The boar's head in hand bear I
Bedeck'd with bays and rosemary
And I pray you, my masters, be merry
Quot estis in convivio
For 130 year it has looked down on Southgate, Halifax from above where the Boars Head Hotel used to be. I remember it smiling down from above the then Berni Inn: stone features set like well roasted crackling. These days it greets folk coming to mobile phone shops and greeting card emporiums - or it did until the lockdown came. Who knows what it has made of the quiet streets and the masked pedestrians, but next week it can begin to welcome people back to shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants. Slowly at first, just a few, outside and fully masked: but before too long, as many as are in the feast.
As I remember, there are also some interesting carvings on the other side of Southgate. One in particular is of vines that trail across the ashlar stonework above the ground/first floor. Certainly a subject worthy of your camera.
ReplyDeleteIt happens that this morning I came across the German word for a gargoyle, Wasserspeier. As I don't think this boar spits water, I believe he is a Neidkopf, literally Envious Head in German.
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