“The High and Mightie Commendation..

..of a pot of good ale. Full of wit, without offence, of mirth without obscenitie, of pleasure without scurrilitie, and of good content without distaste”. Poem from 1642. The woodcut is poorly reproduced, but here is a group of revellers sat outside the alehouse, quaffing their beer and smoking up a storm. The tapster is bringing another jug of ale out and doffing his hat. While most seem to be dressed in standard doublet and breeches, it’s the fellow in the foreground facing away from us that I’m interested in. I suspect he’s wearing a montero, though it would be tricky to prove, it does look very much like the segmented crown and (poorly folded) skirt of the fashionable cap worn by soldiers and huntsmen.