17 / 66
CUPS JJTB THEIR CUSTOMS,
17
to the Abbey of Crowlatid the horn of his table, "that
the elder monks may drink from it on festivals, and in
their benedictions remember sometimes the soul of the
donor/' as well as the one mentioned in Gale's
r
History
of Ramsey/ to the Abbey of which place the Lady
Ethelgiva presented " two silver cups for the use of the
brethren in the refectory, in order that, while drink is
served in them, my memory may be more firmly im-
printed on their hearts/
1
Another curious proof of the
estimation in which they were held is, that in pictures of
warlike expeditions,,where representations of the valuable
spoils are given, we invariably find drinking-vessels por-
trayed most prominently. The ordinary drinks of the
Anglo-Saxons were ale and mead, though wine was also
used by them | but wine is spoken of as
a
not the drink
of children or of fools, but of elders and wise men
;"
and
the scholar says he does not drink wine, because he is
not rich enough to buy itj from which,
en passant,
we may notice that scholars were not rich men even in
those days, and up to the present time, we fear, have but
little improved their worldly estate. We cannot learn
that the Saxons were in the habit of compounding
drinks, and, beyond the fact of their pledging each
other with the words
et
Drinc-hsel
n
and " Wfiess-hsel/*
accompanying the words with a kiss, and that mitt*
strelsy formed a conspicuous adjunct to their drinking-
festivities, we can obtain but little knowledge of the
customs they pursued. The Vedic
€t
cup-drink *' was
i€
Soma/* which is described as being
e€
sweet, honied,
sharp and well-flavoured/
1
the liquor of the Gods, One