GRAPE-VINE. 191 



is mentioned, "In ale, 300 tun; in wine, 100 tun; in 

 ipocrasse, 1 pipe." 



In the year 1311 we find Thomas earl of Leicester 

 debited by his cofferer, or paymaster, Thomas Leicester, 

 amongst other charges, with 104. 17s. 6d. for three hun- 

 dred and sixty-nine pipes of red wine and two pipes of 

 white, which is about 5s. 7$d. per pipe. (Stow's Survey 

 of London.) 



In the year 1322, when the sentence of banishment 

 against the Spencers was removed, the elder Spencer's 

 petition to the King, setting forth the damage he had 

 sustained, amongst other things enumerates forty tun of 

 wine and ten tun of cider. From these circumstances 

 we may fairly judge that wine was the principal beverage 

 of the English nobility at that period. 



Of all the productions of.nature, wine is the thing most 

 difficult to choose well ; yet we scarce meet with an ac- 

 quaintance that does not pride himself in possessing this 

 quality, while at the same time we find the greatest con- 

 noisseurs often deceived in their judgment; and it is 

 generally observed, that dealers in wine know Jess of its 

 qualities than other people. 



At the present time, the consumption of wine in these 

 dominions is immense, notwithstanding the excessively 

 high duties laid on foreign wines; and in the London 

 Docks there are eleven large vaults for housing of wines 

 until the duties are paid on them : one of these vaults 

 often contains nearly thirty thousand pipes. 



Portugal supplies us with both the red and the white 

 port, which take their name from Oporto, from whence 

 they are shipped; Lisbon, which is called after that city; 

 and Bucellas, which is a wine made from the fruit of vines 

 that have been brought from the Rhine, and planted in 

 the neighbourhood of Lisbon, but where, if not often re^ 

 newed, it degenerates, and becomes similar to the produce 



