[45] So called from the battle of Birs, in the reign of Louis XI., in which 1,600 Swiss opposed 30,000 French, and only sixteen of the former survived. The fallen succumbed, we are told, less to the power of the foe than to the fatigue of the fighting. [46] It is supposed by the erudite divine, Adam Clarke, to be probably borrowed from the Hebrew word שֵׁכָר, Greek σίκερα, which, according to St. Jerome (_Epist. ad Nepotianum de vita Clericorum, et in Isai. xxvii. 1_), means any intoxicating liquor, whether of honey, corn, apples, dates, or other fruits. [47] In a treatise of the Talmud, _Abodah Zarah_, fol. 40, col. 2, cider is called “wine of apples.” [48] Walker: _Hist. Essay on Gardening_, p. 166. _Anthologia Hibernica_, i. 194. [49] The extra dry old lauded or pale cremant, or the extra reserve Cuvée, 1884 vintage. [50] For further information, see Crocker, Marshall, Knight, and especially Stopes. [51] The French name, _Eau de Vie_, having the same meaning. [52] “The Vertuose boke of Distyllacyon of the Waters of all maner of Herbes, with the fygures of the styllatoryes, Fyrst made and compyled by the thyrte yeres study and labour of the most con̅ynge and famous master of phisyke, Master Iherom bruynswyke. And now newly Translated out of Duyche into Englysshe,” etc. Lond., 1572. [53] Lethargy. [54] Belching. [55] Pleurisy. [56] A Spanish Wine. [57] ? Orrice. [58] Stir. [59] Phial. [60] _Adam and Eve stript of their furbelows_, 1710 (?) [61] Act III., s. 3. [62] _My Life and Recollections_, Vol. I., p. 59. [63] Now called Athol brose. [64] Of the word gill-house a recent editor of Pope observes that it is doubtful whether it is to be understood as a house where gill, or beer impregnated with ground-ivy, was sold, or whether as an inferior tavern, where beer was sold by the measure known as a gill. [65] There are two other prints connected with this event, all published at the same time. One is “The Funeral Procession of Madame Geneva, Sept. 29, 1736.” The other is a Memorial, “To the Mortal Memory of Madame Geneva, who died Sept. 29, 1736. Her weeping Servants and loving Friends, consecrate this Tomb.” [66] Whose premises were burnt down during the Lord George Gordon riots. Dickens immortalized Langdale in _Barnaby Rudge_. The distillery is still in existence at the same place. [67] A whistling shop was a sly grog-shop. No spirits were allowed in the Fleet prison, but of course they were introduced, and could be got at some places. The method of telling who could be trusted, was for the customers to whistle—hence the term. [68] _Alcoholic Drinks_, 1884, p. 67. [69] Scott’s _Ivanhoe_, cap. iii. [70] _Morat_ is a composition of honey and mulberries, from which latter its name is derived.