"grog"

[Joel S. Berson]

My correspondent who disproved the presence of "grog" in Defoe's "The
Family Instructor" has found the following:

>Earliest ECCO citation seems to be 1760, 'Grog: A New Sea Song.
>Written at Jamaica', from  The Muse's Delight: or, The Songster's
>Jovial Companion. Just in case it's useful for anyone to know.

This too (in addition to the 1749 appearance turned up by Stephen
Goranson) antedates OED's 1770/1773, as well as its poem of 1781.  (I
don't know whether it is the same poem.)

Joel

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