O thou, my muse! good auld Scotch drink!
Whether thro’ wimplin worms thou jink,
Or, richly brown, ream owre the brink,
In glorious foam,
Inspire me, till I lisp an’ wink,
To sing thy name!

Let husky wheat the vales adorn,
An’ oats set up their bearded horn,
An’ peas and beans, at e’en or morn,
Dear is to me John Barleycorn,
Thou king o’ grain!

Now there’s a legendary drinker!

Here are a few more Great British Drinkers:
Wallace Milroy (famed whisky expert – lunchtime tipple of choice, a pint of Lagavulin)
Eric Clapton (reformed now, but out of it for most of the time he was married to Patti Boyd)
Jeffrey Barnard (journalist and racing tipster – had a West End play written about his exploits, Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell, with another great drinker, Peter O’Toole, playing the part of Barnard).
Herbert Asquith, British Prime Minister in the early years of the First World War,, nicknamed “Squiffy”.
James Boswell, Samuel Johnson’s biographer, and the epitome of the hard-drinking 18th century gentleman
George Brown, 1960s politician, whose exploits in public led to the invention of the euphemism “tired and emotional”
Kingsley Amis, author and father of the now much more famous Martin

and a couple more Irish ones
Brendan Behan
George Best (star soccer player who carried on drinking AFTER a liver transplant)

And what about history’s greatest drunk, Alexander?
And the Bible’s most famous drunk, Noah? (Genesis 9:21, IIRC) Legendary indeed …

Glaring omissions:

Mark Twain
Richard Burton
Frank Sinatra

…and just for fun:

Billy Martin