Part 12

“Then when the Bottel doth grow old, And will good Liquor no longer hold, Out of its side you may take a Clout, Will mend your Shooes when they’r worn out; Else take it, and hang it upon a Pin, It will serve to put many Trifles in, As Hinges, Awls, and Candle-ends, For young Beginners must have such things. _Then I wish_, etc.”

The next most popular English drinking vessel was the _greybeard_, or as it was sometimes, but seldom, called the _Bellarmine_, from the Cardinal of that name so famous for his controversial works. These jugs were imported largely from the Low Countries, where the Cardinal’s name was a reproach. These greybeards are of very common occurrence, being frequently found in excavating on the sites of old houses.

Two centuries after the greybeard, came the brown Staffordshire _Toby Philpot_, an enormously stout old gentleman, whose arms and hands encircle his enormous paunch, and his three-cornered hat forms a most convenient lip, whence the ale can be poured. It owes its origin to a once very popular drinking song, entitled “The Brown Jug,” which is an imitation from the Latin of Hieronymus Amaltheus, by Francis Fawkes, M.A., published in 1761, which is the date of the accompanying illustration.

“Dear Tom, this brown jug, which now foams with mild ale, Out of which I now drink to sweet Nan of the Vale, Was once Toby Philpot, a thirsty old soul, As e’er cracked a bottle, or fathom’d a bowl; In bousing about, ’twas his pride to excel, And amongst jolly topers he bore off the bell.

It chanced as in dog-days he sat at his ease, In his flower-woven arbour, as gay as you please, With his friend and a pipe, puffing sorrow away, And with honest Old Stingo sat soaking his clay, His breath-doors of life on a sudden were shut, And he died full big as a Dorchester Butt.

His body, when long in the ground it had lain, And time into clay had dissolved it again, A potter found out, in its covert so snug, And with part of Fat Toby he form’d this brown jug; Now sacred to friendship, to mirth, and mild ale— So here’s to my lovely sweet Nan of the Vale.”

Burton-on-Trent may be termed the Metropolis of English Beer, and there, veritably, “Beer is King.” This pre-eminence is attributed to the quality of the water, which seems peculiarly fitted for brewing purposes, and the fact that the large brewers there located use none but the finest malt and hops procurable. There is an old saying, that wherever an Englishman has trodden, and where has he not? there may be found an empty beer bottle. And, truly, he does carry the taste for his natural beverage wherever he goes, and the export trade is enormous, every ship wanting freight, filling up with bottled beer, as a safe thing. Fuller, in his _Worthies of England_ (ed. 1662, p. 115), gives his account of the origin of bottled beer. Speaking of Alexander Nowell, who was made Dean of St. Paul’s as soon as Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, he mentions his fondness for fishing, and says, “Without offence it may be remembred, that leaving a _Bottle_ of _Ale_ (when fishing) in the _Grasse_; he found it some dayes after, no _Bottle_, but a _Gun_, such the sound at the opening therof. And this is believed (Casualty is _Mother_ of more _Inventions_ than _Industry_) the original of _bottled-ale_ in _England_.”

The London brewer had to be content, before Sir Hugh Myddleton brought the New River to the Metropolis, with the water obtained from the Thames, for Artesian wells were not, and other well water must, from the crowded state of the City, have been highly charged with organic matter. But their trade was so important that they were incorporated into a Gild, and the Brewers’ Company is now in existence, having their Hall in Addle Street, Wood Street. The City still maintains the importance of beer as a beverage by keeping an Ale Conner, whose duty is to taste ales, and see that the price charged is not excessive. Their oath of office may be found in the _Liber Albus_, published at the instance of the Government.

The names of our great English brewers are too well known among the English people to need recapitulation—and space is too scarce to describe their premises. The London draymen have always been noted as a race of tall stalwart men, and brewers generally have taken a pride in getting the largest and strongest horses for their work. These two draymen are of the time of George I., and the weight they are carrying contrasts favourably with the satire of a huge dray horse dragging a four and a half gallon cask. On one notable occasion brewers’ draymen have gone beyond their last. When General Haynau visited Barclay’s Brewery, they rose in indignation against him and chased him from the place, because it was alleged that the General had caused a lady to be flogged!

The Village Ale-house is, or was, the village club, and certainly is a welcome place of rest for the wayfarer. They are always clean, and frequently quaint, although now-a-days it would be hard to find, as Rowlandson did, a turnspit dog on duty.

The names of ales are legion; but some are worthy of a passing notice on account of their strength, such as some of the College Ales, those brewed at the birth of an heir—to be drank at his coming of age, Ten Guinea Ale, etc., and there are any quantity of pseudo beers—_i.e._ those not made from malt and hops, China Ale, Radish Ale, ale made from beet or mangel wurzel, and heather beer, which latter is of so great antiquity that its method of manufacture is said to have been lost with the extirpation of the Picts, although some say it was brewed by the Danes. It is probable that the flowers and tops of the heath were used as a substitute for hops, as, previous to the introduction of the latter plant, broom, wormwood and other bitter herbs were used.

J. A.

FRANCE: Cerevisia; Double Bière; Adulteration. GERMANY: Mum; Beer Factories; Faust. INDIA: Pachwai, Piworree. JAPAN: Saki; Kæmpfer. RUSSIA: Kvas; Vodki; Pivo. SWEDEN: Spruce. TARTARY: Baksoum.

FRANCE.

In France beer was originally known as _cervoise_ from the Low Latin _cerevisia_. There are two sorts, white and red; the latter has more hops. When much grain enters into the composition it is called _double bière_. Its qualities vary here as elsewhere, according to the grain employed in its manufacture, the malt, and the fermentation. It has been commonly adulterated with _ledum palustre_ or wild rosemary, a strong narcotic. Allusions to beer are comparatively infrequent in French works. The details of its manufacture, which present no remarkable points of variation, may be found in any French work on brewing.

GERMANY.

Of the many beers of this country, perhaps the most deserving of notice here is the _Mum_ of Brunswick, well known and appreciated for its excellence. The process observed in its manufacture has been, it is said, always kept a mystery,[113] and to prevent discovery, the men who brewed it were hired for life. The origin of the word _Mum_ is obscure. The German _Mumme_, a strong ale producing silence[114] from intoxication; the Danish word for a mask, because it exhibits the parties drinking it with a new face; and _Christian Mummer_ of Brunswick, the supposed inventor of the drink, have been by turns suggested. The varied kinds of _Schenk_, or winter beer, and _Lager_, or summer beer, are fairly well known. The Leipzig Goose and the Berlin white beer are refreshing drinks in summer. An excellent description of _Bierbrauerei_ apparatus is given in Brockhaus’ _Conversations Lexikon_, Band iii. The most important beer factories are in Munich,[115] Erlangen, Zirndorf, Nürnberg, and Vienna.

German beer is far less potent than that of England, but want of strength is made up by the quantity taken. From the time of Goethe, and long before, Germans were great consumers of beer, and the scene in his “Faust,” of students in Auerbach’s Cellar, was typical of his time. Now-a-days there is no degeneracy in the German beer drinker, and a Viennese “Saufender Renommist” will drink his thirty half-pints of _Märzen_ at a sitting. German beers are now readily attainable at any German restaurant in London.

INDIA.

The Hill-tribes of India commonly consume _Pachwai_, prepared from rice and other grain in Bengal. In Nepaul a beer named _Phaur_, made from rice or wheat, is brewed much in the same manner as English ale, which it is said strongly to resemble. It is in considerable repute and, according to Hamilton,[116] wheat and barley are in Nepaul reared for the express purpose of making the beer and other drinks similar to it. In the West Indies the negroes make a fermented drink resembling beer from _cassava_, which in Barbadoes is termed _piworree_,[117] and in other places _ouycou_.

This plant, the _manioc_ or _mandioc_ of America, grows to the size of a small tree, and produces roots like our parsnips.[118] _Ouycou_ is sometimes brewed very strong. It is considered nourishing and refreshing, as indeed most drinks which gratify the palate seem to be considered. Molasses and yams are used in its preparation. The liquor is red. _Piworree_ or _paiwari_ is also made by the Indians in Honduras, as in Brazil, from cassava. Cassava bread carbonised superficially is placed in hot water until fermentation arises. To promote this, feminine chewing is found efficacious. The taste, says Simmonds, is said to resemble that of ale, but is not “quite so agreeable—this may easily be believed.” _Cela dépend_, as in the case of the _chica_ of the sierras of South America.

JAPAN.

Kæmpfer, in his _History of Japan_, i., 121, tells us that in the manufacture of _Sacke_ or _Saki_,[119] a strong and wholesome beer produced from rice, the Japanese are not excelled by any other people. This beer, a very ancient drink, is white when fresh, but becomes brown, if it remains long in the cask. It is manufactured to the highest degree of excellence in Osacca, and thence exported to other countries. The beer’s name is said to be derived from that of this city, being the genitive case of the word, with the initial letter omitted. It is wholesome and pleasant, but should be drunk moderately warm.[120] There are many varieties of _saki_, distinguished by different names.

RUSSIA.

_Quass_, or _Kvas_, a word signifying _sour_, an ancient Scythian beverage, is the ordinary household beer of Russia. A variety of it called _Kisslyschtschy_ is variably described as exceedingly pleasant, and as an abominable small beer, something like sweet wort or treacle beer, almost as vile as the _Vodki_ or Russian gin. These matters of course depend on individual taste. The Russian _pivo_, also in common use, is said to resemble German beer, but German beers are many and diverse.

SWEDEN.

Swedish beer is made at Stockholm. _Spruce_ beer is much in use. This drink is said to have originated from a decoction of the tops of the spruce fir. In Norway and Denmark as well as in Sweden this liquor is made from boiling the leaves, rind and branches of pines. But the _Spruce_ beer of Great Britain and Ireland—either white or brown, according as sugar or molasses is employed in the making—is an essence or fluid extract procured by boiling the shoots, tops, bark and cones of the Scotch fir (_pinus sylvestris_). _Spruce beer_ is supposed to be of much medicinal value as an antiscorbutic. Samuel Morewood presents us with a gratifying reflection on this matter. While, he says, _Spruce_ is beneficial to the health of man, it has not, by its “consequence depreciated his character, or lowered him in his moral dignity.”

TARTARY.

The beer to be met with in Tartary is for the most part of an indifferent quality. That brewed from barley and millet by the Turkestans, termed _baksoum_, more resembles water boiled with rice than beer. They, however, admire it, and affirm that it is an invaluable remedy for dysentery. The reader will have already perceived that it is a cosmopolitan practice to pamper the appetite under the pretence of preserving the health. _Baksoum_ is acid in taste, of no scent, a feeble intoxicant, and cannot be kept for any length of time.

_Non-Alcoholic Drinks._

TEA.

I.

Popularity of Tea as a Drink—Consumption in England, and comparative Use all over the World—Legend of its Origin—Date of its Use—Growth of the Plant—Different Kinds of Tea—Great Falling off in the Exports from China—Ceylon Tea—High Prices of—Statistics—Analysis of Tea.

Of all non-alcoholic beverages, Tea claims the pre-eminence, being drank by nearly, if not quite, half the population of the world, and common alike to all climes and all nations.

In China it is the national beverage, and it is used not only as an ordinary drink, but it is the chief factor in visits of ceremony, and in hospitality. Japan, too, is a large consumer, and its houses of entertainment are “Tea” houses. In the wilds of Thibet its use is universal, and so it is on the steppes of Tartary, where, however, it is made as nauseous and repulsive a drink as possible. In Russia, it is the traveller’s comfort, and every post house is bound by law to have its _samovar_ hot and boiling, ready for the wayfarer. In Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania, the “billy” of tea is familiar, and forms the only drink of the shepherd, the stockman, and the digger. All the British colonies and possessions are devotees to the “cup which cheers, but not inebriates.” Great Britain herself is a great tea drinker, whether it be the “five o’clock tea,” which has developed into a cult, with vestments peculiar thereto; the poor seamstress, stitching for hard life, who takes it to keep herself awake for her task; or the labourer, who takes his tin bottle with him to the field. In fact, go where you will, in every civilized portion of the world (except Greece, where the consumption is merely nominal), and you will find drinkers of tea.

Great Britain is the centre of the tea trade of the world, and in 1889 she imported a total quantity of 222,147,661 lbs., the declared value of which was £9,987,967. Of this she took for her own consumption, and paid duty thereon, 185,628,491 lbs, which, at 6_d._ per lb. duty, produced a revenue of £4,640,704. Wisely or not, Mr. Goschen, in the Budget for 1890, reduced the duty to 4_d._ per lb.

In spite of this enormous quantity of tea drank in Great Britain, she does not rank as the largest consumer per head, which, leaving out China, Japan, Thibet, and Tartary, where statistics are unknown, is as follows:—[121]

Australian Colonies, New Zealand, Tasmania, Great Britain, Newfoundland, Canada, Bermuda, United States, Holland, Cape Colony, Natal, Russia, Denmark, Uruguay, Argentine Republic, B. Honduras, Barbadoes, Trinidad, Antigua, British Guiana, Persia, Portugal, Bahamas, Switzerland, Norway, Germany, Grenada, Morocco, St. Vincent, Jamaica, Belgium, Sweden, France, Roumania, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, Turkey (no returns), Italy (ditto), Greece (nominal), Mauritius, 1888, 106,589 lbs. Sierra Leone, 1888, 6,008 lbs.

The tea shrub grows wild in Assam, and in other parts between the limits of N. Latitude 15° to 40°, and this zone is most favourable to its growth in its cultivated form, although of late years Ceylon, which is nearer the equator, has made enormous strides in the production of tea. Up to the present time, however, China has furnished the largest quantity, and for centuries has enjoyed the monopoly of its production; a monopoly now broken down, and every day vanishing, mainly owing to the roguery of its manufacturers and the folly of its growers.

Of course such a plant could have had no common origin, and no reader need be surprised at its story. The legend runs that Prince Darma, or Djarma, the third son of King Kosjusvo, went, very many centuries ago, from India to China, where he abode, and became celebrated for his piety. Like the _fakirs_ of India, he showed his religious tendencies in a morbid manner—living only under heaven’s canopy, fasting for weeks together, and eliminating sleep altogether from his daily wants. Tradition says that this state of things continued for years, until, one day, weary nature asserted her pre-eminence, and Darma slept. Imagine his holy horror on his awakening! Something of the same kind must have possessed Cranmer when he stretched forth his right hand in the flames of his funereal pyre, with the heart-wrung exclamation, “This hand hath offended.” So with Darma; filled with pious horror, his first thought was, how to expiate his offence, and his peccant eyelids were, consequently, cut off and thrown upon the ground. Next day, returning to the spot where he had involuntarily sinned, he saw two shrubs, of a kind never before beheld in China. He tasted them, found them aromatic, and, moreover, possessing the quality of imparting wakefulness to their consumer. The discovery and miracle became noised abroad, and hence the popularity of tea in China.

But, apart from this legend, the Chinese themselves have no certain record of the introduction of tea into their country. They believe that it was in use in the third century, and in the latter end of the fourth century, Wangmung, a minister of the Tsin dynasty, made it fashionable and much increased its consumption. In all probability it was chewed at that time, for a decoction of it does not appear to have been drank until the time of the Suy dynasty, when the Emperor Wass-te, suffering from headache, was cured by drinking an infusion of tea leaves, by the advice of a Buddhist priest. In the early seventh century this manner of using the shrub was general, and it has maintained its popularity unto the present time, making itself friends wherever it is introduced.

The tea-plant somewhat resembles the Camellia Japonica, and Linnæus, imagining that the black and green teas came from different shrubs, named them _Thea bohea_ and _Thea viridis_. Fortune has definitely settled that both green and black tea are made off the same plants, and it is now taken that there is but one tea-plant, the _Thea Sinensis_, of which, however, there are several varieties, induced by climate, soil, etc.

Tea-plants are grown from seeds, and are made bushy by pinching off the leading shoots. They are planted in rows, each plant being three or four feet distant from the other, and the leaves are stripped in the fourth or fifth year of its growth, and are plucked until the tenth or twelfth, when the plant is grubbed up. May and June are the general months of picking, which is done mostly by women; but the time varies according to the district.

The young and early leaves give the finest and most delicate teas, but the flavour very much depends upon the drying and roasting; but still some soils and climates have a great deal to do with the taste, the finest tea in China growing between the 27th and 31st parallels of latitude.

The Trade names of teas imported from China to England are: _Black_—Congou, Souchong, Ning Yong and Oolong, Flowery and Orange Pekoe. The latter, and Caper, being artificially scented, are, therefore, carefully eschewed by _cognoscenti_. _Green_—Twankay, Hyson Skin, Hyson, Young Hyson, Imperial, and Gunpowder. Black tea has the rougher taste, and produces the darkest infusion. Green tea, however, has the greater effect upon the nerves, and if taken strong, acts as a narcotic, producing, with some people, tremblings and headaches, and on small animals even causing paralysis. It is, therefore, generally mixed with black in small proportion, say ¼ lb. to 1 lb. black tea. There is also what is called _brick tea_, which is consumed in the North of China, Tartary, and Thibet, but which we never see in England. This choice tea is made from the stalks and refuse and decayed twigs, mixed with the serum of sheep and ox blood, which, when it is pressed into moulds, hardens it.

The Russians are said to get the finest tea that comes out of China—called Caravan Tea—which is made into large bales, covered with lead. This goes to Russia entirely overland, and to this fact some attribute its superior and delicate flavour.

The tea trade of China is rapidly going from her, and she has but herself, and the shortsighted knavery of her growers and manufacturers, to thank for it. According to a Tea Circular,[122] the following are the imports and deliveries of China tea from 1st to 30th June:—

1888. 1889. 1890. 6,697,000 lbs. 508,000 lbs. 452,000 lbs.

a truly fearful falling off. English people got tired of the flavourless stuff sent from China, and India and Ceylon having perfected the manufacture (which at first start of the industry of tea growing in those parts was not good), send us delicious tea, of a much higher market value than that of China.

Ceylon tea, especially, has enormously won the favour of the English tea-drinking community in a very few years, as the following short statistics, taken from a Tea Circular,[123] will show,—

The total value of all the Ceylon tea in bond in 1880 was £5,024.

Ditto ditto ditto 1888 ” £1,555,095. ----------

The duty on above, at 6_d._ per lb., was respectively £2,871.

£464,664. ----------

showing that not only had the quantity imported enormously increased, but so had the quality, as shown by the enhanced market value. One instance, although an exceptional one, will show what Ceylon can produce in the way of tea. On 13th January, 1890, was sold at the London Commercial Tea Sale Rooms, a consignment of tea from the Gallebodde Estate, Ceylon, which experts described as the finest tea ever grown. This unique tea was of the brightest gold colour, resembling grains of gold. Its sale excited the keenest competition, and it was eventually knocked down for £4 7_s._ per lb., but it was resold a few days afterwards to a wholesale firm at the enormous price of £5 10_s._ per lb.

“Much excitement prevailed yesterday in the London Commercial Tea Sale Rooms, Mincing Lane, on the offering of a small lot of Ceylon tea, from the Gartmore Estate. This tea is composed almost entirely of small ‘golden tips,’ which are the extreme ends of the small succulent shoots of the plant. Competition was of a very keen description, the tea being ultimately knocked down to the Mazawattee Ceylon Tea Company at the unprecedented price of £10 2_s._ 6_d._ per pound.”—_Standard_, March 11th, 1891.[124]

Another circular of the same firm of tea brokers gives a list of 132 tea gardens in Ceylon.

Indian tea is fast helping to supersede China tea, and another Tea Circular[125] points out that, “Towards the 190 million lbs. probably required for home use during the coming year, India and Ceylon together will contribute fully 150 millions.” It also gives the following:—

“LONDON STATISTICS FOR YEAR ENDING 31ST MAY.”

1888. 1889. 1890. Import, Indian 86,371,000 94,954,000 101,052,000 Ceylon 14,705,000 26,390,000 34,246,000 China 117,185,000 98,695,000 90,097,000 Java 2,989,000 4,170,000 3,107,000 ------------ ---------- ----------- Total 221,250,000 224,209,000 228,502,000