Ale in Prose and Verse

Ale in Prose and Verse

IN rose ano Verse, BY BARRY GRAY AND JOHN SAVAGE. aw Bow Dork: al Russell’s American Steam Printing House, Fi «é Af Nos. 28, 30 axp 32 CENTRE STREET. 1866. Soe 4H IIB. PLE vw HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY FROM THE HEIRS OF GEORGE C. DEnPsEy Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by JOHN TAYLOR'S SONS, in the Clerk's Office of the Qistrict Court of the United States for the Southern CQistrict of New York. NW Rualet of Ale, BY BARRY GRAY, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY McNEVIN. ALE: ANTIQUARIAN, HISTORICAL AND LITERARY, BY JOHN SAVAGE. ALBANY ALE, AN ACCOUNT OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE BREWERY OF John Gaplor & Sons, ILLUSTRATED, With a Biographical Sketch of the FOUNDER. { D2 “ke =] >. + ~. a: a ohn Gaylor, on —_ Wiho fons in lif | A Goov father, a Worthy Gitizen, A Fatthtul Friend, and An Ronest Man, Chis Work is Fumbly YRICRIZGD. tt ies ay } £s ¥ (Asi, x ; “ - " one Bes CN ee Bers Git of The Heirs of C. Damnaak PRHMA TORY LETTEaR TO JOSEPH B. TAYLOR, oF NEW YORK, AND WILLIAM H. TAYLOR, OF ALBANY. TF is with much satisfaction that the authors _ of this book are enabled at last to place it, completed, into your hands. For many ' months past the‘writing of it has occupied their leisure hours, and it may truly be said to have been to them a labor of love, since only friendship for you prompted them to undertake it. Originally commenced (both - as regards the verse and the prose) with no intention of its making over a few stanzas or pages, the subject opened be- fore them as they wrote, and almost im- perceptibly—probably under the inspiration (at respectable i intervals) of the sparkling beverage it celebrates—attained ita present goodly dimensions, In a brief speech which the writer of the ballad made ¢ a short time ago, at a dinner given to celebrate the com- 2:0 pletion of this work, and where were gathered such choice A # spirits as Professor Alexander Dimitry, John Brougham, A, 6 J. Requier, John W. Carrington, Alex. Matthew, Thomas J. Miller, Walter Dickson, Dr. C. L. Brown, and others, he gave, in a few words, the history, as it were, of these verses, wherein he said that the writing. of them was sug- gested to him by a common friend, Tom Miller, who desired them for the occasion of a festive gathering, where your ale would form one of the staple drinks; accordingly, a half dozen stanzas were written and recited. by the writer, and received by your guests with much greater approba- tion than they deserved. When, a few days thereafter, at your request, the author of those lines essayed to copy them, he found that he had struck a vein which mould bear fuller working. Thereupon he gave rein to his Pegasus, and, though it is given to halting, and is broken-winded at times, yet it bore him triumphantly along beside fields of ripening barley and past hop gardens, where the vines wreathed themselves in grace- ful lines about supporting trellises. It carried him to Teutonic beer saloons and to English inns and homesteads— to Scotia’s cabins and the hills of the Emerald Isle— to the vineyards of France and the bar-rooms of Yankee- land; and wherever he went he found something suggestive of ale. So he wrote on, con amore, until the ballad grew, speaking figuratively, from half-a-dozen mugs of ale to a whole barrel full, thirty-two gallons to the cask, beer measure. After it was completed you engaged Mr. MoNevin to illustrate certain portions of it. How successfully he ac- complished’ this the accompanying engravings will show. Then it was, too, that the author of the accompanying prose sketch offered to weave together a number of facts which might outline the history and antiquity of ale, illustrated with such literary and other reminiscences as a reasonable scope would allow. The subject embraced the prunings and pickings of years of reading, with more im- Sire mediate research, to link by chronology, and balance with ve appropriate references to the various interests suggested, in a historical, hygienic and agricultural aspect, the materials of which the essay is composed. The desire to accomplish the work was thus constantly waylaid by the allurements of the still-growing design, until, in following ale down the centuries—from the djor of the Scandanavian Vikings to the chica of the South Pacific, and around the world—from the Steppes of Tartary to the vats of Albany—the author feared he had tired out the patience of those who bade him “good speed” at his starting. In this, it seems, he was mistaken ; and now, having completed what was promised many months since, he presents it to you with great sincerity of feeling, and to readers, in the hope that it may help to further a much-needed reform in the character of popular beverages, and, consequently, in the health and comfort of the people. With these few words, by way of preface, the writers subscribe themselves, Your friends, Joun Savacsg, Barry Gray, Forpnau, N. Y., October 15, 1866. | | | drop hr Prasop atv sake yh birg 914 77 . , MALY 10,2 SP deus S014. bony TTY pay of $709 S108 mouyy m0 : =e es of, } | ii ‘ i Liat atin cae rt 4 Tan pon ag of a 4 Digitized by Google Digitized by Google ‘I » fo | bonita ghvjo salogfo Moy piaboof 54, fryps voeing yy 9s of eo gp goley dnkrory stolen papi iae pera pri —_enbyy wmvioy aucpoegb pis ry sp asponbochinly sporespreyy pty Hiagehg ce py fifi HONG il Vv. _ The bearded Teuton, round and burly, | May find the best of festal cheer,— Whether the hour be late or early— | : In countless mugs of lager bier. His’ flaxen-haired and blue-eyed daughter, Dy May even o’er my tastes prevail, And—for her eyes do cruel slaughter— Make me forego my favorite ale. , Vi. But only for a little season, An hour or two in Jones’ Wood, For when returns my calmer reason, I shake my head and say, “no good.” Lager may do for plump Dutch maiden, To wash down Schweitzer cheese severe, : But I prefer my table laden | With Shrewsburys and Taylors’ beer. | VII. | | The Frenchman may declare in favor | Of wines which da belle France bestows, _ Praise Heidsick’s champagne for its flavor, And quite adore la Veuve Cliquot’s. What if the Turk o’cr sherbet lingers! | : Oscanyan kept it once for sale | s In his bazaar—Allah! his fingers I Av Now oftener clasp our mugs of ale. “ y SS 12 aie VIII. The Englishman, so grim and sober, Has oftentimes been known to laugh Above his wife’s home-brewed “ October,” And o’er his mugs of ’alf and ’alf. The canny Scot, in hours of leisure, Forgotten ’gainst the world to rail, And taken unco, muckle pleasure, Aboon his barley-bree 0’ ale. Ix. His Irish neighbor, of whose doings The likeliest is making love, In poteen, and such other brewings, Shows -inspiration from above. And, when the punch is circling cheerily, Not one who drinks would have it fail, - And few there be, who love it dearly, Would give it up for common ale. x. Falstaff drank sack—it was essential, He thought, to keep his courage right, But ale had been much more potential, And better for the fat old knight. And would that hero, Tam O'Shanter, Have ever ventured to assail Witch Nannie with rude words of banter, But for John Barleycorn’s strong ale? Digitized by Google eS el > a v burrvof.nofo, raf rund ING, She (Ss ps" pg : A 404, escthiorien 0d ary. ss < ee: Pupiny 3 signe ay duoy deyh ply 18 XI. Ah! could these good lads but have tasted The brewage which my muse extols, They’d own their lives had half been wasted, In quaffing, Tom, from lesser bowls. Yes, yes, Tom Miller, you and I know Full well this nectar, sparkling, pale, For many a time our final rhino Has gone for mugs of Taylors’ ale. XII. And often, Tom, the midnight ’s found us Within a publican’s warm room, With jovial comrades seated round us, Forgetful of the outside gloom: Forgetful of the sleet and showers, Borne on the chill autumnal gale ; Forgetful of the passing hours, But mindful of our foaming ale. XIII. October's brewage, pure and creamy, Fragrant of hops and malt new-made, To childhood’s days, so sweet and dreamy, Fraught more with sunshine than with shade, Carried us back to when we rambled With pretty Madge o’er hill and dale, While trusty Watch before us gambolled, Long ere we knew the taste of ale. 14 XIV. The scent of blossoming hops was wafted From fields where vines innumerous grew, And ’mid its perfume there was grafted A savor which the barley knew: Those climbing vines, those fields of barley, Heard then full many a pleasant tale, While for her kisses we did parley, Recalled to mind now o’er our ale. XV. Those halcyon days long since have vanished, For Madge, dear Madge, is now but dust: Her form from earth forever banished, Her spirit mingles with the just. But while remembrance bids us weep her, ° Our love through life will never fail, For in our heart of hearts we'll keep ‘her, And drink her memory in our ale. XVI. Among the ales most famed in story, From Adam’s down—or old or new— There’s none possessing half the glory, Or half the life of Taylors’ brew. Their “amber” brand is light and cheery, Their “XX” is strong, though pale, But give to me, when dull and weary, Their cream, imperial “Astor” ale. ta oop yan fuel, fogsong.snoin sy py wasalrygen of froong asi s4¢9 va} coon, pg arunsguiliaLapyn gs, popilieg gh oho uy fyrve bo tse sop ghip gipnalsolpaly wep try ‘poipileny axed sous bascyshinp dakzpod ast 9 ¢3 Digitized by Google 70 ase inh 1 poobshy Bib ype dphiaigs ig any hues hopahy prys py [resaud pyulp profane safe y/ aight, shape tetlass dap laggy) (2 apeyfan ale eins barley pn ip oe lal og com pups nag phigh fou 0 lap gy, “" : Birritil: Spare aly dn tees stony bff é | ‘Ll, 15 XVII. ‘Tis blithe, Tom, in the early morning, To drain a pint of Taylors’ brew, And woe to him who dares, with scorning, At noon to take aught else in lieu: And then, when evening shadows lengthen, No other tankard should prevail, While still the day-worn frame to strengthen, At night ’tis good to quaff more ale. XVIII. Do you remember, Tom, the cottage, The old inn on the river’s bank, Where we ate many a famous pottage, And many a cooling draught have drank ? And those three rustic signs together, Triangular—that braved the gale, Through Summer and through Winter weather, Proclaiming there was Taylors’ ale? ~xIk. That quaint old inn, Tom, still is standing, And near it ’s grown a thriving town, And steamboats touch now at the landing Both going up and coming down. The sign, with hop vines round it wreathing— The trysting spot of all the vale— Still hear the lads and lasses breathing Their vows of love o’er Taylors’ ale. 16 XX. | I do recall the day—how clearly, Though almost thirty years have fled, | When I, a lad of ten or nearly, | Saw that which quite perplexed my head. "Twas on a steamboat, in September, At Albany, and near the pier, | . And I was sober, to remember, | For then I drank no mugs of beer. XXI. And yet I could have sworn, believe me, | ; That I was tight as any brick, Or else my eyes, which ne’er deceive me, Had played me quite a scurvy trick, For on a sign which hung just o’er me, As past the bulk-heads we did sail, The word “Imperial” gleamed before me, “John Taylor” then, and then “Cream Ale.” XXII. It ’s more than Janus-faced gyration, Its mystic union—three in one, Was, to my young imagination, The greatest wonder under sun. And long my mind upon it wandered, But little did it all avail, Until, as through the streets I wandered, I stopped and bought a mug of ale. na Sc ty a os " “Z rN wy > Sd fall Ato hepesyweiay harumpegy, eyo ofp parneg pujy stypnburg), efucnspy arol gfbrnup bape) vAuvues wy ‘aboppool haaras afivia agoaps aly. Suny sans ofp to ny ppg ofp - aboagey off lag eagles mh ogy? 17 XXIII. And then, with subtle comprehension, I solved the riddle of the sign, And deemed it was a great invention, One odd and novel in design. And now, when many a year has faded, While still it braves the sun and gale, I learn ’twas planned and made, unaided, By him who brewed this famous ale. XXIV. And more, I’ve heard with admiration, That often times he wrote in verse, And held full many a civic station, And filled full many an orphan’s purse. And till death’s hand came o’er him stealing, He was as hearty and as hale, And fresh and youthful in his feeling, As when he brewed his earliest ale. XXV. Long, long old Albany will honor His name, and keep his memory green, For he shed. endless glory on her, And she no worthier son has seen. And now he’s gone—but though departed, And both his sons their loss bewail, The world need not .be broken-hearted, For still they brew this favorite ale. 18 XXXVI. *Twas only last week, Tom, on Sunday, In Albany I met with Saxe, Who doesn’t care for Mra. Grundy, And always pays his income tax; And as we walked that quaint, Dutch city, Seeing no children weak or pale, He said, *twas rude, perhaps, but witty, © “Their mothers’ milk is Taylor’s ale.” XXVII. And ever, Tom, in joy or sorrow, _ Go where I may throughout the land, Whether the cash I have to borrow Or hold it ready in my hand, I search hotel, saloon and cellar, As knights once sought the holy grail, * Until I find an honest “ fellar” Who keeps a tap of Taylors’ ale. XXVIII. And then straightway I “plank” the money, And order up a mug of ale— And afterwards exclaim, “Now, sonny, Look sharp, another mug of ale.” And then—well, I repeat the order, And replicate, and never fail, Until I touch upon the border Of half-a-dozen mugs of ale. Digitized by G OOS le prpny abens ty pry yy Pays D pun SLAENO aus! Ut wy Vi YW - apo fo Sal Lai 0 (2 M7? J balm ago genrplncr ing ey sh avr jpnd i Mp9 tg Oly sisi los YY) (i: 19 XXIX. And as the foaming goblets vanish, Peace takes possession of my soul; The world, with all its cares, I banish, And, golden-like, the moments roll. Once more I dream the dreams of glory, Which in my boyhood did prevail, When life was but a fairy story, Bright as the sparkles on the ale. XXX. And then—Tom Miller, cease your laughing— Put on your hat and go with me, If you don’t care for such deep quaffing, We'll keep the number down to three. Yet stay, just feel within your pockets— The very thought makes me turn pale! If you've no greenbacks, like spent rockets Must disappear our wished-for ale. XXXI. For [m a rhymer, Tom, and never Have dollars in my slender purse, And still I’ve sometimes thought, however, A few would make it none the worse. But one can’t have both wealth and genius, Therefore Pll not at fortune rail; To do so were a crime most heinous, But—can you pay for any ale? o3£0 XXXII. i “All right!” you say, then let’s be jolly, You'll square the bill, Pll round a tale, About a poet’s love and folly, Between our pewter mugs of ale. We'll have some oysters, and a salad, A dish of mushrooms, and a quail, And—yes, I'll read this simple ballad, Concerning Taylors’ sparkling ale. pitts ANTIQUARIAN, HISTORICAL AND LITERARY. ? $ siderable attention has been devoted by philanthropists and publicists to the sub- ject of Malt Liquors, It grew into im- imposing prominence in our State during the liquor law excitement, from the leading position of New York, as one of the foremost hop- growing States in the world. The question was argued from every stand-point. One writer was opposed to the law, as referring ‘to malt beverages, on the ground of State policy, State health and State wealth. Another, taking a Biblical view of the subject, and instancing the recommenda- tion of certain drinks to be found in the Scriptures— in Genesis, Nehemiah, Ecclesiastes, Leviticus, Ephesians, Peter, &c., was of opinion that the “beverage so fre- quently referred to was no other than barley wine, or beer.” A third reviewed the farming interests involved, and a fourth thought the advocacy of beer or ale a fair and moderate middle ground between the extreme aX Sie 22 pro-liquor men, on the one hand, and the extreme auti-liquor men, on the other. The mention of beer, or fermented liquor, is, in the common phrase,- as old as the hills. If the antiquity of its appearance on the historical records of Old Earth has any recommendatory qualification, as is fre- quently the case with other things, certainly its im- portance will not be considered far behind almost any other article of domestic use. Tradition, failing in the remoteness of the earlier stages of its being to fix with certainty the invention - of beer on earth, takes refuge in the regions of my- thology, and accords its first creation to the god Bacchus. Whether beer owes its paternity to the jolly Demon ‘Bonus (one of the many names given to the god of wine, because, at all feasts the last glass was drank to his honor), or to any less heathen or more drunken demi-god, is a matter of small consequence in these days of earthly progressiveness. If, however, we reason- ably agree with Boyse* that no Bacchus ‘ever existed, but that he was only a masque, or figure of some concealed truth, and adopt his reading of Horace’s ode to that “great spirit,"t to wit, that Bacchus meant no more than the improvement of the world, by the cultivation of agriculture, and the planting of the vine, then we may, perchance, comprehend the importance which the production of beer had for our ‘ancestors, when they fathered its initiation on that ‘masque or figure,” which to them symbolized the ‘ improvement of the world,” by agriculture; an art, in the opinion of wise men, from Moses to Vattel and Andrew * Pantheon, p. 125. + Horace, book ii, ode xix. F $ 23 Johnson, the most useful and necessary of aH otlicrs to man.* Leaving, however, that point where tradition, for whatever purpose, seeks an authority in the classic heaven of myth and fable, and coming down to the earliest earthly authorities, we have but to step from the heights of Olympus to the regions of the celes- tial empire; the records of which at once chronicle the earthly invention .and fascinating character of the Chinese beverage. We readt that under the Government of the Emperor Yu, or Ta-Yu, before Christ 2207, the making of ale or wine from rice was invented by an ingenious agriculturalist named I-tye; and that as the use of this liquor was likely to be attended with evil consequences, the Emperor expressly forbid the manufacture or drinking of it, under the severest pen- alties. He even renounced it himself, and dismissed his cup-bearer, lest, as he said, his successors might suffer their hearts to be effeminated (softened) with so delicious a beverage. This, however, had not the de- sired effect, for having once tasted it, the people would never afterwards entirely abstain from the be- witching draught. It was, even at a very early period, carried to such excess, and consumed in such abund- ance, that the Emperor Kya, the Nero of China, in 1836, before Christ, compelled three thousand of his subjects to jump into a large lake which he had pre- pared and filled with ale; while Chin-Vang, in 1120, thought it prudent to assemble the Princess to suppress * See Discussién on the Homestead Bill, Life of President Johnson, &c., p. 61. + See authorities quoted in 8. Morewood’s ‘Essay on the Inventions and Customs of Ancients and Moderns in the use of Inebriating Drinks.» , 24 $1 its manufacture, as the source of endless misfortune } - in his realm.* Coming to what appeals more to our reason, we find that Herodotus, whose writings are the first extant of Grecian historians, and who flourished in the close of the fifth century previous to the Christian era, sets beer down as an Egyptian invention, and ascribes its discovery to Isis, wife of Assyris. She brewed a wine or beverage from barley: and Mr. Talboys Wheeler, in his remarkable literary panorama of the history, man- ners, arts and social condition of the ancients of that day, tells us that, as vines did not grow in Egypt, the wines of Greece and Phoenicia were very largely imported and consumed by those able to enjoy such indulgence, but those who could not buy the foreign : growths, drunk a kind of home-made -wine or beer : | produced from barley, which, however, was very su- perior to the ale drunk by the lower orders in | Greece.t Xenophon, in his description of the retreat : of the ten thousand (of which he was a general), after the battle of Cunaxa, sixty miles from Babylon, in the year 401, B.C., mentions beer as a beverage. Diodorus Siculus, who flourished in the first century before Christ, alludes to a fermented decoction of barley as one of the ordinary beverages of the Egyptians, and Tacitus (born Anno Domini 57) adopts the dates given : by the older Greek writers, and states that such a ; drink was much used by the Germans. “Their drink *Du Halde, vol. 1; 160, 159, 433. Morewood, 114. i | ¢ The Life and Travels of Herodotus, in the fifth century before / Christ: an imaginary biography, founded on fact, &., 4, by J. Talboys Wheeler, F. R.G.8, &., 3 vols. 25 is a liquor prepared from barley or wheat, brought by fermentation to a certain resemblance of wine.”* According to him, the Romans as well as the Germans, at a very early period, learned the art of fermentation from the Egyptians. Pliny also, noticing the drinks made from corn, says that Zythum is made in Egypt, Cela and Ceria in Spain, and Cervisia and many more sorts in Gaul. The people of Spain, es- pecially, he tells us, had arrived at great perfection in the manufacture of the beverage; and that it could be kept to a great age. It is supposed by some com- mentators that Pliny’s exclamation, “Heu, mira vitiorum solertia! inventum est quemadmodum. aqua quoque inebriaret,” (Oh! the wonderful sagacity of our vices ! They have, by some means or other, discovered how to make even water intoxicating), was intended to indicate distillation; but, taken in connection with his preceding remarks on the liquor of the western nations, “that it was made of steeped grain,” and “taken pure, and not diluted as wine is,” we agree with Morewood that the passage means nothing more than the intoxi- cating power or strength dcquired by the water in the fermenting process of the grain. The Zythum was the beer spoken of by Herodotus. Cereviscia or cervisia was the appropriate name given to the beverage by the Romans, as being made from corn, the gift of Ceres. In the Materia Medica malt liquor retains this title. The Egyptians had also a barley decoction called Kourmt, milder in flavor than Zythum; it was mixed with honey. The early Greeks had a beer which they termed Pinon, and a famous beverage of this 26 nature was the Pelustan, named from the place of its production, at the mouth of the Nile. We may, indeed, infer from the notices found in historians, that drinks analagous to our beer were in use among the ancient Gauls, Germans, and, in fact, almost every people of our Temperate Zone; and they are still the universal beverages where the vine is not the object of rustic husbandry.* At the ancient feasts of the Gauls, wine and beer were the liquors indulged in, the last being the most extensively used of the two. Beer was the national drink of the Teutons. It was the potent beverage of the heroes and sea rovers of Norse-land, and not only filled up the measure of delight, next to fighting, in this world, but entered largely into their expected joys in Valhalla. To drink ale in the halls of Odin, even from the skulls of their foes, deprived death of its terrors. The death chant of Ragnar Lodbrog, a famous sea king, who was captured and killed in prison by a Northumbrian king, about A.D. 865, exhibits the beer hopes of the Norse heroes: “We fought with our swords—still I delight When I think of the banquet prepared By the father of Balder to regale the brave; There we shall copiously drink of ale, Out of cups which are formed of the Skulls of our foes.” * * * * * * “Now cease our song—the goddesses come And invite me home to the Hall of Odin; . Happy there, on a high raised throne, Seated with gods, I shall quaff my ale.” *Dr. Ure. 27 In one of the Danish ballads, the mighty “Thor of Asgard” having lost his hammer, goes disguised as a maid to the Thusser King, in whose possession it was, when “They took her, the young and bashful bride, To sit on her bridal chair, And forward stepped the Thusser King Himself to serve the fair. * * * * * * ‘““A whole ox-carcase the maid ate up, Her loaves and her bacon first, And then twelve barrels of ale she drank, Bofore she could quench her thirst.” When the hammer was forthcoming, the maid, thus strengthened, took it and laid about her in very fierce style. Northern literature is full of references illustrating the ancient history of the beverage. This verse, from another old Danish ballad, is only a varia- tion of the general business of the Vikings—drinking and going to sea; or, to use a well known phrase, which unites both duties, getting three sheets in the wind “To-night well drink a full carouse, Can we hut get the ale; To-morrow, if the breeze is fair, We'll put to sea and sail.” The Scandinavians called it lor, which was con- verted into beer by the Anglo-Saxons—whence comes the title so familiar to us at the present day. The beverage was known in England at a very early period. We find an evident reference to it by Eu- menes, in his panegyric on Constantius, in the year A. D. 296, when noting the remarkable fact that Britain produced such abundance of corn that it was 28 not only sufficient to supply bread, but also a drink b+ | comparable to wine.- This, no doubt, was ale, or beer, as it is indiscriminately, but not correctly called. In the laws given by Ina, king of the west Saxons, or Wessex, to his people and the conquered . Britons of Somerset, mention is made of ale houses, This prince is characterized as wise, just, and possessing a “humanity hitherto unknown to the Saxon conquerors,”* and his “long reign of thirty-seven years (from A. D. 688 to 726) may be regarded as one of the most glorious and prosperous of the Heptarchy.”+ A sample of Ina’s wisdom may be given, especially as, while it exhibits his appreciation of the liquor, it also indicates the progress of ale as a popular drink. Its manufacture had become of such consequence in the year 694, that Ina directed ‘that “every possessor of a farm of ten hides of land, or as much as required ten ploughs, should, among other articles, pay him twelve ambers of Welsh ale,” each containing above seven gallons of English wine measure. In 728, during the reign of Ethelbald, tenth king of the Mercians, and fifteenth monarch over the seven Saxon kingdoms, ale booths were set up, their necessity becoming more ex- tensive, and laws were instituted for their regulation. In the reign of Edward the Confessor ale is expressly mentioned as one of the liquors for a royal banquet. The progress of beer or ale drinking was rapid, and a large portion of time seems to have been devoted to it by all the old northern nations. The- custom furnishes many picturesque passages and scenes in 29 Charles Kingsley’s recent work, ‘“ Hereward, the Last of the English,” which is chiefly interesting from the descriptions of the manners and customs before and . at the period of the Norman Conquest. These were the days when great fighting earls and chiefs, like Alef, a Cornish kinglet, used to hold state and festi- - val on a high-backed wooden settle, at the end of a long oaken table, well filled with boiled beef, bar- ley cakes and ale. The young bloods of those days were not characterized by that effeminacy which is a leading feature of the sons of wealthy or prominent men in our day. What our moderns have learned in demeanor or deportment, as Turveydrop would say, they have sadly lost in animal vim, courage and public spirit. Hereward, we find, even at the age of fifteen, had a following of house-carles, and was a terror “at wakes and fairs, ale houses and village sports.” No doubt the muscles of the former were more expanded than their minds, still they proved good fighters and patriots when the day of necessity came. In their sports or councils ale was a prominent in. spiration and pledge of faith, The mode by which the liquors of the ancient Britons and other Celtic nations was made, as described by Isidorus and Orosius, did not differ materially from the method at present pursued. “The grain was steeped in water and made to germinate, by which its spirits were ex- cited and set at liberty; it was then dried and ground, after which it was infused in a certain quantity of water, and being fermented, it became a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxicating beverage.” This ale, says Morewood, alluding to the above, was commonly made of barley, but sometimes of wheat, oats, and millet. The ancient Welsh and Scots had two kinds of it, called common and spiced ale, and the value of each was determined by law. “If a farmer hath no mead, he shall pay two casks of spiced ale, or four casks of common ale for one cask of mead.” Thus, a cask of spiced ale, “nine palms in height and eighteen in diameter, was valued at a sum equal to £7 10s. of our present coin,* and a cask of common ale, of the same size, at a sum equal to £8 18s.” In the thirty-fifth article of the Magna Charta, granted by King John 19th June, 1215, touching weights and measures, wine and ale are the only drinks mentioned, and a uniform measure ordained for them all over the country.t Bread and ale were associated together as positive necessaries of life, as is shown by the ordinances which were instituted from time to time regulating the prices of both. In the reign of Henry Third—middle of the thirteenth century—the manufacture of ale had become of such consequence that its price was fixed in proportion to that of corn and winet A _ sta- tute was passed, 1256 (the preamble of which al- Indes to other statutes on the same subject), which enacted that “when a quarter of wheat was sold for 8s. or 8s. 4d., and a quarter of barley for 20 pence or 24 pence, and a quarter of oats for 15 pence, brewers in cities. could afford to sell two gallons of ale for 1d. and out of cities three gallons for 1d.; and when in a town three gallons are sold for 1d, out of town they may and ought to sell four.” *1824., Morewood. ¢ Sic. — Article 35. There shall be only one measure of wine through all our kingdom, and one measure of ale, &c. ¢ Hume. Vol. 2. , In the reign of Edward the Sixth houses for the sale of ale were first licensed, and about a half cen- tury afterwards, in the reign of James the Kirst, 1621, the power of licensing inns and ale houses was granted by letters patent to particular individualf; but this system disclosing great abuses, the same mode was applied to it as in the collection of other branches of The duty imposed on beer during the reign of the Merrie Monarch, Charles the Second, and granted to him for life, was two shillings and sixpence per barrel on strong, and sixpence on table beer. The King farmed the grant out until 1684, when this source of Tevenue was placed under commissioners. The duties were nearly doubled on strong beer, and more than doubled on table beer after the revolution, during the reign of William and Mary: “but the product was not so great as heretofore, and they afterwards con- tinued to fluctuate according to the change of duties.” Parliamentary papers, given by Morewood, state the net revenue for 1821, at which period he was engaged _ on his valuable work, as £2,549,620 18s. 94d. In 1822 there were in London alone ninety-eight brewers and thirty-seven licensed victuallers, who brewed 2,000,- 982 barrels, of which 1,673,603 were strong and 327,- 829 table beer. In the rest of England were 1,488 brewers and. 20,575 licensed victuallers, who brewed 5,547,875 barrels, of which 4,345,015 were strong and 1,202,860 table beer.* This was exclusive of porter, which had been dis- covered about a century previous, by a man named * Parliamentary papers quoted by Morewood. ex pats . ee ran Bt 82 Harwood, who, to avoid the trouble of mixing beer, ale, and two-penny, a concoction then in demand, con- trived to brew a liquor to answer the same end. It derived its name from being chiefly consumed by porters, At the time represented by the preceding figures, the annual production of porter in London was over 1,316,345 barrels, of thirty-six gallons each. In 1884 there were sixty thousand retailers of beer and ale in England, and the returns for the British Islands, some nine years ago, showed 2,150 public breweries, stated as exclusive of retail and intermediate brewers, of which there are in England alone about 1,400, besides 28,000 victuallers, who brew their own ale. . In Scotland, in remote times, the inhabitants, it is said, brewed an ale which was called Loin, a word signifying provisions,—it being, doubtless, regarded as both meat and drink. It was not, however, until 1482, that its government officially took notice of the manufacture of beer or ale. At the union of that country with England, the regulations pertaining to the latter were extended to the former. As the duties advanced the breweries decreased in Scotland. In 1720 the product of two-penny, the chief malt liquor in use, was 520,487 barrels; in 1779 it had decreased to 152,465 barrels. The brewing of the varieties of strong and table beer was introduced in the reign of George III, but. the joint product did not average half what it was at the first date given. {In Ireland ale was known at a very remote era. - From its very early settlement by Eastern emigrants, it is taken for granted by the antiquarians that a know. ledge of such fermentation or distillation as was known accompanied commercial intercourse, the cultivation of 33 philosophy and the arts. ‘Tacitus, in his “ Agricola” (A. D. 97), tells us that though the soil, and climate, and manners, and dispositions of its inhabitants are little different from those of Britain, “its ports and harbors are better known, from the concourse of merchants for the purposes of commerce.” Home-brewed ale was in common use in Ireland before A. D. 500. Ware says, “the ancient and peculiar drink of the Irish was ale.” Dioscorides takes notice of this drink in a passage, where he says that the Britons and Irish (whom he calls Hi- beri) instead of wine use a liquor called Curmi, made of barley. But Camden observes that “Curmi in tkat place is corruptly written for the old British word Owrw,** which signifies ale; which last name it took from the Danes, who call it Oel. This is the liquor which Julian the Apostate, in an epigram calls ‘the offspring of corn, and wine without wine.’ The Irish have no name for this drink that I know of but leaun,+ which signifies liquor in general, but they understand it by ale. Beer, or ale, brewed with hops to preserve it long, is a liquor of no antiquity.” A very curious and interesting passage in Jonas’ Life of St Columbanus, who flourished during the close of the sixth and first decade of the seventh centuries, briefly and pointedly illustrates the subject, thus: “When the hour of refreShment approached, the minister of the refectory endeavored to serve about *Camden is doubtless in error, as the name of the barley beer made by the Egyptians was called Kurm¢, and it is reasonable to suppose that the emigrants from the East brougbt the name as well as the liquor. itself into Ireland. } Asaimilating to the Scotch Lotn. > a6 by Ears oo 34 the ale (cervesiam), which is bruised from the juice of wheat and barley, and which, above all nations of the | earth, except the Scordisce# and Dardans, who inhabit the borders of the ocean, those of Gaul, Britain, Ireland, and Germany, and others who are not unlike them in manners, use; he carried to the cellar a vessel which they called typrus, and placed it before the vessel in which the ale was deposited, when having touched the spigot, he suffered it to run into the typrus.” A northern tradition declares that a heather- beer was brewed by the Danes in Ireland, in the ninth ; century. ' A recent journal* gives an account of the discovery of an ancient Irish brewery in the County Cork. It appears that for several years back a farmer living near the Club-house Cross, a few miles south dof Dunmanway, was often impeded in the plowing of one of his fields by what he considered a piece of bagwood. Not having any time to spare on those o¢casions, he used to pass it over. This year, having made up his mind to sow turnips in the field, he and one of his laborers set to work to remove the old obstruction, and, on digging about it and bringing it to the surface, they were surprised to find a strong oak beam, well fashioned with some sharp instrument, and having a square hole at one end, as well made as it would be by any country carpenter of the present day. They persevered, and brought to light another and another. Soon the news spread, and all the neighbors flocked in to see what was going on, and * Cork Constitution, May, 1866. 85 they cheerfully assisted to unveil the mysterious build- ing—a building which the oldest people in the vicinity bad never heard of, and which evidently belonged to an age long since buried in the murky past. After a great deal more shoveling they came upon what they thought and felt convinced was the coffin of some old king, and their hearts rose high. Who knew but that the Royal Firbolg, or Milesian, or Dane, or who- ever he was, lay there with his crown on his head and his sceptre in his hand, or he might be some old bishop who lived in the good old times, and might have a gold cross on his breast, and a jewelled pyx beside him. Dragging it up on end—for they couldn't wait to disinter it properly —they removed the lid, which was securely fastened down by oaken pins, and, alas! the coffin did not even contain the residuum to which all humanity must eventually come—dust and ashes. The coffin was a water-shoot, and nothing more. The place was immediately visited by Mr. Zachariah Hawkes, an eminent antiquary, Mr. George Bennett, and others. Mr. Hawkes minutely scrutinized everything, took the measurement of the various beams, the remains of the old flooring, the millstone, only half of which was discovered, and which, on the rim, was as well chiselled as if it were but the work of yesterday; and, after considering all the evi- dences before him, he was quite confident that what he saw were the remains of an old Danish brewery, which was. used by some of these adventurous in- truders, during their stay in Ireland, for brewing a kind of drink which they made from heath. History records, that in 1156 the Irish had con- siderable trade with Chester, and supplied the latter . with many of the necessaries of life; also, that in (ey See . =i WN As A 86 1300, when King Edward of England was carrying on warlike operations in the South of Scotland, he was supplied from Ireland with a considerable number of cargoes of wheat, oats, malt and ale. Campion, in his History of Ireland, states that a knight who lived in _1350, named Savage—of the Anglo-Norman family which settled in the North in 1172, and had, in the struggles of the times, to take up arms against the English and the Irish, as necessity and the varying local ties of party warranted—having raised a body of fighting men, allowed to every soldier, before he buckled with the enemy, a mighty draught of aqua vitee, wine, or old ale, From Harris’ Hibernica we find that in the reign of the eighth Henry it was decreed that no ale should be sold above 2d. per gallon, upon pain of 8d. totes quoties ; that there be but one maker of aqua vite in every borough town, upon pain of 6s. 8d.; and that no wheaten malt go to any Irishman’s country, upon pain of forfeiture of the same in value, except only bread, ale, or a