A very general inscription is:—
“This is a good world to live in,
To lend, or to spend, or to give in;
But to beg or to borrow, or to get a man’s own,
It is such a world as never was known.”
Or:—
“The rule of this house, and it can’t be unjust,
Is to pay on delivery, and not to give trust;
I’ve trusted many to my sorrow,
Pay to-day, I’ll trust to-morrow.”
Stuck up in many tap-rooms may be seen the following:—
“All you that bring tobacco here
Must pay for pipes as well as beer;
And you that stand before the fire,
I pray sit down by good desire,
That other folks as well as you
May see the fire, and feel it too.
[448] Since man to man is so unjust,
I cannot tell what man to trust.
My liquor’s good, ’tis no man’s sorrow,
Pay to-day, I’ll trust to-morrow.”
At an ale-house in Ranston, Norfolk, the usual information is conveyed in the following manner, (to be read upwards, beginning from the bottom of the last column):—
| MORE | BEER | SCORE | CLERK |
| FOR | MY | MY | THEIR |
| DO | TRUST | PAY | SENT |
| I | I | MUST | HAVE |
| SHALL | IF | I | BREWERS |
| WHAT | AND | AND | MY |
At other places it comes in a still more “questionable shape,” reminding us of the curious literary conceits of the old monkish rhymesters. In the following, the letters must be connected into words, thus—The brewer, &c.
Th. ebr: Ewe ! Rh. eH. Ass?
en . THI.S. cLEr
k a N d ! IM. ustp, A. YM. Ys
cO. r. ef, O
r IFIT r US. ? tandam, No tpA.
i D wha. ts; Ha:
LL i D , O? Fo Rm. Or .e.