Part 2

The wines of Chio, however, held the greatest reputation, which was such that the inhabitants of that island were thought to have been the first who planted the vine and taught the use of it to other nations. These wines were held in such esteem and were of so high a value at Rome, that in the time of Lucullus, at their greatest entertainments, they drank only one cup of them, at the end of the feast; but as sweetness and delicacy of flavour were their prevailing qualities, this final cup may have been taken as a liqueur. Both the Greeks and the Romans kept their wine in large earthenware jars, made with narrow necks, swollen bodies, and pointed at the bottom, by which they were fixed into the earth; these vessels, called Amphoræ, though generally of earthenware, are mentioned by Homer as being constructed of gold and of stone. Among the Romans it was customary, at the time of filling their wine-vessels, to inscribe upon them the name of the consul under whose office they were filled, thus supplying them with a good means of distinguishing their vintages and pointing out the excellence of particular ones, much in the same way as we now speak of the vintages of '20, '34, or '41. Thus, Pliny mentions a celebrated wine which took its name from Opimius, in whose consulate it was made, and was preserved good to his time (a period of nearly 200 years). The vessel used for carrying the wine to the table was called Ampulla, being a small bulging bottle covered with leather and having two handles, which it would be fair to consider the original type of the famous "leathern bottel," the inventor of which is so highly eulogized in the old song,--

"I wish that his soul in heaven may dwell, Who first invented the leathern bottel."

The wine was frequently cooled by keeping the vessels in snow; and it was brought to the table in flasks, which, instead of being corked, had a little fine oil poured into the necks to exclude the air.

Although the ancients were well acquainted with the excellence of wine, they were not ignorant of the dangers attending the abuse of it. Salencus passed a law forbidding the use of wine, upon pain of death, except in case of sickness; and the inhabitants of Marseilles and Miletus prohibited the use of it to women. At Rome, in the early ages, young persons of high birth were not permitted to drink wine till they attained the age of thirty, and to women the use of it was absolutely forbidden; but Seneca complains of the violation of this law, and says that in his day the women valued themselves upon carrying excess of wine to as great a height as the most robust men. "Like them," says he, "they pass whole nights at tables, and, with a full glass of unmixed wine in their hands, they glory in vying with them, and, if they can, in overcoming them." This worthy philosopher, however, appears not to have considered excess of drinking in men a vice; for he goes so far as to advise men of high-strained minds to get intoxicated now and then. "Not," says he, "that it may over-power us, but only relax our overstrained faculties." Soon afterwards he adds, "Do you call Cato's excess in wine a vice? Much sooner may you be able to prove drunkenness to be a virtue, than Cato to be vicious."

The first history of wine was written in Latin by Bacci in the 16th century; and in 1775 Sir Edward Barry composed his observations on "Wines of the Ancients," whose authority, though not reliable, is curious. After him came Dr. Henderson on Wines; and the best treatise of the present day is the History of Wine by Cyrus Redding. To all wine-keepers and consumers I would recommend a perusal of a little work called 'The Wine Guide,' by Frederick C. Mills (1861).

Let us, with these casual remarks, leave the Greeks and Romans, with jovial old Horace at their head, quaffing his cup of rosy Falernian, his brow smothered in evergreens (as was his wont), and pass on to our immediate ancestry, the Anglo-Saxon race--not forgetting, however, that the ancient Britons had their veritable cup of honeyed drink, called Metheglin, though this may be said indeed to have had a still greater antiquity, if Ben Johnson is right in pronouncing it to have been the favourite drink of Demosthenes while composing his excellent and mellifluous orations. The Anglo-Saxons not only enjoyed their potations, but conducted them with considerable pomp and ceremony, although, as may readily be conceived, from want of civilization, excess prevailed. In one of our earliest Saxon romances we learn that "it came to the mind of Hrothgar to build a great mead-hall, which was to be the chief palace;" and, further on, we find this palace spoken of as "the beer-hall, where the Thane performed his office--he that in his hand bare the twisted ale-cup, from which he poured the bright, sweet liquor, while the poet sang serene, and the guests boasted of their exploits." Furthermore we learn that, when the queen entered, she served out the liquor, first offering the cup to her lord and master, and afterwards to the guests. In this romance, "the dear or precious drinking-cup, from which they quaffed the mead," is also spoken of: and as these worthies had the peculiar custom of burying the drinking-cups with their dead, we may conclude they were held in high esteem, while at the same time it gives us an opportunity of actually seeing the vessels of which the romance informs us; for in Saxon graves, or barrows, they are now frequently found. They were principally made of glass; and the twisted pattern alluded to appears to have been the most prevailing shape. Several other forms have been discovered, all of which, however, are so formed with rounded bottoms that they will not stand by themselves; consequently their contents must have been quaffed before replacing them on the table. It is probable that from this peculiar shape we derive our modern word "tumbler;" and, if so, the freak attributed to the Prince Regent, and since his time, occasionally performed at our Universities, of breaking the stems off the wine-glasses in order to ensure their being emptied of the contents, was no new scheme, it having been employed by our ancestors in a more legitimate and less expensive manner. We also find, in Anglo-Saxon graves, pitchers from which the drink was poured, differing but little from those now in common use, as well as buckets in which the ale was conveyed from the cellar. That drinking-cups among the Anglo-Saxons were held in high esteem, and were probably of considerable value, there can be no doubt, from the frequent mention made of their being bequeathed after death; in proof of which, from among many others, we may quote the instance of the Mercian king Witlaf giving to the Abbey of Crowland the horn of his table, "that the elder monks may drink from it on festivals, and in their benedictions remember sometimes the soul of the donor," as well as the one mentioned in Gale's 'History of Ramsey,' to the Abbey of which place the Lady Ethelgiva presented "two silver cups for the use of the brethren in the refectory, in order that, while drink is served in them, my memory may be more firmly imprinted on their hearts." Another curious proof of the estimation in which they were held is, that in pictures of warlike expeditions, where representations of the valuable spoils are given, we invariably find drinking-vessels portrayed most prominently. The ordinary drinks of the Anglo-Saxons were ale and mead, though wine was also used by them; but wine is spoken of as "not the drink of children or of fools, but of elders and wise men:" and the scholar says he does not drink wine, because he is not rich enough to buy it; from which, _en passant_, we may notice that scholars were not rich men even in those days, and up to the present time, we fear, have but little improved their worldly estate. We cannot learn that the Saxons were in the habit of compounding drinks, and, beyond the fact of their pledging each other with the words "Drinc-hæl" and "Wæss-hæl," accompanying the words with a kiss, and that minstrelsy formed a conspicuous adjunct to their drinking-festivities, we can obtain but little knowledge of the customs they pursued. The Vedic "cup-drink" was "Soma," which is described as being "sweet, honied, sharp and well-flavoured," the liquor of the Gods. One of the many hymns in the Vedas in its praise may be thus translated--

"We have drunk the Soma And are entered into Light, So that we know the Gods. What can now an enemy do to us? What can the malice of any mortal effect Against thee and us, O! thou immortal God?"

For further information on this and other points, much may be learnt from Mr. Wright's excellent book of 'Domestic Manners and Sentiments of the Middle Ages,' where some good illustrations of Saxon drinking-scenes are sketched from the Harleian and other manuscripts. From the scarcity of materials descriptive of the social habits of the Normans, we glean but little as to their customs of drinking; in all probability they differed but slightly from those of the Saxons, though at this time wine became of more frequent use, the vessels from which it was quaffed being bowl-shaped, and generally made of glass. Will of Malmsbury, describing the customs of Glastonbury soon after the Conquest, says, that on particular occasions the monks had "mead in their cans, and wine in their grace-cup." Excess in drinking appears to have been looked upon with leniency; for, in the stories of Reginald of Durham, we read of a party drinking all night at the house of a priest; and in another he mentions a youth passing the whole night drinking at a tavern with his monastic teacher, till the one cannot prevail on the other to go home. The qualities of good wine in the 12th century are thus singularly set forth:--"It should be clear like the tears of a penitent, so that a man may see distinctly to the bottom of the glass; its colour should represent the greenness of a buffalo's horn; when drunk, it should descend impetuously like thunder; sweet-tasted as an almond; creeping like a squirrel; leaping like a roebuck; strong like the building of a Cistercian monastery; glittering like a spark of fire; subtle like the logic of the schools of Paris; delicate as fine silk; and colder than crystal." If we pursue our theme through the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, we find but little to edify us, those times being distinguished more by their excess and riot than by superiority of beverages or the customs attached to them. It would be neither profitable nor interesting to descant on scenes of brawling drunkenness, which ended not unfrequently in fierce battles--or pause to admire the congregation of female gossips at the taverns, where the overhanging sign was either the branch of a tree, from which we derive the saying that "good wine needs no bush," or the equally common appendage of a besom hanging from the window, which has supplied us with the idea of "hanging out the broom." The chief wine drank at this period was Malmsey, first imported into England in the 13th century, when its average price was about 50_s._ a butt; this wine, however, attained its greatest popularity in the 15th century. There is a story in connexion with this wine which makes it familiar to every schoolboy; and that is, the part it played in the death of the Duke of Clarence. Whether that nobleman did choose a butt of Malmsey, and thus carry out the idea of drowning his cares in wine, as well as his body, matters but little, we think, to our readers. We may however mention that although great suspicion has been thrown on the truth of the story, the only two contemporary writers who mention his death, Fabyan and Comines, appear to have had no doubt that the Duke of Clarence was actually drowned in a butt of Malmsey. In the records kept of the expenses of Mary, Queen of Scots, during her captivity at Tutbury, we find a weekly allowance of Malmsey granted to her for a bath. In a somewhat scarce French book, written in the 15th century, entitled 'La Légende de Maître Pierre Faiferi,' we find the following verse relating to the death of the Duke of Clarence:--

"I have seen the Duke of Clarence (So his wayward fate had will'd), By his special order, drown'd In a cask with Malmsey fill'd. That that death should strike his fancy, This the reason, I suppose; He might think that hearty drinking Would appease his dying throes."

A wine called "Clary" was also drank at this period. It appears to have been an infusion of the herb of that name in spirit, and is spoken of by physicians of the time as an excellent cordial for the stomach, and highly efficacious in the cure of hysterical affections. This may in some measure account for the statement in the Household Ordinances for the well keeping of the Princess Cecil, afterwards mother to that right lusty and handsome King, Edward IV.; we there find it laid down "that for the maintenance of honest mirth she shall take, an hour before bedtime, a cup of Clary wine." "Red wine" is also spoken of in the reign of Henry VIII.; but it is uncertain to what class of wine it belonged, or whence it came: if palatable, however, its cheapness would recommend it; for at the marriage of Gervys Clinton and Mary Neville, three hogsheads of it, for the wedding-feast, were bought for five guineas. Gascony and Guienne wines were sold in the reign of Henry VIII. at eighteenpence a gallon, and Malmsey, Romaney, and sack at twelvepence a pint. In the reign of Edward IV. few places were allowed more than two taverns, and London was limited to forty. None but those who could spend 100 marks a year, or the son of a Duke, Marquis, Earl, or Baron, were allowed to keep more than ten gallons of wine at one time; and only the High Sheriffs, Magistrates of Cities, and the inhabitants of fortified towns might keep vessels of wine for their own use. In the same reign, however, we learn that the Archbishop of York consumed 100 tons on his enthronement, and as much as four pipes a month were consumed in some of our noblemen's houses. We must not, however, pass over the 15th century without proclaiming it as the dawn of the "Cup-epoch," if we may be allowed the term, as gleaned from the rolls of some of the ancient colleges of our Universities. In the _computus_ of Magstoke Priory, A.D. 1447, is an entry in Latin, the translation of which seems to be this:--"Paid for raisin wine, with comfits and spices, when Sir S. Montford's fool was here and exhibited his merriments in the oriel chamber." And even in Edward III.'s reign, we read that at the Christmas feasts the drinks were a collection of spiced liquors, and cinnamon and grains of paradise were among the dessert confections--evidence of compound drinks being in fashion; and these, although somewhat too much medicated to be in accordance with our present taste, deserve well of us as leading to better things. Olden worthies who took their cups regularly, and so lived clean and cheerful lives, when they were moved to give up their choice recipes for the public good, described them under the head of "kitchen physic;" for the oldest "Curry" or Cookery Books (the words are synonymous) include, under this head, both dishes of meats and brewages of drinks. One cup is described as "of mighty power in driving away the cobweby fogs that dull the brain," another as "a generous and right excellent cordial, very comforting to the stomach;" and their possession of these good qualities was notably the reason of their appearance at entertainments. Among the most prominent ranks the medicated composition called Hypocras, also styled "Ypocras for Lords," for the making of which various recipes are to be found, one of which we will quote:--

"Take of Aqua vitæ (brandy) 5 oz. Pepper 2 oz. Ginger 2 oz. Cloves 2 oz. Grains of Paradise 2 oz. Ambergris 5 grs. Musk 2 grs.

Infuse these for twenty-four hours, then put a pound of sugar to a quart of red wine or cider, and drop three or four drops of the infusion into it, and it will make it taste richly." This compound was usually given at marriage festivals, when it was introduced at the commencement of the banquet, served hot; for it is said to be of so comforting and generous a nature that the stomach would be at once put into good temper to enjoy the meats provided. Hypocras (so called from a particular bag through which it was strained) was also a favourite winter beverage; and we find in an old almanac of 1699 the lines--

"Sack, Hypocras, now, and burnt brandy Are drinks as good and warm as can be."

Hypocras, however, is mentioned as early as the 14th century. From this period we select our champion of compound drinks in no less a personage than the noblest courtier of Queen Bess; for, among other legacies of price, Sir Walter Raleigh has handed down to us a recipe for "Cordial Water," which, in its simplicity and goodness, stands alone among the compounds of the age. "Take," says he, "a gallon of strawberries and put them into a pint of aqua vitæ; let them stand four days, then strain them gently off, and sweeten the liquor as it pleaseth thee." This beverage, though somewhat too potent for modern palates, may, by proper dilution, be rendered no unworthy cup even in the present age. From the same noble hand we get a recipe for Sack Posset, which full well shows us propriety of taste in its compounder. "Boil a quart of cream with quantum sufficit of sugar, mace, and nutmeg; take half a pint of sack, and the same quantity of ale, and boil them well together, adding sugar; these, being boiled separately, are now to be added. Heat a pewter dish very hot, and cover your basin with it, and let it stand by the fire for two or three hours."

With regard to wines, we find in the beginning of the 16th century that the demand for Malmsey was small; and in 1531 we find Sack first spoken of, that being the name applied to the vintages of Candia, Cyprus, and Spain. Shakspeare pronounced Malmsey to be "fulsom," and bestowed all his praises on "fertil sherries;" and when Shakspeare makes use of the word Sack, he evidently means by it a superior class of wine. Thus Sir Launcelot Sparcock, in the "London Prodigal," says,

"Drawer, let me have _sack_ for us old men: For these girls and knaves small wines are best."

In all probability, the sack of Shakspeare was very much allied to, if not precisely the same as, our sherry; for Falstaff says, "You rogue! there is lime in this sack too; there is nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man; yet a coward is worse than sack with lime in it;" and we know that lime is used in the manufacture of sherry, in order to free it from a portion of malic and tartaric acids, and to assist in producing its dry quality. Sack is spoken of as late as 1717, in a parish register, which allows the minister a pint of it on the Lord's day, in the winter season; and Swift, writing in 1727, has the lines--

"As clever Tom Clinch, while the rabble was bawling, Rode stately through Holborn to die of his calling, He stopped at the 'George' for a bottle of sack, And promised to pay for it when he came back."

He was probably of the same opinion as the Elizabethan poet, who sang,

"Sacke will make the merry minde sad, So will it make the melancholie glad. If mirthe and sadnesse doth in sacke remain, When I am sad I'll take some sacke again."

A recipe of this time, attributed to Sir Fleetwood Fletcher, is curious in its composition in more ways than one; and, as we seldom find such documents in rhyme, we give it:--

"From famed Barbadoes, on the western main, Fetch sugar, ounces four; fetch sack from Spain, A pint; and from the Eastern coast, Nutmeg, the glory of our northern toast; O'er flaming coals let them together heat, Till the all-conquering sack dissolve the sweet; O'er such another fire put eggs just ten, New-born from tread of cock and rump of hen; Stir them with steady hand, and conscience pricking, To see the untimely end of ten fine chicken; From shining shelf take down the brazen skillet-- A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it; When boil'd and cold put milk and sack to eggs, Unite them firmly like the triple leagues; And on the fire let them together dwell Till miss sing twice 'you must not kiss and tell;' Each lad and lass take up a silver spoon, And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon."

About this time, one Lord Holles, who probably represented the total abstainers of the age, invented a drink termed Hydromel, made of honey, spring-water, and ginger; and a cup of this taken at night, said he, "will cure thee of all troubles,"--thus acknowledging the stomachic virtues of cups, though some warping of his senses would not let him believe, to a curable extent, in more potent draughts: being in charity with him, we hope his was a saving faith; but we have our doubts of it, he died so young. Another recipe of the same nature was, "The Ale of health and strength," by the Duchess of St. Albans, which appears to have been a decoction of all the aromatic herbs in the garden (whether agreeable or otherwise), boiled up in small beer; and, thinking this account of its composition is sufficient, we will not indulge our readers with the various items or proportions. One of the most amusing descriptions of old English cheer we ever met with is that of Master Stephen Perlin, a French physician, who was in England during the reigns of Edward VI. and Mary. He says, writing for the benefit of his countrymen, "The English, one with the other, are joyous, and are very fond of music; likewise they are great drinkers. Now remember, if you please, that in this country they generally use vessels of silver when they drink wine; and they will say to you usually at table, 'Goude chere;' and also they will say to you more than one hundred times, 'Drind oui,' and you will reply to them in their language, 'Iplaigui.' They drink their beer out of earthenware pots, of which the handles and the covers are of silver," &c. Worthy Master Perlin seems hardly to have got on with his spelling of the English tongue while he was studying our habits; his account, however, of olden customs is reliable and curious. The custom of pledging and drinking healths is generally stated to have originated with the Anglo-Saxons; but, with such decided evidence before us of similar customs among the Greeks and Romans, we must at any rate refer it to an earlier period; and indeed we may rationally surmise that, in some form or other, the custom has existed from time immemorial. In later times the term "toasting" was employed to designate customs of a similar import, though the precise date of the application of this term is uncertain; and although we cannot accept the explanation given in the 24th number of the 'Tatler,' yet, for its quaintness, we will quote it:--

"It is said that while a celebrated beauty was indulging in her bath, one of the crowd of admirers who surrounded her took a glass of the water in which the fair one was dabbling, and drank her health to the company, when a gay fellow offered to jump in, saying, 'Though he liked not the liquor, he would have the _toast_.'" This tale proves that toasts were put into beverages in those days, or the wag would not have applied the simile to the fair bather; and in the reign of Charles II., Earl Rochester writes,

"Make it so large that, fill'd with sack Up to the swelling brim, Vast _toasts_ on the delicious lake, Like ships at sea, may swim."

And in a panegyric on Oxford ale, written by Warton in 1720, we have the lines--