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A stirrup cup is a "parting cup" given to guests, especially when they are leaving and have their feet in the stirrups. It is also the traditional drink (usually port or sherry) served at the meet, prior to a traditional foxhunt. The term can describe the cup that such a drink is served in.
In 
In Anya Seton's '' Katherine'' the custom occurs frequently before English royalty and nobility leave on travels abroad or progresses. In G.G. Coulton's ''Chaucer and his England'' it is referred to in relation to the Canterbury pilgrims setting out. It is also used in a number of Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels set in England after the
A stirrup cup is a "parting cup" given to guests, especially when they are leaving and have their feet in the stirrups. It is also the traditional drink (usually port or sherry) served at the meet, prior to a traditional foxhunt. The term can describe the cup that such a drink is served in.
In Scots
Scots usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
* Scots language, a language of the West Germanic language family native to Scotland
* Scots people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland
* Scoti, a Latin na ...
the host may well, in inviting his guest to stay briefly for that farewell drink, call it a (from Scottish Gaelic , literally "drink of the door").
In Anya Seton's '' Katherine'' the custom occurs frequently before English royalty and nobility leave on travels abroad or progresses. In G.G. Coulton's ''Chaucer and his England'' it is referred to in relation to the Canterbury pilgrims setting out. It is also used in a number of Rosemary Sutcliff's historical novels set in England after the Norman Invasion
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
.
The vessel is mentioned in the poem "The Stirrup-Cup" by the nineteenth-century American poet, Sidney Lanier, in the traditional Scottish song " The Parting Glass", and in the poem "In my Dreams" by Stevie Smith.
References
Scottish culture British traditions Parting traditions Drinking culture {{drink-stub