arnel
into it, at the risk of rendering the mixture poisonous.

The object of these various mixtures was naturally to obtain
high-flavoured beers, which became so much in fashion, that to describe
the want of merit of persons, or the lack of value in anything, no simile
was more common than to compare them to "small beer." Nevertheless, more
delicate and less blunted palates were to be found which could appreciate
beer sweetened simply with honey, or scented with ambergris or
raspberries. It is possible, however, that these compositions refer to
mixtures in which beer, the produce of fermented grain, was confounded
with hydromel, or fermented honey. Both these primitive drinks claim an
origin equally remote, which is buried in the most distant periods of
history, and they have been used in all parts of the world, being
mentioned in the oldest historical records, in the Bible, the Edda, and in
the sacred books of India. In the thirteenth century, hydromel, which then
bore the name of _borgerafre, borgeraste_, or _bochet_, was composed of
one part of honey to twelve parts of water, scented with herbs, and
allowed to ferment for a month or six weeks. This beverage, which in the
customs and statutes of the order of Cluny is termed _potus dulcissimus_
(the sweetest beverage), and which must have been both agreeable in taste
and smell, was specially appreciated by the monks, who feasted on it on
the great anniversaries of the Church. Besides this, an inferior quality
of _bochet_ was made for the consumption of the lower orders and peasants,
out of the honeycomb after the honey had been drained away, or with the
scum which rose during the fermentation of the better qualities.

[Illustration: Fig. 106.--The Vintagers, after a Miniature of the "Dialogues
de Saint Gregoire" (Thirteenth Century).--Manuscript of the Royal Library
of Brussels.]

Cider (in Latin _sicera_) and perry can also both claim a very ancient
origin, since they are mentioned by Pliny. It does not appear, however,
that the Gauls were acquainted with them. The first historical mention of
them is made with reference to a repast which Thierry II., King of
Burgundy and Orleans (596-613), son of Childebert, and grandson of Queen
Brunehaut, gave to St. Colomban, in which both cider and wine were used.
In the thirteenth century, a Latin poet (Guillaume le Breton) says that
the inhabitants of the Auge and of Normandy made cider their daily drink;
but it is not likely