THE GOAT AND BOOTS--THE BLUE LION AND STOMACH WARMER--THE RED HOUSE--THE FREEMASONS' TAVERN--THE EAGLE--OFFLEY'S--THE RAINBOW--THE ALBION--THE FLOWER-POT--THE BULL'S HEAD--THE DOLPHIN'S HEAD--THE LORD WARDEN HOTEL--THE CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS In Dickens's minor writings there are mentioned many inns, taverns and coffee-houses, some merely fictitious with fanciful names, others whose fame has been recorded in the social history of their times. _Sketches by Boz_ is fairly well supplied in this respect, but none of them is described at any length; indeed, scarcely anything but the names are mentioned, and those only in passing. In the second chapter of "Our Parish," we are introduced to the new curate who became so popular with the ladies that their enthusiasm for him knew no bounds. It culminated, we are told, when "he spoke for one hour and twenty-five minutes at an anti-slavery meeting at the Goat and Boots." A proposal was forthwith set on foot to make him a presentation, and this, in the shape of a splendid silver ink-stand engraved with an appropriate inscription, was publicly handed to him at a special breakfast at the aforementioned Goat and Boots, "in a neat little speech by Mr. Gubbins, the ex-churchwarden, and acknowledged by the curate in terms which drew tears into the eyes of all present--the very waiters melted." The Goat and Boots was no doubt a highly respectable hostelry, but its whereabouts is "wropped in mystery." So is the Blue Lion and Stomach Warmer, except that we are told that it was at Great Winglebury, and we know that Great Winglebury was a fictitious name for Rochester. But which was the inn that received this whimsical name at the hands of the novelist under whose roof Horace Hunter penned his challenge to that base umbrella-maker Alexander Trott, we are unable to state. On the other hand, the Winglebury Arms where Alexander Trott was staying at the time was the Bull Hotel, Rochester.[3] The Red House, Battersea, casually mentioned in the chapter on "The River" as the "Red-us," was a popular tavern and tea-gardens in those days and notorious for its pigeon-shooting; indeed, tradition has it that it took the lead in the quality and quantity of the sport, and that the crack shots assembled there to determine important matches. It was also famous as the winning-post of many a boat race from Westminster Bridge, and was the place "where all the prime of life lads assembled," the joy and fun of which is vividly described by Dickens in the chapter referred to. It was a red-bricked building, and a prominent landmark of what was then known as Battersea Fields, the one-time scene of many a duel. The Cross Keys mentioned in the chapter on "Omnibuses" we have already referred to when dealing with _Great Expectations_; whilst for particulars of the Golden Cross, the busy coaching-inn mentioned in "Hackney Coach Stands," and in "Early Coaches," we must refer the reader to "The Inns and Taverns of Pickwick."