Also for ABC Wednesday: "P" is for "Potable")
News item: The past few years have been California's driest on record. Forecasters predict that punishing droughts like the current one could become the new norm.
Which got me to thinking. What would we do without drinking water?
A question you may never have asked yourself;
generally speaking, water is available for us to drink.
I came up with this question while studying
Shakespeare because in his day the water was not to be trusted, it was usually
too polluted to drink.
But they had to have something. Little kids getting up in the morning,
wandering into the kitchen for their breakfast, the sixteenth-century
equivalent of Cheerios, had to have something to wash it all down with. It wasn’t milk, wine or cider; they were too
expensive for daily imbibing.
Tea and coffee were
not introduced into England until about fifty years after Shakespeare’s death,
so that he would have had no experience and probably no knowledge of those two
beverages. Imagine an England with no
tea…
Well, there was
a beverage that was cheap and plentiful; kids drank it regularly as did
everyone else.
And just because everyone drank it, Shakespeare’s
town, Stratford-Upon-Avon, appointed a special officer to oversee it. Maybe they couldn’t make the water clean but
they could make this stuff potable and not too dangerous.
Will Shakespeare’s dad held this office for a while;
it was one of the many town offices he held during his rise from semi-literate
farm hand to – ta-da! – mayor of Stratford.
You can have the same stuff for breakfast today,
though not many do.
(I don’t.)
What was it?
(The
answer will be posted Saturday)
24 comments:
Perhaps ale, cider or even beer though not likely for kids!
Hank
If it's not wine, it'd still likely be alcohol - beer, mead, ale. One of those?
Roger Owen Green and kaykuala start us off with the right answer.
Small beer is the answer. It was called 'small' beer because it was only about 4.5 - 6.5% a.b.v. in strength; much weaker than the proper stuff that was drunk later in the day. Those were the days!
Altonian has just checked in with the right answer.
beer or ale- it all can taste good in the morning compared to some water! Cheers! Have a lovely week!
Beer?
The brew made from malt.... ale and beer!
I'm guessing it was good old English ale ...
It was beer.
Hmm Could it be beer or ale as some say.
Quite a crowd in the "winners" circle; Truedessa, naturgesetz, Helen, Karen S, rel and Kathe W all have the correct answer.
Ale probably.
Bee, of the Blog of Bee, has joined us with the right answer.
Hi Berowne...I actually have little idea but will take a stab in the dark and guess.....would it be a broth or an ale??
English Ale and beer ?
Another correct answer, this time from Katherine and humbird.
Ok I am going to be the first person who is wrong - I will say mead!
Awfully close, Elaine, but not quite the right answer.
I have no idea but I drink water
Gattina
ABC Wednesday
Ale or Beer ?
best wishes, Di..
Abcw team.
Trubes is back with another correct answer.
fruit juice?? :)
Why drink water when you can drink beer?
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