‘This was the worst public house company I met during the whole of my travels. Nothing I saw reminded me so strongly of Hogarth’s pictures. The women were the most degraded I have ever met. They were noisily obscene. One woman illustrated a filthy tale about herself by bodily motions. The tales provoked uproarious laughter. The potman joined in and laughed as heartily as the rest. This conversation could be heart at the bar. I remained for half-an-hour yet no one interfered or called for anyone to desist. One young girl, red-eyed with drink, repeatedly called upon one of the tale-tellers to “tell the one about the parson”. When at last the request was granted she became hysterical. It was the vilest story I have ever heard. This conversation was shouted rather than spoken. Anyone passing this house could have heard quite distinctly. There were children playing outside the doors. From the brazen way the women behaved, the attitude of the potman, and the way calls were made for this and that filthy story, one could guess that these sort of ‘carry on’s ’ were not exceptional for this house.’
Sounds rather modern doesn’t it? Actually it was published in 1927 and is an attempt by the author to profile the pub as it was then; it’s rather a negative approach and tut-tuts a lot about the amount of drink people are consuming (nothing has changed there then), but it’s also a fascinating piece of social history about an essential part of our lives, something I don’t think the author gets. And he’s a bit of a spoilsport in not telling the reader the tale about the parson…
