Then, looking for a moment at the ale, which was of a dark-brown
colour, I put the glass to my lips and drank.
"Ah!" said the old church clerk, "I see you like it, for you have
emptied the glass at a draught."
"It is good ale," said I.
"Good," said the old gentleman rather hastily, "good; did you ever
taste any so good in your life?"
"Why, as to that," said I, "I hardly know what to say; I have drunk
some very good ale in my day. However, I'll trouble you for
another glass."
"Oh ho, you will," said the old gentleman; "that's enough; if you
did not think it first-rate, you would not ask for more. This,"
said he, as he filled the glass again, "is genuine malt and hop
liquor, brewed in a way only known, they say, to some few people in
this place. You must, however, take care how much you take of it.
Only a few glasses will make you dispute with your friends, and a
few more quarrel with them. Strange things are said of what
Llangollen ale made people do of yore; and I remember that when I
was young and could drink ale, two or three glasses of the
Llangollen juice of the barleycorn would make me - however, those
times are gone by."
"Has Llangollen ale," said I, after tasting the second glass, "ever
been sung in Welsh?
