Punch or The London charivari (4.1843)

102 PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

summoned Briareus, a tremendous giant with a hundred arms, to his j
aid, and the monster frightened the insurgents by a mere show of j ^
hands ; though perhaps, to ensure success, he also grinned and roared LEGENDS OF INN SIGNS,
a little.
Juno, much as she had to put up with in other respects, was yet
treated liberally by Jupiter. lie gave her a state carriage, more THE BELLE SALVAGE.
elegant and considerably lighter than our gracious sovereign's. It____r,__ '_A
appeared like the work of some cunning glass-blower; its colours were C ^~ jyy ~"~V about LoiulT ^th"1 ™
the prismatic, and its wheels flashed and sparkled as if with young X j /'/ £ &-?U,\ 0111011 01 e VICI;
, t , .i x i • n n u li - I'i'i? mtv that has not a legend
ladies'eyes, so that they were more luminous than Catherine-wheels. ^ ^ Wf attached to it • for where
This turn-out, which was something more than tidy, was horsed, as L^\ si??^ S^f" W facts wffl not 'come to the

an ornament of Trinity College (Dublin) has expressed it, with U<r 0f ;-|f aid of tlle ol(J chroniclers,
peacocks. Peacocks were Juno's favourite birds; though some i < > '~~*j$9s>^. they draw upon the onlv
believe that she preferred snipes. Jupiter also made her a present of W ^ j^WM ~__ bank where they were ever
a remarkably handsome throne; it looked as if of gold, wrought ^5^^- W * ** "^^^C^ known to keep a deposit—
with flowers and foliage, and enamelled and inlaid with gems. It « ; ~ - ' the bank of fiction. Stowe
had air cushions, was mounted upon azure and vermilion clouds, I Jrii '- > uas lue nrst v,no tried to

and went on mother-o'-pearl-like castors. Altogether it was a \ ^'-"^H^^^ pi" a lcgend 011 to the Belle
splendid property. The goddess only used it on state occa- y^M'/xfe- ' -^'iSP^S^ Sauva?®; and Camden has

She then appeared in a reclining posture, arrayed in the ?Wi<W&\*MjBfev V t"t iollowed c!o^elf ^ hf

first style ol fashion ; her diadem blazing with jewels on her brow, ^iMSmr'- -?£ V- •:> .''0. jmMtj^h >§k heels, so as regularly .to
ii " i • i i n i ii 'ZM/ir*'^ ■^mMm§SSS&S& tread down his literary an-
and her sceptre reposing on her left arm, with a cuckoo perched on •. >;g >. V;^^R»" kle-iacks by having « come
the top of it. Her other pets, the peacocks, displayed beside her | ..;s- /• it-' W» much stronger than
their magnificent tails, and behind her stood her attendant, the ■'' '-'jSfl^ - ^M^" ' the )ir>t-nained antiquarian,
beautiful Iris, canopied by the rainbow, with wings and a dress to wffmUmt " ' ,'' is •> -irons of deciding
match. (Had this Number of Punch but been published earlier, ^'nKKulMpt' between the two old chroni-
what :i picture we might look forward to at the a;>..;. lung .;' • l|Htt> Itff,' ''■■■&d%jKB£^'i clers, we vUited the spot in
exhibition !) ^^'WttrMi ' ■}^^WSSS^ ^ person, and were received
The beauty if Juno was heavenly, of course ; its earthly parallel "^f- ■ J fflB^^^*. f-V ^y tl,e ln'0Priet°r Wltj] that wm-
might be found in a Sultana, or perhaps in another great eastern I ^JLH^^^f^fe^ls->?§p3§P' ning courtesy for which he is so
lady—a Lady Mayoress. In character it partook of the imperious ; - S^^ ^^B'K-t"^ f.-lieiton>ly distinguished. Were-
the nostrils were perpetually elevated, and the lips continual •-•^^^^^SHg^^E q.liested. t0 ^ e/ lace ^and
pout Sin .-. ts called "cow-eyed;" either because her eyes were ''vf^i ^^^S^S ^ ""' antiquitus o ie pace, a
f . • , vi , , j • .. • , , c ir ' 'j ■■**dS3&&\ f u,.re no nelv referred to the pui
large and prominent like a cow's, or to distinguish her from Venus, ^^p^—■-"^g'^t'C-- V \ a" verv 0id structure—
who was celebrated for sheep's eyes. The Greeks gave her a Grecian \ indeed so 0ld that after working
nose, the Romans a Roman nose ; but both attributed to her a good ! for gome u we found uothi wag tQ be drawn from it.
nose—for mcen.se. She was, or might have been, sometimes repre- j There is no doubt thut the BeU; s<mvage was formerly a French
sented with a double chin. _ _ j ]l0USe) and that William the Conqueror stopped there in the course of his
In stature Juno stood high ; as she also stood in her own opinion, march against the Metropolis. Ti e learned writers of the last century
No doubt, she had a large bump of self-esteem ; besides various either did not know this, or they forgot to mention it Thomas-a-Kempis
other bumps which she received at the hands of Jupiter. is the only one who seems to give us a glimmering of the fact ; but the
It is customary in some parts of the country, when married folks passage in his works is too vague to have any reliance placed upon h.
quarrel, to serenade them with rough music. This would have been He says, « Some be savages at Inns, and the Norman knew it well
an appropriate kind of worship for their Majesties of Olvmpus ; but has been supposed by an anonymous commentator to allude to the Belie
we are nowhere informed that they received it. With respect to Sauvage ; but as the anonymous commentator has not even^compueu \wti
their disagreements, they were both, to a certain extent, in the wrong, ,he usual editorial request, « to furnish his name and address, reject
but Jupiter the most ; and he who would lift his hand against a de- I hl™ at 0!,ce a9 au. m^ei^nl unPostor' u H
r„_„i^0 r „ i • ,, ,, c t> i -i i ' l|le legends of the Belle Sauvage are so numerous ttrax ti.e meiaiy
fence ess female is unworthy the name of a British sailor, much b ^ ^ (<nice ^ „ off tWQ Qt three of them. it 1S
related in an odd volume of a rare work, to which there are no corners
and not a scrap of title-page, that in London there are many nines and
ottttes; but it does not say whether the Belle Sauvage was one of the
innes alluded to.
The following are among the most probable hypotheses as to the liystor-
rie of the Belle Sum-age, and though there is nothing but secondary evi-
dence to prove it, yet as evidence is in antiquarian matters quite a secondary
thing, it must be of very little consequence. It would appear from Bretton,
in his Notes on Nothynge, which is so scarce as to have been never seen,
that on the site where the Belle Sauvage now stands, there once " d*'el'te
an oulldall Aferrrechhaunttlee." This old merchant, (and we spell^his
name in the modern fashion to save ink) had a " lovellie daughterre '—
who was so lovellie that " the apprentisses and other gayye follkke " used
to crowd round the dorre of the ouldale merchant (hang the additional
it's and tt's and ee's) to get a peeppe at her. This used to make the old
man very sore ; and the " gayye folkke " getting to hear of this did ring his
bell in the night and run away. This caused the old man to fume, which
does not mean in the literal sense to smoke, though Camden says it does,
and I have bints that his pipe was put verrie muchhe outte by the gay
folkke's conduct. The ringing of the Bell, at all events, made the merchan-
savage, and in the course of time the merchant and his belle got so con-
founded, that one came to be talked of when the other was meant,^ and
when an inn was built the name of the Savage Bell was given to it. Some
years afterwards, a waggoner having put up at the spot for one night, was
so exceedingly fuddled on going away that he put the cart before the
horse, and the landlord, who was a merrillie conceitedde yeomanne, im-
mediately changed the name of the bouse to the Belle Savage, " i"
remembrannce," says Stone, " of the carrmanne who had putte ye cartte
before ye horsse in maimer yere mentionedde."

STANZAS WRITTEN IN AFFLICTION.
Nature, I love thee ! Thou hast been to me
The first, the fondest, and the firmest friend.
When all the world beside was cold, to thee
I could with hopefulness my prayers extend ;
For thou did'st give when none beside would lend.
I've known myself to stand on Ruin's brink,
With not a prop on which I could depend,
When mother Nature of her son would think,
And proffer unto me, through Aldgate pump, a drink.
Nature, I love thee—for to thee 1 owe
Each earthly item that i here possess.
Man wants but little (so they say) below.
But. than that little I have done with less.
But what 1 have, to thee I here confess,
From thee I liave inherited—ah ! no —
1 libel thee to say thou gav'st this dress ;
I bought it somewhere down in llemmings'-row,
Of an old man wbose days are pass'd in calliii"—Clo' !

official announcement.
Tnu Chancellor of the Exchequer begs to acknowledge the receipt of

twopence, forwarded anonymously as conscience-money by a party who Prin,od by Me,,.. Bradbury and Ev,„,, Lombard street, in .he P*rfnct of whhrfri.™, i. th.
gave a receipt not 011 a Stamp 111 the year 1824 aild thus defrauded the cit>' ot London, and published by Joseph Smith, of lO, Caroline Slrrel, Eaion Square, PlmllcQ, »!
revenue to the amount stated. ' ' uldT^k.N"' '3' u'ellinK",n Str"u *l'*ni- l,,e |,,wi,ul Savoy, & the «m«r *