'Beerikins' - A Beer Drinking Cat

I have a mild fascination and interest in the (nine) lives of brewery and pubs cats, so by chance I came across the following short tale from the late spring of 1909 while searching for same. It did the rounds of a number of newspapers at that time, where the story remained the same, although the headlines used varied a little ...

A CAT’S DRINKING HABITS 

The secret drinking habits of a cat, Beerikins, which came from brewery, are described by a correspondent who is now the owner the animal. Normally a basin of water with a lump of sulphur is the cat’s pet drink, and a saucer of beer he rejects. “But if,” writes the owner, “I chance to leave bottle beer on the table with the screw-stopper loose he takes measures of his own. I only knew it looking through the crack of the door. Two forepaws go round the neck of the bottle, the little white teeth go to work and release the stopper, then the bottle is turned over, and Beerikins mops up much as he fancies.”

Of course this might not be a true story but it does paint an interesting mental picture of what your cat may be doing when you are not watching, and it's a warning to those who might adopt a brewery or pub cat with a hidden taste for beer! Let's hope they never figure out ring-pulls ...

Interesting name for a cat too, and what about that sulphured water...?

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)

Newspaper image © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk from whom I have received permission to display content here).

Our Other Bottle of Stout - No Pints or Half Measures...

One thing about the brewing industry in Ireland that I never gave much consideration to was the sizes of bottles used by Irish breweries and bottling companies in the past. Nowadays we have 330ml and 500ml for most bottling apart from the odd pint bottle used by some of the bigger companies plus the 375ml or 750ml bottle used occasionally for those who want a corked-and-caged product. This size issue came up in a previous post when wondering what exactly a 'snipe' bottle meant to a publican, so it got me looking into the beer bottles sizes of the past, which I assumed were just pint and half pint bottles, as that was all I ever heard about or saw until those newer metric sizes came on the scene.

My usual starting point for these questions are the newspaper archives and an early mention I found was regarding a bottling dispute between Cade & Sons, Ltd. and John Daly & Co. Ltd. in Cork, reported in the Dublin Daily Express on the 29th April 1910, which was about minimum pricing agreements - but what grabbed my attention was a discussion about bottle sizes. Part of the hearing was with regard to 'Mr. Beamish', where he discusses putting a new stout he is brewing which is '10 degrees stronger than Guinness' and how he wanted the bottlers to put it in 'the ordinary bottles'. The witness was surprised by this idea as Beamish & Crawford's ale was in '16 to the gallon bottles' and always had been so he suggested it would be wise to bottle his stout in the same bottles. Mr. Beamish then asked the bottler would 'the man on the street object to that sized bottle, [He] thought not as the usual consumer who looked for a long drink asked for a pint of stout.'

A '16 to the gallon bottle' is of course a half pint (284ml or 10 fl oz), so what did Mr. Beamish mean by the 'normal bottle'?

Clarification is given later in the article where it is stated that 'Lager beer and Bass's strong ale were always bottled in 16 to the gallon bottles, also Beamish and Crawford's ale. The other stouts had previously been bottled in 14 to the gallon bottles.' That '14 to the gallon' calculation works out at 325 ml (11.4 fl oz) approximately which to me is pretty close to our 'modern' 330ml (11.6 fl oz) bottle. So can we take from this that Cork bottles stouts were sold in 330ml bottles in 1910? I believe so, which is a half century (or more) before the point where I thought that this bottles size had appeared on our shores.

So where were these odd sized bottles coming from? These could in fact be 12 fl. oz. bottles, which would make sense as a rounder figure but the article goes on to discuss bottle shipments and errors in sizes and states that the bottles came from a German firm, which makes me think that these 330ml bottles came form Germany too, or at least the continent, which would also make perfect sense as I assume (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong) that this was a common size over there? With that in mind and for the purpose of this article I will refer to them as '330'ml bottles.

Next we jump forward to 1923 and a report in the Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal on the 9th of June regarding a food commission inquiry into the price of a standard bottle of stout, where we see a mention incidentally a that a 'barrel' contains 128 pints or 16 gallons, not a proper 'Barrel' size but an Irish-sized Kilderkin I believe - a warning as to how we need to be careful about what is communicated through newspaper articles. More importantly for this discussion we see this comment:

In Drogheda the licensed traders deal exclusively with the same companies the Ringsend Bottle Co, and for glasses with the Irish Glass Co. "The trade" gives 14 bottles to the gallon, or 38 doz bot[tle]s to the barrel. It did happen, however, that in Drogheda some bottles came in from other parts of Ireland - they were smaller bottles, and ran 16 to the gallon. He explained that if there were small bottles used they would get greater number of bottles of stout. The trade put down as the nearest average about 39 dozen to the barrel.

There are a couple of errors here by my maths, firstly they are now talking about proper Irish barrel sizes at 32 gallons and secondly the maths for the smaller half pint bottles is a little off, I make it 42 doz to the barrel - maybe a little less allowing for head space if the bottles themselves held a half pint to the top. Aside from the quoted maths and the implications for pricing that it may imply it is clear here that Ringsend were making '330'ml bottles for beer for stout and that this seems to be the standard with the half pint perhaps common in other parts of the country. One question it raises is to whether Ringsend were making a 330ml bottle from moulds imported from the continent, whether the had created their own, or if these were indeed 12 fl.oz bottles.

We also have this passage:

President [of the committee] - Isn't it a fact that in 1914 the bottles were larger than at present? 

Mr Tallan [Solicitor for the bottlers] - Well I believe there were twelve bottles to the gallon twenty years ago. 

President - Well, there must have been a demand for these small bottles. How did they creep into the trade? 

Mr Tallan - Oh, there must have been a demand for them somewhere. In England there is smaller bottle used in the trade. These bottles may be made for export purposes. They may be made for use in some districts, but you take it from me that there are none purchased by by the traders that I represent except the 'standard bottle.'

There are a few points to digest here, firstly we see that a '12 to the gallon bottle' - 379ml or 13.33fl.oz. -  was in use (Close to the 375ml bottle used today, another continental import?). That perhaps, the half pint bottles were used for export, which was later denied by one eminent bottler, Mr. Blood. The fact that Guinness was being sold cheaper in the UK and up north was explained away by export rebates.

That '12 to the Gallon" bottle appears to be the quasi-official 'Reputed Pint' as an advertisement in the Southern Reporter and Cork Commercial Courier on the 19th April 1865 with regard to a discussion on tariffs - admittedly reverencing an Australian newspaper - states:

Ale; porter, spruce, and other beer, cider, and perry, per gallon, in wood, for six reputed quart bottles, or for 12 reputed pint bottles, 6d.

From this I infer that these were all the same volume so a reputed pint is one twelfth of an Imperial gallon.  The use of the reputed pint - and the reputed quart - in this country needs a separate article at some point, I also wonder if there is a connection between it and the 'Meejum', as I've seen mention of reputed pint glasses.

Then in a report in the Freeman's Journal published on the 10th Jan 1924 with regard to alleged profiteering by publicans in Dublin, where a bottle of stout went from 2d to 8d in ten years or so. This opinion piece goes on to say of the publicans

 Not content with charging the higher price, they changed the size of the bottles which gave 12, 13 and 14 fills to the gallon, reducing their capacity so as to measure out sixteen. And this state of affairs has continued since 1920, during a period when general costs, including wages, were on the downward grade.

So more confirmation of the sizes and the size change it appears. They also published the maths as to the extra profit that was being made by publicans, which I won't show here, and they go on to state that 'It is well known that in many, if not most, [public] houses sixteen bottles are measured to the gallon.' The writer references a report by the Commission on Prices where they had bought bottled stout from eight different licenced houses in Dublin and the contents of each measured. The contents were reputed to be between 16 and 17½ bottles per gallon, with just below the 14 bottles per gallon - averaging 15½ bottles per gallon - close to a half pint. That commission also rejected a statement by the publicans that 'the stout bottles mostly in use in Dublin were "14" bottles.'

The commission goes on to recommend that 'The use of a standard bottle should be made compulsory' and went on to recommend a maximum price of 6d a bottle for stout - although it does not actually state what size bottle they think should be used for the bottling of said stout, but it can be inferred from their comments that the half pint bottle now seems to be the new standard.

Next we have a piece from the Freeman's Journal on the 7th November 1924 regarding The Free State government's new Intoxicating Liquor Bills. In one debate over new legislation it is reported that Mr. O' Higgins - the Minister in charge - wished to make a statement with regard to Section 7 of the Bill, which dealt with intoxicating liquor in bottles and was regarding the  acceptance of a standard size for bottles, and that he had mentioned the adoption of the the '14 to the gallon bottles size' - our '330'ml again - but had been told that 90% of the bottles being currently used were the half pint size and that his off-hand remark about using the larger size had caused consternation amongst bottlers, publicans and manufacturers.

It is of interest that Richard Beamish weighs in with a remark that it would take 'five years to clear the present stocks' of '14 to the gallon' but that 'the trade generally would accept a standard of 16 bottles to the gallon' - the half pint bottles, so Beamish & Crawford and other brewers and bottlers seem to be using this smaller size predominantly at this point. The article goes on to state that there needs to be more discussion regarding bottle sizes.

Another newspaper report a week later shows that the the bottle question was still being debated and a Dr. Sir James Craig states that 'before the war the standard was 12 bottles to the gallon and that the commission held last year the case put forward on the behalf of the vintners was 14 to the gallon. Since then they had raised it to 16 to the gallon.' This ties in a little with what I've reported above although I don't think the 12 to the gallon was as popular as he states, although he could be speaking from a local perspective, but personally I think he was in error or misinformed. In the same article Mr Hughes from Dundalk is of the opinion that the Minister should 'now state that the standard bottle would be 16 to the gallon' but Mr. O'Higgins said that he would need to consult other departments before deciding.

That leads us nicely to the published Intoxicating Liquor (General) Act, 1924, which states the following:

9.—(1) The Minister for Justice may by order prescribe the sizes of the bottles in which any specified intoxicating liquor may be sold, and where any such order is in force it shall not be lawful to sell or supply the intoxicating liquor specified in the order in bottles of any size other than one of the sizes prescribed by the order.

And finally in 1925 the following appears in STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1925. No. 56. - INTOXICATING LIQUOR (STANDARDIDATION OF BOTTLES) No. 1 ORDER, 1925..

AND WHEREAS it has been deemed expedient to prescribe the sizes of the bottles in which ale, beer, porter and stout may be sold:

NOW I, CAOIMHGHÍN Ó hUIGÍN, Minister for Justice, by virtue of the powers conferred upon me by Section 9 of the Intoxicating Liquor (General) Act, 1924 , and of all other powers enabling me in that behalf, do hereby order and prescribe as follows:—

On and from the 1st day of October, 1925, all ale, beer, porter or stout sold in bottles containing less than one standard quart shall be sold in quarter-pint, half-pint, or pint bottles as hereinafter defined:

(a) The quarter-pint bottle shall be one which when filled with liquid up to one and three-quarter inches from the top will contain not less than forty-nine two hundredths (49/200), nor more than fifty-three two-hundredths (53/200) of one standard pint.

(b) the half-pint bottle shall be one which when filled with liquid up to one and three-quarter inches from the top will contain not less than ninety-nine two hundredths (99/200), nor more than one hundred and three two-hundredths (103/200) of one standard pint.

(c) The pint bottle shall be one which when filled with liquid up to one and three-quarter inches from the top will contain not less than one hundred and ninety-nine two-hundredths (199/200), nor more than two hundred and three two-hundredths (203/200) of one standard pint.

Given under my hand and seal, this 31st day of March, 1925.

(Signed) C. Ó hUIGÍN 

BUT then on the 30th of December this was changed to read the following

(2) On and from the 1st day of January, 1926, all ale, beer, porter or stout sold in bottles containing less than one standard quart shall be sold in bottles containing one-third of a pint [my emphasis], one-half pint, or one pint.

Indeed an advertisement in the Evening Herald on 17th of December of the same year for 'New Bottles' lists 'Porters (16 to Gallon) (Standard Size) confirms that this is indeed the new norm.

(And it seems that is how it remained until this was all revoked from 1st January 1984 by Michael Noonan.)

It would appear that my larger '330'ml bottle has been superseded by the half pint, the pint and the one-third of a pint (189ml - 6.66 Fl. Oz.) bottle at this time, and perhaps I've finally found out what a snipe bottle of beer was in Ireland - a third of a pint?

So it seems that up until 1925 (and from a date I don't know) we had a number of sizes for bottles of beer and that we were possibly close to taking that '330'ml bottle as our standard, if not perhaps for the wish of bottlers or publicans to make a few more pennies on their porter. In any case the bottle sizes pre 1925 is not anything that I expected, as there seems to have been a free-for-all on sizes and not just the pint and half pint bottle that I had expected to find.

I wonder was this the norm elsewhere at the time?

Ending on another note -  I find it strange that the Imperial pint bottle (as distinct from the 'Reputed Pint' bottle mentioned above), a size that was to become ubiquitous in Irish pubs a few decades later gets no mention in any of the articles referenced until we get to the legislation itself. It features on occasion elsewhere with regard to court reports and advertisements but it seems to me that 'The Large Bottle' has a much shorter history that what we think? (I'm not saying it didn't exist in every pub or location, it's just that it's absent from any mention in the places I looked, which means only that...)

But that's a subject for another day...

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)

Newspaper image © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk from whom I have received permission to display here). 

Tivoli - The First Lager Brand in Ireland?

Just a quick post to answer a question that I'd meant to research a while ago (and thought I had!).

 What was the first branded lager available in Ireland?

There are mentions of lager in Irish newspapers prior to this - many regarding its popularity in America but 'Tivoli Lager', which it appears was from Berliner Brauerei Gesellschaft in Germany, is the earliest I can find for sale and it was being imported by Joseph Corless from The Dolphin Sandwich Bar on Essex Street in Dublin. He also owned The Burlington Restaurant, which coincidentally I've written about previously. The above advertisement appears in the Dublin Daily Express on Saturday the 1st of May 1880.

By the way, the brewery in question was also involved in a few lawsuits in England over the use of 'Tivoli' by English brewers and I see it was used by American breweries too. Were we close to a 'Tivoli' becoming a generic term for a lager? Probably not but odder words have entered the English language ...

Anyone able to push it back farther?

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post. All original photographs are my own and can not be used elsewhere without my consent.)

Newspaper image © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk from whom I have received permission to display here). 

A Fifty and a Snipe of Skol: What beers were we drinking in Ireland in 1965?

Archive searching has become a bit of a escape for me of late, as trawling through old and not so old photos and records is a good distraction from the bigger issues that the more modern world is currently throwing at all of us. There is something satisfying in losing an hour or two staring at photos of 19th century inns or drinkers at a bar in the 1970s instead of spending the same hour scrolling through social media or binge watching some inane comedy series, as for me it's a more productive use of my self-imposed screen time. I can appreciate it's not everyone's cup of tea but for many others like me - as I'm sure I'm not alone - it's become a welcome refuge from what can be quite a gloomy world.

Recently I came across a publication on the Library & Research Service on The House of the Oireachtas with the unsurprisingly long-winded title of:

Fair Trade Commission Report of Enquiry into Restrictive Trade Practices Affecting Supply and Distribution and Involving, Inter Alia, Arrangements, Agreements or Understandings Between Retailers, Made at the Instance of Retail Trade Associations, Which Affect or are Capable of Affecting the Retail Prices of Intoxicating Liquor and Soft Drinks

And following the brief rest required after absorbing all of that I had a quick look through its actual contents. The book contains a lot of insight into the workings of the various drink associations and how they dictated the prices in public house at this time, and also contains some pertinent details on the output and production of the drink industry - worthy of a separate article - since the formation of the state, but what interested me more right now were the pricelists at the end of the report given as examples of price changes form 1964 to 1965. What they detailed was a fascinating insight into what beverages were available around the the country in the mid sixties, a time of huge change, with the entrance of various new English and other foreign brands and brewing companies into the Irish market. It was a time when the marketing departments of brewing companies, both Irish and others, were  causing a major change in our tastes and drinking habits - and this was just before lager, which would become the behemoth in the sector, started to take a serious grip on drinker's palates.

But this isn't really the focus of this post - even though it probably should be - instead I want to take a look at what we were drinking beerwise at this exact time.

First up is a pricelist from the Licensed Grocers' and Vintners' Association of recommended prices for bars. There are a couple of things that stand out here, chief of which was a 'Guinness Fifty', which after a little online digging turn out to be what I had thought - a blend of half stout and half porter (called a Cooper in the UK) -  the 'Fifty' is presumably short for a 'Fifty/Fifty'. (Incidentally a 'Fill Up' was a porter topped up with a bottled stout.)*

Also of interest is the listing of Mackeson's Stout, which was possibly still being bottles by Findlater & Co** at this time but was certainly being bottled by Macardles by 1968***. The draught beers list contains Watney Keg which prior to it being brewed in Lady's Well (Murphy's) Brewery in Cork in 1966 was being imported from England. (I still believe that this was the inspiration - along with other British brands to a lesser degree - for the launch of Smithwick Draught in 1966/67) Incidentally and unimportantly, some Irish stamped tankards in my possession appear to track the name change from 'Red Barrel - Watneys Keg' to 'Watneys - Red Barrel' over the late 60s. Next is Bass 'Canister' an odd descriptor but I can only assume it is someone's idea of a posh word for a keg although that is at odds with the Bass 'Ordinary' printed below it, as why would it be shown twice? Wiser minds than mine might comment on it. Double Diamond was brewed in Macardles, Bass 'Ordinary' was as far as I know being imported at this time, as Beamish & Crawford's production hadn't started yet, and so was Mitchells & Butlers and Younger's (Tartan Bitter(?) from the initial 'T.B.' on a Cork list in the publication.). Last but not least are the Irish brands Phoenix and Time - both of which I've written about previously. (I've deliberately left out the generic/anonymous, expensive draught lager [Possibly Carling Black Label brewed in Ulster Brewery?] and barley wine at the top of the list, as they give us no insights into brands - although the only draught barley wine I've come across in Ireland around this time was Phoenix.)

'Bottled Beers' come next, Double Century from Younger's, which was possibly bottled by the pub from labels I've come across online. Bass Blue label, Extra Time by Smithwicks, the Canadian brand Piper Export, Double Diamond bottled in Macardles, Dundalk, Younger's Monk Ale, Phoenix, 'ordinary' Time, Mitchells & Butlers, Bass Red label, Macardles - in a half pint bottle, no 'Large Mac'! -  and lastly Smithwicks No. 1, which appears to have hung around in certain circles even after its stablemates had been rebranded.

'Bottled Lagers' begin with Carlsberg Special, possibly bottled by Bannow Bottlers a subsidiary of Batchelors****  of the tinned beans fame, as they bottled the ordinary Carlsberg. Tuborg probably still bottled by Findlater & Co., Patz Lager possibly also bottled by Findlater's, Carlsberg (see above), Carling, Harp and Harp Special Export plus 'snipes' of Skol lager which were distributed by Macardles - a snipe in this case was a 330ml bottle I think? [Edit: Skol up North sold in 275ml bottles so perhaps it is more likely it was this size?]

Lastly on the beer front we have some barley wines, from Bass, then Younger's King of Ales, plus the  Time and Phoenix versions and finally Ind Coope's Artic Ale via Macardles  - no Smithwick's Barley Wine of course as this was branded as Time at this point.

The various prices and pricing concept are possibly of interest too, especially the difference in prices between similar beers and the price matching of all three draught stouts but I'm not going to comment on them here, mind you it is certainly of note that Watney's Red Barrel was the most expensive draught ale listed.

It's also worth noting at this point that this is just a pricelist so it can't be taken as being 100% accurate as to availability of these products - certainly few standard bars would have stocked everything here.

Cork and Sligo have nothing different on their listings but Roscrea has Perry's in bottle and on draught. According to Perry's own brewing record they were still brewing something the brewers were calling an IPA in at least 1964, so is it possible that this is the last gaspings of the company and this was an IPA in all but name before it became just another Guinness brand? Much more research is needed on all of  that though ...

Limerick added nothing new, nor did Monaghan, but Navan & Districts Licensed Trader's Association's list could add Cairnes Ale in bottle to the list, which is a little bit of an enigma considering they closed in 1959/60! So either publicans were hoarding old bottles, Guinness were brewing a batch for the region or it has just clung on on the pricelist and never been delisted - I suspect the latter. A reminder that these lists need to be taken with a pinch of salt perhaps...

Also interesting on this list is 'C & F' written after Macardles and Smithwicks for - I assume - carbonated and filtered, with Perry's saying 'Natural' which I take to mean bottled conditioned. Even allowing for the list not being updated is this an indicator that Perry's was the last Irish bottled conditioned beer until the emergence of the new young guns?

Also Smithwick's Idea lager makes an appearance, which I've previously written about here.

Last but by no means least in Waterford, and their list does raise a few interesting points. An ale shandy is fair enough but it would appear that a stout shandy was quite common in Waterford too. Also, we can possibly see the popularity of draught barley wine, as it gets a rare listing at a healthy three shillings a pint. It also appears that this is a period before the large bottle (pint) of ale such as Macardles and Phoenix which Waterford was renowned for up to relatively recent times ...

There is a lot more information to be gleaned from the publication, especially with regard to other drinks like whiskies, sherries, etc. and much more could be pulled from it apart from the topics I touched on above.

Either way it's a nice snapshot into what we were drinking in Ireland in the mid sixties, here's the link to the whole publication from which I pulled these lists.

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)

* 'Fifty' and 'Top Up' source - Fodor's 1971 Guide via The Irish Times

** Findlater's Book - Chapter 15

*** Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal - Friday 22 November 1968

**** Sligo Champion - Friday 05 February 1965

Egan's Tullamore Pale Ale - Beautiful! Bright! Brilliant!

Here's a nice front page advertisement from The Midland Tribune from 1888 for 'Tullamore Pale Ale' brewed by P & H Egan in - obviously - Tullamore in county Offaly. It was 'highly popular' they say and available in 'bright and creamy order' in hogsheads, barrels, kilderkins, firkins, pins and bottles with their own 'Special Pale Ale Label'. Such a range of sizes, and no mention here of other brews, perhaps shows just how popular it was in the town and surrounding area, even though they were brewing both ales and porters from when the refurbished the brewery in 1886 according to other advertisements.

In 1890, two years after that pale ale announcement, they were back with a page-long advertisement that was a call-to-arms to 'Artisans and Labourers' to stop drinking English and Scotch Ale and to drink Irish brewed ales! Nice to see another mention of what I've shown to be the relatively common 'Irish Mild' too, as well as their porter and double stout. 

By the way  they were cheekily calling it 'Burton Pale Ale' in and earlier advertisements in 1887, using that name as a descriptor of its quality and taste we shall charitably say, and in fairness they do explain that it is their own brewing of that 'style' ...

The pale ale was available until 1897 least, and there is plenty more about Egan's of Tullamore online if you're interested.

(Let me know if there are issues reading any advertisement and I can transcribe the contents.)

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post. All original photographs are my own and can not be used elsewhere without my consent.)

Newspaper images © The British Library Board - All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk from whom I have received permission to display here). 

Lost in the Noise? - Smithwick's Black Diamond Ale

A while back I came across what I thought was quite an obscure label for an ale brewed in St. Francis Abbey Brewery in Kilkenny - more popularly known as the Smithwick's Brewery. 'Black Diamond Ale' certainly wasn't a brand I'd come across before but after studying it a little and putting it up on Twitter I filed it among my many other Smithwick's labels, where it sat until some spark in the back of my brain reminded me of its existence.

As some of you already know, I have a love/hate relationship with Smithwicks. The brewery as a company has had such a huge impact both locally in Kilkenny and globally too, that it's impossible not to think of them when one discusses the brewing history of Ireland. Unfortunately the history that they choose to promote isn't correct in my opinion, as if you listened to any of their recent marketing from the last few decades one would think they were brewing the current iteration of their red ale since 1710 - or even earlier if you believe that monks were brewing it in the abbey itself! I've written a little about their history here, about their Time brand here and even about their lost lager brand - Idea - here. These may give you an idea of where I am coming from with my comments, so I won't go back down that much travelled road here - but it does raise an important point.

Has this cleansing of a brand's timeline, where the marketing companies behind them have purged and pruned away anything that might poke holes in their fakelore, left Irish brewing history in a sorry state? Using Smithwick's as an example - where are their references to all the wonderful sounding beers the brewed since 1827/28, the brewery's actual founding date? Their stouts, their mild ales, their dinner ales, their East India Pale Ales and other are lost in the monotony of their one-beer braggery, and even their 'old' best selling 'No.1 Ale' - a pale ale as I keep stressing - is lost behind that behemoth 'traditional red' ale that was launched c. 1965.

So getting back to 'Black Diamond Ale', I was getting frustrated looking for information on this beer and I was beginning to think that this was just a prototype label for a beer that never saw the light of day. Especially as it appears to have been trimmed to shape by hand, although it seems to have some age ... ruling out a recent copy. A quick look in newspapers from this time finally threw up one lonely result, but even this is important as it shows that it did exist out in the wild at one point, as in a 1955 a gentleman from Borris in Carlow was before the court on a drunk driving charge after being in a local pub listening to a match and 'all the while was drinking "Black Diamond" ale." We get another hint of what this ale might be at the start of the report, as the Garda giving evidence says that 'the defendant [...] admitted having taken [drunk] ten or twelve bottles of barley wine'.*  (The charge was dismissed by the way, as although he had been sitting in his car when arrested the judge decreed he had not attempted to drive it.)

The label too is the same size as Smithwick's Barley Wine above and of similar style, so it is possible it was another form or strength of that style. My own feeling is that it was perhaps just a rebrand of their existing product, but why would they do that? The only connection I can make is that Kilkenny was famous for it's coal, specifically the area around Castlecomer not very far from Kilkenny city. (That coal seam also crossed into neighbouring Laois where there was a huge amount of mining in the 19th and early 20th century, an area where I grew up.). That coal was called 'Black Diamond' and even those who mined it were called 'Black Diamonds' as reported in a few newspapers so it is quite possible that it was labelled as such as a tribute to the county's coal mining history and its miners. It would be interesting and mildly exciting if it turned out to be a stronger barley wine.

Unfortunately I can find no other references to the ale but I still think it is more than worthy of a mention here, as it is some small part of our brewing history and therefore it should be remembered and recorded, even if my thoughts are pure conjecture. It's just a pity that it hasn't been recorded elsewhere (that I can find) and that the Smithwick's brewing history isn't freely available online - but then again, that might jar with the myth ...

UPDATE: By chance I came across the following invoice and matching delivery docket from 1951 that seems to prove my theory that Black Diamond Ale was indeed Smithwick's Barley Wine in different clothing. The cask (firkin) number matches and the delivery docket clearly states Black Diamond while the invoice says Barley Wine ...

The invoice itself is of interest too, as it gives the publican clear instructions regarding the venting and returning of casks:

'When venting the Casks please bore through the Bung, and not through the Stave, and when emptied have Corks and Vents placed in them, and returned in reasonable time, advising us thereof.'

There are also instructions on conditioning:

'IMPORTANT - TO ENSURE THE BRILLIANCY AND GOOD CONDITION OF OUR ALES THEY SHOULD BE KEPT IN A TEMPERATURE OF 55° - 60° FAHR [13° - 16°C]. TO ENABLE US TO MAINTAIN SUPPLIES IT IS IMPERATIVE FOR CUSTOMERS TO RETURN ALL VESSELS IMMEDIATELY THEY ARE EMPTY.'

(That is certainly my kind of ale serving temperature!)

Last but not least, note the telegram address 'MALT' and the telephone number - 14.

A nice find ...

Liam

[Updated 9th March 2021]

Just as a footnote, there is a bit of a resemblance to certain Bass labels ...

(EDIT: See Martyn Cornell's comment below too ...)

*New Ross Standard - Friday 30 September 1955

(All written content, photography and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)

Ty o' Letch an Koornt Vleash : Some thoughts on Yola words for food and drink ...

Back in 1867 an Englishman called William Barnes published a book with the typical-for-the-time long title of 'A Glossary with Some Pieces of Verse of the Old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland', which included information collected by Wexford native Jacob Poole around 1823. At the time it probably didn't raise much of a ripple in the publishing world but in the intervening years it has been used as a reference book by many researchers into the nearly lost history of a small area of Wexford that was settled by a group of Norman/English, Flemish and possibly other groups back in the 12th century. Due to geography and perhaps an insular attitude they didn't mix much with the local Irish or other later 'settlers' and so retained their own old language and customs up until relatively recent times, although it seem the language is now practically dead, just surviving in a few borrowed words. The language was called Yola after the name for 'old' in that tongue.

Wiser minds than mine can tell more of the Yoles history and indeed have done so in various publications, as there are a few recent books published and some content online including a short documentary in the RTE archives, but here I want to look at some of their words for food and drinks that are to be found in the glossary in the above mentioned book, collected by Poole and added to by Barnes from writing by General Charles Vallencey, Edmund Hore and Richard Stanyhurst.

Barnes goes into great detail on pronunciation and origins of the language, suggesting it is closely connected to the language spoken in Somerset, Dorset and Devon in the past so you can read more about this in the link to the book posted below and in other online sources. (Another newspaper source from 1845 mentions a connection with Pembrokeshire in Wales and how a 'mixed old Saxon and Welch[sic] language was spoken up to recently'  in that area of Wexford but I didn't come across other mentions, although to my ear a Wexford accent and a certain type of Welsh accent are not a million miles apart!)  I am far from being a linguist but I'm going to look at some of the pronunciations briefly, albeit with that untrained eye and ear so take it all with a grain of salt or a gryne o' zall should I say! On the pronunciations suggested by Barnes in his book, later publications have raised doubts over some of his ideas and perhaps we'll never know for sure how to say certain words given that the language is practically lost and much of it is recorded as writing and very little as spoken word.

Before I dive in there is one comment that Barnes mentions which I think is quite noticeable even today, and that's the habit among certain Wexford people to speak slower than their neighbouring counties and to draw out certain vowel sounds, for example 'book' is often pronounced with a long 'oo' sound like the word 'shoe' instead of the clipped pronunciation others use that sounds like 'tuck'. I'm not sure if this way of speaking crept out of the Yola barony or into it but there may be a connection. In Yola too, by my reading of the linguistic text in the book, the letter 'a' is normally drawn to be less like 'bag' or 'cat' and more like the sound in 'father' or 'awe' but I'm unsure whether that too is in the modern tongue but I believe it is, as are other vowel changes. I'm prepared to be challenged on it but I think Yellow Belly would be pronounced (roughly) as 'Yalla Bahly' by some Wexford tongues, although all of these pronunciations are probably not exclusively just from that county.

I think all of this might be reflected in how some of the words listed below sound like colloquial pronunciations of words we say differently today in more modern 'new' English speech, but I'm wondering was the Yola way of speaking the original 'English' pronunciation? Possibly it was in some cases, as Irish-English would have possibly slowed or stalled in its evolution compared with what was happening in England and was so preserved here for longer, and still exists today in many of words of course. Again it's worth mentioning that I am very far out of my comfort zone with this post in regard to the subject matter and my own knowledge!

___

So here's the edited list of vaguely food or drink related words as it appears in the aforementioned book any comments by me are in square brackets afterwards:

Aalhouse - Alehouse ~ [From this we can presumably assume ale was 'aal', possibly pronounced 'awl' - closer to certain European pronunciations.]

Atheen - Eating ~ [Irish-English pronunciation of eating would often be close to 'ay-(t)en' with an almost non-existent 't' sound.]

Baakooze - An oven ~ [That drawn element of speech I mentioned is evident here, and in many others below.]

Baakoozee - To bake bread in an oven

Baarich, Barish - Barley ~ [Interesting word, I wonder about the origins. One 19th century glossary mentions 'Barliche' as another word for barley, which is close.]

Barrm - Barm

Bawkoon - Bacon ~ [Again we see the phonetics of the drawn sound with the use of a 'w'.]

Beasthès - Cows ~ [Isn't 'beastie' Scottish?]

Bidaades - Potatoes

Borde - A table ~ [Bord in Irish language but this is an Anglo-Saxon spelling and from which we probably get 'Bed and Board' or 'Board and Lodgings', as in getting fed from the table.]

Brandeyrons - Kettles, pots, etc. ~ [Related to Gridiron (cooking grate) possibly?]

Breed - Bread

Brekvast - Breakfast

Busk - A thick small cake of white meal ~ [Barnes thought perhaps the word 'biscuit' came from this - as in a diminutive of 'busk', and it's an interesting idea. I can't find anything about the word itself in this context but it's interesting that this would also describe the savoury scone-like American 'biscuit'. In the book 'Yola and the Yoles' (see below) Sullivan says Busk was a spiced corn bread.]

Caake - Cake

Cooanes - Wooden cups or vessels without handles ~ [ Possibly  and probably connected with the word cone, or maybe can. Do I detect a Welsh pronunciation in that spelling?]

Coorn - Corn

Correate - Carrot

Coshur - A feast ~ [Drifted in from the Irish Cóisir for a feast or banquet.]

Craueet - In danger of choking for want of a drink in eating ~ [This is one of my favourites, the words 'craw' and 'eat' are there but the thirst bit must be implied!]

Crewst - Crust

Deneare/Dineare - Dinner

Dhernapès - Turnips

Dhirtee - Thirsty

Gaubbach, Gubbauch, Gubbach/Kaayle - Cabbage ~ [Interesting that the 'C' sound is replaced by a 'G'.]

Geearth/Geearte - A she-goat ~ [Might explain why nanny goats are often called Gertie or Gerty!]

Graapish - Stale victuals ~ [Barnes suggests it's connected to another Yola word 'Graabache' which he says means 'Dirty Trash'  and, no, 'trash' isn't an Americanism but let's not go off on that tangent ...]

Greeleen - Young cod-fish ~ [Strange that this is like Grayling, a freshwater fish not native to Ireland. Herring below is similarly formed as 'Heereen' with -een being like -ing it seems in the Yola language and not like the Irish demunitive ending for words.]

Gryne - Grain

Gurth - A goat ~ [See nanny goat above.]

Gurthes, Gurt, Grut - Cutlings, coarse meal ~ [Coming from Dutch or Old English seemingly, for ground grain. Is this where American 'grits' come from too? Presumably via the word gritty...]

Hearesth - Harvest

Harnothes - Pignuts ~ [Hard nuts maybe? Certainly a pain to find and harvest it seems!]

Heereen/Hereen - Herring

Henee - Honey

Hulmogee - A small cupboard in the wall ~ [ Another nice word that I can't make sense of, but our author mentions a lady in Dorset who had a oak cabinet she called a 'Holmogen'.]

Hungherth - Hungry

Hyle - To pour, as liquor or rain ~ [Barnes again mentions a west of English word 'hele' as in 'Hele out the yäle' meaning  pour out the ale, and it meaning some leaning to one side. The strange thing is that my family would have used 'to heel' as a phrase meaning to empty something out, as in 'He heeled the box out on the floor' meaning it was tipped out on the floor. A 19th century glossary mentions it as a word for emptying a bucket in Gloucestershire. (In a quick poll on Twitter 81% of you thought I'd made it up, which surprised me. Of those who knew the word most were in the south-eastern half of Ireland, which does makes sense.]

Jock - The Belly ~ [Barnes suggests it actually meant the leather pitcher used for carrying ale.]

Kaake - A cake

Kappas/Knappas - Dumplings of meal ~ [Another odd one, the author suggests a connection with knobs which makes sense shapewise and Knappe/knop was Anglo-Saxon for button. Knapple meant to bite or nibble in the north of England and Knoppit was a word for the small lump in the east all of these are probably from the same root word..]

Keene/Khyne/Keeine - Kine

Keow - Cow ~ [I have heard the word being pronounced in this way, or at least as a key-ow - not sure it was in Wexford though...]

Khuingoke - A churn ~ [ This is from the Irish word Cuinneog.]

Khuinggokee - Churning

Kon - Can ~ [Again an typical - to me - pronunciation in Irish-English.]

Koorn - Corn ~ [Interesting how K is being used instead of C, does that hark back to old English of to Flemish? I don't know but it looks Dutch...]

Koornt - Salted ~ [From corns as in small pellets of salt I'd imagine, still used when we talk about pepper corns, etc. for example]

Koornt Vleash - Corned meat ~ [See Koornt above an of course flesh.]

Kraanberry - Gooseberry ~ [Something may be lost in translation here as in cranberry? Kraanberry is a named used for some wild relatives of it here too.]

Kruck - A crock, metal pot

Letch - Small beer ~ [This is another odd one, as it's not a word I've ever heard associated with beer or drink. The author suggests that it means 'what is moist or wet' as a connection and a 19th century glossary says letch meant a vessel for making lye (a soap ingredient) in the east of England.]

Lhauch - A griddle ~ [Another odd word that I can't connect with anything.]

Lhawm/Lowem - A lamb

Maate - Flesh meat ~ [Again the Irish-English pronunciation would sound like 'mate', and still does in certain accents.]

Mault - Malt

Meale - A feast, meal, as dinner ~ [Again, this would be pronounced even still as 'Male' in certain accents.]

Measkeen - A flat-bottomed basket for straining potatoes ~ [No ideas on this one, the -een here may be  from the diminutive used in Hiberno-English taken from Irish, or could be the -ing of Yola', but I've to idea on the first part.]

Mele, Mell - Meal, flour

Met - Food ~ [As in an old general word for food - meat - I assume.]

Met-borde - A dining table ~ [Remember my comment on 'Bed & Board' above...]

Mossaale - A morsel

Mulke, Melk - Milk

Muskawn - A large heap or lump (in relation to food) ~ [Yet another odd one, múscán in Irish means a sponge or spongey but I can't see a real connection.]

Muthon, Mothoon - Mutton

Neape - A parsnip ~ [Neeps are turnips, or probably swedes in Scotland but in fairness both vegetables end in -nip so this makes senses, nape meant knob-like seemingly.]

Palske - A kind of cake? ~ [The book's author was unsure of this one as he used brackets and a question mark around its entry. I certainly can't shed any light on it....]

Paug - The harvest ~ [Barnes suggests that it possible comes from the Irish for kiss - póg - and is back-formed from the word 'paugh-meale' meaning 'harvest-home' but coming from the 'kissing time', which was seeming harvest time...]

Pee - A pye ~ [A pie but oddly pronounced even to my Hiberno-English tainted ear!]

Pipper - Pepper

Pizzen - Peas ~ [Mentioned elsewhere as an example, according to Barnes, of the 'Friesic-English' plural en ending for words?]

Pocket/Pucket - A lump of bread ~ [Can't see a connection here in any way to any other words but my other old glossary also says its an obsolete word for the same thing. It's also the name for a measure of hops by the way.]

Puckawne/puckane - A he-goat

Puddeen - Pudding

Pultry - Poultry

Ree - Rye

Reem, Rhyme - Cream ~ [Cream is 'Room' in Dutch/Flemish so we perhaps see how this formed?]  

Risheen, Rusheen - An afternoon luncheon, a snack in the evening ~ [Yet another odd one to me, Barnes mentions the word 'Rushing' in south-east England meaning something similar.]

Risheeneare - A rusheen-eater, snack-eater

Saareth, sarrth - Served out, as food

Sheck - Ice ~ [Certainly odd but I've a nagging feeling I've heard this word before in connection with ice or frost...]

Shraanes, Shruanes - Shreds, slices of cake/bread ~ [Sounds Irish but I can't find a similar word.]

Sippeare/Seppeare - Supper

Skelpearès - Small pigs ~ [Barnes suggests it comes from the word skelp meaning to move quickly, which would make sense. It's a word I think I've heard or read in connecting with pigs but I'm not sure, I definitely heard and used 'Schkelp' as a slap ...]

Skudhelès - knives ~ [ Barnes mentions the word 'Scottle' from the west of England meaning to cut off, I'm not familiar of it in any way.]

Slug - To eat greedily ~ [The only way I've heard this word is when drinking, as in a slug of whiskey, but maybe there's a connection.]

Spone - Spoon

Strabut, Stirabout - Oatmeal porridge

Ty - A drink ~ [I can't think of where this has survived, which is surprising in one way, as drinking is such a common occurrence! I'm also unsure if it was pronounced 'tee' or 'tie'.]

Vaat - A dish, noggin, or small vessel ~ [Like vat we can assume I think?]

Vengence - Venison ~ [Another odd one, I'd suggest it's just down to the pronunciation and accent, becoming 'Venshen' and then 'Vengence'. i can't see how it would be connected to the word 'Vengance'...]

Veseal - Vessel 

Vleash, Vlesh - Meat

Vork - Fork

Whet - Wheat

Zall - Salt

Zar, Zarth - Served

Zed - Stewed ~ [Just a contraction perhaps?]

Zheep - Sheep

I would be interested in any observations on the words from anywhere on the planet, the people of this area spent time with the fishing communities of Newfoundland so maybe some words wandered that direction. I wonder have some of the more obscure survived in areas of England or indeed in Pembrokeshire? There may even be some words still in use of the other lost community and language of the Fingallians of county Dublin. 

The above mentioned book Yola and the Yoles has more insight into the Yola life, including a section on food and drink. (I must thank Charlie Roche, @charleymcguffin on Twitter, for pointing me in its direction.) It's also interesting that the author, Aidan Sullivan, mentions hops growing wild in the area, plus he mentions that the women were the brewers in the society, not that this is unusual in any way or course but I wonder did the practice survive longer there than elsewhere? It's mentioned in a number of old accounts that the ale was excellent too by the way, and that tobacco was also grown there, as it was in other parts of the country of course. A final snippet is that they people in this area of the county - and maybe beyond - were also known to take a siesta - a 'Noonteet' - in the afternoon!

It is worth mentioning that Barnes, our author and editor, never visited Wexford - or indeed Ireland - as far as I can see, but based his thoughts and writings on the research of others instead. That may mean nothing but it's important to note that he never heard the language first hand, or what remained of it by then. Keep that in mind as you read his book, which is available via Google Books here.

Liam

(All written content and the research involved in publishing it here is my own unless otherwise stated and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without permission, full credit to its source and a link back to this post.)