THE HISTORY OF DRINK.
Ballantyne Press.
BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
THE
HISTORY OF DRINK.
A Review,
_SOCIAL, SCIENTIFIC, AND POLITICAL_.
BY
JAMES SAMUELSON,
OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW.
Post Tenebras Lux.
LONDON:
TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL.
1878.
[_All rights reserved._]
_TO HIS ESTEEMED FRIEND_
_SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, BARONET, D.C.L. (Oxon), F.R.S._,
_Vice-Chancellor of the University of London,
Author of “The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition
of Man,” and of various other valuable Contributions to our
Scientific Literature_,
The following Pages
_ARE,
WITH PERMISSION,
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY_
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
No apology would be necessary for the publication of a good and
comprehensive work on the history of intoxicating drinks; for, strange
to say, although the subjects of drinking and drunkenness have attracted
the attention of writers in every age, there appears to have been
only one treatise which has attempted to deal with the whole question
in a systematic and historical manner, and that was “An Essay on the
Inventions and Customs of both Ancients and Moderns in the use of
Inebriating Liquors” (&c.), “by Samuel Morewood, Surveyor of Excise.”
This book, containing considerably less matter than the present volume,
was originally published by Longmans in 1824, and in 1838 it was
republished under a somewhat changed title by William Curry, jun.,
Dublin, with Longmans and others. Its dimensions had then increased
twofold, and it certainly contains an enormous collection of curious and
interesting facts concerning the drinks and drinking customs of all times
and nations. Numerous references to it will be found in the following
pages, but the book itself, which has been out of print for some time, is
no longer suited to modern requirements. At the time it was written, all
the facts relating to the pre-historic existence of mankind, the habits
of the ancient Chinese, and the history of the Aryan nations, were still
unrevealed; whilst the modern developments of social reform, such as the
temperance movement and various other aids to self-culture, had only just
commenced, and are barely noticed by the author of the work.
But whilst this hiatus in the world’s literature would justify the
publication of an elaborate treatise on the subject, the author desires
to have it clearly understood that this essay makes no such pretensions.
To deal with the question fully would necessitate a lifetime of careful
study and industrious labour, and all the author has attempted to do is
to sketch in the form of a popular essay the plan or outline of such a
treatise, and to indicate a few of the sources from which information may
be obtained for its effective composition.
He has endeavoured, in a general but very superficial way, to follow
the course of human history, commencing with a reference to some traces
in the pre-historic period, and then selecting tribes or nations whose
habits present features of interest in the history of drink. The earlier
chapters are devoted to the drinking customs of those countries which
constituted what has been called “the cradle of the human race;” and, at
the risk of being a little wearisome (for the whole topic is necessarily
monotonous), the author has dwelt at some length on this phase of
the subject, inasmuch as it presents a completely untrodden field of
investigation and philosophical study. Following the migrations of the
human race westward, the drinking habits of the Greek and Roman peoples,
and their moral condition in various stages of their national life, have
been briefly reviewed. The ancient and modern Germans have received a
fair share of attention, for their love of ethical studies has led to
the publication of numerous treatises on German drinking customs in all
ages, and their relation to the fortunes of the “Fatherland.” The habits
of our own people throughout their whole history, followed by an account
of Swedish and American drinking habits and legislation, serve as a
tolerably full outline of drinking in the modern world; and the remainder
of the essay is taken up with the consideration of some of the debated
questions connected therewith in the present day, and in the immediate
future.
That the attempt to follow the history of drink will, however, be
pronounced extremely superficial, the author cannot doubt for a moment;
and also that his imperfect judgment will often have led him astray in
the selection of facts and authorities. Still he is not without hope
that, the effort having been made in an impartial spirit and with a
desire to cast some light on a question of momentous import, it may not
have been in vain, and that it will lead to the publication of some work
on the subject, of a more accurate and comprehensive description.
But there is a consideration in connection with this essay which, with
many readers, will have far more weight than its fulness, its literary
merit, or, the author fears he must add, than even its accuracy, and that
is the question of its tendencies. Is it a temperance or a teetotal book?
or does it advocate the use of intoxicating drink? For every one reader
whose criticisms are directed to its style or its historical value,
there will be many (if many favour it with a perusal) who will be curious
to know how it tallies with their particular “ism.” It will afford
but little satisfaction to such readers to hear that in this respect
the author wishes the book to speak for itself. To promote sobriety
was certainly one of the objects for which he undertook his task, and
where debated questions have come under discussion which necessitate
an expression of opinion, it will be found that, whether correctly or
not, the opinion has been given without any reservation. But whether the
work would go far enough to please the members of the “United Kingdom
Alliance,” or whether it would give offence to those who profit by the
sale of drink, these are questions which never entered into the author’s
calculations; and if the work should prove to possess any value as an
aid to temperance, it will be simply because it has sought faithfully to
record the history of drink and its effects upon men and nations.
In concluding this brief preface, the author desires to express his
obligations to the numerous friends who have helped him with references
to authorities, or with their personal experiences; and he has no
hesitation in admitting that if the essay possesses any merit, it is to
the aid which he has thus received that it must be largely attributed.
CLAUGHTON, BIRKENHEAD, _June 1878_.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY—INSTINCTIVE TENDENCIES IN MAN AND THE LOWER
ANIMALS—DRINKING PROPENSITIES OF SAVAGES—PRE-HISTORIC TRACES, 1
CHAPTER II.
THE THREE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY—THE TURANIAN
BRANCH—ANCIENT CHINA—BUDDHIST LAWS CONCERNING DRINK—MODERN
CHINA, 15
CHAPTER III.
THE DRINKING HABITS OF THE ARYAN RACES OF INDIA—THE VEDAS AND
BRAHMINICAL LITERATURE—MODERN INDIA, 34
CHAPTER IV.
THE ZEND-AVESTA AND THE FOLLOWERS OF ZOROASTER—THE MODERN
PERSIANS—MOHAMMEDAN LAW CONCERNING DRINK AND DRINKING
PRACTICES—THE PARSEES OF INDIA, 49
CHAPTER V.
THE ANCIENT HEBREWS—THE SCRIPTURE CONTROVERSY CONCERNING
DRINK—THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE TALMUD—THE NEW TESTAMENT—JESUS
CHRIST—JOHN THE BAPTIST—ST. PAUL—THE MODERN HEBREWS, 59
CHAPTER VI.
ANCIENT EGYPT, 72
CHAPTER VII.
THE DRINKING CUSTOMS OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME, 77
CHAPTER VIII.
GERMANY, ANCIENT, MEDIÆVAL, AND MODERN, 102
CHAPTER IX.
ENGLAND, PAST AND PRESENT, LAY AND CLERICAL—THE ANGLO-SAXONS
AND DANES—THE NORMANS AND EARLY ENGLISH, 118
CHAPTER X.
ENGLAND FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY DOWN TO THE TIME OF THE
REFORMATION, 134
CHAPTER XI.
ENGLAND FROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRESENT DAY, 147
CHAPTER XII.
THE ENGLISH OF THE PRESENT DAY—THE ARISTOCRACY—THE MIDDLE
CLASSES—THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES—FARM LABOURERS—THE RESORTS OF
DRUNKARDS, 169
CHAPTER XIII.
SWEDEN AND ITS LICENSING SYSTEM, 194
CHAPTER XIV.
AMERICA—THE CREOLES AND INDIANS OF THE RIVER PLATE—THE
UNITED STATES DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THIS CENTURY—THE
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS—DRINKING IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE
PRESENT TIME—LICENSING AND PROHIBITORY LEGISLATION—THE MAINE
LIQUOR LAW—ITS OPERATION AND PARTIAL FAILURE—PERMISSIVE
LEGISLATION—INEBRIATE ASYLUMS, 201
CHAPTER XV.
THE CAUSES OF INTEMPERANCE—MODERATE DRINKING—REMEDIES FOR
INTEMPERANCE—THE POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE QUESTION, 229
CHAPTER XVI.
RETROSPECT—CONCLUSION, 257
INDEX, 265
ERRATA.
Transcriber’s Note: The errata have been corrected.
Page 67, line 8, “Christ said to the ruler of the feast,” _should be_,
“The governor of the feast said to the bridegroom.”
Page 141, line 15, for “cellar,” _read_ “cellarer.”
THE HISTORY OF DRINK.
CHAPTER I.
_INTRODUCTORY._
INSTINCTIVE TENDENCIES IN MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS—DRINKING PROPENSITIES
OF SAVAGES—PRE-HISTORIC TRACES.
One of the chief aims of this treatise is to demonstrate, from the facts
of history and experience, that excessive indulgence in intoxicating
beverages has wrought incalculable mischief to the human race; and it is
therefore a matter of regret to the author that his first duty should
be to call in question the doctrine propounded by some of the ablest
advocates of total abstinence, that there is no instinctive desire
in the human race for alcoholic or other artificial stimulants. That
doctrine has recently been placed before the public in definite and
unmistakable language by Dr. B. W. Richardson, the discoverer of one
of our most valuable pain alleviators, and himself an earnest disciple
of the cause of total abstinence. He says[1] that the lower animals
have never shown an instinctive desire for alcohol; that all children
instinctively dislike such drinks, and shrink from them; that inasmuch
as there have been nations (which, however, he does not name) that have
never shown the instinct, therefore the historical evidence which is
adduced in favour of the instinctive theory breaks down; and, strangest
proposition of all, that not only has nature provided no instinct in any
young animal for alcohol, but she has not herself provided the alcohol
for the instinct. Now, so far as children are concerned, Dr. Richardson’s
statement is far too sweeping. Many children do like intoxicating
drinks, unless they have a disagreeable flavour; and practically there
are myriads of children born with an innate tendency to indulge in such
beverages, whether or not it may show itself in the first years of their
existence; for, as Dr. Richardson himself remarks elsewhere,[2] the taste
for drink, with its consequences, is transmitted from parent to child.
Then, as regards the domesticated animals, many of them are fond of
wine; but it may be urged that this is the result of their association
with mankind. Possibly so; but the same does not hold good in the case
of the monkey tribes, the highest of all the inferior animals, and those
which approach nearest to human beings in their structure and habits. One
of the most careful and trustworthy of modern naturalists, Mr. Charles
Darwin, has told us that many kinds of monkeys have a strong taste for
tea, coffee, and spirituous liquors, and that he has seen them smoke
tobacco.[3] Moreover, writing on the authority of Brehm,[4] he says that
the natives of North-Eastern Africa catch the wild baboons by exposing
vessels with strong beer, by which they are made drunk. He has seen
some of those animals which he kept in confinement in this state, and he
gives a laughable account of their behaviour and strange grimaces. On
the following morning they were cross and dismal; they held their aching
heads with both hands, and wore a most pitiable expression; when beer or
wine was offered them they turned away with disgust, but relished the
juice of lemons. An American monkey—an Ateles—after getting drunk on
brandy, would never touch it again; and thus, says Mr. Darwin, he was
wiser than many men. Then again, as regards the argument, that nature
herself has not provided the means of gratifying the instinct. War is a
human instinct, but nature did not even chip her flints for pre-historic
man! and if none of our instincts could be gratified excepting those for
which the materials are ready-made to our hands, we might bid good-bye
to civilisation, and once more return to a state of nature. But even in
theory the writer of the essay is hardly correct. Wherever the juice
of fruits, or any liquid containing sugar, stands at a temperature of
about 70° for a few hours, it begins to ferment, and an intoxicating
liquor is the result. Hence the negroes in certain parts of Africa have
nothing to do but make an incision in a particular part of the palm-tree
in the morning, and allow the sap to flow, in order to obtain, the same
afternoon, what is to them a pleasant intoxicating drink.
From the foregoing facts it is obvious that to say young children or the
lower animals have no instinctive love of intoxicating drink is far too
broad an assertion, and it is one of little practical utility. Neither is
there very much to be gained by the germane inquiry as to whether savage
nations have ever been known to possess intoxicating beverages before
they came in contact with civilisation; but, as an interesting part of
the history of the subject, it may be worth while devoting a brief space
to its consideration. The evidence is in favour of the affirmative. The
Nubians make a liquor called bouza from dhourra or barley, also a kind
of wine from the palm-tree; and from time immemorial intoxicating drinks
have been extracted from these two sources, and from other cereals in
various parts of Asia and Africa.[5] Neither are those drinks harmless
in a moral sense, for we find that excessive indulgence in them leads to
the same crimes amongst savages as those which spring from the practice
of a similar vice amongst European nations. Whilst Dr. Livingstone
was staying at St. Hilarion in Bango, South Africa, he had favourable
opportunities of witnessing the effects of savage intoxication, which he
thus describes:[6]—
“The men of all these classes trust to their wives for food, and spend
most of their time in drinking the palm toddy. This toddy is the juice
of the palm-oil-tree (_Elais guineensis_), which when tapped yields
a clear sweet liquid, not at all intoxicating whilst fresh, but when
allowed to stand until the afternoon causes inebriation and many crimes.
This toddy, called malova, is the bane of the country. Culprits are
continually brought before the commandants for assaults committed through
its influence. Men come up with deep gashes on their heads; and one who
had burned his father’s house, I saw making a deep bow to Mr. Canto, and
volunteering to explain why he did the deed.”
The same trustworthy traveller makes mention of intoxicating drinks
produced by the natives in various other parts of Africa,[7] and in one
place (amongst the Makololo) he says he found that the men very much
disliked to be seen at their potations by persons of the opposite sex,—an
instance of refinement not always to be met with in civilised society.
But the primitive drink known to us as palm-wine is by no means
confined to the African continent. Another trustworthy traveller and
naturalist, Dr. Alfred R. Wallace, mentions it as a common drink in some
of the islands of the Malay Archipelago. “One of the few luxuries of
Matabello,” he says, “is the palm-wine, which is the fermented sap from
the flower-stems of the cocoa-nut. It is really a very nice drink, more
like cider than beer, though quite as intoxicating as the latter.”[8]
And instances might be multiplied indefinitely to show that perfectly
savage races have probably had intoxicating drinks peculiar to themselves
before they were known to the civilised world.[9] Dalzel first noticed
native intoxicating drink on the coast of Dahomey; Bosman on the coast
of Guinea; Bowditch, who visited Ashantee in 1817, found its inhabitants
well supplied with palm-wine.[10] Several of the Tartar tribes make an
intoxicating drink called koomiss from mares’-milk, and there is no doubt
they have done so from time immemorial. But perhaps the most convincing
facts are those mentioned by Schweinfurth,[11] which may be quoted to
show that not only do savage races possess their own inebriating liquors,
but that they reflect in an exaggerated manner all the other vices of
civilisation that usually accompany intemperance.
In one part of his travels Schweinfurth sojourned with a tribe from
whom he heard of the existence of another, still more remote, who were
regarded with great fear and superstition. They were called “Mam-Mam,”
great eaters (cannibals), and had been until recently considered, even by
the tribe from whom Schweinfurth obtained his information, as mythical
beings. He subsequently visited them, and found them to be more highly
civilised than he had expected. They possessed more than one kind of
intoxicating drink. That which pleased them the best, he says, was
prepared from _Eleusine coracana_, a cereal, and the skill with which
it was manufactured gave it a fair claim to be called beer. He says it
is bright, of a reddish pale colour, and is regularly brewed from the
malted grain, without the addition of any extraneous ingredient; it has
a pleasant bitter flavour derived from the dark husks. How large is the
proportion of beer consumed by the Mam-Mam, he says, may be estimated
by simply observing the ordinary way in which they store their corn. As
a regular rule, there are three granaries allotted to each dwelling, of
which two are made to suffice for the supply which is to contribute the
meal necessary for the household, whilst the other is entirely devoted to
the grain that has been malted. Whilst the same traveller was staying
with another tribe on one of the branches of the White Nile, he was
present at a harvest festival of the natives, which we will allow him to
describe in his own language:—“For two nights and a day, whilst I was
at Geer, the natives were abandoning themselves to their wild orgies,
which now for the first time I saw in their full unbridled swing. The
festival was held to celebrate the sowing of the crops, and confident
in the hope that the coming season would bring abundant rains, these
light-hearted Bongo anticipated their harvest. For the preparation
of their beer they encroached very lavishly upon their corn stores,
quite indifferent to the fact that for the next two months they would
be reduced to the necessity of grubbing after roots and devouring any
chance bird or even any creeping thing that might come in their way.
Incredible quantities of ‘legyee’ were consumed, so as to raise the
party to the degree of excitement necessary for so prolonged a revel.
In honour of the occasion there was produced a large array of musical
instruments, but the confusion of sound beggared the raging of all the
elements, and made me marvel as to what music might come to. They danced
till their bodies reeked again with the oil of the butter-tree. Had they
been made of india-rubber, their movements could scarcely have been more
elastic; indeed, their skins had all the appearance of gutta-percha. The
whole scene was more like a _fantoccini_ than any diversion of living
beings.”[12]
It is frequently assumed that because civilised nations were the first
to introduce ardent spirits amongst certain savage tribes, therefore
they must have been previously unacquainted with intoxicating drinks.
The Indians of the New World are often referred to as an illustration.
Without denying that there may have been tribes of North American Indians
who were sober when they came into contact with Europeans, but who were
soon debauched by the white man’s fire-water, it is certain that some of
them at least had native drinks as well as the savages of other parts of
the world. One of these was fermented maple juice, which was a favourite
drink with some of the Red Indian tribes, and was offered to the white
man along with the calumet of peace.[13] There was, we are told, also
a custom amongst the savage tribes residing on the Gulf of Mexico,
the Mississippi, and Ohio, to disinter the bodies of their dead at a
particular festival, and to consume a great quantity of native as well as
foreign liquor, if they could obtain it, during the ceremony, which was
one of very ancient origin.[14]
And this leads us to another popular fallacy in regard to the effect
of civilisation and its accompanying intemperance upon savage races.
The impression formed by the general reader concerning the contact of
whites with savages in Africa, North America, and elsewhere, is that the
former bring their spirits with them, and with that agent exterminate
the aborigines with whom they come in contact, whilst they, the whites,
escape almost uninjured. But what are the facts of the case? The author
has for many years been favourably situated for ascertaining the
condition of affairs in Africa; he has conversed with men of culture who
have resided for many years on the coast at various places of trade, and
the consensus of opinion, as well as the facts that have been narrated
to him, point to a widely different conclusion. The exportation of strong
drink from England to the west coast of Africa is enormous. It chiefly
consists of rum; and by far the larger portion of this is forwarded
into the interior, and is drunk out of sight amongst savage tribes who
are rarely visited by Europeans. Some of it is consumed by the negroes
on the coast, the whites, however, seldom taste it, their favourite
beverages being brandy and gin. Twenty or thirty years since, the whites
who were sent out to the coast were men of intemperate habits, many of
whom succumbed to the influence of ardent spirits, in which they indulged
very freely. The working blacks even then were more sober than their
masters, although, no doubt, evil example had its influences. Now a far
superior class of men represent the English firms on the coast, or, in
many cases, intelligent negroes have become the principals, who consign
produce to their agents and commission merchants in England. The result,
so far as the employers are concerned, is, that there is, comparatively
speaking, little drunkenness amongst them; and as to the negroes on the
coast, the author has been told by friends who have resided there for
periods varying from five to fifteen years, that they have never seen
one intoxicated. But inasmuch as the importation of rum continues to be
enormous, and the greater part of it is forwarded inland, it is clear
that if drunkenness is to be found anywhere (and it is known to the
missionaries to exist), it must be amongst those savages who are removed
from the influences of civilisation.
The unbridled passion of the savage for intoxicating drink, whether he
be the savage of the back-woods or of the city, as compared with the
same quality in a man of culture, has been forcibly put by one of our
leading historians. Alison says[15] that an Iroquois, when he sits down
beside a cask of spirits, often inserts a straw into a hole which he has
bored in the wood, and sucks the intoxicating draught until he drops down
dead, whilst a gentleman, with a good cellar of champagne, falls into no
such excesses, because he has other enjoyments which are inconsistent
with or prove a counterpoise to the first seductions of sense. He (the
historian) goes on to show by figures that drunkenness is essentially a
savage vice.[16] Whilst in 1838 the spirits consumed in England was about
half-a-gallon (strictly 0.53) per head of the population, in Ireland it
was 1.32, in Scotland 2.46, and in Australia 5.02 gallons per head. These
figures have changed materially since 1838, but the principle remains the
same. Only last year the author had a practical example of its operation.
In the course of a tour in Norway, he had occasion to stay two or three
days at Tromsoe, a small town on the coast within the Arctic circle.
Whilst there, he visited in the vicinity an encampment of Laplanders,
known as the “Summer Lapps,” from the fact of their descending from
the higher lands to the coast at that season in search of pasture for
their reindeer. To tourists, who only pay them a passing visit, they
seem a very interesting race, but to the people of the town, which they
frequent almost daily, they are a great nuisance. Their habits are very
intemperate, and the author was told that it is by no means unusual for
one of the men to drink a tumblerful of raw spirit at a draught, and
almost immediately to sink down intoxicated, and that, to them, is the
height of enjoyment.
Without, therefore, attempting to dogmatise on a question of such
extended application, and one which presents such varying aspects, as
the instinct for drink and the prevalence of drunkenness amongst savage
peoples, it is safe to affirm, first, that wherever and from whatever
source any intoxicating beverage has been obtainable, the untutored races
have not been slow to discover its use. Secondly, that when civilised
men have introduced a stronger drink than that already possessed by the
natives, it has been in the majority of cases readily consumed by them,
and that the further they were removed from the moderating influence of
civilisation the more uncontrolled has been the passion for drink and the
greater its indulgence.
And now, before proceeding to investigate the facts of history and
tradition concerning the employment of intoxicating drinks by the nations
of the world, let us endeavour to ascertain where the earliest traces
are to be found of the existence of those natural productions which have
been used in their preparation. The palm-tree, of course, existed in
the tropical regions probably long before man appeared upon the scene,
and that its sap was employed for the manufacture of wine between five
hundred and six hundred years before Christ, we know from the pages of
Herodotus,[17] but that is comparatively recent. Of the employment of
barley and other cereals for intoxicating beverages in remote ages of
the past we have also abundant evidence, to which reference will be made
hereafter. The origin of the vine, or rather its first application to
drinking purposes, is a much-debated question. The Romans and Greeks
believed Dionysus (Bacchus) to have employed it first for wine-making.
Representations of vineyards with grape-gatherers and wine-presses are
to be found on the monuments of ancient Egypt; whilst in the Hebrew
scriptures Noah is the first man mentioned as having cultivated the
grape. These circumstances will be touched upon when we come to deal with
the drinking customs of the various nations to whom they relate, but they
are only named here to show that the grape and such cereals as barley
were employed at a very early age for the preparation of inebriating
drinks, for we are in possession of facts which fix the period when these
materials were known and in use long prior to that indicated even by
tradition.
During the last few years, scientific research has revealed to mankind
the presence of remains which prove beyond a doubt that, during the age
known as the Stone Period, there were already colonies of partially
civilised men whose dwellings were built upon piles driven into the beds
of certain lakes then existing in Switzerland and other parts of Europe.
The age of those lake-dwellings—“Pfahlbauten,” as they are called in
Germany—is variously estimated at from three thousand to seven thousand
years;[18] and with the piles upon which they were constructed, and some
of which are in a good state of preservation, there have been found
associated various substances which prove, as just stated, that the
lake-dwellers had already attained a certain standard of civilisation. If
our space permitted, and if it fell within the scope of this treatise,
nothing would be more interesting than to study fully the character of
those remains. All we can do here, however, is to point out some of the
evidences they afford of the condition of the colonists, so as to enable
the reader to judge for himself whether or not they were likely to have
been acquainted with the use of intoxicating beverages. That they lived
contemporaneously with the urus, the wild progenitor of our domesticated
cattle, and that they waged constant war with the bear and the wolf,
is proved by the remains of those animals being found in considerable
quantities. They had already acquired, too, the art of cooking food,
as is testified by charred bones, grain, and fruit. They tilled the
ground; for amongst the numerous remains of cereals some are undoubtedly
cultivated varieties.[19] They possessed domesticated animals, such as
cows, pigs, sheep, and goats. Their rude dwellings, built upon piles in
the lakes, to protect them from the attacks of wild animals, and from
races of men more untutored than themselves, had some architectural
pretensions. Their implements for domestic use, especially the pottery,
were truly works of art, however primitive their manufacture, and those,
along with their clothing, which was made of textile fabrics, point to a
long antecedent experience in the industrial arts. But this is not all;
for they knew how to utilise seeds from which oil is produced. A whole
cake made from the seeds of the garden or opium poppy has been found at
Robenhausen, in a lake-dwelling in the peat moor on the southern side
of the Lake of Pfäffikon,[20] which had been pressed for oil, and was
probably intended to be used by the inhabitants themselves, or else given
to their domesticated cattle. And those ancient people, who lived in
wooden houses, habited themselves in woven cloths, practised agriculture,
and possessed some acquaintance with a rude kind of art, were also well
acquainted with the grape, with various other descriptions of fruit, such
as apples, pears, plums, and cherries, and with more than one variety
of barley; for charred and dried apples and pears, stones of grapes, as
well as of the fruits named (amongst many others), and whole ears of
barley, have been discovered in greater or less quantities amongst these
interesting remains of a pre-historic civilisation.
Whether or not, then, these primitive races had discovered, or were still
ignorant of the existence of intoxicating beverages, surrounded as they
were by so many natural products liable to alcoholic fermentation, we
must leave the reader to judge for himself, and quitting now the region
of surmise and speculation, we must ask him to accompany us whilst we
set foot upon the firm ground of fact, as revealed in history and in
popularly accepted tradition.[21]