38 George Redways Publications. 



Crown 8vo, pp. viii. and 632, Cloth gilt, los. 6J. 



In Praise of Ale; 



Or, Songs, Ballads, Epigrams, and Anecdotes 

 relating to Beer, Malt, and Hops. 



WITH SOME CURIOUS PARTICULARS CONCERNING ALE-WIVES 

 AND BREWERS, DRINKING-CLUBS AND CUSTOMS. 



COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY W. T. MARCHANT. 



CONTENTS : Introductory History Carols and Wassail Songs Church Ales and 

 Observances Whitsun Ales Political Harvest Songs General Songs Barley and 

 Malt Hops Scotch Ale Songs Local and Dialect Songs Trade Songs Oxford Songs 

 Ale Wives Brewers Drinking Clubs and Customs Royal and Noble Drinkers Black 

 Beer Drinking Vessels Warm Ale Facts, Scraps, and Ana. 



"Mr Marchant has collected a vast amount of odd, amusing, and (to him 

 that hath the sentiment of beer) suggestive and interesting matter. His 

 volume (we refuse to call it a book) is A VOLUME TO HAVE. If only as a 

 manual of quotations, if only as a collection of songs, IT is A VOLUME TO 

 HAVE. We confess to having read in it, for the first time in our lives, the 

 right and authentic text of * A Cobbler there was ' and * Why, Soldiers, 

 why ; ' and to have remarked, as regards the first, that our ancestors were 

 very easily amused, and, as regards the second, that it has a curious air de 

 famille with the triolet. These are very far from being Mr Marchant's only 

 finds ; but that is all the more reason why we should linger upon them. " 

 Saturday Review. 



" A kind of scrap-book, crowded with prose and verse which is ALWAYS 

 CURIOUS AND VERY OFTEN ENTERTAINING, and it may be read at random- 

 beginning at the end, or in the middle, or at any page you like, and reading 

 either back or forwards almost as easily as the ' Varieties ' column in a 

 popular weekly print." Saturday Review. 



"While, on the one hand, the book is, as nearly as possible, a complete 

 collection of lyrics written about the national beverage, ... it abounds, on 

 the other hand, in particulars as to the place which ale has held in the 

 celebration of popular holidays and customs. It discourses of barley-malt 

 and hops, brewers, drinkers, drinking clubs, drinking vessels, and the like ; 

 and, in fact, approaches the subject from all sides, bringing together, in the 

 space of 600 pages, A HOST OF CURIOUS AND AMUSING DETAILS." Globe, 

 April 9. 



"Mr Marchant is a staunch believer in the merits of good ale. In the 

 course of his reading he has selected the materials for a Bacchanalian antho- 

 logy Which MAY ALWAYS BE READ WITH AMUSEMENT AND PLEASURE. His 

 materials he has set in a framework of gossiping dissertation. Much curious 

 information is supplied in the various chapters on carols and wassail songs, 

 church ales and observances, Whitsun ales, harvest songs, drinking clubs and 

 customs, and other similar matters. At snug country inns at which the 

 traveller may be called upon to stop there should be, in case of a rainy hour 

 in the day, or an empty smoke-room at night, a copy of a book which sings 

 so loudly the praises of mine host and his wares. " Notes and Queries. 



