Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-08-13
Some Big Barrels.

A dlSQuletlng runOf Is current 10 lllc IL
feet that visitors TO BelyOir Castle Will not
i'm the future have the opportunity Of view
ing the wonderful beer barrels which have
SO long been the pride of the spacious eel.
lars at the ancestral home Of the Dukes OF
Rutland. From the antiquarian point OF
view. we should be glad 10 learn that there
was no foundation for "A statement which,
nevertheless, sufficiently precise chap
ter and verse are given that the
well-known, casks called Robert de
TOdeni.n the MARQUIS Of CRANKY "
and Lord John" have been removed
from their traditional crypts, and that at
the present time poor Robert de Toden
is living on its sides near the stables of tho
castle like q hugh vessel stranded. ms
Robert is said 10 bc the largest barrel
i'm the principle cellar. being estimated 10
hold about 300 gallons, and some idea
may be formed If its bulk from the fact
that twelve persons have dlned. within ~
at one time The next largest barrel, the
MARQUIS of CRANKY" held thirteen hogs
heads, while the capacity of Lord John
and Lord George" was about eight
bocsheads each. The noble pOsse5sor
If Belvoir is, Of course, fully justified
in doing what he likes with ms own,
and il is not impossible that con-
siderations connected with the cause OF
total abstinence may nave had something
To GO with lilt DhilrullfNA VI tAA' hN'A-
barrels from their traditional crypts. Be
that as 1t may, there Is another and very
valid reason why huge stocks OF beer
should no longer be allowed To accumulate
IN the cellars If great mansions. The art
of domestic brewing Is practically deiuhct.
In the Middle Ages q brew-house was at
tached not only TO every castle ana ahDey,
but to the house of almost every squire
and well-to-do yeOman in every English
co "a a. "A he FIRST decade
of the present century brewing was ac-
counted by CObbett Is an important feature
in cottage economy. and one with winch
the poorest agricultural laborers wife
should be familiar. The concentration OF
immense capital and consequently
elaborate "pant,n in the hands OF
a few large brewers has entirely paralyZed
the home manufacture of beer IN the me-
tropOlis: while in the provinces the taVerns
and beer-shops draw their supplies from
tho local brewers. and the number OF
county families who continue TO brew theT
own beer and 20 dispense IL gratuitously to
their tenants and farm laborers - every
wear visibly diminishing. When so httle -
got out of the land, rs Is the case nova
DAYS, the landowner scarcely THINKS 10
worth his while to regale ms poorer heieI-
bOrs with elcemosynary beer; ana, al
thouoh in a few remote districts there may
=
continue TO follow the pleasant practice OF
tapping on the coming OF age OF the heir
the hocshead Of cumming all" winch
WAS brewed in the year when he was born,
the custom has grown to be one much more
honored in the breach than IN the oDserY-
ance.
Tho connoissa,rs of big casks need not.
however, be reduced 10 despair by the en-
cumstances of the disestablishment OF tho
capacious barrels at Belvo.r. Possibly the
predecessors OF Robert de IOdenl. the
MARQUIS of CRANKY" Lord John and
Lord George" date from period even
anterior 10 that when the original Norman
castle WAS erected and the Belyor cellars
NAV in reality be those of the much older
Renedictine mouastry. The brewer was au
important functiOnary in monastlc estab-
Lshments, being the imme diate subordinate
Of the cellarer. In nunnories there vas
likewise q cellaress. who kept the Keys 70
the cellar. aud not only gave out the
nroner ouantity of beer to be drunk IN the
refectory by the religious, but also deliy-
cred TO the fenestrarla,n or window
FORTRESS. and the lay-sistor of the hostrey,
The doles of bread ana ale bestowed on
poor wayfarers. 1t is easy 10 imagine the
magnitude of the casks In the conyentual
cellars at an era when there were no poor
laws and no warehouses, rnd when beer
unhopped IL IL true-was generally recog-
njzed as a beverage to which every rank
and class in the community, down 70
the veriest tramp and beggar, had
a right. Although there are some
archaolOgists who maintain that the
tub of Diogenes was not wooden barrel,
but huge earthen amphora of KIND still
to be seen among the antiquities OF Pom
peii, the ancient Greeks were probably well
acorlainted with the use of barrels made OF
bent slaves hoped together with circles
of wood and iron and headed up. at both
ends. The invention of hogsheads Is
ascribed bp Pliny to q people who lived at
the foot of the Alps. II is certain that the
cooper's craft was generally practiced IN
the wear seventy of the Christian era; the
art was probably introduced by the, Ro-
mans into Britain, and IL seems. TO have
attained its present state OF perfection az
a very early period. Ia fact, It appears
almost as difficult to introduce any
material improvement into barrel as INTO
n drum. There are big drums and little
drums. kettle-drums and tambourines, but
they all share the same strong family Ike
ness; similarly the dry" cooper makes
casks for containing oil kinds OF goods not
in a liquid state, as sugar, currants, ana
flour: while the wet or tight" cooper
makes casks for all kinds OF huid COM
modities: and the white coopers de
vote their energies TO the fabrication
ci nails- tuba aud chnrnA u - usnAus