Bars (Drinking establishments) -- England; England -- Social life and customs; Hotels -- England; Taverns (Inns) -- England
the churlish vicar undergoes much discomfiture, and the curate receives
the reward of high preferment.
Outbursts of patriotism are a feature on the signboards. Great victories
of the British forces by land and sea, and the great military and naval
heroes have all been commemorated in their turn, beginning with the
_Crispin and Crispinian_, which greeted the troops of Henry V, as they
returned along the old Watling Street, after Agincourt (which was fought
on the feast day of these twin saints).
“Crispin Crispian shall never go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered.”
“Henry V,” IV, 3.
The _Bull and Mouth_ is said to be a corruption of Boulogne Mouth,
captured by Henry VIII. _Bull and Gate_ may possibly be a similar
vulgarism for Boulogne Gate. We might draw up a complete sequence of great
battles fought and fortresses taken during the last three centuries, but
those most frequently met with are _Gibraltar_, _Waterloo_, _Battle of the
Nile_, and _Trafalgar_. Admirals range from _Blake_ to _Napier_, generals
from _Marlborough_ to _Wolseley_. Not one of them is forgotten, though
_Wellington_, _Nelson_ and _Keppel_ can probably claim the largest number
of adherents. The _Marquis of Granby_, almost forgotten by the ordinary
reader of history, enjoyed a remarkable popularity in his own day, if we
are to judge by the number of portraits of this high-spirited and
courageous nobleman which hang outside public-houses. The original of Mr.
Tony Weller’s _Marquis of Granby_ is, we believe, the one at Epsom, “Quite
a model of a roadside public-house of the better class--just large enough
to be convenient, and small enough to be snug.” The sign portrayed “the
head and shoulders of a gentleman with an apoplectic countenance, in a red
coat with blue facings, and a touch of the same blue over his
three-cornered hat, for a sky. Over that again were a pair of flags;
beneath the last button of his coat were a couple of cannon; and the whole
formed an expressive and undoubted likeness of the Marquis of Granby of
glorious memory.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account