78 RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



water, they preferred and drank Joe Carter's (the 

 host of the ' Bugle ') strong ale, besides wines and 

 spirits, till late in the evening ; many of them for- 

 cettino; the route to their own dwellinos, and makin"- 

 anything but a teetotal gathering. 



As I before stated, when an election for the 

 borough was looming in the not distant future, this 

 Hartwell gooseberry show was a fertile source of 

 supposed bribery and treating, being within the 

 hundreds of Aylesbury, and most of the inhabitants 

 were amongst the worthy, the free, and the indepen- 

 dent electors. As it was very uncertain which way 

 Dr. Lee would vote, there were strenuous attempts 

 made by the rival parties to make the meeting a 

 success. In every autumn a monster assembly 

 favourable to ' teetotalism ' was held in the park, 

 and for nearly a week delegates from London and 

 other parts of England made a point of attending. 

 The mansion was converted into a sort of liberty 

 hall, open house being the rule, and plenty of 

 feasting took place, for it was remarked that 

 teetotallers were noted ' trenchermen,' and made up 

 by eating what they denied themselves of drinking. 

 Vegetarians throve here mightily, as they drank 

 alcoholic beverages, and the anti-tobacconists could 

 both eat meat and solace themselves with something 

 stronger than water. The meetings of these 

 societies began about noon, and lasted till nine or 

 ten o'clock at night. Bands playing, dancing, ' kiss 

 in the ring,' and rural sports going on well into the 

 dark : Joseph Carter's hostelry, the ' Bugle,' being 



