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CUPS AND THEIR CUSTOMS,
21
and handsome King, Edward IV. j we there find it laid
down
u
that for the maintenance of honest mirth she
shall take, an hour before bedtime, a cup of Clary
wine/
1
"
Red wine
n
is also spoken of in the reign of
Henry VIII. j but it is uncertain to what class of wine
it belonged, or whence it came: if palatable, how-
ever, its cheapness would recommend i t| for at the
marriage of Gervys Clinton and Mary Neville, three
hogsheads of it, for the wedding-feast, were bought for
five guineas. Gaseony and G-uienne wines were sold
in the reign of Henry VIII. at eighteenpenee a gallon,
and Malmsey, Boinaney, and sack at twelvepenee a
pint. In the reign of Edward IV. few places were
allowed more than two taverns, and London was limited
to forty. None but those who could spend 100 marks
a year, or the son of a Duke, Marquis, Earl, or Baron,
were allowed to keep more than ten gallons of mine at
one time j and only the High Sheriffs, Magistrates of
Cities, and the inhabitants of fortified towns might
keep vessels of wine for their own use. In the same
reign, however, we learn that the Archbishop of York
consumed 100 tons on Ms enthronement, and as much
as four pipes a month were consumed in some of our
noblemen's houses. We must not, however, pass over
the 15th century without proclaiming it as the dawn of
the
u
Cup-epoch/' if we may be allowed the term, as
gleaned from the rolls of some of the ancient colleges
of our Universities. In the
computus
of Magstoke Priory,
A.D. 1447, is an entry in Latin, the translation of which
seems to be this:—
t€
Paid for raisin wine, with comfits