Then our brave Highland blades, Wi’ their claymore and plaids, In the field drive like sheep a’ our foes, man: Their courage and pow’r— Spring from this to be sure, They’re the noble effects o’ the brose, man. Then hey, &c., &c. But your spyndle-shank’d sparks Wha sae ill fill their sarks, Your pale-visaged milksops and beaux, man: I think when I see them, ’Twere kindness to gie them— A cogie o’ yill or o’ brose, man. Then hey, &c., &c. What John Bull despises, Our better sense prizes, He denies eatin’ blanter ava, man; But by eatin o’ blanter, His mare’s grown, I’ll warrant her, The manliest brute o’ the twa, man. Then hey, &c., &c. It would not be difficult to fill a volume of considerable size with songs and ballads having ale or beer for their subject, but the foregoing, together with many others to be found in these pages, are among the best of their kind, and will doubtless give a fair idea of the poetry of malt liquor. {331} [Illustration] CHAPTER XII. “Blessing of your heart, you brew good Ale.” _Two Gentlemen of Verona._ Act iii., Sc. 1. “The bigger the brewing the better the browst.” _Old Yorkshire Proverb._ _BREWING IN THE PRESENT DAY. — ANECDOTAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF SOME REPRESENTATIVE LONDON, DUBLIN, BURTON, AND COUNTRY BREWING FIRMS. — EDINBURGH ALES._ Passing on to modern times and bidding adieu to the old brewers, brewsters, ale-wives, and tapsters, it behoves us to devote ourselves to giving some account of the brewing of the present day, thereby bringing our history up to date. With this intent, we cannot do better than commence with a few figures, startling enough, no doubt, to others than the _cognoscenti_, as to the magnitude of what are commonly called the Liquor Trades. From a report drawn up by Professor Leoni Levi in 1878, at the request of the late Mr. M. T. Bass, M.P., and from recent Parliamentary returns, it appears that the total amount of capital invested in the liquor trades of the United Kingdom amounts to about one hundred and seventeen million pounds sterling. This sum is equal to more than half the total value of our exports, and is more than double the annual receipts of all the railways. About one-third of the whole National Revenue is drawn from this source. Making due allowance for families, the persons employed directly in {332} the various trades connected with the production and distribution of alcoholic drinks are not fewer in number than one and a half million. From these startling facts, it follows that teetotallers, before they can accomplish the total abolition of spirituous liquors, must arrange for either emigrating or giving employment to over a million persons, and must be prepared to pay one-third more taxes than they do at present.