And a bottle of rum

This post is not about Barcelona at all. Except that it concerns a very entertaining excerpt I came across while reading, IN Barcelona, a really wicked little travel/history book titled, "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in 10 Cocktails," by Wayne Curtis (2006, New Rivers Press) (thanks to Katie, who gave me the book as a going-away present). This delightful volume traces the development of the rum trade in the New World colonies and its pivotal place in the economies, societies, and politics of the times. The following excerpts are from the journals of Nicholas Cresswell, a British traveler to the North American Colonies in 1775-1776:

• "Have been genteely treated and am now going to be drunk. This is the first time." [30 November, 1775]
• "All of us got feloniously drunk." [6 January, 1776]
• "Went to bed about two o'clock in the afternoon, stupidly drunk." [7 January, 1776]
• "Spent evening at the Tavern ... A confounded mad frolic.: [19 February, 1776]
• "A very mad frolic this evening. Set the house on fire three times and broke Mr. Dream's leg ... got drunk and committed a number of foolish actions." [19 November, 1776]

Let the frolic begin!