The real incident on which the story was founded occurred about the year 1676, long before Turpin was born.  One Nicks robbed a gentleman on Gadshill at four o’clock in the morning, crossed the river with his bay mare as soon as he could get a ferry-boat at Gravesend, and then by Braintree, Huntingdon, and other places reached York that evening, went to the Bowling Green, pointedly asked the mayor the time, proved an alibi, and got off.  This account was published as a broadside about the time of Turpin’s execution, but it makes no allusion to him whatever.  It required the romance of the nineteenth century to change Nicks to Turpin and the bay mare to Black Bess.  But revenir a nos moutons, or rather our inns.  The old “Fox and Hounds” at Ware is beautiful with its swinging sign suspended by graceful and elaborate ironwork and its dormer windows.  The “George” at Huntingdon preserves its gallery in the inn-yard, its projecting upper storey, its outdoor settle, and much else that is attractive.  Another “George” greets us at Stamford, an ancient hostelry, where Charles I stayed during the Civil War when he was journeying from Newark to Huntingdon.

And then we come to Grantham, famous for its old inns.  Foremost among them is the “Angel,” which dates back to medieval times.  It has a fine stone front with two projecting bays, an archway with welcoming doors on either hand, and above the arch is a beautiful little oriel window, and carved heads and gargoyles jut out from the stonework.  I think that this charming front was remodelled in Tudor times, and judging from the interior plaster-work I am of opinion that the bays were added in the time of Henry VII, the Tudor rose forming part of the decoration.  The arch and gateway with the oriel are the oldest parts of the front, and on each side of the arch is a sculptured head, one representing Edward III and the other his queen, Philippa of Hainault.  The house belonged in ancient times to the Knights Templars, where royal and other distinguished travellers were entertained.  King John is said to have held his court here in 1213, and the old inn witnessed the passage of the body of Eleanor, the beloved queen of Edward I, as it was borne to its last resting-place at Westminster.  One of the seven Eleanor crosses stood at Grantham on St. Peter’s Hill, but it shared the fate of many other crosses and was destroyed by the troopers of Cromwell during the Civil War.  The first floor of the “Angel” was occupied by one long room, wherein royal courts were held.  It is now divided into three separate rooms.  In this room Richard III condemned to execution the Duke of Buckingham, and probably here stayed Cromwell in the early days of his military career and wrote his letter concerning the first action that made him famous.  We can imagine the silent troopers assembling in the market-place late in the evening, and then marching out twelve companies strong to wage an unequal contest against