jamaica inn
the one in cornwall, made very famous by daphne du maurier. quite piratical/smuggler-ish, with stone floors, roaring fires, wooden panelling, old parrot that squawks sea shanties, gleaming horse brasses etc.

it is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a traveller who left his pint on the bar some 200 years ago when he went for a slash. unfortunately he got the wrong sort of slash - across the throat - in the privy and now his ghost keeps coming back to finish the pint.

there is a legend in the pub that, on a certain night of the year, the ghost will come at about 3am. so one year the bar staff decided to sit up and wait for it. at first they were all rowdy, then cheerful, but as 3am approached, they all got quiet, subdued, and a little bit creeped out. finally they all fell totally silent in the dark, waiting for the ghostly visitor.

then, at 3am, the clock struck in the silent pub. the staff peered at each other through the gloom. nothing. then, just as they all started to cheer and laugh, there was the most awful, violent, blood curdling eldritch screech of rage. the staff, as one, screamed, leapt to their feet and ran. there was a comedy moment as they all tried to fit through the door at once and disappeared into the night and the moors.

and in the pub, alone in the once more peaceful dark, polly the old parrot stretched his wings in relief and went back to sleep.





i was neither there nor staff, but the barman told me about it when i was there on a holiday as a child, and it always amused me. hope it didn't bore the rest of you too much!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Mon 24 Apr 2006, 16:35, Reply)