PUBLIC HOUSE SIGNS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 281, 1 June 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

PUBLIC HOUSE SIGNS.

THEIR ORIGIN AND QUAINT .SY.MBOIJ.SM.

(From the Glasgow Wecklv Herald.)

Sign boards go back to days .when it Has necessary fur a business house to havo a distinctive sign. .So "The Sign of the Griffin" was an easy way of identifying the haberdashery store you wanted. And that was before [he numbering of houses came in. The fact is that signs are almost a< old as civilisation. In China, tne :-'gn dates back Mine three or four thousand years, »!ii!o in ancient Pompeii sign, were in use, as the ruins havo revealed. This old custom remains with ms still in the barber\> pole, the pawnbroker'- three ball>. the (hemist.s nestle and mortar, and the inn with its painted sign. Iho public-house u'-od to have a piece of brushwood ar. a sjgji, wliy-h gave ri.se to the ada go '"Good wine needs no bush": hence no doubt "The Bull and Bush.'

THE .SYMBOL OF THE INN. But tne i-ign-board of an inn came to be symbolic, it grew to Lv the symbol ol its patrons, ;*ad of its social status So the leading hotel or inn proudly bore the insignia of Rovaltv, as, for example "The Red Lion." thus "The Royal Hotel." "The King's Arms" proclaimed the dignity of the hostelry. Then it might happen that the sign boi\» the coat of arms of the lending family m the district, or the name of the estate -e.g., "The Moray Arms," or "The Bucclouch Arms." And here the local historian would find much to interest him. But many inns can lay no claim to historic interest. Their signboard owes its name to some freak on the part of the landlord, or perhaps to the decoration. An inn in the Manchester d strict licars the strange title "The Sam.' Yet." The story is told that the original name was "The Seven Stars." but this became obliterated. .So mine lejst sent for the painter, and when that abstruce individual inquired what he was to put en tlix* .sign-boa.d he was told "Ah! The Same Yet.' History does record the oliservations of the land-lord at the sequel. HERALDRY AND SPORT.

Rut without pedantry, we can roughly classify the sign-boartk of mas and public-houses. While the origin of all lies in the custom to give houses a distinctive mark, ye; th? heraldic sign !*■- came, the most popular and the most diguifii d. .So " Lions" abound, and of all colours, though perhaps "The Bed Lion'' is the general favourite. This is a compliment to the Boyal Coat- of Arms. Others occur, such as "The Dragon Inn," 'St. George and Dragon.' "The. Griffin," "The Flying Horse," "The Saracen's Head," and 'The Boar's H.ad.' And again patriotism would prompt such titles as "The Britannia Inn." "The Caledonian Hotel," or "The Imperial,'' as well as "The Lord Nelson' and "The Duke of Wellington."

But public-house.s would wish to the needs of a special dass of people. So tho inn which appeals to the sportsman would have for a name "The Hound and Hares" or "The Dog and Gun." To this class we must assign

"Tho Sportsman," "The White Hart," and "The Spotted Dog." And we can imagine the interior, with its trophies of the hunt and the chase, its pictures oi horses, dogs, pheasants, and game ct ail sorts. One such little inn the writer remembers well, at the foot of the Pentland Hills, near Kdiuburgh, which wis frequented by lovers of that gentle art. fishing. I t bore the appropriate nanu "Tho Fishers' Tryst."

AGRICULTURE AND COACHING. But :i large number of inns catered ior pouplo with agricultural interest?, and appropriate names with a homely :nid familar sound, came into use. Wo know manv of these —'The Brown Cow" -Tlif Black Bull," "The Old Cock," "The Farmers Arms," "The Cheshire Ohccse," and "The White Horse.' These and many more are reminisccm of agricultural interests. though the famous " Cheshire Cheese,' off Fleet Strict, was tlie scene of many of Dr. Johnson's memorable V.lks with his circle. Then we are reminded of another group of inns, namely, those whoso interest lay in certain trades or Killings. Hence wo find "The Gardeners Arms," "The Builders Arms," "The Commercial Hotel. - ' Or we may find in homo towns ''The Flounders' Arms," and "The Weavers' Arms." or the •Country Hotel." the "Cross-Keys," the "Quivn's Head," and "The Fleece.' All these have a reference, to that patronago which the landlord cultivated. And they became the meeting-place for those, with common trade interests. But, of course, customs change, and after many years the name only survives as a hi.-toric memento of a past generation. The great inns of the coaching days, however were the premier houses of a bygone age—just the sort of inn on. l finds depicted by Dickens, whose knowledge of inns m'urt have b.~en very extensive. So the hostelry of the great coaching loads was t'h acme of hospitality—a homelv. spacious place wln.h Mipplied libeially the needs of the travel ling community.

HI'MOVKS OF THK SIGX-BOAKD. Manv signs howewr, arc more picturesque than anything el*-: such as •The Ansel," "The Dusty Miller/' and ■Tlie drapes Inn." But humorous and quaint signs are to ho found all over the (ountrv. Anion}! those are "The Hanging Crate," "Help M» Through,"/"!""? Silent Woman," and "D'rty Dick's." •'The Man Touched with Trouble" had a .sign with a man staggering along with a woman on Ins hack. But there must have !>oon many corruptions 'n sigu Iwards. so ''Elephant and Castle" iva, origmalv ''lnfanta of Castile. While "Cat and Kiddle" was "Caton hdo'e, referring to a trusty Adulphe Caton. nice mayor of Calais. While ; Mull and Month" is supposed to have In en - I! iloiuue .Monte." \ .torv i, told of a worthy lanulorl who thought "The Old Cock" not a respectable enough name for his house, -o he eh.'.n— d it to "The Bishop Blaise, ' Junk in" he -would appeal to a wider clientele. But his pushing rival saw Ins , ha nee :-nd ojvened a house opposite under the name "The O'd Cock." An I i| l: . an-ziv landlord of "The Bishop Blaise/' immediately got the painter t o inscribe under the worthy Bishop'sportraii the words. "This i- "The Old Cock." So probably many hotel- anil puhlic hoi..v- have eoino by their names in a> arbitrary a wav a- Bishop Blaise, wt wealth of interesting lore, sometimes of historic interest, lies at the | lM .k of a half-obliterated sign I ward. Uie country towns disappear would b» ■i i -aI 10-s.'for thev are a survival of a bygone dav wh n' the .streets el' our (■tic- must have been mncli more pic-ture-que than those of to day.