You laugh now Goodman two ſhoes, but at what? My Grove, my Manſion Houſe, or my dun Hat; Is it for that my loving Chin and Snout Are met, becauſe my Teeth are fallen out; Is it at me, or at my Ruff you titter; Your Grandmother, you Rouge, nere wore a fitter. Is it at Forehead’s Wrinkle, or Cheeks’ Furrow, Or at my Mouth, ſo like a Coney Borrough, Or at thoſe Orient Eyes that nere ſhed tear But when the Exciſemen come, that’s twice a year. Kiſs me and tell me true, and when they fail, Thou ſhalt have larger potts and ſtronger Ale. ] The following extracts from old Scotch laws show the similarity of the old English and Scotch usages:—“All women quha brewes aill to be sould, sall brew conforme to the use and consuetude of the burgh all the yeare. And ilk Browster sall put forth ane signe of her aill, without her house, be the window or be the dure, that it may be sene as common to all men; quhilk gif she does not, she sall pay ane unlaw (fine) of foure pennies.” “It is statute that na woman sel the gallon of aill fra Pasch until Michaelmes, dearer nor twa pennies; and fra Michaelmas untill Pasch, dearer nor ane pennie.” A verse or two of the “_Ale-wife’s Supplication_; or, the Humble Address of the Scotch Brewers to his Majesty King George III., for taking away the License and charging some less {131} duty on Malt and Ale,” must close this reference to the old Scotch brewing trade:— Here’s to thee, neighbour, ere we part, But your Ale is not worth the mou’ing You must make it more stout and smart, Or else give over your brewing. It’s nineteen Times ’courg’d thro’ the Draff, So whipt by Willy Water, That Barm and Hop bears a’ the Scoup; I swear I’ve made far better. Cries Maggy, then, you speak as you ken, Consider our Taxations; And brew it stout, you’ll soon run out, Of both your Purse and Patience: For these gauging Men, with nimble Pen, Can count each Pile of Barley; And he that cheats them of a Gill, Will get up very early. Returning now to London, it is proposed to give some account of the brewing trade in olden times, and of the Brewers’ Company. The first differences that strike one in contrasting the ancient and modern breweries are that the former were on a very small scale compared with the huge establishments of to-day, and that originally nearly every brewer was also a retailer. In Chaucer’s time a brewhouse was often synonymous with an ale-house:— “In al the toun nas brewhouse ne taverne That he ne visited with his solas.”