of comparatively sober and temperate habits, until vitiated by their intercourse with the less sober English. William of Malmsbury, who may be considered as the most correct historian of that age, writes thus,-"The English were much addicted to excessive eating and drinking, in which they sometimes spent both day and night, without intermission. The Normans were very unlike them in this respect, being delicate in the choice of their meats and drinks, but seldom exceeding the bounds of temperance. By this means, the Normans lived with greater elegance and at less expense, than the English."* This sobriety, however, unfortunately did not long continue. The Normans gradually adopted the vicious practices of the English, and a corresponding deterioration in their general character immediately succeeded. Peter of Blois, in one of his letters thus remarks:"When you behold our Barons and Knights going upon a military expedition, you see their baggage horses loaded, not with iron, but wine; not with lances, but cheeses; not with swords, but bottles; not with spears, but spits. You would imagine they were going to prepare a great feast, rather than to make war."+ The same author goes on to say,"There are even too many who boast of their excessive drunkenness and gluttony: and labour to acquire fame, by swallowing great quantities of meat and drink."I King Henry I., commonly called Beauclerc, in the midst of his prosperity, received from an act of intemperance, a shock, which ever afterwards rendered him miserable. This was the death of his only son, a prince on whose education he had bestowed the greatest care, and who was he expected to succeed him on the throne. The marriage of the young prince, to a princess of France, and the possessions he thereby obtained had unfolded to him prospects of great wealth and honour. He embarked for England, in a vessel with fifty rowers, from Harfleur on the coast of Normandy. Turner thus describes the melancholy catastrophe, and its cause :"Unfortunately the sailors solicited him for wine, and in the gaiety of youth he distributed it profusely. The * W Malmsbury, b. iii. + P. Bleseus, Ep. 24. Ib. Ep. 86. seamen, the captain, his friends, all became intoxicated, and in this state a giddy desire arose to pass by every ship that was before them. The emulatory whim was instantly adopted; every arm was exerted, every eye was intent on this single object, and the ship was flying with all the velocity that unusually exerted strength could give her, in a fine calm moonlight night; when by the heedlessness of the inebriated helmsman, she struck suddenly on a rock near the shore, then covered with water, but known and visible at low water. The shock burst through two planks on the left side of the vessel, and the sea entered fast. The prince got into a little boat, and was escaping, when he heard the voice of his sister shrieking to him to help her; he put back to the ship to take her in, but at the same time so many leaped into it, that it sunk, and every one on board perished. The ship soon disappeared under the waves with all its crew, 300 in number, excepting two persons, a young nobleman and a butcher, who held clinging to the top of the mast." The butcher only, however, escaped to tell the woeful disaster to the king, who is said to have been so depressed by the news as to have "never smiled again." During several centuries immediately succeeding this period, it does not appear that the English became more temperate in their habits. The immense quantities of food and drink consumed at feasts, which were frequently held, appear almost incredible, were it not for authentic records, wherein an accurate description of them is given. Henry II., A.D. 1216, issued a proclamation wherein it is stated that "the outrageous and excessive multitude of meats and dishes which the great men of our kingdom have used and still use, in their castles and by persons of inferior rank, imitating their example beyond what their stations require, and their circumstances can afford, many great evils have come upon our kingdom, the health of our subjects has been injured, their goods have been consumed, and they have been reduced to poverty." This ordinance restricted the number of dishes to be used by the great men of the land, and attached severe penalties to every transgression. In the reign of Edward III., A.D. 1363, sumptuary laws were enacted for arresting the progress of extravagant living among various ranks, but historians remark that they produced little beneficial effect. Immense quantities of wines were consumed at these feasts, and the utmost care was taken to procure them of the richest quality. It appears from Hollinshed, that the strongest wines were in most repute at this period, the weaker sort, such as claret, not being in common demand. At a later period, Sir John Fortescue, while illustrating the diet of the rich, and with the view of exhibiting the comparative comforts and privileges enjoyed by the English people, thus remarks: They drink no water, except when they abstain from other drinks, by way of penance, and from a principle of devotion." At this period, the clergy in particular indulged in luxurious habits, and converted religious festivals into intemperate carousals. In the Northumberland Family Book, are found the following curious items, for the Earl and Countess, during the Lent fast days, viz.; "a loaf of bread on trenchers, two manchetts, (small loaves of white bread) a quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a chyne of mutton, or a chyne of beef boiled." The evening repast of the same lady and lord, was as follows: "Two manchetts, a loaf of household bread, a gallon of beer, and a quart of wine." The feasts which were held at this period, on all particular occasions, displayed great magnificence, and profusion of provisions of various sorts; and were plentifully supplied with intoxicating liquors. It can scarcely be supposed that temperance was a virtue practised on these occasions.* At a magnificent feast given to Queen Elizabeth, by the Earl of Leicester, at Kenilworth Castle, in addition to other stores of intoxicating liquors, 365 hogsheads of beert alone were drunk. Sumptuary laws were made at this time to restrain excesses; but when the highest authorities in the land set so bad an example, the more *The following were the items for drink at the installation feast of George Nevill, Archbishop of York, A. D. 1466. "Goodly provision, made for the installation feast," &c. In Ale, Tuns. 300 100 1 humble classes of society might naturally be expected to imitate them. In fact, during a considerable portion of the sixteenth century, intemperance appears to have been the common vice of the country. The citizens of those days were much addicted to drunkenness. Some writers of that period, strongly advert to this fact. The most noted taverns are even named, with their situations and qualifications.* Stubbs, in his "Anatomie of Abuse,"+ asserts that the public-houses in London were crowded from morning to night with inveterate drunkards. A French writer in a similar account, states, that the artizans, such as hatters and joiners, on holidays, were perpetually feasting in taverns, on rabbits, hares, and such sorts of meat. The tippling propensity, with its evil consequences, moral and physical, is well described in a song, published A. D. 1551, and said to have been the first drinking song of merit, written in this country.§ The two first verses of this song are inserted for the information of the reader. I cannot eat but little meat, But sure, I think, that I can drink, I nothing am a colde; I stuff my skin, so full within, CHORUS. Backe and side, go bare go bare, But belly, God send thee, good ale enoughe, In the following verse, the delicate appetite of the drunkard is still further pourtrayed. I love no rost, but a nut-brown toste, A little bread shall do my stead, * Vide Contin. to Henry's Hist. of England, vol. ii. p. 269. + Page 73. Henry's Contin. vol. ii. p. 287. § Vide Warton's History of English Poetry, vol. iii. D No frost no snow, no winde I trowe, I am so wrapt and thorougely lapt, Backe and side, &c. The last verse, in reference to those "good soules, that have scoured bowles," concludes thus; "God save the lives of them and their wives, Camden and Baker, both agree that the English indulged more in intemperance after the Dutch war. Baker states, that after this war, the English learned to be drunkards, and so much deluged the kingdom with this vice, that laws were obliged to be enacted for repressing it.* From the following statement of Camden, it may be inferred, that that learned writer looked upon the vices of the English, at a previous period, as not so venial as others have represented. "The English, who hitherto had, of all the northern nations, shown themselves least addicted to immoderate drinking, and been commended for their sobriety, first learned, in these wars in the Netherlands, to swallow large quantities of intoxicating liquors, and to destroy their own health, by drinking that of others.+ Similar luxurious habits existed in succeeding reigns. Many and severe complaints were made against the clergy, in particular, some of whom are described as having led dissolute lives. This bad example, may be supposed to have had a corresponding influence on the people, who in general have been found but too willing to imitate vices sanctioned by the practice, though opposed to the precepts, of their spiritual pastors and teachers. Numerous historical notices are recorded of the intemperate habits of the people in the seventeenth century. During the reign of James I., intemperance was no less prevalent than it had been under former monarchs. James, on his accession, rather encouraged this vice, by the passing of laws for the increase of houses appropriated to the sale of *Baker's Chronicle. + Camden's Annals, 1581. |