The History of Signboards, from the Earliest times to the Present Day — John Shaqi
The History of Signboards, from the Earliest times to the Present DayHotten, John Camden
History
The History of Signboards, from the Earliest times to the Present Day
Hotten, John Camden
Inn signs -- England -- History; Signs and signboards -- History
The Carpenters will to the _Axe_,
The Colliers will dine at the _Sacke_,
Your Fruterer he to the _Cherry-Tree_,
Good fellowes no liquor will lacke.
The Goldsmith will to the _Three Cups_,
For money they hold it as drosse;
Your Puritan to the _Pewter Canne_,
And your Papists to the _Crosse_.
The Weavers will dine at the _Shuttle_,
The Glovers will unto the _Glove_,
The Maydens all to the _Mayden Head_,
And true Louers unto the _Doue_.
The Sadlers will dine at the _Saddle_,
The Painters will to the _Greene Dragon_,
The Dutchmen will go to the _Froe_,[22]
Where each man will drinke his Flagon.
The Chandlers will dine at the _Skales_,
The Salters at the signe of the _Bagge_;
The Porters take pain at the _Labour in Vaine_,
And the Horse-Courser to the _White Nagge_.
Thus every Man in his humour,
That comes from the North or the South,
But he that has no money in his purse,
May dine at the signe of the _Mouth_.
The Swaggerers will dine at the _Fencers_,
But those that have lost their wits:
With _Bedlam Tom_ let that be their home,
And the _Drumme_ the Drummers best fits.
The Cheter will dine at the _Checker_,
The Picke-pockets in a blind alehouse,
Tel on and tride then up Holborne they ride,
And they there end at the Gallowes.”
Thomas Heywood introduced a similar song in his “Rape of Lucrece.” This,
the first of the kind we have met with, is in all probability the
original, unless the ballad be a reprint from an older one; but the term
Puritan used in it, seems to fix its date to the seventeenth century.
“THE Gintry to the _Kings Head_,
The Nobles to the _Crown_,
The Knights unto the _Golden Fleece_,
And to the _Plough_ the Clowne.
The Churchmen to the _Mitre_,
The Shepheard to the _Star_,
The Gardener hies him to the _Rose_,
To the _Drum_ the Man of War.
The Huntsmen to the _White Hart_,
To the _Ship_ the Merchants goe,
But you that doe the Muses love,
The sign called _River Po_.
The Banquerout to the _World’s End_,
The Fool to the _Fortune_ his,
Unto the _Mouth_ the Oyster-wife,
The Fiddler to the _Pie_.
The Punk unto the _Cockatrice_,[23]
The Drunkard to the _Vine_,
The Begger to the _Bush_, there meet,
And with Duke Humphrey dine.”[24]
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account