dedicated to the brewing of this liquor. Dr. Paris, On Diet, says, the liquor called ale was originally made of barley,* malt, and yeast alone. We are told by one of the oldest writers on medical subjects (Andrew Boorde), that those who put in any other ingredient, sophisticated the liquor. It is, he says, the natural drink of an Englishman; but beer, on the other hand, which is made of malt, hops, and water, is the natural drink of a Dutchman, and of late is much used in England, to the great detriment of many Englishmen. There existed, for a long time, a strong prejudice against hops, which were considered as pernicious weeds; but it is now generally admitted, that they constitute the most valuable ingredient in malt liquors. Independent of the flavour and tonic virtues which they communicate, they precipitate, by means of their astringent principle, the vegetable mucilage, and thus remove from the beer the active principle of its fermentation; without hops, therefore, we must either drink our malt liquors new and ropy, or old and sour. There are several varieties of ale, distinguished by their colour; when the malt is slenderly dried, the ale is pale; or brown, when the malt is more roasted, or high dried. Those who sold Ale in England in olden time were called Ale-wives. John Skelton the Poet wrote and published a curious pamphlet on this subject, entitled "Elynor Rummin, or Elynor of Rummyng, alias, The Tunning of Elynor Rumpkyn, the famous Ale-wife of England," &c. This was several times printed, and particularly in 1624. Two sheets, Lond. 4to. In the Title-page is the picture of an old ill-favoured woman, holding in her hand a black pot of ale, and underneath her these verses are written. When Skelton wore the Laurel Crown, My Ale put all the Ale-wives down. DAVIES'S Icon Libellorum, p. 29. PORTER AND ENTIRE. Before 1730, the malt liquors in general use in London were called ale, beer, and a drink called twopenny. It was then customary to call for a pint, or tankard, of half-and-half; i. e., half of ale and half of beer, or half of ale and half of twopenny. In course of time, it also became the practice to call for a pint, or tankard of three-threads, meaning a third of each, ale, beer, and twopenny, and thus the publican had the trouble to go to three casks, and turn three cocks for a pint of liquor. To avoid this inconvenience and waste, a brewer of the name of Harwood conceived the idea of making a liquor, which should partake of the united flavours of ale, beer, and twopenny; he did so, and succeeded, calling it entire, or entire-butt, meaning that it was drawn entirely from one cask or butt; and as it was a very hearty and nourishing liquor, and supposed to be very suitable for porters, and other working people, it obtained the name of porter. * See Barley. GIN. The Genevese, in imitation of the Dutch (Hollands) were the first makers of this spirit, and called it Geneva, from whence originated the English term of Gin. Although it is inferior in flavour to Hollands, it is considered, when unadulterated with noxious mixtures, to be equally as wholesome. PORT WINE. This wine derives its name from Oporto, in Portugal, which, like Bordeaux in France, is the principal port in that country from whence the Portugal wines are exported. Howell says, "Portugal affords no wines worth transporting." In our day, however, we think different. The custom of drinking Port wine began about 1703, the date of the Methuen treaty, it being deemed impolitic to encourage the vintage of France. Wine was first made in England in 1140. SHERRY. This wine derives its name from the province of Xeres, in Spain, where it is produced. носк. We have heard much of Hock, and many of us, no doubt, have tasted it: it is made at a village called Hocheim, in Germany, from which it derives its name. The following epitaph may be seen on a tombstone there: "This grave holds Gaspar Schink, who came to dine Three nights he sat, and thirty bottles drank, Then lifeless by the board of Bacchus sank, One only comfort have we in the case The trump will raise him in the proper place." GROG. Old Admiral Vernon first introduced rum and water as a beverage on board a ship; the veteran used to wear a grogram cloak in foul weather, which gained him the appellation of Old Grog: from himself the sailors transferred this name to the liquor, and it may be a question to which of the grogs they were most attached. See Notes and Queries, vol. i. pp. 52, 168. PUNCH Liquor. The liquor called Punch, says the "Asiatic Journal," has become so truly English, that it is often supposed to be indigenous in this country, though its name at least is oriental. The Persian punji, or Sanscrit pancha, i. e., five, is the etymon of its title, and denotes the number of ingredients of which it is composed. Addison's fox-hunter, who testified so much surprise when he found, that of the materials of which this truly English beverage was made, only the water belonged to England, would have been more astonished, had his informant also told him that it derived its name even from the East. NEGUS. Wine and water first received this name from Francis Negus, Esq., in the reign of George the First. Party spirit ran high at that period between Whigs and Tories, and wine-bibbing was resorted to as an excitement. On one occasion, some leading Whigs and Tories having, par accident, got over their cups together, and Mr. Negus being present, and high words ensuing, he recommended them in future to dilute their wine, as he did, which suggestion fortunately directed their attention from an argument which probably would have ended seriously, to one on the merits of wine and water, which concluded by their nicknaming it Negus. COFFEE AND COFFEE HOUSES. Coffee Houses were first established at Oxford. In the year 1650, Jacob, a Jew, opened a Coffey-house at the Angel, in the parish of Saint Peter in the East, Oxon; and there it was by some, who delighted in noveltie, drank. In 1654, Cirques Jobson, a Jew and a Jacobite, born near Mount Lebanus, sold coffee in Oxon; and in 1655, Arthur Tillyard, apothecary, sold coffee publicly in his house against All Souls' College. This coffey-house continued till his Majesty's (Charles II.) return and after, and then became more frequent. It is also recorded in a "New View of London," published in 1708, that one James Fair, a barber, who kept the house (which is now the Rainbow) by the Inner Temple Gate, one of the oldest in England, was in the year 1657 presented by the Inquest of St. Dunstan's in the West, for making and selling a sort of liquor called coffee, to the great nuisance and prejudice of the neighbourhood. And who (adds the author) could then have thought London would ever have had 3000 such nuisances, and that coffee would have been, as now, so much drank by the first quality and physicians. See also Notes and Queries, vol. i. p. 314. CHICORY. Chicory is the Cichorum intybus, a plant of the order Compositæ, indigenous in most parts of Europe. The root of Chicory and endive greens is used as a substitute for coffee. The leaves are also largely used in a manufactured state as a dye-stuff, called "pastel, or imitation woad," of which they form the principal ingredient, for the purpose of rendering the colour permanent in woollen cloths. NEWCASTLE SALMON. Previous to the year 1787, all salmon sent to London from Berwick were boiled and put into kits; but since that time they have been sent in boxes, stratified with ice, by which mode they are preserved for a considerable period. At a still previous time, the fish were carried by land to Newcastle, and there cured and shipped for London, where they are to this day called Newcastle Salmon. STILTON CHEESE. The late Duke of Northumberland and suite, passing through Stilton on their way to the north, stopped at the Crown to take luncheon and change horses. On his grace (at that period earl Percy) inquiring of the landlord if he had any good cheese, one of the description now in vogue was placed on the table, which his lordship was so much pleased with, that he purchased half a dozen of the same, which the landlord had by him. The praise which his lordship bestowed on the cheese to all his friends and acquaintance, brought numerous applications to the landlord for similar ones, and consequently brought the cheese into great vogue, insomuch that at last he found his cheese trade as productive as his inn. Although the cheese is denominated by the name of Stilton, which is merely from the circumstance previously named, yet it is made in the vicinity of Melton Mowbray, and other parts of Leicestershire. NATIVE OYSTERS. Oysters were looked upon by the Romans as a "dainty dish ;" and the poet Antonius has celebrated them in his verses. After the death of this poet, however, oysters were no more thought of; and it was not till the beginning of the sixteenth century that they were again brought into notice. Oysters are conceitedly said to be in season in every month of the year that has an R in its name, beginning with September, and ending with April; but the season in many places extends from August to May. Almost every city has its favourite oyster bank. In London the Colchester and Milton oysters are held in most esteem. Edinburgh has her "Whiskered Pandores," and latterly, "Aberdour oysters;" and Dublin, the "Carlingford" and "Powldoodies of Burran." For the convenience of obtaining a ready supply of oysters, they are often transported from their original beds, and laid down on proper places of the coasts, but these exiles are seldom found in such perfection as those which are called natives—that is, such as have never been rudely torn from their native homes, and sent on voyages of profit. RED HERRINGS. In a curious old pamphlet, entitled Lenten Stuffe, the author says, "the discovery of red herrings was owing to accident, by a fisherman having hung some in his cabin, where, what with his firing and smoaking, or smoaky firing, in that his narrow lobby (house), his herrings, which were as white as whalebone when he hung them up, now looked as red as a boiled lobster." In the year 1745, when the Scots rebellion threatened most formidably, Herring, then archbishop of York, resolved, in case of extremity, to take arms himself, and oppose the rebels. His avowing his intention, gave occasion to orator Henley to nickname him a Red-Herring! BREAD AND BUTTER. Bread and butter, &c., superseded Kychen grosse, or dripping, for breakfast, between the reigns of Edward IV. and Elizabeth, -Bread and cheese is mentioned as a common viand by Diogenes Laertius. LUXURIES, ARTICLES OF DRESS, TRADES, PROFESSIONS AND SHOES AND BOOTS. To whom the honour of the invention belongs, has never yet been satisfactorily ascertained by the Crispins of ancient or of modern times. That the Jews had them in use, appears from many passages of their history. "Over Edom," said the royal Psalmist," will I cast out my shoe." Pliny, the Roman historian, attributes the invention to M. Tychius, resident somewhere in Boeotia; but he does not specify either time or place with sufficient certainty. It is beyond all doubt that they were introduced into Greece at a very early period. Apollo was always represented as wearing sandals, and was thence sometimes called Sandilarius. That the Greeks wore boots long before the days of Homer, has been proved from several passages in the Iliad. In the very first book, Chryses, in his pathetic appeal to King Agamemnon aud his army to restore his daughter, addresses them thus "Ye sons of Atreus, and ye other well-booted Greeks." Among the Romans, a good shoemaker was held in very high estimation; and the profession was held by them to be inalienable, as the profession of a priest is among ourselves. "While boots and shoes are worn, their names shall be |