142 / 154
lWother Country. H e was :in in tense L oya list, :tnd wa-, of cou rse, a n object
of hatred to t he Ame ri cnn so ldier. , a ncl of suspicion to t he people t here–
abouts who favored the cause of t he Colon ies.
Betsy Flanagan was fi ercely hosti le to t his gent leman and hi s family,
and talked loudly agai nRt t hem; nnil made d i1·e threats of what ·he w_ould clo
to t hem when "Gineral " \Vashi11g ton came on. Sbe 'va a lway· pronrising
to feed t he Ameri can and Frenc h officers upon t he fin e fowl t hat ·was in the
Loyalist's g round;, and from _time.
to
ti r~ie
tbey wou ld tease her about the
.delay about carryrng her prom ises into effect-.
One n ig ht when t he re wns
Hn
un11:trnl '1tte11clance of t hese officers at the
B racer a ncl afte r they had teased her more t han usual about. t he E nglish
fowl ; he invited t hem into her di ni ng-room, where t here was spread before
then~
a bountiful fea t of chicken, clone in t he style of a famous French
Chef de 'ui sin e. The work was doue. 'l'he chi cken coop hacl been raiclecl by
some one. The Engli. h gentleman was f urious, but powerless. He sho rtly
afterwards left fo r England aml wa never heard from again.
Now, in those days. in t his co untry (ancl wh ich is cont in ued to t his day
in England ) the male fowl was cn ll ecl a cock. Among the B riton 's poultry
wer e several of t hese cocks of superior breed ancl size ancl of unusual
beau ty; sporting iail feather of great height and of
grac~ful
cnrves of the
Jo,·el.iest colors. Betsy had n?t th rown .away t he, trophies of her cap t ure,
clamagillg as t hey were a enclence aga•.nst her ; but she had spread t hem
tastefully over the
dr~s
er, as
sl~ e.
call
eel
1t, upon the sheh ·es of which toocl
bottles of vari ous 1zcs conta1111 ng the delectable and
110
w renowned
''Bracer.''
After the
cbi~lwn
banque.t
was.
over, Betsy illvitecl the gue ts into t he
tavern bar,
a
ncl with grPat pr1 de po ' ntecl to fhe feathered decorations. Tbe
s urpri se wa complete, ancl t he even t ,celeb rated \vit h three hearty cheers fo r
Betsy Flanagall, t he cau. e of t he
(
olon 1sts and the discomfo rtme of t he
Englisbm:rn. '!'he "Br'.1cers" . came off .tho c helves in a g reat hurry, a nd
t he r ema in der of the
m g
ht was passecl
rn
f·hat b a r-room a midst t he " Cock-
tn
ils" a ncl the inspiring "BraceI'S. "
· '
"Give us some
m?r~
of '.linse
'('o.ckt~ i l s,'
" were the freq uent order s.
"Here's
to
th e
d 1 ~·111 e
liquor
wh • c,1~
is as delicious.to the palate as t he
cock 's tails are
be~rn tifnl
to th o eye, ,';as one of t he toasts. "Vive Je
'oclda il, •• s::ing ou t a French officer. .
l
hi s
was
t he k eynote to the now
celebraf·ecl name.
Tt .
t uck.
;~'b.e
call_
fo,1;
"Bracers.'' now ceased, a ncl e\7er
after t be demand \Y:is fo r
( ockta1 ls
when t his delightful drink was
wanted.
Nearly a centu1:y a n.cl a
_J.,11.f
haYe
pass~d
s in ce t his e\·ent. Great t h ings
ha ,·e happe neel 1n A1nen ca :Jn
l'l
ng _t l11 s pennd. Betsy F lanagan and all the
soldi e r have
JJ-Ot
left. sn .fo r
ns
1s known, t heir names
in
that region of
country . Th e s1h;o of t hP
~race r
'l':i.-ern a nd the
"Engli:hman's coun t ry seat
a re but shadows of trad itions, but the. name of rock tail '' still lives-and
will ]iYP with certn 1n lnca l
~ualifi cations,
snch as Ma1·t ini, :Manh attan,
Bronx, CloYe r ('luh, etc., nntil tlie end of t ime; for l;un clrecls of t be b est–
lrn?wn
corrno1_s eur, ch \bmen, h _on viva nts
an?
.prnfess1ont~l
mixologists a r e
stny 1ng con tunrnlly to conce l\·e. some co 111b1n,1t 1on of liquids whi ch will
populal'i ze itself
mi<1
gain l'ecognit1_on
rm
a stan_dal'cl American Cocktail.
'J'his litf'l e wo1·k Rims to p11bl1 h only re 1pe. fol' Cockta ils which have
outl iv ed the critirism of f·he fick l0 public. a nd earn ed fo l' t hemselves a place
in the repertoi re of
nll
fil'St-cla.s ba l'tenlers.
The attention of th e reade r is ca ll ed t o the fact that
an
index in t his
wo l'k
has
been found unnecessa•',V, a all the rer ipc · a l'e ananged alphabet i–
(•ally.