We are told that St. Dunstan introduced the plan of pegging tankards to check the intemperate habits of the English in his time. Called �pin-tankards.� In merry pin. In merry mood,in good spirits. Pegge, in his Anonymsina says that the old tankards were divided into eight equal parts, and each part was marked with a silver pin. The enps held two quarts, consequently the quantity from pin to pin was half a Winchester pint. By the rules of �good fellowship� a drinker was supposed to stop drinking only at a pin, and if he drank beyond it, was to drink to the next one. As it was very hard to stop exactly at the pin, the vain efforts gave rise to much mirch and the drinker had generally to drain the tankard.
St Dunstand was a good metal worker and is even said to have designed and made the crown for King Edmunds coronation in 960.
Bishop of Worcester
Archbishop of Canterbury
Patron saint of: Armourers and gunsmiths
Born 909; Died May 19, 988
Feast Day: May 19
Symbol: smith's tongs, and a dove
Question & Answers
Articles
