furious skirmish did ensue,” and the “Seven Stars” was in the centre of the fighting.  Sir Thomas Fairfax made Manchester his head-quarters in 1643, and the walls of the “Seven Stars” echoed with the carousals of the Roundheads.  When Fairfax marched from Manchester to relieve Nantwich, some dragoons had to leave hurriedly, and secreted their mess plate in the walls of the old inn, where it was discovered only a few years ago, and may now be seen in the parlour of this interesting hostel.  In 1745 it furnished accommodation for the soldiers of Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, and was the head-quarters of the Manchester regiment.  One of the rooms is called “Ye Vestry,” on account of its connexion with the collegiate church.  It is said that there was a secret passage between the inn and the church, and, according to the Court Leet Records, some of the clergy used to go to the “Seven Stars” in sermon-time in their surplices to refresh themselves. O tempora! O mores! A horseshoe at the foot of the stairs has a story to tell.  During the war with France in 1805 the press-gang was billeted at the “Seven Stars.”  A young farmer’s lad was leading a horse to be shod which had cast a shoe.  The press-gang rushed out, seized the young man, and led him off to serve the king.  Before leaving he nailed the shoe to a post on the stairs, saying, “Let this stay till I come from the wars to claim it.”  So it remains to this day unclaimed, a mute reminder of its owner’s fate and of the manners of our forefathers.

[Illustration:  The Bear and Ragged Staff Inn, Tewkesbury]

Another inn, the “Fighting Cocks” at St. Albans, formerly known as “Ye Old Round House,” close to the River Ver, claims to be the oldest inhabited house in England.  It probably formed part of the monastic buildings, but its antiquity as an inn is not, as far as I am aware, fully established.

The antiquary must not forget the ancient inn at Bainbridge, in Wensleydale, which has had its licence since 1445, and plays its little part in Drunken Barnaby’s Journal.

[Illustration:  Fire-place in the George Inn, Norton St. Philip, Somerset]

Many inns have played an important part in national events.  There is the “Bull” at Coventry, where Henry VII stayed before the battle of Bosworth Field, where he won for himself the English crown.  There Mary Queen of Scots was detained by order of Elizabeth.  There the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot met to devise their scheme for blowing up the Houses of Parliament.  The George Inn at Norton St. Philip, Somerset, took part in the Monmouth rebellion.  There the Duke stayed, and there was much excitement in the inn when he informed his officers that it was his intention to attack Bristol.  Thence he marched with his rude levies to Keynsham, and after a defeat and a vain visit to Bath he returned to the “George” and won a victory over Faversham’s advanced guard.  You can still see the Monmouth room in the inn with its fine fire-place.