1908 The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them by Hon Wm Boothby

lWother Country. H e was :in in tense L oya list, :tnd wa-, of cou rse, a n object of hatred to t he Ame ri cnn so ldier. , a ncl of suspicion to t he people t here– abouts who favored the cause of t he Colon ies. Betsy Flanagan was fi ercely hosti le to t his gent leman and hi s family, and talked loudly agai nRt t hem; nnil made d i1·e threats of what ·he w_ould clo to t hem when "Gineral " \Vashi11g ton came on. Sbe 'va a lway· pronrising to feed t he Ameri can and Frenc h officers upon t he fin e fowl t hat ·was in the Loyalist's g round;, and from _time. to ti r~ie tbey wou ld tease her about the .delay about carryrng her prom ises into effect-. One n ig ht when t he re wns Hn un11:trnl '1tte11clance of t hese officers at the B racer a ncl afte r they had teased her more t han usual about. t he E nglish fowl ; he invited t hem into her di ni ng-room, where t here was spread before then~ a bountiful fea t of chicken, clone in t he style of a famous French Chef de 'ui sin e. The work was doue. 'l'he chi cken coop hacl been raiclecl by some one. The Engli. h gentleman was f urious, but powerless. He sho rtly afterwards left fo r England aml wa never heard from again. Now, in those days. in t his co untry (ancl wh ich is cont in ued to t his day in England ) the male fowl was cn ll ecl a cock. Among the B riton 's poultry wer e several of t hese cocks of superior breed ancl size ancl of unusual beau ty; sporting iail feather of great height and of grac~ful cnrves of the Jo,·el.iest colors. Betsy had n?t th rown .away t he, trophies of her cap t ure, clamagillg as t hey were a enclence aga•.nst her ; but she had spread t hem tastefully over the dr~s er, as sl~ e. call eel 1t, upon the sheh ·es of which toocl bottles of vari ous 1zcs conta1111 ng the delectable and 110 w renowned ''Bracer.'' After the cbi~lwn banque.t was. over, Betsy illvitecl the gue ts into t he tavern bar, a ncl with grPat pr1 de po ' ntecl to fhe feathered decorations. Tbe s urpri se wa complete, ancl t he even t ,celeb rated \vit h three hearty cheers fo r Betsy Flanagall, t he cau. e of t he ( olon 1sts and the discomfo rtme of t he Englisbm:rn. '!'he "Br'.1cers" . came off .tho c helves in a g reat hurry, a nd t he r ema in der of the m g ht was passecl rn f·hat b a r-room a midst t he " Cock- tn ils" a ncl the inspiring "BraceI'S. " · ' "Give us some m?r~ of '.linse '('o.ckt~ i l s,' " were the freq uent order s. "Here's to th e d 1 ~·111 e liquor wh • c,1~ is as delicious.to the palate as t he cock 's tails are be~rn tifnl to th o eye, ,';as one of t he toasts. "Vive Je 'oclda il, •• s::ing ou t a French officer. . l hi s was t he k eynote to the now celebraf·ecl name. Tt . t uck. ;~'b.e call_ fo,1; "Bracers.'' now ceased, a ncl e\7er after t be demand \Y:is fo r ( ockta1 ls when t his delightful drink was wanted. Nearly a centu1:y a n.cl a _J.,11.f haYe pass~d s in ce t his e\·ent. Great t h ings ha ,·e happe neel 1n A1nen ca :Jn l'l ng _t l11 s pennd. Betsy F lanagan and all the soldi e r have JJ-Ot left. sn .fo r ns 1s known, t heir names in that region of country . Th e s1h;o of t hP ~race r 'l':i.-ern a nd the"Engli:hman's coun t ry seat a re but shadows of trad itions, but the. name of rock tail '' still lives-and will ]iYP with certn 1n lnca l ~ualifi cations, snch as Ma1·t ini, :Manh attan, Bronx, CloYe r ('luh, etc., nntil tlie end of t ime; for l;un clrecls of t be b est– lrn?wn corrno1_s eur, ch \bmen, h _on viva nts an? .prnfess1ont~l mixologists a r e stny 1ng con tunrnlly to conce l\·e. some co 111b1n,1t 1on of liquids whi ch will populal'i ze itself mi<1 gain l'ecognit1_on rm a stan_dal'cl American Cocktail. 'J'his litf'l e wo1·k Rims to p11bl1 h only re 1pe. fol' Cockta ils which have outl iv ed the critirism of f·he fick l0 public. a nd earn ed fo l' t hemselves a place in the repertoi re of nll fil'St-cla.s ba l'tenlers. The attention of th e reade r is ca ll ed t o the fact that an index in t his wo l'k has been found unnecessa•',V, a all the rer ipc · a l'e ananged alphabet i– (•ally.