Of Honest Malt Liquor

A catch, dating from 1733:

"Of honest malt liquor let English boys sing,
A pox take French claret, we'll drink no such thing.
But London brewed staple, stout, Burton and Lincoln,
They'll find us good matter to talk or to think on.
To King, Lords and Commons toast a health ere we rise,
Tho' we lower our pockets, yet we raise his Excise"

From A Taste of Ale CD by Magpie Lane
To accompany the book compiled by Roy Palmer