Those filled with despair at the prevalence of binge drinking in 21st-century Britain cannot say they were not warned - Sir Walter Raleigh cautioned over the dangers of alcohol more than 400 years ago.
The one-time favourite of Queen Elizabeth I even wrote a little-known treatise on the matter, warning future generations - and his son, also called Walter, in particular - that excessive alcohol consumption "transformeth a Man into a Beast" and was "a bewitching and infectious Vice" which destroyed health and led to premature ageing.
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