"Turkeys, Carps, _Hops_, Piccarel, and _Beer_,
Came into England all in one year."
The year when all these good things are supposed to have been
introduced, was somewhere in the early part of the reign of King Henry
VIII. But it is evident that as early as 1440, when the _Parvulorum
Promptorium_ was compiled, the use of hops was not altogether unknown.
Mr. Albert Way supposes that at that time hopped beer was either
imported from abroad or brewed by foreigners. And this supposition is
certainly supported by the _Promptorium_.
The great hop county of Kent produced better ale than any other; and the
large quantity of ale found in the cellars of the Kentish gentry, had
much to do with fomenting Jack Cade's rebellion, which arose in Kent.
Unhopped ale, having no bitter principle, would easily run into acetous
fermentation. And this is the reason why, in old family receipt-books,
we find that our great-grandmothers were in the habit of using alegar
where, by the cooks of the present day, vinegar is employed.
In modern usage the distinction between _Ale_ and _Beer_ is different in
various parts of the country. But originally, the distinction was very
clearly marked: _Ale_ being a liquor brewed from _malt_, to be drunk
fresh; _Beer_, a liquor brewed from _malt and hops_, intended to keep.
The above distinction is clearly observed in Johnson's _Dictionary_,
where _ale_ is defined, "A liquor made by infusing _malt_ in hot water,
and then fermenting the liquor:" _Beer_, "Liquor made _from malt and
hops_;" "distinguished from ale either by being older or smaller." Ale
thus defined answers to the description given by Tacitus of the drink of
the ancient Germans. The ancient Spaniards had a somewhat similar drink,
called by them _Celia_.
M. Alphonse Esquiros writes of our national drink thus amusingly:--"It
was the favourite fluid of the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, whom we have seen
descend in turn on Great Britain. Before their conversion to
Christianity, they believed that one of the chief felicities the heroes
admitted after death into Odin's paradise enjoyed, was to drink long
draughts of ale from tall cups. Archæologians have made learned and
laborious researches to recover the history of beer in Great Britain: it
will be sufficient for us to say, that in Wales, ale, even small, was
formerly regarded as a luxury, and was only seen on the tables of the
great. In England, about the middle of the sixteenth century, Harrison
assures us that, when tradesmen and artisans had the good fortune to
stumble on a haunch of venison and a glass of strong ale, they believed
themselves as magnificently treated as the lord mayor. At the present
day, what a change! Ale and porter flow into the pewter pots of the
humblest taverns; rich and poor--the poor more frequently than the
rich--refresh themselves with the national beverage, as the Israelites
in the Desert slaked their thirst at the water leaping from the rock, to
quote a minister of the English Church. This abundance compared with the
old penury, rejoices the social economist from a certain point of view,
for he sees in it the natural movement of science, trade and
agriculture, which in time places within reach of the most numerous
class articles which, at the outset, were regarded as luxuries. Not only
has beer become more available to the working classes, but the quality
has improved, and at the present day English beer knows no rival on the
Continent."
The old compound of roasted apples, ale, and sugar, which our ancestors
knew as "Lamb's Wool," is thought to have derived its name as
follows:--The words La Mas Ubal are good Irish, signifying the Feast, or
day, of the Apple, and, pronounced _Lamasool_, soon passed into Lamb's
Wool. The mixture was drunk on the evening of the above day, which was
supposed to be presided over by the guardian angel of fruits and seeds.
A less fanciful etymology points to the above drink being named from its
smoothness and softness, resembling the wool of lambs. Herrick sings:
"Now crowne the bowle
With gentle lambs-wooll,
Add sugar, and nutmegs, and ginger;"
and in an old play we read of this addition: "Lay a crab in the fire to
roast for lamb's-wool."