CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. Suppression of Beer-shops in Egypt 2,000 B.C. — Brewing in a Teapot. — Ale Songs. — Dis­tinc­tions be­tween Ale and Beer. — Ale-Knights’ ob­jec­tion to Sack. — Hogarth and Tem­per­ance. — Im­por­tance of Ale to the Ag­ri­cul­tu­ral La­bourer. — Sir John Bar­ley­corne in­tro­duced to the Reader . . . 1

CHAPTER II. Origin and An­ti­quity of Ale and Beer . . . 25

CHAPTER III. Home-brewed Ales. — Old Receipts. — His­to­ri­cal Facts. — Dean Swift on Home-brew. — Chris­to­pher North’s Brew-house . . . 45

CHAPTER IV. Use and Im­por­tance of Hops in Beer: Their In­tro­duc­tion and His­tory. — Hop-growers’ Trou­bles. — Me­di­cinal Qua­li­ties. — Eco­nom­ical Uses. — Hop-pickers . . . 65

CHAPTER V. Ancient and Curious Laws relating to the man­u­fac­ture and sale of Ale and Beer . . . 96

CHAPTER VI. Brewing and Malting in Early Times. — The Ale-wives. — The Brew­ers of Old London and the Brewers’ Company. — Anecdotes. — Quaint Epitaphs . . . 120

CHAPTER VII. Various Kinds of Ales and Beers. — Some For­eign Beers. — Re­ceipts. — Songs. — An­ec­dotes . . . 151

CHAPTER VIII. Ale houses: Their Origin. — Hos­pi­ta­li­ty in Me­di­æ­val Times. — Old Lon­don Inns and Ta­verns. — An­ec­dotes of Inns and Inn-keep­ers. — Cur­ious Signs. — Sign­board and Ale-house Verses. — Sign­board Ar­tists. — Ale-house Songs and Catches . . . 182

CHAPTER IX. Ancient Mer­ry-ma­kings, Feasts and Cer­e­mo­nies pe­cu­liar to cer­tain Seasons, at which Ale was the prin­ci­pal Drink. — Har­vest Home, Sheep-shear­ing, and other songs . . . 232

CHAPTER X. The Ales. — Ale at Break­fast. — Be­quests of Ale. — Drink­ing Cus­toms. — A Ser­mon on Malt. — Ex­ces­ses of the Cler­gy. — Anecdotes . . . 266

CHAPTER XI. Old Ballads, Songs and Verses relating to Ale and Beer . . . 294

CHAPTER XII. Brewing in the Pre­sent Day. — Anec­dotal and Bio­graph­i­cal Ac­count of some rep­re­sen­ta­tive London, Dublin, Burton and Country Brewing Firms. — Edinburgh Ales . . . 331

CHAPTER XIII. Porter and Stout. — Circumstances which led to their Introduction. — Value to the Working Classes. — Anecdotes. — “A Pot of Porter Oh!” . . . 365

CHAPTER XIV. Beverages com­pound­ed of Ale or Beer, with a num­ber of Re­ceipts. — An­cient Drink­ing Ves­sels. — Var­ious Uses of Ale other than as a Drink . . . 378

CHAPTER XV. Old Medical Writers on Ale. — Adul­ter­a­tion of Ale. — Ad­van­tages of Malt Li­quors to La­bour­ing Clas­ses. — Tem­per­ance versus To­tal Ab­sti­nence. — An­ec­dotes. — Gay’s Ballad . . . 408

APPENDIX. — Pasteur’s Discoveries . . . 441