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                           NINETEEN CENTURIES
                                   OF
                            DRINK IN ENGLAND

                              _A HISTORY_

                                   BY

                          RICHARD VALPY FRENCH
                          D.C.L., LL.D., F.S.A.

                  RECTOR OF LLANMARTIN AND RURAL DEAN
                AUTHOR OF 'THE HISTORY OF TOASTING' ETC.

                 _SECOND EDITION--ENLARGED AND REVISED_

                                 LONDON
                 NATIONAL TEMPERANCE PUBLICATION DEPOT
                        33 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.

                        _All rights reserved_

                              EDINBURGH:
                     PRINTED BY LORIMER AND GILLIES,
                         31 ST. ANDREW SQUARE.




PREFACE.


The earlier part of this slight contribution to the literature of an
inexhaustible subject has already appeared in a series of numbers in
a London weekly journal. The best acknowledgment of the writer is due
to the Rev. ARTHUR RICHARD SHILLITO, M.A. (late Scholar of Trinity
College, Cambridge), who has from time to time during the progress of
this work most kindly furnished him with valuable notes.




INTRODUCTION.


The object of this work is to ascertain the part which Drink has played
in the individual and national life of the English people. To this
end, an inquiry is instituted into the beverages which have been in
use, the customs in connection with their use, the drinking vessels in
vogue, the various efforts made to control or prohibit the use, sale,
manufacture, or importation of strong drink, whether proceeding from
Church, or State, or both: the connection of the drink traffic with
the revenue, together with incidental notices of banquets, feasts, the
pledging of healths, and other relevant matter.

It must interest every thoughtful being to know how our national life
and national customs have come to be what they are. They have not
sprung up in a night like a mushroom. They have been forming for ages.
Each day has contributed something. The great river of social life,
ever flowing onward to the ocean of eternity, has been constantly fed
by the tributaries of necessity, appetite, fashion, fancy, vanity,
caprice, and imitation. Man is a bundle of habits and customs.

With some, it is true, life is mere routine, a round of
conventionalities; literally 'one day telleth another;' with others,
each day is a reality, has its fresh plan, is a rational item in the
account of life. To these nothing is without its meaning; there is a
definiteness, a precision, about its hours of action, of thought, of
diversion, of ministering to the bodily claims of sustenance by eating
and drinking. Around the latter, social life has fearfully encircled
itself. The world was, and still is,--

    'On hospitable thoughts intent.'

The latter days are but a repetition of the former. 'As it was... so
shall it be also. They did eat, they drank.'

Social life is intimately connected with the social or festive board;
in short, with eating and drinking, because these are a necessity of
nature. Other customs and habits may be fleeting, but men must eat, men
must drink. Food ministers not only to the principle of life, but to
that of brain force also. Thought is stimulated, activity is excited,
man becomes communicable. He then seeks society and enjoys it. Thus has
social intercourse gathered round the social board. Eating and drinking
are two indispensable factors in dealing with the history of a nation's
social life. Adopting the adage by way of accommodation, 'In vino
veritas,' truth is out when wine is in, once know the entire history of
a nation's drinking, and you have important materials for gauging that
nation's social life.

For obvious reasons, a division has been adopted of the subject into
periods, in some respects artificial so far as the present inquiry
is concerned. The Romano-British period has been selected as the
_terminus a quo_. It might have been speculatively interesting to
penetrate further into the arcana of the past, to have inquired who
were the earliest inhabitants of this country? Were they aborigines,
natives of the soil, or were they colonists? Had they an independent
tribal existence, or were they originally a part of that great Asiatic
family who emigrated into and peopled Western Europe, and to whom the
Romans gave the name of Gauls?

Had such an inquiry been relevant, the question would have been of
immense importance; for drawing, as one must, considerably upon
imagination in dealing with any period not strictly historic, one must
either regard the primitive inhabitants as independent aborigines, and
accommodate their supplies to their wants, or, regarding them as an
offshoot from another nation, suppose them to have carried with them
the customs of their parent tribe, and find the sought-for habits of
the child in the ascertained habits of the parent.

But we are concerned with fact; and must therefore date from a period
when facts, however meagre and involved, are forthcoming.

A chapter of _Bibliography_ is appended for the benefit of any who
might wish to prosecute a study, of which the present effort is a mere
outline.




_A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DRINK._


    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Author.             |          Title of Work.               | Date.
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Accum, F.           |_Adulterations of Food_                | 1820
    Ackroyd, W.         |_History and Science of Drunkenness_   | 1883
    Adair, R. G.        |_The Question of the Times_            | 1869
    Agg-Gardner, J. T.  |_Compulsory Temperance_ (Fortnightly)  | 1884
    Alcock, Rev. T.     |_Observations on... a late Act of     | 1756
                        |  Parliament_                          |
    Alford, S. S.       |_On Drink-Craving_                     | 1875
    Ames, R.            |_Bacchanalian Sessions_                | 1693
    Anderson, A.        |_Trade and Commerce_                   | 1762
    Anstie, Dr. F. E.   |_Stimulants and Narcotics_             | 1864
       "        "       |_On the Uses of Wines_                 | 1877
    Armstrong, Dr. J.   |_The Art of Preserving Health_         | 1744
    Arnold, R. A.       |_English Drunkenness_                  | 1877
    Ashton, J.          |_Old Times_                            | 1885
    Assheton, Dr. W.    |_A Discourse against Drunkenness_      | 1692
    Arthur, T. S.       |_Ten Nights in a Bar-Room_             | 1871
    Aspin, J.           |_A Picture of the Manners, &c._        | 1825
    Atkinson, F. P.     |_A Cause of Alcoholism_                | 1879
    Austin, Major       |_Cup Draining._ (Bristol Magazine)     | 1857
                        |                                       |
    Bacon, G. W.        |_Alcohol at the Bar_                   | 1878
    Baker, W. R.        |_The Curse of Britain_                 | 1840
      "     "           |_Intemperance the Idolatry of Great    | 1851
                        |  Britain_                             |
    Barnaby, A.         |_Proposals for laying a Duty on Malt_  | 1696
    Barber, M. A. S.    |_Bartholomew Faire_                    | 1641
    Barclay, Dr. J.     |_Ale, Wine, Spirits_                   | 1861
    Barrow, J. H.       |_Temperance and Teetotalism_           | 1845
    Barry, Sir E.       |_Observations on the Wines of the      | 1775
                        |  Ancients_                            |
    Basil, S.           |_Homilia Contra Ebrios_                |  --
    Bayly, Mrs.         |_Ragged Homes_                         | 1860
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Author.             |          Title of Work.               | Date.
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Baynes, C. R.       |_Two Discourses on Sickness of Wine_   | 1669
    Beale, J.           |_A Treatise of Cyder_                  | 1665
    Beardsall, F.       |_Nature and Properties of Wines_       | 1839
    Beaumont, Dr. T.    |_A Lecture on Ardent Spirits_          | 1830
    Beddoes, Dr. T.     |_A Guide for Self-Preservation_        | 1793
    Beecher, Dr. Lyman  |_Sermons on Intemperance_              | 1826
    Beggs, T.           |_Dear Bread and Wasted Grain_          | 1856
    Bell, Dr. J.        |_Action of Spirituous Liquors_         | 1791
    Bennet, Dr. D. W.   |_Alcohol: Use and Abuse_               | 1883
    Bernard, S.         |_De Ordine Vitae_                       |  --
    Bickerdyke, J.      |_Curiosities of Ale and Beer_          |  --
    Bradley, R.         |_The Riches of the Hop Garden_         | 1729
    Brewster, J.        |_The Evils of Drunkenness_             | 1832
    Bridgett, T. E.     |_The Discipline of Drink_              | 1876
    Brown, Dr. A.       |_Advice respecting Water Drinking_     | 1707
    Browne, Sir T.      |_Pseudodoxia Epidemica_                | 1646
    Browne, Dr. Peter   |_Discourse of Drinking Healths_        | 1716
       "        "       |_Of Drinking in Remembrance of the     | 1715
                        |  Dead_                                |
    Bruce, E.           |_Digest of Evidence before the         | 1835
                        |  Committee of Parliament_             |
    Brunton, Dr. L.     |_The Influence of Stimulants_          | 1883
    Burgh, J.           |_A Warning to Dram Drinkers_           | 1751
    Burn, J. H.         |_Descriptive Catalogue of London       | 1855
                        |  Traders_                             |
    Burne, Peter        |_The Teetotallers Companion_           | 1847
    Burns, Dr. D.       |_Drink, Drunkenness and the Drink      | 1862
                        |  Traffic_                             |
      "      "          |_The Bible and Total Abstinence_       | 1869
      "      "          |_The Bases of Temperance Reform_       | 1872
      "      "          |_Christendom and the Drink Curse_      | 1875
    Buckingham, J. S.   |_Evidence on Drunkenness_              | 1834
        "         "     |_Earnest Plea for the Reign of         | 1851
                        |  Temperance_                          |
        "         "     |_History and Progress of the Temperance| 1854
                        |  Reformation_                         |
    Bucknill, J. C.     |_Habitual Drunkenness_                 | 1878
    Bury, E.            |_The Deadly Danger of Drunkenness_     | 1671
    Butler, W. R.       |_The Idolatry of Britain_              |  --
       "      "         |_The Curse of Britain_                 | 1838
    Buxton, C.          |_How to stop Drunkenness_ (North       | 1855
                        |  British Review)                      |
                        |                                       |
    Caine, W.           |_Thoughts on Wines and Temperance_     | 1882
    Capil               |_On the Laws of Drunkenness_           |  --
    Carlysle, Dr. A.    |_Pernicious Effects of Liquors_        | 1810
        "       "       |_Moral Influence of Fermented Liquors_ | 1837
    Carpenter, Dr. W. B.|_Use and Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors_   | 1851
        "        "      |_The Moderate Use, &c._                | 1853
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Author.             |          Title of Work.               | Date.
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
                        |                                       |
    Carpenter, Dr. W. B.|_Physiology of Temperance_             | 1853
    Carpenter, Dr. A.   |_Alcoholic Drinks not Necessaries_     | 1882
    Chadwick, Sir E.    |_Various Reports, Speeches, &c., dating| 1842
                        |  from_                                |
    Chadwick, Dr. J.    |_An Essay on Alcoholic Liquors_        | 1849
    Charleton, Dr.      |_Mystery of Vintners_                  | 1692
    Child, S.           |_Every Man his own Brewer_             | 1797
    Christison, Sir R.  |_A Treatise on Poisons_                | 1829
         "       "      |_The Habit of Intemperance_            | 1861
    Clark, Sir Andrew   |_Alcohol in Small Doses_               | 1881
         "       "      |_An Enemy of the Race_                 | 1882
    Clarke, S.          |_The British Gauger_                   | 1762
    Close, Dean         |_Why I have taken the Pledge_          | 1860
    Collier, J. P.      |_Collection of Ordinances_             | 1790
    Collinson, J.       |_Crack Club_                           | 1858
           "            |_The Gaol Cradle_                      | 1875
    Confalonarius, J. B.|_De Vini Natura_                       | 1535
    Conybeare, W. J.    |_Social Essays_                        | 1855
    Cornwalleys, H.     |_The Law of Drinking_                  | 1705
    Cornaro, L.         |_De Vitae Sobriae Commodis_              | 1678
    Coryn, H. A. W.     |_Moral and Physical Advantages of      | 1888
                        |  Total Abstinence_                    |
    Couling, S.         |_The Traffic in Intoxicating Drinks_   | 1855
         "              |_History of the Temperance Movement_   | 1862
         "              |_Teetotalism v. Alcohol_               | 1863
    Crane, J. T.        |_The Arts of Intoxication_             | 1877
    Crespi, Dr. A.      |_Various Essays and Lectures, dating   | 1870
                        |  from_                                |
    Cruikshank, G.      |_The Bottle_                           | 1847
          "             |_A Sequel to The Bottle_               | 1848
          "             |_The Glass_                            | 1853
                        |                                       |
    Daniel, Geo.        |_Merrie England in ye Olden Time_      | 1842
             "          |_Democritus in London_                 | 1852
    Darby, C.           |_Bacchanalia_                          | 1680
    Deacon              |_The Innkeeper's Album_                | 1823
    Dearden, J.         |_Short Account of Drunkenness_         | 1840
    Decker, Th.         |_The Gull's Horne-booke_               | 1609
         "              |_English Villaines Prest to Death_     | 1632
    Defoe, Dan.         |_The Poor Man's Plea_                  | 1698
    De Laune            |_Present State of London_              | 1681
    Denham, Sir J.      |_Calf's Head Club_                     | 1713
    Dewhurst, W. H.     |_Physiology of Drunkenness_            | 1838
    Dickson, Dr.        |_Fallacies of the Faculty_             | 1839
    Digby, Sir K.       |_Closet Opened_                        | 1677
    Disney, John.       |_View of Ancient Laws against          | 1710
                        |  Immorality_                          |
    Doran, Dr.          |_Table Traits_                         | 1854
    Dossie, R.          |_On Spirituous Liquors_                | 1770
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Author.             |          Title of Work.               | Date.
    --------------------+---------------------------------------+-------
    Downham, John       |_Disswasion from Drunkenness_          | 1613
    Druik, Dr. L.       |_Cheap Wines_                          | 1865
    Duncan, Dr.         |_Wholesome Advice_                     | 1706
    Dunckley, H.        |_The Shame and the Glory of Britain_   | 1849
    Dunlop, J.          |_National Intemperance_                | 1828
       "                |_The Wine System of Great Britain_     | 1831
       "                |_Philosophy of Drinking Usages_        | 1839
                        |                                       |
    Earle, John         |_Microcosmographie_                    | 1628
    Edgar, John         |_Drinks of the Hebrews_                | 1837
    Edmunds, Dr. J.     |_Non-Alcoholic Treatment_              | 1876
          "             |_Alcoholic Drinks as Diet_             | 1879
    Edwards, Edwin      |_Collection of Old English Inns_       | 1873
    Edwards, Henry      |_Charities and Old English Customs_    | 1842
    Ellis,