Ale to the selling of beer labeled "strong beer" that had actually been diluted with small beer. In medieval times, ale may have been safer to drink than most water (the germ theory of disease was unheard of, and the sterilizing properties of boiling unknown); however, there is no period evidence that people were aware of this nor that they chose to drink ale for this reason. The alcohol, hops, and some ingredients in gruit used to preserve some ales may have contributed to their lower load of pathogens, when compared to water. However, ale was largely safer due to the
Cock ale a decay'd Nature." A contemporary biographer claimed that King William III preferred Cock ale over wine. The drink's entry in Robert Nares's "Glossary" describes it as "a sort of ale which was very celebrated in the seventeenth century for its superior quality". Also included in that entry is a quote from Ned Ward's "The London Spy", which calls Cock ale "a mixture of small-beer and treacle", although the author continues: "if this be "cock-ale", said I, e'en let "cocks-combs" drink it." Nathan Bailey's "Dictionarium britannicum" (1736) describes it as a "pleasant drink, said to be provocative", a sentiment mirrored by