1869 Cooling Cups and Dainty drinks by William Terrington

ALE AND BEEE. —

Inspiring bold John Barleycorn, Wliat dangers thou canst make us scorn !

Beer is a liquor of great antiquity. The origin of the art of brewing is ascribed by Herodotus to Isis, the excellent wife of Osiris, King of Egypt. “ It was Isis who chose the ox as her type, on account from hence the Egyptians fancied the soul after her death animated the ox, and, impelled by this idea, they exalted that useful animal to the rank of a deity/’ The statues of Isis represent her with the body of a woman and head of an ox. Putting aside as purely fabulous this notion of Herodotus, it is certain, at all events, that beer was the favourite beverage of the ancient Egyptians — the soil and climate not permitting of its usefulness in agriculture ;