POETICAL TAVERN SIGNS.
(Vol. viii., pp. 242. 452.)
I made a note of the following specimen of poetical tavern sign, in one of Mr. Mark Lemon's Supplements to The Illustrated London News (Dec. 27, 1851). I here transcribe it to add to Mr. Warde's collection:
"The following is a literal copy of a sign conspicuously displayed in front of a small public-house in the village of Folkesworth,[[4]] near Stilton, Hunts. It contains as much poetry as, perhaps, the rustic Folkesworth folks are worth; and doubtless they think it to be (in the Stilton vernacular) 'quite the cheese:'
[A rude figure of a Fox.]
'I . HAM . A . CUNEN . FOX
YOU . SEE . THER . HIS
NO . HARME . ATCHED
TO . ME . IT . IS . MY . MRS.
WISH . TO . PLACE . ME
HERE . TO . LET . YOU . NO
HE . SELS . GOOD . BEERE.'
"The Captain Rawlinson of the district has deciphered this inscription, and conjectures its meaning to be as follows:
'I am a cunning fox, you see;
There is no harm attach'd to me;
It is my master's wish to place me here,
To let you know he sells good beer.'"
Cuthbert Bede, B.A.
Footnote 4:[(return)]
It was in the lane between Folkesworth and the Norman Cross Barracks, that Borrow was first induced to try the gipsy life. (Vide Lavengro.)
Bradford:
"Who lives here? who do you think?
Major Lister: give him a drink.
Give him a drink—for why?
Because, when he's sweeping,
He's always dry."
"John Thompson doth live here,
He sweeps your chimney not too dear.
And if your chimney should get on fire,
He puts it out at your desire.
Sweep that chimney clean,
And then come down and drink."
The public-houses to which the above are appended are kept by sweeps.
"Call here, my boy, if you are dry.
The fault's in you, and not in I.
If Robin Hood from home is gone,
Step in and drink with Little John."
The name of the public-house is "The Robin Hood."
Over another tavern door I noticed the following very pithy and brief sentence:
"Tobacco given away to-morrow."
Charles Willison.
Bradford, Yorkshire.
A sign at Newhouse, a small public-house on Dartmoor, hard by a rabbit-warren, on the roadside leading from Moreton to Tavistock, six miles from the former town. John Roberts was the worthy landlord some considerable time since. It ran thus:
"John Roberts lives here,
Sells brandy and beer,
Your spirits to cheer;
And should you want meat,
To make up the treat,
There be rabbits to eat."
(A verbatim copy.)
A swinging sign on the front of a public-house on the borders of Dartmoor could once boast of like following quaint invitations.
The side presented to view, prior to entering the wild waste, underneath a rude painting of a weary traveller in a storm, had the following rude couplet:
"Before the wild moor you venture to pass,
Pray step within and take a glass."
The attempt at poetry on the reverse side, below a highly-coloured daub representing a Christmas fire on the hearth, surrounded by a goodly band of jolly fellows, read thus:
"Now that the bleak moor you've safely got over,
Do stop a while, your spirits to recover."
Over the door of a spirit and beer shop at the lower end of Market or High Street, Plymouth, may be seen the following very salutary aid disinterested piece of advice. It is printed in the triangle formed by the spread of a gigantic pair of compasses, which gives name to the house:
"Keep within compass,
And then you'll be sure,
To avoid many troubles,
That others endure."
The house is located near the quay; and it is devoutly to be wished that the jolly tars of the neighbourhood, who make it a constant place of resort, would profit by its wise counsel.
H. H. H.
There is (or was some two or three years since) at Coopersale, in Essex, a sign-board in front of the "Queen Victoria" (only a beer-house by the way), with these lines:
"The Queen some day,
May pass this way,
And see our Tom and Jerry;
Perhaps she'll stop,
And stand a drop,
To make her subjects merry."
On the other side are some different lines, which I forget.
Alexander Andrews.
1. At Overseal, Leicestershire:
"Robin Hood is
Dead and gone:
Pray call, and drink
With Little John."
2. The sign of "The Bee Hive," in Birmingham and other places:
"Within this Hive, we're all alive,
Good liquor makes us funny:
If you are dry, step in and try,
The flavour of our honey."
3. The sign of "The Gate" (of frequent occurrence):
"The Gate hangs well,
And hinders none;
Refresh and pay,
And travel on."
T. H. Kersley, B.A.
Audlem, Nantwich.
In King Street, Norwich, at the sign of "The Waterman," kept by a man who is a barber, and over whose door is the pole, are these lines:
"Roam not from pole to pole,
But step in here;
Where nought exceeds the shaving,
But the beer."
J. L. S.
There used to be at a small roadside inn, between Wetherby and Borobridge (Yorkshire), at a place called Ninivy, the following inscription;
whether or not it is still in existence I cannot say:
"At Nineveh, where dwelt Old Toby,
Pray stop and drink before you go by."
C. I. R.