Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-11-19
ROMANCE or INN SIGNS.
Some OF the Quaint Legends Still to
Be Found In England

Be Found In England
There would, indeed, seem to be no
limit to the number of quaint inn.
signs in England. At Kings Lynn, in
Norfolk, for instance, is to be seen the
Honest Lawyer. An old painting is
fastened to the wall depicting a law
yer carrying his head in his hand, Inn
plying, of course, that no lawyer is
honest while his head remains on his
shoulders This is variation of the
better known sign of the Silent Wo-
man, in which headless woman is
represented. @The Three Compasses is a
frequent sign on French, German and
Dutch as well as English inns. The
inn Of that name in, Grosvenor row,
Pimlico, was formerly called the Goat
and Compasses.. .--.z
Others have suggested that the sign
! is a corruption of the puritanical
| phrase God sencompasseth u.s." The
goat, however, may have been the
original sign, to which mine host add
| ed his Masonic emblem of the COM
passes-a likely explanation, seeing
that there is Salmon and Compasses
at Peterborough.
is supposed to have originated with
the nursery rhyme: ~
/ - Hey diddle diddle,
7 The cat and the fiddle.
| But other explanations have been Of
fered. One is that it may have orig
! mated with certain Cation Adele, a
stanch Protestant, in the reign of
Queen Mary, and only have been
changed into the cat and fiddle by cor
ruption If this is so it must have
lost it's original appellation very early,
for in 1859 we find Henry Carr, signe
of the Cate and Fidle in the Old
Chaunge." The Bull and Gate, in
Holborn, at which Tom Jones alighted
when he first came to London, proba-
lily took its name from Boulogne Gate.
The Bull and Mouth-a frequent sign
5is corruption of Boulogne Mouth,
and both no doubt We're intended as
compliments to Henry VIII, who took
1 Boulogne in 1914. An inn at LANDAU
i once had for it's sign the Cock. But
/
landlord thought he would try the eff
! feet of a new sign. He accordingly
4 put up a portrait of the bishop Of
4 LANDAU and called the house by that
name. A rival in the neighborhood
thought he saw his way to make fresh
I customers by this change and straight
I way altered the sign of his inn to the
/ Cock, with good results. Landlord
4 No. /, hearing of this, was greatly ex-
i asperated, and by way of checkmating
his adversary he had painted up I'M
4 der the bishops portrait, 'This is the
4 Old Cock!' ..
I About mile outside the little viii
lage of Tintwistle is an inn bearing
i the sign the Shepherd Is Very
4 Quiet Man. A former tenant of the
house, which is opposite the lower end
Of Torside reservoir of the Manchester
4 waterworks, was Joseph Brownhill,
known as the Shepherd Of Woodhead
! He died in 1889, and his portrait still
hangs in the front room of the inn
which is locally known as the Quiet
Shepherd. This inn can be seen from
the Great Central main line and is the
Il property of Lord Tollemaehe of Hell
mingham. Near Prestwich is the
! Same Yet. This was formerly known
4 as the Seven Stars, but bygone land
lord decided to have his sign repainted
When the painters asked what they
We're to put on the board he replied
"Same yet And they took him a
his word
q At Old Turnford. in Worcestershire
there is q sign which represents q ne
gro in tub. Two women In whit,
aprons and caps are endeayoring I,
scrub him white, the whole represent
ing the Labor In Vain. Yet another
In the main street OF Dudley, has TO
q Sign the Round Of Beef, while some
y where Id the south or England is tn
Devil ana Bag d Nails. And with tina
I feel I must close my Hist +. n. Q
Weekly.