Page:The George Inn, Southwark.djvu/38

 style, even to the use of long church-warden pipes. Their first dinner was on April 4th, 1910, but the club's career was short lived. That they enjoyed and appreciated the old inn is shown by the quotation which appeared on the back of their menus:—

"Here within these walls, hoary with the rime of centuries, hover the shadows of the past. Memories crowd one another, anxious to keep us in mind of their little past in the Drama of Life.

The old wainscot yet rings with the boisterous laughter of a bygone pageantry, and the rollicking roysterer still elbows the prim puritan of Stuart days. Courtly knight and dame, ruddy squire and hardy yeoman pass before us, and the spirit of past welcomes from bygone Bonifaces mellowed with the ringing voices of children, long since of the dust, cast that glamour which is always the presiding genius among these ancient relics of our glorious Country's history."

There are many other clubs and societies, Literary, Antiquarian, Archæological and Rambling, which have habitually made the "George" a meeting place either for lunch, tea or supper. Among these may be mentioned The Selborne Society, The Cult of London, Shakespearean Society, The London Co-operative Holiday Association, The Balham Antiquarian and Natural History Society and the Dickens Fellowship, the members of which, after visiting the many historic places of interest in the neighbourhood, bring their rambles to a fitting and appropriate end within the walls of the famous Inn.

And so "The George," however much we may differ concerning a certain phase of its history and tradition, remains a bright and homely spot in the story of old London for all who run to see and admire. And, when once we have made its acquaintance, we can truly say with the poet, Shenstone:—