Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England: A HistoryFrench, Richard Valpy
History
Nineteen Centuries of Drink in England: A History
French, Richard Valpy
Drinking customs -- England; Drinking of alcoholic beverages -- Great Britain; England -- Social life and customs
It appears from another author, that this method was accounted a
procedure _in order_, for he adds, ‘It is drunke _without order_ when
the course or method of order is not observed, and that the cup passeth
on to whomsoever we shall appoint.’ Drink is the burden of the songs
of this hilarious writer, who is usually, known by the sobriquet of
Drunken Barnaby (or Barnabea) from the titles he himself employed. It
is curiously illustrative of the hold that convivial phrases had upon
the popular mind that we find a pious divine solemnly quoting the words
of a suffering Christian, one Lawrence Saunders, to this effect,--‘My
Saviour began to mee in a bitter cup, and shall not I _pledge_ Him?’
[_i.e._ drink the same cup of sorrow]. The divine just alluded to,
Dr. Samuel Ward, of Ipswich, in his sermon (1685) entitled ‘Woe to
Drunkards,’ anathematises _toasting_: ‘Abandon that foolish and vicious
custome, as Ambrose and Basil call it, of drinking healths, and making
that a sacrifice to God for the health of others, which is rather a
sacrifice to the devil, and a bane of their owne.’
But this kind of appeal was by no means confined to the pulpit. Robert
Burton, the famous author of the _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (1621), who
cannot be accused of being strait-laced (at any rate, Anthony Wood
speaks of his company as very merry, facete, and juvenile), in his
pungent chapter on Dyet as a cause of melancholy, exclaims,--
What immoderate drinking in every place! How they flock to the
tavern! as if they were born to no other end but to eat and drink,
as so many casks to hold wine; yea, worse than a cask, that marrs
wine, and itself is not marred by it.... ‘Tis now come to that
pass, that he is no gentleman, a very milk-sop, that will not
drink, fit for no company.... No disparagement now to stagger in
the streets, reel, rave, &c., but much to his renown.... ‘Tis the
_summum bonum_ of our tradesmen, their felicity, life, and soul,
to be merry together in an ale-house or tavern, as our modern
Muscovites do in their mede-inns, and Turks in their coffee-houses.
They will labour hard all day long, to be drunk at night, and spend
_totius anni labores_ in a tippling feast.... How they love a man
that will be drunk, crown him, and honour him for it, hate him
that will not pledge him, stab him, kill him: a most intolerable
offence, and not to be forgiven.
Again, in his chapter on ‘Mirth and Merry Company,’ he warns,--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account