The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-07-31
DOUGHTY DRINKERS.
Men of Old England Were Good at
Their CUPS.

DOUGHTY DRINKERS.
Men of Old England Were Good at
Their Cups.
While Americans are prone to sheer
at the paucity OF wit that characterizes
the drink mixers of other lands, the sad
confession must be made that their pre-
| eminence in this line of art results
mere from the exercise of the Initiative
| faculty than from inherent originality,
And it is yet mere humiliating 70 con-
feSs that we borrowed the practice
from England. the country of I'll others
! which now despises anything but
straight or diluted Scotch or Irish.
/ with an occasional lapse 20 a. ''B. and
s." in the upper circles, and "shandy-
g&ff" in the plebeian pubs. Anyone
! who gives thought to the history of
drinking, however, can understand why
the English We're pioneers in the Srt or
| ornamental tipping. Even before the
I Roman invasion they We're potent IN
/ pOtting." Their beverages at that time.
it is true. were crude and ofttimeS
harsh, but they made the most of their
/ opportunities: and as the island was
overrun by the various brands OF in
/ vaders. mead and metheglin gave
way to all-conquering wines and pow
erful ales In other words. the popula-
+ tiCn blended with succeeding races,
drinks and drinking also became EiXed,
: till, in Shakespeare time, the country
was in a perpetual muddle and fiddle,
/ and an average Englishman was able
Ito drink with facility your Dane dead
drunk" and put the bibulOus German
and the swag- bellied HOllander under
the table ere the next bottle could be
/ filled.
ANTEDATED COCKTAILS.
Cocktails were unknown in these
glorious days. and there is no authentic
record of smashes. fixes or even high
balls: but there were many other bev-
erages with good mOUth-filling names.
The swaggerers had favorite tipple
called ~huffcap." 1t was an extra
strong ale. which made its devotees
"huffy." prone TO bully and sometimes
fight Women. who went to the tavern
as boldly. if not quite so openly, as the
men. drank merry gO-dOwn.' which
was compounded of Spanish wines, with
liberal accessiOnS Of sugar, a SprinkhnS
of nutmeg and a pinch of ginger. The
poorer class of religious men took kind
" TO lambs WOOL" which was made
of hot ale. pulp of roasted apples, graf
ed nutmeg and ginger, with raw sugar
for sWeetening. Monks, priests and
prelateS had a special class of wines,
appropriately known as ''theologieum-
They were. of course. the finest Vlnt-
ages IN the market. loIs d. ollc VI tilC -
chrOniclerS of the times remarks, enc
wine merchant was afraid to serve this
class Of customers with anything but
the best. lest his soul should go straight
to the devil.
A SANITY DRINK.
Another sanity drink was bishop"
which subsequently met the poetic ap-
probation of Dean Swift, who wrote:
Fine oranges,
Well roasted, with sugar and wine in a
cup,
They'll make a sweet bishop which
gentlefOlks sup.
The old poets were fond of celebrat-
ing their drink in verse. OF sack,
whose glorious operations were graph
cally described by its high priest. Fall
staff, an Elizabethian poet wrote:
Sacke will make the merrie minde be
sad
So will it make the melancholie glad,
If mirthe and sadness doth in sacke
remain.
When | am SADIE l viii take some sacke
again
But to return to fancy drinks. the list
of which is by no means exhausted.
One wonderful decOctiOn was made by
boiling a number of herbs, bitter and
sweet, and adding quantity of the in
fusion to hot ale This mixture, which
was sweet or sour, sopOrific or eXhila-
rating. according to the luck OF the
brewer in gathering his herbs, was
known as bitter sweet" FalStaff, it
viii be remembered. could not stomach
apple-johns, which were sometimes
roasted and dropped into hot spiced
ale. Crabs were preferred for this pur-
pose. Ale so treated was a favOrite in
diligence at Christmas time. Reference
is made to it in the winter song in
Loves Labor Lost"
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl.
WASSAIL BOWL
1t formed the ingredient of the IA
nous wassail bowl. as we'll as of the
gossip bowl, of which Puck says:
And sometimes Turk I in a gossip's
bowl.
In very likeness of a roasted crab.
And when she drinks against her lips
1 bob
And on her wither'd dewlap pour the
ale.
Other popular drinks were maddog
and dragons milk. Their main consut-
uent was ale of different degrees of
age and strength. favored with ginger
and similar hot stuff. MaddOg was the
stronger of the two. 1t was popular
among the gentlemen of Ancient Pts
tots stamp. who usually wanted some
thing to grip their threats and put fire
in their eyes. Topers owe a great deal
to this same maddOg. He it was that
the custom, popular in their
lands beside England, of easing the
effects of over-indulgence by taking
"a hair of the dog that bit you
PERFECT WINE.
The fastidious Briton Of the oIden times
was also mighty hard to please as to the
qualities OF wine. We find record of his
licety in this regard as far back as the
.Weifth century. An old manuscript in
ne British museum tells us what wine
vas most priced 1t should be clear like
he tears Of a penitent, so that man
nay see distinctly TO the bottom of his
glass. its color should represent the
,reenness of 4 buffalO's horn: when drunk
{ should descend impetuOusly like thUn-
Ter; sweet-taSted. like an almond: creep
ng like a squirrel leaping. like a roe
buck: strong. like the building of CiS-
ercian monastery, giittering ike a spark
II fire; subtle like the logic of the schools
Il Paris; delicate as fine silk, and colder
han crystal
If the Englishman Of that day was able
o procure this celestial liquor he was
more fortunate than recent topers and
ipplers have been in the triune kingdom.
Nj modern travellers can testify that no
UGH wine IS 10 be had now. either in
dear old London o. elsewhere on the
sand. Furthermore. the fancy beverages
# the Eliza bethan period have diSap-
feared and left not a rack behind unless
We dignity such a wishy-washy stuff as
aret punch. which holds the place Of
lOnor in most metropolitan harrOornS