or fifty of perry.[1] These liquors seemed to have been kept in butts, hogsheads, and runlets. A great quantity of peach and apple brandy was also manufactured.
In addition to beer and ale, the liquors most generally used by the wealthier planters in the early history of the Colony were sack and aquavitæ.[2] With the passage of time, madeira became the most popular form of spirits with the members of this class in use at meals, and punch, manufactured either from West Indian rum or apple or peach brandy, at other times.[3] The people at large drank rum or brandy if a strong drink was desired.[4] Mathegelin, a mixture of honey and water, was also consumed.[5] Among the lighter wines in use were claret, fayal, and Rhenish.[6] It is a fact of curious interest, from our present point of view, that the rarest French, Portuguese, and Spanish wines and brandies were found in the ordinaries of Virginia in the seventeenth century, and the rates at which they were disposed of were carefully fixed by law. Where now only
- ↑ New Description of Virginia, p. 14, Force’s Historical Tracts, vol. II. This was, perhaps, as already stated, Kingsmill, not Kinsman.
- ↑ Works of Capt. John Smith, p. 886. It is stated in this reference that “few of the upper planters drink any water.”
- ↑ Beverley’s History of Virginia, p. 238. A liquor was also made from the quince. See Newell Inventory, Records of York County, vol. 1675-1684, p. 142, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Hugh Jones’ Present State of Virginia, p. 52.
- ↑ New Description of Virginia, page 15, Force’s Historical Tracts, Vol. II.
- ↑ Fitzhugh, writing in 1694 to Mr. George Mason of Bristol, said: “I thank you for your half dozen of claret, and should have in gratification returned you a hamper of cider, but on examination found none worth the sending.” July 20, 1694. Under date of July 25, 1690, Byrd wrote to one of his English correspondents and thanked him for a large quantity of Rhenish wine which he had sent. “The wine, although the cask was somewhat leaky, was extraordinarily good, better than any I had in bottles, and if we could find a way to settle our trade, it would do well, especially in this scarcity of claret.”
