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176
THE FLOWING BOWL
words; but since that, that wines have been
imported from foreign parts in great quantities,
the English have been forced to make use of the
old British name Seider, or Cider^ for distinction
sake, although the name vinum may be as proper
for the juice of the apple as the grape, if it be
derived either from Vi or Vincendo^ or quasi
Divinum^ as one would have it. Also the vulgar
tradition of the scarcity of foreign wines in
England, viz. that Sack, which was then
imported for the most part but from Spain, was
sold in the apothecaries' shops as a cordial
medicine ; and the vast increase in vineyards in
France (Ale and Beer being usual drinks in Spain
andFrance in Pliny's time)isan argument sufficient
that the name of Wine might be attributed to
our British Cider, and of vineyards to the places
separated for the propagating the fruit that
yields it."
As a matter of fact the best cider in the
world is made in Normandy. And for what
purpose do the Normans make it? To send
to the Champagne country to be sold to the
unsuspecting tourist as the sparkling wine of that
district.
This is solid truth. Hundreds of
millions of gallons are made in Normandy with
the most scrupulous care, under the supervision
of experienced chemists, and the bulk is eventu
ally sold as champagne. And not only cham
pagne, but claret, white wines, and even honest,
manly, beautiful, unsophisticated, good old
Portuguese port, owe their being in some in
stances to Normandy apples ; the rich colour of
the port being added by log-wood, beet-juice.