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THE DRINKS OF DICKENS
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tremens was no stranger to him. Bumble and
his wife were not averse to a social glass ; and
even the charity-boy, Noah Claypole, indulged,
during the absence of his master, the undertaker,
in oysters, porter, and some sort of wine, name
not mentioned. As far as we are told, the decent
members of society in Oliver Twist were very
moderate in their potations ; although it is in my
mind that Mr. Fang, the stipendiary, was a
port-wine man.
In The Old Curiosity Shop we get allusions to
liquids of all kinds, from orange-peel and water,
the favourite beverage of the Marchioness, to the
truly-awful " wanities " of Ouilp, which took the
form ofover-proof rum, boiled, burnt brandy, or
raw Schiedam out of a keg. Quilp, by the way,
if amusing enough, is the most exaggerated
character ever invented by the great novelist, and
has no business out of the realms of pantomime.
But he was very, very funny, as impersonated by
"Johnny" Clarke in the long ago.
Dick
Swiveller was a swindler by profession, although
like many of these a boon companion, speechifier,
and framer of jovial sentiments. The "rosy
wine" was represented at his humble home by
geneva-and-water, and his astonishment when
Mr. Brass' lodger made a brew of" extraordinary "
rum-and-water in " a kind of temple, shining as
of polished silver," at the same time cooking a
steak, an egg, and a cup of coffee, in the same
temple, can only have been exceeded by his joy
at getting something really decent to drink.
The strolling performers with whom Nell
and Grandfather travelled did themselves par-