Part 107 (2/2)

”Vastly well, indeed,” exclaimed Sparkle; ”and after all there is much to be done by a sign as well as by an advertis.e.m.e.nt in the newspapers, however inappropriate. The custom is of very ancient date, having been made use of even by the Romans; and not many years back a bush of ivy, or a bunch of grapes, was used for the purpose; nay, to the present day they may be met with in many places. The Bush is perhaps one of the most ancient of public-house signs, which gave rise to the well-known proverb,

”Good wine needs no bush.”

That is to say, it requires nothing to point out where it is sold.

At country fairs, you will frequently see the houses in its vicinity decorated with a Bush or a Bough, from which they are termed Bough Houses, where accommodation may be found. This practice, I know, is still in use at Boroughbridge, in Yorks.h.i.+re, during their annual fair in June, which lasts a week or ten days. But putting up boughs as a sign of any thing to be sold, was not confined to alehouses; for in old times, such as sold horses were wont to put flowers or boughs upon their heads, to reveal that they were vendible.{1}

1 In all probability from this practice originated the well known proverb,

”As fine as a horse,”

an ill.u.s.tration of which, from the ”Life of Mrs.

Pilkington,” is here subjoined:--

”They took places in the waggon for Chester, and quitted London early on May morning; and it being the custom on the first of this month to give the waggoner at every Inn a ribbon to adorn his team, she soon discovered the origin of the proverb 'as fine as a horse;' for before they got to the end of the journey, the poor beasts were almost blinded by the tawdry party-coloured flowing honours of their heads.”

~~398~~~ In Scotland, a wisp of straw upon a pole, is or was some years ago the indication of an alehouse; and to this day a s.h.i.+p or vessel for sale may be discovered by a birch broom at the mast head. I remember reading, that in Fleet Market, on the eastern side, there were some small houses, with a sign post, representing two hands conjoined, with words, ”Marriages performed within” written beneath them, whilst a dirty fellow a.s.sailed the ears of the pa.s.sengers with the reiterated and loud address of, ”Sir, will you walk in and be married,” (as if the dread of any stoppage in the trade of conjugality was threatening mankind with premature extinction,) and the parson was seen walking before his shop, ready to couple you for a dram of gin or a roll of tobacco.”

”Those were the times for getting married,” exclaimed Bob, ”no affidavits, certificates, and exposures at church doors!”

”No,” continued Sparkle, ”those are signs of altered times. A witty wigmaker adopted the sign of Absolom hanging to a tree, with King David lamenting at a distance, who was represented with a label issuing from his mouth, containing these words--

”O Absolom! my Son! my Son!

Had'st thou a peruke worn, thou had'st not been undone.”

This sign, if I remember right, was to be seen a few years since in Union-street, Borough, and is not uncommon even now in France, where you may also find the 'Cochon sans Tete,' (the pig without a head,) which is generally a restaurateur's sign, indicating that 'good pork is here--the useless animal's head is off,' ill.u.s.trative of the Negro's opinion of a pig in England--”de pig,” said Mungo, ”is de only gentleman in England--man workee, woman workee, horse workee, a.s.s workee, ox workee, and dog workee--pig do nothing but eat and sleep--pig derefore de only gentleman in England.'”

~~399~~~ The conversation increased in interest as they proceeded, and Tallyho was all attention; for it must be observed, that as his inquiry had occasioned it, he was willing to listen to all that could be advanced on the subject; and the Hon. Tom Dashall determined to have his share in the explanation.

”The 'Man in the Moon,'” said he, ”is derived from the old observation, that a tipsy person is 'in the wind,' or 'in the moon,' (a lunatic.) The sign may therefore be thought to give this advice, 'Here is good drink, gentlemen, walk in and taste it; it will make you as happy as the man in the moon; that is to say, steep your senses in forgetfulness.'--'The Bag of Nails' was the sign of an Inn at Chelsea, which may perhaps be noticed as the _ne plus ultra_ of ludicrous corruption, having originally been a group of _Baccha.n.a.ls_.”

Here risibility could no longer be restrained, and a general laugh ensued.

”A group of Baccha.n.a.ls, however,” continued Tom, ”is certainly not an out of the way sign for an Inn, nor do I conceive its corruption so very _outre'_, when we look at others that have suffered much stranger metamorphoses; for who would have thought that time could have performed such wonderful changes as to have transformed a view of Boulogne Harbour into a Black Bull, and a tremendous mouth sufficiently large to swallow its neighbours, horns and all; or the name La Belle Sauvage, or Beautiful Savage, into a bell, and a gigantic wild man of the woods.”

”Then again,” said Sparkle, ”taking up the subject, ”the pole and bason, though no longer the exhibited emblems of a barber's occupation in London, are still very often to be met with in its environs and in the country, where they are ostentatiously protruded from the front of the house, and denote that one of those facetious and intelligent individuals, who will crop your head or mow your beard, 'dwelleth here.'

Like all other signs, that of the barber is of remote antiquity, and has been the subject of many learned conjectures: some have conceived it to originate from the word poll, or head; but the true intention of the party-coloured staff, was to indicate that the master of the shop practised surgery, and could breathe a vein, as well as shave a beard; such a staff being to this day used by pract.i.tioners, and put into the hand of the patient while undergoing the operation of phlebotomy: the white band, which no doubt you have observed encompa.s.sing the staff, was meant to represent the fillet, thus elegantly twined about it.

~~400~~~ ”And this,” said Sparkle, ”appears to be the most reasonable conjecture of any I ever heard, as it is well known the two businesses were in former times incorporated together, and the practiser was termed 'A Barber Surgeon.' Then as to their utility: the choice of a witty device, or splendid enluminure, was formerly thought of great consequence to a young beginner in the world; and I remember reading of an Innkeeper at Ca.s.sel, who having considerably profited by his numerous customers under the sign of 'The Grey a.s.s,' supposing himself well established in his trade and his house, began to be tired of the vulgar sign over his door, and availed himself of the arrival of the Landgrave of Hesse, to make (as he thought) a very advantageous change. In an evil hour, therefore, 'The Grey a.s.s' was taken down and thrown aside, in order to give place to a well painted and faithful likeness of the Prince, which was subst.i.tuted for it as a most loyal sign.

”A small and almost unfrequented house in the same town, immediately took up the discarded sign, and speculatively hoisted 'The Grey a.s.s.'

What was the consequence? Old codgers, married men with scolding Avives at home, straggling young fellows, and all the 'fraternity of free topers,' resorted to the house, filled the tap-room, crammed the parlour, and a.s.sailed the bar: the Grey a.s.s had the run, and was all the vogue; whilst the venerable Prince of Hesse swung mournfully and deserted at the other place, and enticed no visitors, foreign or domestic; for it should be observed, that 'The Grey a.s.s' had such reputation all over Germany, that every foreign n.o.bleman or gentleman who came to Ca.s.sel, was sure to order his coach or chaise to be driven to the inn of that name; and this order of course was still continued, for how was it to be known by travellers coming from Vienna, Hungary, or Bohemia, that a certain innkeeper at Ca.s.sel had altered his sign? To the inn, therefore, which was denominated 'The Grey a.s.s,' they still went.

”What could the poor deserted innkeeper do in such a case? To deface the fine portrait of his master, would have been high treason; yet losing his customers on the other hand was downright starvation. In this cruel dilemma he dreamt of a new scheme, and had it executed.

~~401~~~ The portrait of the Prince was preserved, but he had written under it, in large characters,

'This is the Original Grey a.s.s.'

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