which meant he was ready to drink with him to this extent. The term _hoop_
alludes to the marks of hoops being traced upon drinking-pots to point out
certain measures. Jack Cade says, "The three-hooped pot shall have ten
hoops, and I will make it felony to drink small beer!" Hence probably the
common saying of "drinking deep," or to the last hoop. The _peg tankard_
was another measured vessel used in the jollifications of our forefathers,
and is still to be found in some parts of England, more especially in
Derbyshire. Pegge in his "Anonymiana," thus describes them: "They have in
the inside a row of eight pins, one above the other, from top to bottom;
the tankard holds two quarts, so that there is a gill of ale between each
peg or pin. The first person who drank was to empty to the first peg, the
second was to drink to the next, and so on; by which means the pegs were
so many measures to the compotators, making them all drink alike or the
same quantity." In Archbishop Anselm's Canons made in the council at
London in 1102, priests are enjoined not to go to drinking-bouts, nor to
_drink pegs_: "Ut presbyteri non eant ad potationes, nec ad _pinnas_
bibant."
_Gloves_, also called _shoeing-horns_, were relishes to encourage
drinking, like our modern _devils_, introduced for a similar purpose.
Bishop Hall says in his description of a carousal, "Then comes me up a
service of _shoeing-horns_ of all sorts,--salt cakes, red-herrings,
anchovies, and gammon of bacon, and abundance of such _pullers on_."
Massinger thus describes these incentives:
I usher
Such an unexpected dainty bit for breakfast
As never yet I cooked; 'tis not _botargo_,
Fried frogs, potatoes marrow'd, cavear,
Carps' tongues, the pith of an English chine of beef,
Nor our Italian delicate oil'd mushrooms,
And yet a _drawer on too_; and if you show not
An appetite, and a strong one, I'll not say
To eat it, but devour it, without grace too,
(For it will not stay a preface,) I am shamed,
And all my past provocatives will be jeer'd at.
The _botargo_ was a relish made of mullet's roes, and highly seasoned,
much in use among the Italians.
Amongst many other curious frolics of hard drinkers, we find the use of
what they called _flap-dragons_, or _snap-dragon_, which consisted in
igniting combustible substances, which were swallowed while floating on
the glass of liquor. Johnson describes them "a play in which they catch
raisins out of burning brandy, and, extinguishing them by closing the
mouth, eat them." This prank is not uncommon to the present day in
boarding-schools in certain festive entertainments of the _young ladies_.
Drunkenness being considered a beastly propensity, its gradations were
fixed by animal comparisons. In a curious treatise on drunkards by George
Gascoigne, we find the following illustration of these degrees: "The first
is _ape-drunk_, and he leaps and sings and hallos and danceth for the
hearers; the second is _lion-drunk_, and he flings the pots about the
house, calls the hostess w----, breaks the glass windows with his dagger,
and is apt to quarrel with any man that speaks to him; the third is
_swine-drunk_, heavy, lumpish, and sleepy, and cries for a little more
drink and a few more clothes; the fourth is _sheep-drunk_, wise in his own
conceit, when he cannot bring forth a right word; the fifth is
_maudlin-drunk_, when a fellow will weep for kindness in the midst of his
drink, and kiss you, saying, 'By G--! Captain, I love thee! Go thy ways;
thou dost not think so often of me as I do of you; I would I could not
love thee so well as I do!' and then he puts his finger in his eye and
cries; the sixth is _martin-drunk_, when a man is drunk, and drinks
himself sober ere he stir; the seventh is _goat-drunk_, when in
drunkenness he hath no mind but in lechery; the eighth is _fox-drunk_,
when he is crafty drunk, as many of the Dutchmen be, which will never
bargain but when they are drunk. All these species, and more, I have seen
practised _in one company at one sitting_."
Drunkenness has at various periods been resorted to in religious and
political fervour. Daring the usurpation of Cromwell, the Cavaliers were
wont to drink their king's health in bumpers of wine in which some crumbs
of bread had been thrown, exclaiming, "God send this _crum-well_ down!"
and Whitelocke, in his Memorials, records the following barbarous
Catilinian orgies: "Five drunkards agree to drink the king's health in
their blood, and that each of them should cut out a piece of his buttock,
and fry it upon the gridiron, which was done by four of them, of whom one
did bleed so exceedingly that they were fain to send for a chirurgeon, and
so were discovered. The wife of one of them, hearing that her husband was
amongst them, came to the room, and, taking up a pair of tongs, laid about
her, and so saved the cutting of her husband's flesh."
The laws enacted to prevent drunkenness at various periods and by
different governments, are curious. Domitian ordered all the vine-plants
in the Roman territory to be rooted out. Charles IX. of France issued a
similar edict. In 1536, under Francis I, a law was passed sentencing
drunkards to imprisonment on bread and water for the first offence; a
public whipping punished a second infringement; and, on reiteration,
banishment and the loss of ears. The ancients, equally aware of the danger
that arose from intoxication, were also anxious to prevent it. Draco
inflicted capital punishments. Lycurgus destroyed the vineyards. The
Athenians had officers, named _ophthalmos_, to prevent excesses in liquor
drinking. In Rome, patricians were not allowed the use of wine until they
had attained their thirty-fifth year. Wine was only drunk pure in the
beginning of sober repasts in honour of _Deus Sospes_, and afterwards
mixed with water in honour of _Jupiter Servator_. Notwithstanding these
wise examples in support of prudent precepts, it appears that drunkenness
was a common vice amongst the Romans. Tiberius was surnamed _Biberius_;
and it was said of the parasite Bibulus, "dum vixit, aut bibit aut
minxit." Aurelianus had officers of his household whose duty was to
intoxicate foreign ambassadors; and Cato's partiality for the juice of the
grape has been recorded by Horace,
Narratur et prisci Catonis
Saepe mero caluisse virtus.
In the middle ages, drinking was resorted to by the monks as a religious
libation; and they also drank to the dead, a custom which was condemned as
idolatrous. These excesses were restrained by various regulations, and in
817 the quantity of wine allowed each monk was fixed at five pints.
Charlemagne, in his Capitularies, forbids the provocation of drinking
healths and hob-nobbing (_pleger et trinquer_). Temperance societies are
not modern institutions. In 1517, Sigismund de Dietrichstein established
one under the auspices of St. Christopher; a similar association was
formed in 1600 by Maurice Duke of Hesse, which, however, allowed a knight
to drink seven _bocaux_, or glasses, at each meal, but only twice in the
day. The size of these _bocaux_ is not recorded, but no doubt it was an
endeavour to obtain a comparative condition of sobriety. Another temperate
society, under the name of the Golden Ring, was instituted by Frederic V.
Count Palatine.
Whether the influence of temperate societies or their advocates will tend
to diminish the consumption of wine and spirituous liquors in the British
empire, it is difficult to say. Hitherto every act of interference, either
from individuals or on the part of the legislature, has proved not only
abortive, but has increased the evil it was intended to remedy. The
imposition of heavy duties only threw the distillation of spirits into the
hands of illicit speculators instead of respectable capitalists; and, as
M'Culloch justly remarks, "superadded the atrocities of the smuggler to
the idleness and dissipation of the drunkard." During the latter part of
the reign of George I. and the earlier period of George II. gin-drinking
was so prevalent, that it was denounced from the pulpit and the press. At
length ministers determined to make a vigorous effort to put a stop to the
further use of spirituous liquors except as a cordial or medicine. To
accomplish this end, a duty of twenty shillings was laid on spirits,
exclusive of a heavy licence duty to retailers, while a fine of 100_l._
was levied on all defaulters. But instead of the anticipated effects,
this act produced results directly opposite: the respectable dealers
withdrew from a trade proscribed by the legislature; and the sale of
spirits fell into the hands of the lowest and most profligate characters.
The officers of the revenue were hunted down by the populace, and did not
dare to enforce the law; and Tindal, in his Continuation of Rapin, says,
"within two years of the passing of this act, it had become so odious and
contemptible, that policy as well as humanity forced the commissioners of
excise to mitigate its penalties." During these two years twelve thousand
persons were convicted of offences connected with the sale of spirits,
while no exertion could check the torrent of smuggling, and seven millions
of gallons illicitly distilled were annually consumed in London and its
environs. Our present consumption of British, Colonial and Foreign spirits
is immense, but not equal to what it was at the period alluded to. The
following is the account of this consumption in 1832:
In England, 1,530,988 imperial gallons, Foreign.
3,377,507 " Colonial.
7,259,287 " British.
In Scotland, 69,236 gallons, Foreign.
112,026 " Colonial.
5,407,097 " British.
In Ireland, 33,413 " Foreign.
24,432 " Colonial.
8,657,756 " British.
In that year, 1832, the total amount of spirits that paid duty in the
United Kingdom was 2,646,258 gallons, yielding a revenue of 8,483,247_l._
In the same year the appearance and dread of the cholera produced a
singular increase in the consumption of brandy. In the preceding year,
1831, the entries for home use in England had amounted to 1,194,717
gallons; but during this state of alarm, it increased to 1,508,924; in
1833, the danger having subsided, the consumption declined to its former
level, and did not exceed 1,356,620 gallons.
From the above observations it may be inferred, that no penal enactments,
no denunciations of canting senators or fanatic preachers, will ever
succeed in checking the evils which must arise from excesses in the use of
spirituous liquors. Gluttony and drunkenness can only be combated by the
salutary effects of good example held out by the superior classes of
society; by a gradual improvement in the moral education of the lower
grades, for whom salutary amusements should be procured when a cheerful
repose from their weekly labour will no longer be considered a breach of
the sabbath. Diffusion of knowledge and habits of industry will do more
than sanctimonious admonitions, and the Penny Magazines may be considered
more hostile to gin-drinking than the ranting of pseudo-saints.
In regard to the quantity that we should eat, no rules can be established,
as individuals differ widely from each other, both as to their capacity
and their inclination. Mr. Abernethy maintained, that it would be well if
the public would follow the advice of Mr. Addison, given in the Spectator,
of reading the writings of L. Cornaro, who, having a weak constitution,
which he seemed to have ruined by intemperance, so that he was expected to
die at the age of 32, did at that period adopt a strict regimen, allowing
himself only 12 ounces daily. To this remark Dr. Paris very properly
observes, "When I see the habits of Cornaro so incessantly introduced as
an example for imitation, and as the standard of dietetic perfection, I am
really inclined to ask with Feggio, 'Did God create Lewis Cornaro to be a
rule for all mankind in what they were to eat and drink?'"
In regard to the dyspeptic, Dr. Philips has given the very best advice in
the following paragraph:
"The dyspeptic should carefully attend to the first feeling of satiety.
There is a moment when the relish given by the appetite ceases; a single
mouthful taken after this oppresses a weak stomach. If he eats slowly and
carefully attends to this feeling, he will never overload the stomach." To
this Dr. Paris adds, "Let him remember to _eat slowly_." "This is an
important condition--for when we eat too fast we introduce a greater
quantity of food into the stomach than the gastric juice can at once
combat with; the consequence of which is, that hunger may continue for
some time after the stomach has received more than would be sufficient,
under the circumstances, to induce satiety."
The introduction of French cookery in every part of England amongst the
wealthy will render attention to dietetic rules still more important than
in former days; although Dean Swift, in his time, observed, "That modern
epicurism had become so prevalent, that the world must be encompassed,
before a washerwoman can sit down to breakfast."