THE INNS OF ENGLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 261, 3 November 1928, Page 16 (Supplement)

THE INNS OF ENGLAND.

A PERENNIAL CHARM.

QUAINT HERALDIC DEVICES.

FEARFUL AND WONDERFUL

RESULTS,

(By J. M. R.)

The inns of England, "pleasant places . where men have found rest and content- ! ment after the fatigues of an often exciting journey by road, or cheerful communion with kindred spirits at the close of the day's labours," have been celebrated in song and story these many, many years, but their charm is such that they are a perennial source of interest. The heraldic devices, always conspicuous on the front of these old buildings, have their origin in the early Middle Ages. It appears that the castles and mansions of those who went to the Crusades were sometimes temporarily abandoned by all but the trusted dependents of the noble owner, the womenfolk and children residing at a convent in the absence of the lord and master. Some of these trusted dependents, men with their intellects well developed in one direction at least, had the happy idea of converting the premises temporarily in their charge into hostelries for their own personal gain. When the family was once again united in its ancestral home, these first innkeepers prevailed upon the generosity of their masters to set up inns for them by the roadside. As a, matter of compliment, and perchance also with a view to attracting the original guests, the family escutcheon or some approximation thereto, was used to adorn the front of the establishment. In this way Red Lions, White Swans, Green Dragons, Black Bulls and a host of other examples of the outstanding figure in a coat of arms obtained currency. Sometimes, in picturing these animals the artist's fancy, or possibly merely his Incompetency, would run riot, and then the results were both fearful and wonderful. But even the best of artists was (and still is) apt to have his work misjudged. To-day there is a certain inn in Sussex, The Dorset Arms, which is commonly known as The Three Cats. Evidently the rural mind considers this a good enough name for the three spotted leopards of that escutcheon. Signboard Portraits. Signboard portraiture provides one of the earliest attempts to hand down mort or less lifelike representations of notable figures of the time. In long ago days when the illiterate were many, printed letters were just "words, words, words," and nothing more. Hence a fresh innkeeper, unwilling or unable to derive further inspiration from the hardly-worked family escutcheon, might bethink himself of proclaiming his loyalty to his sovereign by naming his hostelry The King's Head, and in order that the same might become known to all and sundry he would commission an artist to paint him a faithful portrait of the reigning sovereign. In this way a flavour of individuality would be given the inn, the landlord's loyalty attested, and a welcome change provided from the more usual coat of arms. In the same way he might show his respect for whatever noble lord his favour lighted on. At a later period, explanatory lettering often, we fear, absolutely necessary, was added. Pictorial signs not only gave employment to many artists of varying degrees of merit, but also to those whose imaginations soar far above such things as swans or dogs, or even kings. It is said that one landlord was called upon so frequently to explain the meaning of the classic illustration of wine bibbing upon his sign, that when the wind blew it down one gusty night he swore never to replace it. Henceforth to his great content The Bacchanals became The Bag o' Nails, a title every whit as good, but needing no explanation. From Harbour to Bull. In this matter of names it is interesting to note that The Bull and Mouth was originally named to celebrate the capture of Boulogne Mouth or Harbour, while it was not long before The Bellerophon lost all the innate dignity of its title and became The Bully RuflSan. But surely the most inspired of these changes was made when the Scriptural text, "God encompasseth us' became The Goat and Compasses. This was due no doubt to a revulsion of public feeling against the stern-lived Puritans, and the phrase in its final form readily lent itself to treatment by the signboard artist. Our English Elizabeth was not greatly impressed by the efforts of the signboard portrait painter of her time. There was many a roadside inn which boasted a portrait of the classic features of the Qir-i, but we doubt that they were classic enough, for Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been commissioned by her to grant "lycences for the keeping of taverns and the retayling of wines in England," tells us that an order went forth that these signs should be "knocked to pieces and cast into the fire." And probably they deserved their fate. Among other inns which overtop ancient cellars is The Lion, at Shrewsbury. Most of the building we see today was erected to the order of one Robert Lawrence, a famous innkeeper, who lived in the latter part of the eighteenth century, but the maze of its cellars dates back about two centuries* earlier. This inn was once graced by de Quincey, and he descanted at some length on "the sumptuous room" allotted to him on that occasion. It was none other than the famous ballroom, designed and decorated by the brothers Adam, and de Quincy had perforce to sleep in this splendid apartment because there was no room anywhere else. That was in 1808. Thirty years later Charles Dickens visited the same inn, and the charm of it smote him strongly. Tne cellars of The Radnorshire Arms in Presteign also antedate the house above them, which was built in 161 C by a kinsman of John Bradshaw, the regicide. The distinct air of mysterv about this delightful old inn is not the least part of its charm. Tradition has it that there were two subterranean passages leading from the cellars, one to the site of Presteign's old castle, the other, much longer, leading under the River Lugg into Wales—but the tradition remains unproved as yet. The house itself i~ believed to have secret rooms and more than one secret passage. The wayside inns of England are many, and as beautiful and picturesque as they are numerous. There is one near Uffington,. in. Tom Brown'a coun-

try; a small, sturdy, thatched house this, which looks down upon a smiling valley ringed about with hills. You will find its counterpart along almost any country highway. Near Princes Risborough, on the Chiltern slopes, is The Pink and Lily, an inn which looks out upon great distances and the rolling country of trees and meadows, country that Rupert Brooke knew well, for he stayed often at this wayside hostelry. The Crooked Billet, a mile or so from Waddeson village along the Aylesbury Road, is another typical roadside inn, full of colour and not without life. Its mellow walls are faded red and yellow, the signboard is blue, and the spreading branches of a great oak shade the entrance door.