Posted by Robert Dilley on November 09, 2002 at 19:14:12 from 65.39.15.64 user rdilley.
In Reply to: Re: Taking the waters posted by Dave Thewlis on November 09, 2002 at 14:34:43:
Jane Austen has several references to "taking the waters" at Bath -- in Northanger Abbey and in Persuasion, if my memory serves (don't have the books to hand). In every case it seems clear that what is being referred to is drinking the stuff.
More than one PG Wodehouse story has some overindulgent old buffer sent to take the waters -- again, relying on memory, generally at Harrogate -- and there are comments that the "waters" are much less palatable than the usual tipple.
There may have been some special cases -- particularly at Bath -- where immersion was called for (arthritis, skin complaints) but my general impression was that "taking the waters" meant drinking them.