The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1908-03-27
RUM IN THE OLD DAYS
The Drinking Habit Not a Modern
Invention.
SOME ROYAL WINE BIBBERS.

Ancient Kings Of Great Britain Who
Suffered Through John Barleyeorn.
Awful Degradation Of London In the
Eighteenth Century.
When the Danes conquered England
they discovered drinking among the
Britons. An Englishman was forbid
den to drink in the presence of a Dane
without humbly asking and receiving
permission. The penalty for a viola
ton of this law was death, and SO rig
orously was 1t enforced that the timid
when leave had been granted unless
the Danes gave them definite pledges
that they would not be harmed. Thus
arose the custom of drinking pledges.
Later on the English became heavy
drinkers themselves, and at the time
Of the Norman invasion they were in
the habit of giving great feasts, which
lasted for weeks and at which every
JAN eol loAOOSi vi uAh. Mug IN
mund Of England was given the name
of Ironside on account Of his remark
able staying qualities. 1t Is said that
he once drank two gallons of wine a
day for thirty days. In the end he got
into a row with n of his mobiles and
was stabbed to death.
After the conquest the invading Nor
mans became pupils Of the native Brit
ish human oceans and soon became ex-
perts themselves. In the reign of King
John, 40 years after Williams land
ing. drunkenness was so general
throughout England that 1t was neces-
sary to appoint officers to regulate the
sale of beer. Five days of every week
the Britons worked. On the sixth they
drank themselves under the table, and
on the seventh they slept 1t off,.
King Henry l. was a celebrated wine
bihber. and his son and heir was his
faithful disciple. This young man was
sent over to France to marry the
daughter Of the king of that country.
On the way home he stocked his ship
with hundreds Of barrels Of French
wines. During the passage he tapped
one of these barrels and distributed its
contents among his sailors. The latter
got so drunk that they ran the ship
upon a submerged rock, and it went
down with all hands.
This was an impressive temperance
lesson, but the English didn't profit by
1t. Instead they drank more and more,
and we lead that a few years after
ward the evening meal Of the average
consisted of a loaf Of house
hold bread, a gallon Of beer and a
quart Of wine.
Everybody has heard Of the great
feast given by the Earl Of Leicester to
Queen Elizabeth. 1t lasted two weeks.
and during that time $1,000 gallons OF
beer We're consumed, not to speak of
many h~ossheads of wine. This was
the era of England's pre-eminence in
drinking. Some of her greatest practi-
had international regulations,
and ambitious amateurs came from all
parts of Europe to witness their feats.
Monday was the great drinking day.
~ oAS AilV ~ was Sdlu, IL was lLlpOS-
sible to find twenty sober men in all
until late In the seventeenth
century. The art Of distillation had
been practiced for ages, but the prod
uct of the still had been used not as a
beverage. but as a medicine. 1t is said
the first whisky seen in London
from Ireland, where it was
called ~usquebaugh. or buicaan.
During the reign of Philip and Mary
many mo%onshine stills were set up
In Ireland that parliament tool a
in b matter. 1t was ordained
that no n but gentlemen, peers and
f~reehoidess of property worth at least
large amount of money in those
days-should be permitted to own dis
tilleries.
An English traveller, writing in the
year 1900, said that there were more
In Dublin than in any other
city In the world. The Irish, he said,
and fairs. The English were not far
them, and over on the CONT
nent alcohol was also making great
Roadway. Here in America, too, drink
ing was becoming a popular sport.
In London during the early part of
the eighteenth century the lower
classes gave themselves up almost en-
drely to drinking. Taverns were on
every corner, and the price of whisky
was SO low that even the most humble
could enjoy his daily pot. An old no.
ice In the G~entleman's Magazine tells
is that many taverns bore signs read
ing, Drunk for a penny, dead drunk
Tor twopence, clean straw for moth
Beneath each tavern was a Gel
strewn with straw, upon which
The patrons Of the establishment took
heir ease and dreamed their feverish
When a nan got delirium
:remens and began chasing snakes his
soaks would beat him into int
'ensibility and throw him out to die.
In Scotland, too, the jug and the jag
played havoc. The historian Dunlop
ellis of a remarkable case Of drunken
which came to his own knowl-
sdge. A dispute having arisen at a