THE ISLE OF HONEY 25 



honey in Anglo-Saxon times. The commonest, 

 or mead proper, which may be taken as the usual 

 drink of the masses, was made by steeping 

 in water the crushed refuse of the combs after 

 the honey had been pressed from them. This 

 would be strained and set aside in earthen vessels 

 until it fermented and became mead. And the 

 longer it was kept, the more potent grew the 

 liquor. Another kind, made from honey, water, 

 and the juice of mulberries, was called Morat ; and 

 this, presumably, was the beverage of the more 

 well-to-do. A third concoction, known as Pigment, 

 was brewed from the purest honey, flavoured with 

 spices of different sorts, and received an additional 

 lacing of some kind of wine. Probably this was 

 the mead served at the royal table. The office of 

 King's Cup-bearer could have been no sinecure in 

 those days, for it was the custom of Anglo-Saxon 

 monarchs to entertain their courtiers at four 

 banquets daily, and the quantities of liquor which 

 the old records tell us were consumed on these 

 occasions seem incredible, even in the annals of 

 such a deep-drinking race. Not the least valuable 

 outcome of the Norman Conquest, as far as the 

 national temperance was concerned, must have 

 been the reform instituted in these Court orgies by 

 William the First, who reduced their number to a 

 single state banquet daily. 



If it may be supposed that the reign of Harold 

 marked the summit of popularity for our good old 



