English wine cask units the mediæval French and Italian "botte") or pipe was half a tun, or 1008 pints. Tradition has it that George, Duke of Clarence, the brother of Edward IV of England, was drowned in a butt of malmsey on 18 February 1478. (However, Josephine Tey in "The Daughter of Time" suggests that "drowned in a butt of malmsey" means rather that George, Duke of Clarence, drank himself to death rather than literally drowning in a container of wine.) In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado", the narrator claims he has received "a pipe of what passes for Amontillado".
Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence Bermondsey, Surrey. Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence (autumn 1387 – 22 March 1421) was a medieval English prince and soldier, the second son of King Henry IV of England and brother of Henry V. He acted as councillor and aide to both. After the death of his father he participated in the military campaigns of his brother in France during the Hundred Years' War. Heir to the throne in the event of his brother's death, he was left in charge of English forces in France when Henry returned temporarily to England