BEDFORDSHIRE: TURVEY 123 



telling his tale" (dated, London, 1630, 4to). There is a verse 

 on the signboard as follows: — 



" The Tinker of Turvey, his dog, and his staff, 

 Old Nell with her Budget will make a man laugh." 



This may, perhaps, be taken from the old pamphlet, which 

 certainly proves that " The Tinker of Turvey " was a charac- 

 ter known before Bunyan's time, and as the tales told by the 

 tinker and his companions are said to be exceedingly coarse, 

 they were probably well known in country places, and the 

 name would seem appropriate for an inn in the village named. 

 It is possible, however, that the sign may have been first 

 painted at a later date, and as Bunyan would no doubt have 

 been well known at Turvey, as at other villages round Bed- 

 ford, where he was accustomed to preach, he may have been 

 represented or caricatured as the Tinker of Turvey on the 

 signboard. 



In this inn we had the use of a large room on the ground- 

 floor, also used as a dining-room for the rare visitors requiring 

 that meal, and in the evening as a farmers' room, where two 

 or three often dropped in for an hour or two, while once a week 

 there was a regular farmers' club, at which from half a dozen 

 to a dozen usually attended. While at Barton I had become 

 well acquainted with the labourers, mechanics, and small vil- 

 lage shopkeepers ; I here had an equal opportunity of observ- 

 ing how well-to-do farmers occupied their leisure. These 

 seemed to be rather a serious class, whose conversation was 

 slow, and devoted mainly to their own business, especially 

 as to the condition of their sheep, how their " tegs" were 

 getting on, or of a fat sheep being cast — that is, turned over 

 on its back, and vainly struggling to get up again, when, if 

 not seen and helped, they sometimes died. Most of the time 

 was spent in silent smoking or sipping their glasses of ale or 

 of spirits and water. Sometimes the talk would be of hunting, 

 or even of the county races when anyone was present who 

 had horses good enough to run. On one evening I heard an 

 agricultural problem solved by an expert, and it is the only 



