QUAINT NAMES FOR INNS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19124, 19 March 1924, Page 5

QUAINT NAMES FOR INNS.

ORIGIN NOT ALWAYS OLEAE. There are many quaint names of inns ini Great Britain, though the origin of soma of thorn is by no means clear. For instance, there is the Why Not on a main road in Kcrthants in such a position that the wayfrrer is suddenly confronted as he turns at corner with this plain hint to take a littln refreshment, writes A. Cossons in Open Air. Many inns owe their names to religious or ecclesiastical origins Perhaps the quaintest named of these is in Winchester, and is called Te Olde Hostel of God Begot, or, in short, God Begot House. Angela ara' common, there are one or two Virgins, and various saints have their names and sometimes their persons figuring on signboards. At Lychett Minster, near Pocle, is the St. Peter’s Finger, while the emblem of that saint has given the name of Cross Keys to scores of houses. There is a Good Samaritan in London’s East End. One of the commonest names with ant ecclesiastical origin is that of the Lamb/ and Flag, the correct sign being a representation of the Paschal Lamb carrying g, white banner with a red cross on it. Of th«- semi-ecclesiastical origin are thd Tink’s Head and Saracen’s Head, names dating from the Crusaders. Names connected with trades are to be tbund nearly evsrywhery. Athcrstonc. in Warwickshire, lias a Hat and Beaver; Forge Hammers and Rolling Mills occur in South Wales; Pilots, Jolly Mariners, and Jolly Sailors abound on the coast. The butchering trade has a strong representative in Hull in the Marrow Bone and Cleaver, and in the East End of London is a Five Bella and Blade Bone. In addition to these, nearly every trade has at least one house named from its Arms, though few have any armorial bearings to show. The Napoleonic wars were responsible *or a large number of publichouse names in memory of our great soldiers and sailors, the most frequently occurring being, perhaps, the Marquis of Granby and the Admiral Rodney. Many of these houses wore probably renamed at that time, the older names going into the limbo of the past. It is strange that there is only one Sir Francis Drake in Devonshire. ,