In this season's first two-part episode, we digging into the fascinating and disturbing history of the Gin Craze. Spanning roughly half a century, gin drinking seemed to hold London's poorer residents in an unrelenting grip. This decades long drinking binge did not happen by accident, however; this occurred as the result of legislation passed by members of Parliament who directly benefitted from the increase in domestic distillation.

For part one, we cover the origins and initial responses to the Gin Craze, including a series of laws passed by Parliament in an effort to correct the mess that they had made. Attempts to take gin away from the laboring poor only succeed in increasing open mockery of the government, subtle means of subverting the law, and even acts of violence directed toward government-funded informants. We cover all of this, as well as what the heck a "puss and mew" is and what it has to do with gin this week - check it out!

Primary Sources:

John Clayton, Friendly Advice to the Poor (Manchester: 1755). 

Isaac Maddox, Sermon (London: 1750). 

Thomas Wilson, Distilled Spirituous Liquors the Bane of the Nation (London: 1736). 

Secondary Sources:

Richard Barnett, The Book of Gin (New York: Grove Press, 2011). 

Simon Difford, “History of gin (1728-1794) - London’s gin craze,” Difford’s Guide.

Elizabeth Gilboy, Wages in Eighteenth Century England (Harvard University Press, 1934). 

Andrew A. Hanham, “The Gin Acts, 1729-51,” The History of Parliament. 

Alice Loxton, “What was the Gin Craze?” History Hit (January 18, 2021).

James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England (Manchester:  Manchester University Press, 2011).

Katelyn Stieva, “‘Drunk for a Penny, Dead Drunk for Two Pence’: Drink and Culture in London’s Eighteenth Century Gin Craze,” The Mirror 36, 1 (March 1, 2016). 

Jessica Warner, Craze: Gin and Debauchery in an Age of Reason (New York: Random House, 2003). 

Jessica Warner and Frank Ivis, “‘Damn You, You Informing Bitch.’ Vox Populi and the Unmaking of the Gin Act of 1736,” Journal of Social History 33, 2 (Winter, 1999):  299-330.

UK National Archives Currency Converter (1270-2017).

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“The Silence,” Tunetank

“Victorian London,” Table Top Audio

“Baroque Classical Meets Underground Hip Hop Fusion,” nickpanek620

“Legacy of Passacaglia,” White_Records

“Dark Fear,” AUDIOREZOUT

“Clockwork Adventure (Steampunk),” Luis_Humanoide

“One Thousand Years Ago,” JoelFazhari

“Chance Meeting,” White_Records

“Cinematic Dramatic Tense,” Lexin_Music

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where did rum come from? What what is originally called? When do we talk about pirates?!

In this episode, we are traveling to the Caribbean to discuss the origins of a new, potent liquor that forever changed the way people lived with and consumed alcohol.

Primary Sources:

Sir Henry Colt, “The Voyage of Sr Henrye Colt...” in Harlow, ed. Colonising expeditions to the West Indies and Guiana (London: Hakluyt Society, 1925).

Cotton Mather, Sober Considerations (Boston: 1708). 

Increase Mather, A sermon occasioned by the execution of a man, second edition (Boston: 1687).

Increase Mather, Wo to Drunkards: Two Sermons Testifying against the Sin of Drunkenness, second edition (Boston:  1712).

Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados (London: 1657). 

Benjamin Wadsworth, An Essay to do Good (Boston:  1710).

Secondary Sources:

David W. Conroy, In Public Houses: Drink & the Revolution of Authority in Colonial Massachusetts (Williamsburg, VA: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995). 

Wayne Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007). 

Richard Foss, Rum: A Global History (London: Reaktion Books, 2012). 

James E. McWilliams, A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005). 

Frederick H. Smith, Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2005).

Frederick H. Smith, “European Impressions of the Island Carib’s Use of Alcohol in the Early Colonial Period” Ethnohistory, 53, 3 (Summer 2006).

W.J. Rorabaugh The Alcoholic Republic:  An American Tradition (New York:  Oxford University Press, 1979.

Sharon V. Salinger, Taverns and Drinking in Early America (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004).

Ian Williams, Rum: A Social and Sociable History (New York: Nation Books, 2005). 

David Wondrich, Punch: The Delights and Dangers of the Flowing Bowl (New York: Penguin Books, 2010). 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“Drunken Sailor,” performed by the Midshipmen Glee Club (1977)

“Educational Presentation,” lkoliks

“Deal,” AudioCoffee

“Into the Darkness” (cello version), Onetent

“Bay Rum Riddim,” u_98673jp944

“Lid,” anrocomposer

“Quirky Whimsical Play,”  Sonican

“Trireme,” Table Top Audio

“Distilled Tropical,” Table Top Audio

“Down By the Sea,” Table Top Audio

“Pirates,” Table Top Audio

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, depictions of the proverbial drunkard are shaped by well-known images of a stumbling, bumbling, red-faced drinker. Appearing as a popular trope in cartoons, films, or in other mediums, we can often spot the 'drunkard' with ease. But how did such an image come into being? In this episode, we discuss some of the stories that left an enduring mark on the way people came to perceive who the drunkard actually was. This episode also digs into the history of alewives, or brewsters - the women responsible for brewing un-hopped ales, but instead came to face increasing vilification in literary tales. Through a study of literature and religious tracts, we can see the increasing association between the drunkard and the devil, and the ways the drunkard steadily turned into an unwanted outcast. 

Sources:

An Act for repressinge the odious and loathsome synne of Drunckennes,” 1606. HL/PO/PU 1. The Statues of the Realm, 1586 to 1624, 1142. The Parliamentary Archives, London, United Kingdom. 

Edward Buckler, The sin and folly of drunkenness considered (London: 1682).

Edward Bury, England’s Bane, or The Deadly Danger of Drunkenness (London: 1677).

Samuel Clarke and Samuel Ward, A Warning-piece to All Drunkards and Health-Drinkers (London: 1682).

Thomas Heywood, Philocothomista, or the Drunkard, Opened, Dissected and Atomized (London: 1635

William Langland, The Book Concerning Piers the Plowman, edited and translated by Donaled and Rachel Attwater (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. Inc., 1957).

R.M Lumiansky and David Mills, eds, The Chester Mystery Cycle, Vol. I. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1974). 

Samuel Sewall, Diary of Samuel Sewall: 1674-1729, Volume 6 (Massachusetts Historical Society, 1879).

John Skelton, John Skelton Selected Poems, edited by Gerald Hammond (Manchester: Fyfield Books, 1980). 

Voltaire, The Works of Voltaire: A philosophical dictionary, edited by Tobias George Smollett, John Morley, William F. Fleming, Oliver Herbrand, George Leigh (E.R. Du Mont, 1901).

Judith Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

John Bickerdyke, The Curiosities of Ale and Beer: an Entertaining History (London: Spring Books, 1965). 

Peter Clark, The English Alehouse: a Social History, 1200-1830 (New York: Longman, 1983). 

James Nicholls, The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011). 

Richard W. Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Outro music: “D´vil,” anrocomposer

Additional featured music:

“Church Choir,” NNChannel

“Baroque Pop,” alanajordan

“Legacy Begins,” DayFox

“Medieval Dance,” Ebunny

“The Tavern,” Ehved

“Into the Darkness, Cello Version,” Onetent

“Steampunk Victorian Orchestra,” Luis_Humanoide

“Danse Macabre,” Saint Saens (version by Abydos_Music)

“Tavern Celebration,” Table Top Audio

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Viking mead, drinking horns, and fighting monks - oh my! In this episode, we are venturing into the tumultuous years that followed the end of Roman rule in the west. Moving into the medieval era, we will touch on some of the favorite drinks of those infamous raiders known as the Vikings, as well as what it really meant to be drunk as a monk.

The episode opens with a brief note about some audio issues that came through during the recording and editing process. Apologies for the quality, but here's to better recording days in the future.

Sources:

Information pulled from priory records and ledger books was accessed through British History Online (www.british-history.ac.uk).   

St. Benedict’s Rule for Monks, provided online by the Abbey of Regina Laudis. 

Mia Ball, The Worshipful Company of Brewers: A Short History (Hutchinson Benham, 1977).

Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England:  Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 (Oxford University Press, 1996).

Mark Cartwright, “The Daily Life of Medieval Monks,” World History Encyclopedia (December 13, 2018). 

Marianne Hem Eriksen and Brian Costello, “Bodies of Intoxication: Psychoactives in Viking Ritual Practice,” Ritual Performance in the Viking Age (2022). 

Robin Fleming, “Monastic Lands and England’s Defence in the Viking Age,” The English Historical Review Vol. 100, NO. 395 (April 1985): 247-265. 

Bernadette Giacomazzo, “The Fascinating History of the Drinking Horn, the Thirst-Quenching Vessel of Viking Legend,” edited by John Kuroski, ATI (July 21, 2022). 

Barbara Harvey, Living and Dying in England, 110-1540:  The Monastic Experience (Clarendon Press, 1993).

Anne Hofmann, “Drinking Horns in Old Norse Culture: A Tradition Under Examination,” Analecta Archaeologica Ressoviensia: Rituals in the Past, Vol. 10 (2015): 241-258. 

H.A. Monckton, A History of English Ale and Beer (Bodley Head, 1966).

Philip Parker, “A Brief History of the Vikings,” History Extra (April 20, 2020). 

Lyonel Perabo, “Drinking Customs of the Vikings,” Bivrost (February 9, 2015). 

Rod Phillips, Alcohol: A History (University of North Carolina Press, 2014). 

Lorna Price, The Plan of St. Gall in Brief (University of California Press, 1982).

Charles Riskeley, “Ceremonial Drinking in the Viking Age,” Master’s Thesis, (University of Oslo, 2014). 

Richard W. Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).

Jereme Zimmerman, “Make Mead Like a Viking,” Fermentology (April 19, 2022). 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

“D´vil,” anrocomposer

“Gregorian Chant - Regina Caeli Prayer,” nickpanek620

“Cathedral,” TableTop Audio

“Vikings,” TableTop Audio

“The Hearth Inn,” TableTop Audio

“Cutpurse Pursuit,” TableTop Audio

“Viking Tavern,” TableTop Audio

“The Maddening Crowd,” TableTop Audio

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we will see how the drunkard became a sinner as we touch on the ways prominent monotheistic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam came to view alcohol and the sin of drunkenness, and how these perceptions proved immensely influential to the broader history of alcohol.

Sources:

“Drunkenness,” Jewish Virtual Library, Encyclopaedia Judaica (2007). 

Ammianus Macellinus, The Roman History, “Roman Antiquities” (Book XXXI), c. 390 CE (Loeb Classical Library edition, 1930). 

Priscus, “Dinner with Attila,” Reading in European History, translated by J.H. Robinson (1905). 

Teresa Morgan, Popular Morality in the Early Roman Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2007). 

Charles Cosgrove, “Banquet Ceremonies Involving Wine in the Greco-Roman World and Early Christianity,” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 79, No. 2 (April 2017).

Edward Gibbon, History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Vol. 3 (1782, revised edition, 1845). 

N.S. Gill, “The Etymology of the Word Pagan,” ThoughtCo (June 25, 2024). 

N.S. Gill, “How Did Attila the Hun Die?” ThoughtCo (October 29, 2019). 

S.E. Hakenbeck, U. Büntgen, “The Role of Drought during the Hunnic Incursions into Central-East Europe in the 4th and 5th Centuries CE,” Journal of Roman Archaeology (2022). 

Rod Phillips, Alcohol: A History (University of North Carolina Press, 2014). 

W.J. Rorabaugh, The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1979).

Benjamin Sledge, “The Curious Case of Christians and Alcohol,” Medium (November 30, 2016). 

Joe Thorn, “A Theology of Wine,” Doctrine and Devotion (February 14, 2017). 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

D´vil, anrocomposer

Godhaven, TableTop Audio

Arabesque, TableTop Audio

Abandoned Chapel, TableTop Audio

Oasis City, TableTop Audio

The Wild Hunt, TableTop Audio

The Steppes, TableTop Audio

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we will see how the Romans took the Greeks’ drinking culture and remade it as their own. Unlike their Hellenistic counterparts, however, the Romans proved to be a bit more rambunctious when it came to their love of wine. And as we will see, some Romans even built (and destroyed) their reputations by it. Tune in to hear a little bit about Roman drinking games, just how much wine the average Roman drank in the past, and how the infamous Mark Antony became one of ancient Rome's most famous drunkards.

Sources:

Plutarch, The Parallel Lives, Loeb Classical Library edition (1920). 

Michael Beer, “The de sua ebrietate of Marcus Antonius: an attempt to please everyone?” Paper draft accessed via Academia.edu. 

Mark Humphries, “The Lexicon of Abuse: Drunkenness and Political Illegitimacy in the Late Roman World,” in Humour, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, edited by Guy Halsall (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

Karen Lyon, “The Four Humors: Eating in the Renaissance,” Folger Shakespeare Library (December 4, 2015). 

Damien Martin, “When to Say When: Wine and Drunkenness in Roman Society,” Master’s Thesis, University of Missouri (May 2010). 

Daniel E. Mortensen, “Wine, Drunkenness, and the Rhetoric of Crisis in Ancient Rome,” doctoral thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1999). 

Tom Stevenson and Marcus Wilson, eds., Cicero’s Philippics: History, Rhetoric, Ideology (2008). 

Steve Thompson, “‘Daimon Drink’: Ancient Greek and Roman Explanations for Drunkenness,” (January, 2010). 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

“In Horto,” theromancrow

“Italian Traditional Music,” BackgroundMusicforVideos

“Tarentelle,” jumpingbunny

“MMM - Ominous,” Nion_Official

“Italianized,” Andreas-Woll-Music

“tempete en mer,” Jean-Paul-V

“gladiateurs vers la fin du combat,” Jean-Paul-V

“Quirky Fun Comedy,” NikitaKondrashev

“The Roman Army,” TheFealdoProject

“Utululu,” 33nano

“Lid,” anrocomposer

“Pyramids Theme Background Song,” SHERIF-KASSEM

“The It Middle Eastern Dance,” 9JackJack8

“Dark Ambient Emotions Music,” DeusLower

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we are raising a glass to drinking in the Mediterranean world. From Athenian drinking parties, to the god of wine himself, let’s explore what it was like getting drunk on wine in ancient Greece. 

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

“Traditional Greek Music,” ckotty3

“Ancient Legend,” SergePavkinMusic

“The Delphic Oracle,” VictoryOlympiaDay

“The Hermit,” HarumachiMusic

“Labyrinth,” VictoryOlympiaDay

“Historical Battle,” Oleksii_Kalyna

“pilgrimage -ancient, mediaeval harp,” HarumachiMusic

“The Duke of Steamtown,” UniqueCreativeAudio

“Halloween Thunder,” Abydos_Music

“Dramatic Hip-Hop,” White_Records

“Bloodlust,” Nightcast

D´vil, anrocomposer

Sources:

Nicholas R. Baima, “On the Value of Drunkenness in the Laws” History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 20 (1), 2017. 

Elizabeth Belfiore, “Wint and Catharsis of the Emotions in Plato’s Laws,” The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 2 (December 1986): 421-437. 

Simon Denison, “Was Alexander a Great Alcoholic?” Independent (August 2, 1992). 

N.S. Gill, “The Story of Semele, as Told by Nemesis” ThoughtCo, February 6, 2019.

Ross S. Kraemer, “Ecstacy and Possession: The Attraction of Women to the Cult of Dionysus” The Harvard Theological Review 72, No. ½ (Jan.-April 1979): pp. 55-80.

J.A. Liappas, J. Lascaratos, S. Fafouti, and G.N. Christodoulou, “Alexander the Great’s Relationship with Alcohol” Society for the Study of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs, Addiction, 98 (5), May 2003. 

Jessica Mellenthin and Susan O. Shapiro, Mythology Unbound: An Online Textbook for Classical Mythology, UEN Digital Press, open educational resource. 

Max Nelson, “Regulation of Alcohol in Greco-Roman Antiquity,” The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs (2024).

C.D.C. Reeve, “Agalmata, Deontology, and the Erotics of Emptiness in the Symposium” Consecutio Rerum (October 31, 2017).

Tom Standage, A History of the World in Six Glasses (New York: Walker Publishing, 2005).

Transcripts available upon request. You can get in touch with the show at: [email protected].

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Enjoy a bonus second episode this week to celebrate the launch of this show! Look for a new episode to drop every two weeks going forward.

Traveling to the Middle East, in the ancient region of Mesopotamia, we find the first emerging civilizations, as well as the first appearance of alcohol in writing. To the ancient Sumerians, beer was a magical, healthful drink delivered to them by the gods. Associated with prosperity, serenity, and most of the good things in life, there is one thing we can say for certain about this foundational civilization: they loved to drink beer.

In this episode we will raise a glass to the history of Sumerian beer and learn about the ancient beer gods, as well as what it meant to drink like an Egyptian.

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

“Cinematic Soundtrack - Ancient Egypt,” AntipodeanWriter

“Waves,” freesound_community

“ancient rhythm,” SamuelFJohanns

“Ukulele,” ArturAravidiMusic

“Quirky Fun Comedy,” leberchmus

“Ancient Life,” wildsound159

Sources:

Peter Damerow, “Sumerian Beer: The Origins of Brewing Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” Cuneiform Digital Library Journal, 2012. 

Nora McGreevy, “Ancient People May Have Sipped Beer Through These 5,500-Year-Old Drinking Straws,” Smithsonian Magazine, January 21, 2022.

Joshua J. Mark, “Beer in Ancient Egypt,” World History Encyclopedia (March 16, 2017). 

Tara Nurin, A Woman’s Place is in the Brewhouse (Chicago Review Press, 2021).

Tate Paulette, “Inebriation and the Early State: Beer and the Politics of Affect in Mesopotamia” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Vol. 63, September 2021.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this opening season of this show, Kenyon introduces the show, why it exists, as well as the main topic for season one: drinking and drunkenness. Drinking is something that many people are likely familiar with in the practical sense, but the history of alcohol and drinking has ancient roots. This episode provides a very brief overview of the 'pre-history' of drinking and the theories around why humans took up this intoxicating practice.

Written and recorded by: Kenyon Payne

Theme music: "Southern Gothic" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Additional featured music:

Everest 2, ArturAravidiMusic

D´vil, anrocomposer

Disclaimer:

Before getting into this topic, it is necessary for me to acknowledge the very real and ongoing problems that alcohol creates in individual homes, as well as  broader communities, across the globe. Addiction is a serious problem, and the organizations and programs designed to help people seeking to control their addictions often receive too little support, financial and otherwise. Even with the growing development of medical insight into drug and alcohol addiction, approaches to treatment are not always clear. Much of this is due to policy decisions that opt for punishment over rehabilitation. Such policies, as we will see, have their own long history. 

Nevertheless, compulsive drinking was and remains a matter of considerable importance. This show is not intended nor designed to make light of this issue. Rather, I wanted to create this show to explore the topic collectively with anyone who tunes in, so we might gain new insights into the extensive history of humanity's affinity for drinking, and how the individuals who did develop such dependencies navigated their lives, often in settings that became increasingly hostile towards them. 

I also want to acknowledge that, while I am a historian, and someone who teaches the occasional course on the history of drugs and alcohol, I am not a medical professional, nor have I worked directly within the field of addiction treatment. My experience rests solely in studying the past and trying to make sense of how and why people sought to alter their state of consciousness. Ultimately, I want to try and understand how people partaking in one of the world’s most popular drugs could find themselves living outside of the confines of “normal” society.

Sources:

Patrick E. McGovern, Juzhong Zhang, Jigen Tang, Zhiqing Zhang, Gretchen R. Hall, Robert A. Moreau, Alberto Nunez, Eric D. Butrym, Michael P. Richards, Chen-shan Wang, Guangsheng Cheng, Zhijun Zhao, and Changsui Wang, “Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China,” PNAS Early Edition, 2004. 

Tawanda Proceed Makopa, “The marula and elephant intoxication myth: assessing the biodiversity of fermenting yeasts associated with marula fruits (Sclerocarya birrea),” FEMS Microbes, 2023.

Dustin Stephens and Robert Dudley, “The Drunken Monkey Hypothesis” Natural History (December 2004/January 2005). 

“Alcoholic Vervet Monkeys!” Weird Nature, BBC Earth, 2009.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.