THE DOVER ROAD 



239 



liberate travelling and sleepy comfort. Also a reminis- 

 cence of antiquity — for the Bull, according to local 

 legend and Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, was a flourishing 

 concern five centuries ago. In front of the old house the 

 impetuous Wat Tyler began his historical record in the 

 fifth year of Richard the Second by incontestably de- 

 monstrating to an incredulous crowd that the local poll- 





The Bull, Dartford. 



tax collector had brains. In truth he spread them coram 

 J)op2ilo upon the Green. Much history has passed in front 

 of the old inn of course since those exhilarating days ; in 

 1822 perhaps scene the last. For then while the great 

 Fourth George was majestically reposing in his royal 

 post-chaise in front of the old archway he experienced an 

 unpleasant surprise. A very ungentlemanly man named 

 Calligan, a working currier who ought to have known 



