Wandering Through Bill's Story - Chapter 1 - Page 1

doggerel

My attention was caught by a doggerel on an old tombstone:
"Here lies a Hampshire Grenadier
Who caught his death
Drinking cold small beer.
A good soldier is ne'er forgot
Whether he dieth by musket
Or by pot."
Ominous warning--which I failed to heed."
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 1.¹

A doggerel is a verse or words that are badly written. Often times it is difficult to read with cadence.

Definition from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

The Hampshire Grenadier

A grenadier was a soldier who carried and threw grenades. These men were an elite group, usually athletically stronger than the average soldier, and able to throw the iron grenades a considerable distance. The grave marker of Thomas Thetcher drew Bill's attention because the last name resembled that of Bill's childhood friend, Ebby Thatcher. Providing more context, Thomas Thetcher served in the North Hants Militia of Hampshire, England. This militia unit was activated only when needed, and the North Hants Militia records indicate it was not in an activated state when Thomas died on 12 May 1764. Notably, Thomas was 26 years old at the time of his death.

In the Big Book, Bill's version of the marker's inscription differs from the actual gravestone. The gravestone reads:
Here sleeps in peace a Hampshire Grenadier,
Who caught his death by drinking cold small Beer,
Soldiers be wise from his untimely fall
And when ye’re hot drink Strong or none at all."
An Honest Soldier never is forgot
Whether he die by Musket or by Pot.

What is Small Beer?

In 1764, proper sanitation methods were not understood as they are today. A lack of clean drinking water in populated areas was rare in both England and Colonial America. Most drinking water was contaminated with cholera, typhoid, and other bacterial organisms. To prevent sickness, a common practice was to brew low-alcohol beer as a substitute for contaminated drinking water. The home brew was referred to as “Small Beer” rather than “Strong Beer”. When prepared correctly, the alcohol level of “Small Beer” would kill water-borne organisms but not make a person drunk. It was given to children as the safe alternative to drinking contaminated water. Once clean drinking water became plentiful, the need for “Small Beer” was no longer necessary. The original gravestone contains the warning, "If you are thirsty, make sure you drink 'Strong beer, ' which refers to Beer with enough alcohol to make one intoxicated, which ensured the bacterial contamination was eliminated. We can infer from the gravestone text that the small beer Thomas drank that day had not fully eliminated all the bacterial contamination. He contracted a bacterial infection, which caused a high fever and ultimately his death. The last line of the original verse states that the memory of an honest soldier is not forgotten, regardless of the cause of his death. Also, note that the word "pot" refers to the container holding the beer. In conclusion, Bill probably did not understand the inscription's original meaning, but his interpretation served as a warning about his new excessive drinking behavior.

Definition from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

Ominous

"Ominous warning--which I failed to heed." Big Book - Bill's Story - page 1. ¹

In this sentence the word ominous functions as an adjective. ²

In this sentence ominous modifies the noun "warning". Ominous warning is a warning that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen.

Definitions from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

Footnotes for page 1;

¹Quotes from the Big Book on listed on this page are from the public domain version, in the United States, of the 2^nd edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Accessible at 12step.org

²Sentence diagramming, to determine the word usage within the sentence, was performed by CoreNLP at corenlp.run.

³Definitions used are from the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language 1930 Edition. Access to this dictionary online is at Hathitrust.org