HORSE-SHOE TAVERN.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 19 September 1912, Page 25

HORSE-SHOE TAVERN.

■“Hang up hooks and" speres to scare, Hence the hag that rides the mare!” It is probable that of all the changes tnat. are- noticeable in_.our great .towns and cities, breweries remain unscathed or untouched by the hand ..of time more than any other old buildings and works. There are noted breweries standing in the centre .of busy thoroughfares, the work of the brewery going on undisturbed, .much as it did when tne surroundings were rural and the streets quiet. The famous brewery of Henry Meux and • Co., Litd., of Tottenham Court Road, is ■one of the London sources of production which seem to be undisturbed as time goes on. It takes its name from the famous Horse-Shoe Tavern adjoining it. The tavern itself was so named because its noted dining-room was of horse-shoe shape. Perhaps that form of dining-room had been .adopted in consequence of the immense number of horse shoes, signs 'of good luck, which have for many years been nailed all over the great doors of the brewery. The horse shoe is still the trademark of the firm, and the trappings of the dray horses have from time immemorial been • decorated with this symbol of good fortune. Standing at an angle of Tottenham Court Road and New Oxford Street, the famous brewery was founded in the reign of George 111. It covers .something like four acres, and is celebrated for the quality of its liquor. There have at times been riotous mobs around the Horse-Shoe Tavern and brewery, for the buildings were attacked by a hostile mob in 1816. The horse-shoe has frequently been associated with inns and taverns, and it is well-known that' the horse-shoe itself has for centuries been regarded as a charm against witchcraft, and as suggested from the words quoted -above, from Robert Herrick, the horse

shoe has been nailed ap again and again, not only in taverns, but over the doors cf many dwellings. The “Three Horse-Shoes” is not an uncommon sign, and the “Horse-Shoe” has frequently been used in combination. There was a “Sun and HorseShoe” in Great Tichfield Street, and the “Hoop and Horse-Shoe” on Tower Hill. Some years ago a somewhat comical handbill referred to the removal of a landlady to the “HorseShoe and Crown,” in Castle Street; it read as follows: —“Daughter of a seventh daughter, removed to the sign of the ‘Horse-Shoe and Crown’ in Castle Street, near the ‘Seven Dials’ in St. Gile’s.” Apparently the woman was a fortune-teller, and interpreted dreams. To-day her place would of business would have been raided, and she would have been hounded out as an impostor. Three centuries ago she would have been burned as a witch! —London L.V. Gazette.