The Blue Inns and the Living Sign

Inn Signs - At Grantham in Lincolnshire, from the eccentricity of the lord of the manor, who formerly possessed the majority of the houses in the town, there is at the present time the following inns that have the word BLUE attached to their signs: viz.-- , Blue Boat, Blue Sheep, Blue Bull, Blue Ram, Blue Pig, Blue Lion, Blue Bell, Blue Cow, Blue Boar, Blue Horse, and Blue Inn. By way of completing this blue catalogue, a wag, whose house belonged to himself, and who resided near the residence of his lordship, a few years ago, actually had the Blue Ass, placed on his sign.

In Castlegate, Grantham, near the church, a Bee-hive is substituted for a sign-board, with the following inscription underneath:

Stop! Traveller, this wond'rous sign explore,

And say when thou hast viewed it o'er,
Grantham, now, two-rarities are thine,
A lofty steeple, and a living sign.

- The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1833.