Ode to Arthur, the prince of plain

AS you raise a glass to your lips tonight, sinking the familiar smoothness of a pint of plain, you might spare a though for auld Arthur, who died 200 years ago to the very day.

At the ripe old age of 78 and after creating an Irish institution now famous the world over, Arthur Guinness shuffled off this mortal coil.

From an inheritance of £100, Arthur bought four acres of land, a brewery which consisted of a copper, a kieve, a mill, two malt houses, stabling for 12 horses and a loft to keep 200 tonnes of hay. From these small beginnings, the “blonde in the long black dress” was born and she is now turning heads in more than 150 countries.