24 November 2016

Sign

While out and about in north Derbyshire today, I stopped in the village of Earl Sterndale. It still has a village pub. Can you guess what it is called? Perhaps "The Red Lion" or "The King's Head"? No. In fact this is the pub sign:-
I am sure that all female bloggers will applaud this unusual pub name, complete with a headless and therefore silent serving woman and the wise strapline - "Soft words turneth away wrath".And here's the pub in the heart of Earl Sterndale just across from the old red telephone kiosk that quite surprisingly still works. I guess that mobile phone reception in this area can be quite problematic - like serving girls with heads....

24 comments:

  1. Oh, boy! That'd get the femininist/sexist/politically-correct brigade (of which I'm not one or the other) jumping up and down, waving their arms about! :)

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    Replies
    1. Was the pub named after you Lee?

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    2. Probably!

      I rarely lose my head, though...but I do bite my tongue...too often sometimes. I think I might just have to change that!

      Today could be the day, because I'm lunching with some people in whose company I so often am biting my tongue! lol

      Try as I did try, I couldn't get out of the invitation!!! Oh! Dear!

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    3. Today, at lunch, you need to be the unquiet woman.

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  2. Well, that certainly silenced her. No words at all, not even soft ones. I'd like to know the story behind the advert.
    Like the look of the pub, the leaf litter on the ground and the red phone box.
    Alphie

    Alphie

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    Replies
    1. I believe there are three other pubs in England called "The Quiet Woman".
      The story is this - women should keep quiet or risk losing their heads.

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    2. Anonymous10:08 am

      ... because, as we all know, women are always right and men don't like this fact ;-)

      Nevertheless, I like the sign!

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  3. Mysterious meaning in this sign.

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    Replies
    1. I bet there are times when you have wished that The Micro Manager looked like that!

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  4. There's an Irish pub in Melbourne called The Quiet Man.

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    Replies
    1. Thwy probably got that name from the 1952 Technicolour American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It starred John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. (I got that from Wikipedia)

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  5. She didn't need her head anyway, right? Haha!

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    Replies
    1. Women can perform most tasks without their heads.

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  6. I wonder whether there is a ghost story attached to this, a headless woman that can be seen around the pub sometimes, quietly going about her tasks. Two or more centuries ago, there used to be a young woman working at the pub, so pretty everyone went to eat and drink there just to catch a glimpse of her lovely face. But the landlord wanted her all to himself and was jealous of his patrons staring at her, and hated it when she smiled back at them, even though it was good for business. One night when he was drunk and in a particularly nasty and violent mood, he chopped her head off and hid it in his wardrobe so that nobody could ever look at her face again.
    To this day, the poor woman wanders around, doing her duty and looking for her lost head.

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    Replies
    1. Your imagination is very fertile today Meike! As I understand it, nobody really knows where the name comes from. Perhaps your notion will take hold and in future years it will become the accepted explanation.

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  7. Replies
    1. "We" should keep schtum about that Mrs Weaver.

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  8. LOL -- sexist, but still funny in its quirkiness!

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    Replies
    1. Have you popped in "The Little Mermaid" yet Steve? (My apologies if such a question also appears sexist or indeed homophobic!).

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  9. Bet she saves a fortune on hairdo's !

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    Replies
    1. And rouge and face powder and dental bills + no mobile phone needed.

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  10. It's all very aesthetically pleasing. Less so on the philosophy.

    I once saw the minister of my church ambush his wife with an unnecessary verbal attack which clearly shattered her. She replied with grace and I later asked why she let him do it. "A soft answer turns away wrath" she said. I'm still not sure what I learnt but I will never forget it

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  11. I've only ever been to the Peak District once. To Bakewell. Good photographs. Especially with the lighting.

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  12. It would be pleasing if soft words did turn away wrath on more occasions than they actually do.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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