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250 THE SUSSEX COAST
vivor. Her captain, Hanson, had sailed with Vancouver, and the monument was restored by his widow in October, 1878—an extraordinary instance of longevity.
At the west end of the churchyard is a gravestone with an ornate 4-piered bridge incised at the top; it is inscribed—
"To the Memory of Thomas Tipper who departed this life May ye 14th 1785. Aged 54 years.
" Reader, with kind regard this grave survey Nor heedless pass where Tipper's ashes lay. Honest he was, ingenuous, blunt, and kind ; And dared do, what few dare do, speak his mind.
Philosophy and History well he knew, Was versed in Physick and in surgery too. The best old stingo he both brewed and sold ; Nor did one knavish act to get his gold.
He played through life a varied comic part And knew immortal Hudibras by heart. Reader in real truth such was the Man, Be better, wiser, laugh more if you can."
The poet was Thomas " Clio " Rickman of Lewes, a great friend of Thomas Paine.
Stingo was a strong ale brewed with slightly brackish water, and it became a favourite drink in the Pavilion at Brighton. It is still to be had at Newhaven, where it is advertised as Tipper Ale. On June 24, 1764, there visited its inventor Mr. Thomas Turner, a tradesman of East Hoathly, whose diary has preserved the following account of the day. " In the morn, at thirty minutes past five, Tho. Durrant and I set out for Newhaven, |
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