0 Unusual Tales of the West Country Local

by Diane Scott Lewis

For over a thousand years, the British public house or “pub” has been enjoyed by rich or poor as a gathering place for friends to share news—or to foment discontent, and of course enjoy alcohol.


In 1872, politician Sir William Harcourt said, “As much of the history of England has been brought about in public houses as in the House of Commons.”

Many public houses started out as different types of establishments. The Holman Clavel near Taunton in Somerset, dating from the fourteenth century, was at first a resting place for monks on pilgrimage. Charlie, a defrocked monk, (who apparently enjoyed his alcohol more than prayer) is said to still haunt the place by moving ornaments about or making items fly off the wall.

Another pub that began as a house of rest for pilgrims is the Shave Cross Inn, near Bridport in Dorset. At this site, a mysterious female saint (St. Candida or St. Wite) had her remains entombed in a plain stone chest below which were three wide openings. In the fourteenth century, pilgrims would stick their afflicted limbs in these openings, hoping for a cure. If they’d waited too long, and died, their bodies were removed by way of a coffin shoot, located supposedly where the pub bar is today.

The long bars we’re used to didn’t come around until Victorian times. Serving hatches were in some pubs, the precursor of the bar. Most establishments had pot-boys that scurried back and forth from the barrels carrying the brew to the tables. These boys carried the potboy’s beer tray or pot-board, which resembled a carpenter’s wooden toolbox. Inside were eight or ten beer pots and, on the top, clay pipes for those who wanted to smoke with their beer.

The seventeenth century Rose and Crown near Langport still has no bar, as the owners wish for it to keep its authentic charm.

The eighteenth-century Square and Compass in Worth Matravers, which started out as a pair of cottages, still has its serving hatch (and no bar).

During WWII the pub served the men of a secret RAF base that was developing radar right behind the establishment. When the Germans found out, in 24 hours the base personnel disappeared elsewhere for safety’s sake. And the pub lost 2,000 customers.

The Coach and Horses in Devon’s Buckland Brewer dates from the thirteenth century. Rumored to be haunted, on the ceiling of a bedroom above the bar hangs a hook directly above a trapdoor. Local hangings must have taken place here in the past.

The corner in the taproom, directly below the trapdoor, is so haunted that dogs refuse to go near it. Two cavaliers have been seen standing in a corner (the same sinister corner?) and a Roundhead has disturbed the sleep of visitors.

When food was short, beer was a source of nutrition for the poor and cheaper to buy than bread. In the 17th century, several ale houses were closed in Somerset to save on the grain being used to make beer. So the poor lost out on their "cheap" meal.

If drinkers today complain about the head on their beer (thus giving them less alcohol), in 1364 a dishonest West Country ale-wife was charged with the reverse. She sold quart pots into which she’d put an inch and a half of pitch at the bottoms.

Sources:
Martyn Cornell’s Zythophile
The Local, Ales and Tales of the West Country, 1999, by Chris Denham

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For information about me, my research and novels, please visit my website:
http://www.dianescottlewis.com

Detail: Unusual Tales of the West Country Local

0 Below stairs - the Footman

by Deborah Swift

' the lady of fashion chooses her footman without any other consideration than his height, shape, and tourniture of his calf'  Mrs Beeton

Horace Roome, a liveried footman at Shugborough Hall
(1920's)

The footman has been doing his duties in English upper class households since the seventeenth century. His name comes from the fact he was originally employed to run alongside the carriage, to make sure it was not overturned because the original tracks were rutted and full of boulders and tree roots. This then extended to the duties of opening and closing the carriage doors, or running errands when the Lord or Lady were out and about in town.

Image from The Telegraph

'In the eighteenth century they were frequently matched to run against horses and carriages. One of the last recorded contests was in 1770 between a famous running footman and the Duke of Marlborough, the latter wagering that in his phaeton and four he would beat the footman in a race from Windsor to London. His Grace won by a very small margin. The poor footman worn out by his exertions and much chagrined by his defeat, died, it was said, of over fatigue.'

from 'A Handy Book of Curious Information' William Shepard Walsh, 1913

The footman was a personal outdoor servant, who would assist a specific person within a household thus adding to their aura of luxury and status.

Appearances were important, so a tall personable footman was paid more than a shorter plain one. They were often dressed in impractical embellished liveries, which were at odds with the duties they were expected to perform. A 'livery' was a uniform that identified the servant’s employer. The heraldic arms of the employer’s family would be echoed in the colour and decorations of the clothes distributed to these servants. The word 'livery' comes from the French livree - to hand over. For more on livery in the 19thC see this article in Jane Austen's world.

Where more than one footman was employed, they had to match, like bookends, in terms of height and colouring. Because they were supposed to submerge their own personality, footmen were often given a name chosen by the employer. James and John for a matching pair, or John Thomas for a single footman were popular names.

Silent service was the order of the day, so shoes that squeaked were replaced, and a footman was not expected to speak or show signs that he had heard the family's conversation.

Towards the end of the seventeenth century, footmen began to do duties indoors, and one of their first and surviving indoor tasks was to clean all the boots and shoes of the family before they were required, in other words at night. This could be a long task, as several different pairs of shoes were worn each day by each person or guest. The polish was made of  'charcoal, spermicetti oil, treacle and white wine vinegar' in the 17th century.

Another indoor duty was to trim wicks, re-fill wall sconces, and in the later centuries to deal with the many oil lamps. At Belvoir Castle in the 1830's about six hundred gallons of oil were consumed for light in the four months of winter.

After World War I fewer households could  afford servants, so the position of footman is now rare except in the British Royal Household, where they wear a distinctive scarlet livery on state occasions.

As many of you know, I have been interested in the lives of the servant class, and my seventeenth century books are told from the perspective of ordinary people witnessing extraordinary events.

You might like this lovely Daily Mail article about the real life of servants at Downton Abbey
And this about the duties of the second footman at Manor House

Bibliography
The Duties of Servants Reprinted from 1894 publication by Copper Beech Publishing, Ltd.

The Victorian Domestic Servant - May

Early Modern England, A Social History - Sharpe

Detail: Below stairs - the Footman