The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-22 00:00:00

ORIGIN OF' WELL-KNOWN SIGNS

There are few signs more common than that of
Green Man and Still." The origin of the name is as rte
lowS :—Mr: Jekyll, one day, meeting bis friend, the 4,
Lord Erskine, soon after he had received the Green it,
bon, said, " May I congratulate you, my Lord, on 11a v!:,
the Green Ribbon ?"—" Yes," replied his Lordship, 2.1],
lam the same man still."—" Then," rejoined Mr. Jehire,
it will be the most evident sign of your deserts, and t e to
fore you must he the Green Man and Still." A publiealling
whom Mr. J. told the stor immediately resolved on rn%,
that the name of a tavern lie was erecting at the time.
example was soon followed by several others.
The Royal Oak" is another sign which is
rally met with in the country, as well as in London• It at
first set up soon after the restoration of Charles IL 7,rit
monarch's life having been saved through his coneealm‘te
from his pursuers, in an oak tree, after the unfortunall
very Arta
battle of Worcester. Of course the name of " The 'Who
Oak" was only made use of for a long time by those
were most attached to the fortunes of the Stuart fan"lY"iy-
" The Bible" is not a very common sign. There is
It
,n in
es:',o,
one in London, which is in Shire-lane, Tmpie_bar.
formerly a house of call for printers, and had its origlbic
the circumstance of the then professors of the tYrgriaoPol:-
art bavinc, to print far more Bibles than of any other
TheeMitre" Inn is a very ancient name. It was !Isc'ie
set up on the introduction of prelacy into England.. ()el,
Daniel Rawlinson kept a tavern under that nanie,g' rch
reign of Charles the First. On the murder of that menathat
he covered his sign with black, assigning as his reason, tieb
by Charles's death the honour of the mitre was l'08•
eclipsed, he being so good a friend to the Church of
the
land. It is added, that this endeared him so much to his
friends of the Church, that they so much fre
house, as to enable himacquire Bands
°
speedily to a
fortune. sid"s
" The Crown Inn" is. one of the most ancient k 0,
which is known to exist. It had its origin so far bac of
1246, where it was used by a house at the east 0 fien
Crownfield, from which it derived its name. It ha'
landlo
since then been adopted as expressive of the
loyalty. There are few signs more common. bid
" The Punch Bowl" is generally supposed to hare
its origin in one of the species of drink be bad gutit is
to
quentca
public-house. The supposition is natural enough, brace of
not correct. It was first made use of in conseclueneiver
the following circumstance :—A man having stolen amsl for
ladle from a tavern, was tried before Lord ManS6el)"
the offence. The counsel for the Crown was nnush-,1 (30,
were on the prisoner, who, he was informed, had "re,.-Pte4,
attorney. His Lordship, in a half whisper, inte-u.so
the counsel, begging him to moderate his severity ;
adding, that if the fellow had been an attorney he ialeo
not have been content with the ladle, but would hare
the bowl also. s
" The Golden Ball" is a very common sign. It as
COI?
set up in honour of royalty. When the EroPererr3ritih
stantine was at York, he was presented by the, nf the
soldiers with a hesa or golden ball, emblematiea'ii; scio
sovereignty he had acquired over this country.
according to ancient story, so much pleased with tb's' it'
on embracing Christianity, he had a cross placed 'VP d
Hence the golden ball was soon after extensively set tt.
a sign, by the publicans throughout the country. 001
White Conduit-house." There is only one Bo
ber-1 i°
te
this name in London, and we do not know of aoYo
'the country. It had its name from a spring of et,,,eileot
Icl4
water in the vicinity, over which was erected a
-
composed of flint and stone, and, being mixed wit' re re'
it had a light, white appearance. The workmen s'e
at tie
galing themselves on the completion of this buildin'„ii
very moment Charles I. was beheaded at Whiteb.-
small portion of the original building still remains'