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A delectable drink from Derby
Derby’s profusion of malthouses (CA 420) included an early 18th-century example which had the distinction of being converted, in 1773 (by the architect Joseph Pickford for the Irish impresario James Whiteley), into Derby’s Theatre Royal, which flourished mightily until the altered mores of the second quarter of the 19th century led to its further conversion into a gospel hall. It still exists, listed Grade II but gutted and in some decay.
Indeed, before the 18th century, Derby enjoyed some primacy over Burton-upon- Trent in the fame of its ales. In his History of the Worthies of England (1662), Thomas Fuller wrote: ‘Never was the wine of Falernum better known to the Romans than the Canary [ale] of Derby to the English.’
The city still has an area called Canary Island – currently due to be largely cleared on the diktat of the Environment Agency as an eye-wateringly expensive and unnecessary nod to climate change – which one presumes derives its unlikely soubriquet from the same source. Indeed, Derby malt was still being exported to London in the 1730s, for in his Magna Britannica (1730), Thomas Cox said of it: ‘This drink is made here in such perfection, that wine must be very good to deserve a preference.’
The same author gives us a wonderfully apposite piece of Latin verse on the subject:
Nescio, quod Stygiae monstrum conforme paludi
Cervisiam pleriq; vocant nil spissius illa
Dum bibitur; nil clarius est, dum mingitur; unde
Constat, quod multas faeces in ventre reliquit.
When translated into couplets, this reads:
Of this strange drink, so like the Stygian Lake,
Men call it Ale, I know not what to make.
They drink it thick and piss it wondrous thin:
What store of dregs must needs remain within?
Readers of this magazine may, however, rest assured that the products of Derby’s current group of excellent small breweries make products which rise, in taste and consistency, well above such past standards!
Max Craven, Derby
Contradictory cannibalism?
The fascinating article on ‘Bronze Age brutality’ (CA 420) describes the violent deaths and post-mortem treatment – with evidence of cannibalism – of at least 37 people, including children, at Charterhouse Warren 4,000 years ago. Two children reportedly showed signs of pestilence. The boils erupting from within the body may have been considered a manifestation of a take-over of the human body by evil spirits. As such, this may well be the reason why the executioners decided to slay the entire afflicted community. Potentially (though it may be difficult for modern readers to countenance) their slaughter may have even have occurred with the tacit understanding of the slain community members, due to the presence of a shared belief system.
As such, the extreme brutality of their deaths – mutilating and breaking up their bodies – may have been considered an essential form of exorcism to drive out the evil spirits from within by leaving no hiding place. In this context, cannibalism seems a contradiction. However, it might be explained by a belief system which considered that limited ingestion of poisons helped to create immunity (Mithridatism). If this thinking explains the cannibalism, then I would postulate that it was one of the less successful approaches to securing immunity.
Finally, I am not convinced that the people concerned would have thought of cattle [whose bones were recovered from the same burial shaft] as lesser than themselves. There is no reason to suppose they thought in animal/human dichotomies as so many of us do today. It would be interesting to know if the cattle in the shaft were also diseased in some way.
Cathy Rozel Farnworth, Warleggan
Scavenging birds of prey
CA 421’s article regarding scavenging birds had me thinking.
In the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, there seems considerable evidence for ritual excarnation. A number of enclosed timber mortuary sites have been excavated, consisting of a timber enclosure surrounding some sort of stout timber platform. The deceased would have been placed on the platform, out of reach of scavenging mammals, to allow birds to deflesh the corpse. The well-known Early Bronze Age site of Seahenge, with its central inverted tree trunk, has received this interpretation. There is some evidence for the practice continuing into the Iron Age.
In addition to general scavenging around human occupation, the bird’s diet could well have included a percentage of actual humans, thus helping to give the birds the observed similar chemical signature to human bones.
Phil Siddall, Isle of Mull
Edible Archaeology
Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society meet once a month to enjoy a varied lecture programme. In March, Richard Osgood MBE, Senior Archaeologist for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation within the MOD, came to talk to us about ‘Bluestone, Bones, and Bombs: excavations at Boles Barrow on Salisbury Plain’. The monument had been deemed ‘at risk’ by Historic England, and this latest excavation was part of a programme to preserve the site. It was also the earliest monument type yet investigated by Operation Nightingale.
To celebrate Richard’s visit to BAHS, Pauline Hedges created a wonderful Boles Barrow cake. The base is chocolate cake, covered with green fondant icing, and the barrow is a chocolate Swiss roll. The depressions on top of the ‘barrow’ represent earlier excavations by antiquaries. The ‘bombs’ are made from black fondant icing and the legendary bluestone, supposedly found there and donated to Salisbury Museum by the war poet Siegfried Sassoon, is depicted as a fondant cloud shape. The cannon balls/hand grenades are Maltesers!
In keeping with the cake’s archaeological theme, Pauline also presented Richard with a shiny new leaf trowel to cut it; appropriately, as Boles Barrow witnessed the first documented use of a trowel in British archaeology – by the Parker family from Heystesbury.
Penny Ingham, BAHS
CA ONLINE: What you shared with us this month
Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social
Yesterday’s Current Archaeology Live! was a treat – fab talks, a huge crowd, so much energy & enthusiasm – and friends old & new. Good to meet up with @timeteam.bsky.social. Thanks @currentarchaeology.bsky.social for running it so smoothly & @nathaliecohen.bsky.social for the photo.
Nigel Sadler @nasadler.bsky.social
Had a great day at the Current Archaeology Awards conference at UCL. It was wonderful meeting up with Time Team chums.
UCL Institute of Archaeology @uclarchaeology.bsky.social
Great day at the @currentarchaeology.bsky.social Awards! Thanks for having us! #CALive25 #LocalAndGlobal
Write to us at: CA Letters, Current Publishing, Office 120, 295 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 4HH, or by email to: letters@archaeology.co.uk For publication: 300 words max; letters may be edited.
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