A Two-Handled God-forgive-me…A Communal Drink Mug…
From within Warren’s Malthouse: “Come , shepherd [Gabriel Oak], and drink. ‘tis gape and swaller with us - a drop of sommit, but not of much account,’ said the malster, removing from the fire his eyes, which were vermilion-red and bleared by gazing into it for so many years. ‘Take up the God-Forgive-Me, Jacob. See if ‘tis warm, Jacob.’
The above passage is from the book “Far From The Maddening Crowd,” by Thomas Hardy (originally 1874, this excerpt is from The Folio Society edition, based on the Wessex edition, 1912). The two-handled God-forgive-me is described as: “a two-handled tall mug standing in the ashes, cracked and charred with heat, it was rather furred with extraneous matter about the outside, especially in the crevices of the handles, the innermost curves of which may not have seen daylight for several years.”
The passage continues: “…but to the mind of any sensible drinker the cup was no worse for that, being incontestably clean on the inside and about the rim. It may be observed that such a class of mug is called God-forgive-me in Weatherbury and its vicinity for uncertain reasons, probably because it size make any given toper fell ashamed of himself when he sees it bottom in drinking it empty.”