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That "Five Bottle Man" quote from the Morning Chronicle might be tongue-in-cheek but I'm pretty sure it's about "Cinque Ports Volunteers", not "Cinq Port Volunt
by BjoernKW 5y ago
That "Five Bottle Man" quote from the Morning Chronicle might be tongue-in-cheek but I'm pretty sure it's about "Cinque Ports Volunteers", not "Cinq Port Volunteers", which doesn't refer to the drink but rather the Cinque Ports, a group of coastal towns in Kent.
- bencollier49 5y agoInterestingly: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Cinque_Ports_Artillery_Volunteers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Cinque_Ports_Artillery_Vol... I strongly suspect that there might be a shared running gag going on here. "Oh, Lord Brasenose? He left the cavalry and now he's enlisted with the Cinque Ports Volunteers." A bit like the nineteenth hole on a golf course.
- BjoernKW 5y agoNowadays, you'd be correct. The term "Cinque Ports" itself is mostly used in historical or ceremonial contexts these days. During Pitt's time, however, if a French invasion of Britain had taken place it would likely have been in that particular region.
- twic 5y agoI assumed this was a pun, port being a wine as well as Dover etc, but it seems Pitt actually was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and actively involved in raising volunteers, at the time that newspaper article was written: http://www.geocities.ws/cinqueportsvolunteers/HISTORY.htm#The%20Cinque%20Ports%20Volunteers,%201803-9 http://www.geocities.ws/cinqueportsvolunteers/HISTORY.htm#Th...