Evening star., 1934-12-30
BY RoBERp CRAWFORD.

BY ROBERD CRAWFORD.
Its Just too bad that the old Raleigh
Tavern at Williamsburg, Va, which
has been so beautifully restored, and
Gadsby's Tavern, down the river at
Alexa xandria, are not open to guests,
for they both have fine old tap rooms,
which have been furnished with many
of the original articles used when
George Washington, Thomas Jeffer-
..on, Patrick Henry and other distin-
guished men frequented their bars
and danced in the assembly rooms.
In the early days in the colonies news
travelled slowly and largely by word
of mouth. and it was in the inns of
the time that the latest political and
social gossip was retailed. Business
transactions were negotiated and the
value of Western lands argued.
Henry Weatherburn, proprietor of
the Raleigh Tavern, was a famous
innkeeper Of his time and had a
wide reputation In the colonies for
his arrack punch; that it was noted
for its potency is evidenced in a
deed recorded in Goochland County,
dated 1898. in which William Ran
dolph of Tuckahoe, sold to Peter
Jefferson, father of Thomas, 200 acres
of land in consideration of Henry
Weatherburn's biggest bowl of ar
rack punch" No recipe for "arrack
punch" is found in an old family
book Of recipes, but it was doubtless
made from arrack, a liquor distilled
from rice or if an imported liquor
was used it was distilled from date
juice or maybe the juice from cocoa
palm, as both the latter we're in use
in the Eastern countries from early
times. There is line in Lew Wal
lace's Ben Tonight we will
sweeten the bread with arrack" or
something to that effect.
Gadsby's Tavern was also noted for
punch famous throughout the col
orieS known as rum fustian." There
is an old recipe for this, however: Half
pint Of gin, one quart Of beer, one
bottle of sherry, yolks of II eggs and
sugar and nutmeg to taste. Then we
read that II this did not suit old
Gadsby'S guests "bumbo" was served
Bumbo was sometimes called "nimbo,"
and was a favorite drink with planters
after a cold ride of 25 or 80 miles.
Tavern signs in the early days were
frequently painted by well-known art
lists Of the time, one at least, or per-
haps two, who later had international
fame. The sign of the Three Crowns,
q popular tavern in the vicinity of
Philadelphia in It'll, was painted by
the celebrated artist Benjamin West,
who later lived in London, and was
one of the four original members of
the Royal Academy and its second
president. This sign was removed to
another tavern in 1916, which was
named Waterloo Tavern, in honor
OF w .llngton's victory.
In New England the portraits of
John Hancock, Washington and JEFF
ferson adorned inn signs, but nothing
Is known of any named for John
Adams, although the sedate second
President Of the United States must
often have been a guest, for he gives
an amusing description of the host
and hostess of Ipswich Inn, since he
writes: The landlord and landlady
are some of the grandest people alive;
landlady is the great-granddaughte
of Gov. Endicott and has all the no
tions Of high family that you find in
the WinSlows, Hutchinsons. Quincys,
Saltonstalls, Chambers and Otises,
and as you might find with more pro-
priety in the Winthrops" But Mr..
Adams added: THE landlord is loud,
big, good-natured and lazy"
Whether the sedate Mr.. Adams
drank lone yard Of fiannel'-a popu-
lar drink in those days-is not re-
corded; but it is recorded somewhere
that Flip" another name for the
drink, was served free to regular Gus
toners on New Year day. even in New
England taverns. The thrifty Yankee
housewife always kept grated ginger
and nutmeg, with fine dried lemon
peel rubbed together in a mortar, on
the top shelf of her cupboard; the
following recipe is for quart of
"one yard Of flannel: Put the ale
no measure is giVen-on the fire to
warm and beat up three or four eggs |
WITH ounces Of moist sugar, a
teaspoonful of grated nutmeg or
ginger and a quartern (about a quar-
ter of a gill or DASH of good old rum
or brandy; when the ale is near the boil |
put it into one pitcher and the rum |
and eggs, etc, into another, then |
turn it from one to the other till it |
is as smooth as cream. To heat plunge |
in the red-hot loggerhead poker"
It is said that the beautifully re-
stored Apollo room in the Raleigh |
Tavern in Williamsburg. used as |
gentlemen's dining room in the eight |
eenth century, was named for the |
room in the Devil Tavern, London,
which had been frequented by Ra-
leigh, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare and
their friends. In the Apollo room in |
the Raleigh the same Latin motto was |
carved in the frieze in gilt letters |
above the mantel: "Hilaritas Sapien-
tiae ct Bonae Vitae Proles"; this re-
ceived a rather free translation by |
the guests of the time-"jollity, the |
offspring of wisdom and good living"
It is hoped that the above Latin
uotation-although literally inter-
preted is correct, for it is wished
to avoid the confusion that has re-
suited from Senator Carter Glass
now famous Latin quotation in his
letter to Mr.. Charles S. Hamlin of |
the Federal Reserve Board. OF course