Substitute for "dram"

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Now that you mention peg in that light a few brain cells have been awakened.

Being a sucker for the Antiques shows (Antiques Road show, Bargin Hunt, Flog it ... etc) I've amassed a lot of inadequate information about antiques. Your recount of Peg has reminded me of such measuring vessel.

However it was a 17th century Silver drinking tankard and had 5 or 6 "pegs" down the inside. The idea was that pegs were placed at equal distances, to determine each man's portion. And probably came from the Saxon ritual of handing around the Wassail Bowl at feasts ... so that is Peg out the door for us

[DavidH]

... so that is Peg out the door for us

I don't get the conclusion. Yourself and Jim have supplied a compelling etymology for the use of 'peg' as a measure of booze so the case for reviving 'peg' is enhanced. Right?

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

... so that is Peg out the door for us

I don't get the conclusion. Yourself and Jim have supplied a compelling etymology for the use of 'peg' as a measure of booze so the case for reviving 'peg' is enhanced. Right?

I thought we were looking for an Irish term so I thought it did not fit the criteria.

However if we are just looking for a term I'm fine by that too.

[JohnM]

What about skulk... "A skulk of whiskey, please." Or exaltation. "I'll have an exaltation of Powers, please, and two straws."

[DavidH]

I thought we were looking for an Irish term so I thought it did not fit the criteria.

Ah, I see. Well, not particularly on my side. I just can't help saying the word "dram" with a Scottish accent (and prefixing it in my mind with "wee") so I was looking for another word with the same meaning but more neutral associations.

The word "dram", by the way, derives from Greek. I'll happily take a word of any origin: Latin, Saxon, Scandinavian, Irish... It's all part of the richness of language.

[JohnM]

A Tayto of Jameson? A cream cracker of Tyrconnell? A fig roll of Connemara? At least these are Irish.

[PureDrop]

... Right. Back to the Bible. My tongue is, after several hours, restored and a Locke's Grand Crew 9-year-old Single Malt awaits....

Delighted the sample arrived safely.
Beir Bua,
Michael

[DavidH]

However it was a 17th century Silver drinking tankard...

From A Selection of curious articles from the Gentleman's magazine, 1811:

Our ancestors were formerly famous for compotation; their liquor was ale, and one method of amusing themselves this way was with the peg-tankard. There are four or five of these tankards now remaining in this country, and I have lately had one of them in my hand. It had on the inside a row of eight pins one above another, from top to bottom. It held two quarts, (and was a noble piece of plate) so that there was a gill of ale, half a pint Winchester measure, between each peg. The law was, that every person that drank was to empty the space between pin and pin, so that the pins were so many measures to make the company all drink alike, and to swallow the same quantity of liquor. This was a contrivance for merriment, and at the same time a pretty sure method of making all the company drunk, especially if it be considered that the rule was, that whoever drank short of his pin, or beyond it, was obliged to drink again, and even as deep as to the next pin.

The word 'compotation' was new to me so I looked that up: "The act of drinking or tippling together". I would like to propose that we rename our society meetings, 'compotations'

[jcskinner]

Compotations - that's what they are!
I was reading something about the origin of the highball glass and cocktail (a whisk(e)y and soda, on the rocks), and it was suggested that both originated from the Irish phrase 'ball of malt.'
Irish emigrants to the US would order a ball of malt in a high glass, and dilute with soda water. Both the drink and the glass became soon known as highballs.

While bartender Patrick Duffy of New York claims to have invented it in 1895, the true origin of the highball glass remains uncertain. As for the name "highball" there are several theories surrounding its origination. Online Academic Dictionary makes reference to the time of day that the drink was consumed - late in the day while the sun, or "ball" is "high in the sky". Another theory from the Online Entymology Dictionary points to the fact that the glass is tall or "high" and that the type of drink usually served was a "ball" of whiskey.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5113697_highball-glass.html

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I was reading something about the origin of the highball glass and cocktail (a whisk(e)y and soda, on the rocks), and it was suggested that both originated from the Irish phrase 'ball of malt.'
Irish emigrants to the US would order a ball of malt in a high glass, and dilute with soda water. Both the drink and the glass became soon known as highballs.

While bartender Patrick Duffy of New York claims to have invented it in 1895.....

So he must of been a glass blower in his spare time

I am currently sipping on a Bowmore 18yo with a highballs of water on the side

[cathach]

I finally got the origins of 'dreether' for those interested, it comes from driodar (n), residue, dregs or figuratively a small amount.

If we'd like something Irish with an international resonance we could go for a Lisbon of Paddy, a bust of Lockes', an IMF intervention of Coleraine.....

[DavidH]

it comes from driodar (n), residue, dregs or figuratively a small amount.

"Just wet the bottom of the glass..." Basically a protesting acceptance, knowing you'll get a generous measure anyway.

Thanks for that. I'm learning a lot from this thread.

[John]

Simplicity is the hallmark of genius. A new contender has to be weighed in for this debate. A term that, perhaps because we were too familiar with it, was never considered!

I am of course talking about the all singing, all dancing 'sup' of whiskey. There you go lads and lassies; 'I'll have a sup of whiskey please barman', or, 'I'll have a sup of Tyrconnell please barman' (just to demonstrate its' versatility!).

Now for the proverbial 'double' I'm running into trouble (double trouble?!) - do you ask for a 'double sup' or a 'large sup'? I will allow evolution to take its' course!
John.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

That's mad ... I just used that very term this morning.

See HERE

However I'd be very worried about our Tea drinking brethren. What would happen to the sup of tay if we hijacked it.

[John]

I was afraid you would pick up on that! Now I'm going to have to share my royalties
J.

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Kaixo guys,
I like the generic Gaelic term Boll O Malt which i believe was an accountable term for the spirit ie x amount of Bolls o' Malt etc..I also came accross the term in an Irish novel refered to as Taylors of Malt,my own coined phrase is Legs and Lacing..very un PC the Legs refer to the dribbles in a whiskey snifter glass and the lacing is of course the rings of foam head left on the pint glass of Stout,as historically drank fado fado.....
another un PC term is two fingers or a finger..best i dont explain.....
Here in Euskadi or the Basque Country as opposed to the rest of Spain who all drink a lot of whiskey...the Basques like after dinner an Expresso with a shot of whiskey..let me explain..the shot glass is pre frozen and i pour chilled Jameson..this they call a Chupito..interestingly now the Scots have the Snow Grouse..i feel a new coined phrase comming on..how about Shakeltons malt or Breens sip..after the question as to how do South Pole exporers like their whiskey..answer COOOOOLD.....shiver me timbers...
But Boll O Malt or even Dram in these marketing modern and contempary times are outdated,,lets go for a shot ie for a single or a double for a double ..any way isnt that why the marketing gurus and spin doctors get pain the big bucks!!!...best they get on with it and earn their shillings....Slain.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Just talking to my mother about her father, my Grand-dad ... she had not to many specfic memories of his whiskey drinking but one thing she did remember when she was young was that he used to say he was going for his Deorum. This is a latin term 'of God' but has a nice ring to it ... Unfortunately this covered both a half and a whiskey.

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Kaixo,
Dram or Boll O´Malt(the orgional Gaelic term for quantities of whiskey..Later continued in Ireland) all very nostalgic and whimsey romantic etc which may well impress the Marketeering gurus....................
But Whiskey is also for the here and now and indeed the next generation,so while i poeticaly think of a Boll I am more in the moment when i request a shot of malt in an old fashioned or whiskey snifter(glencairn),Of Course here in Bizkaia Euskadi its a "Chupito".........PS: the famous Basque Chupito is a pre frozen shot glass in to which a cold liquer or whiskey is poured,In my bar its a chilled Jameson or Kilbeggan pour..interestingly enough the Famous Grouse have come up with the Snow Grouse......begs the question to a South Pole Explorers to the likes of Irishmen Shakelton or Creen, as to how do they like their whiskey???.....Cooooold!!...................

Its your Whiskey,You Paid For It ,ask for it,Drink it how you like !!!!and to hell with the experts or the cool set,,,

[Whiskey Pilgrim]

Some suggestions as follows;

"Half a Malt Whiskey" from the short story A little cloud in the Dubliners by J Joyce.
"A Wee Toisheen" from the short story the Knight by Julia O´Faolain.
"Tailors of Malt" from " " " Counterparts by J Joyce.
"Boll O´Malt" the pan Gaelic term for amounts of whisk(e)y.
"Jill or half Jill" Dublin female market traders measure.
"Chupito" As Drunk in the Basque Country,chilled whiskey poured in to a shot glass with an Expresso.

or equally be called Sheckleton¨s dram or Crean´s tipple(How do Irish South Pole like their whiskey?..answer; Coold,,shiver me timbers..so mabey the new Snow Grouse is not a bad idea.


Slainte !!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

"Jill or half Jill" Dublin female market traders measure.



Slainte !!

I wonder if that is from the measurement Gill

I think I'll support John with the revival of the "sup"

[John]

Cheers IWC!
I think I'll write a song about it. Let's see, 'Poor aul Dicey Riley she has taken to the......'
J.

[jcskinner]

I'll stick with ball of malt for a large one and half-un for a short drop until advised otherwise by the committee!

[mawhinney]

Will you have a drop of whiskey?
Will you stay and have a drop?
Would you take a drop?
He likes a drop/his drop.
And in Ulster there's even the diminutive "a dropeen and "a drappie". But be careful, if the lady of the house asks "Will you have a drop in the hand?" she is referring to tay.

[Willie JJ]

As for a "Peg": this was a term used for both Scotch and Irish.

Glad to hear this. There's no particular reason to assume that peg is a term from the Raj just because Conrad used it; he was Polish after all.

I like the idea of diversity of terms for dramming. I have heard dram used often enough in scotland but seldom when ordering over a bar these days as the Australian/Kiwi/Polish bar staff tend to give you funny looks. Perhaps we should be asking for a peg.

Ian Millar recently said on his Glenfiddich blog that traditionally a dram consisted of three 'scruples'. i like that idea too. It'd be nice to tell the Mrs that I'm going to the pub to increase my scruples.

[cathach]

Ian Millar recently said on his Glenfiddich blog that traditionally a dram consisted of three 'scruples'. i like that idea too. It'd be nice to tell the Mrs that I'm going to the pub to increase my scruples.

I checked out 'dram' there in my Oxford English Dictionary apparently it is a Middle English variant of 'drachm' or an apothecaries measure. Which is from the Greek word 'drachma'.

So dram isn't a Scots word at all.

Anyone for 'braon'?? Irish for a drop.