Book Review Jacqueline Simpson Green MEN AND White Swans
by A study of the legends that inspired many of Britain’s wonderful inn-signs.
BOOK REVIEW JACQUELINE SIMPSON GREEN MEN AND WHITE SWANS 2000 Random House.
A pub signs book written by a folklore history specialist, set out in a very expert style that never fails to entertain.
Unusually for an inn-sign book, it has few illustrations, and these are mostly pencil drawings, but the text speaks for itself and conveys a picture very much its own.
Some of the alphabetically listed entries are well known, and range from popular heroes such as Robin Hood and dick Turpin, to nursery rhyme figures such as Mother Hubbard.
Some stories are macabre, such as that of the London Blade Bone bar where a dismembered murder victim was discovered in the cellar, and the landlord gained permission from the police to keep a shoulder bone to show off to customers for many years afterwards. Simpson disagrees with the story, dismissing it, as with many others, as an urban legend. Her stance is quite sceptical on haunted pubs too.
There are surprising additions, such as The Hobbit, which the author freely acknowledges takes its pub name from Tolkien’s novel, but emphasises that the Middle earth author drew from legends of halfling hobbits being at large in the land anyway.
Of Dick Turpin, we learn that his legendary overnight ride from London to York was originally attributed to another highwayman entirely, and as much a theft in Turpin’s name as many others committed by the outlaw.
As much a study of tradition, legend, myth and folklore as a guide to inn-signs, this is a lovely, lively work presenting a mixture of murders, fairies, kings, demons and even old songs, such as the Yorkshire anthem, Ilkley Moor.
Well indexed and with a fine bibliography for future research to.
Arthur Chappell
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