POETICAL TAVERN SIGNS.
(Vol. ix., p. 58.)
The subjoined lines address themselves to the traveller, as he looks on the sign of "The Rodney's Pillar" inn at Criggirn, a hamlet on the borders of Montgomeryshire and this county:
"Under these trees, in sunny weather,
Just try a cup of ale, however;
And if in tempest or in storm,
A couple then to make you warm;
But when the day is very cold,
Then taste a mug a twelvemonth old."
Reverse side.
"Rest, and regale yourself: 'tis pleasant.
Enough is all the prudent need.
That's the due of the hardy peasant,
Who toils all sorts of men to feed.
"Then 'muzzle not the ox when he treads out corn,'
Nor grudge honest labour its pipe and its horn."
G. H. Billington.
The following, although not a tavern sign, may be worth preserving. I saw it under a painting of an ox, which adorned a butcher's shop at Ischl, in Upper Austria, A.D. 1835:
"Der Ochs besteht aus Fleisch und Bein zum laufen,
Darum kann ich das Fleisch nicht ohne Bein verkaufen."
J. C. R.
In the parlour of the "Three Pigeons," Brentford, is an old painting, dated 1704, representing a landlord attending to his guests seated at a table in the open air, with these lines above:
"Wee are new beginners,
And thrive wee would faine;
I am Honest Ralf of Reading,
My wife Susand to name."
Wright, in his Historia Histronica, 1699, tells us that—
"Lowin (one of the original actors in Shakspeare's plays), in his latter days, kept an inn, the 'Three Pigeons,' at Brentford, where he died very old."
At the "Old Parr's Head," Aldersgate Street, was, in 1825, a sign of an ancient gentleman, with these lines under:
"Your head cool,
Your feet warm;
But a glass of good gin
Would do you no harm."
The author of Tavern Anecdotes, 12mo., 1825, records the following:
"Rhyming Host at Stratford.
At the Swan Tavern, kept by Lound,
The best accommodation's found—
Wine, spirits, porter, bottled beer,
You'll find in high perfection here.
If, in the garden with your lass,
You feel inclin'd to take a glass,
There tea and coffee, of the best,
Provided is for every guest;
And, females not to drive from hence,
His charge is only fifteen pence.
Or, if dispos'd a pipe to smoke,
To sing a song, or crack a joke,
You may repair across the green,
Where nought is heard, tho' much is seen:
There laugh, and drink, and smoke away,
And but a mod'rate reck'ning pay,—
Which is a most important object,
To every loyal British subject.
In short,
The best accommodation's found,
By those who deign to visit Lound."
Edward F. Rimbault.
1. At a public-house near Cambridge, known to the natives of Cambridgeshire as "Tew-Pot House," formerly kept by one Cooper, there used to be, I cannot say decidedly is, as I have not passed the place for ten years and more, the following:
"Rest, traveller, rest; lo! Cooper's hand
Obedient brings two pots at thy command.
Rest, traveller, rest, and banish thoughts of care.
Drink to thy friends, and recommend them here."
2. The Robin Hood inscription is found, with a very little variation, in front of a public-house at Cherryhinton, at the corner of the road to Fulbourn, in this county.
3. Who can forget the suggestion by Walter Scott, of
"Drink, weary traveller, drink and pay,"
as a motto for the public-house at Flodden? (See Lockhart's Life of Scott, cap. xxv.)
I remember seeing the following in the parlour of a house at Rancton, I believe in Norfolk:
| "More | beer | score | clerk |
| For | my | my | his |
| Do | trust | pay | sent |
| I | I | must | have |
| Shall | if | I | brewer |
| What | and | and | my."[[6]] |
P. J. F. Gantillon.
Footnote 6:[(return)]
Begin with the bottom word of the right-hand column and read upwards, treating the other columns in a similar way.
In Deansgate, Manchester, under an artistic representation of Llangollen Castle, is the following:
"Near the above place, in a vault,
There is such liquor fixed,
You'll say that water, hops, and malt
Were never better mixed."
As a parallel to the case cited by Newburiensis, I may mention the sign of the "Brown Cow," near the village of Glodwick, Oldham:
"This cow gives such liquor,
'Twould puzzle a viccar" [sic].
John Scribe.
The following verse from the sign-board of the Bull Inn at Buckland near Dover, may not be an uninteresting addition to your list of poetical tavern signs.
"The bull is tame, so fear him not,
All the while you pay your shot;
When money's gone, and credit's bad,
It's that which makes the bull run mad!"
Fras. Brent.
Sandgate.
At the Red Lion, Stretton, near Warmington:
"The Lion is strong, the Cat is vicous[sic],
My ale is good, and so is my liquors."
E. P. Paling.
February 20, 1854.
At Swainsthorpe, a village five miles from Norwich, on the road to Ipswich, is a public-house known as the "Dun Cow." Under the portrait of the cow, in former days, stood the following couplet:
"Walk in, gentlemen; I trust you'll find
The dun cow's milk is to your mind."
Whether it still remains I know not, as many years have gone by since I passed that way.
T. B. B. H.