1835 Oxford night caps (3rd edition)

40 presenting 11. friend with a bottle of Metheglin, thus speaks of it; "Ne ithe r Sir J ohn " Barleycorn or Bacchus had any thing to do " with it, but it is th e pure juice of the b ee, " the laborious b ee, and the king of in sects ; " the Druids and old British B a rds were " wont to take a carouse hereof before " they entered into their speculations. B ut " this drink always carries a kind of stnte " with it, for it must be a ttended with a " brown toast; nor will it admit b ut of one " good draught, and that in th e morning; if " more, it will keep a humming in the head, " and so sp~ak too much of the house it " comes from , I mean, the hive." Indeed a lmost every othe r author who has written on the s ubject affirms, that before the introduction of .Agricult ure into th is island, honey diluted with wate r (i. e. 1\'letheglin ) was the only strong drink known t o, and was a great favourite a mong , the Ancient Rritons,