Stout And Bitter

This posting isn't about my current state of mind and body (although it could be as my pre-holiday diet seems to have ground to a halt). Nor is another of my quite boring pieces about the state of the British brewing industry (if it was, it would be seriously mis-timed as May is National Mild Month according to CAMRA). It is paean in praise of the information society. Whilst everyone else sits around bemoaning the fact that their name is on some government database, I rejoice in the fact that almost unimaginable amounts of information can now be stored on a chip the size of a French Fry. Whilst others obsessively worry that someone is going to tap into their on-line medical records, I happily tap into one government sponsored collection of records or another. There is so much information available on-line these days that it is almost a full-time job just keeping up with it, listing it, reviewing it, recording it. This is my dream job, my St Gothard passion. I will become the keeper of the database of databases, the B&Q catalogue of information collections.

But I digress. Earlier today I visited the British Library "Collect Britain" portal ("portal" is such a wonderful word, isn't it?). This is an on-line, searchable showcase of just some of the material in the various British Library collections and exhibitions. Access is largely free and you can roam around all day looking at a diverse and entertaining collection of drawings, paintings, prints and photographs (and, if you are so inclined, audio clips). As you can see, I soon found myself amongst a collection of printed music from the days of the Victorian Music Hall. The record for Harry Rickard's song "Stout and Bitter" contains not only the full words and music, but also the splendid pictorial cover. The lyrics, poignant enough to bring tears to the eyes of a maiden, are as follows:

"I tasted have all liquors known, but none could I ever find,

Which could so well, dull thoughts dispel, and suit the languid mind,

I've paid high price, but things you know, are not all gold that glitter,

But good and cheap, I've found a deep, good draught of Stout and Bitter"

Eat your heart out Leonard Cohen! Not being of a musical nature myself, I am determined to act as impresario. I will pass on the words to my son who by some genetic fluke possesses a fine baritone voice. The music must go to my friend Janie. When there is a get-together at the time of my birthday, the rafters will roar to the sound of Stout and Bitter. All together now, "Ive found a deep, good draught of Stout and Bitter"

Wandering Around In History.

If you can't find me, if I don't seem to be around, the chances are that once again I am lost in some old newspaper. I know that I have written before about my passion for old newspapers. The chances are that you don't share it, in which case you can skip to the end of this post. Do something interesting and useful like watching TV or playing Space Invaders. But, just in case you are a fellow newspaperphile (there must be a better term for "lover and collector of old newspapers"), then let me share a recently discovered site with you. It is American and it is called NewspaperARCHIVE.com and it does seem to be more than just devoted to high-priced, novel, birthday presents. It is a commercial site and therefore you do need to subscribe if you want access to the full collection of some 2,700 titles and 77 million pages. But there are several free areas and you can subscribe to a free daily newsletter called "The Daily Perspective". This provides a marvelous insight into the historical background to both modern-day events and also important news stories which have hit the headlines on that particular day in previous years. Links to these individual newspaper pages are also free and therefore provide endless scope for just wandering around in history.

As far as I have been able to discover, there is nothing similar covering the UK. There is the British Library Newspaper Collection which is supposed to be moving towards a digital collection but that is so inaccessible it is hardly worth bothering with. There are probably reasons why the British Library see it as their duty to restrict access to the national collection of newspapers, but whatever they are they are not good reasons. There are the numerous websites with names like famousdayinhistory.com which will sell you a fancy photocopy of a newspaper from your birthdate at an inflated price. And there are some individual newspapers which are making their archives available to subscribers, but such projects are still in their early stages.

So until something better is available in this country I spend my spare moments - let's be honest, my spare hours, sometimes entire days - searching through old newspapers with marvelous names like the Fayetteville Democrat and the Appleton Post-Crescent. Some people are only happy when kitted out in hiking boots climbing over the hills and moors of the countryside. Me, I like my slippers and a good glass of beer, a pile of old newspapers and an aimless journey through history.