Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Birthdays / Song In Praise Of Ale

Song In Praise Of Ale

February 10, 2019 By Jay Brooks

lamb

Today is the birthday of Charles Lamb, who “was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children’s book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb.” In addition to his own works, and adapting others, he also collected works of earlier authors. One such work was entitled “Specimens of English Dramatic Poets, Selected by Charles Lamb,” published in 1803.

One of his choices has an anonymous author, and is ascribed to the London Chanticleers, and is characterized as “a rude sketch of a play, printed 1659, but evidently much older.” It’s entitled “Song in praise of Ale.”

Song in praise of Ale

I.

Submit, bunch of Grapes,
To the strong Barley ear;
The weak Vine no longer,
The Laurel shall wear.

II.

Sack and drinks else,
Desist from the strife,
Ale’s th’ only Aqua vitae,
And liquor of life.

III.

Then come my boon fellows,
Let’s drink it around;
It keeps us from th’ grave,
Though it lays us o’ th’ ground.

IV.

Ale’s a Physcian,
No Mountebank bragger,
Can cure the chill ague,
Though ’t be with the stagger.

V.

Ale’s a strong wrestler,
Flings all it hath met;
And makes the ground slippery,
Though ’t be not wet.

VI.

Ale is both Ceres,
And good Neptune too,
Ale’s froth was the Sea,
From whence Venus grew.

VII.

Ale is immortal:
And be there no stops,
In bonny Lads’ quaffing,
Can live without hops.

VIII.

Then come my boon fellows,
Let’s drink it around;
It keeps us from the grave,
Though it lays us o’ th’ ground.

Charles_Lamb_by_William_Hazlitt
Charles Lamb (February 10, 1775 – 27 December 27, 1834)

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, Literature



Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • The Session #147: Downing pints when the world's about to end - Daft Eejit Brewing on The Sessions
  • Amanda Alderete on Beer Birthday: Jack McAuliffe
  • Aspies Forum on Beer In Ads #4932: Eichler’s Bock Beer Since Civil War Days
  • Return of the Session – Beer Search Party on The Sessions
  • John Harris on Beer Birthday: Fal Allen

Recent Posts

  • Beer Birthday: Julia Herz May 31, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Phil Markowski May 31, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Adolph G. Bechaud May 30, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: John Gilroy May 30, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Adam Avery May 30, 2025

BBB Archives

Feedback

Head Quarter
This site is hosted and maintained by H25Q.dev. Any questions or comments for the webmaster can be directed here.
Go to mobile version