SIGNBOARD HUMOR.
nother tavern sign, though of later date, was that of the Good Woman, at the North End. This Good Woman was painted without a head.
Still another board had painted on it a bird, a tree, a ship, and a foaming can, with the legend,—
“This is the bird that never flew,
This is the tree which never grew,
This is the ship which never sails,
This is the can which never fails.”
The Dog and Pot, Turk’s Head, Tun and Bacchus, were also old and favorite emblems. Some of the houses which swung these signs were very quaint specimens of our early architecture. So, also, the signs themselves were not unfrequently the work of good artists. Smibert or Copley may have painted some of them. West once offered five hundred dollars for a red lion he had painted for a tavern sign.
DOG AND POT.
Not a few boards displayed a good deal of ingenuity and mother-wit, which was not without its effect, especially upon thirsty Jack, who could hardly be expected to resist such an appeal as this one of the Ship in Distress: