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CUPS
AND
THEIR
CUSTOMS.
13
Saxon
graves,
pitchers
from which
the
drink
was
poured,
differing
but
little
from
those
now
in
common
use,
as
well
as
buckets
in
which
the
ale
was
conveyed
from
the
cellar.
That
drinking-cups
among
the
Anglo-Saxons
were
held
in
high
esteem,
and
were
probably
of
con-
siderable
value,
there
can
be
no
doubt,
from
the
frequent
mention
made
of
their
being
bequeathed
after
death
in
proof
of
which,
from
among
many
others,
we
may
quote
the
instance
of
the
Mercian
king
Witlaf
giving
to
the
Abbey
of
Crowland
the
horn
of
his
table,
"
that
the
elder
monks
may
drink
from
it
on
festivals,
and
in
their
benedictions
remember
sometimes
the
soul
of
the
donor,^^
as
well
as
the
one
mentioned
in
Gale^s
^
History
of
Ramsey,^
to
the
Abbey
of
which
place
the
Lady
Ethelgiva
presented
"
two
silver
cups
for
the
use
of
the
brethren
in
the
refectory,
in
order
that,
while
drink
is
served
in
them,
my
memory
may
be
more
firmly
im-
printed
on
their
hearts/^
Another
curious
proof
of
the
estimation
in
which
they
were
held
is,
that
in
pictures
of
warlike
expeditions,
where
representations
of
the
valuable
spoils
are
given,
we
invariably
find
drinking-vessels
por-
trayed
most
prominently.
The
ordinary
drinks
of
the
Anglo-Saxons
were
ale
and
mead,
though
wine
was
also
used
by
them
;
but
wine
is
spoken
of
as
^^not
the
drink
of
children
or
of
fools,
but
of
elders
and
wise
men
P
and
the
scholar
says
he
does
not
drink
wine,
because
he
is
not
rich
enough
to
buy
it
;
from
which,
en
passant,
we
may
notice
that
scholars
were
not
rich
men
even
in
those
days,
and
up
to
the
present
time,
we
fear,
have
but
little
improved
their
worldly
estate.
We
cannot
learn