THE SWALLOW.

 

Superstitious Customs and Beliefs. 

For one that is or will be dronken. Take swallowes and burne them, and make a powder of them; and give the dronken man thereof to drinke, and he shall never be dronken hereafter. 

 

 

AS DRUNK AS DAVID’S SOW.

 

“The treasury of knowledge and library reference“

AS DRUNK AS DAVID’S SOW 1 A common saying, which took its rise from the following cir- cumstance : David Lloyd, a Welshman, who kept an alehouse at Hereford, had a living sow with six legs, which was greatly resorted to by the curious : he had also a wife much addicted to drunkenness, for which he used sometimes to give her due cor- rection. One day, David’s wife having taken a cup too much, and being fearful of the consequence, turned out the sow, and laid down to sleep herself sober. Company coming to see the sow, David ushered them into the stye, saying, ” There is a sow for you ! Did any of you ever see such another ? ” all the while sup- posing the sow to have been there. To which some of the company, seeing the state the woman was in, replied, ” That it was the drunkennest sow that had ever been beheld;” whence the woman was ever after called “David’s Sow.”

_________________________________

 

MIND YOUR P’S AND Q’S. This expression arose from the ancient custom of hanging a slate behind the alehouse door, on which was written P or Q (i. e., Pint or Quart} against the name of each customer, according to the quantity which he had drunk, and which was not expected to be paid for till the Saturday evening, when the wages were settled.

____________

Sir, the Irish had no civilation, civization, civilation I mean.’ Finding, however, his efforts to get civilization out impracticable, he sat down with the satisfaction of having added a new word to our language. Every drunken man ever since is here said to be in a state of civilation.

Dr. Maginn's poem of Daniel O'Rourke, iv. 35.
" Said he, ' Tis certain that I was not right
To get into this state of civilation. 9 "
"The treasury of knowledge and library reference"

APRIL FOOL.

 

“The treasury of knowledge and library reference“

APRIL FOOL! It has been very often inquired, whence this custom was derived. The Editor believes it to be a custom of great antiquity. The ancients had many rites and ceremonies in honour of their gods. The Romans kept their Saturnalia in honour of Saturn, beginning on the 17th December, which lasted during five days. Bocharius is of opinion they took their origin from Noah’s drunkenness. These were times when all business ceased except cooking ; when servants might command their masters, and slaves become unruly without fear of punishment. The Bacchanalia, or feasts in honour of Bacchus, lasted three days, and commenced after the vine harvests, and then drunkenness was the privilege of all. The Stultinaria were confined to one day, the 1st of April, when the idiots had their annual holiday, and when children were encouraged to make derision of them, and send them on needless errands, &c. Some writers are of opinion, that the Romans had much policy in allowing these feasts, or holidays. By the first (Saturnalia), they saw how servants and slaves would act had they power. By the second (Bacchanalia), they were able to discover the natural inclinations and vices of all that inebriated themselves. And the encouragement they gave to children, in the third instance (Stultinaria), to deride fools, would, they hoped, make them desirous to receive their education, lest they might, in time, become themselves objects of derision and contempt.

SMOKING AND TAKING SNUFF.

SMOKING AND TAKING SNUFF. 

Tobacco is said to have been first brought into England by
Captain R Greenfield and Sir Francis Drake about the year 1586,
during the reign of Elizabeth. Alehouses are at present licensed
to deal in tobacco, but it was not so from the beginning ; for so
great an incentive was it thought to drunkenness, that it was
strictly forbidden to be taken in any alehouses in the reign of
James I. A pamphlet on the Natural History of Tobacco, in the
Harleian Miscellany, says, " The English are said to have had
their pipes of clay from the Virginians," who were styled bar-
barians ; and the origin of manufacturing tobacco into snuff is
thus given to the sister kingdom. " The Irishmen do most com-
monly powder their tobacco, and snuff it up their nostrils."

"The treasury of knowledge and library reference"

 Maunder, Samuel, 1785-1849

OPIUM: EXTRACTS FROM A DISCOURSE 1840

 

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2551442

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Saturday 22 February 1840.

To smoke opium,
and not to look after the comfort of your parents, is to play the part of an undutiful child. TO smoke opium and to give no heed to the instruction of your son, is not fulfilling your duty as a father; to smokeopium and care not though your wife suffer cold and want, is what no kind husband would do.

If we are overcome by dangers or sickness, we are sad ; if informed that we are about to die, we are sorrowful ; such is thenature of man, and opium smokers offer the only exception. These run after their death;  these sit contentedly on the brink of danger – even as the silly moth which keeps fluttering round the candle which consumes him. 

SHERLOCK HOMES

DRUG USE IN THE 19TH CENTURY

“Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantelpiece, and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle and rolled back his left shirtcuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist, all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally, he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined armchair with a long sigh of satisfaction.” (”The Sign Of Four”, 1890)

http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/sherlock-holmes/features/drug-use-in-the-19th-century

Alcohol in Australia

Alcohol in Australia: the intertwining 
of social and personal histories
an interview with Milton Lewis

EXTRACT: 

Anglo-Celtic baggage
 It’s clear that heavy drinking was an established cultural norm transported to Australia along with other Anglo-Celtic cultural baggage. At the time of colonisation of Australia, it was the norm in Europe to drink heavily. It was the time of the gin epidemics which were devastating communities in Britain. Alcohol in Europe had long served as a food and source of nutrition as the diets of the time were very restricted and there wasn’t a lot else to choose from. In some 19th century cities alcohol was also seen as a real alternative to water, or to anything that was water-based, because of problems of pollution. All these different factors led to traditions of heavy drinking being brought to Australia on the first fleets. Once in Australia, these heavy drinking traditions contributed significantly to the destruction of Indigenous culture.

 

A WASTED LIFE BY MELINDA KENDALL

A WASTED LIFE A wasted life! This sad refrain Comes surging through my ears again; There’s no escape from thee, though fiend; Thou art borne to me on every wind – A wasted life! A wasted life! By day or night, no peace for me; Still, still before me I can see The fragments of the dear dead past, Which I (Oh! fool) from me have cast – A wasted life! A wasted life! I’ve tried to drown in lethean drain This ruthless voice; but all in vain; It comes with ten-fold force again, And brings remorse to swell and strain – A wasted life! A wasted life! From out this deep dark Stygian sea, While vainly struggling to be free, I look above, and pray that I No more may hear that awful cry – A wasted life! A wasted life! (Illawarra Mercury, April 8, 1884) MELINDA KENDALL

Drinking in Hot Climes

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2187084

The Sydney Gazette Wednesday 13 December 1826

Drunkenness.-There is scarcely any hope of a
drunkard reforming in a hot climate : It is reported
in Halts Columbia, that, of 3000 Europeans who
went to Columbia a few years since, not more than
300 survive ; and three parts out of five of this
mortality may be attributed to drinking.

ETERNITY WILL BE TOO LATE

The Sydney Gazette. Thursday 4 March 1

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2182693

A man that procured his livelihood by bird catching, named (we believe) Edward Maidman, for the last fortnight or three weeks gave himself up to intense drinking. One day last week he was in a Pitt-street public-house, apparently well in health, when suddenly he leaped towards the ceiling, fell prostrate, and instantly expired ! A Coroner’s Inquest returned a verdict of-Death by the visitation of God.’ Reader ! if thou art a drunkard, refrain in time; for eternity will be too late !

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2182693

The Sydney Gazette  Wednesday 26 July 1826

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2186252

Six persons, amongst whom was a female of notorious character as a drunkard, were severally fined 5s. each to the poor, for being found in a state of intoxication in the streets at late hours.

 

 

Technorati Tags: sydney gazette,maidman,alcohol,pitt street sydney