Indymedia York

The Lord Mayor of York and members of the Guild of Scriveners passed through the city assessing the quality of ale in 17 different pubs. It's an ancient tradition which has been rivived as a charity event, and a chance to check out the Real Ale available in some of York's more 'local' city centre pubs. Four belonged to York Brewery and at least two others to Tadcaster based firms.

At each pub for the last month, a sweepstake had been running and the Lord Mayor drew each upon arrival. Collecting tins were passed round each bar. Then, when the drinking was nearly complete, the moment came to announce that the pub had been found to be serving ale of outstanding quality (no one seemed prepared to say otherwise!) and the certificate was awarded. Although the landlord was sought on each occasion, some junior bar-staff got the privilege as well.

Despite York's reputation as a historic city, it's not every day that you see the Lord Mayor walking around in fancy dress accompanied by drinkers on a pub crawl, even if this is for the sake of charity and history. Despite poor publicity, this year's Assize of Ale, following a custom dating back most of 600 years, was certainly eye-catching. But there's a lot more to this than a fancy dress pub crawl.

One participant who raised eyebrows was the (female) Sheriff of Nottingham, who won the sweepstake in the Last Drop Inn. She insisted that Robin Hood came from Nottinghamshire, but everyone else was happy to correct her!

In the Last Drop Inn, owned by local York Brewery, the Lord Mayor explained her choice of charities. This year, money will go to two charities she has chosen and two chosen by the Scriveners. Hers are York Samaritans and York Homestart. She remarked on the problems of being a small, local charity in a sector dominated by big names with instantly recognisable brands.

Homestart helps families with young children who are isolated, particularly if grandparents and other family don't live close by. York Samaritans needs money to ensure disabled access to its building and continuation of the helpline service. Both struggle to plan ahead because they don't know how much money they will have in next year's budget, but local charities do benefit from much lower admin costs.

So, who are the Scriveners? A past-Master of the Guild (Pratchett-esque or what?) bought me a drink and explained. The first Guild of Scriveners began in London in 1378, and this year it has a female Master for the first time. They were the scribes, translators, registrars, etc. of their day. Some performed jobs much like lawyers.

In the 15th Century, the King demanded that an assize take place in each city of the ale, wine and bread (thankfully, we don't do the assize of bread any more). The Sheriff would summon the scriveners to assist in visiting pubs and testing the Ale, before announcing the price and taxes. This kind of price fixing would nowadays be frowned upon as anti-competitive, or "un-capitalist", by the World Trade Organisation!

Organising the event takes lots of time, with work starting in September for the following August's event. The summons must be drawn up as a legal document to be read by the Sheriff. Pubs are approached for offers of involvement and 2 routes are planned (presumably by people going and drinking along them!). The whole event ends with a medieval-style feast in York's ancient Guildhall.