The Eighth Liberal Science: An Introduction
Political and Social History in Seventeenth Century England
In a historically significant time for London, in the midst of anxiety and upheaval of the 1650, an anonymous text was printed on Grub Street: The Eighth Liberal Science: Or A New-found Art of Drinking. This guide mimics conduct books and describes an irreverent subject, a light satire written in and for desperate times:
Surely, any work produced in such a period must reflect these daily concerns. The political and social situation of mid-seventeenth century England was a complex backdrop of turmoil
The Divide between King and Parliament
Between 1642 and 1651, England endured a period of tremendous political instability and change: three civil wars broke out in England, Ireland, and Scotland, culminating in the regicide of Charles I in 1649. Formerly England had enjoyed relative calm: Charles I ascended in 1625 and ruled for fifteen years without significant internal or external conflict. However, issues arose when Charles I attempted to rule without parliament, the sole grievance mechanism granted to the public. Constitution granted parliament neither a large nor a permanent role in the English system of government, as a periodic advisory assembly whose major purpose was approving tax revenue. The king could summon the members of parliament (MPs) whenever he needed tax revenue, and dissolve it whenever he desired. Nonetheless, parliament was the only means of popular communication with the king, so when Charles I announced that he would discontinue parliamentary gatherings until "our people shall see more clearly into [the monarchy's] intentions and actions," the nation lost a platform to air their concerns and seek redress from the king. Thus began "The Eleven Years' Tyranny," or "The Personal Rule of King Charles I." Twice in 1640 the king reluctantly recalled parliament to session, due to the financial necessity of the 1639 First Bishop's War in Scotland—the first mobilization of forces in three decades without parliamentary consent. The Short Parliament, the first meeting, Charles I assumed would be peaceful and lucrative, since traditional English hatred of the Scots would distract from disapproval of his personal rule. Not so: not only had MPs struggled to force tax money from English citizens due to the king's rising unpopularity, but also the king's unsympathetic behaviour during the session inspired many MP's to attempt a resistance. However, the meeting's short duration rendered this task impossible. When Charles I realized the majority opposed the idea of invading Scotland to quell the First Bishop's War rebellion, and that many MPs were planning to use the opportunity to critique the crown, he ended the session after only a few weeks.
In the Long Parliamentary session, opponents of Charles I began an attempt to remove what they considered the "abusers and abuses of Personal Rule," and the invasion of crown administrative privilege moved to the top of the political agenda of many parliamentarians. The Grand Remonstrance of 1641 called for a considerable concession of the Royal Prerogative (monarchical administrative privilege), and the incorporation of the document into government was a success for the parliamentary cause of democratic process. However, it passed by a slim margin and the MPs split into Royalists (or Cavaliers) who supported the king and Roundheads (or Parliamentarians) who opposed him. Along with issues of governance, a major polarizing force was the Roundheads' attempt to eliminate episcopacy (the government of a church by bishops) and weaken the Church of England's monopoly, an effort that introduced the important element of religion to the dispute. A supporting faction now grew where once a majority opposed Charles I, stemming from fear that dismissing bishops and reducing the king's role would result in anarchy and chaos, as well as a growing suspicion of the motives and goals of the Roundheads. When a series of royal plots to use force against the Roundheads was revealed, civil war broke out.
Civil War across the British Isles
Three distinct periods of warfare occurred between 1642 and 1651, and of all the battles and proceedings the foremost event was the regicide of Charles I in 1649. The king's decisions, such as alliance with a group of Scots called the Engagement, had severely decreased his supporters, and the Royalists whittled down the remainder. Nonetheless, some MPs remained on the king's side, so in 1948 the army marched on parliament to arrest them; this event came to be known as Pride's Purge, after commanding officer Thomas Pride. The remaining MPs made up the Rump Parliament and ruled England until 1653. The Rump Parliament's first order of business was to set up a high court to try the Charles I for treason, sentence him to death as "tyrant, traitor, murderer, and a public enemy to the Commonwealth of England," and behead him. Less than six weeks later, the Rump Parliament abolished the monarchy, a system "unnecessary, burdensome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public interest of the people.
Several theories attempt to explain the basic causes of the English Civil Wars. Many historians speculate the dispute resulted from the struggle of previous centuries wherein parliament fought for commoners' rights and monarchy clung to exclusive power. Others see the wars as a puritan revolution, a challenge to the repression of the monopoly of the Anglican Church in England. Most historians agree that a combination of factors led to the eventual warfare.
The Eighth Liberal Science was published in the midst of this volatile time. Did the tense political environment influence the decision for anonymity? Was this text intended as comic relief in an otherwise bleak period wrought with problems and uncertainty? Was it meant to speak to those seeking comfort from their problems through drinking? Was the author writing it to try to make some money and escape his problems? Speculation must lead to a combination of these factors.
Changing Conditions in London: Urbanization, Class, and Religion
Changing social circumstances such as urbanization factored in the wars and in the general development of seventeenth century England, and with the population surge came a series of social problems. Though the search for employment was a major cause for immigration, London's growth only served to enhance the city's extant economic polarities. Rapid expansion meant large areas of poor housing and serious overcrowding. The living conditions between classes grew further and further apart, as landlords and tenant farmers prospered from the over-supply of cheap labour while the poor were victims of inflation and stagnant wages.
The poor were criminalized as well, as extensive unemployment inevitably forced many to resort to prostitution and crime to survive, especially when food shortages caused a steep rise in prices. Houses of correction sprang up and multiplied, common places to temporarily jail petty offenders. Poverty and horrible living conditions enabled several outbreaks of the plague. Thus England dramatically transformed over the course of the century by the rapid increase in population and its consequences.
The focus and responsibilities of the nobility changed as well, as the quality of being cultured increased in value: "now the gentleman had also to be able to cap a Latin quip, turn a sonnet, understand a little theology, dance a galliard and display good table manners." A nobleman's aristocratic honour might also require him to duel, and deaths of such men were considered worth "so valuable a blessing as the politeness of manners, the pleasures of conversation and the happiness of company in general." Breeding and behaviour were vital to one's standing. All these strict codes of conduct were partly created by the religious Puritan movement and the instability in society that motivated rigid social control. The Eighth Liberal Science is written in the format of a guide to conduct, since such books were common at the time, but its message is completely subversive to its genre.
Besides the Puritans, the social conditions of the mid-seventeenth century made it a time of religious radicalism, an era of sects such as the Fifth Monarchy Men, Ranters, Quakers, Muggletonians, and Baptists. Perhaps more importantly, "it was that century which saw the arrival of a distinct body of thought and practice which can be described as Anglicanism, and which identified that Anglicanism as a conservative force." With the Puritans had power during the Interregnum, and stringently attempted to "enforce a moral code whose strictness was equalled only by its narrowness." Interestingly to The Eighth Liberal Science, "the blackest of all sins was drunkenness, and during the Commonwealth a vigorous attempt was made to convert England into a sober country." The Puritans [expand?] even tried to limit drunkenness by writing letters to alehouses. Somehow this guide slipped through the cracks… [conclude. Transition.] The Eighth Liberal Science warns against drunkenness but does not really argue against it, and anonymity may have been chosen for that reason.
The Eighth Liberal Science was a product of an incredibly turbulent time in England's development. For the first time in centuries, people were beginning to question the basic institutions that had served as the country's collective moral and political framework. The country as a whole was undergoing tremendous changes and confronting serious problems unprecedented in its history.
Print Culture
Print culture in seventeenth century Britain was influenced by technology, economic forces, and diverse literary palettes and practices, and as a result, was constantly evolving. The Eighth Liberal Science: or a Newfound Art and Order of Drinking is a product of this time, and to understand the method and intention of this work, one must explore the changing era it was written in and for.
In the two hundred years between the invention of the printing press and the publishing of The Eighth Liberal Science in 1650, the book market had undergone several revolutionary changes. The mechanization of printing – the shift from the manual reproduction of text by scribes to the printing press – made book production more efficient, and thus more affordable to a broader market of middle and lower classes. Accompanying the greater access to book ownership (and perhaps also as a consequence of it) was the increasing ability to read them: literacy in Britain was at an all-time high, and universities and grammar schools were highly esteemed since one could rise in society through education (Wright 43). Scholars became a vast reading public, and “the habit of reading became so widespread that [...] the printing press was perhaps the most powerful single medium of influencing public opinion” (Wright 81). Because of the swelling readership, able and eager to purchase books, the book market was experiencing an explosive growth by the mid-seventeenth century, and becoming an increasingly commercial venture. As Jason Peacey writes, “if it did not exist before 1640, then a fully-fledged market for print existed by 1641, as the explosion of cheap print […] testifies (Peacey 89).
The book market also experienced change with the rise of a middle class of entrepreneurs in early seventeenth-century Britain. As a result, the patronage that had determined and enabled literature since scribal times diminished; when this change was combined with the new commercial character of the book industry, the very nature of the literature produced was affected. Not only was the literary canon reprinted and widely disseminated, but also individual authors could publish new books and sell them to an audience that craved novelty (Miller 28). These individual authors, wanting to exploit the market opportunities, spurred the “professionalisation” of literature, where authors were “prostituting their pens to the highest bidder”(Clarke, 7). Howard William Troyer affirms that “[h]ack writers, journalists, and literary innovators who from the days of Elizabethan England onward began to depend for their livelihood less and less upon patronage and more and more upon the originality and profligacy of their pens.” (Troyer 6-7). These professional authors were not wealthy, and “unless he were maintained by patronage, he was in the economic position of an ordinary wage-earner” (Saunders 4). It was such writers who were likely to be found on Grub Street, where in 1650, The Eighth Liberal Science was printed.
Grub Street was named after a refuse ditch (grub) running alongside the street – a notoriously grungy and unhealthy place, prone to epidemics, and where cheap lodging attracted money-hungry writers and printers alike (Clarke 3). However, the term Grub Street also refers to the character of the literature the location produced: Grub Street was considered London’s ‘literary undergound,’ (Peacey 88) and was, and still is, used synonymously with ‘low quality.’ Grub Street authors, being part of the new profession, relied on writing for their sole source of income, and therefore aimed to appeal to the broadest possible audience in order to make a profit. Without patrons these struggling authors had more freedom, but they had to play to the gallery, churning out books they believed would interest their audience. This was thought to necessarily produce low quality work, particularly by the aristocracy, but also by the writers themselves; “although many authors expressed disgust at the vulgar sensationalism of others, none could afford to abandon the hope of creating a sensation himself” (Eisenstein 117). “Grub Street” therefore connotes the shift towards populist literature, which was a consequence of the increased commodification of books. More than any other place, Grub Street produced writing that was “driven by the demands of the ‘marketplace for print’” (Peacey 89). Troyer puts it best when he explains that “[o]ut of the dependence upon individual talent, out of the constant concern with the marketability of the product, resulting, as it frequently did, in the profits themselves actually determining the purpose and design of the writings, a new literature gradually emerged” (Troyer 6).
While it is often quite difficult or even impossible to research such texts as The Eighth Liberal Science, the fact that it was printed on Grub Street clarifies the aims of its composition and publication. The work was printed by “B.A.,” by the Upper Pump on Grub Street in 1650. Between the years of 1634 and 1650, a printer calling himself “B.A.,” “B. Alsop,” or “Bernard Alsop” produced at least 10 different books [English short title] from various places on Grub Street. Given the dates of production, the common location of Grub Street, and the variations on the same name, it is likely that these different names refer to the same person, Bernard Alsop. Alsop printed books that had a relatively broad appeal: his publications included a romantic story about a chivalric knight, an exciting love story, a book of religious instruction, and a “royal chain of golden sentences” from James I, King of England, among others. He printed texts he assumed would make a reasonable profit, and judging by the assortment of subject matter and authors, profit potential was probably the only criteria for his selection. In other words, Alsop was likely a typical Grub Street printer, printing typical Grub Street texts. There is therefore no reason to think that The Eighth Liberal Science is any different, and the text fits into Grub Street’s particular brand and culture of cheap literature.
But what exactly was this new brand of literature? “[A]uthors who understood the tastes of the multitude busily turned out journalistic pamphlets and ballads, ‘improving’ literature of many kinds, and an infinite variety of works to delight the average man” (Wright 95). Here, middle-class taste in literature demanded amusement, edification, and information, so the market was varied with jest books, chapbooks, prayer collections, and encyclopedias of all kinds (Wright 83). By the end of the seventeenth century, “religious and political issues had come to be the dominating factor in popular literature. [... And n]o longer was there any glossing over the frailties of man or his political and social inadequacies and downright knavery” (Troyer 7). The manner of the typical Grub Street writer, “the literary journalist, the pamphleteer, news writer, and party scribe was abusive and vitriolic” (Troyer 7). Usefulness was placed at the highest value, and even comedic works were considered useful in that they cured melancholy (Wright 106); and educational material was so favored that works slanted for the middle class almost always claimed to be didactic (Wright 100).
The Eighth Liberal Science pokes fun at the middle class appetite for educational, didactic reading. The very title of the work - The Eighth Liberal Science – betrays its satirical intentions: it is aiming to establish itself amongst the seven liberal arts that were seen to compose classical education; however, the “new discipline” was drinking – something that would not have been placed with, for example, music, logic, or arithmetic, and was actually seen as a sin during the Puritan rule. The text takes a pseudo-academic approach, using lists, graphs, and even creating its own linguistic terms and classifications for types of alcohol or various states of drunkenness. Most likely then, The Eighth Liberal Science was poking fun at the voracious desire to improve oneself through education, specifically through the printed guide format. This era’s middle class zealously sought advancement, and the shortcut to learning was the printed guide. What one could not learn in school, one “attempted to do for himself by private study of a convenient manual” (Wright 121). Louis B. Wright declares,
The belief in the well-rounded personality and the capacity of the individual, whatever his status, for infinite self-improvement penetrated to all classes, partly as a result of the diffusion of Renaissance ideals through the instrumentality of courtesy books, both foreign and native, which included in the scope of their instruction far more than the mere externals of etiquette. (Wright 126.)
Many of these handbooks had morals, such as that the complete gentleman focuses on doing good unto others. These handbooks often conveyed the ‘gospel of work,’ the other side being the lesson that idleness “is first of the bourgeois seven deadly sins” (Wright 127). Many instructive manuals produced were on being a perfect young lady, having good familial relationships, or being diligent, thrifty, and godly. Knowing this, it is also then likely that The Eighth Liberal Science was not only making fun of the desire to gain education, but also mocking what was being taught. The author was calling into question the morals of the time [expand?] by satirizing the conduct manual, and teaching how to be a drunkard – the polar opposite of what was in actuality considered gentlemanly. The Eighth Liberal Science employs the format of the printed handbook to make fun of the quest for education, while covertly opposing, or at least questioning, the strict morals of its time through satire and comedy.
The metamorphosis of the print culture in the seventeenth century also revolutionized the role of the author. Even if one scribe copied an entire book and signed it at the end, “there is almost no trace of personality left by the presumably ‘personal achievement’” (Eisenstein 149). Where scribal culture had hindered the intellectual right of property, printing allowed authors to become individually recognized (Eisenstein 146): in the new methods of publicity, the colophon was placed at the front instead of the back, a new way of advertising the print house, authors, and artists and creating individual celebrities (Eisenstein 33). So why was The Eighth Liberal Science printed without a name? The printing press certainly did not end anonymity. Marcy L. North describes how it “flourished in the modern period, coexisting with naming and other methods of text presentation to offer authors and book producers an intriguing variety of conventions with which to introduce and frame the literature they produced” (North 3). People were familiar and comfortable with the old scribal anonymity, which could represent collaboration and compilation as much as individual production (North 3-4). Anonymity can facilitate false or real modesty, protect from censure or censors, mislead the reader into assuming authority or authorship of another, hide gender, lay claim to tradition or the continuation of traditional works, or come from a simple transmission accident (North 14-15, 28). A fairly well known example of the use of anonymous publication is William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into English vernacular. He was originally anonymous in order to piously do good in secret, but because of his the controversy over his radical project, and to avoid potential prosecution or punishment, the end colophon of the book lied about the location and staff of his press. North explains that “[p]rint readers also interpreted anonymity as a signature of literary and social ambition—as an author’s means to garner patronage or career opportunities, to exercise influence over readers, or, paradoxically, to make his or her name,” since many authors expected discovery (North 99). In the case of The Eighth Liberal Science, however,there is another possible reason the author remains anonymous: while significant advances in printing had been made, there was no establishment of copyright, and texts were often re-printed, sometimes without permission. Such may be the case with The Eighth Liberal Science, which was originally printed in 1635 by Robert Raworth under the name of “Philocosthonista, or, the drunkard, opened, dissected, and anatomized,” by Thomas Heywood. Alsop was not foreign to reprinting texts that had already been printed, sometimes reprinting his own materials (such as with “The School of Salernes Regiment of health” printed in 1634 and reprinted in 1650) or sometimes other printers’ (such as with “The honour of Chivalry,” printed by Thomas Creede (check) in 1598, and by Alsop in 1650). Though he would not have been reprimanded by law, he may have rendered The Eighth Liberal Science anonymous because he had no right to print it, and may have suffered other consequences.
The Eighth Liberal Science is an artefact – a piece of literature written for a specific generation of readers, in a specific time and place. In a new age of print culture, individual entrepreneurship, and changing social and economic environments, it was most likely written to entertain, to ridicule, and to question the period’s fundamental values and morals. It is certain, however, that it was meant to be fun and to amuse, and that it was likely fun and amusing to write as well.
Genre
The anonymous text titled The Eighth Liberal Science; or, The Art of Drinking situates itself with several different types of genres that formed a broad range of canonical literature studied during the seventeenth century. Jest texts, featuring bawdy humour, pamphlet literature, broadside ballads, and educational texts are all subverted by The Eighth Liberal Science, hence reassigning value according to social and political hierarchies. While the text appears to resemble forms of rogue and jest literature of the period, it is worthwhile to view it in a political and social culture centred on the ale-house rather than a particular genre, perhaps most strikingly because of the disputed degree of literacy during this period.The text was featured periodically in miscellanies and collections throughout the seventeenth century. The earliest known publication was in a text by Thomas Heywood (d.1641) called Philocothonista, or, The drunkard, opened, dissected, and anatomized (1635). Scholars have also located the text in John Cotgrave's Wits Interpreter (1655, 1662, 1671) a "printed miscellany of poems, dialogues, exemplary letters, proverbs and witticisms" (Smyth 205). The version used in our scholarly edition of the Eighth Liberal Science is likely abbreviated from a much longer text.
Similar to educational texts on moral codes, manners, and civility, The Eighth Liberal Science presents behavioural codes in an inverted parody. Adam Smyth (205)notes the prevalence of social hierarchies in the text, reflecting existing social stratification. The text also offers its response to the negative connotations associated with "drunkard", by presenting its own comic vocabulary to describe the various personalities of imbibing individuals. The text may be aligned with other didactic or humorous literature; its outward celebration of drinking subverted by its underlying disapproval of drunkards makes it difficult to determine its proper site according to genre. The Eighth Liberal Science appeared in a context of political unrest, when both national identity and increasing attention to education and literacy were important but unevenly achieved.
Certain features of the Eighth Liberal Science fit with the literary mode of jest texts. Jest first appeared during Henry VIII's reign, developing from a tradition of humorous literature often directed at the church. The popularity of jest literature culminated in England in the later fifteenth and early-sixteenth century, after which a second wave in the 1560s reintroduced many of the popular texts. Jest appeared in collections of prose tales or singular verse texts which include both slapstick and "a repertoire of vulgarities" (Woodbridge 206). Prose jests often featured the "How" formula, such as "How a cook's wife in London did lately serve a collier for his cozenage." Particularly, the genre of jest contains lists and anecdotes in the format (Woodbridge 206)sharing similarities with the Eighth Liberal Science. Jest also appeared in collections or miscellanies and while the immediate purpose suggests entertainment, underlying societal attitudes, often regarding the church and vagrancy, are revealed in the text'ssituational comedy (Woodbridge 207). Their popularity can be marked in their cross-literary references: a jest book called A Hundred Merry Tales (1526) was also cited by Beatrice in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing as the source of her wit. This text was also a favourite of Elizabeth I, who had it read at her bedside as she lay dying (Woodbridge 206).
Scholars have since broadened the definition of jest literature, indicating similarities with medieval genres. Jest literature shared comedic qualities with the medieval fabliaux, characteristically featuring a range of humiliations, acts of violence, and comedic table-turnings. Jest literature characteristics may be traced through its similarities to the Medieval Exempla (Kahrl). The exempla genre, strictly religious in its scope, would conclude a didactic tale with an anecdote.
An even broader definition of jest literature includes the genre of rogue literature. Rogue literature featured tales of vagrants, thieves, and trickery that suggested a sophisticated criminal mind and social networking of vagrants. Pointing to an actual historical presence and sociological understanding of vagrancy, these tales indicate more about cultural anxieties regarding vagrants, then about actual organized crime (Woodbridge 204). An earlier example of a rogue pamphlet is called The Fraternitie of Vacabonds (1603). Written by John Awdelay, the pamphlet includes humorous descriptions of the brotherhood of vagabonds: "Men and Women, Boyes and Gyrels: with their proper names and qualities" (A2r) including a separate, longer prose section on "cosoners and shifters" (A3v) which relates stories about these petty tricksters. The pamphlet closely resembles The Eighth Liberal Science in style, format, and content, wherein descriptions of a new eighth liberal science are found "with a true description of their school and library" (A2r). The last section of The Eighth Liberal Science also includes longer descriptions and "divers stories of such whom immoderate Drinking hath made ridiculous" (B4r). The rogue genre appears to be fairly widespread, including guides such as: A manifest detection of diceplay, A caveat for common cursitors vulgarly called vagabonds, and A notable discovery of cozenage (Kinney).
The structural and topical format of the Eighth Liberal Science suggests an overturning of traditional educational texts and structures. During the Elizabethan era, the numbers of grammar schools and educational achievement increased. A likely situation of rising and waning achievement and distribution of literacy and education arose during this time period ("Literacy in Context" 22). Nicholas Orme (19) discusses the relationship between the Reformation and education as being interdependent in their mutual growth and support. This expansion would remain classed and gendered in its outreach. Church reformation and religious developments encouraged and influenced the development of literacy and education. Protestant reformers argued particularly for access to religious texts, and the imperative for people to read and understand the Bible on their own terms. Seventeenth century puritans expressed dismay that, "alas, the people perish for want of knowledge. And how can they know God's will that cannot read it?" ("Literacy in Context" 307) Literacy and education also drew support from other sectors that required degrees of literacy, such as the new mercantile and capitalist economic structures. Educators drew connections between civility and order, and through reading and writing. The higher education systems of universities and Inns of Court exposed students to an "essentially conservative" (Sharpe 259) curriculum composed of the liberal arts. The seven liberal arts (of ancient Greek origin) are grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. We may now find "an eighth liberal Art or science called…the Art of Drinking" (A5v) in our anonymously written text. This new liberal art or science describes the school and students who may acquire degrees therein and includes stories of their experiences once well educated in "the art of drinking."
Texts that espoused proper behaviour, like contemporary etiquette manuals, were popularly consumed in the seventeenth century. The Eighth Liberal Science may be subverting this kind of didactic literature. Texts ranged from courtesy manuals with an emphasis on accommodation for others, targeted to a courtly audience, to "child-centred courtesy literature, starting with De Civilitate" (Bryson 107). These texts shared instructions for new definitions of acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. One such instruction may be found in the book From Courtesy to Civility: "a gentleman should not make public preparation to relieve himself or retruss before others after doing so" (Bryson 83). This rule of civility sharply juxtaposes the story in The Eighth Liberal Science where we are told of a Malt-man who "pissed in his breeches" (B8r). Instructions for manners, customs, and detailed codes of behaviour often were drawn along nationalistic, as well as classed lines. Anna Bryson explains the framing and development of civilization through "the maintenance of a distinction between the civil and the brute beast" (85). The Eighth Liberal Science effectively ignores this distinction by relating stories of drunkards acting no better than beasts.
The significance of The Eighth Liberal Science and other related texts depends, in part, on the degree of literacy in its targeted population, which appears to be male, and presumably for those exposed to the traditional pedagogical texts. While difficult to gauge, a number of approaches have been put forth to determine the reading and writing ability of the British population. One marker of literacy can be traced through the ability to signing of one's own name for legal documents, such as a marriage certificate. One estimate suggests that "by the end of the sixteenth century… almost a third of the adult male population was able to write", a statistic dependent on social class (Cressy, Education in Tudor and Stewart England 9). 1560 to 1640 witnessed an "educational revolution" (Sharpe 256) and "early seventeenth-century England was the most literate society the world had ever known" (256). Educational reformer John Newton maintains that "illiteracy among women was far higher than among men" (Cressy, Education in Tudor and Stewart England 112) in the latter part of the seventeenth century. However, more women than ever before were receiving schooling in English, rather than Latin, and ushering in a new, and more highly literate, social order (10). The advance was also accompanied by a lowered status and greater isolation of the illiterate (11). The Eighth Liberal Science very likely found an audience appreciative of its raunchy humour among this new literate society. While The Eighth Liberal Science implies a readership appreciative of alcohol and its effects, it may also appeal to an audience condemning the very practise. The "divers stories" (B4r) at the end discourage people from "immoderate drinking" (B4r) so as not to appear ridiculous, as much as they provide comic relief.
The Eighth Liberal Science may be better understood as part of a larger social context, in which text played only a partial role. Alehouses played a vital role in the dissemination and cultivation of broadside ballads, through distribution of printed materials, or meeting points for balladeers (Jones 71). The English Civil war in 1649 prompted a shift in the significance of political ballads. Like the range of pamphlet material about drinking, both condemnation and support of drinking were featured in these ballads. Moral songs that warned against drinking and the celebration of drinking culture were both represented in these ballads (77). Accusations of drunkenness or sobriety played a role in Whig and Tory politics; both women and men were featured as subjects in these songs. The majority of pamphlet literature condemned drunkenness (Smyth 193). Some of the ballads were printed, while others may have contributed to literature like the Eighth Liberal Science in its understanding and construction of drinking and drunkenness. This social and political space may be more closely linked with the Eighth Liberal Science than other strictly text-based genres.
Apart from jest literature, moral and religious tracts most frequently featured drinking themes. In print, the social conception of drunkenness appeared to be vulnerable to attack. Adam Smyth in his article "'It were far better to be a Toad, or a Serpent, than a Drunkard': Writing About Drunkenness", argues that in publications for popular consumption in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the voice of the drunkard was notably absent. The majority of pamphlet literature condemned drunkenness (Smyth 193). Even for texts that supposedly endorse drunkenness, this position often rests in tension to the ostensibly sober narrator. This significantly points to a societal position on drunkenness that was far less accepting, at least by the writers of these texts. Texts such as The Eighth Liberal Science were more prescriptive than descriptive in their glorification of drinking. Regardless, the vigorous and spirited celebration of drinking culture, found in The Eighth Liberal Science, may best be positioned among both written and oral, comedic and instructional texts, and cultural practices.
Scholars have pointed to the overlap, rather than divide between oral and literate aspects of sixteenth and seventeenth century British culture, "in which visual, verbal, gestural, scribal and print elements intermingled" ("Literacy in Context" 311). The Eighth Liberal Science, then, may be part of an oral tradition and culture, that later became manifest in print form. Stories and comedic tales would often migrate in a dialogue between oral and written text. "Literacy in Context" comments: "Jests and proverbs that originated in folklore appeared in printed editions" (311). Similar origins are possible for the stories of mostly male drunkards in The Eighth Liberal Science; alternatively, the tales and the new social order could have been a product of singular or group imagination, in response to political or social realities. The former possibility appears likely; if true, literacy may play a less important role in determining the position and significance of the text. Further, the genres of jest, educational, and rogue literatures may overlap through a variety of cultural exchanges other than literary. The presence of occupations such as a town caller, and cultural practices of inscribing or reading written correspondence for another, point to the ways in which varying degrees of literacy function together. Similarly, the variety of means through which information was disseminated indicates cultural practices that did not rely solely on the written word. Rather, written texts were part of a broader cultural framework that supported its less or non-literate members.
Glossary for Terms for The Eighth Liberal Science
As its title suggests, The Eighth Liberal Science: The New Discipline or School of Drunkards playfully equates scholarly pursuits with that of drinking. The text attempts to create a new set of terms and discourse to support the new discipline of drinking, as a deliberately ironic legitimized activity. The Eighth Liberal Science employs terminology and cultural referents that may be unfamiliar to the contemporary reader. This glossary provides definitions for the unfamiliar terminology, so that the reader may better understand not only the attempted humour, but also the context in which it was situated. The terminology falls broadly into the five categories that the text establishes: university or academic; court phrases; civil and martial places of respect and dignity; martial degrees; and sea-service. While some terms appear to be quite basic, others carry particular meanings within their selected discipline. For each category, one of these common terms has a drinking behaviour associated with it; the phrase in parenthesis explains the new meaning that the author attributes in the text. This text reveals both attitudes toward drinking and established institutions, which appears both prevalent and problematic.
For difficult or unfamiliar terms and words within the definitions themselves, please note that annotations are provided.
Titles for Universitie Men
In this section, both academic disciplines and the people associated with them become re-defined. An anti-authoritative tone pervades this section. Some of the definitions appear to fit the respective discipline: for example, Morality is defined as “He that gives good council”. The study of Morality is thus a type of drunk who gives advice, whether solicited or not. This drunken figure is now ennobled; or perhaps, the academic Ethics or Morality student is diminished. Other definitions, such as that for Physick, the theorizing and study of motion, becomes associated with the outcomes of excess drinking: “he that disgorgeth his stomak”. University enrolment expanded to a high of 1000 students per year in the first two decades of the seventeenth century, (Cressy, 8) an expansion that paused entirely during the interregnum period, and did not improve until after Queen Victoria’s reign. Oxford and Cambridge were institutions for elite men. While many failed to complete a degree, the institutions prepared its scholars for participation in local affairs, the study of law, the church or other professions. (Cressy,10) In the seventeenth century, educational critics advocated for both boys and girls receiving and education. Grammar schools continued in their uneven expansion, and there was new interest in the development of charity schools. Religious and political change, and economic shifts impacted the attitudes toward and practices of educating children and youth. The church and state practiced varying degrees of control over the content, and idealism pushed and expanded the prerogatives it intended. Critics expressed wide-ranging views on education in the Stuart, Interregnum and Restoration periods, ranging from fears of social instability resulting from education, religious prerogatives and socially classed considerations. The gendered distinction for these distinctions may be regarded as deliberate and distinctive: not a universalizing “he”, but rather a specific masculine attribution of the drunken character.
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Hydromancie (He that weeps in his cups, and is Maudlen drunk): Divination derived from signs in water; tides, ebbs, etc. or the pretended appearance of spirits in the water. ***
Natural Philosophy (He that Laughs and Talks much): The study of natural bodies and the phenomena connected with them; natural science. Morality (He that gives good counsel) Ethical wisdom; knowledge of moral science. Can also be used in a humorous sense, as one who habitually assumes an air of virtue or as a mock title.
Metaphisicks (He that builds Castles in the Air): A branch of philosophy that deals with things beyond the scope of scientific inquiry such as questions about being, time and space, causation, change, and identity.
Musick (He that sings in his drink) Musical art or performance personified; poet.
Physick (He that disgorgeth his stomack): A medical substance, especially a cathartic or purgative. ***
Cosmography (He that brags of his travels): The science that describes and maps the general features of the universe (heavens and earth) without encroaching on the specialized sciences of astronomy or geography.
Poetry (He that rimes extempore, or speaks play-speeches): The work of a poet, which includes composition in verse where the expression of feelings and ideas is intensified by distinctive style and rhythm. ***
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Rhetorician (He that cries Tril-lil boys): A teacher of rhetoric; the art of using language to persuade or influence others and rules which must be followed in order for the speaker to express him or herself with eloquence. ***
Logician (He that cals his fellow Drunkard): A student skilled in logic or reasoning. Logic is the branch of philosophy that treats the forms of thinking in general, especially of inference and scientific method.
Grammarian (He that proves his argument by a Pamphlet or Ballad): One versed in the knowledge of grammar or language; a philologist (one devoted to learning or literature). Grammar is the study of the means of indicating the relation of words in a sentence and the rules for employing these with established usage. Grammar is also the phoenitc system of a language and the ways to express it in writing.
Arithmetician (He that rubs of his score with his elbow, hat, or cloak): One who is proficient in the science of numbers.
Astronmer (He that knocks his head against a post, then looks up to the Skie): One skilled in the knowledge of the heavenly bodies. Astronomy is the science which deals with the constitution, relative positions, and motions of the heavenly bodies; outside the earth and also the earth’s relationship to them.
Geometrician (He that reels from one side of the channel to another): One who studies geometry, which is the science of investigating the properties and relations of magnitudes in space, as lines, surfaces, and solids.
Navigator (He that going homewards fals into a ditch or chanel): after the Restoration, attention turned away from liberal arts to more practical applications in trade, navigation etc. Cressy, Education in Tudor and Stuart England, 12)
Mooter (He that looseth himself in his discourse): A person that raises a matter for discussion.
Barrester (He that brawls and wrangles in his cups): A student of the law who has the privilege of practicing as advocate in the superior courts of law after having been called to the bar (a particular court of law). Bencher (He that loves to drink in hugger-mugger)An eminent lawyer (from JohnKersey the younger, English dictionary from LEME website ***
Young Student (He that drinks to al comers): While grammar schools and other schools existed for young boys and, often, girls, university was often reserved for a class and age-specific group. Perhaps the Young Student would be a naive student.
Merchant venturer (He that hath no money in his purse, but drinks on trust): A businessperson engaged in the organization and dispatch of trading expeditions overseas, and the establishment of factories and trading stations overseas. ***
Civilian (He that in his wine is nothing els but complement): A person who studies the Civil Law. ***
Art of Memory (He that drinks and forgets to whom, is said to study the) The study of mnemonic devices; a system of techniques to assist and improve the memory.
British courts in the seventeenth century reflect, to a great deal, the contemporary British legal processes. This text is positioned between two distinct periods in the development of law, noted as from 1485 to the restoration, to the great era of legal reform, 1660 to 1830 (Lloyd, 15). By the reign of Henry VII top the Restoration, Common law was firmly established. The major legal shift was away from the church to the parliaments. (34). Certain developments, like the law of contract, were established in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. (Lloyd, 42) In this section, legal terminology is employed to describe drinking habits. There is evidence of a learned author or set of authors, who understand the meanings of the legal positions with sophistication. They are able to trope the legal definitions with definite wit in its new drinking definition. For example, “To Put in his declaration” means to present one’s case before the court. The given definition is “to quarrel with the host and call her Whore”. Quarreling suggests legal argument; the troublesome drunk is now granted a kind of dignity, or perhaps, the referenced lawyer is diminished.
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Sergeant (He plucks his friend or acquaintance into a Tavern or tipling-house perforce, is call’d): A servant, attendant, or common soldier. **9
Puts in his Declaration (He that quarrels with his Hostesse and cals her Whore): “Plea to the Declaration: one of two options for the defendant (Lloyd, 300): “After the declaration, or statement of claim, two courses were open to the defendant; either to demur on the ground that the pleading was insufficient in law, or plead to the declaration”.
Demur upon the Plaintiff (Hee that silent or tongue-tied in his cups is said to) To demur is to hesitate or delay and a plaintiff is someone that brings a suit (complaint) into a court of law.
Foreman of the Jury (He that ingrosseth all the talk to himself, is call’d): The appointed leader of a company of persons sworn to render a verdict or answer to some question posed to them; usually in a court of law. Cryer of the Court (He that with his loud talk deafens all the company) An officer in a court of justice who makes official announcements.
Pronounceth Judgement (He that takes upon him to make the reckoning): Decision on law; judgement of the court. The decision was frequently made by the judge, without a jury. 302.!!!
Quit by Proclamation (He that wants money and another man pays for is): An authoritative announcement or statement; made by anyone.
Sav’d by his Clergy (He that gives his Host or Hostesse a Bill of his hand, is said to be): The privilege of exemption from trial by a secular court; claimed by clergymen arraigned by trial. The ability to read was originally the ‘test of the clergy’.
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Attourney General (He that is so free that he will pledge all commers): A legal officer of the state empowered to act in all cases in which the state is a party.
Sergeant of the Coyffe (He that wears a night-cap having been sick of a Surfeit): A close fitting cap covering the back, front, and sides of the head and worn by men as a night-cap. **10
An ordinary Pursevant (He that is observed to be drunk but once a week): A royal or state messenger with the power to execute warrants; a warrant officer.
Sub-Sheriffe (He that takes his rowse freely but once in a moneth): A sub-sheriff is a subordinate official.
Justice of the Peace (He that healths it but once in a Quarter): An inferior magistrate appointed to preserve the peace in a county or town. The phrase ‘to health it’ was commonly used and simply means to drink to one’s health.
Judge of a Circuit (And he that takes his rowse but twice a year): A circuit court is held periodically in principal towns. **11
Civil and Martial places of respect and dignity belonging to this art and science
The definitions contained in these headings describe positions in a noble or upper-class household, or members invested with legal or moral roles of authority. The Principal Secretary, a position of political dignity and respect, is described in this text as “he that can win the favour of the hostesses daughter to lie with her”. This definition may be alluding to accusations of those who serve in political office, or rather suggesting that the principal secretary engages in this kind of behaviour. It also describes the behaviour of some drunks who may be vested with respect by fellow drinkers for “his” ability to charm and persuade.
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Major Domo (He that is unruly in his cups, swaggers, and flings pots and drawers down stairs, breaks glasses, and beats the fidlers about the room, they call by the name of): Derived from the Latin maior domus, the term denotes the head servant in a wealthy Italian or Spanish household.
Master Controuler (He that cuts down signs bushes or lettices): **12 !!!
Principal Secretary (He that can win the favour of the hostesses daughter to lie with her): In France, a principal secretary is a trusted member of the royal council. This term was located in an article about the French politique, a group accused of accepting religious diversity for the sake of peace. The Secretary of state, related to all financial and political matters, played an essential role in the government of the country. (Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation)
Mr. of the Ceremonies (He that stands upon his strength and begins new healths): An officer of the British Royal household who superintended state ceremonies and was responsible for the enforcement of court etiquette. 13**
Mr. of the Novelties (He that is the first to begin new frolicks): 13a****. This may be regarded as a reference to, or later version of the Master of the Novelties, an official court position. This person was responsible for entertainment at court, during the Elizabethan era. (Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance). After 1576, however, this position was responsible for the licensing of plays, having the power to imprison.
Mr. of Mis-rule (He that flings Cushions, Napkins, and Trenchers about the room): A person chosen to reside over games and other revelry during the Christmas period, especially in wealthy households. A reversal of roles was often an aspect of such revelry, so the person chosen was often of a low status. 14**
Master of the Wardrobe (He that wanting mony is forc’d to pawn his Cloak): One who is in charge of the wearing apparel of a royal or noble household.
Clerk of the Kitchin (He that calls for Rashers pickle-Disters, or Anchova’s): The officer who has charge of the records, correspondence, and accounts of any court and superintends its general business. **15
Proctour (He that talks much, and speakes non-sence, is called a): A person employed to manage the affairs of someone else; an agent or attorney.
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Register (He that tels tedious and long tales): One whom would formally set down facts in writing.
Publick Notary (He that takes the tale out of another mans mouth) A person authorized to perform certain legal formalities; a lawyer.
Martiall Degrees Relating to battle or war; military
The development and history of the military was inextricably linked to the changing political developments during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. During and after the interregnum period, military conflicts undoubtedly played a central role in the public’s consciousness. The background of soldiers was varied, but consisted likely of lower-class citizens, vagrants, criminals avoiding arrest, debtors, and the unemployed. (Childs, 23) Serving in the military was an attractive option for those avoiding dept payments, younger sons who would not inherit property, and political circumstance was influenced by Restoration politics. Service in the colonies was “loathed”, an assignment given more often to British or Irish soldiers. Class determined rank assigned. Miliary conscription was for life, “Whether a man volunteered or was forcibly impressed his service was for life” (Childs, 21), except in extraordinary situations. During Charles II’s reign, Britain had a standing army for the first time in its history. Of course, this army functioned to secure Charles II’s place back on the throne.
Assigning drinking behaviours to these military positions may be less ironic and more descriptive than some of the other categories. Some definitions refer specifically to characteristics of uniforms; other definitions play wittingly on characteristics of a particular military role. The Ensign bearer, described as having a red face, is a flag-bearer in the military, literally holding the colours of battle. In this, the Eighth Liberal Science demonstrates understanding of rank and position within this institution. This rather sophisticated humour rests aside the rather bawdy image of the Corporall of the Field pissing in the Chimney.
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Collonel of a Regiment (He that drinks in his boots, and gingling-spurs): The superior officer of a military regiment, either infantry or cavalry. The regiment itself is a group of soldiers organized and arranged by superior officers. **16
Captain of a Foot Company (He that drinks in silk-stockings, and silk-garters): Third in the order of promotion, the Captain is responsible for commanding a company of infantry or cavalry. Foot Company suggests that this particular Captain is in charge of foot artillery soldiers.
Marshall of the Field (He that flings pottle**17 and quart pots down stairs): The field marshal is an officer responsible for the military camp and sustenance for the troops and is subordinate to the captain.
Master of the Ordnance (He that begins three healths together to go round the table): A person having control or authority over the military materials such as artillery.
Camp-Master (He that calls first in al the company for a Looking-glass): A common term used in France for a staff-officer for infantry regiments. The French are commonly viewed as Fops (a fop is foolishly vain to his appearance, dress, or manners).
Corporall of the Field (He that waters the faggots**18 by pissing in the Chimney): A superior officer in the army who acted as an assistant to the sergeant-major.
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Drum Major (He that thunders in room and beats the Drawers**19): A non-commissioned officer who has command of the drummers of a regimental band.
Ensign-Bearer (He that looks red, and colors in his drink): The soldier that carries the military banner or flag. Officers of the lowest grade in the infantry bore this title.
Gentleman of a Company (He that thrusts himself into company, and hangs upon others): A humorous or slang term for a proper gentleman; one who is of gentle birth, though not nobility, and is entitled to bear arms. The company is a sub-division of an infantry regiment, commanded by a Captain. Lansprizado (He that keeps company and hath but two pence to spend) A minor officer of the lowest grade; a lance-corporal.
Sutler (He that pockets up gloves, knives or Handkerchers): One who follows an army and sell provisions to the soldiers.
An Old-Souldier (He that drinks three days together with-out respite): A person who used to serve in the army or has served for an extended time.
An Intelligencer (He that swears and lies in his drink): One employed to obtain secret information; a messenger, informant, spy.
Seaservice: Terms and Paradoxes
The history of colonization is bound to the development of the British Navy. During the time of the text’s publication, Britain was engaged in naval conflicts with the Dutch, and managing, maintaining and obtaining its colonies. Following James’ reign, troubled politics of Charles I influenced the course of the navy’s endeavours. Generally, naval history reflected the political turbulence and regime changes that occurred in the time of this text’s publication. In a move parallel to other political developments. For example, Cromwell adopted the New Model Navy, which went back to the 1629 precedent when, after the assassination of Buckingham, Lord high admiral held control of the navy (Lloyd, 55). A variance in the kind of behaviour expected in the navy and the kind of behaviours prevalent in the navy is reflective in a 1663 letter of Instructions to the Captain. (Lloyd, 56) It states that, “blasphemy, drunkenness, swearing, and profaneness be discountenanced, restrained, and punished”. A disciplinary code of 1652 and 1666, maintained without revision until 1749, reflect an increasing codification of behaviour and regulations that emerged in the navy (Lloyd, 57). Indeed, in a diary of serviceman, he admitted to drinking punch before engaging in combat.
Much of the humour in this section uses the water-based referent of the sea to its new definitions: the Vice Admiral pissing, or the Swabber who cleans the spilled drinks.
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Admirall of the Narrow Seas (He that having over-drunk himself offers his stomack, in his next fellows Boots or Shooes they call): An admiral is the commander-in-chief of the navy; in England this officer was responsible for all civil and criminal matters pertaining to the sea. The narrow sea separates Great Britain from Ireland and continental Europe.
Vice-Admirall (He that pisseth under the Table to offend their shoes or stockings): A naval officer ranking next to an admiral; having the same rank as the lieutenant-general in the army.
Master of a Ship (He that is first flan’d***20 in the company before the rest): A person in control of a large sea-going vessel.
Masters-Mate (He that is the second that is drunk at the table): A petty officer rated as an assistant to the master of a warship. Swabber (He that slovenly spillith his drink upon the Table) The person in the ship’s crew responsible for cleaning the decks.
Pyrat of the Narrow Seas (He that privately and closely stealeth his liquor): A person who plunders or robs from ships; here we may assume from ships in the Narrow Sea, which separates Great Britain from Ireland and continental Europe.
Master Gunner (He that is suddenly taken with the hitch-up): The officer in charge of ordnance and ammunition.
Flute (He that is still smoaking with the pipe at his nose): A vessel of war carrying only part of her armament, to serve as a transport.
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Trumpeter (He that belcheth either backward or forward): A soldier on a warship that sounds alarms and gives signals on a trumpet.
Terms and Titles Specific to Young Students
In this section, land ownership and legal definitions of tenancy figure prominently. The law of property developed in relation to social life and status in the country. Some of the definitions, such as Relief, hearken back to feudal times, when land was not heritable. These terms are also reflective particularly of Military tenure. In one definition, a woman is given a definition of a type of drunk: the legal term borrowed, Tenants in Dower, refers specifically to widow land ownership. It is also one of the few definitions not preceded by a “He”, and rather an “If”, supposing the women who meet, drink, and gossip together. Perhaps the use of legal terminology of ownership to express partiers and revellers reflects resentment or the desire for these positions; perhaps the new definitions reflect the desire to overturn highly restrictive rules on ownership.
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Tenant in Fee-simple (He that makes himself a laughing stock to the whole company): One who is in absolute possession of a piece of land, a house, etc.; belonging to the tenant and his heirs for ever.
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Tenant in-tail special (He that will be still smowching and kissing his hostesse behind the door): The possession of an estate that is limited to a special class of heirs. e.g. to a man and wife and the heirs of their bodies lawfully begotten.
Tenant in-tail general (He that will be stil kissing all commers in): Where lands and tenements are given to a man and the heirs of his body recognized by the law.
Tenant in-tail after possibility of Issue extinct (He that is three parts fort **21 and will be kissing): A tenant in-tail is a legal term for the limitation of an estate to a person and the heirs of his body.
Tenant by the curtesie De Angliter (He that is permitted to take a nap, and to sleep): tenant by the goodness of an Engilshman. A Courtesy is courtly elegance and politeness of manners.
Tenants in Dower (If two or three women meet twice or thrice a week, to take Gossips cups, they are): A widow who retains a portion of land, for her remaining life, of her deceased husband’s estate.
Tenant in Frank-Almain (He that hath the disposing of a donative amongst his comrades): Tenure of lands by divine service, or by the performance of some religious duty; given to such people as bestow themselves in the service of God, for pure and perpetual alms.
Capite (He whose head seems heavier than his heels, holds in): A tenure, by which land was held immediately of the King or of the Crown.
Soccadge (He whose heels are heavier than his head, holds in): The tenure (holding of a possession) of land by certain determinate services other than knight-service.
Knights Service (All Gentlemen-Drunkards, Schollers and Souldiers, hold in): Under the Feudal system: The military service which a knight was bound to render as a condition of holding his lands.
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Grand serientry (He that drinks nothing but Sack, and Aqua-vitae, holds by) :
Petit serientry (He that drinks onely Ale or Beer, holds by) :
Tenders his homage (He that drinks uncovered, with his head bare): Formal and public acknowledgement of allegiance.
Doth his fealty (He that humbles himself to drink on his knee): The obligation and recognition of fidelity on the part of a feudal tenant to his lord.
Pays his relief (He that hu~teth the Taverns, or Tap-houses when he comes, first to age): Hunteth; to search with eagerness and exertion.
Sueth for his Livery (He that hath fold and mortgaged all the land he hath): An allowance or ration of food, clothing, and provisions dispensed to servants.
A Free-holder (He whose wife goeth with him to the Tavern or Ale-house, is): One who possesses a freehold estate (a tenure by which an estate is held for a term of life).
Tenant at will (He whose wife useth to fetch him home from the Library, is a): A tenant who holds at the will or pleasure of the lesser (one who grants a lease).
Copy-holder (He that articles with his hostesse about the reckoning, is a): One who holds an estate in copyhold (a tenure in England of ancient origin: tenure of lands being parcel of a manor; the transcript containing entries of the admissions of tenants, to land held by such tenants in the tenure is said to be the copyhold).
Verge (He that staggering supports himself by a wall or a post, holds by the): Rod or wand put in a person's hand when taking the oath of fealty to the lord on being admitted as a tenant, and delivered back on the giving up of the tenancy. The author may be punning on an informal use of verge, a term for the penis.
Ricki Elder, Wendy Gillis,
Jenn Sharp, Lisa Worobec (2008).
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