[Illustration: The Bell Inn, Stilton]
Norwich is a city remarkable for its old buildings and famous inns. A
very ancient inn is the "Maid's Head" at Norwich, a famous hostelry
which can vie in interest with any in the kingdom. Do we not see there
the identical room in which good Queen Bess is said to have reposed on
the occasion of her visit to the city in 1578? You cannot imagine a
more delightful old chamber, with its massive beams, its wide
fifteenth-century fire-place, and its quaint lattice, through which
the moonbeams play upon antique furniture and strange, fantastic
carvings. This oak-panelled room recalls memories of the Orfords,
Walpoles, Howards, Wodehouses, and other distinguished guests whose
names live in England's annals. The old inn was once known as the
Murtel or Molde Fish, and some have tried to connect the change of
name with the visit of Queen Elizabeth; unfortunately for the
conjecture, the inn was known as the Maid's Head long before the days
of Queen Bess. It was built on the site of an old bishop's palace, and
in the cellars may be seen some traces of Norman masonry. One of the
most fruitful sources of information about social life in the
fifteenth century are the _Paston Letters_. In one written by John
Paston in 1472 to "Mestresse Margret Paston," he tells her of the
arrival of a visitor, and continues: "I praye yow make hym goode cheer
.
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