account of a genuine early anæsthetic we are not prepared -to say.</p> - -<p>Instances might be recorded without number of the restorative -effects of ale in sickness, and more particularly in fever cases where the -patient has been brought very low, and the loss of tissue has been great. -Of these space only allows us to include -a very few. <span class="xxpn" id="p416">{416}</span></p> - -<p>When Pulteney, afterwards Earl of Bath, lay prostrate with pleuritic -fever, the greatest physicians in the land found their skill avail nothing; -and all the statesman’s alarmed friends got for expending seven hundred -guineas in fees was the cold comfort that everything that could be done -had been done, and the case was hopeless. Whilst those gathered round -the bedside of the supposed dying man listened for his last sigh, he -faintly murmured, “Small beer, small beer.” The doctors did not -think it worth while to say nay, and a half-gallon cup of small beer was -put to the lips of the sick man, who drained it to the dregs, and then -demanded another draught, which he served in the same way: then -turning on his side, he went off into a deep slumber, attended with profuse -perspiration, and awoke a new man.<a class="afnanc" href="#fn74" id="fnanc74">74</a> -The beneficial effects of mild ale -in fever is commemorated in an old poem, <i>Small</i> -<span class="nowrap"><i>Beer</i>:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Oft known the deadly fever’s flame,</span> -<span class="spp00">By the scorch’d patient crav’d, to tame.</span> -</div></div> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc74" id="fn74">74</a> -<i>Chambers’s Journal</i>, Jan. 2nd, 1875.</p></div> - -<p>In Sir J. Sinclair’s <i>Statistical Account</i>, an extraordinary case is -related of a collier, named Hunter, who suffered from chronic rheumatism -or gout. He had been confined to his bed for a year and a half, -having almost entirely lost the use of his limbs. On Handsel Monday -(the first Monday after New Year’s Day) some of his neighbours came to -make merry with him. Though he could not rise, yet he always took -his share of the new ale, as it passed round the company; and, in the -end, became much intoxicated. The consequence was that he had the -use of his limbs the next morning, and was able to walk about. He -lived more than twenty years after this, and never had the smallest -return of his complaint. This took place in 1758.</p> - -<p>An account of a cure, in which, no doubt, faith helped the ale, -occurs in the <i>Merrie Conceited Jests of George Peele</i>, gentleman, -sometime student at Oxford (London, 1607). “Riding on his way to -Oxford, he stopped all night at Mekham—At supper, he began to -talk with the hostess, who was a simple professor of Chirurgerie, and -conceited therewith.—Peele observing her humour and conceit, upheld -all the strange cures she talked of and praised her, with much flattery, -and promised on his return to teach her something that would do -her no hurt—and added he was on his way to cure a gentleman in -Warwickshire, who was in a consumption. -The hostess immediately <span class="xxpn" id="p417">{417}</span> -said there was a gentleman close by so ill with that complaint, and -proposed that Peele should see him. Peele, knowing as much of -doctoring as of music, declined; but after much pressure, and resisting -as long as he could, was fain to comply. Putting on a bold face -he went to the gentleman, his hostess praising him as a wonderful -doctor. After feeling the pulse, &c., &c., he asked if they had a garden. -Yes, they had. He then went there and cut from every plant, flower, -herb and blossom; boiling the results in <i>Ale</i>, straining and boiling again. -He told the patient to take some of this warm, morning, noon, and night. -Whether anything effective was in this <i>Herbal Mixture</i>, or from the -patient’s fancy—in eight days after the patient was able to walk about -apparently recovered—and so delighted that he put many pounds in -Peele’s pocket.”</p> - -<p>A Brown ale called Stitch is mentioned in <i>The London and County -Brewer</i> of 1744 as having being of the greatest benefit in incipient -consumption. It was of the first running of the malt, but of a greater -length than is drawn out of the stout butt beer. It had few hops -in it. Instances of the advantage of good malt liquors in certain -cases of consumption are very numerous. Mons. Frémy, of the -Beaujon Hospital, in Paris, made a series of experiments with malt -powder given in the form of a decoction, and externally by means of -baths. The substance was tried on sixty-four subjects of well-marked -phthisis; but the results were trifling, beyond a certain degree of -temporary amelioration. It was, however, of greater service in cases -of chronic bronchitis, early phthisis, and chronic pulmonary catarrh; -its utility being very marked in this last affection. In some parts of -England it is a common practice for persons in consumption to procure -wort (that is an infusion of malt before the hops are boiled with it for -making beer) from the brewers, and to drink half-a-pint of it daily; -and many have received great benefit from it. The experiments of -Dr. Frémy verify the utility of the English practice.</p> - -<p>Of late years various preparations of malt have come to hold a very -high place in popular estimation. A first-rate remedy for a cough is -made thus: Over half a bushel of pale ground malt pour as much hot, -but not boiling, water as will just cover it. In forty-eight hours drain -off the liquor entirely, but without squeezing the grains: put the -former into a large sweetmeat pan, or saucepan, that there may be room -to boil as quick as possible, without boiling over; when it begins to -thicken, stir constantly. It must be as thick as treacle. The dose is -a dessert-spoonful thrice a day. This preparation has -a very agreeable <span class="xxpn" id="p418">{418}</span> -flavour. One of the most easily digested and most nourishing of foods -for those minute but assertive, atoms of humanity called babies,<a class="afnanc" href="#fn75" id="fnanc75">75</a> -is malt -finely powdered; and chemists keep many kinds of foods, syrups, -lozenges, &c., too numerous to mention, all claiming their origin from -Sir John Barleycorn.</p> - -<div class="dftnt"> -<p class="pfirst padtopc"><a class="afnlabel" href="#fnanc75" id="fn75">75</a> -The author knows a malt-fed baby who never cries.—<i>Verb. Sap.</i></p></div> - -<p>Among the many virtues of good ale, that of promoting generosity -should take a high place. This peculiar effect is capitally illustrated in -an anecdote of the Rev. Michael Hutchinson, D.D., of Derby. “The -people,” writes Hutton, “to whom he applied for subscriptions (the church -was in need of repair) were not able to keep their money; it passed -from their pockets to his own as if by magic. Whenever he could -recollect a person likely to contribute to this desirable work he made -no scruple to visit him at his own expense. If a stranger passed through -Derby, the Doctor’s bow and his rhetoric were employed in the service -of the church. His anxiety was urgent, and his power so prevailing, -that he seldom failed of success. <i>When the waites fiddled at his door -for a Christmas box, instead of sending them away with a solitary -shilling, he invited them in, treated them with a tankard of ale, and -persuaded them out of a guinea.</i>”</p> - -<p>Malt liquor has long been regarded by eminent medical men as -almost a specific against the scurvy, that dread disease which in former -times wrought such havoc amongst our brave tars. Sir Gilbert Blane, -M.D., records the following instance of the virtues of porter in this -<span class="nowrap">connection:―</span></p> - -<p>“I was furnished,” he writes, in his <i>Observations on the Diseases of -Seamen</i>, “by Dr. Clephane, physician to the fleet at New York, with -the following fact as a strong proof of the excellence of this liquor: In -the beginning of the war two store ships, called the Tortoise and -Grampus, sailed for America under the convoy of the Dædalus frigate. -The Grampus happened to be supplied with a sufficient quantity of -porter to serve the whole passage, which proved very long. The other -two ships were furnished with the common allowance of spirits. The -weather being unfavourable, the passage drew out to fourteen weeks -and, upon their arrival at New York, the Dædalus sent to the hospital -a hundred and twelve men; the Tortoise sixty-two; the greater part of -whom were in the last stage of the scurvy. The Grampus sent only -thirteen, none of whom -had the scurvy.” <span class="xxpn" id="p419">{419}</span></p> - -<p>In the Geographical Society’s Journal (vol. ii. p. 286) it is recorded -that during a severe winter on the west coast of Africa the crew of the -Etna suffered so much from scurvy that the least scratch had a tendency -to become a dangerous wound. Capt. Belcher states that “the only -thing which appeared materially to check the disease was beer made of -the essence of malt and hops; and I feel satisfied that a general issue of -this on the coast of Africa would be very salutary, and have the effect -especially of keeping up the constitutions of men subjected to heavy -labour in boats.”</p> - -<p>Thomas Trotter, M.D., in his <i>Medicina Nautica</i>, “an Essay on the -Diseases of Seamen, comprehending the history of the health in His -Majesty’s Fleet under the command of Richard Earl Howe, Admiral, -1797,” states that in typhus cases he found porter, where preferred by the -patient, more beneficial than wine. During a low fever, he (the doctor) -was entirely supported by bottled beer, of which he speaks very highly. -In his practice at Haslar Hospital he found bottled porter to be one of -the best ingredients in the diet of a convalescent, and never fail to -strengthen them quickly for duty.</p> - -<p>Dr. Hodgkin, writing on Health, says, “I can assert, from well-proved -experience that the invalid who has been reduced almost to -extremity by severe or lingering illness, finds in well-apportioned -draughts of sound beer, one of the most important helps for -the recovery of his health, his strength, and his spirits.” Dr. Paris, -who is not a recent authority, but whose remarks on this subject are -most cogent and bear the stamp of common sense, asserts that “the -extractive matter furnished by the malt is highly nutritive; and we -accordingly find that those persons addicted to such potations are, in -general, fat. This fact is so generally admitted by all those who are -skilled in the art of training, that a quantity of ale is taken at every -meal by the pugilist, who is endeavouring to screw himself up to his -fullest strength. Jackson, the celebrated trainer, affirms, if any person -accustomed to drink wine would but try malt liquor for a month, he -would find himself so much the better for it, that he would soon take to -the one, and abandon the other . . . The addition of the hop -increases the value of the liquor, by the grateful stimulus which it -imparts, and in some measure redeems it from the vices with which it -might otherwise be charged where a corresponding degree of exercise -is not taken. . . I regard its dismissal (table or light beer) from the -tables of the great as a matter of regret, for its -slight but invigorating <span class="xxpn" id="p420">{420}</span> -bitter is much better adapted to promote digestion than its more -costly substitutes.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Thomas Inman, in a paper read before the British -Medical Association in 1862, advances the proposition that nature -has provided in the salivary glands, the liver, and the lungs of every -mammal, an apparatus “for converting all food, especially farinaceous, -into alcohol, and he gives chemical reasons for believing that some such -process actually does take place. Alcohol, he says, after being taken is -incorporated with the blood, and passing in some form not yet explained -into the circulation, ultimately disappears; a small portion alone passing -from the body, and that in the breath. He further says that when -alcohol is mingled with other food, a less amount of the latter suffices -for the wants of the system than if water had been used as the drink. -Dr. Inman cites his own experience of an attempt to do without his -ordinary allowance of ale at dinner; a large increase of food was -necessited, but the demand for this diminished at once on resuming -the ale. Similar facts were noted in the experience of various members -of his family. No loss of health or strength was experienced, -except when the ordinary amount of solids was taken without the -beer.</p> - -<p>A celebrated French medical man (Dr. Coulier) published an excellent -article on beer (“Article Bière” in Vol. IX. of the <i>Dictionnaire Encyclopédique -de Sciences Médicales</i>) considered from a medical point of view. -He says, in effect, that beer being less rich in alcohol than even the -poorest wines, holds an intermediate place between the latter and purely -watery drinks. It presents, according to its mode of preparation and -composition, a continuous scale of more or less alcoholic drinks, from -porter and ale down to small beer containing little more than one per -cent. of alcohol. Its bitter principles render it tonic and aperient; while -the somnolence and heaviness that follow an over-allowance of this fluid -are due to the action of the essential oil of the hop. He holds that of -all fermented drinks, beer is the one whose taste <i>se marie le plus agréablement</i> -with the use of the pipe. Beer must be considered in the -light of an alimentary drink. In every hundred parts of beer are five -of extract containing a little nitrogenous assimilable matter and salts -favourable to nutrition, but consisting mainly of respiratory food. “If,” -he says, “fermented drinks have become one of the necessities of civilisation, -a prudent regard for health should make us as far as possible -reduce the excitement which the alcohol occasions. In this respect beer -presents a great advantage over wine. Thus a -half-bottle of wine <span class="xxpn" id="p421">{421}</span> -containing 12 per cent. of alcohol, which is the common allowance for an -adult, contains 375 grammes of wine, and consequently 45 grammes of -anhydrous alcohol. A bottle of beer containing 4 per cent, of alcohol is -equally satisfying, and contains only 30 grammes of alcohol. Hence, -supposing two meals are taken daily, the beer-drinker daily imbibes 30 -grammes less of alcohol than the wine-drinker; and this difference -amounts in the course of the year to nearly 11 kilogrammes, or 14 litres -(equivalent to 24 lbs. or 3 gallons), of anhydrous alcohol.”</p> - -<p>Examples without number might be collected of men who -habitually used alcoholic drinks sometimes in moderation, sometimes, -in what we, in these latter days, should certainly consider -excess, and who yet lived in health and usefulness to the extreme -boundary of human life. Old Parr, if we are to believe Taylor, who -sings his praises, was a drinker of the moderate kind.</p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Sometimes metheglin and by fortune happy,</span> -<span class="spp00">He sometimes sipped a cup of ale most nappy,</span> -<span class="spp00">Cyder, or perry, when he did repair</span> -<span class="spp00">To Whitsun ale, wake, wedding, or fair,</span> -<span class="spp00">Else he had little leisure time to waste,</span> -<span class="spp00">Or at the ale-house huff-cup ale to taste.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Henry Jenkins, who died in 1670 at the wonderful age of 165 years, -took his ale whenever he could get it. He lived very much in the open -air and spent his time in thatching and salmon-fishing. At one time -he was butler to Lord Conyers, of Hornby Castle, and he has left it on -record that when, as often happened, his master sent him over with -messages to Marmaduke Brodelay, Lord Abbot of Fountains, the abbot -“always sent for him to his lodgings, and, after prayers, ordered him, -besides wassel, a quarter of a yard of roast beef (for that the monasteries -did deliver their meat by measure), and a great black Jack of strong ale.” -Have we not, too, the evidence of epitaphs graven in stone, which are -well known never to lie, all bearing out the truth of the longevity of ale -drinkers? Here are two, the first being in Great Walford -<span class="nowrap">churchyard:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp00">Here John Randal lies</span> -<span class="spp00">Who counting of his tale</span> -<span class="spp00">Lived threescore years and ten,</span> -<span class="spp00">Such vertue was in ale.</span> -<span class="spp03">Ale was his meat,</span> -<span class="spp03">Ale was his drink. - <span class="xxpn" id="p422">{422}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">Ale did his heart revive,</span> -<span class="spp00">And if he could have drunk his ale</span> -<span class="spp00">He still had been alive.</span> -<span class="spp00">He died January 5,</span> -<span class="sppctr">1699.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The second is in Edwalton, Notts:</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spp04">Ob. 1741.</span> -<span class="spp00">Rebecca Freeland,</span> -<span class="spp00">She drank good ale, good punch and wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">And lived to the age of 99.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Macklin, the comedian, who died in 1797, for upwards of thirty -years was a daily visitor at the Antelope, in White Hart Yard, Covent -Garden. His usual beverage was a pint of hot stout; he said it -balmed his stomach and kept him from having any inward pains. -Whether from the effects of this inward “balming” or not, Macklin -undoubtedly lived to the age of 97 years.</p> - -<p>In Daniell’s <i>British Sports</i> there is an account of Joe Mann, gamekeeper -to Lord Torrington. “He was in constant morning exercise, -he went to bed always betimes, <i>but never till his skin was filled with ale</i>. -This he said, ‘would do no harm to an early riser, and to a man who -pursued field sports.’ At seventy-eight years of age he began to decline, -and then lingered for three years. His gun was ever upon his arm, and -he still crept about, not destitute of the hope of fresh diversion.”</p> - -<p>The next instance, to be found in <b>Hone’s Year Book</b>, illustrates, -not so much the tendency of beer and ale, when taken in large -quantities, to make men healthy, wealthy, and wise, as to make them fat. -On November 30, 1793, died at Beaumaris, William Lewis, Esq., of -Llandismaw, in the act of drinking a <i>cup</i> of Welsh ale, containing -about a wine <i>quart</i>, called a “tumbler maur.” He made it a rule, -every morning of his life, to read so many chapters in the Bible, and -in the evening to drink eight gallons of ale. It is calculated that in -his lifetime he must have drunk a sufficient quantity to float a seventy-four -gun ship. His size was astonishing, and he weighed forty stone. -Although he died in his parlour, it was found necessary to construct -a machine in form of a crane, to lift his body in a carriage, and -afterwards to have the machine to let him down into the grave. He -went by the name of the King of Spain, and his family by the different -titles of -prince, infantas, &c. <span class="xxpn" id="p423">{423}</span></p> - -<p>One of the great teetotal arguments against the use of malt liquors, -one which the advocates of total abstinence generally fall back upon -when beaten on every other point, is that beer is adulterated. This -assertion, if it could be substantiated, would undoubtedly cut away the -very foundation of our argument as to the wholesomeness of ale and beer. -We must, then, shortly consider the point. Time out of mind the brewers -have been accused of adulterating their ale and beer, with what truth, -at any rate at the present day, we shall see anon. Opium, henbane, -cocculus indicus, and we know not what noxious drugs besides, it has -commonly, and we think somewhat recklessly, been asserted, find their -way into the brewing vessels. Some time ago M. Payen, a French -chemist of distinction, created quite a panic amongst the drinkers of pale -ale by asserting, in a lecture at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, -that strychnine was prepared in large quantities in Paris for exportation -to England, where it was employed to give, or to aid in giving, the -esteemed bitter flavour to pale ale. This statement appearing in <i>Le -Constitutional</i>, and other French papers, soon found its way into the -English journals, to the consternation of the drinkers and purveyors of -this beverage.</p> - -<p>The leading firms of Burton ale brewers at once threw open their -breweries and stores in the most unreserved manner, and “The <i>Lancet’s</i> -Analytical Sanitary Commission” undertook an inquiry on the subject. -Forty samples of beer, all brewed before the promulgation of the -statement, were analyzed by the commission, as well as samples taken by -other analysts at the request of Messrs. Allsopp and Sons. Needless to -say, not a particle of strychnine was discovered. Half a grain of -strychnine will destroy life, and a grain would be required to impart to -one gallon of beer its ordinary degree of bitterness. The flavour of hops -and strychnine differs. To bitter the amount then brewed at Burton -16,448 ounces of strychnine would be required. Not so much as 1,000 -ounces of strychnine were manufactured in the whole world yearly.</p> - -<p>In a quaint pamphlet entitled <i>Old London Rogueries</i>, the following -statement is made seriously:—“There ought also to be compiled a -delectable and pleasant treatise by such as sell bottle-ale, who, to make it -fly up to the top of the house at the first opening, do put gunpowder -into the bottles while the ale is new, then by stopping it close make -people believe it is the strength of the ale, when, being truly sifted, it is -nothing indeed but the strength of the gunpowder that worketh the -effect, to the great heart-burning of the parties who drink the same. -This is a truly strange and marvellous artifice, and -must be reckoned <span class="xxpn" id="p424">{424}</span> -among the lost inventions.” We wonder if these cunning retailers of -the olden time ever used shot as well as powder with their bottled ale, -which doubtless would have greatly increased the effect.</p> - -<p>In October, 1883, a statement was loudly trumpeted forth from -teetotal platforms that 245,000 cwt. of chemicals were used every year -in England in brewing. After a good deal of discussion on the subject, -it leaked out that the figures had been arrived at by a firm of hop -dealers, anxious to run up the price of hops. By a blunder in their -calculations they had come to the conclusion that there was a deficit -of 245,000 cwt. of hops in this country. From this it was argued that -245,000 cwt. of chemicals were used. This house of cards fell when it -was conclusively proved that there were at the time actually more hops -in England than were required by the brewers.</p> - -<p>With regard to the question of adulteration at the present day, it -could be wished that those who are induced by a fanatical hatred of -alcohol in any shape or form to make this alleged adulteration a reason -for further restrictive legislation on the brewing trade, would take the -trouble to look at the reports annually published by the Inland Revenue -Commissioners in which this point is dealt with. Here are a few -extracts from their report for the year 1881, soon after the repeal of -the Malt-tax. “Brewers have no doubt been experimenting with other -descriptions of grain, as might have been expected, but we believe that -barley, from its peculiar fitness for malting, will in the end maintain its -superiority; and we are informed that a new method of preparing -inferior barley for brewing purposes promises to be highly successful.” -“So far as we are aware, no attempts have been made to use materials -in brewing at all detrimental to the public health; and the presence of -the Revenue officers in breweries affords fresh security to the public—if -indeed any such were needed—against all such practices.”</p> - -<p>In the same report Professor Bell, the Principal of the Inland -Revenue Laboratory, goes into detail and gives very valuable statistics, -showing the way in which the opinion given by the Commissioners was -arrived at. In 1881, 8,626 samples of beer were tested, of which 4,666 -were analyzed to see if any foreign body had been added, as well as to -check the original gravity. Of this large number the whole were nearly -correct, but actually 17 per cent, were found not alone to be up to the -standard test, but above it; and out of nearly 20,000 brewers, which, in -round numbers, was then the extent of the trade in the United Kingdom, -only some 300 were even suspected of having used illegal materials. Of -the ninety samples of beer submitted for analysis -as being suspected <span class="xxpn" id="p425">{425}</span> -to have been tampered with, sixty-three were found to have been -“sugared,” but in every instance this occurred at the public-house or -beerhouse, a matter which was beyond the control of the brewer, and -was as much a fraud on him as on the Revenue and the public. -Mr. Bell goes on to state that whatever adulteration prevails is wholly -confined to the publican and the beer retailer, and even where it does -prevail, at the most the practice means nothing worse than diluting the -beer with water and afterwards adding sugar; still, as Mr. Bell remarks, -“Reprehensible as the practice is, as being a fraud on the public as well -as the Revenue, yet it is satisfactory to know that no adulterant of a -poisonous or hurtful character has been detected.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Thudichum, in a work <i>Alcoholic Drinks</i>, published by the -Executive Council of the late Health Exhibition, speaking of the -supposition that hops are sometimes supplanted, entirely or in part, -in the manufacture of beer by absynth, menyanthes, quassia, gentian, -and other matters, regards such adulteration as rare and such as “if -practised persistently would no doubt be discovered, and the liquids -produced by their aid would be declined by the public.”</p> - -<p>An Irish brewer told us of a rather comic incident connected with -hop substitutes. A traveller in these commodities was in the habit of -pestering our friend, who informed the man that he believed his wares -were poisonous, and that he ought to eat some to prove the contrary. -With a wry face the traveller swallowed a portion of his sample and -shortly afterwards left. Coming again in a week’s time the same -performance was gone through. The traveller made yet another visit, -when the brewer said the experiment had not satisfied him, as so small a -quantity of the hop had been eaten. This time the traveller outdid -himself, and when and before leaving the brewery promised to write and -inform the brewer if the bitter meal had any evil effects. Whether the -traveller died, or whether he discovered that he had been befooled, we -do not know, but nothing more was heard of him.</p> - -<p>We believe that the importance of a supply of good, pure beer to the -labouring classes of this country can hardly be over-estimated, particularly -having regard to the fact—as we shall show with greater particularity, -when we come to discuss the question of total abstinence as -opposed to temperance, that malt liquors undoubtedly assist in the -support of the body, and are in practical effect equivalent to so much -easily digested food.</p> - -<div class="dpoemctr"><div class="dstanzactr"> -<span class="spquoteverse"><span class="spquoteblock">“</span>Thou - clears the head o’ doited lear,</span> -<span class="spp00">Thou cheers the heart o’ drooping care; - <span class="xxpn" id="p426">{426}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">And strings the nerves o’ labour fair,</span> -<span class="spp10">At’s weary toil.</span> -<span class="spp00">Thou even brightens dark despair,</span> -<span class="spp10">Wi’ gloomy smile.”</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Dr. Paris, from whose works we have already quoted, explains that -it is the stimulus of the beer that proves so serviceable to the poor man, -enabling his stomach to extract more aliment from his innutritive diet. -“Happy is that country,” he writes, “whose labouring classes prefer -such a beverage to the mischievous potations of ardent spirit.”</p> - -<p>Barley wine is without doubt the wine of this country, and where -shall we find, all the world over, a more stalwart, muscular, able-bodied -race of labouring men than we find at home? The mighty thews of -the English navigator are renowned, and not at home only, for it -is well known that while the French railways were making, the -contractors actually imported English “navvies” to do the heavy work, -paying them higher wages than their French competitors.</p> - -<p>We would commend to the attention of those who, as the phrase -goes, would rob a poor man of his beer, the certainty that, though the -evils of intoxication can hardly be exaggerated, yet in counselling the -labouring classes everywhere, and under all circumstances, to abstain -from all kinds of liquor, they are taking upon themselves a very grave -responsibility.</p> - -<p>The following old Somersetshire song has, we believe, at any rate in -this form, never before appeared in print. It was taken down verbatim -from the lips of the singer at a harvest-home. The verses no doubt -lack the elegance of the productions of our greater English poets, but -the composer, whoever he may have been, treated his subject with -commendable vigour of expression, and “Robin Rough, the Plowboy,” -illustrates in a remarkable manner the love of the agricultural labourer -for his beer, and his belief in its health-giving qualities; a belief, -by-the-bye, founded on many centuries of -<span class="nowrap">experience:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">I’ze Robin Rough, the plowboy,</span> -<span class="spp01">A plowman’s son am I,</span> -<span class="spp00">And like my thirsty feyther,</span> -<span class="spp01">My trottle is always a-dry,</span> -<span class="spp00">The world goes round, to me it’s reet,</span> -<span class="spp01">Why need I interfere?</span> -<span class="spp00">For I whistles and sings from morn till neet,</span> -<span class="spp01">And I smokes and I drinks my beer. <span class="xxpn" id="p427">{427}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">For I likes a drop of good beer, I does;</span> -<span class="spp01">I’ze fond of a drop of good beer, I is.</span> -<span class="spp02">Let gentlemen fine</span> -<span class="spp02">Sit down to their wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">But I will stick to my beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">There’s Sally—that’s my wife, zurs—</span> -<span class="spp01">Likes beer as well as me,</span> -<span class="spp00">She’s the happiest woman in life, zurs,</span> -<span class="spp01">As happy as woman can be.</span> -<span class="spp02">She minds her work,</span> -<span class="spp02">Takes care of bairns,</span> -<span class="spp00">No gossiping neighbours near;</span> -<span class="spp01">When every Saturday neet returns,</span> -<span class="spp00">Like me she drinks her beer.</span> -<span class="spp01">For Sally likes her beer, she does,</span> -<span class="spp00">She’s fond of a drop of good beer, she is,</span> -<span class="spp02">Let gentlemen fine</span> -<span class="spp02">Sit down to their wine,</span> -<span class="spp01">But my Sally will stick to her beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now there’s my dad, God bless him,</span> -<span class="spp01">He’s now turned eighty-five,</span> -<span class="spp00">Hard work does ne’er distress him,</span> -<span class="spp01">He’s the happiest man alive.</span> -<span class="spp02">Though old in age</span> -<span class="spp02">He’s young in health,</span> -<span class="spp00">His head and his heart both clear,</span> -<span class="spp01">Possessing these and blest with peace,</span> -<span class="spp00">He smokes and he drinks his beer—</span> -<span class="spp01">For he’s fond of a drop of good beer, he is,</span> -<span class="spp00">He very much likes his beer, he does,</span> -<span class="spp02">Let gentlemen fine</span> -<span class="spp02">Sit down to their wine,</span> -<span class="spp00">But my feyther will stick to his beer.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now, lads, need no persuasion,</span> -<span class="spp01">But send your glasses round,</span> -<span class="spp00">There’s no fear of an invasion</span> -<span class="spp01">While barley grows in ground; <span class="xxpn" id="p428">{428}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">May trade increase</span> -<span class="spp01">And discord cease</span> -<span class="spp01">In every coming year.</span> -<span class="spp00">Possessed of these and blest with peace,</span> -<span class="spp00">Why, we’ll smoke and we’ll drink our beer.</span> -<span class="spp01">For I likes a drop of good beer, I does,</span> -<span class="spp01">I’ze fond of a drop of good beer, I is.</span> -<span class="spp02">Let gentlemen fine</span> -<span class="spp02">Sit down to their wine</span> -<span class="spp00">But we’ll all of us stick to our beer.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>The poet Bloomfield, in the <i>Farmer’s Boy</i>, may possibly better -please our more critical readers. In describing the harvest-homing, he -<span class="nowrap">says:―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft dwthem30"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Now noon gone by, and four declining hours,</span> -<span class="spp00">The weary limbs relax their boasted pow’rs;</span> -<span class="spp00">Thirst rages strong, the fainting spirits fail,</span> -<span class="spp00">And ask the sov’reign cordial, home-brew’d ale:</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="sppctr"> -<img class="imhrask" src="images/iasterisks.png" alt=" - *thought break*" /></span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">A wider circle spreads, and smiles abound,</span> -<span class="spp00">As quick the frothing horn performs its round,</span> -<span class="spp00">Care’s mortal foe, that sprightly joys imparts</span> -<span class="spp00">To cheer the frame and elevate their hearts.</span> -</div></div> - -<p>Shakespere has been called by the teetotallers as a witness in favour -of abstinence from intoxicating liquors. Does he not make Adam, in -<i>As You Like It</i>, -<span class="nowrap">say―</span></p> - -<div class="dpoemlft"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty;</span> -<span class="spp00">For in my youth I never did apply</span> -<span class="spp00">Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo</span> -<span class="spp00">The means of weakness and debility;</span> -<span class="spp00">Therefore my age is as a lusty winter,</span> -<span class="spp00">Frosty, but kindly?</span> -</div></div> - -<p class="pcontinue">Hot -and rebellious liquors! yes; but would Shakespere have classed ale -amongst them? It seems far more probable that the reference is to the -strong wines of which the topers of his time drank deeply, the “malmsey -and malvoisie,” the “neat wine of Orleance, the Gascony, the Bordeaux, -the sherry sack, the liquorish Ipocras, brown beloved -Bastard, or fat <span class="xxpn" id="p429">{429}</span> -Aligant,” or to the “aqua vitæ,” the manufacture of which in the reign -of Mary was the subject of restrictive legislation.</p> - -<p>Our consideration of the arguments put forward by the teetotal -theorists has so far been slightly delayed by the few pages we have -thought it well to devote to the accusations made against brewers of -adulteration, and of the evident advantages of malt liquor to the labouring -classes—proved beyond doubt without any necessity for learned -disquisitions on chemistry or physiology. In turning now to a more -particular consideration of the much-vexed question of temperance <i>v.</i> -total abstinence, we do not propose to attempt the advancement of any -novel or startling theories, but merely to give publicity to the arguments -in favour of the temperate use of alcoholic drinks, as opposed to the total -abstinence therefrom, supporting our arguments, as it will be found we -shall be able to do, by the opinions of some of the best-known medical -and scientific writers of the present day.</p> - -<p>One of the first things that strikes an observer who considers, as -impartially as he can, the case put forward by the extreme advocates of -abstinence, is that the controversy itself is a very modern one, and that, -with the tendency to run into opposite extremes which is a characteristic -of human opinion, we pass suddenly from the centuries in which it was -held no shame for a man to be drunk, into these present years, when -there exists a considerable, and in some sense, an influential body of -persons, who not only will not touch alcoholic drink themselves upon -any terms, but who think it their duty to press for such legislation as -would deprive all men, be they temperate or otherwise, of the power of -buying, selling, or drinking any liquor of which alcohol is a constituent. -“Poison!” “Touch not the accursed thing!” “Away with it!” and -so on—very voluble, occasionally eloquent, sometimes plausible. But -will the fierce denunciations of these apostles of a new religion—a -religion not of temperance, but, as it has been well called, of -“intemperate abstinence,” bear the searching light of calm and quiet -argument? We had once a friend who, while fond of his pipe, was -always interested in reading about the terrible evils which the weed -would, according to the infallible dicta of the anti-tobacco lecturers, be -sure in time to bring upon his unfortunate constitution. Before sitting -down to read one of these lectures, he used always to light a large and -favourite briar; he said it enabled him to follow the lecturer’s points so -much better. Now we do not ask our readers to follow the example of -our friend <i>mutatis mutandis</i>. We do not say that such a proceeding -would of necessity assist him in following our arguments. -All we claim <span class="xxpn" id="p430">{430}</span> -is a patient hearing, for there never has been a time in which an -unprejudiced discussion of the subject would be of greater advantage -than at present.</p> - -<p>Human habit of centuries, of thousands of years, of such time that -the memory and record of the human race, to use a legal phrase, runneth -not to the contrary, is evidence in our favour. Whenever he has -had the requisite skill, man has produced, enjoyed, and, we maintain, -has been improved by drinks in which alcohol formed a constituent -part. The practice of civilised nations for thousands of years is, then, so -far as it goes, an argument in favour of temperance as opposed to abstinence. -We do not wish to put this part of our case too high, and our -meaning cannot be better expressed than by the words of Sir James -Paget, who, in an essay on this subject in the <i>Contemporary Review</i>, -writes: “The beliefs of reasonable people are, doubtless, by a -large majority favourable to moderation rather than abstinence, and -this should not be regarded as of no weight in the discussion. For, -although the subject be one in which few, even among reasonable -people, have made any careful observations, and fewer still have thought -with any care, yet this very indifference to the subject, this readiness to -fall in with custom, a custom maintained in the midst of a constant love -of change, and outliving all that mere fashion has sustained—all this -is enough to prove that the evidence of the custom being a bad one is -not clear.”</p> - -<p>It is an indisputable fact that nations who have used alcohol have -attained to a greater perfection in power and will to do good work, and a -longer duration of life in which such work can be performed, than those -who have used no alcohol; and, confining our attention to Europe, may -we not say that these powers of work, these activities of body and mind -in enterprise, in invention, and in production, are more remarkably -developed in the inhabitants of the northern than of the southern parts -of the Continent, that is to say, among those who have habitually -drank more than those who have drank less? And may we not ask how -it is that, if the use of alcohol in moderation be pernicious, the inherited -effects of it have not during these vast periods of time during which it -has been used, made themselves apparent in a marked degeneracy of -the race, since we know that these results will make themselves very -conspicuous indeed in two generations of persons who are habitually -intemperate?</p> - -<p>We are told that it is unnatural to make use of alcoholic drinks, -and we are lectured about what man in his natural state -would do, or <span class="xxpn" id="p431">{431}</span> -not do. This is a misuse of terms; the state in which mankind is at any -particular period, the point in his path of development which he has -then reached, and his then environment, these constitute his natural -state, and not some more or less hypothetical state of being which has -been now left far behind.</p> - -<p>In order to enable them to thrust their theories upon a certainly -unwilling audience, it would be very convenient for the abstainers to -show, if they could, that alcohol, in any form and no matter how -diluted, is in itself a bad thing. First, then, let us consider whether -alcohol, as such, is food. On this point Dr. Lander Brunton says: “The -argument in favour of alcohol being food is that it is retained in the -body and supplies the place of other foods, so that the quantity of food -which would without it be insufficient, with its aid becomes sufficient.” -He also quotes Dr. Hammond, who observed in his own case that when -his diet was insufficient, the addition of a little alcohol to it not only -prevented him from losing weight, as he had previously done, but converted -this loss into a positive gain.</p> - -<p>The late G. H. Lewes, in his <i>Principles of Physiology</i>, also speaks -conclusively on this subject, pointing out that alcohol is one of the -alimentary principles. “In compliance with the custom of physiologists -we are forced to call alcohol food, and very efficient food too. If it be -not food, then neither is sugar food.” Mr. Lewes also states that alcohol -taken in large quantities is harmful, depriving the mucous membrane of -the stomach of all its water, but that taken in small quantities and -diluted it has just the opposite effect, increasing the secretion by the -stimulus it gives to the circulation.</p> - -<p>The general opinion of the medical world appears to be that alcohol -as such, is a food in a special sense, viz., that it checks the waste of tissue -and enables a person to attain to a high standard of health and strength -mentally and bodily while taking less food than would be necessary -without the alcohol. Moleschott says that “although forming none of -the constituents of blood, alcohol limits the combustion of those constituents, -and in this way is equivalent to so much blood. Alcohol is -the savings bank of the tissues. He who eats little and drinks alcohol -in moderation, retains as much in his blood and tissues as he who eats -more and drinks no alcohol.”</p> - -<p>The argument to the effect that alcohol must be useless, because -chemists have as yet been unable to trace the exact form and manner -in which it acts upon the human economy, would seem to be fallacious -in the face of the experience, which shows that it does -act, and act <span class="xxpn" id="p432">{432}</span> -beneficially, when taken in a suitable form and in suitable quantity. -Experience shows, and instances by the hundred could be given, from -the works of medical men, that life can be sustained for long periods of -time solely upon alcoholic drinks. Dr. Brudenell Carter mentions a case -in his own experience of an old gentleman who lived for many months -in moderate strength and comfort and without any remarkable emaciation -upon alcoholic drinks alone. Dr. Thomas Inman, in a paper read -before the British Medical Association, gives an instance of a lady who -twice in succession nursed a child, subsisting upon each occasion during -the greater part of twelve months upon brandy and bitter ale alone; -the children, he adds, grew up strong and healthy.</p> - -<p>Dr. Francis E. Anstie, in an article published in the <i>Cornhill -Magazine</i> in 1862, draws attention to the fact that many substances -have an action on the body in small doses, <i>totally different in kind</i> to -that which they exercise in large doses <i>e.g.</i>, common salt, arsenic, and -many others which are either food or poisons, according to the dose. -“We are compelled, therefore,” he writes, “to believe that in <i>doses -proportioned to the needs of the system at the time</i>, alcohol acts as a food;” -and he instances several cases of longevity in which alcohol was the only -aliment, excepting in some cases a little water, and in others a spare -allowance of bread. Decisively vanquished on this ground, our opponents -return to the attack: “You must abstain,” say they, “because your -practice, which is now moderate, will insensibly become excessive.” -Here we again turn to Mr. Lewes’s work on Physiology, and quote the -pithy argument by which he refutes this fallacy. A portion is italicised -for the benefit of tea drinkers: “To suppose there is any necessary -connection between moderation and excess, is to ignore Physiology, and -fly in the face of evidence . . . Men take their pint of beer or pint of -wine daily, for a series of years. This dose daily produces its effect; -and if at any time thirst or social seduction makes them drink a quart -in lieu of a pint, they are at once made aware of the excess. Men -drink one or two cups of tea or coffee at breakfast with unvarying -regularity for a whole lifetime; but whoever felt the necessity of -gradually increasing the amount to three, four, or five cups? Yet we -know what a stimulant tea is; we know <i>that treble the amount of our -daily consumption would soon produce paralysis</i>—why are we not -irresistibly led to this fatal excess?”</p> - -<p>Let us now return to our authorities, and from the wealth of material -which exists in the published opinions of medical men of distinction, -choose a few more extracts in favour of temperance as -opposed to total <span class="xxpn" id="p433">{433}</span> -abstinence. Professor Liebig, for instance, says that wine, spirits, and -beer are <i>necessary</i> principles for the important process of respiration, -and it would seem that the stomachs of all mankind, <i>teetotallers included</i>, -will secrete alcohol from the food which is eaten. If any man, -therefore, is resolved to carry out total abstinence strictly, he must -refuse every sort of vegetable food, even bread itself; for all such diet -contains more or less of alcohol.</p> - -<p>Sir James Paget, in the article already referred to, asserts that the -habitual moderate use of alcoholic drinks is generally beneficial, and -that, in the question raised between temperance and abstinence, the -verdict should be in favour of temperance.</p> - -<p>Dr. A. J. Bernays, in an essay on <i>The Moderate Use of Alcohols</i>, -alluding to water as a proposed substitute, remarks on the wretched -character of the water which is supplied in towns, and the difficulty -of getting it pure. “Water which has gone through some form of -preparation, especially through some form of cooking, as in beer, is -generally better suited for meals than water itself.”</p> - -<p>Dr. Carpenter has also drawn attention to the wholesomeness of -bitter beer at meals. “There is a class of cases,” he writes, “in which -we believe that malt liquors constitute a better medicine than could be -administered under any other form; those, namely, in which the -stomach labours under a permanent deficiency of digestive powers.” -Bitter beer, he asserts, assists digestion in cases in which no medicine -would be of use.</p> - -<p>This question of the water reminds us of the following tale: A -cobbler was listening to the persuasive eloquence of a teetotaller, and -getting somewhat dry over the prosy argument. “Well,” said the -knight of St. Crispin, “all you say amounts to this—that water is the -best thing any man can drink. Now I am not proud, and am easily -satisfied, and don’t want the best—stout, or ale, or even bitter-beer is -quite good enough for the likes of me.”</p> - -<p>It is very often pointed out that the agricultural labourer and the -working classes generally would be better off if they spent the money -devoted to beer in food. This is, however, open to question, keeping -in mind the fact that alcohol enables the human frame to exist with -a smaller amount of food than would be otherwise necessary. Dr. -C. D. Redcliffe, in giving his views on alcohol, in the form of a -conversation between himself and a patient, speaks very positively on -this point. “The glass of malt liquor,” he writes, “or cyder or perry -or common wine, if the man have the luck to live in a wine-growing -country, will <span class="xxpn" id="p434">{434}</span> -cost less than the amount of ordinary food which must otherwise be -eaten in order to preserve health. I have no doubt of the saving in -pocket which will result from the adoption of the practice recommended -. . . . and I am equally certain that the result will be as -beneficial to health as it will be satisfactory financially.” Liebig also -testifies to the same effect, stating that in families where beer was withheld, -and money given in compensation, it was soon found that the -monthly consumption of bread was so strikingly increased that the -beer was twice paid for, once in money and a second time in bread.</p> - -<p>Mr. Brudenell Carter, while he was practising his profession in -a mining district, and daily brought into contact with the results of -drunken habits, determined that he “should be a better advocate of -abstinence if he practised it,” and he accordingly gave up his liquor. -The results we give in his own words:—“After about two months of -total abstinence, the conviction was reluctantly forced upon me that the -experiment was a failure, and that I must give it up.” His symptoms -pointed, he says, “in a perfectly plain way to an excess of waste over -repair. I returned to my bitter beer, and in the course of a week was -well again.”</p> - -<p>A volume could be filled with similar experiences, but in summing -up the result of modern medical opinion, we are contented to rest our -case on what has been said on this point by the two great authorities -we have before quoted, viz., Sir James Paget and Dr. Bernays; the -former writes: “As for the opinions of the medical profession, they -are, by a vast majority, in favour of moderation. It may be admitted -that, of late years, the number of cases has increased in which habitual -abstinence from alcoholic drinks has been deemed better than habitual -moderation. But, excluding those of children and young persons, the -number of these cases is still very small, and few of them have been -observed through a long course of years, so as to test the probable -influence of a life-long habitual abstinence. Whatever weight, then, -may be assigned to the balance of opinions among medical men, it -certainly must be given in favour of moderation, not of abstinence.” -Dr. Bernays is still stronger. “The experience of mankind is better -than individual experience, and so, for every medical man of distinction -who is in favour of total abstinence, I would find twenty men who are -against it.” Hardly anyone who has lived among teetotallers will deny -that they are large eaters. Now the greater the amount of solid food -that is required to keep a human being up to the normal level of health -and strength, the greater amount of nervous energy -will be consumed <span class="xxpn" id="p435">{435}</span> -in the process of digestion, and the less superfluity of energy will that -person have in reserve to meet the other exigencies and activities of -life. It therefore seems to follow with the certainty of a mathematical -demonstration, that if, as those who are best qualified to judge assure -us is the case, the moderate consumption of alcoholic liquors enables a -person to keep himself in health and strength upon a less amount of -solid food than would be necessary without the aid of alcohol, the life -of that man, other things being equal, must be fuller of capacities for -all kinds of work, both mental and bodily, than that of a man who -takes no alcohol, and who is in consequence forced to use up a greater -amount of nerve force in the consumption of a sufficiency of solids to -support himself. It is an uncontrovertible fact that the best work has -always been done by the moderate drinkers. The physical condition -of rigid abstainers has frequently been commented upon; and without -wishing to say anything unkind, or uncharitable, about men who are -doubtless honest and conscientious, though, in our view, misguided, -we cannot but suggest the question—Is the appearance of the average -abstainer, who now, happily for the cause of truth, is known to all the -world by the blue ribbon he wears, such as may be considered a good -advertisement for the opinions he advocates? Does his appearance -seem to indicate a physical or intellectual superiority to the average -member of the <i>genus homo</i>? We think there can be but one opinion -on this point, and it is that each and every of these questions must be -answered with an emphatic negative.</p> - -<p>On the action of the Temperance Societies, Dr. Moxon, in a very able -article, <i>Alcohol and Individuality</i>, after relating how a poor cooper, -having a fever caused by a wound, died rather than take the alcohol -which was absolutely necessary to sustain him, says: “I believe that to -a large extent teetotalism lays firmest hold on those who are least likely -ever to become drunkards, and are most likely to want at times the -medicinal use of alcohol—sensitive, good-natured people, of weak -constitution, to whom the Sacred Ecclesiast directed his strange sounding -but needful advice, ‘Be not righteous over much, neither make -thyself over wise: why shouldst thou destroy thyself?’”</p> - -<p>In August, 1884, <i>The Times</i> devoted several columns to an exhaustive -consideration of teetotal theories and the use of alcohol, and it may be -said, without fear of contradiction, that neither before nor since has -a more valuable treatise appeared on the subject. The writer divides -total abstainers into three classes. Of the first class he says: “There -are some persons who seem not to require alcohol -because they easily <span class="xxpn" id="p436">{436}</span> -digest a large quantity of solid food, and especially of saccharine and -starchy matters, . . . . but it is fairly questionable whether their -work in life would not be better in quantity or in quality, or both, if -they were to consume less solid food, and to make up for the deficiency -by a little beer or wine. There are others who have a distinctly morbid -tendency towards excess, . . . . which leaves them no safety -except in total abstinence. The difficulty with these persons is to keep -them from drink, however hurtful they may know it to be, for their -condition is one of disease, and they have seldom sufficient resolution -to abstain. When they do abstain they furnish striking examples of -the success of teetotalism by being changed from a state closely bordering -on insanity into responsible members of society; but the ordinary -experience with regard to them is that they have a succession of relapses -into intemperance, and that they ultimately die, directly or indirectly, -from the effects of drink. . . . The third class of abstainers is -formed by those who are actuated in the main by benevolent and -conscientious motives, which, unfortunately, are seldom controlled by -the possession of adequate knowledge. Many clergymen abstain ‘for -the sake of example,’ without pausing to consider whether the example -may not, in some cases, be a bad one, and whether they would not -discharge their manifest duties more efficiently by help of the added -force which alcohol would give. Many persons get on fairly well -without alcohol because their powers are never subjected to any -considerable strain, and these persons too often break down when any -strain comes upon them, unless they will consent to modify their mode -of living. This, as is too well known, they will not always do; and -every medical man has seen instances of fanatical teetotalism leading to -complete destruction of the health of those who were governed by it.”</p> - -<p>With regard to teetotal societies, the writer considers that they do -very little good and a great deal of harm. “They fail,” he says, “to -touch the evils of drunkenness, except in a very limited fashion, and -they take away alcohol from vast numbers who would be better for the -moderate use of it. We think the time has come when philanthropists -should cease to listen to mere declamation, and should try to look calmly -and fearlessly at the results of observation and experience. Many a good -man is injuring his health and diminishing his usefulness in order to -adhere, ‘for the sake of example,’ to a fantastic deprivation.”</p> - -<p>To check the evils of drunkenness, we rely not on prohibitory legislation, -which has been tried elsewhere and found wanting, but on the -gradual spread of education and enlightenment; the -effects of public <span class="xxpn" id="p437">{437}</span> -opinion, the improvement of the well-being of the humbler classes -more particularly with reference to their habitations both in town and -country. Perhaps also, but here we speak with greater diffidence on -account of the practical difficulties in which such a proposal is involved -a remedy is to be found in the confinement of those persons who have -shown by their conduct that their inability to refrain from vile excesses -arises from actual mental disease.</p> - -<p>Lord Bramwell, in a pamphlet called <i>Drink</i>, has written to very -much the same effect. He also calls in question the right of society to -interfere with individual liberty to the extent proposed by the teetotallers. -Is it reasonable, he asks, that because some people drink to -excess, alcoholic liquors are to be denied to millions to whom it is a daily -pleasure and enjoyment with no attendant harm? If a man is drunk -in public, punish him; but it does seem hard that the sober man should -be punished—for withholding a pleasure and inflicting a pain are equally -punishment. “Then see the mischief of such laws,” he continues. -“The public conscience does not go with them. It is certain they will -be broken. Every one knows that stealing is wrong; disgrace follows -conviction. But every one knows that drinking a glass of beer is not -wrong; no discredit attaches to it. It is done, and when done against -the law you have the usual mischiefs of law-breaking, smuggling, informations, -oaths, perjury, shuffling, and lies. Besides, as a matter of fact, -it fails. Nothing can show this more strongly than the failure in Wales -of the Sunday Closing Act.” Lord Bramwell in the end comes to the -conclusion that drunkenness cannot be prevented by legislation. -“Whether it is desirable to limit the number of drink shops,” he writes, -“is a matter as to which I have great doubt and difficulty. But grant -that there is the right to forbid it, wholly or partially, in place or time, -I say it is a right which should not be exercised. To do so is to interfere -with the innocent enjoyment of millions in order to lessen the -mischief arising from the folly or evil propensities, not of themselves, -but of others. And, further, that such legislation is attended with the -mischiefs which always follow from the creation of offences in law -which are not so in conscience. Punish the mischievous drunkard, -indeed, perhaps, even punish him for being drunk in public, and so a -likely source of mischief. Punish, on the same principle, the man who -sells drink to the drunken. But go no further. Trust to the good sense -and improvement of mankind, and let charity be shown to those who -would trust to them rather than to law.”</p> - -<p>Other arguments in opposition to those who -would introduce what <span class="xxpn" id="p438">{438}</span> -is known as local option may be briefly summed up as follows:—Such -a system would establish the principle that a majority of ratepayers in -one district may put a stop to any trade or calling to which they may -happen to object, although the same trade remains perfectly legitimate -in other places; it would concentrate the evil, shifting the area of the -sale of drink, and thus intensifying the mischiefs complained of; it -would introduce invidious class distinctions, since its effects would -principally be felt by the poor and the labouring classes, and in place -of a trade which is now subject to inspection and regulation, it would -substitute a secret and irresponsible one.</p> - -<p>In this discussion, the balance of experience, of reason, and of -authority is vastly in favour of the temperate man rather than the -abstainer, and it may be said without fear of contradiction from any -reasonable or unbiassed person that, for the great majority of the people -of this country, the most wholesome, the most nutritious, and the most -pleasing alcoholic liquor, is the “wine of the country,” good, sound ale -and beer.</p> - -<div class="section"> -<p>To the reader who has been patient enough to follow us thus far, we -give our best thanks, hoping that he may have found something to -amuse, something, perhaps, to instruct in these pages—our best thanks, -we say, and, as a parting word, a few verses by old John Gay, entitled</p> - -<div class="padtopb dwthem34">A BALLAD ON ALE.</div> - -<div id="dp438poem"><div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Whilst some in epic strains delight,</span> -<span class="spp00">Whilst others pastorals invite,</span> -<span class="spp02">As taste or whim prevail;</span> -<span class="spp00">Assist me all ye tuneful Nine,</span> -<span class="spp00">Support me in the great design,</span> -<span class="spp02">To sing of nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Some folks of cider make a rout,</span> -<span class="spp00">And cider’s well enough no doubt</span> -<span class="spp02">When better liquors fail;</span> -<span class="spp00">But wine that’s richer, better still,</span> -<span class="spp00">Ev’n wine itself (deny ’t who will)</span> -<span class="spp02">Must yield to nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Rum, brandy, gin with choicest smack,</span> -<span class="spp00">From Holland brought, Batavia rack,</span> -<span class="spp02">All these will nought avail <span class="xxpn" id="p439">{439}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">To cheer a truly British heart,</span> -<span class="spp00">And lively spirits to impart,</span> -<span class="spp02">Like humming nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Oh ! whether thee I closely hug</span> -<span class="spp00">In honest can, or nut-brown jug,</span> -<span class="spp02">Or in the tankard hail,</span> -<span class="spp00">In barrel or in bottle pent,</span> -<span class="spp00">I give the generous spirit vent,</span> -<span class="spp02">Still may I feast on Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">But chief when to the cheerful glass,</span> -<span class="spp00">From vessel pure, thy streamlets pass,</span> -<span class="spp02">Then most thy charms prevail;</span> -<span class="spp00">Then, then, I’ll bet and take the odds</span> -<span class="spp00">That nectar, drink of Heathen Gods,</span> -<span class="spp02">Was poor compared to Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Give me a bumper: fill it up:</span> -<span class="spp00">See how it sparkles in the cup;</span> -<span class="spp02">O how shall I regale !</span> -<span class="spp00">Can any taste this drink divine,</span> -<span class="spp00">And then compare rum, brandy, wine,</span> -<span class="spp02">Or aught with nappy Ale?</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Inspired by thee, the warrior fights,</span> -<span class="spp00">The lover wooes, the poet writes</span> -<span class="spp02">And pens the pleasing tale;</span> -<span class="spp00">And still in Britain’s isle confest,</span> -<span class="spp00">Nought animates the patriot’s breast</span> -<span class="spp02">Like generous nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">High church and low oft raise a strife</span> -<span class="spp00">And oft endanger limb and life,</span> -<span class="spp02">Each studious to prevail:</span> -<span class="spp00">Yet Whig and Tory, opposite</span> -<span class="spp00">In all things else, do both unite</span> -<span class="spp02">In praise of nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Inspired by thee, shall Crispin sing</span> -<span class="spp00">Or talk of freedom, church and king,</span> -<span class="spp02">And balance Europe’s scale: - <span class="xxpn" id="p440">{440}</span></span> -<span class="spp00">While his rich landlord lays out schemes</span> -<span class="spp00">Of wealth in golden South-Sea dreams,</span> -<span class="spp02">The effects of nappy Ale.</span> -</div> -<div class="dstanzalft"> -<span class="spp00">Ev’n while these stanzas I indite,</span> -<span class="spp00">The bar-bells’ grateful sounds invite</span> -<span class="spp02">Where joy can never fail.</span> -<span class="spp00">Adieu, my Muse ! adieu, I haste</span> -<span class="spp00">To gratify my longing taste</span> -<span class="spp02">With copious draughts of Ale.</span> - -<div id="p440end"> -<div><div class="dctr08"> -<img src="images/p440a.png" width="456" height="96" alt=" - + The + End +" /></div></div> - -<div><div class="dctr08"> -<img src="images/p440b.png" width="228" height="47" alt="" /></div> -</div></div></div></div><!--dpoemlft--> -</div><!--section--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p441.png" width="144" height="44" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p441">APPENDIX. -<span id="h2appendixl2">PASTEUR’S DISCOVERIES.</span></h2></div> - -<p class="pfirst"><span class="smcap">O<b>NE</b></span> -talks glibly enough of fermentation, but the majority of us would -be puzzled if asked to say what it is. For many years it has been -known that minute particles of life are ever present in substances undergoing -fermentation, but until recently proved beyond question by M. -Pasteur, it was not known that the peculiar changes are wholly caused -by these living atoms, which are so small that they can only be seen -through the most powerful microscope. This discovery was the key to -many problems. Pasteur soon traced the diseases of wine to the -presence of various organisms which, fortunately, could be easily -destroyed by heat. From this it followed that wine once heated to a -certain temperature could be kept an indefinite length of time, provided, -of course, no exposure to the air took place, for from the air germs of -organisms similar to those killed by the application of heat might again -enter the wine and multiply themselves.</p> - -<p>The method of preserving the wine discovered by Pasteur is simple: -In a suitable metal vessel the bottles of wine are placed, their corks firmly -tied down. The vessel is then filled to such a depth that the water is -level with the wires of the corks. One of the bottles, in which is placed -the bulb of a thermometer, should be filled with water. The water in -the vessel is then gradually heated until the thermometer shows that -the water in the bottle has attained a temperature of 212 Fahr.</p> - -<p>Pasteur proved by repeated experiments that the flavour of the wine -is not in any way damaged by this operation. The discovery solved an -important economic question, for wines heated in this manner can now -be exported into all countries, or kept for an almost indefinite period -without losing their flavour or perfume.</p> - -<p>We have mentioned Pasteur’s labours for the wine-growers, for on -them were based his -studies on beer. <span class="xxpn" id="p442">{442}</span></p> - -<p>At the close of the Franco-Prussian war, Pasteur, who was then -recovering from an illness which lasted over two years, became eager to -commence an investigation which would bring him again to the study -of fermentation. Influenced, no doubt, by the patriotic wish of making -for French beer a reputation equal to that of Germany, he attacked the -diseases of malt liquors.</p> - -<p>Beer is far more difficult to keep than wine, and it is said to be -diseased when it has turned sharp, sour, ropy or putrid. To trace the -causes of these undesirable conditions was Pasteur’s aim, and, as usual -with any investigation undertaken by him, he met with success. In -studying the fermentation of wine, he had discovered a new world -peopled with minute beings of many different species, and in the fermentation -of beer his discoveries were of much the same nature.</p> - -<p>In wine the fermentation may be said to take place by itself, the -organisms which cause it, finding their way into the liquid without the -assistance of man; but in beer-brewing a small quantity of certain -organisms (yeast) is put into the sweet wort by the brewer. These -organisms multiply themselves, and, if of the right species, turn the sugar -principally into alcohol and carbonic acid gas. The one remains in the -beer, the other partly escapes and hangs about the surface of the liquid, -as anyone who has put his nose into a fermenting tun has no doubt -discovered. It is absolutely necessary for the production of drinkable -beer that the right species of organism be set to work in the wort. If -the wort was left to itself to ferment, as is wine, the results would be -very unsatisfactory. Various kinds of organisms (from which wine -is protected by its acidity) would enter into it from the air, divers -ferments would take place, and more often than not an acid or putrid -beer would be the result.</p> - -<p>Every beer-disease Pasteur found to be caused by its own peculiar -organisms, which enter into the liquid sometimes from the air and often -in the yeast, and the causes of many mysterious occurrences in breweries -at once become clear. Professor Tyndall said of this discovery: “Without -knowing the cause, the brewer not unfrequently incurred heavy -losses through the use of bad yeast. Five minutes’ examination with -the microscope would have revealed to him the cause of the badness, -and prevented him from using the yeast. He would have seen the true -torula overpowered by foreign intruders. The microscope is, I believe -now everywhere in use. At Burton-on-Trent its aid was very soon, -invoked.”</p> - -<p>The brewer has, therefore, to keep his wort free -from foreign organisms <span class="xxpn" id="p443">{443}</span> -other than the yeast plant. When the wort is boiled, any harmful -organisms it may contain are killed, and it can be indefinitely preserved -even in a high temperature, provided the air with which it comes in -contact is free from the germs of the lower microscopic organisms. -Pasteur’s son-in-law, in the account he has written of the great <i>savant’s</i> -life and labours, says that some brewers have constructed an apparatus -which enables them to protect the wort while it cools from the organisms -of the air and to ferment it with a leaven as pure as possible. At the -Exhibition of Amsterdam were shown bottles only half full, containing -a perfectly clear beer which had been tapped from the opening of the -Exhibition.</p> - -<p>As the causes of disease in beer are much the same as in wine, the -same preservative—heating—may be applied. But beer differs from -still wines in containing carbonic acid gas which heat displaces, and as -beer which has lost its briskness is not pleasant drinking, it can only be -advantageously so treated when contained in bottles. Both in Europe -and America, says M. Pasteur’s son-in-law, the heating of beer is -practised on a large scale. The process is called <i>Pasteuration</i> and the -beer <i>Pasteurised</i> beer.</p> - -<p>A very high temperature, as we have shown, kills the germs of -disease in wine and beer. Extreme cold has the effect of indefinitely -suspending the action of the ferment. A moderate temperature seems -most favourable to the action of the organisms which work the wondrous -changes in the wort. In England beer is usually fermented at a -temperature of between 60° and 70° Fahr., and the process only lasts a -day or two. In Germany the general practice is to ferment at about -40°, a temperature maintained by means of vessels containing ice, which -are thrown into the fermenting tuns. This lower temperature checks -the action of the ferment and the process lasts for fifteen or even twenty -days.</p> - -<p>The only other point to be noticed here in connection with fermentation -is the peculiar fact discovered by Pasteur, that the organisms -causing the ferment can live without air. When the wort is in the -fermenting tun, the sides of the tun, together with the heavy carbonic -acid gas hanging over the surface of the wort, exclude all air -from the organisms, which can only obtain a small amount of oxygen -from the liquid. There is, in fact, life without air. Pasteur made some -interesting experiments which showed that there was a great difference -in the action of the organisms according as they were placed in deep -vats, cut off from the air by the carbonic acid gas, -or in flat-bottomed <span class="xxpn" id="p444">{444}</span> -wooden troughs with sides a few inches high. In this latter situation -the life of the ferment seemed enhanced, but the amount of sugar -decomposed by the organisms was proportionately different from that -decomposed in the vats. In the vats one ounce of ferment decomposed -from seventy to a hundred and fifty ounces of sugar, while in the troughs -the same quantity of ferment decomposed only five or six ounces of -sugar. The experiment showed that the more the yeast was exposed -to the air, the less was its power as a ferment, and that there is a -remarkable relation between fermentation and life without air.</p> - -<div class="dkeeptgth"> -<p>Dumas once said to Pasteur before the Academy of Sciences: “You -have discovered a third kingdom—the kingdom to which those -organisms belong which, with all the prerogatives of animal life, do not -require air for their existence, and which find the heat that is necessary -for them in the chemical decompositions which they set up around -them.”</p> -<div class="padtopa"> -<div class="dctr11"> -<img src="images/p444.png" width="144" height="50" alt="" /></div> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="dctr03"> -<img src="images/p445.png" width="456" height="142" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="h2herein" id="p445">INDEX.</h2></div> - -<div id="id-index"> -<ul> -<li class="liindexdiv">A. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Adulteration of Beer - . . . <a href="#p423" title="go to p. 423">423</a>–4</li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale Drinkers, Great - . . . <a href="#p421" title="go to p. 421">421</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale, English, on the Continent - . . . <a href="#p414" title="go to p. 414">414</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-bench, The - . . . <a href="#p190" title="go to p. 190">190</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-berry, or Ale-brue - . . . <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-bush, The - . . . <a href="#p216" title="go to p. 216">216</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-conners - . . . <a href="#p106" title="go to p. 106">106</a>, <a href="#p109" title="go to p. 109">109</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-draper - . . . <a href="#p190" title="go to p. 190">190</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-founder - . . . <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-gafol - . . . <a href="#p035" title="go to p. 35">35</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-garland, The - . . . <a href="#p216" title="go to p. 216">216</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-house Lattices - . . . <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-house Poetry - . . . <a href="#p226" title="go to p. 226">226</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-houses in Mediæval Times - . . . <a href="#p187" title="go to p. 187">187</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-houses in sixteenth and seventeenth centuries - . . . <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>, <a href="#p191" title="go to p. 191">191</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-houses, Suppression of - . . . <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-pole, The - . . . <a href="#p216" title="go to p. 216">216</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-sellers in fourteenth century, Tricks by - . . . <a href="#p039" title="go to p. 39">39</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-stake - . . . <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>, <a href="#p215" title="go to p. 215">215</a>, <a href="#p219" title="go to p. 219">219</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-taster - . . . <a href="#p109" title="go to p. 109">109</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-wives - . . . <a href="#p104" title="go to p. 104">104</a>, <a href="#p124" title="go to p. 124">124</a>–6, <a href="#p128" title="go to p. 128">128</a>–9, <a href="#p134" title="go to p. 134">134</a>, <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a>, <a href="#p215" title="go to p. 215">215</a>, <a href="#p314" title="go to p. 314">314</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Ale-wife’s Supplication</i> - . . . <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ale-yard, The - . . . <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Alice Everade, a Brewster - . . . <a href="#p104" title="go to p. 104">104</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>All is ours and our Husbands</i> - . . . <a href="#p112img" title="go to p. 112">112</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Allsopp and Sons, Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p336" title="go to p. 336">336</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ancient Britons, Use of Beer by the - . . . <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>, <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Angel at Islington, The - . . . <a href="#p198" title="go to p. 198">198</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Answer of Ale to the Challenge of Sack</i> - . . . <a href="#p008" title="go to p. 8">8</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Apricot Ale - . . . <a href="#p386" title="go to p. 386">386</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Arboga, Beer of - . . . <a href="#p181" title="go to p. 181">181</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Armenia, Xenophon’s account of Beer in 401 <span class="smmaj">B.C.</span> - . . . <a href="#p027" title="go to p. 27">27</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Arraigning and Indicting of Sir John Barleycorn, Knight</i> - . . . <a href="#p020" title="go to p. 20">20</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Assize of Ale - . . . <a href="#p099" title="go to p. 99">99</a>, <a href="#p102" title="go to p. 102">102</a>–3, <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Atkinson, Richard, Advice to Lord Dacre - . . . <a href="#p008" title="go to p. 8">8</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">B. - -<ul><li class="lihangb"><i>Bacchanalian Joys Defeated</i> - . . . <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">“Baiersk öl” - . . . <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Ballad on Ale</i>, Gay’s - . . . <a href="#p438" title="go to p. 438">438</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Banbury Ale - . . . <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Baptism in Ale - . . . <a href="#p038" title="go to p. 38">38</a>, <a href="#p401" title="go to p. 401">401</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Barclay, Perkins & Co. - . . . <a href="#p341" title="go to p. 341">341</a>, <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Barrel of Humming Ale, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p012" title="go to p. 12">12</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Barnstable Ale - . . . <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bass, Ratcliffe and Gretton, Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p343" title="go to p. 343">343</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bavarian Beer - . . . <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bede-ales - . . . <a href="#p099" title="go to p. 99">99</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Beer</i>, an American Poem - . . . <a href="#p013" title="go to p. 13">13</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Beer Brewers, The - . . . <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>, <a href="#p147" title="go to p. 147">147</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Beer Powders - . . . <a href="#p176" title="go to p. 176">176</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Beer Street, Hogarth’s - . . . <a href="#p016" title="go to p. 16">16</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Beer, the Temperance Drink - . . . <a href="#p016" title="go to p. 16">16</a>, <a href="#p018" title="go to p. 18">18</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bees, Beer used in taking Swarms of - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ben Jonson - . . . <a href="#p205" title="go to p. 205">205</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Beowulf</i>, Mention of Ale in - . . . <a href="#p033" title="go to p. 33">33</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bid-ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Birthday Ode, A</i>, by Peter Pindar - . . . <a href="#p357" title="go to p. 357">357</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bitter Beer, ancient cure for Leprosy among the Jews - . . . <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Black Boy Inn, Chelmsford, The - . . . <a href="#p220" title="go to p. 220">220</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Black Jacks - . . . <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Blackberry Ale - . . . <a href="#p386" title="go to p. 386">386</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Blind Pinneaux - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Boar’s Head in Eastcheap, The - . . . <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Boorde, Andrew, on Ale and Beer - . . . <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Boozer - . . . <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Borage - . . . <a href="#p390" title="go to p. 390">390</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Boswell, Anecdote of - . . . <a href="#p292" title="go to p. 292">292</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bottled Beer, Origin of, etc. - . . . <a href="#p178" title="go to p. 178">178</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bragget: Bragawd - . . . <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a>, <a href="#p378" title="go to p. 378">378</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brasenose College Poems, and Ale - . . . <a href="#p007" title="go to p. 7">7</a>, <a href="#p165" title="go to p. 165">165</a>, <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Breakfast, Ale at - . . . <a href="#p274" title="go to p. 274">274</a>, <a href="#p275" title="go to p. 275">275</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Brewer’s Coachman, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p148" title="go to p. 148">148</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewers’ Company, Historical Notes on the, etc. - . . . <a href="#p134" title="go to p. 134">134</a>, <a href="#p137" title="go to p. 137">137</a>, <a href="#p143" title="go to p. 143">143</a>, <a href="#p147" title="go to p. 147">147</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewers of old London, The - . . . <a href="#p123" title="go to p. 123">123</a>, <a href="#p146" title="go to p. 146">146</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Brewers’ Plea; or, a Vindication of Strong Beer</i> (1647) - . . . <a href="#p116" title="go to p. 116">116</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewhouse (German) of the sixteenth century - . . . <a href="#p131" title="go to p. 131">131</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewhouse in sixteenth century, Contents of - . . . <a href="#p056" title="go to p. 56">56</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewing at the present day - . . . <a href="#p331" title="go to p. 331">331</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewing in a Teapot - . . . <a href="#p002" title="go to p. 2">2</a>, <a href="#p339" title="go to p. 339">339</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewing Trade in 1297, Legislation concerning the - . . . <a href="#p134" title="go to p. 134">134</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewing Trade, Regulations for, in the fifteenth century - . . . <a href="#p104" title="go to p. 104">104</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brewsters - . . . <a href="#p100" title="go to p. 100">100</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Bride-Ales - . . . <a href="#p269" title="go to p. 269">269</a>, <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Brown Betty - . . . <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">βρυτον, “Britain” derived from - . . . <a href="#p031" title="go to p. 31">31</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Bryng us in Good Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p230" title="go to p. 230">230</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Burton Ales - . . . <a href="#p160" title="go to p. 160">160</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Burton Ale</i>; a Song - . . . <a href="#p161" title="go to p. 161">161</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Burton-on-Trent, Historical Account of, etc. - . . . <a href="#p335" title="go to p. 335">335</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Butler’s Ale, Dr. - . . . <a href="#p413" title="go to p. 413">413</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Buttered Beere - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a>, <a href="#p413" title="go to p. 413">413</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Buxton, Jedediah, a Great Beer Drinker - . . . <a href="#p293" title="go to p. 293">293</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">C. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Cakes and Ale - . . . <a href="#p043" title="go to p. 43">43</a>, <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cambridge Ale at Stourbridge Fair - . . . <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Castle Coombe, Ancient Regulations concerning Brewing at - . . . <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Caton, Cornelius, of the White Lion, Richmond - . . . <a href="#p194" title="go to p. 194">194</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cereris Vinum - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cerevisia - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Charity, Ale Distributed in - . . . <a href="#p184" title="go to p. 184">184</a>, <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Chaucer’s Reference to Ale - . . . <a href="#p040" title="go to p. 40">40</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Chavelier de Malte, The - . . . <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Chester Ale - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">China Ale - . . . <a href="#p386" title="go to p. 386">386</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Christian Ale - . . . <a href="#p271" title="go to p. 271">271</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Christmas Carol, An Ancient - . . . <a href="#p263" title="go to p. 263">263</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Christmas Customs - . . . <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>, <a href="#p264" title="go to p. 264">264</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Christopher North’s Brewhouse - . . . <a href="#p061" title="go to p. 61">61</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Church Ales - . . . <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a>, <a href="#p266" title="go to p. 266">266</a>–70</li> - -<li class="lihangb">Churches, Ale Sold in - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Clamber-clown - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Clerk Ales - . . . <a href="#p270" title="go to p. 270">270</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cobbett on Homebrew, in 1821, - . . . <a href="#p046" title="go to p. 46">46</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cock Ale - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cock Tavern, The - . . . <a href="#p209" title="go to p. 209">209</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cœlia - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Coggie o’ Yill</i>, a Song - . . . <a href="#p329" title="go to p. 329">329</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cold Tankard - . . . <a href="#p390" title="go to p. 390">390</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Collistrigium - . . . <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Complete Angler, The</i>, Sold under the King’s Head Tavern - . . . <a href="#p205" title="go to p. 205">205</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Consumption cured by Ale - . . . <a href="#p414" title="go to p. 414">414</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cookery, Beer used in - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cooperage, sixteenth century, A - . . . <a href="#p334" title="go to p. 334">334</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cooper, Origin of the Drink - . . . <a href="#p375" title="go to p. 375">375</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Coopers, Brewers forbidden to act as - . . . <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Coopers of Old London - . . . <a href="#p139" title="go to p. 139">139</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Copus-Cup - . . . <a href="#p391" title="go to p. 391">391</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cornhill, The Taverns of - . . . <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cost of Brewing in the sixteenth century - . . . <a href="#p057" title="go to p. 57">57</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cotswold Games, The - . . . <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Country Sports and Pastimes, Herrick upon - . . . <a href="#p233" title="go to p. 233">233</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cowslip Ale - . . . <a href="#p386" title="go to p. 386">386</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Crown and Anchor, Strand, The - . . . <a href="#p211" title="go to p. 211">211</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cucking Stool, A Punishment for Ale-wives - . . . <a href="#p102" title="go to p. 102">102</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cuckoo Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Curmi - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Cwrw - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">D. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Darby Ale - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dawson, John, Butler of Christchurch, Oxford - . . . <a href="#p167" title="go to p. 167">167</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Derivations of “Ale” and “Beer” - . . . <a href="#p032" title="go to p. 32">32</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Devil Inn, Fleet Street, The - . . . <a href="#p208" title="go to p. 208">208</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dietetic uses of Ale - . . . <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dinton Hermit, The - . . . <a href="#p277" title="go to p. 277">277</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Distinctions between Ale and Beer - . . . <a href="#p006" title="go to p. 6">6</a>, <a href="#p032" title="go to p. 32">32</a>, <a href="#p152" title="go to p. 152">152</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dogsnose - . . . <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">“<i>Doll thi, doll, doll this Ale, dole</i>” - . . . <a href="#p404" title="go to p. 404">404</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Domestic uses of Ale - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Donaldson’s Beer-cup - . . . <a href="#p391" title="go to p. 391">391</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dorchester Ales - . . . <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Dover’s Games - . . . <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Drinke and Welcome</i> - . . . <a href="#p004" title="go to p. 4">4</a>, <a href="#p041" title="go to p. 41">41</a>, <a href="#p147" title="go to p. 147">147</a>, <a href="#p153" title="go to p. 153">153</a>, <a href="#p158" title="go to p. 158">158</a>, <a href="#p161" title="go to p. 161">161</a>, <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>, <a href="#p414" title="go to p. 414">414</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Drinking Customs - . . . <a href="#p279" title="go to p. 279">279</a>, <a href="#p280" title="go to p. 280">280</a>, <a href="#p290" title="go to p. 290">290</a>, <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Drinking Vessels - . . . <a href="#p393" title="go to p. 393">393</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Drink-Lean - . . . <a href="#p247" title="go to p. 247">247</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Drunkenness in Olden Times - . . . <a href="#p108" title="go to p. 108">108</a>, <a href="#p114" title="go to p. 114">114</a>, <a href="#p116" title="go to p. 116">116</a>, <a href="#p282" title="go to p. 282">282</a>, <a href="#p292" title="go to p. 292">292</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">E. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Early Closing, temp. Edward I. - . . . <a href="#p109" title="go to p. 109">109</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Edinburgh Ales - . . . <a href="#p169" title="go to p. 169">169</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Egg-Ale - . . . <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Egg-hot - . . . <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Egypt, Ancient use of Beer in - . . . <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Egypt, Suppression of Beer Shops in - . . . <a href="#p001" title="go to p. 1">1</a>, <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Elderberry Beer - . . . <a href="#p386" title="go to p. 386">386</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">English Ale, famous among foreigners in fourteenth century - . . . <a href="#p037" title="go to p. 37">37</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Epitaphs on Ale-drinkers, Brewers, and Innkeepers - . . . <a href="#p150" title="go to p. 150">150</a>, <a href="#p164" title="go to p. 164">164</a>, <a href="#p196" title="go to p. 196">196</a>, <a href="#p208" title="go to p. 208">208</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Eucharist, use of Ale in the Administration of the - . . . <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Everlasting Club, The - . . . <a href="#p214" title="go to p. 214">214</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Export of Ale in Ancient Times - . . . <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Extraordinary Tithes - . . . <a href="#p091" title="go to p. 91">91</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">F. - -<ul> -<li class="lihangb">Falcon Inn, Chester, The - . . . <a href="#p197" title="go to p. 197">197</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Falcon Tavern, Bankside, The - . . . <a href="#p205" title="go to p. 205">205</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Farmer’s Delight in the Merry Harvest, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p253" title="go to p. 253">253</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Farmer’s Return, Hogarth’s - . . . <a href="#p045" title="go to p. 45">45</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Fever Cases cured by Ale - . . . <a href="#p415" title="go to p. 415">415</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Fire, Ale used to Extinguish - . . . <a href="#p407" title="go to p. 407">407</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Fish, Ale used as Food for - . . . <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Fishing Lines, Ale used to Stain - . . . <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Flip - . . . <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a>, <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Foot Ales - . . . <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Fowls, Beer as a Drink for - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Foxcomb - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Francis Francis on Bitter Beer - . . . <a href="#p005" title="go to p. 5">5</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Freemason’s Cup - . . . <a href="#p391" title="go to p. 391">391</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Frozen Ale - . . . <a href="#p169" title="go to p. 169">169</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Furry Day at Helston, The - . . . <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">G. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Gentleman’s Cellar of the twelfth century - . . . <a href="#p052" title="go to p. 52">52</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">George Inn, Salisbury, The - . . . <a href="#p196" title="go to p. 196">196</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">German Beer - . . . <a href="#p178" title="go to p. 178">178</a>, <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Geste of Kyng Horn</i>, Extract from - . . . <a href="#p032" title="go to p. 32">32</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Gin Lane, Hogarth’s - . . . <a href="#p017" title="go to p. 17">17</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Give Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Glutton-Masses - . . . <a href="#p286" title="go to p. 286">286</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Good Ale for my Money</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p317" title="go to p. 317">317</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Grace-cup, The - . . . <a href="#p384" title="go to p. 384">384</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Grains - . . . <a href="#p145" title="go to p. 145">145</a>, <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Grand Concern of England, etc., The</i> (1673) - . . . <a href="#p118" title="go to p. 118">118</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Greyheards, Anecdote of the - . . . <a href="#p398" title="go to p. 398">398</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Grout Ale - . . . <a href="#p164" title="go to p. 164">164</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Guild Feasts - . . . <a href="#p271" title="go to p. 271">271</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Guinness, Messrs - . . . <a href="#p348" title="go to p. 348">348</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Gustator Cervisiæ - . . . <a href="#p107" title="go to p. 107">107</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">H. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Hacket, Marian, Ale-wife - . . . <a href="#p128" title="go to p. 128">128</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Hal-an-low</i>, The; a Song - . . . <a href="#p244" title="go to p. 244">244</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Halders, Dame, of Norwich, Ale-wife, Anecdote of - . . . <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hanaps - . . . <a href="#p395" title="go to p. 395">395</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Harrison on Homebrew and Malting in 1587, <a href="#p054" title="go to p. 54">54</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Harvest Home Customs and Songs - . . . <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a>–9</li> - -<li class="lihangb">Harwood, Ralph, supposed Inventor of Porter - . . . <a href="#p366" title="go to p. 366">366</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Haymaker’s Song, The - . . . <a href="#p252" title="go to p. 252">252</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Health to all Good Fellowes</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p325" title="go to p. 325">325</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Heather Ale - . . . <a href="#p175" title="go to p. 175">175</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Heaving - . . . <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Help Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Herodotus on Egyptian Brewing - . . . <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Herrick - . . . <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hicks, William, Brewer to the King - . . . <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>High and Mightie Commendation of a Pot of Good Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p071" title="go to p. 71">71</a>, <a href="#p320" title="go to p. 320">320</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Highgate Oath, The - . . . <a href="#p198" title="go to p. 198">198</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hobby Horse Dance - . . . <a href="#p239" title="go to p. 239">239</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hock-Cart, The - . . . <a href="#p254" title="go to p. 254">254</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hock-tide - . . . <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hollowing Bottle, The - . . . <a href="#p255" title="go to p. 255">255</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Homebrew and Malting, Earliest Account of - . . . <a href="#p047" title="go to p. 47">47</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-bine Ensilage - . . . <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Gardens of England - . . . <a href="#p087" title="go to p. 87">87</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Growers’ Troubles - . . . <a href="#p089" title="go to p. 89">89</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-growing countries of Europe - . . . <a href="#p087" title="go to p. 87">87</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Pickers - . . . <a href="#p092" title="go to p. 92">92</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-poles and wires - . . . <a href="#p088" title="go to p. 88">88</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Searchers - . . . <a href="#p070" title="go to p. 70">70</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Substitutes - . . . <a href="#p078" title="go to p. 78">78</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hop-Substitutes, Anecdote - . . . <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Early Introduction into England of - . . . <a href="#p067" title="go to p. 67">67</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Early Mention of - . . . <a href="#p066" title="go to p. 66">66</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops in America and Australia - . . . <a href="#p087" title="go to p. 87">87</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops in Saxon times - . . . <a href="#p066" title="go to p. 66">66</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Legislation concerning - . . . <a href="#p073" title="go to p. 73">73</a>, <a href="#p078" title="go to p. 78">78</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Medicinal uses of - . . . <a href="#p085" title="go to p. 85">85</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Mention of, in the City Records - . . . <a href="#p068" title="go to p. 68">68</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Prosecutions for using - . . . <a href="#p069" title="go to p. 69">69</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hops, Various uses of - . . . <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a>, <a href="#p084" title="go to p. 84">84</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Horkey Beer, The - . . . <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Horses’ Feet Washed with Ale - . . . <a href="#p402" title="go to p. 402">402</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hospitality in England in Early Times - . . . <a href="#p183" title="go to p. 183">183</a>, <a href="#p190" title="go to p. 190">190</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hot Pint - . . . <a href="#p237" title="go to p. 237">237</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hot Pot - . . . <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>How Mault doth deale with Everyone</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p301" title="go to p. 301">301</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Huff-cap - . . . <a href="#p156" title="go to p. 156">156</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Huff-cup - . . . <a href="#p421" title="go to p. 421">421</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hugmatee - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hum-cup - . . . <a href="#p158" title="go to p. 158">158</a>, <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Humming Ale - . . . <a href="#p158" title="go to p. 158">158</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Humpty-Dumpty - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Humulus Japonicus - . . . <a href="#p082" title="go to p. 82">82</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hungerford Park, A Beer Cup - . . . <a href="#p391" title="go to p. 391">391</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hymele - . . . <a href="#p066" title="go to p. 66">66</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Hypocras - . . . <a href="#p384" title="go to p. 384">384</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">I. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Ind, Coope & Co., Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p351" title="go to p. 351">351</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Inn-keepers, Anecdotes of - . . . <a href="#p192" title="go to p. 192">192</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ireland, Malt Liquors in - . . . <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Isaak Walton on Barley Wine - . . . <a href="#p191" title="go to p. 191">191</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">J. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Jillian of Berry, Ale-wife - . . . <a href="#p128" title="go to p. 128">128</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Johnson, Dr. - . . . <a href="#p182" title="go to p. 182">182</a>, <a href="#p209" title="go to p. 209">209</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Jolly Good Ale and Old</i> - . . . <a href="#p011" title="go to p. 11">11</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">K. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Kentish Hop Gardens, Origin of - . . . <a href="#p070" title="go to p. 70">70</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Kent, Restrictive Enactment on Malting and Brewing in - . . . <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>King James and the Tinkler</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p405" title="go to p. 405">405</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Knock-me-down - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">L. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Laboragol - . . . <a href="#p164" title="go to p. 164">164</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Labouring Classes, Advantage of Ale to - . . . <a href="#p425" title="go to p. 425">425</a>, <a href="#p433" title="go to p. 433">433</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Lager Beer - . . . <a href="#p179" title="go to p. 179">179</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Lamb-Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Lambswool - . . . <a href="#p381" title="go to p. 381">381</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Lamentable Complaints of Nick Froth, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p117img" title="go to p. 117">117</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Lamentations of the Porter Vat, etc.</i> - . . . <a href="#p371" title="go to p. 371">371</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Leet Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Licensing Laws in Ancient Times - . . . <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Little Barley-Corn, The</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p303" title="go to p. 303">303</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">London Ale - . . . <a href="#p160" title="go to p. 160">160</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>London Chanticleers, The</i>, Song from - . . . <a href="#p306" title="go to p. 306">306</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">London Taverns - . . . <a href="#p183" title="go to p. 183">183</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Lord of the Tap - . . . <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Loving-Cup, The - . . . <a href="#p384" title="go to p. 384">384</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Lupuline - . . . <a href="#p080" title="go to p. 80">80</a>, <a href="#p086" title="go to p. 86">86</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Lupus Salictarius</i> - . . . <a href="#p065" title="go to p. 65">65</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">M. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Magpie and Crown, The - . . . <a href="#p221" title="go to p. 221">221</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Malt Liquor <i>v.</i> Cheap French Wines - . . . <a href="#p010" title="go to p. 10">10</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Malt, Medicinal Preparations of - . . . <a href="#p417" title="go to p. 417">417</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Malt, Sermon on - . . . <a href="#p289" title="go to p. 289">289</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Malting and Brewing by Women Servants in 1610, <a href="#p047" title="go to p. 47">47</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Malting in Early Times - . . . <a href="#p120" title="go to p. 120">120</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Manchester Ale - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mary-Ales - . . . <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Maule, Mr. Justice, Anecdote of - . . . <a href="#p376" title="go to p. 376">376</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">May-Day Customs - . . . <a href="#p241" title="go to p. 241">241</a>–5</li> - -<li class="lihangb">Measures, Legislation concerning - . . . <a href="#p101" title="go to p. 101">101</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Medical Opinions, Ancient and Modern, on Ale and Beer - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a>, <a href="#p408" title="go to p. 408">408</a>, <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a>, <a href="#p433" title="go to p. 433">433</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mermaid in Bread Street, The - . . . <a href="#p206" title="go to p. 206">206</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Merry Bagpipes</i>, The - . . . <a href="#p251img" title="go to p. 251">251</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Merry Fellows, The</i>, a Song - . . . <a href="#p290" title="go to p. 290">290</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Merry Hoastess, The</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p308" title="go to p. 308">308</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Meux’s, Bursting of the Great Vat, etc. - . . . <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a>, <a href="#p371" title="go to p. 371">371</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Midsummer-Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mitre, Fleet Street, The - . . . <a href="#p210" title="go to p. 210">210</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Monasteries, Entertainment at - . . . <a href="#p183" title="go to p. 183">183</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Monday’s Work</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p326" title="go to p. 326">326</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Monks as Brewers and Beer-drinkers - . . . <a href="#p037" title="go to p. 37">37</a>, <a href="#p041" title="go to p. 41">41</a>, <a href="#p050" title="go to p. 50">50</a>, <a href="#p096" title="go to p. 96">96</a>, <a href="#p285" title="go to p. 285">285</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Morocco, A Strong Ale - . . . <a href="#p169" title="go to p. 169">169</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Moss Ale, Irish - . . . <a href="#p176" title="go to p. 176">176</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mother-in-Law - . . . <a href="#p392" title="go to p. 392">392</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mother Louse, Ale-wife - . . . <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Muggling - . . . <a href="#p290" title="go to p. 290">290</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mug House Club, The - . . . <a href="#p213" title="go to p. 213">213</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mulled Ale - . . . <a href="#p378" title="go to p. 378">378</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Mum - . . . <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">N. - -<ul><li class="lihangb"><i>Newcastle Beer</i> - . . . <a href="#p168" title="go to p. 168">168</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Newcastle Cloak - . . . <a href="#p116" title="go to p. 116">116</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Newe from Bartholomew Fayre</i> - . . . <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Newnton, Curious Custom at - . . . <a href="#p271" title="go to p. 271">271</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Nippitatum: Strong Ale - . . . <a href="#p157" title="go to p. 157">157</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Norfolk Ales—Norfolk Nog - . . . <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Northdown Ale - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a>, <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a>, <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">North, Florence, Ale-wife - . . . <a href="#p215" title="go to p. 215">215</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Norwegian Beer - . . . <a href="#p180" title="go to p. 180">180</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Nottingham Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a>, <a href="#p167" title="go to p. 167">167</a>, <a href="#p210" title="go to p. 210">210</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">O. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">October Club, The - . . . <a href="#p212" title="go to p. 212">212</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Ode to Sir John Barleycorn</i> - . . . <a href="#p020" title="go to p. 20">20</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Old Ale, The: an Anecdote - . . . <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Old Parr - . . . <a href="#p421" title="go to p. 421">421</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Origin of Ale - . . . <a href="#p025" title="go to p. 25">25</a>, <a href="#p042" title="go to p. 42">42</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Origin of Beer, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p029" title="go to p. 29">29</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Origin of Inns, The - . . . <a href="#p185" title="go to p. 185">185</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">P. - -<ul><li class="lihangb"><i>Panala Alacatholica</i> - . . . <a href="#p412" title="go to p. 412">412</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Panegyric on Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p165" title="go to p. 165">165</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Panegyric on Oxford Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p013" title="go to p. 13">13</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Parnell, Paul, A Great Beer Drinker - . . . <a href="#p059" title="go to p. 59">59</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Parsons, Humphrey, Brewer and Lord Mayor - . . . <a href="#p149" title="go to p. 149">149</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Parson, The</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p287" title="go to p. 287">287</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Parsonage Alehouses - . . . <a href="#p187" title="go to p. 187">187</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Parting Cup, The - . . . <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pasteur’s Discoveries - . . . <a href="#p441" title="go to p. 441">441</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Patent Brown Stout</i> - . . . <a href="#p369" title="go to p. 369">369</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Peg-tankards - . . . <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a>, <a href="#p394" title="go to p. 394">394</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pennilesse Pilgrimage, Taylor’s - . . . <a href="#p162" title="go to p. 162">162</a>, <a href="#p169" title="go to p. 169">169</a>, <a href="#p190" title="go to p. 190">190</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Perfite Platforme of a Hoppe Garden</i> - . . . <a href="#p073" title="go to p. 73">73</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pharaoh - . . . <a href="#p158" title="go to p. 158">158</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Philosopher’s Banquet</i>, Extract from - . . . <a href="#p044" title="go to p. 44">44</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pig Drinking Ale out of a Jug - . . . <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pledging - . . . <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pliny on German Beer - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Plough Monday - . . . <a href="#p240" title="go to p. 240">240</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Plum-pudding Weighing 1,000 lbs., The - . . . <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Pointes of Good Huswiferie</i>, Extract from - . . . <a href="#p056" title="go to p. 56">56</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Pope Innocent III., Anecdote of - . . . <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Porter at Oxford - . . . <a href="#p367" title="go to p. 367">367</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Porter Drinkers, Actors and Actresses as - . . . <a href="#p374" title="go to p. 374">374</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Porter in Ireland - . . . <a href="#p373" title="go to p. 373">373</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Porter, Origin of - . . . <a href="#p365" title="go to p. 365">365</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Porter, Professor Wilson on - . . . <a href="#p370" title="go to p. 370">370</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Posset Ale - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Pot of Porter oh ! A</i> - . . . <a href="#p376" title="go to p. 376">376</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Proverbs of Hendyng (thirteenth century) - . . . <a href="#p038" title="go to p. 38">38</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Purl - . . . <a href="#p387" title="go to p. 387">387</a>, <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Pye upon the Pear Tree Top, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p256" title="go to p. 256">256</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">Q. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Queen Elizabeth’s Breakfast - . . . <a href="#p275" title="go to p. 275">275</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Quod Petis Hic Est</i> - . . . <a href="#p328" title="go to p. 328">328</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">R. - -<ul><li class="lihangb"><i>Rape of Lucrece, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p204" title="go to p. 204">204</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Receipts for Keeping and Flavouring Homebrew - . . . <a href="#p062" title="go to p. 62">62</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Rents Paid in Ale - . . . <a href="#p035" title="go to p. 35">35</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Rheumatism cured by New Ale - . . . <a href="#p416" title="go to p. 416">416</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Robin Rough, the Plowboy</i> - . . . <a href="#p426" title="go to p. 426">426</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Rouen, English Beer at, in 1582, <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Roxburghe Ballads</i>, The - . . . <a href="#p295" title="go to p. 295">295</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Ruddle - . . . <a href="#p388" title="go to p. 388">388</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Rumyng, Eleanor - . . . <a href="#p126" title="go to p. 126">126</a>, <a href="#p216" title="go to p. 216">216</a>, <a href="#p223" title="go to p. 223">223</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Russia, Burton Ale Exported to - . . . <a href="#p338" title="go to p. 338">338</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Russia, Burton Beer in - . . . <a href="#p181" title="go to p. 181">181</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">S. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Salt & Co., Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p353" title="go to p. 353">353</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Saxon Leechdoms - . . . <a href="#p151" title="go to p. 151">151</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scarcity of labour in fourteenth century - . . . <a href="#p039" title="go to p. 39">39</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scot-Ales - . . . <a href="#p098" title="go to p. 98">98</a>, <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a>, <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scotch Ales - . . . <a href="#p169" title="go to p. 169">169</a>, <a href="#p170" title="go to p. 170">170</a>, <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scotland, Ale Brewing and Selling in Early Times - . . . <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scotland, Assize of Ale, etc., in - . . . <a href="#p129" title="go to p. 129">129</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Scurvy cured by Ale - . . . <a href="#p418" title="go to p. 418">418</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Senchus Mor</i>, References to Ale in the - . . . <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Shakspere and Ale - . . . <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a>, <a href="#p270" title="go to p. 270">270</a>, <a href="#p428" title="go to p. 428">428</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Shandy Gaff - . . . <a href="#p392" title="go to p. 392">392</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sheep-shearing Customs and Songs - . . . <a href="#p250" title="go to p. 250">250</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sicera - . . . <a href="#p026" title="go to p. 26">26</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sign of the Red Lion, The, an Anecdote - . . . <a href="#p229" title="go to p. 229">229</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Signboard and Alehouse Poetry - . . . <a href="#p211" title="go to p. 211">211</a>, <a href="#p223" title="go to p. 223">223</a>–7</li> - -<li class="lihangb">Signboard Artists - . . . <a href="#p228" title="go to p. 228">228</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Signboards - . . . <a href="#p214" title="go to p. 214">214</a>–20</li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Sir John Barley-corne</i>, The Ballad - . . . <a href="#p295" title="go to p. 295">295</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Skelton’s Ghost</i> - . . . <a href="#p110" title="go to p. 110">110</a>, <a href="#p153" title="go to p. 153">153</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Small Beer - . . . <a href="#p159" title="go to p. 159">159</a>, <a href="#p160" title="go to p. 160">160</a>, <a href="#p277" title="go to p. 277">277</a>, <a href="#p284" title="go to p. 284">284</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb" id="p449">Smoke Question in London, Early Mention of the - . . . <a href="#p146" title="go to p. 146">146</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Songs of the Session</i>, Extract from - . . . <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Sonnet on Christmas</i> - . . . <a href="#p262" title="go to p. 262">262</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Spiced Ale - . . . <a href="#p382" title="go to p. 382">382</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">St. Dunstan, Legend of - . . . <a href="#p097" title="go to p. 97">97</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Steen, Jan, Brewer, temp. Chas. II. - . . . <a href="#p148" title="go to p. 148">148</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Stephony - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Stickback - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Stiffle - . . . <a href="#p385" title="go to p. 385">385</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Stout - . . . <a href="#p374" title="go to p. 374">374</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Strength of Malt Liquors Compared - . . . <a href="#p154" title="go to p. 154">154</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sugar Beer - . . . <a href="#p177" title="go to p. 177">177</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sulphuring of Hops - . . . <a href="#p081" title="go to p. 81">81</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Sunday Closing in Early Times - . . . <a href="#p115" title="go to p. 115">115</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Superstitions relating to Beer and Ale - . . . <a href="#p278" title="go to p. 278">278</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Swanne Taverne, The, by Charing Cross - . . . <a href="#p207" title="go to p. 207">207</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Swift’s <i>Polite Conversation</i> on Homebrew - . . . <a href="#p059" title="go to p. 59">59</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Symposii Ænigmata</i>, A Saxon Riddle - . . . <a href="#p034" title="go to p. 34">34</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">T. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Tabard, The - . . . <a href="#p200" title="go to p. 200">200</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Tapstere, The Chester - . . . <a href="#p125" title="go to p. 125">125</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Taverns of Old London - . . . <a href="#p188" title="go to p. 188">188</a>, <a href="#p203" title="go to p. 203">203</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Taxes on Ale - . . . <a href="#p038" title="go to p. 38">38</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Taylor’s, John, Signboard - . . . <a href="#p211" title="go to p. 211">211</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Temperance Drinks - . . . <a href="#p373" title="go to p. 373">373</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Temperance <i>v.</i> Total Abstinence - . . . <a href="#p014" title="go to p. 14">14</a>, <a href="#p019" title="go to p. 19">19</a>, <a href="#p423" title="go to p. 423">423</a>, <a href="#p429" title="go to p. 429">429</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Tewahdiddle - . . . <a href="#p389" title="go to p. 389">389</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Thames Water used in Brewing - . . . <a href="#p122" title="go to p. 122">122</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Thrale’s Brewery - . . . <a href="#p340" title="go to p. 340">340</a>, <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Time’s Alterations, or the Old Man’s Rehersal</i> - . . . <a href="#p396" title="go to p. 396">396</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Timothy Burrell, Extracts from the Journal of - . . . <a href="#p059" title="go to p. 59">59</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Tinker’s Song</i>, Herrick’s - . . . <a href="#p291" title="go to p. 291">291</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Tithe Ale - . . . <a href="#p172" title="go to p. 172">172</a>, <a href="#p273" title="go to p. 273">273</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Toasting - . . . <a href="#p383" title="go to p. 383">383</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Toby Philpot</i> - . . . <a href="#p399" title="go to p. 399">399</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Toll on Ale - . . . <a href="#p035" title="go to p. 35">35</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Toper, drink, and help the house</i> - . . . <a href="#p015" title="go to p. 15">15</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Treacle Beer - . . . <a href="#p177" title="go to p. 177">177</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Treatise of Walter de Biblesworth</i> - . . . <a href="#p047" title="go to p. 47">47</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Trinity Audit - . . . <a href="#p165" title="go to p. 165">165</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Truman, Hanbury, Buxton & Co., Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p355" title="go to p. 355">355</a>, <a href="#p366" title="go to p. 366">366</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Tumbrel, Punishment of the - . . . <a href="#p100" title="go to p. 100">100</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Tusser on Hops - . . . <a href="#p076" title="go to p. 76">76</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Twelfth-day Customs - . . . <a href="#p238" title="go to p. 238">238</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Typhus-fever, Malt Liquor beneficial in - . . . <a href="#p419" title="go to p. 419">419</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">V. - -<ul><li class="lihangb"><i>Village Alehouse, The</i> - . . . <a href="#p186" title="go to p. 186">186</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Vinegar made from Malt Liquor - . . . <a href="#p403" title="go to p. 403">403</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">W. - -<ul><li class="lihangb">Wadlow, Sim - . . . <a href="#p208" title="go to p. 208">208</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Wages Paid Anciently in Ale - . . . <a href="#p036" title="go to p. 36">36</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Warme Beere</i>, Verses in Commendation of - . . . <a href="#p410" title="go to p. 410">410</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Warrington Ale</i> - . . . <a href="#p168" title="go to p. 168">168</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Wassail Bowl, The - . . . <a href="#p380" title="go to p. 380">380</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Wassailing - . . . <a href="#p234" title="go to p. 234">234</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Wassailing the Fruit Trees - . . . <a href="#p236" title="go to p. 236">236</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Weddyn Ales - . . . <a href="#p272" title="go to p. 272">272</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Welsh Ales - . . . <a href="#p030" title="go to p. 30">30</a>, <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Weobley Ale - . . . <a href="#p127" title="go to p. 127">127</a>, <a href="#p171" title="go to p. 171">171</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Wheat Malt, Ancient Use of - . . . <a href="#p105" title="go to p. 105">105</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Whitbread & Co., Messrs. - . . . <a href="#p359" title="go to p. 359">359</a>, <a href="#p368" title="go to p. 368">368</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">White Ale, Devonshire - . . . <a href="#p163" title="go to p. 163">163</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Whitington and the London Brewers - . . . <a href="#p135" title="go to p. 135">135</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Whitsuntide Ales and Customs - . . . <a href="#p246" title="go to p. 246">246</a>, <a href="#p267" title="go to p. 267">267</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Will Russell</i>, a Ballad - . . . <a href="#p195" title="go to p. 195">195</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb"><i>Wine, Beer, Ale and Tobacco; a Dialogue</i> - . . . <a href="#p072" title="go to p. 72">72</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">“Wine is but Single Broth” - . . . <a href="#p009" title="go to p. 9">9</a></li> - -<li class="lihangb">Women Brewers - . . . <a href="#p124" title="go to p. 124">124</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">X. - -<ul><li>X, Origin of the Symbol - . . . <a href="#p113" title="go to p. 113">113</a></li></ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv">Y. - -<ul><li>Yorkshire Ale - . . . <a href="#p161" title="go to p. 161">161</a></li> - -<li><i>Yorkshire Ale, The Praise of</i>: A Poem - . . . <a href="#p312" title="go to p. 312">312</a></li> -</ul></li> - -<li class="liindexdiv" id="id-zythum">Z. - -<ul><li>Zythum - . . . <a href="#p028" title="go to p. 28">28</a> - -<div class="dctr01"> -<img src="images/p449.png" width="600" height="162" alt="" /></div> -</li> -</ul></li></ul> - -</div><!--idindex--> - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="transnote"> -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE. - -<p>Original spelling and grammar have been generally -retained, with some exceptions noted below. Original -printed page numbers are shown like this: {52}. Footnotes -have been relabeled 1–75, and moved from within paragraphs -to nearby locations between paragraphs. The transcriber -produced the cover image and hereby assigns it to the -public domain. Original page images are available from -archive.org—search for “cu31924029894759”.</p> - -<p>The poetry indents are approximately correct in limited -circumstances. The indents were measured and adjusted using -a monospace font: “Adobe Source Code Pro”. Variable-width -fonts will look less accurate. Moreover, the poetry was -originally printed on pages having text-width roughly 44em, -again using the “Source Code Pro” for the measurement. -Ebook browser screens that are narrower than roughly 25em -will have difficulties with some of the longer poetry -indents—but selection of a smaller -font-size will improve this situation.</p> - -<ul id="transnotelist"> -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p-ii" title="go to page ii">ii.</a></span> -The third word of the caption seems -to read “Bremhouſe” (printed in what appears to the -transcriber to be a variety of <i>bastarda</i> script), -but possibly should be “Brewhouſe”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p025" title="go to page 25">25</a>.</span> -Changed “What ha h been” to “What hath been”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p027" title="go to page 27">27</a>.</span> -Changed “οινος”—wherein the omicron was accented with psili -and perispomeni—to “οἶνος”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p035" title="go to page 35">35</a>.</span> -In the phrase “pay as toll to the lord   gallons of ale”, a -number was missing.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p035" title="go to page 35">35n.</a></span> -The footnote read “1 The translation is taken from <i>Nineteen -Centuries of Drink in England</i>.”, but there was no anchor on the page. -Possibly this note refers to the <i>Symposium Ænigmata</i> that ends at the -top of the page.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p038" title="go to page 38">38</a>.</span> -The first footnote on the page had no anchor. A new anchor was -installed after the word “male,”, on the second line of the poem.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p049" title="go to page 49">49</a>.</span> -Closing quotation mark was added after the line “Parlom ore de -autre chose.”</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page 74, 79.</span> -These full-page illustrations have been moved out of -their original locations inside poems to nearby locations below or -above, and the corresponding page numbers have been removed. Full-page -illustrations likewise situated in other places in the book have been -likewise treated.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p085" title="go to page 85">85</a>.</span> -Full stop was added after “sometimes when opium failed”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#fn41" title="go to footnote 41">100n.</a></span> -There was no anchor for the footnote; a new one has been -inserted after the word “brewster” at the top of the page.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#fn50" title="go to footnote 50">180n.</a></span> -The footnote had no anchor. A new anchor has been inserted -for this note, on page -<a href="#p179" title="go to page 179">179</a>.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p184" title="go to page 184">184</a>.</span> -Changed “religous” to “religious”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#fn51" title="go to footnote 51">208n.</a></span> -The last word, partially illegible, is herein rendered -“out.”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p235" title="go to page 235">235</a>.</span> -The phrase “bring us a bowl of the bes” was changed to “bring -us a bowl of the best,”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p264" title="go to page 264">264</a>.</span> -Changed “carry ing over hilland dale” to “carrying over hill and dale”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p284" title="go to page 284">284</a>.</span> -Changed “trusted, as we bear” to “trusted, as we hear”, and “strirre” -to “stirre”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#fn63" title="go to footnote 63">325n.</a></span> -A new footnote anchor was inserted after “he that made, made two.”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p342" title="go to page 342">342</a>.</span> -Full stop added after “dilutes his clay”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p433" title="go to page 433">433</a>.</span> -Changed “to live in a wine-growing, -country will” to “to live in a wine-growing -country, will”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p435" title="go to page 435">435</a>.</span> -Changed “alcholic” to “alcoholic”.</p></li> - -<li><p class="pfirst"><span class="nowrap"> -Page <a href="#p449" title="go to page 449">449</a>.</span> -Changed “Weobly Ale” to “Weobley Ale”.</p></li></ul> -</div><!--transnote--></div><!--chapter--> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF ALE & BEER ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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