The house indicated in the foregoing description still stands, much as it was in the days of which Dickens wrote. It is, however, not the Maypole at Chigwell. Dickens, to suit the purposes of his tale, made free use of that license usually allowed to poets and writers of fiction. His description, as above, gives a very fair idea of the fine old hostelry known as the King’s Head, situate opposite the church in the village of Chigwell, where it has displayed the same sign since 1789 at least. It was in what has since been known as the “Chester Room” in this house, that a portion, at least, of Barnaby Rudge was penned. On the sign-board swinging over the door, there is a large portrait of King Charles I., painted some years ago by Miss Herring. At Chigwell Row, about two miles distant, there is a Maypole Inn, with a maypole still before the door, and on the site which Dickens indicates; but the foregoing description is (as has been said) that of the King’s Head. The present Maypole is an inn of no special pretensions, and is not the same house that displayed the sign at least as early as 1789. A writer in Notes and Queries,[84] says that the following was formerly to be seen on the sign:—
“My liquor’s good,
My measure’s just,
Excuse me, sirs,
I cannot trust.”
Over the fireplace was seen these lines:—
“All you who stand
Before the fire,
I pray sit down.
It’s my desire
That other folks
As well as you
May see the fire
And feel it too.”
An inscription upon the stable-door ran as follows:—
“Whoever smokes tobacco here,
Shall forfeit sixpense to spend in beer.
Your pipes lay by when you come here,
Or fire to me may prove severe.”
The only other sign of the kind now to be seen in Essex is the Old Maypole at Barkingside. Andrews and Drury’s Map of Essex, however, published in 1777, shows houses with this sign then existing at Chigwell, Barking, and Collier’s Row. A writer in the Gentleman’s Magazine, speaking of Maypoles, says, “The last in London was taken down in 1717, and removed to Wanstead in Essex. It was more than 100 feet high, and stood on the east side of Somerset House.” The custom of celebrating Mayday has now almost died out in the county, except at Saffron Walden, where, every “Garland Day,” it is customary to see the High Street of the town crowded during the morning with children, each bearing a “garland” more or less tastefully arranged upon a hoop, or in some other way. They diligently visit all the houses asking for coppers, which are generally given with liberality. The Wheatsheaf, as already stated (p. 33), appears as a sign no less than seven times in Essex. Wheatsheaves form charges on the arms of at least three of the great Trade Companies, namely, the Brewers’ (p. 32), the Bakers’ (p. 33), and the Inn-holders’.[85] Although the sign of the Bakers’ Arms now only occurs once in Essex, two tokens issued in Chelmsford, one issued in Braintree, and several issued in Colchester, bear the arms of the Bakers’ Company; and as there are now houses displaying the sign of the Wheatsheaf in each of those places, and all of them have existed for at least forty years, it is quite possible that they are the same establishments kept, two centuries ago, by the issuers of the tokens. As a beer-house sign, too, the Wheatsheaf is still common.