JUG  , a

vessel for holding liquid, usually with one handle and a lip, made of earthenware, glass or metal . The origin of the word in this sense is uncertain, but it is probably identical with a shortened form of the feminine name Joan or Joanna; cf. the similar use of Jack and Jill or Gill for a drinking-vessel or a liquor measure . It has also been used as a common expression for a homely woman, a servant-girl, a sweetheart, sometimes in a sense of disparagement . In slang, " jug " or " stone-jug " is used to denote a prison; this may possibly be an adaptation of Fr. joug, yoke, Lat. jugum . The word "jug" is probably onomatopoeic when used to represent a particular note of the nightingale's song, or applied locally to various small birds, as the hedge-jug, &c . The British Museum contains a remarkable bronze jug which was found at Kumasi during the Ashanti Expedition of 1896 . It dates from the reign of Richard II., and is decorated in relief with the arms of England and the badge of the king . It has a lid, spout and handle, which ends in a quatrefoil . An inscription, on three raised bands round the body of the vessel, modernized runs: —" He that will not spare when he may shall not spend when he would . Deem the best in every doubt till the truth be tried out." The British Museum Guide to the Medieval Room contains an illustration of this vessel . A particular form of jug is the " ewer," the precursor of the ordinary bedroom jug (an adaptation of O . Fr. ewaire, med .

Lat. aquaria,

water-pitcher, from aqua, water) . The ewer was a jug with a wide spout, and was principally used at table for pouring water over the hands after eating, a matter of some necessity before the introduction of forks . Early ewers are sometimes mounted on three feet, and bear inscriptions such as Venez laver . A basin of similar material and design accompanied the ewer . In the 13th and 14th centuries a special type of metal ewer takes the form of animals, men on horseback, &c.; these are generally known as aquamaniles, from med . Lat. aqua manile or aqua manale (aqua, water, and manale, to trickle, pour, drip) . The British Museum contains several examples . In the 18th and early 19th centuries were made the drinking-vessels of pottery known as " Toby jugs," properly Toby Fillpots or Philpots . These take the form of a stout old man, sometimes seated, with a three-cornered hat, the corners of which act as spouts . Similar drinking-vessels were also made representing characters popular at the time, such as " Nelson jugs," &c .