, 1877-10-05
FOOD AND DRINK IN QUEEN HESS
TIME.
k.sa<r RxnSS

Ednbard R-"is'r
II was not only In solid iuod, Int aieo IN
sweets anil kicksl.ams. that the English tat,lc
Of the sixteenth century aboun1c'l. ient!c-
tncn AMI merchants had t}ve Or Fix dishes fol-
ldwed fv icilic+ ,narcilpatuc. tarts, aud confec-
tons. "0f the potato and such venerous shotf
as arc brought nut of spafi., rortinsnlc, and
tile fhdlcs 10 furnish up o,lr haakets." fiarsl.
son, In his description. forl'cars to speak. Of
tea and tollcc he Ia quite Silent, though he has
something to say nj tobacco, tue ufe Ut which
Was spreading rapidly, 70 That q few years
later Hcntxner, tho German Traveller, could
say, "Tl'o English arc constantly smoking
tobacco" We have only to reflect wl,at life
In England would bo without tea, coffee, and
potatoes to be Convinced hnw entirely
different lfe In E!izabcth's days was from onrs.
II Ia, 'luwever, with something like MI tnwaril
paang that we record the Fact that :s'Ua' tnns
nt homegrown wine were ma'lo In England In
Ifarrsuu's time; hut VIC remember the frr'tn.
ler9tr silt ,na,.c ncur Berlin, nn &,ass On hol
Ing our diaplraGnis. That the English drank
quantities Of foreign wines Is plain fr''tn tht.
fact that thirty kinds Of strnt,T anil tlty-fiy Of
tight winea were to he had III Lon,l"n. The
strongest wrro hust liked, and tho strongest nf
all was cA}lcd, Harrison tells US, 7hfNtYitan,
answering to the "I'sIest" of Madeira anil the
Pfatlcnwc[n Of tic Germans. The merit ut .tteh
vino WINS that it was both ttrong eu,l genuine,
fnr, as Harrison tells lis, "the merchant thought
lita sotllc should have gone ftrclghtwafe to tho
,ltveli II be should hare served them ttc pslc.ta
With other than tho best" y l. tn By sonsIa-
nj the Eurltth clergy at the preecnt day may
not be ascrc,l to their abandonment Of Ur.ht-
dux theological port. Az for the lower classes,
they tnatsc E,aAl cheer wherever tEry con'l yet
It, and though their daily tare wns 1nr, they
lta,i frequent opportunities of fcastinE and
.arousng at hr!dc.ales, md drinking, n1la ntlMr
occnsfons, cnch guest bringing a dish. aud thy
EoAf tuln hf tic house wtIcrr the fcaxt WIS held
only finding .lrlAk uIld ll0use-runIt.. The wDrk-
In. men III town always ate hutcilers' ment. md,
though they weru Inure frugal IT. tic cnl,t,try,
they gaw lrcsh meat far more often than thu
t,,Eser, 1abnrcr. Tn such feAttvc occasions.
merit In which thu modern workman as n ruiz
la. no share; they were very much ashatlc.! at
being urerlakcn by drink, or "cupsslnttct,' u
Harrison calls It. An to brcatl, tho
rich alto wheaton hrrat1, antl The poor
bread lnasle nt ryu or tarley, and IN times vi
scarcity of beans. oats, or even acorus; nay,
says Harrison, they ats these even In times ii
plenty. for though "neycs has there been so
inucli laul cared" THAT Is, tlltcd,-"ucyrr has
corn been 50 dear. So that wItln.t Il famine the
old pruverb has been verified tlias 'huuger set.
teth bis first fuut into tho Ilnrse-IIanger. I'll
the world lust awll!lc at this rate, wheat md
rye will be to Ey,lluG for (Noru men tn iced on,
snl somu catterpiters there are''-thnt Is to
rukidlemen Htin bought up corn n1'tl rcErate,
bread, -" Tint eun sac 10 much already" Al
this food was not tllgested without drink. VIC
have seen that the rich drunk wlnc, hut In liar
rIBon's England tho drink OF thc common lla
was beer made oE barley, water, nni hops. These
wcrc not the days of grpat btcwersnor was there
my e1ciac!nen to sta1l In the war OF ,rivait
bruwinv. English " home-l!Iewc'i" was ticr
gives us M excellent rctipe for tnakinl, htcs
s. ~ ycltuw rs goltl.t but tells III how his thrifty