Scottish Mild in WW II

The war didn’t do anything to help Mild’s fortunes in Scotland. Probably the opposite, as most breweries trimmed their ranges during the conflict. And the first beers to go were always the less fashionable ones. And Mild Ale hadn’t been a popular north of the border for several decades.

As was often the case, William Younger was a big exception. They had brewed a range of Milds between the wars, and continued to do so after all the nastiness began. A larger range than most breweries South of the border. While using the classic X designations common in England before WW I.

Weakest of the Younger bunch of Mild was X Ale. Which was much the same as the weakest class of English Milds. What, pre-war, would have been a 4d per pint Ale in London. Or a standard Mild Ale out in the sticks.

Note that at, the start of hostilities, X Ale was dry hopped. A practice which wasn’t totally standard for Mild Ales, but which was employed by some breweries. But which Younger dropped in 1942, presumably to conserve hops for other more pressing uses.

Kicking off the war at around the minimum finically viable gravity, there was no way X Ale was ever going to survive the war. Especially when there were other Milds in Younger’s portfolio. And, sure enough, in 1942, when the OG of its next sibling, XX, dropped to almost the same level, X Ale was discontinued.

Next up the strength pole was, unsurprisingly, XX. A Mild which wasn’t much stronger, but just enough to differentiate itself from X Ale.

The gravity fell surprisingly little during the war, just 2º. Bugger all, in the scheme of things.

Both the ABV and attenuation level listed are a bit deceptive. Not just for XX, but for all William Younger’s beers. Because the brewing records don’t list the racking gravity, but the cleansing gravity. Which is several degrees higher. Based on analyses of Younger’s beers, the rate of attenuation was mostly 70-75% when sold.

The hopping levels for both X and XX are ludicrously low. Half the level even of a rural brewery like Adnams  and a quarter of that of a large London brewery like Whitbread or Barclay Perkins . When you get to the recipes section you’ll see the result: beers with fewer than 10 IBU (calculated).

Though, as initially, there was a reasonable rate of dry hopping, Younger’s Milds might have had a surprising level of hop flavour, despite the almost total lack of bitterness.

William Younger X Ale 1939 - 1942
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
17th Nov	1939	1029.0	1012.0	2.25	58.62%	2.50	0.28	2.03
1st Nov	1940	1028.0	1011.0	2.25	60.71%	2.69	0.25	2.06
15th Aug	1941	1028.0	1012.0	2.12	57.14%	2.19	0.23	1.90
9th Jul	1942	1028.0	1011.0	2.25	60.71%	2.33	0.25	0.00
Sources:
William Younger brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers WY/6/1/2/76, WY/6/1/2/77, WY/6/1/2/78 and WY/6/1/2/79.

  

William Younger XX Ale 1939 - 1944
Date	Year	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl	dry hops (oz / barrel)
23rd Nov	1939	1032.0	1012.0	2.65	62.50%	2.50	0.31	1.97
10th Oct	1940	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.27	1.88
12th Dec	1941	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.29	0.00
23rd Jan	1942	1031.0	1012.0	2.51	61.29%	2.35	0.27	4.06
18th Dec	1942	1030.0	1010.0	2.65	66.67%	2.88	0.34	0.00
9th Nov	1943	1030.0	1012.0	2.38	60.00%	2.94	0.35	0.00
9th Apr	1944	1030.0	1013.0	2.25	56.67%	2.94	0.35	0.00
Sources:
William Younger brewing records held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document numbers WY/6/1/2/76, WY/6/1/2/77, WY/6/1/2/78 , WY/6/1/2/79 and WY/6/1/2/81.

 

The naughty vicar's past

I've found a few references to Mr. de la Mothe from before his time at Dogmersfield.

First, a couple connected with his ordination.

"CURATES APPOINTED AFTER DEVON ORDINATION
Holding a public ordination at Exeter Cathedral on Sunday morning, the Bishop (Dr. C. E. Curzon) admitted the following to Holy Orders: Deacons: Whately lan Eliot; Hugo Dominique de la Mothe, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; Alec Edward Osmond, A.K.C., King's College, London; and Denys Edward Hugh Whiteley, B.A., Pembroke College, Oxford. Priests: Raymond Morris Beck, B.A.. Magdalen College, Oxford; and Oliver Leonard Willmott. 

The following were afterwards licensed to their respective curacies: The Revs. W. I. Eliot, to Wolborough; H. de la Mothe, to Bideford; A. E. Osmond, to Plympton St. Mary; and D. E. H. Whiteley, to Woodbury. 

The Bishop was attended by the Rev. H. Darnley Smith as chaplain; and other clergy present included the Dean of Exeter (Dr. S. C. Carpenter), the Bishop of Crediton (the Rt. Rev. W. F. Surtees), the Archdeacon of Exeter (the Ven. A. H. Thompson) Canon E. F. Hall, Preb. F. M. Wallington. the Successor (the Rev. R. C. B. Llewellyn), and the Rev. R. W. B. Langhorne."
Western Times - Friday 09 June 1939, page 3

Which tells us that he got an M.A. at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. And that he was a curate in Bideford, in the Southwest pf England. Not far from Exeter, where he was ordained.

A year later, he became a full priest:

"EXETER ORDINATION
Yesterday’s Service at the Cathedral At a public ordination held by the Bishop (Dr. C. E. Curzon) in Exeter Cathedral yesterday (Trinity Sunday) the following were admitted to Holy Orders: Deacons: Albert William John Delve, B.A., College of the Resurrection, Leeds University; William Henry Jones. B.A., St. David's College, Lampeter University; Charles Murray Rosers. B.A., Queen's College, Cambridge. 

Priests: Frederick Hugh Wright Crabb, B.D., London College of Divinity, London University; Whatley lan Eliot; Alec Edward Osmond. A.K.C., King's College, London University; Charles Mark Mansfield, Chichester Theological College; Hugo Dominique de la Mothe. M.A., Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; Denys Edward Hugh Whitcly, B.A., Pembroke College, Oxford. 

The following were afterwards licensed to their curacies:— Rev. A. W. J. Delve, to All Saints' Brixham; Rev. W. H. Jones, to St. Jude’s, Plymouth; Rev. C. M. Rogers, to St. Andrew’s, Plymouth. Gospeller was the Rev. C. M. Rogers; Bishop's chaplain, the Rev. H. W. Darnley-Smith; and the preacher the Treasurer (Ven. A. H. Thompson, Archdeacon of Exeter)."
Express and Echo - Monday 20 May 1940, page 3.

 Nothing outrageous there. But more than a decade earlier, Mr. de la Mothe was behaving more like we'd expect.

"HOME NEWS IN BRIEF
Motorist Wins Appeal—At London Sessions yesterday Mr. Hugo Dominique de la Mothe won his appeal against a conviction at Marlborough street for being drunk in charge of a motor-car.
Daily Mirror - Saturday 18 September 1926, page 2."

I've read enough newspaper reports of drunk driving cases to know that between the wars you had to be falling down drunk to get charged. And even then you still had a chance of getting off if you swore that you'd only drunk a couple of halves of Mild. He'd need to have been as drunk as when he fell off his bike and sat in a bush for a couple of hours.

It wasn't his last conviction for drunk driving:

"POLICE NEWS CHELMSFORD, June 17.
The Mayor in the chair.
Suspension Removed. Hugo Dominique de la Mothe, Chatham Hall, Great Waltham, applied for the restoration his motor driving licence. — Mr. A. Tinsley, for the applicant, said that Nov. 20 last his client was convicted driving motor car while under the influence of drink, was fined £10 and his licence was automatically suspended.— Applicant said he would become total abstainer. The Bench decided remove the suspension from Sept.l next.
Chelmsford Chronicle - Friday 24 June 1932, page 5.

Given how little chance there was of being caught or prosecuted for driving whilst pissed, he must have been doing it pretty regularly. Probably just as well he could only afford a bike while at Dogmersfield.

We've also learnt that, in addition to being a pisshead, Mr, de la Mothe moved around quite a bit. In 1926, he seems to have been living in London. While in 1932, he was residing in Great Waltham, which is a few kilometres North of Chelmsford in Essex.

If his address of Chatham Hall sounds swish, that's because it was. It's a substantial building, which is now a listed monument. This is what it looks like:

That must have cost a bob or two, even in the 1930s. Rather nices than the outhouse he inhabited in Dogmersfield. Had a change in fortunes prompted him to join the clergy?

Clearly de la Mothe had quite a history of pissing it up.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1942 William Younger DBS Btlg

Younger was still plugging away with its Stout, DBS, and in reasonable quantities. Mostly, but not completely, limited to the colder half of the year.

The grist looks very different to that from 1941. But they have been even more changes than are at first apparent. This particular beer was brewed very late in the year, in December. And, in 1942, recipes were jumping around all over the place. Especially with regards to adjuncts.

Grits, rice, lactose and liquorice have all been dropped. Making the grist a good bit simpler. With a good bit more malt and just two adjuncts. One pretty obvious – roasted barley – and one rather less – rye. I’m presuming in flaked form, based on where it appears in the brewing record.

No surprise is that the OG has dropped. As has the hopping rate, a little.

Speaking of hops, they are all of a single type: Kent from the 1941 harvest.

1942 William Younger DBS Btlg
pale malt	8.25 lb	66.00%
roasted barley	1.00 lb	8.00%
crystal malt 60L	1.00 lb	8.00%
flaked rye	2.00 lb	16.00%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.25 lb	2.00%
Fuggles 150 min	1.00 oz
Fuggles 60 min	0.75 oz
Fuggles 30 min	0.75 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1053
FG	1015
ABV	5.03
Apparent attenuation	71.70%
IBU	30
SRM	34
Mash at	153º F
Sparge at	160º F
Boil time	150 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

A question for home brewers

Would you be interested in an add-on to BeerSmith with historic styles and ingredients? And. more importantly, would yo be prepared to pay for it?

I've contemplated this in the past and have customised my own version of BeerSmith. But, I've a lot of projects either current or in the pipeline. I'm not going to put in the effort unless I know that it will be worthwhile.

Thanks to Brian Welch for reminding me of this.

Naughty vicar was persecuted

I just found another, final article about Mr. de la Mothe. This time with his reaction to his sentence. Along with some background on Dogmersfield which make some of the questions during the trial more understandable.

""Persecution" protest from banished Rector
BY HOWARD JOHNSON
Dogmersfield,
Hampshire, Monday.
IN this feudal village where the children and the villagers still curtsy or touch their forelocks when "the lady of the manor” passes by, there have been six rectors in little more than twenty years.

Yesterday, villagers were asking, “Where can we get a rector who will stay?”

The present rector, the Rev. Hugo de la Mothe, 54, lasted four years. By decision of the Bishop of Winchester, following a consistory court judgment that he was guilty of resorting to taverns and "tippling,” he has been “banished from the diocese.”

“Unhappy Parish”
The Bishop announced today the sentence of deprivation on him, which deprives Mr. Mothe of all benefits appertaining to the parish church of Dogmersfield, and he will be unable to accept another appointment in the diocese of Winchester.

The church organist for the last twenty years, Mr. W. Wilson, told me: “The rector before Mr. Mothe stayed a year before resigning. The one before him lasted six years, but then there was a scene at the church meeting, and he, too, resigned. It has been a most unhappy parish for our rectors.”

Tonight Mr. Mothe, wearing a peaked collar and striped tie, returned to the village from Winchester, where he had gone to hear his bishop’s decision, and called at the Barley Mow, which figured in the evidence at the Consistory Court trial, to tell some of his parishioners the result.

There he told me: “I have been banished, and in many ways I’m glad that I will be leaving this living. I have had nothing but persecution for the last two years here.

“No wonder that rectors won’t stay here. But I’m not going to be beaten. I’ve taken my last service in Dogmersfield and as soon as I have packed my traps I am off to take up another living in some other part of the country.

“Tippling has never been defined and I have been convicted of something nebulous.” 

Want Inquiry

Sir Anthony Mildmay, Bart., patron of the living, when asked if he cared to express an opinion of the sentence, said: “I had nothing to do with the Rector’s appointment. I was away at the time and it was made by my mother and the late Rector.”

Mr. Walter C. Trimmer, people’s warden, said: “It fills me with disgust to think that I knew nothing of what was going on until about a fortnight before the trial."

General opinion among the villagers was that the ill-feeling which has existed in the parish over a number of years, even before the Rector’s appointment, should be the subject of an inquiry by the Bishop of Winchester."
Daily Mirror - Tuesday 19 December 1944, page 8.

 It sounds like the local nobs had been unsettling the parish. Knowing this, it makes the defence's line of questioning more understandable:

"Mr Benson — Were all these reports from various members of his flock, or did they emanate from the big house, to put it bluntly? 

Dr Sheppard — They emanated from the parish. 

Mr Benson — They did not come from the patron house? 

Dr Sheppard — No.
Dundee Courier - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

 It would be nice to know more about the Barts. Did they really keep pissing off vicars? How long did a rector usually remain in his post?

Mr. de la Mothe implies that he had already found another parish. Was that true? I'm not sure how I can find out.

Naughty vicar sentenced

Can't wait to hear what sentence was passed? I'll break it to you now: deprivation I know, I wasn't any the wiser when I saw that word.

Luckily - as no normal fucker would know - the article explains its precise meaning in ecclesiastical law.

""DEPRIVATION"
SENTENCE ON RECTOR
Sentence of deprivation was pronounced by the Bishop of Winchester in the Chapter Room of Winchester Cathedral to-day on Rev. Hugo Dominique de la Mothe, 54-year-old rector of Dogmersfield, Hampshire, who was found guilty by a Consistory Court of resorting to taverns and tippling. 

The Bishop was accompanied by the Dean of Winchester, the Archdeacon of Winchester, and the Archdeacon of Basingstoke. There were very few people present when the Bishop took his seat, and Rev. Hugo de Mothe arrived after judgment had been pronounced. 

It is understood that the effect of the judgment is to deprive Mr Mothe of all benefits appertaining to the Parish Church of Dogmersfield, and that he will be unable to accept another appointment in the diocese of Winchester. He will, however, able to accept a position in the church elsewhere if he so desires.

[Note.—Whitehead's "Church Law defines deprivation as " the taking away from a clergyman of his benefice or ecclesiastical preferment." Deprivation should not be confused with deposition degradation, which means the taking away of holy orders and reducing a clergymen to the status of layman.] "
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Monday 18 December 1944, page 5.

The rector lost his job and his home, but could still get a new parish in another diocese. Given the national publicity his case was given, I can't imagine anyone would risk taking him on.

It could have been worse. They could have defrocked him.

Hugo Dominique de la Mothe seems to fall completely off the radar after the end of the case. 

But, I have found some earlier references to him in newspapers. (Handy that he has such an odd name.) They offer glimpses into his earlier life. But that's for next time.

Naughty vicar back in his church

It doesn't look like many of the regulars at the Barley Mow were also members of the rector's congregation. Because no adults turned up to the first Sunday service after he was found guilty.

What interest me is: did the rector continue to hang around in pubs? I mean, he might as well, already having been found guilty.

"Boy Was Rector's 'Congregation'
Rev Hugo Dominique De La Mothe, rector of Dogmersfield (Hants), conducted his morning service yesterday to empty pews.

A reporter found 13-year-old John Pullinger was the only member of the congregation when tho service began. Halfway through the service two girls with their hair tied in pink and blue ribbons entered with a child just toddling. 

Four choir boys in plum-coloured surplices, the organist, and organ-blower, 11-year-old David Hutchins, completed the congregation 

The rector, who did not preach, read one lesson from the fifth chapter of Isaiah, the eleventh verse of which reads "Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night till wine inflame them." 

The rector has been found guilty by a consistory court of the Winchester Diocese on charges drunkenness, resorting taverns and and now awaiting the decision the Bishop of Winchester.
Dundee Courier - Monday 11 December 1944, page 3.

It seems a bit odd that unaccompanied children should have turned up. I can't quite get my head around that. Perhaps they were dead religious?

It's an intriguing bit of scripture the rector chose to read, What did he mean by it? Was he taking the piss? Afterwards the rector said he would continue his services until he received the Bishop of Winchester's decision following the Consistory Court findings.
Daily Herald - Monday 11 December 1944, page 3."Afterwards the rector said he would continue his services until he received the Bishop of Winchester's decision following the Consistory Court findings."
Daily Herald - Monday 11 December 1944, page 3.

Next time we'll discover which sentence the bishop announced.

Let's Brew - 1933 Oranjeboom Licht Gerste

In a change from watery British wartime Ale  recipes, this time it's a watery inter-war Dutch Lager. One from Rotterdam-based Oranjeboom.

When I lived in that scenic city in the mid-1980s, it was still brewing. But not for much longer, with brewing being transferred to a sister-plant in Breda.

Judging by the number of entries in the brewing book, Licht Gerste must have been one of Oranjeboom’s favourite beers, almost as popular than Pils. I’d love to know when they stopped brewing it. Probably around WW II.

Though it was originally a top-fermenting beer I’m sure that by this point it was being bottom fermented.

The small amount of caramel malt is just enough to colour it distinctively darker than Pils. It would have been towards the dark end of the Bitter spectrum in colour.

Other than that, it’s a very uncomplicated recipe. Producing what must have been a pretty light and inoffensive beer. I’ve adjusted the finishing gravity down from 1010. Though I doubt this particular beer was lagered.

1933 Oranjeboom Licht Gerste
lager malt	7.25 lb	93.55%
caramel malt	0.50 lb	6.45%
Hallertau 90 mins	0.50 oz
Spalt 30 mins	0.50 oz
OG	1034
FG	1008
ABV	3.44
Apparent attenuation	76.47%
IBU	13
SRM	8
Mash double decoction
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	48º F
Yeast	WLP830 German Lager

 

This, and many other historic recipes, appears in my book Let's Brew!

Of which there's also a Kindle.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08348M2D7

 

Naughty vicar guilty

Well, at least on the charges pertaining to drinking in pubs. No real surprise there, given the amount of evidence.

He got off the swearing and pissing in public charges.

"‘Good Fellow’
SAYS THE
VILLAGE
By "HERALD" REPORTER
THEY sang “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” in the bar of the Barley Mow at Dogmersfield, Hampshire, last night.

But the jolly good fellow was not with them.

The Rev. Hugo Dominique de la Mothe, rector of Dogmersfield, with the words "guilty . . . drunk . . . resorting to taverns . . . tippling . . .” in his ears, had left a dingy office in Westminster a few hours before, and, puffing slowly at his pipe and leaning on the arm of his friend set out for Paddington and a month's holiday in Devon.

There he will consider whether to appeal against the findings of the Chancellor of the Diocese of Winchester that he was guilty of three of the charges preferred against him at the Consistory Court at Basingstoke last month.

Mr. G. H. G. Scott, the Chancellor, who had presided over the Consistory Court, told Mr. de la Mothe in the Board Room of Queen Anne's Bounty yesterday:

“You have been found guilty of frequently being drunk: resorting to taverns and tippling: being drunk at Dogmersfield on June 16, 1943.

"I find you not guilty on the charges of swearing and of making a nuisance of yourself in the presence of women.

"You will pay the whole of the costs with the exception of the shorthand writer’s charges.”
Daily Herald - Thursday 07 December 1944, page 4.

Now I'm wondering who the rector's friend was he was going off on holiday with.

He remained popular, in the Barley Mow, at least.

“A Good Man"
The Barley Mow received the news with dismay.

“We are all very sorry to hear it.” the proprietor, Mr. William Farrant, said. “The Rector was very popular here, and we thought him a good man.”

As I walked with Mr. de la Mothe from the Queen Anne's Bounty he told me;

"My total income is only £283 a year and a house I cannot afford to keep up, so I live in an outhouse. The costs of this case will probably be £500.

“The whole thing is the result of village gossip.

“For six months I have been dogged by private detectives, and I know who set them on to me, but I was doing no wrong.

“I have 28 days in which to decide whether I shall appeal to the Privy Council, and in the meantime I am going to Devonshire for a holiday.

"If I feel like a drink while I am there I shall certainly go into a pub."
Daily Herald - Thursday 07 December 1944, page 4.

How the hell could the rector afford to go on holiday if his costs were going to be almost double his annual salary? Of course, he'd be visiting pubs while away. Where no busybody neighbours could shop him to the bishop.

But most intriguing is the mention of private detectives. Is that true? And, if so, who employed them?

"During the hearing of the case in the Consistory Court the vicar admitted that he went to the Queen's Head and the Barley Mow sometimes.

He said he went there in connection with his civil defence duties or to talk over parochial matters with the churchwardens.

Yesterday, the Chancellor said: "I cannot help thinking that a more suitable place might have been chosen for the purpose.”

The Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Mervyn Haigh, will announce his decision from the pulpit of Winchester Cathedial."
Daily Herald - Thursday 07 December 1944, page 4. 

Guilty, but no sentence yet. Weird that the sentence would be announced from a pulpit.

More about the naughty vicar

A few more details about the rector appeared in other newspaper reports.

I'd wondered whether he had been a Chaplain during WW I. But it turns out that he had only been a clergyman for a couple of years.

"Mr Ryder Richardson prosecuting for the Bishop of Winchester, said the rector went to a public school and to Cambridge. He was in the Nigerian administration service and worked for the British Legion. He became a deacon in 1939 and a priest in 1940. 

. . .

He was, it would be stated, sometimes seen to fall off his bicycle on which he at times fetched a basket of beer bottles. 

. . . 

"He was sober when he read his book on Saturday afternoon for his service and on Sunday when he had his service and went to the infirmary," said Van Eyk."
Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 24 November 1944, page 4.

So he was a posh bastard, too. I wonder why he joined the clergy when in his late forties? At least he was sober during church services.

This next article reveals what was in the injection:
 

"Dr Thomas Charles Evans of Fleet, also attending on subpoena, said that one night in September 1942, at the request of Mrs De La Mothe, he gave the rector morphia, a recognised sedative for alcoholic irritation. He advised the rector to take treatment. 

Mark Edward Clowes, printer and publisher, said that on one occasion outside the Queen's Head the rector, who had apparently been drinking, told him that every Armistice Day he went to Badminton and preached a sermon before Queen Mary. He also said that he had been appointed "vicar of Grantley, in Cambridgeshire," and that it was quite in order to hold two livings. On another occasion in the Queen's Head the rector first refused to sign the A.R.P. book, wanted to fight, and called) him (Clowes) "a filthy, lechcrous brute, and half-witted." 

USED A WORD—
James Arthur Cook, son-in-law of the tenant of the Queen's Head, said he had seen the rector drink in the inn. He used word sometimes "which indicated children born of persons who were not married." He once used it when he said he would murder Clowes. He was not suggesting the rector had ever been drunk. 

Dr Arthur Harold Sheppard said had seen the rector go to public-houses in his own and other parishes. "I pointed out to him what people were saying about his habits. I said, 'Why don't you chuck the thing up? Fight and resist it.' He made no reply, put on his hat and walked out of the house." 

Mr Benson — Were all these reports from various members of his flock, or did they emanate from the big house, to put it bluntly? 

Dr Sheppard — They emanated from the parish. 

Mr Benson — They did not come from the patron house? 

Dr Sheppard — No."
Dundee Courier - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

 Is morphine "a recognised sedative for alcoholic irritation"? Interesting that it's a different swearword in this report - bastard.

It seems that he rector didn't limit his boozing to the Barley Mow and Queen's Head, as he also drank in other parishes.

There's some rather odd boasting by the rector. I doubt very much that he preached before Queen Mary, of that he had another parish.

Next time we'll learn the court's decision.

Let's Brew Wednesday - 1919 Fullers Porter

If you can remember that far back, in 1914 Fullers Porter was, at 1045.5º, quite weak for a London example. Well. The war didn’t do it any favours.

In 1918, the most difficult year for British brewing, its gravity hit a low of 1027.5º. The end of the war helped it recover a little. In the summer of 1919, it crawled back over 1030º. Though, in this example, that’s let down by a poor degree of attenuation. Which wasn’t always the case. Some others finished at 1010-1012º.

The gravity might have varied, but the grist has remained quite constant, at least in terms of its main elements. These were pale, brown and black malt. Accompanied by flaked maize, most of the time. Then various sugars, which varied a bit.

In this case, the sugars are Peruvian and a couple of types of caramel. Which I’ve taken to be brown sugar and, well, caramel. Though, obviously, the shade of it is just my best guess.

The hops were Poperinge (1914), Sussex (1914) and unspecified English (1918).

1919 Fullers Porter
pale malt	3.50 lb	47.75%
brown malt	0.75 lb	10.23%
black malt	0.50 lb	6.82%
flaked maize	0.75 lb	10.23%
brown sugar	1.50 lb	20.46%
caramel 500 SRM	0.33 lb	4.50%
Strisselspalt 90 mins	0.50 oz
Fuggles 60 mins	0.50 oz
Goldings 30 mins	1.00 oz
OG	1035
FG	1014
ABV	2.78
Apparent attenuation	60.00%
IBU	25
SRM	27
Mash at	152º F
Sparge at	170º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	62º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1968 London ESB

 

Cheap mug

 I drink my Earl Grey out of this beautiful mug every morning.*

Specialty Mug

 You can get one yourself at a 15% discount with this code :

 CYBERSAVEZAZ 

It brings back so many happy memories of my wedding. When we bought a bucket of this stuff from the pub opposite Dolores's mum's house when we polished off the second keg.

* Being honest, it's mostly Yorkshire Tea.

Other Scottish bottled Stout after WW II

I'm finally done with this Scottish Stout series. It's been so much fun. For me, if not for you.

There remains a highly disparate group of Scottish Stouts, though most do have a vaguely reasonable level of attenuation. The exception being Calder Milk Stout, whose high gravity means it still manages to be over 5% ABV. Very strong for a post-war Milk Stout.

To put this set into context, after the war Guinness Extra Stout was around 1045º, as you’ll see in the next section on Irish Stout.

There’s another Imperial Stout, one which does just about struggle to 4% ABV. Well done. I’m guessing that Manx Oyster Stout was the same beer, at least by 1949. Thinking about it, Manx Oyster Stout is a strange name for a Scottish beer. Can anyone explain its origin?

Jeffrey comes out as the winner with two high-gravity and well-attenuated Stouts. In the case of Double Stout, extremely well-attenuated. It must have been very confusing if you were used to the watery, very sweet Stouts that were common in Scotland.

Were the strong Stouts intended for markets outside Scotland? Obviously, the ones specified as Export were. Some of the others may have been intended for England, where a lot of Scottish beer was sold, especially in the Northeast.

Other Scottish bottled Stout after WW II
Year	Brewer	Beer	Price per pint (d)	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation
1948	Ballingal	Angus Stout		1037.6	1011.09	3.43	70.51%
1949	Bernard	Export Stout		1040	1010	3.89	75.00%
1950	Bernard	Stout (Export)	26	1045.5	1014.1	4.07	69.01%
1948	Calder	Stout		1039.5	1015	3.16	62.03%
1949	Calder	Stout		1038.5	1013	3.30	66.23%
1950	Calder	Milk Stout		1069.3	1029.7	5.10	57.14%
1947	Jeffrey	XXX Stout		1064.5	1014.5	6.52	77.52%
1947	Jeffrey	Double Stout		1076.5	1004.5	9.53	94.12%
1948	McEwan	Imperial Stout		1047	1018.5	3.68	60.64%
1949	McEwan	Manx Oyster Stout		1040.5	1014	3.43	65.43%
1949	McEwan	Imperial Stout		1046.4	1014.4	4.14	68.97%
1949	McEwan	Manx Oyster Stout	28	1046.4	1014.3	4.16	69.18%
1950	McEwan	Imperial Stout	27	1043	1014.4	3.70	66.51%
1950	Tennent	Milk Stout (Export)		1063.2	1020	5.60	68.35%
Sources:
Thomas Usher Gravity Book held at the Scottish Brewing Archive, document number TU/6/11.
Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/002.

 

 

 

A very naughty vicar

The reports on the case we've seen so far were all in regional newspapers and all used some agency copy as their source.

This one is very different. It's from the Daily Herald, a left-wing national newspaper. Which in the 1960s was transformed by Rupert Murdoch into that newspaper of record, The Sun. There's also some very different material included.

First, more details of Mrs. Robinson:

"Tippling And Swearing By Rector Alleged
'COINCIDED WITH MOON PHASE'
A RECTOR whose alleged drinking bouts were said to coincide with certain phases of the moon appeared before a Consistory Court of the Winchester Diocese at Basingstoke yesterday. 

Mr. Ryder Richardson (prosecuting for the Bishop of Winchester) said it was a pathetic story. 

According to his servant, Mrs. Maggie Robinson, the rector was drinking all the time she was at the rectory. She noticed at times that his drinking bouts coincided with certain phases of the moon. He was then very insulting and peculiar thing — always accused her of stealing. 

The rector would apologise in the morning for his bad behaviour. Sometimes he would simulate attack on her. He would draw his hand back as though to strike her, but would go no farther.

He once offered to fight Mrs. Robinson's husband. Giving evidence, Mrs. Robinson said the rector "was terrible with drink." Sometimes he would tumble off his cycle coming up the drive, would call the dog rascal and try to kick him. 

It was at the moon's first quarter that the rector had heavy drinking bouts."
Daily Herald - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

This makes the rector sound like a rather nasty drunk. But that his benders coincided with the phases of the moon is just weird.

Next there's a little more about Mr. van Eyk.

"Last May a Dutchman, Captain van Eyk and his friend, Mrs. Marshall, were staying at the rectory. The rector warned Mrs. Marshall of "the thieving qualities" of Maggie Robinson.

Captain van Eyk ordered the rector out of his bedroom because he made a scene about the blackout. The rector said: "Told to go out of my ____ house! We'll see in the morning whose ____ house it is." 

Bishop's Talk
Next day the rector told Mrs. Marshall he resented her sitting at his table. He said people in the village were talking about her. 

That created a scene with Captain van Eyk. The rector told her she was "a very clever woman to have got Van." 

Johannes Bernardus van Eyk, a chief engineer in the Dutch Merchant Navy, said, looking at the rector: "That man is only sober at breakfast, part drunk during part of the day, and sometimes really drunk, and sometimes very drunk in the evening.

Mrs. Sarah Jane Marshall, a widow, of Queen Ann's-terrace, Plymouth, attending on subpoena, described the rector's condition on one occasion as "definitely sozzled." 

Mr. Stephen Benson (defending) You are going to marry Mr. van Eyk? — I was at that time."
Daily Herald - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

So he was a Dutch merchant seaman and Mrs. Marshall was a widow to whom he was engaged. I'm guessing that they met in Plymouth, it being a port and him being a sailor. I think we all know what the gossip about her in the village was. The rector clearly didn't like Mrs. Marshall.

The rector clearly started his drinking early and finished it late.

It seems that the rector had been warned about hanging around in pubs too much, but carried on boozing, anyway. 

"The Bishop of Winchester (Dr M. G Haigh) said he interviewed the rector because of complaints about his conduct.

"He left me." said Dr. Halgh," with the impression, whether willingly or not that he accepted my view and would keep away from public-houses.""
Daily Herald - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

This article is answering so many questions. Like what was in the rector's injection:

"Dr. T. C. Evans, of Fleet, also attending on subpoena, said that one night in September, 1942. the request of Mrs de la Mothe, he attended the rector, who was intoxicated, and gave him morphia. 

Mr Mark Edward Clowes, a printer and publisher, said that once when he went to the Queen's Head in connection with his A R P duties, the rector (a warden) refused to sign the A R P book until he (Mr. Clowes) left. 

"He referred to me." said Mr. Clowes, "coming there in my admiral's uniform." 

The rector wanted to fight and eventually signed the book in the wrong column. He said Mr. Clowes was "a filthy lecherous brute and half-witted." 

The rector twice accused him of trying to shoot him."
Daily Herald - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3.

The rector was injected with morphine to clam him down. Wouldn't that be dangerous if he was totally smashed?

If Mr. Clowes was a printer and publisher, why the hell did he own a gun? It being pretty rural, I'd assumed he was a farmer and hence had a gun. That the rector described him as "lecherous" makes me even more suspicious of Clowes' relationship with the rectors wife.

Finally more about the hedge incident:

"In The Hedge
Mr. J. A. Cook, son-in-law the tenant of the Queen's Head, said he had seen the rector wobble on his bicycle and fall off. 

Thomas Holdsway said: "One Saturday night I was at the Queen's Head and saw the rector sitting in the hedge. 

"I was in the Queen's Head about an hour and a half, and when I came out he was still in the shrubbery with his bicycle. I suppose he had had a little drop."
Daily Herald - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 3. 

Sounds like the rector was well and truly plastered.

Next time more details of the recto's life and other fun stuff.

Naughty vicar?

Looking in various newspapers, I've found several similar reports to the one I published yesterday. With some sections identical and others unique. It looks like they are all based on a longer agency article, which has been edited down in different ways.

These paragraphs give us a pretty good clue as to the swear word the rector used:

 "Mr. Benson: Do you sometimes use strong language? 

The Rector; Not normally. I have called a man ____ fool. I expect I shall do it again. I have no priggish qualms about that. 

The rector said the use of one word which he admitted using, but not frequently, “was a habit with real men.” 

Mr. Richardson; Do you know is is a contraction of the sacred oath “By our Lady”? The Rector" I am priest, and I have never heard that explanation before."
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 8.

All this fuss was about occasionally saying "bloody"? Disappointingly innocuous.

There are some new characters and also an intriguing revelation about the rector's past:

"The rector said: “I have had my drink. I am like an ordinary normal man when have had it. I hope." He said he did not like Mrs. Marshall. She came between Mr Van Eyk, "who was very nice man.” and himself. 

The rector said he knew what drunkenness was “because he had been a judge of the High Court of Nigeria." 

Evidence that they had never seen the Rector under the influence of drink was given by Major William Elgy Freeman, of Fleet, Hants, formerly of the Indian Army, who said he had rooms at the Rectory from 1943 to May 1944, and Mr. William B. Farrant licensee of the Bailey Mow. "
Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Saturday 25 November 1944, page 8.

Who the fuck were Mrs. Marshall. and Mr Van Eyk and why were they living with the rector? This is all getting way too complicated.

And the rector had been a judge in Nigeria? WTF?  

Yet another lodger in the form of Major Freeman. Was the rector running a boarding house?

The rector doesn't sound such a bad chap, does he? Wait until you see how another reporter write about the case.