Another vessel made from leather and which was much in evidence during the Middle Ages was called a water-bouget. This utensil consisted of a pair of liquor-tight bags joined together by their necks, holding a considerable amount of water or whatever it was desired that they should contain. The water-bouget was in constant use for domestic purposes throughout medieval times down to the Stuarts, but its popularity did not continue so long as its friends the black jack and leather bottle. The principal use to which it was put was to carry water, wine or ale in on horseback or slung round the neck of an unfortunate henchman on the long journeys our ancestors had perforce to endure.

To heralds, a water-bouget was a favourite charge on an armorial shield and is often met with on monumental tombs in cathedrals; in fact, it is only from these sculptured representations and illuminated manuscripts that we are able to form an idea of what they were really like. Henry V's standard bearer, Lord Bouchier, had water-bougets on his coat-of-arms, most likely, in his case, on account of the similarity of the names, but many families have them as armorial bearings, as a glance round some of the old chapels will show.