[note split into sections — Douglas & rest of Island — additional notes maked fpc]

OLD INNS AND COFFEE-HOUSES OF THE ISLE OF MAN

NEIL MATHIESON, F.S.A.Scot.

When the paper on Old Inns and Coffee-Houses was printed in our Proceedings, Vol. V, pp. 411-433, lack of space prevented the inclusion of the lists of inns which should have appeared with it. These, together with some additional notes, are now printed hereunder. They include (with a very few exceptions) only such houses as can be traced as having existed prior to 1864 — a date taken because Thwaite’s Guide, published in 1863, gives a comprehensive list of those which then existed, while any opened later are considered as being too recent to justify inclusion in this paper.

References

[FPC — note Matthieson is frustratingly imprecise as to which edition of the directories is intended — those in [..] are my interpolation]

Douglas

Notes (Douglas)

The ALMA, last mentioned in 1889 (J.), is said to have stood on the site at the junction of King Street and Ridgeway Street now occupied by the Ridgeway Hotel (Museum MS. 552/C).

The ANCHOR. There was an Anchor in the Fairy Ground in 1837 (G.) and one at 7 Church Street in 1852 (H.), while Leech’s Guide for 1862 also shows one in Big Well Street. Mr. Wm. Cubbon, in his account of the Ancient and Noble Order of Bucks (Z. , V, p. 67) says that Lodge Meetings were to be held at the Anchor in Buck’s Row from 6th March, 1764. Where Buck’s Row was is not known, but the house referred to may be the one in the Fairy Ground. A Buck’s Room at Clague’s Hotel is mentioned in the Manks Mercury of 13th August, 1794, and Cubbon thought it possible that Clague’s and the Anchor may have been one and the same place. But I consider this to be improbable, as no proof of Clague’s being in existence earlier than 1791 has been found, and the Bucks had rooms in various inns at different times.

The ATHOLL was at No. 1 Athol Street in 1852, but as the numbering of the houses has been altered since that date it must have been at the Peel Road end — perhaps in the large house on the corner which was demolished in 1952.

The BIRD-IN-HAND is said to have been in Castle Street in 1837 (G.), but between 1843 (P. & S.) and 1852 (H.) it is shown as being at 8 Drumgold Street, and later still (1857, H.) in Factory Lane (Now Wellington Street).

The BLACK BULL is said to have been in Duke Street. The only record of it which I have come across is an advertisement in the Cumberland Pacquet of 8th October, 1782, which announced that it was open for the reception of travellers and had accommodation for horses, while at the same time — and apparently the same place —the proprietor (James Shaw) kept a well-stocked draper’s shop. Later there was another house of the same name just outside the town, for in the Manx Sun of 7th July, 1821, Richard Taubman gave notice that he had fitted up Ballabrooie, within half a mile of Douglas on the Peel road, as an hotel and lodging house under the name of the Black Bull.

The BLACK LION is shown as being at several places at different times. In 1818 (23.7.1818, B.) a news item tells of an accident which befell a mason ‘of the Black Lion in Duke Street. ‘ It was still shown as being in Duke Street in 1837 (G.) and 1843 (G. & H.), but by 1846 it was said to be in Queen Street (H.), and must have been of a fair size, for on the 5th August of that year the ‘Modern Druids of Douglas’ held a Supper and Dance there (12.8.1846, E.). In the same year (1846, H.) and for many years afterwards a Black Lion on the N. Quay is mentioned. This, almost certainly, is the house shown on town plans of the period as being at the seaward end of Crooked Lane, where that little street debouched on to the Quay. The last mention of it is in 1893 (T.).

The BLUE BELL TAVERN was in James’ Street. At what date it was built is not known, but by the time it came to be pulled down in 1894 it had become a regular rookery — the squalid home of vagrants and the very poor. Miserable as it was, however, they clung to it, and not until the roof was removed and the walls of their rooms demolished around them, floor by floor. could they be induced to move (15.7.1896, E.).

The BOWLING GREEN Hotel was opened in 1810 by Thos. Whowell, in a house which had been the residence of Thos. Stowell, Esq. , and alongside it ‘in the most pleasant part of the Camp Field’ he laid out the Green from which it took its name. But within a couple of months he found that the ‘drilling’ (or teaching) of the players, and the care of the green was a full-time job, so he gave up the hotel, which was sold by auction in July 1810

The BRIDGE, which stands on the N. Quay, near the head of the harbour, is mentioned in 1862. It now looks very up-to-date, thanks to the fact that its roof was raised and large windows inserted in the top storey in 1935 . Before that happened it was a little, ancient-looking building which gave every appearance of having been there long before 1862; and standing so conveniently at the old southern entrance to the town it is probable that it did so, though I have found no evidence of the fact. A John Lewin, ‘Innkeeper on the Quay, ‘ is mentioned in 1811 and 1812, and the house of a ‘Mrs. Lewin, widow, on the Quay’ several times between 1814 and 1816 It may be that these refer to the Bridge, it being known — as was so often the case at the time — not by the name it bore, but by that of its owner.

The BRITISH HOTEL. Dixon appears to have died in 1830, for from that year until 1839, when J. Nelson took charge, the licensee is shown as Mrs. Dixon.

The BROADWAY Inn and American Bowling Green was pulled down about 1890, and the present Central Hotel erected on the site.

The BROWN BOBBY. An earlier reference (1812) to that given in the previous article (Z. , V, p. 427) has since been found, while the story that the name commemorated a certain well-known hunter receives at least some support from an advertisement (15 .9. 1810, B.) which mentions the sale of a foal by ‘Mr. Harrison’s horse Brown Bobby. ‘ and another (9.6. 1814, C.) with reference to ‘the famous horse North Brown Bobby.’ In 1853 (19.11.1853, D.) Chas. Lowe announced that he had taken and opened ‘that old-established inn the Brown Bobby.’

The BUCK is mentioned in an advertisement in the Cumberland Pacquet of 18th July, 1776, in which Wm. Lawson announces that he has taken the White Lion, Douglas; and thanks his friends in the Isle of Man for their patronage while he was conducting the Buck. That this was somewhere in Douglas is only a matter of surmise, for no other reference to it has been found.

The BULL’S HEAD, which stood in the Fairy Ground (next door to the Ship) from 1831 (P.) to 1846 (H.) had a namesake in Strand Street between 1843 (G. & H.) and 1846 (H.) and another in Duke Street in 1852 (H.) and yet another in King Street in 1857 (H.) A local legend tells of how from the door of the first of these a man was seen to emerge into the evening dusk of the Fairy Ground — a man naked as the day he was born — who had wagered (the rum sold there was, no doubt, potent) that he would run in that condition as far as Castle Mona and back. The stake was a quarter-cask of ale; and when it was won, as it was, we may be sure that that cask was soon an empty one.

The CALEDONIAN is first mentioned in 1811. in a notice to the effect that ‘The sons of Caledonia residing in Douglas propose to celebrate the anniversary of their tutelary saint on the 30th November, at the house of Mr. Glendenning, Chapel Lane. Dinner on the table at half past three o'clock. ‘ An advertisement in June 1815 describes it as being on Parade Street, while in another in March of the next year it is said to be on the north end of the Parade. Two months later still it was taken by W. Dixon for use as an auction-room. The name was revived at a later date in Post-office Lane (1843, G. & H.), while in Brown’s Directory for 1882 a Caledonia is shown at 16 Castle Street. This name was afterwards changed to that of the Derby Arms, but it was more generally known as the Old Curiosity Shop, from the collection of strange objects displayed in it. This hotel is still there, though the ‘Arms’ has been drooped from its title and the collection has been somewhat pruned in recent years.

CANNELL THE LIVER’S was housed in a little, low two-storied building which still stands — now a shop — at the junction of Queen Street and the N. Quay. It was so called from being kept by one Cannell, who was also the skipper of a trading smack called after the bird from which Liverpool has been said to take its name.

The CAT AND FIDDLE was probably an unimportant little tavern, for it does not appear in any of the Directories. But it must have existed, for it is given as an address in an advertisement (6.8.1808, B.) which stated that it was ‘near the Marine Hotel. ‘ This is not of much help, however, because the Marine has not been identified.

The CATTLE MARKET INN is said — in an article on Old Douglas published in the Mona’s Herald of 15th July, 1896 — to have been on the site of the first church built in Douglas. Be that as it may, the inn was at No. 9 Heywood’s Place (1839, J.) which, as might be expected, locates it right alongside the old cattle market.

CLAGUE’S HOTEL. John Clague appears to have given up his hotel about 1813 — perhaps after his wife died in August 1812. The house was taken by W. Dixon, the auctioneer, who occupied it until Wm. Clark of the Cumberland removed his sign there in 1815 (and not in 1817, as wrongly stated in Z., V, p. 425).

The COACH AND HORSES. The position of this inn, unless there were two places of the name, is difficult to determine. First mentioned in 1813 (9.10.1813, B.) but without any location being given, Jefferson’s Almanac for 1818 shows it as being in Taylor’s Lane, and Haining’s Guide for 1824 as in Bond Street. From 1822 until 1834 Jefferson says Parade Street, but for the next year — after which it ceases to appear — gives New Bond Street. The only consistent feature about it is that wherever situated it continued from 1813 to 1835 to be shown as having the same landlord, J. Taylor. In 1837 (G.) its address is given as Chapel Row, with Elizabeth Gelling in charge. In 1841 (1.6.1841, E.) it is stated that ‘W. Joughin has opened, as a Temperance Hotel, the Coach and Horses, situated near Callow’s Slip, lately kept by Mr. P. Starkey and formerly by D. Mylrea. There is stabling for twenty horses. ‘ This is quite a different situation from any of those previously mentioned, for Callow’s Slip was where Granville Street now is, while the names of two former proprietors indicate that it had probably been in existence for some time. This, however, is not the end of the matter, for in 1852 (H.) it is shown — though not as a Temperance Hotel — as on the N. Quay, and a list of licences issued in 1862 shows it still there.

COFFEE-HOUSE (Manx). This continued to be in Duke Lane until 1857 (H.).

COFFEE-HOUSE (Scotch). An advertisement in 1823 (29.5.1823, B.) refers to a Scotch Coffee-house the locality of which is not indicated, while another one in the same year (15.4.1823, D.) speaks of a person residing ‘next door to the Scotch Tavern, near the Market Place.’ The two places may well have been the same, for none of the local coffee-houses of the period seems to have confined its sales to that innocuous beverage.

COFFEE-HOUSE (Welsh). Either Tavern or Coffee-house seems to have been an equally apt description, for during the brief period (December 1823-May 1824) during which John Dyke was the land-lord it was referred to as the Tavern, while under the next owner —W. Dawson it is found once more as the Coffee-house.

COFFEE PALACE. This was in an old building which in the 1870’s had been Priestley’s Restaurant. After it became the Coffee Palace it stood, a strictly teetotal establishment, gallant and lonely in the midst of an alcoholic sea, until ‘demolished, along with its neighbours, in the great clearance of the Douglas slums.

COULTRY CANNEL’S. Feltham (p. 129) names this as one of the five principal inns in Douglas, but, unfortunately, gives no information about it, and it does not appear to be mentioned elsewhere.

The ‘CROWN stood on the corner of Muckle Gate and Duke’s Lane, and its sign used to swing across the twelve feet of that narrow street. This old inn, a plain-fronted building of three storeys, was still flourishing up to the time it was demolished, with all its surroundings, when the old town was swept away. The spot on which it stood is now part of the ‘Corporation bus terminus in Lord Street, and the red and yellow monsters, as they start up, must disturb the ghosts of many an old toper. The one in Drumgold Street appears to have been quite separate from the Muckle Gate house, for both are mentioned in Thwaite’s Guide for 1863. and with different landlords.

The CUMBERLAND. To add to the confusion with regard to inns of this name an advertisement in 18 10 1810, B.) refers to one at Kewague (no mention of which has been found elsewhere) in connection with a Mr. James Hudson — presumably the landlord who probably moved there when the one in Big Well Street (where he is mentioned as being in 1806) was taken over by Wm. Clark sometime between 1806 and 1810. The one in Moore’s Court was demolished about 1889.

The DUKE’S ARMS (also called Duke’s Head and Athol Arms) was opened by B. Cole, in the middle stretch of Duke Street, in 1806. In addition to good stabling he offered his patrons ‘spruce beer for immediate use, and good porter in bottles. ‘ In the next year, however, he left it, going to the Liverpool Coffee-house. In the Duke’s Arms was a concert-room in which, in 1810, there was opened a School of Music where Mr. Hamer gave instruction in the singing of sacred music; which somehow sounds incongruous.

The ELLAN VANNIN ARMS. Old photos show this inn — a drinking place typical of those in the narrow streets in old Douglas —to have been a plain-fronted, four-storied building with a pointed roof and a swinging sign. It had one entrance from the Fairy Ground and another from the N. Quay. Mentioned in 1876 (R.) — though probably much older than that — it was pulled down in the great slum clearance, the last heard of it being in 1889 (J.).

The FLEETWOOD ARMS. An inn of this name is shown as being in Chapel Row in 1852 (H.) and another on the Quay between 1857 (H.) and 1863 (N.). Unless the one on the Quay in 1847 and 1857 had been transferred to Chapel Row in 1852 and later returned to the Quay there must have been two in existence at the same time. This is quite possible (as other cases show) but so also is the possibility that the Guides are in error.

A FORESTER’S ARMS is shown as being on ‘Castle Mona Lawn in 1852 (H.). This was the house which had earlier been known as the Castle Tap. But in the same year there was also a Forester’s Arms at 4 Strand Street (H.) and it was still there in 1863 (N.) in which year there was likewise one (still in existence) at the corner of Hope Street and George Street.
[fpc — Thomas Law, Foresters Arms Inn, Douglas — Gt Nelson St was identified as founding place of Court 1215 in 1841 — the name appears to have been changed from Sportman]

The FORT TAVERN (or Old Fort) was on, or near, the Parade, and behind the Plough; but does not appear to have been there for long. First mentioned in 1802 it was ‘to let’ with stables and coach-house in 1806 (16.8.1806, B.). In March 1808 it added to its amenities the billiard table which had been at the Paragon, and in the same year Mr. Ferguson opened a school for dancing in ‘the dwelling-house formerly the Fort Tavern, ‘ so by that time it had evidently closed.

The FRIENDLY INN was opened in 1818 by Mrs. Johnston, in a house ‘near the North wing of Castle Mona, in Sand Valley’ which had formerly been occupied by a Capt. Porter. It was described as being ‘on the sea-shore.’ In 1819 it was taken over by J. Firth (20.5.1819, B.) who removed into it his YORKSHIRE TAVERN though where he had been conducting this is not stated — while Mrs. Johnston transferred herself and her sign to a new site in Muckle Gate.

A GLOBE INN at Harris’s Corner is mentioned in an advertisement of 1847 (17.3. 1847, E.) in which people were requested to apply there to Mr. J. ‘Christian. Where Harris’s Corner was is not known, but a J . Christian is given as being an innkeeper on Parade Street in Quiggin’s Guide for 1844 and 1845, and if this is the same man it may be that he had revived the name of the old Globe, and possibly in the same house.

The GLOBE in Strand Street was known until some time in the 1880’s as the PIG AND WHISTLE. It is said to have had a sign showing ‘a grunter sitting on his haunches and blowing his reed'

The GREEN DRAGON was in Fort Street, near the Assembly Room. In 1809 the landlady was Mrs. Robinson — perhaps the lady who opened the British Hotel in July of that year. If that is so it is probable that she found it impossible to conduct both places, for in February 1810 the Dragon, ‘previously Mr. Wm. Oates’s house,‘ was to let; and being taken by a Dr. Taylor from England ceased to be an inn.

The GROSVENOR, which was in Athol Street, near the Railway Station, was known originally as the COMMERCIAL INN, and is referred to as such in 1877, when the old building was entirely re modelled both inside and out (19.5.1877, I.o.M. Times).

The HARE AND HOUNDS, a converted house looking like a little, country inn which had somehow strayed into the town by mistake, stood with its gable to the N. Quay and its front door — which displayed a particularly fine brass knocker — in Bond Lane.

The IMPERIAL HOTEL, which since about 1920 has housed the offices of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. Ltd. , was erected by High Bailiff Harris in 1861 (1884, T. , p. 34) on the site of the old Court House, and was acknowledged to be one of the best in the town.

The JOLLY SAILOR appears to have been on the Quay, though the only mention of it which I have found is in a newspaper of 1808, where it is given as the address of a certain advertiser.

The KING’S ARMS. In addition to those mentioned in Z. , V, p. 418, there was yet another one in Duke Street, which was opened by Mr. John Taylor in November 1821 and continued to be mentioned until 12th September. 1822, when the landlord — then named as John Taylor Thwaites — was sold up by the Coroner and the house advertised as being to let. In the next month it was re-opened by Thos. Cottier, who offered to provide Board and Lodgings at from 9/ - to 14 /- per week. Within a few months however (June 1823) he transferred his sign to a house in Muckle’s Gate (see Z. , V, p. 418).

The LABOUR-IN-VAIN. Its unusual sign (see Z. , V, p. 415) is said to have been painted by a Mr. Johnston, who was a brewer in Okell’s brewery. He is also credited with having done those of the Pig and Whistle and the Saddle.

The LAMB. The solitary mention of this inn which has been found shows it as being on the Quay, but confirmation of its existence is obtained in an account of the wreck of the "City of Glasgow’ ( 29.10.1825, D.) which lists amongst the members of a boat’s crew which accompanied Sir Wm. Hillary in a gallant rescue attempt the name of ‘John Kelly, of the Lamb, Douglas.’

The LANCASHIRE ARMS, shown as being in James’ Street in 1824, had not — so far as is known — any connection with the Lancashire Tavern or the Lancashire House, both of which were in existence about the same time as it was.

The LANCASHIRE INN (or House). From 1824 to about 1894 (when it is last mentioned) this was on the N. Quay, between the Oddfellows’ Arms and the Hare and Hounds. The building had started life as the office of the Monarch Steamship Coy. , and bore upon its roof the figure of a Liver bird, which now finds an unexpected roosting place over a house at the bottom of Windsor Road.

The LANCASHIRE TAVERN was in James’ Street from the end of 1820 until 1830. It had earlier been known as the SARACEN’S HEAD (21.12.1820, B.).

The LAXEY INN was said in 1876 (R.) to be at 3 Chapel Row, but in 1889 (J.) to be at the corner of Chapel Lane and Duke’s Lane. These two addresses, while quite separate, would be within a few yards of each other and may refer to the same place. The site of the latter is now covered by the Road Services bus terminus.

The LIVERPOOL COFFEE-HOUSE. The statement (Z. , V, p. 425) that ‘early in 1815 Long died’ is not correct. He gave the coffee-house up at that date, when he probably went bankrupt, but he died in Peel — in 1818

The LIVERPOOL HOUSE, in Bond Street in 1829 (K.), was moved to the N. Quay in 1831, and Wood’s plan (1833) shows it still there in the place where the LIVERPOOL ARMS came into being in 1843 ( G. & H.), and there was probably some connection between the two. Although the ARMS is first mentioned as being on the Quay in 1843 it appears to have had some sort of a brief existence earlier, for Pigot shows it as being in the Fairy Ground in 1837 and Jefferson in Great George Street in 1839 and 1840. In both these cases the landlord is given as T. Seddon, who also kept the house at 63 N. Quay in 1853, 1854 and 1855, but not in 1851 and 1852.

The LIVERPOOL HOTEL opened in September 1808 opposite the Meeting House. It was sold up two months later (when C. Richardson. the landlord, took over the Mitre at Kirk Michael) but was soon in the hands of a new landlord in the person of Mrs. Frances Livingston (25.2.1809, B.). Woods mentions it in 1811 but does not say where it was. The last mention of it is in 1894 (T.).

The LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER ARMS appears — though the evidence is not at all clear — to have been an amalgamation, in 1862, of the Liverpool Arms (see above) with the Manchester Arms ( see below).

The MAHOGANY BAR occupied a two-storey building with a steeply-sloping roof and two dormer windows, on the western corner of New Bond Street and Harris Lane. The shell of it, now an annexe of the Clarendon Hotel, still stands, and marks where the old streets ran.

There was a MANCHESTER ARMS in Duke Street in 1824 (G.), and another one is said to have stood on the N. Quay (or Parade) from 1825 (K.) to 1837 (G.), while Slater’s Directory names one at No. Chapel Row between 1843 and 1857 and another at 14 New Bond Street in 1846. What connection, if any, there was between all these is not clear, but it was probably the Chapel Row one which became associated with the Liverpool Arms (as mentioned above) in 1862. The last mention of the combination is in 1889 (J.).

A MANCHESTER HOTEL (or HOUSE) stood at the junction of the Fairy Ground and Harris Lane, its stone-pillared balcony giving a view round the end building of the former on to the Quay. The first mention of it is in 1857 (H.) and the last in 1889 (J.). It had earlier been known as the Oddfellows’ Inn (q.v.).

A MANCHESTER INN was on the Parade in 1829 (K.), and another ‘near the Marine Baths in Castle Street’ in 1858 (K.). This was said to provide unusually good facilities for bathing, as the tide came to within twenty yards of its side door.

A MANCHESTER TAVERN is shown on Wood’s plan (1833) as being in Heywood’s Place, but this is not mentioned in any of the Directories for the period. It may be that there was an error in the plan, and that the wrong name was attached to the building which from 1824 to 1834 housed the Eagle and Child, and in 1836 the Cumberland.

The MASONIC ARMS, which is described in Thwaite’s Directory for 1863 as being ‘closed, ‘ had become the Masonic Hotel by the time it was demolished c. 1934. Standing on the corner of the N. Quay and the Parade, it was the first of a long line of drinking-places which stood shoulder to shoulder along the Quay, ready and willing to receive all the attacks which thirsty visitors might make upon them.

The NAG’S HEAD is shown as being at three different places within the space of a few years. In the Castletown Road (4.6.1845,E.); at 35 N. Quay (1852, H.); and in New Bond Street in 1857 and 1858 (K.). It was from the New Bond Street one that the proprietor ( J. Hayes) ran a coach service to Ramsey with the four-horse coaches Favourite and Sportsman.

The NORTH WALES TAVERN, given as the address of an advertiser in 1819, but nowhere else mentioned, was probably the same place as that known earlier as the Welch Coffee-house and later as the Welsh Tavern.

The ODDFELLOWS’ ARMS was in Lord Street in 1838 (K.), but in 1842 (G. & H.) it is found on the N. Quay — the middle one of a row of five hotels — where it stood until the whole row came down to help provide space for the present car park. In addition to this Slater’s Directory for 1852 lists another of the same name in Duke Street, and two ODDFELLOWS’ INNS — one on N. Quay (which later became the Manchester Hotel) and the other on the Crescent. All four were under different management, so they must have been separate houses. (For the last one see under Crescent in Z., V, p. 418).
[fpc — Manx Liberal 30 Dec 1843 advert for Oddfellows Arms, North Quay, Mr P. E. Lycett (auctioner etc)]

The PARADE TAVERN was opened by Miss White when she left the Globe at the end of 1810 but it does not appear to have met with success. for in 1813 it is found advertised as being ‘to let, ‘ and on 19.3.1814 the furniture in it was advertised as being for sale (B.).

The PARAGON was opened in 1806 in the house known as the Old Post Office, in the central part of the town. The landlord was J. Dinsdale, but he gave it up in March 1807 (7.3.1807, B.).

The PHOENIX, first mentioned in 1818 appears to have had but a short life, for in 1820 ‘the Dwelling House formerly kept as the Phoenix Tavern, corner of Christian Street, near the Market’ was advertised as being ‘to let;’ though ‘Mrs. Kelly of the Phoenix Tavern’ is mentioned in June and July of 1822, when her daughter died in Douglas and her son in Jamaica.

The PIER INN (or Tavern) was at the landward end of the old Red Pier, next to the Imperial Hotel (now the Steam Packet Coy. office). It was still there in 1883 (L.).

The PLOUGH is stated to have been at various places, though the continuity of its management was unbroken. In 1819 it is said to have been on the Parade (K.), but the house it occupied was offered for sale in 1820 and from 1822 (K.) it is found in Dune (or Drury) Lane, from where it was moved in 1831 to Duke Street, only to return to Dune Lane in 1839 and shift again, in 1840, to New Bond Street, and in 1842 to No. 1 James’ Street, where it continued until at least 1889. When in Duke Street it stood — according to Wood’s plan —on the east side, on ground which is now a part of the roadway of Victoria Street where it has cut a wide swathe across the older street. There is also said to have been an inn of this name at No. 27 Big Well Street from 1846 (H.) to 1857 (H.).

That there should have been so many changes during such a short period seems very unlikely, and it is possible that in this, as in other instances, the various Guides and Directories which are the sources of the information were not as careful as they might have been in checking their facts.

The PRINCE OF WALES, said to have been on the N. Quay in 1837 (G.), is shown as being in Chapel Row in 1852 (H.).

QUINE’S. Sam Quine’s inn, as a photograph taken in 1912 shows it, was a little, whitewashed house of two storeys and an attic, its windows bright with pots of flowers and snowy lace curtains. Standing at the junction of Barrack Street and Big Well Street, with its door in the former, it has vanished for ever, but it has given a name to the spot where it stood, for this is known to-day as ‘Quine’s Corner.’

The ROYAL. The statement (Z. , V, p. 423) that the Royal became an hotel in July 1837 was copied from one in the Manxman (No. 13, p. 4, of June 1914). But this appears to be an error, for in the Manx Cat of 4 February 1848 is an account of a Dinner held at its opening in January of that year.

The SADDLE. It is said (Frow.) that before becoming an hotel this house had been the residence of a Col. Charlton.

The SHEPHERD INN may still be found in Nelson Street, facing the top of Drumgold Street. But though the old name can yet be discerned upon the walls (when they are wet with rain) the tall, narrow building is no longer an inn. Nor would it be true to say of it, as did Brown’s Directory for 1880, that it had a good view of the sea. The last mention of it is in 1889 (J.).

The SHIP INN, described as being on the N. Quay, next door to the Coffee Palace, might equally well have been said to be in the Fairy Ground, next door to the Bull’s Head, for it extended from the one to the other and had a door in each. It is a military axiom that a good soldier always makes sure of his retreat : for one visiting Douglas on an out-of-date pass, or for a sailor ashore on a spree, the Ship had obvious advantages.

The SMACK is yet another instance of which there were many in Douglas of two inns of the same name being in existence at the same time. In this case, in 1837, there was one in Chapel Row (landlord J. Christian) and another in Quayle’s Lane (landlord B. Gelling), but nothing more is known about either of them. In 1846 (H.) one is shown as being at 54 Strand Street.

The SOUTH QUAY TAVERN was opened on the Head Road in 1845, in what had been the Brewery Gardens. In addition to the usual drinks to be expected at a tavern the proprietor made a concession to a new public demand by emphasizing that he was equally willing to supply tea or coffee if these were preferred.

The STAR was opened by H. Carrington in Post Office Street in 1812 (20.6.1812, B.). But whether it was in any way connected with the one which Eliz. Cretney kept at 36 Lord Street in 1852 (H), or whether either of them was the fore-runner of the one which stands to-day in Nelson Street cannot be said. The Nelson Street one —which has also an entrance from Prospect Hill — is first mentioned in 1876 (T.).

The STEAM MILL must have been so named in the days when steam-driven threshing mills first clanged and snorted across the quiet countryside, to the amazement of the awe-stricken rustics.

The STEAM PACKET TAVERN, already in existence in February 1823, was removed in May of that year, by a Stourbridge man named Hodgson, to what had been the St. George Hotel, which itself had only been opened in June 1822. Its situation is variously described as Muckle Gate, and Duke’s Lane near Muckle Gate, which sounds as if it was on the corner of the two — perhaps in the house which was later known as the Crown.

The SWAN, in Wellington Square, is now a private dwelling.

The TALBOT, in Athol Street, is said to have been built by a wine and spirit merchant named Matthews. from the N. Quay, though no trace of such a person has been found. Old residents say that the stone blocks in its frontage were reputed to be some left over after the building of Castle Mona — though how they found their way to Athol Street ‘deponent sayeth not’ as the gentlemen who congregate in that street might express it. The building was turned into offices about 1930 (last mention as an inn was in 1898 (T.) ) but the massive yellow pillars at its door are still prominent, and the old name still shows above them, though there is no trace of the dog which generally (though perhaps not in this case) graces the door of an inn of this name. This dog was the badge of Sir John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, who fought against Joan of Arc, and was killed at the battle of Castillon in 1453.

The THEATRE ROYAL, in Wellington Street, has long ontlived the theatre which at one time faced it across the street, and from which the inn took its name. But on its walls may still be seen old play-bills which enshrine the names of actors and actresses who trod the stage of the theatre, and enjoyed a welcome at the inn when the play was done and the curtain down.

The UNION, in Duke Street, had but a very brief existence. It was opened by R. Smith, who at the same time commenced a butcher’s business but evidently found the combination too much for him, and in less than three months the doors of his inn were closed and all his goods sold up by the Coroner. Undaunted by this setback however he seems to have at once started business again, but this time he called his inn the CALEDONIAN.

The VICTORIA was a name used by several houses, and to locate them is not easy. The one on Prospect Hill, which was opened .c.1860, closed during the first world war, and is now Victory House, is obvious. There was a Victoria Inn on the N. Quay (or Parade) from 1840 (K.) to 1847, and an Inn, or Tavern, at 12 Drumgold Street in 1857 (H.). This last one is still there, though perhaps better known by its nickname of the DOG’S HOME. There was another one at 79 Strand Street in 1846 (H.), probably the same as the one said to be at No. 78 in 1863 (N.) and at No. 88 in 1876 (R.). There is no inn of the name in Strand Street to-day, and as the numbering has been changed it is not possible to say with certainty where this one was, though it may have been the inn now called the WATERLOO at No. 77.

The WHITE LION. In the Rising Sun of 28th September 1822 (and until the end of the year) a certain W. Thompson announced that the ginger beer, blacking and pork sausages which he made might be obtained from Mrs. Hampton, White Lion Inn, Pier. But as I have found no other reference to this lady, or to any inn kept by her, it appears probable that she was a resident at Mr. Hanby’s White Lion and York Hotel on the nearby Parade.