Part 23

_Storage and Maturation._--Brandy is stored in specially selected oak casks, from which it extracts a certain quantity of colouring matter and tannin, &c. Commercial cognac brandies are generally blends of different growths and vintages, the blending being accomplished in large vats some little time prior to bottling. The necessary colouring and sweetening matter is added in the vat. In the case of pale brandies very little colouring and sweetening are added, the usual quantity being in the neighbourhood of 1/2 to 1%. Old "brown brandies," which are nowadays not in great demand, require more caramel and sugar than do the pale varieties. The preparation of the "liqueur," as the mixed caramel and sugar syrup is termed, is an operation requiring much experience, and the methods employed are kept strictly secret. Fine "liqueur" is prepared with high-class brandy, and is stored a number of years prior to use. Brandy, as is well known, improves very much with age (for chemical aspects of maturation see SPIRITS), but this only holds good when the spirit is in _wood_, for there is no material appreciation in quality after bottling. It is a mistake to believe, however, that brandy improves indefinitely, even when kept in wood, for, as a matter of fact, after a certain time--which varies considerably according to the type of brandy, the vintage, &c.--there is so much evaporation of alcohol that a number of undesirable changes come about. The brandy begins to "go back," and becomes, as it is called, "worn" or "tired." It is necessary, therefore, that the bottling should not be deferred too long. Sometimes, for trade reasons, it is necessary to keep brandy in cask for a long period, and under these conditions the practice is to keep a series of casks, which are treated as follows:--The last cask is kept filled by occasionally adding some spirit from the cask next in order, the latter is filled up by spirit taken from the third cask from the end, and so on, until the first cask in the row is reached. The latter is filled up or "topped" with some relatively fresh spirit.

Brandy is much employed medicinally as a food capable of supplying energy in a particularly labile form to the body, as a stimulant, carminative, and as a hypnotic.

_Adulteration._--A good deal has been written about the preparation of artificial brandy by means of the addition of essential oils to potato or beetroot spirit, but it is more than doubtful whether this practice was really carried on on a large scale formerly. What undoubtedly did occur was that much beet, potato or grain spirit was used for blending with genuine grape spirit. Prosecutions under the Food and Drugs Act, by certain English local authorities in the year 1904, resulted in the practical fixation of certain chemical standards which, in the opinion of the present writer, have, owing to their arbitrary and unscientific nature, resulted in much adulteration of a type previously non-existent. There is no doubt that at the present time artificial esters and higher alcohols, &c., are being used on an extensive scale for the preparation of cheap brandies, and the position, in this respect, therefore, has not been inproved. Where formerly fraud was practically confined to the blending of genuine brandy with spirit other than that derived from the grape, it is now enhanced by the addition of artificial essences to the blend of the two spirits. (P. S.)

BRANDYWINE, the name of a stream in Pennsylvania and Delaware, U.S.A., which runs into the Delaware river a few miles east of Wilmington, Delaware. It is famous as the scene of the battle of Brandywine in the American War of Independence, fought on the 11th of September 1777 about 10 m. north-west of Wilmington, and a few miles inside the Pennsylvania border. Sir William Howe, the British commander-in-chief, while opposed to Washington's army in New Jersey, had formed the plan of capturing Philadelphia from the south side by a movement by sea to the head of Delaware Bay. But contrary winds and accidents delayed the British transports so long that Washington, who was at first puzzled, was able to divine his opponents' intentions in time; and rapidly moving to the threatened point he occupied a strong entrenched position at the fords over the Brandywine, 25 m. south-west of Philadelphia. Here on the 11th of September the British attacked him. Howe's plan, which was carefully worked out and exactly executed, was to deliver an energetic feint attack against the American front, to take a strong column 12 m. up the stream, and crossing beyond Washington's right to attack his entrenchments in rear. Washington was successfully held in play during the movement, and General Sullivan, the commander of the American right wing, misled by the conflicting intelligence which reached him from up-stream, was surprised about noon by definite information as to the approach of Cornwallis on his right rear. Changing front "right back" in the dense country, he yet managed to oppose a stubborn resistance to the flanking attack, and with other troops that were hurried to the scene his division held its ground for a time near Birmingham meeting-house. But Howe pressed his attack sharply and drove back the Americans for 2 m.; the holding attack of the British right was converted into a real one, and by nightfall Washington was in full retreat northward toward Chester, protected by General Greene and a steady rear-guard, which held off Howe's column for the necessary time. The British were too exhausted to pursue, and part of Howe's force was inextricably mixed up with the advancing troops of the frontal attack. The American loss in killed, wounded and prisoners was about 1000; that of the British less than 600. Howe followed up his victory, and on the 27th of September entered Philadelphia.

BRANFORD, a township, including a borough of the same name, in New Haven county, Connecticut, U.S.A., at the mouth of the Branford river and at the head of a short arm of Long Island Sound, about 7 m. E.S.E. of New Haven. Pop. of the township (1890) 4460; (1900) 5706 (1968 foreign-born);(1910) 6047; of the borough (1910) 2560. The borough is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway, and by an electric line connecting with New Haven. A range of rocky hills commands fine views of the Sound, the shore is deeply indented, the harbour and bays are dotted with islands, and the harbour is deep enough for small craft, and these natural features attract many visitors during the summer season. In Branford is the James Blackstone Memorial library (1896), designed by Solon Spencer Beman (b. 1853) in the Ionic style (the details being taken from the Erechtheum at Athens). On the interior of the dome which covers the rotunda are a series of paintings by Oliver Dennett Grover (b. 1861) illustrating the evolution of book-making, and between the arches are medallion portraits, by the same artist, of New England authors--Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Lowell, Bryant, Whittier, Holmes and Mrs Stowe. The library was erected by Timothy B. Blackstone (1829-1900), a native of Branford, and president of the Chicago & Alton railway from 1864 to 1899--as a memorial to his father, a descendant of William Blackstone (d. 1675), the New England pioneer. The principal industries of Branford are the manufacture of malleable iron fittings, locks and general hardware, the quarrying of granite, and oyster culture.

The territory of Totoket (now the township of Branford) was purchased from the Indians by the New Haven Plantation, in December 1638, for eleven coats of trucking cloth and one coat of English cloth, but with the reservation for a few Indians of what is still known as Indian Neck. In 1640 the general court of New Haven granted it to the Rev. Samuel Eaton (1596?-1665), a brother of Theophilus Eaton, on condition that he brought friends from England to settle it. As Eaton went to England and did not return, Totoket was granted in 1644 to settlers mostly from Wethersfield, Conn., on condition that they should organize a church state after the New Haven model and join the New Haven Jurisdiction. The settlement was made in the same year, and about two years later several new families came from Southampton, Long Island, under the leadership of the Rev. Abraham Pierson (c. 1608-1678), an ardent advocate of the church state, who was chosen pastor at Totoket. The present name of the township, derived from Brentford, England, was adopted about 1645. After the members of the New Haven Jurisdiction had submitted to Connecticut, Pierson, in 1666-1667, led the most prominent citizens of Branford to New Jersey, where they were leaders in founding Newark. The borough of Branford was incorporated in 1893.

See E.C. Baldwin, _Branford Annals_, in Papers of New Haven Colony Historical Society (New Haven, 1882 and 1888).

BRANGWYN, FRANK (1867-), English painter, was born at Bruges, and received his first instruction from his father, the owner of an establishment for church embroideries and kindred objects, who took a leading part in the Gothic revival under Pugin. When the family moved to England, Brangwyn attracted the attention of William Morris by a drawing on which he was engaged at South Kensington museum. He worked for some time in Morris's studio, and then travelled more than once to the East, whereby his sense of colour and the whole further development of his art became deeply influenced. Indeed, the impressions he then received, and his love of Oriental decorative art--tiles and carpets--exercised a greater influence on him than any early training or the works of any European master. His whole tendency is essentially decorative: a colour-sense of sumptuous richness is wedded to an equally strong sense of well-balanced, harmonious design. These qualities, together with a summary suppression of the details which tie a subject to time and place, give his compositions a nobly impressive and universal character, such as may be seen in his decorative panel "Modern Commerce" in the ambulatory of the Royal Exchange, London. Among other decorative schemes executed by him are those for "L'Art nouveau" in the rue de Provence, Paris; for the hall of the Skinners' Company, London; and for the British room at the Venice International Exhibition, 1905. The Luxembourg museum has his "Trade on the Beach"; the Venice municipal museum, the "St Simon Stylites"; the Stuttgart gallery, the "St John the Baptist"; the Munich Pinakothek, the "Assisi"; the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, his "Sweetmeat Seller"; the Prague gallery, his "Turkish Boatmen"; and the National Gallery of New South Wales, "The Scoffers." Brangwyn embarked successfully in many fields of applied art, and made admirable designs for book decoration, stained glass, furniture, tapestry, metal-work and pottery. He devoted himself extensively to etching, and executed many plates of astonishing vigour and dramatic intensity. He was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1904.

BRANKS, (probably akin to Irish _brancas_, a halter; Ger. _Pranger_, fetter, pillory), or SCOLDING-BRIDLE, a contrivance formerly in use throughout England and Scotland for the punishment of scolding women. It is said to have originated in the latter country. It seems to have never been a legalized form of punishment; but corporations and lords of manors in England, town councils, kirk-sessions and barony courts in Scotland assumed a right to inflict it. While specially known as the "Gossip's or Scold's Bridle" the branks was also used for women convicted of petty offences, breaches of the peace, street-brawling and abusive language. It was the equivalent of the male punishments of the stocks and pillory. In its earliest form it consisted of a hoop head-piece of iron, opening by hinges at the side so as to enclose the head, with a flat piece of iron projecting inwards so as to fit into the mouth and press the tongue down. Later it was made, by a multiplication of hoops, more like a cage, the front forming a mask of iron with holes for mouth, nose and eyes. Sometimes the mouth-plate was armed with a short spike. With this on her head the offending woman was marched through the streets by the beadle or chained to the market-cross to be gibed at by passers. The date of origin is doubtful. It was used at Edinburgh in 1567, at Glasgow in 1574, but not before the 17th century in any English town. A brank in the church of Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, bears date 1633; while another in a private collection has the crowned cipher of William III. The Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the Scottish National Museum of Antiquities at Edinburgh, the towns of Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Leicester and Chester have examples of the brank. As late as 1856 it was in use at Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire.

See W. Andrews, _Old Time Punishments_ (Hull, 1890); A.M. Earle, _Curious Punishments of Bygone Days_ (Chicago, 1896).

BRANT, JOSEPH (1742-1807), American Indian chief of the Mohawk tribe, known also by his Indian name, THAYENDANEGEA, was born on the banks of the Ohio river in 1742. In early youth he attracted the attention of Sir William Johnson, who sent him to be educated by Dr Eleazar Wheelock at Lebanon, Conn., in Moor's Indian charity school, in which Dartmouth College had its origin. He took part, on the side of the English, in the French and Indian War, and in 1763 fought with the Iroquois against Pontiac. Subsequently he settled at Canajoharie, or Upper Mohawk Castle (in what is now Montgomery county, New York), where, being a devout churchman, he devoted himself to missionary work, and translated the Prayer Book and St Mark's Gospel into the Mohawk tongue (1787). When Guy Johnson (1740-1788) succeeded his uncle, Sir William, as superintendent of Indian affairs in 1774, Brant became his secretary. At the outbreak of the War of Independence, he remained loyal, was commissioned colonel, and organized and led the Mohawks and other Indians allied to the British against the settlements on the New York frontier. He took part in the Cherry Valley Massacre, in the attack on Minisink and the expedition of General St Leger which resulted in the battle of Oriskany on the 6th of August 1777. After the war he discouraged the continuance of Indian warfare on the frontier, and aided the commissioners of the United States in securing treaties of peace with the Miamis and other western tribes. Settling in Upper Canada, he again devoted himself to missionary work and in 1786 visited England, where he raised funds with which was erected the first Episcopal church in Upper Canada. His character was a peculiar compound of the traits of an Indian warrior--with few rivals for daring leadership--and of a civilized politician and diplomat of the more conservative type. He died on an estate granted him by the British government on the banks of Lake Ontario on the 24th of November 1807. A monument was erected to his memory at Brantford, Ontario, Canada (named in his honour) in 1886.

See W.L. Stone, _Life of Joseph Brant_ (2 vols., New York, 1838; new ed., Albany, 1865); Edward Eggleston and Elizabeth E. Seelye, _Brant and Red Jacket_ in "Famous American Indians" (New York, 1879); and a _Memoir_ (Brantford, 1872).

BRANT, SEBASTIAN (1457-1521), German humanist and satirist, was born at Strassburg about the year 1457. He studied at Basel, took the degree of doctor of laws in 1489, and for some time held a professorship of jurisprudence there. Returning to Strassburg, he was made syndic of the town, and died on the 10th of May 1521. He first attracted attention in humanistic circles by his Latin poetry, and edited many ecclesiastical and legal works; but he is now only known by his famous satire, _Das Narrenschiff_(1494), a work the popularity and influence of which were not limited to Germany. Under the form of an allegory--a ship laden with fools and steered by fools to the fools' paradise of Narragenia--Brant here lashes with unsparing vigour the weaknesses and vices of his time. Although, like most of the German humanists, essentially conservative in his religious views, Brant's eyes were open to the abuses in the church, and the _Narrenschiff_ was a most effective preparation for the Protestant Reformalion. Alexander Barclay's _Ship of Fools_ (1509) is a free imitation of the German poem, and a Latin version by Jacobus Locher (1497) was hardly less popular than the German original. There is also a large quantity of other "fool literature." Nigel, called Wireker (fl. 1190), a monk of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury, wrote a satirical _Speculum stultorum_, in which the ambitious and discontented monk figured as the ass Brunellus, who wanted a longer tail. Brunellus, who has been educated at Paris, decides to found an order of fools, which shall combine the good points of all the existing monastic orders. _Cock Lovell's Bote_ (printed by Wynkyn de Worde, c. 1510) is another imitation of the _Narrenschiff_. Cock Lovell is a fraudulent currier who gathers round him a rascally collection of tradesmen. They sail off in a riotous fashion up hill and down dale throughout England. Brant's other works, of which the chief was a version of Freidank's _Bescheidenheit_ (1508), are of inferior interest and importance.

Brant's _Narrenschiff_ has been edited by F. Zarncke (1854); by K. Goedeke (1872); and by F. Bobertag (Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_, vol. xvi., 1889). A modern German translation was published by K. Simrock in 1872. On the influence of Brant in England see especially C.H. Herford, _The Literary Relations of England and Germany in the 16th Century_ (1886).

BRANTFORD, a city and port of entry of Ontario, Canada, on the Grand river, and on the Grand Trunk, and Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo railways. The river is navigable to within 2-1/2 m. of the town; for the remaining distance a canal has been constructed. Agricultural implements, plough, engine, bicycle and stove works, potteries and large railway shops constitute the important industrial establishments. It contains an institute for the education of the blind, maintained by the provincial government, and a women's college. The city is named in honour of the Mohawk Indian chief, Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), who settled in the neighbourhood after the American War of Independence, in which he had led the Six Nations (Iroquois) on the British side. The amalgamated tribes of the Six Nations still make it their headquarters, and a monument to Brant has been erected in Victoria Square. Brantford is one of the most flourishing industrial towns of the province, and its population rose from 9616 in 1881 to 20,713 in 1907.

BRANTINGHAM, THOMAS DE (d. 1394), English lord treasurer and bishop of Exeter, came of a Durham family. An older relative, Ralph de Brantingham, had served Edward II. and Edward III., and Thomas was made a clerk in the treasury. Edward III. obtained preferment for him in the church, and from 1361 to 1368 he was employed in France in responsible positions. He was closely associated with William of Wykeham, and while the latter was in power as chancellor, Brantingham was lord treasurer (1369-1371, and 1377-1381), being made bishop of Exeter in 1370. He continued to play a prominent part in public affairs under Richard II., and in 1389 was again lord treasurer for a few months. He died in 1394 and was buried in Exeter cathedral.

BRANTOME, PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE, SEIGNEUR AND ABBE DE (c. 1540-1614), French historian and biographer, was born in Perigord about 1540. He was the third son of the baron de Bourdeille. His mother and his maternal grandmother were both attached to the court of Marguerite of Valois, and at her death in 1549 he went to Paris, and later (1555) to Poitiers, to finish his education. He was given several benefices, the most important of which was the abbey of Brantome (see below), but he had no inclination for an ecclesiastical career. At an early age he entered the profession of arms. He showed himself a brave soldier, and was brought into contact with most of the great leaders who were seeking fame or fortune in the wars that distracted the continent. He travelled much in Italy; in Scotland, where he accompanied Mary Stuart (then the widow of Francis I.); in England, where he saw Queen Elizabeth (1561, 1579); in Morocco (1564); and in Spain and Portugal. He fought on the galleys of the order of Malta, and accompanied his great friend, the French commander Philippe Strozzi (grandson of Filippo Strozzi, the Italian general, and nephew of Piero), in his expedition against Terceira, in which Strozzi was killed (1582). During the wars of religion under Charles IX. he fought in the ranks of the Catholics, but he allowed himself to be won over temporarily by the ideas of the reformers, and though he publicly separated himself from Protestantism it had a marked effect on his mind. A fall from his horse compelled him to retire into private life about 1589, and he spent his last years in writing his _Memoirs_ of the illustrious men and women whom he had known. He died on the 15th of July 1614.

Brantome left distinct orders that his manuscript should be printed; a first edition appeared, however, late (1665-1666) and not very complete. Of the later editions the most valuable are: one in 15 volumes (1740); another by Louis Jean Nicolas Monmerque (1780-1860) in 8 volumes (1821-1824), reproduced in Buchan's _Pantheon litteraire_; that of the Bibliotheque elzevirienne, begun (1858) by P. Merimee and L. Lacour, and finished, with vol. xiii., only in 1893; and Lalanne's edition for the Societe de l'Histoire de France (12 vols., 1864-1896). Brantome can hardly be regarded as a historian proper, and his _Memoirs_ cannot be accepted as a very trustworthy source of information. But he writes in a quaint conversational way, pouring forth his thoughts, observations or facts without order or system, and with the greatest frankness and naivete. His works certainly gave an admirable picture of the general court-life of the time, with its unblushing and undisguised profligacy. There is not a _homme illustre_ or a _dame galante_ in all his gallery of portraits who is not stained with vice; and yet the whole is narrated with the most complete unconsciousness that there is anything objectionable in their conduct.

The edition of L. Lalanne has great merit, being the first to indicate the Spanish, Italian and French sources on which Brantome drew, but it did not utilize all the existing MSS. It was only after Lalanne's death that the earliest were obtained for the Bibliotheque Nationale. At Paris and at Chantilly (Musee Conde) all Brantome's original MSS., as revised by him several times, are now collected (see the _Bibliotheque de l'ecole des Chartes_, 1904), and a new and definitive edition has therefore become possible. Brantome's poems (which amount to more than 2200 verses) were first published in 1881; see Lalanne's edition.

BRANTOME, a town of south-western France, in the department of Dordogne, 20 m. N. by W. of Perigueux by steam-tramway. Pop. (1906) 1230. The town is built, in great part, on an island in the river Dronne. It is well known for the remains of an abbey founded by Charlemagne about 770 and afterwards destroyed by the Normans. The oldest existing portion is a square tower dating from the 11th century, built upon a rock beside the church which it overlooks. It communicates by a staircase with the church, a rectangular building partly Romanesque, partly Gothic, to the west of which are the remains of a cloister. The abbey buildings date from the 18th century, and now serve as hotel-de-ville, magistrature and schools. Caves in the neighbouring rocks were inhabited by the monks before the building of the abbey; one of them, used as an oratory, contains curious carvings, representing the Last Judgment and the Crucifixion. In the middle of the 16th century Pierre de Bourdeille came into possession of the abbey, from which he took the name of Brantome.