Eggnog has a rich Eastern Shore history

Many enjoy  the holiday libation known as eggnog. But you may not know the drink has a surprisingly deep history on the Eastern Shore.

Tasting History on You Tube with Max Miller has a segment on George Washington’s Eggnog recipe.  Miller talks about the history of eggnog but he includes the following from a writing by John Boucher. Miller says that this is the earliest writing he could find that tied eggnog with a Christmas celebration. 

Boucher was a friend of George Washington and even taught George’s stepson, John Custis.

Boucher writes, “On the last Christmas Eve, several gentlemen met at Northampton Court-House and spent the evening in mirth and festivity when Egg-Nog was the principal liquor used by the company.  After they had indulged pretty heavily in this beverage, a gentleman in company offered a bet that not one of the party could write four verses, extempore which should be rhyme and sense.”

The author goes on to tell how a participant spit out off the cuff the virtues of eggnog over wine which included the stanza , “tis eggnog now whose golden streams dispense far richer treasures to the ravish’d sense. The muse from wine derives a transient glare, but eggnog’s  daughters afford her solid fare.”

It goes to show that it is possible that eggnog  became part of our Christmas tradition  one Christmas Eve at Northampton Courthouse and that  partying in Northampton and Virginia with spirits at Christmas is a long time tradition that has continued unabated for over three hundred years.