The principal leaders, or captains, of the commons,
were Wat Tyler, as the first man; the second was John, or Jack,
Straw, etc., etc.--STOW'S London.
Adjoining the church, in a small cemetery, immediately under the
back window of what was once the Boar's Head, stands the
tombstone of Robert Preston, whilom drawer at the tavern. It is
now nearly a century since this trusty drawer of good liquor
closed his bustling career and was thus quietly deposited within
call of his customers. As I was clearing away the weeds from his
epitaph the little sexton drew me on one side with a mysterious
air, and informed me in a low voice that once upon a time, on a
dark wintry night, when the wind was unruly, howling, and
whistling, banging about doors and windows, and twirling
weathercocks, so that the living were frightened out of their
beds, and even the dead could not sleep quietly in their graves,
the ghost of honest Preston, which happened to be airing itself
in the churchyard, was attracted by the well-known call of
"Waiter!" from the Boar's Head, and made its sudden appearance in
the midst of a roaring club, just as the parish clerk was singing
a stave from the "mirre garland of Captain Death;" to the
discomfiture of sundry train-band captains and the conversion of
an infidel attorney, who became a zealous Christian on the spot,
and was never known to twist the truth afterwards, except in the
way of business.
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