Once the beer had been brewed it had to be put into containers and transported to wherever the fleet was at the time. This operation relied on a fleet of hired victualling ships and a large supply of wooden containers. Once the pipes had been emptied they were meant to be returned for further use, in war time demand seems to have outstripped the supply of new ones. A letter from Fox to Wolsey states...
Want's empty pipes for the beer. "I fear that the pursers will deserve hanging for this matter." There shall be beer enough if pipes be had.4
In turn Wolsey commented to the Lord Admiral that the blame lay in the breaking up and burning of the empty pipes, which he says appeared to be done...
"by some lewd persons that would not have the King's navy continue any longer on the sea".5
Occasionally, the whole supply chain broke down...
Beer on the Mary RoseThe King has been deceived about the victual. The whole complement for 5,000 men, the beer from Portsmouth and the rest from Hampton, was promised the last of May; and now, the 20th of June, we have with much difficulty been provided with flesh, fish and biscuit for two months from Hampton and we can get no more than one month's beer from Portsmouth... As Palshide has no money to pay the brewers, without which they refused to work, and as there was no money for making bulwarks and repairing ordnance, Surrey gave 200 marks of his own.6
Staved containers were found stowed in many places on board the Mary Rose, but the majority were found on the orlop deck and in the hold. The containers had staves made of oak, and were bound together with willow hooping. We use the general term staved container, as 'barrel' has a precise meaning (a 36 gallon container).
A number of the staved containers were discovered with identifiable content, such as beef, pork, fish, fruit, candles, pitch, tampions or gunpowder.
Those containers discovered without recognisable contents must have either contained a dissolvable substance; or were used to supply water or beer. Some of the containers may have been broken down after use.Once the study of the 1200 artefactual finds relating to the assemblage of staved containers is completed, it should be possible to determine individual container capacities, and correlate this information with contemporary documentary evidence.
In liquid containers, a single stave had a hole cut in it to allow it to be filled with beer. When the container was full, this hole was plugged with a tightly fitting wood bung. In order to release the beer from its container during a voyage, to quench the thirst of mariners, soldiers and officers alike, a 'tap' was required. The bung was removed and a tapering cylindrical wood tube (the shive) was fitted. This allowed the beer to run out freely. To close the 'tap' and stanch the flow of beer, a tapering solid piece of wood (the spile) was inserted into the shive. A total of twenty two spiles and seventeen shives were recovered from the Mary Rose. The majority were made of poplar. A number were stored ready for use in an open storage box, stowed in an area close to the 'kychen' or galley which was situated in the hold of the ship.
Beer was probably drunk from the all of the different types of drinking vessels excavated from the Mary Rose. Officers drank from pewter tankards, with the beer served from larger pewter flagons. Drinking vessels for the men included stave built wood tankards, lined with pitch to keep them watertight. Again, the beer was probably served from the larger stave built flagons recovered. These were manufactured in the same way as the smaller tankards, but could hold at least a gallon of beer.
Leather flasks, of varying shapes, some with embossed or scored decoration, were also lined with pitch to keep them watertight. All of the leather flasks, with a stopper, feature two lugs or ears to allow the attachment of a strap, thereby enabling the owner to carry his supply of beer with him at all times, without spillage. This was a definite design advantage over the single handled pewter or wood tankards with hinged lids. It is not certain, however that all the men on board drank from tankards or flasks. Less than 50 drinking vessels of any size were actually recovered. It is likely that those men occupying the lowest echelons of shipboard society recieved their daily ration of beer in the humblest of vessels, a wood bowl or dish.
Let us leave the final word to Sir Edward Howard, admiral on board the Mary Rose in 1513.
"Sir for Godd's sake, send by post all along the coste that they brew bere and make biskets that we may have some refresshyng to kepe us together uppon this cost".7
References: All from the Calendar of State Papers
- 5th Aug 1512, John Stile to Hen VIII. Vesp. C. I., 65 BM
- 8th June 1513, Thomas Lord Howard to the Council. SP Hen. VIII, 229, f.187. RO
- 18th Jan 1525, Stores, RO
- 21st May 1513, Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester to Wolsey. SP Hen. VIII, 4, f67, RO
- Ib., f.74 RO
- 21st June Earl of Surrey to Hen. VIII. RO
- Apr 1513, SP Hen. VIII, 3, f.149. RO. Ellis, 3S., I., 145
- Elkerton A. Stowage - Function and Structure, Mary Rose Trust - in house report. 1996
- Hildred A. The Material Culture of the Mary Rose as a Fighting Vessel - Uses of Wood. Paper given at Artefacts from Wrecks Conference, Cardiff 1994
- Vine S. The History of the Mary Rose. - 1996.
Back to top