16 Wine, Beere, 



controversy and the quarrel becomes triangular. The introduction 

 of Water therefore becomes necessary to settle the dispute. The 

 final song is followed by a dance in character. 



Thus far had the process of elaboration gone in the first form of 

 the play. In the revision it was carried a step farther by the addition 

 of the ludicrous figure of Tobacco with his swaggering manners and 

 his tedious affectations. The idea, suggested perhaps by Lingua, of 

 making this alien and upstart stimulant disrupt the newly established 

 peace and force his way into the comradeship of his betters was an 

 extremely happy and successful one; and it was no doubt largely be- 

 cause of this episode that the second version of our dialogue achieved 

 popularity. 



3. Aristippus or the Jovial Philosopher. The Cambridge affilia- 

 tions of Wine, Beere, and Ale are further strengthened by comparison 

 with Thomas Randolph's Aristippus, the earliest of the farcical inter- 

 ludes composed by Randolph for representation at Cambridge. Here 

 the resemblance is not one of form but of subject matter. The enmity 

 of the drinks, which is the theme of Wine, Beere, and Ale, is central 

 also in Aristippus, though it is somewhat disguised by a more elaborate 

 setting. Simplicissimus comes in his innocence to sit at the feet of 

 the famous Aristippus. He finds the old philosopher's academy a 

 tavern and the burden of his discourse the praise of wine. "If I had 

 a thousand sons," said Falstaff, "the first humane principle I would 

 teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict them- 

 selves to sack." Aristippus is true to the letter and spirit of this 

 creed. As a dramatic figure, indeed, he owes not a little to his jovial 

 predecessor. A wild man, the untutored representative of beer and 

 ale, enters to defend their cause against the philosopher's abuse, but 

 the "malt heretic" is driven out and later comes to confess his error. 



Varied and original as are the elements in Randolph's composition, 

 it is difficult to believe that he did not derive a suggestion from Wine, 

 Beere, and Ale. Specific resemblances between the two dialogues are 

 recorded in the notes to the present volume.^' The most striking of 

 these is the use by both Randolph and the author of our debate of a 

 Latin epigram from an obscure mediaeval author.** How widely 



'' See notes to lines 118, 121, 291, 294, 378, 472, 479. 

 " See note to line 381. 



