CHAPTER X.
“And then satten some and songe at the Ale.”
Be mine each morn with eager appetite And hunger undissembled to repair To friendly buttery; there on smoking crust And foaming Ale to banquet unrestrained; Material breakfast! Thus in ancient days Our ancestors robust with liberal cups Usher’d the morn, unlike the squeamish sons Of modern times.
THE ALES. — ALE AT BREAKFAST. — BEQUESTS OF ALE. — DRINKING CUSTOMS. — A SERMON ON MALT. — EXCESSES OF THE CLERGY. — ANECDOTES.
O far we have only considered those merry-makings which were peculiar to certain seasons of the year. It need hardly be said that there were also a number of festivals in which ale figured as the chief beverage, in no way related to any particular day, and these, together with a variety of curious customs connected with ale and beer, will be now treated of.
Prominent among the many convivial meetings indulged in by our ancestors were the Ales, at which, as their name indicates, malt liquor was largely consumed. Such a feast is referred to in Chaucer:
“And make him grete feestes atte nale.”
And in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Launce says to Speed, “Thou hast not so much charity in thee as to go to the Ale with a Christian.”