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and flavoured with herbs and spices. Wines also were coming into use. They were produced either from grapes grown in England, those being very poor in quality, or were imported from France, Italy, Spain, and Greece; and amongst them we find mention made of claret, muscadelle, malmsey, &c. The wine called "piment" in a feast referred to in the present chapter was a sour thin wine, sweetened and flavoured with sugar, honey, and spices.

CHAPTER X.

ENGLAND FROM THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY DOWN TO THE TIME OF THE REFORMATION.

IN order not to weary the reader with reiterated accounts of the drinking customs of our ancestors, which varied little in their character during three or four centuries subsequent to the period of which we treated in our last chapter, we propose to pass somewhat rapidly over the ground until we come to the Reformation, and we will first refer to the well-known merrymakings, gatherings of the people in various parts of England, at which, amidst a lavish consumption of liquor, all the important local business, both lay and clerical, was transacted. Those meetings were known by the generic name of "ales," from the drink which was there provided, and they were called either after the season at which they were held, as "Whitsun-ale," Easter-ale," or after the object for which they were convened, as "church-ales," where the money was paid for the support of the Church; "bid-ales" or "help-ales," when charitable charitable contributions were required for some one in need; "bride-ales," literally wedding festivals, where the bride turned an honest penny by selling ale at an exorbitant price; and numerous others of a like description. At first those meetings were encouraged by the clergy, as is proved by the

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fact that at one period they were actually held in the churches themselves in certain places,1 and also by the agreements to which the clergy were parties for the benefit of the Church. Here is an example of such agreements:

"Memd. that this is the agreement betwixt the inhabitants of the townes and parish of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston, of the one part, and the inhabitants of the town of Okebrooke, within the parish of the said Elvaston, on the other parte, by John, Abbot of the Dale. . . . That is to say, that the inhabitants of the said towne of Okebrooke shall brew fowre ales, and every ale of one quarter malt, and at their own cost and charges, betwixt this and the Feast of St. John Baptist next coming. And that every inhabitant of the said town of Okebrooke shall be at the said ales, and every husband and his wife shall pay 2d., and every cottyer id. ; and all the inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston shall come to the said ales, and that every husband and his wife and cottyer shall pay as is afore-rehearsed; and that the said inhabitants of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston shall have and retaine all the profits and vantages coming of the said ales, to the use and behoofe of the said Church of Elvaston. And the said inhabitants of the said townes of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston shall brew viii. ales betwixt this and the said Feast of St. John Baptist, at the which ales, and every each one of them, the said inhabitants of the town of Okebrooke shall come to and pay every husband and his wife and every cottyer as it is above-rehearsed. And if hee bee away at one ale, to pay at the toder ale for both, or else to send his money. And the inhabitants of the said town of Okebrooke shall carry all manner of timber being in the Dale Wood new felled, that the said parishioners of the said towns of Elvaston, Thurlaston, and Ambaston shall occupy to the use and profit of the said church."2

These "ales," and other similar merrymakings, to

1 A Book about the Clergy, by J. C. Jeaffreson, vol. i. p. 354. Hurst & Blackett.

* Discipline of Drink, p. 113.

which distance lends such enchantment in the eyes of many Englishmen, soon became a public nuisance, and they were conducted in such an unruly manner as to cause great uneasiness to the civil authorities. Two of the most objectionable features were, that they were often held in and about churches, as already stated, and also that Sundays and feast-days were usually selected for their celebration. Whatever has been said to the contrary, it was the Church that encouraged them; not only the Roman Catholic clergy, but, for some time after the Reformation, the High Church dignitaries of the Established Church, and chief amongst them was Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury. They were the cause of bitter strife at the period referred to. At first they were denounced by Puritan ministers of all religions, and then, as the period of the Reformation approached, efforts were made to suppress them. To those efforts Queen Elizabeth lent her sanction, and in the 38th year of her reign the justices assembled at Bridgewater ordered the total suppression of "church-ales," "clerkales," and "bid-ales," and the decree was signed by the Lord Chief-Justice. Similar orders were issued and enforced in the reign of James I.; but in the following reign, when Chief-Justice Richardson and Baron Denham published an order to suppress Sunday revels, the former was told in the most insulting manner by Laud, the Primate, that the justices had exceeded their duties; that wakes and ales were religious institutions; and that although some correction of their abuses might be required, the lay tribunals had nothing to

1 It is but right to say that decrees were from time to time promulgated by the synods and bishops against the practice of holding "ales" in churches, but they seem to have had little effect.

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do with the matter, which was one of spiritual jurisdiction.1

A violent controversy followed between the Puritans and the clergy of the Church of England; and so long as they were allowed to last, the terrors of the Star Chamber and High Commission were employed by the latter to counteract any efforts that were made to suppress the scandalous desecration of sacred days and sacred places. But the Commonwealth, which purged the country of many abuses, at least corrected that one. An Act of Parliament was passed forbidding the holding of "ales" and merrymakings within the precincts of places of worship or on the Sabbaths, and from that time they gradually lost their importance. Although the divorce between religion and beer was not then completely effected, the open recognition and support of the Church has not since been extended to the liquor traffic.

In the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries living became more luxurious amongst the higher classes, especially the clergy, and intemperance grosser amongst the lower orders and those who haunted taverns. In the year 1466, when George Nevile was made Archbishop of York, amongst the drink supplied at the feast of his installation there were 300 tuns of ale and 100 tuns of wine; and in 1504, when William Warham was enthroned Archbishop of Canterbury, there was a fish banquet at which were provided 6 tuns of red wine, 4 of claret wine, I of choice white wine, I of white wine for the kitchen, I butt of Malmsey, I pipe of wine of Osey, 2 tierces of Rhenish wine, 4 tuns of London ale, 6 of Kentish ale, and 20 of English beer.2 1 Jeaffreson's Book about the Clergy, vol. i. p. 356..

2 Homes of Other Days, p. 368.