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20
CUPS
AND
THEIR
CUSTOMS.
Sir
Launcelot
Sparcock^
in
the
"London
Prodigal/^
says
—
''
Drawer,
let
me
have
sack
for
us
old
men
:
For
these
girls
and
knaves
small
wines
are
best."
In
all
probability,
the
sack
of
Shakspeare
was
very
much
allied
to,
if
not
precisely
the
same
as,
our
sherry
for
Falstafif
says,
"
You
rogue
!
there
is
lime
in
this
sack
too.
There
is
nothing
but
roguery
to
befound
in
villanous
man;
yet
a
coward
is
worse
than
sack
with
lime
in
it.'^
And
we
know
that
lime
is
used
in
the
manufacture
of
sherry,
in
order
to
free
it
from
a
portion
of
malic
and
tartaric
acids,
and
to
assist
in
producin,g
its
dry
quality.
Sack
is
spoken
of
as
late
as
1717,
in
a
parish
register,
which
allows
the
minister
a
pint
of
it
on
the
Lord^s-day,
in
the
winter
season;
and
Swift,
writing
in
1727,
has
the
lines
"
As
clever
Tom
Clinch,
while
the
rabble
was
bawling,
Rode
stately
through
Holborn
to
die
of
his
calling,
He
stopped
at
the
^
George
'
for
a
bottle
of
sack.
And
promised
to
pay
for
it
when
he
came
back."
He
was
probably
of
the
same
opinion
as
the
Elizabe-
than
poet,
who
sang
"
Sacke
will
make
the
merry
minde
be
sad.
So
will
it
make
the
melancholie
glad.
If
mirthe
and
sadnesse
doth
in
sacke
remain,
When
I
am
sad
I'll
take
some
sacke
again."
A
recipe of
this
time,
attributed
to
Sir
Fleetwood
Fletcher,
is
curious
in
its
composition
in
more
ways
than
one
;
and,
as
we
seldom
find
such
documents
in
rhyme,
we
give
it
—