Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-09
DOUGHTY DRINKERS
Men of Old England We're Good at
Their Cups.
some OF THEIR FAVORIfE Triples
Connections of Which Famous
Characters Were Fond.
SACK AND MERRY-GO-DOWN
From the Chicago Times -Heraia

From the Chicago Times Herald
| While Americans are prone TO sheer st
| the paucity of wit that characterfzes the
| drink mixers of other lands. the sad con-
| fession must be made that their pre-erni-
nence In this line OF art results more from,
the exercise Of the initiative faculty than
| from inherent originality. And it Is
yet more humiliating to confess that we
| borrowed the practice from England. the
country of all others which now despises
| anything but straight or diluted Scotch or
Irish, with an occasional lapse TO "B.
and s." in the upper circles. and "shandy-
gan in the piebeian pubs Any one who
| gives thought to the history of drinking.
| however. can understand why the English
| were pioneers In the art OF ornamental tin
| ping. Even before the Roman invasion
| they were potent in pottiug" Their hey
| erages al that time. it is true were crude
! and ofttimes harsh. but they made tina
! most OF their opportunities: and as the
| island was overrun by the various brands
| of invaders mead and metheglIn gave w.,
| TO all-conQuerfng wines and powerful ales
| IN other words, as the population blended
| WIN succeeding races, drinks and drinking
| also became mixed. till in Shakespea res
| time the country was in a perpetual mud
| die and fuddle, and an average English
! man was able Ito drink with facility your
| Ddhs uSdu drunk and put the bibulOua
German and the swag-belled Hollander
| uhder the table ERE the next bottle could
| be filled" 1
| Antedated Cocktntts
Cocktails were unknown in these glorf-
Gus days, and there is no authentic record
of smashes, fixes or even high balls. but
there were many other beverages with
good mouth-filling names. The swaggerers
| had a favorite tipple called "huffcap" In
| was an extra strong ale, which made It's
| deNotees 'hufTy,' prone to bully and some
! times fight Women who went TO Inc tsv
| ern as boldly, If not quite so openly as the
| men, drank merry -go-down,'' which was
compounded Of Spanish wines. with liberal
| accesslons of sugar. sprinkling OF nutmeg
| ana pinch o. ginger. The poorer class OF
| religious men took kindly to .'lamh's
| wool, which was made Of hot ale. pulp OF
| roasted apples, grated nutmeg and ginger
| with raw sugar for sWeetening Monks
| priests and preates had special class Of
| wines appropriately known as ''theoloet-
| cum. They were. of course the finest
| vintages in the market for as ons of ,ha
| chroniclers of the times remarks. the wine
| merchant was afraid to serve this class OF
| customers with anything but the best, lest
MS soul should go straight TO the devil.
SANITY Drink.
Another sanity drink vas 'bishop."
which subsequently met the poetic appro-
| patton Of Dean Swift, who wrote:
! MI, -, Fine oranges
| Ihey IL make sweet bishop which gentlefuIks sun
The old poets were fond of celebrating
| their drink in verse. OF sack whose rylor.
ious operations were graphically described
| py It's nigh priest, Falstaf. an Elizabethiau
| poet wrote:
| Sacke will make the merrie minde be sad
| 80 VIII 1t make the melanchoIie glad.
| II mirthe and sadness doth in sacke remain
! When am SADIE will take some sacke again.
! But to return to fancy drinks. the list of
| whlcn Is by no II cans exhausted. One
| wonderful decoction was made by boiling
| d number OF herbs. bitter and sweet and
| ADDING a quantity of the infusion to hot
| are mis- mixture, which was sweet or sour
| soporlnc or exhilarating, according TO The
| luck OF the brewer in gathering his herbs,
| was known bitter sweet" Falstafr n
/ viii be remembered, could not stomach an
| ple-Johns, which were sometimes roasted
and dropped into hot-spiced ale Grabs
! were preferred for this purDosa Az 50
| treated was a favorite Indulgence =
| Christmas time. Reference is made 10 IA
in the winter song in Loves Labor's Lost,
| When roasted crabs Hiss in the bowl
| Then nightly sings the staring owl
Wassan Bowl
1t formed the ingredient of the famous
Wassail bowl as well as of the gosslSsS
| bowl of which Puck says:
And sometimes lmk in a eogsip's bowl
| In very likeness OF roasted crab
Ana Ana when she drinks against her lips bob,
1 Anu oh heF wilmer u ueWlAp pour the ale.
| Other popular drinks were maddog and
| dragons milk. Their main constituent
was ale Of different degrees Of age and
strength. favored with ginger and similar
| not stun Msddog was the stronger of
the two. 1t was popular among gentlemen
| of Ancient Pistols stamp who usually
wanted something to grip their threats ami
put fire into their eyes. Topers owe a
great deal to this same maddog He il
was that introduced the custom nouulsr
| in other lands beside England of casing
| the effects of overindulgence by taking
"a hair of the dog that bit you"
A Perfect Wine
The fastidious Briton of the olden times
| was also mighty hard to please as to the
| qualities of wine. We find record OF his
| nicely in this regard as far back as the
twelfth century. An old manuscript in the
| British Museum tells US what wine was
most priced: 1T should be clear like the
tears of a penitent, so that a man may see
distinctly to the bottom of his glass; It's
color should represent the greenDess of a
buffalo's horn; when drunk it should de-
scend impetuously like thunder; sweet
| tasted. like an almond: creeping, like a
squirrel; leaping, like a roebuck strong
like the building of a Cistercian monastery;
glittering. like spark of fire; subtle like
The logic of the schools of Paris: delicate
as fine silk, and colder than crystal"
IL the Englishman of that day was able
to procure this celestial liquor he was more
fortunate than recent topers and tippIers
nave Deen IN tne lrlune kingdom All mod
ern travellers can testify that such wine
is to be had now. either in dear old Lon
don" or elsewhere on the island. Further
more, the fancy beverages of the Eliza
bethan period have disappeared and left
not a rack behind, unless we dignity such
wishy-washy stuff claret punch, which
holds the place of honor in most metro
politan bar rooms, and port negus which
still fingers in the sick room, by calling
them weakened descendants of the
sturdy. uncompromising beverages Of old.
The Ship OF the Desert.