14 Wine, Beere, 



except in the case of women, who shall hereafter be said to enjoy a 

 sixth sense, that of speech. 



This decision offers a special point of resemblance with Wine, 

 Beere, and Ale, for, just as Communis Sensus defines the particular 

 place and use of each of the senses, so Parson Water assigns to each of 

 the liquors its "singularity," as ale for the country, beer for the city, 

 wine for the court. Tobacco, an upstart intruder, demanding a 

 place in the established triumvirate of drinks, plays, as I have sug- 

 gested, a similar r61e to that of Lingua in her relation to the senses.^" 

 It is noteworthy, also, that Bacchus and Small Beer appear in the 

 train of Gustus, while Tobacco, as OHactois's chief witness, extols his 

 own virtues with as little modesty as his namesake in our play. 



2. Workefor Cutlers, or a Merry Dialogue betweene Sword, Rapier, 

 and Dagger, and Exchange Ware at Second Hand, or a Merry Dialogue 

 betweene Band, Cufe, and RuffeP- These companion pieces, published 

 separately in 1615 and each bearing on its title page the words "acted 

 in a shewe at the famous Universitie of Cambridge" afford a much 

 more striking parallel to Wine, Beere, and Ale, appearing, indeed, to 

 have served as the models for the later piece. Like Wine, Beere, and 

 Ale they are properly debates — wit combats, wars of words, contain- 

 ing only a semblance of action but making up for this deficiency by an 

 unbelievable number of puns and "hits." The following is a sample 

 passage : 



"Sword. Nay Rapier, come forth, come forth, I say. He give thee a 

 crown, though it be but a crackt one: what wilt not? Art so hard to 

 be drawn forth, Rapier} 



Rapier. S'foot thou shalt know that Rapier dares enter: nay Back- 

 Sword. " 



The striking similarity of these three debates in style and spirit 

 suggests very forcibly the idea that they may all be the work of a 

 single hand. Against this we have the probability that Worke for 

 Cutlers and Exchange Ware were written some ten years earlier than 

 Wine, Beere, and Ale. This, however, is not, on the evidence given 



•" The initial situation in Lingua was doubtless derived from Giorgio Alione's Comedia de L'Omo e 

 de' sot Cinque SenHmenli (1521), where the part of Lingua is taken by D Cul. See Hanford, "The 

 Debate Element in the Elizabethan Drama," Kittredee Anniversary Papers, 455. 



" Reprinted, Charles Hindley, The Old Book Collector's Miscellany, 1871-1873, vol. II. A critical 

 edition of Workefor Cutlers has been published by Albert F. Sieveking, London, 1904. 



