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SOME NEW-UP-TO-NOW
SEDUCTIVE AMERICAN.
COCKTAILS
By
HoN. WM.
T.
(CocKTAIL) Boornsy
In t he days of the American _ReYoluti on, one P at ri ck F la naga n, a joll y
a nd ,·ery patriotic Irishman , enli _ted as a soldier in a troop of V irgi ni a
caYa lry. He bad but. recen tly ma rn ed an fri $h _las who wa s intensely Ameri ·
ca n in her se ntiments, mid wh o
\YflS
dete rmin ed to go with her Pat ri ck
wh ere \"er she co uld. Th e officers of th e troop were inform ed of her inten ·
tions, a nd mo re in the spirit of fun than a ny t hin g e lse, e ngnged he r a a
ma id of a ll work, and encouraged her 111 eYer.v poss ibl e ma nner.
She accepted th e
cli~tin gui
heel honor in
ea r~ est.
and was always fou nrl
as close to the command as · he cou ld get. 111 ak 1ng herself so nsefnl to the
officers a nd en l ist ed men as nurse fo r t he s ick a nd wounded, that she soon
became an ind ispensable adjunct to th e ColoniHI Volun teers.
Jn a short t ime Patrick cl iecl, wh e reupon t he
~ol cl i e rs
anrl officers ex–
pressed g reat sympat hy for he r, and t he comm an din g office r ask ed what . he
wou ld clo n ow th nt Pat rick was go ne. when : he prompt!'" sepl ierl:
''I 'll . ti ck wicl yees unti l we get ou 1· ind ependence, just a. Patrick
would. ''
· 'l'his so pleased th e
offic~ 1·s
>rncl b)"-'tancl ers t hat the.v promi sed to
~ec
what they could clo fo r her
111
t h 1.
particular. ln a few days she was in·
fo rmed that s he migh t net as sntl".1· to the co 111m nnc1, but orde rs had been
r ece iY ed w h ich would take the. nlc11ers t o New York , a nd t hat flS h e 111ight
n.ot. lik e to go so fa r away from
ho m ~.
th ey "·ou ld e ndea,·o r to get her a
s11111la r place in auother
coni p~n.'".
w in ch wonl d mnst likely remai1J i11 the
~o uth .
Here Betsy (for thnt "".flS her na me) sq uarPd
her:elfin fro n t of her
rn formant and ind ig nantly repl ied :
.
"To th e di Yil wid vour other cn111pan 1es;
T
go with Patr ick 's one, and
to th e encl of it, t oo. ' ' ·
·
That settlerl it, ancl in
J77~
"T'ntrick 's Cnnqrnn :v" winter<'d at n place
in vV es t chester C'o nntv, n<'a r
!\cW
Yo rk . n:nn pr] '' F'our C'o rn ers,'' between
" White Plain s" a
11
c1 'rarry t0w11 . At thi s p1'1 ce Ret.
y
sot i1p a t:i. ,·ern which
sh e k ep t '."ery n e:·it ly . with sn ncl erl fl oors and co n,·e niC'nt litl"l e t <1lls nnrl
room s, where Ame rica ii ancl F rench office rs nwt frequently, pl ayed ca rrl s <l ncl
en,ioyecl a new so rt of bc,·craf,e
cn n'..pou~1 ;1,ed
h.'· B etsy, whi ch bccnme 'er:v
popular and w hi ch Fhe call ed
B 1ace1.
H er est>ibli shm ent
~on n
b ecfl 111e famou s for t hi . rlel i<·io us deco ction, ancl
Bcts.v wns t empterl by 111 nn.Y a good offe r fro111 0t her tn,·c rn k ee pers for t he
secr et of this de lightful dnnk . bnt sh e was beyond th e r each of all surh
sedn ctiYe influ en ces, a ncl gave th e secret to but one oldi er who was a great
fri end of Patrick's, with a sworn pledge t ha t it sh ould not be made publi c
unti l after her death.
Jt
is understoo d that thi pl edge was sacredl y k!'pt.
In t he n eighborhood of Betsy's T aYera , or, fl
it b ecame finally known,
"The Bra.c r T:n·e rn ," l ived upon a fin e e tntc nn B ngli ·bman, who kept a
pack of bound s, fin e hor. es ancl pleaclid poultry, all impo rted fro m tlie