' 'Tis a delightful sound. And what a
dinner! What a profusion of substantial delicacies! What mighty and
iris-tinted rounds of beef! What vast and marble-veined ribs! What
gelatinous veal pies! What colossal hams! These are evidently prize
cheeses! And how invigorating is the perfume of those various and
variegated pickles. Then the bustle emulating the plenty; the ringing
of bells, the clash of thoroughfare, the summoning of ubiquitous
waiters, and the all-pervading feeling of omnipotence from the guests,
who order what they please to the landlord, who can produce and
execute everything they can desire. 'Tis a wondrous sight!"
[Illustration: The Shoulder of Mutton Inn, King's Lynn]
And then how picturesque these old inns are, with their swinging
signs, the pump and horse-trough before the door, a towering elm or
poplar overshadowing the inn, and round it and on each side of the
entrance are seats, with rustics sitting on them. The old house has
picturesque gables and a tiled roof mellowed by age, with moss and
lichen growing on it, and the windows are latticed. A porch protects
the door, and over it and up the walls are growing old-fashioned
climbing rose trees. Morland loved to paint the exteriors of inns
quite as much as he did to frequent their interiors, and has left us
many a wondrous drawing of their beauties.
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