In 1666, the justices of Lower Norfolk County rented the tract of land on which the court-house was situated, on condition that the lessee, in part consideration for the use of the houses and orchards each year, would pay ten gallons of ale brewed from English grain.[1]
The members of the Council appear to have been fastidious in their tastes. It was one of the duties of the Auditor-General to have a large quantity of wine always ready at hand for this body; thus on one occasion, William Byrd, who filled the office in the latter part of the century, ordered for their use, twenty dozen of claret and six dozen of canary, sherry, and Rhenish respectively. A quarter of a cask of brandy was also to be added.[2]
This unrestrained indulgence in liquor, which previous to 1624 had excited the criticism of the Company, called down on the Colony on several occasions the animadversion of the Royal Government after it had taken charge of affairs in Virginia. In 1625, Governor Yeardley was instructed to suppress drunkenness by severe punishments, and to dispose of the spirits brought into the Colony in
- ↑ Records of Lower Norfolk County, original vol. 1666-1675, p. 35.
- ↑ Letters of William Byrd, June 4, 1691. Under date of June 10, 1689, Byrd wrote: “If claret is not to be had, we must be content with port (that is, for the Council). . . . I desire you to send me a hogshead of claret wine. . . .”
of a later period. Licenses were issued for the sale of cider at the meetings of citizens in attendance on the local courts. This is shown in the following extract from the Records of Lancaster County (original vol. 1680-1686, orders July 12, 1682): “George Mayplis, petitioning the court to have ye privilege of selling of cider at ye courthouse in court time, the court doth order, provided it be no ways injurious or prejudicial in ye disturbing of ye court in their time of sitting, have admitted him so to do for this season.” That the justices were not entirely proof against the attractions of the cider and the other liquors sold on court days is seen in the provision for the punishment of those members of the bench who should become intoxicated. Hening’s Statutes, vol. II, p. 384.
