Gareth at What England Means to Me sent us this lovely photo of The Jacobean Bell Inn in Burwash (Sussex), which was featured in Rudyard Kipling’s Puck of Pook’s Hill:“And while I am tearing my hair over this, Ticehurst Will, my best mason, comes to me shaking, and vowing that the Devil, horned, tailed, and chained, has run out on him from the church-tower, and the men would work there no more. So I took ‘em off the foundations, which we were strengthening, and went into the Bell Tavern for a cup of ale.”
Kipling lived at Bateman's in Burwash, of course, and you know how much we love literary travel!If you're wondering about the proximity of the graveyard to the pub, you see that a lot in English villages, where the pub and the church are right next to each other and the heart of the community. And of course, old pubs in England invariably started life as inns, where weary travelers rested their heads and their horses.
5 comments:
Award and plug for you at my place!
Nice pic and history as always...
And I think death and drinking should always go hand in hand so the proximity is perfect! haha!
A lovely olde pub indeed.
It makes for a short walk after the funeral ;)
It's a great tradition - the olde pub and the 'wake' after a funeral.
Lovely anaecdote and really like your blog.
Thanks for your comments on mine and will definitely see you around.
warm wishes
x
M&M--thank you!
Jo--that's brilliant! I was thinking first the pub then the funeral, but you're so right! Good thinking!
Angel Bluestocking--thank you, and yes, it is a great tradition, especially with open bar!
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