The Braslers at the Church Ale
There is a long tradition in the country of actually enjoying yourself. It’s a rare thing now, of course. People are expected to conform and only behave in manners which the central government approve of. That means no smoking, no drinking, finger-printing all children, if this government gets its way, also having ID cards and full details of everyone’s DNA stored centrally. Orwell could not have dreamed of such a nightmare.
But thank goodness there are some old habits which do die hard. One is the Church Ale.
In medieval times, it was a way to get money together for the needy or to fund some new investment. The Cobb at Lyme Regis was originally paid for and maintained by an annual “Cobb Ale”. Basically it was a party. The community would brew it, and then buy it and drink it.
Originally such affairs were looked on as disreputable. They were known to encourage dancing, singing, and probably lewd behaviour, which is why Cromwell and his puritans banned them. In later years, Queen Victoria had a similar negative attitude and they fell out of popularity . . . except it takes more than a ban to stop the English from a good party.
Still, since they were known to be bawdy events, with any luck we’ll be able to bring back some of the old fashioned disreputable aspects. As you can see from the picture here, the “braslers” (pronounced “brawlers”) are doing their best to be loud and obnoxious!