Drinking Culture in England- Alehouses

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It is known universally, that the English enjoy their alcoholic beverages and that they have established a strong drinking culture that is socially accepted and part of their national identity. Taverns, pubs and alehouses are a fundamental part of English culture and foster a long-lasting tradition. Over time, the nature of drinking in England has become somewhat of a stereotype; this paper would look at the function of ale and the alehouse, which inevitably led to the way we associate English drinking today. In his article, Cedric C. Brown discusses drinking around the festive season and makes special reference to “the greatest concentration of festive occasions” the midwinter festive season, which allows for liberal distribution of holiday drinks such as Burgundian wine, wassail and strong ale . The main argument he makes seems to be that celebrating special moments of communal ritual festivity in society should be sealed by drink. This is biased as he is looking at a particular occasion such as Christmas as well as mentions the upper class drinking wine at these occasions as seen in the following quote “Their holiday is remembering the good old times…their celebration style their middling status and wealth as the sit by the fire and recite verses about youth, allowing a recollection of the times back in London. ” He uses poems as one of his sources making references to poems such as “Christmas Eve another Ceremonie” and “The Wassaile.” These poems seem to judge wealth and social position through the disposition of drink. This article also takes cues from social codes, politics, royalist and puritan beliefs to add to its references. Wine is also widely discussed as a social marker that is understood as the mark of social refinement and is regarded as the drink that is at the top end while ale is at the bottom. Brown’s argument is convincing if one were to look

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