Conan Doyle was a doctor before he became a writer and in 1880 he served as a ship's surgeon on a whaling vessel. On the voyage he took along a set of boxing gloves and Jack Lamb, the ship's steward, challenged him to a bout. Afterwards Lamb said: "So help me, he's the best surgeon we've had! He's blackened my e'e! " The "manly art" of boxing plays a strong part in a number of Doyles’s short stories and his Gothic mystery Rodney Stone (1896) is a boxing novel. The story interweaves Rodney's coming-of-age with that of his friend Boy Jim's boxing endeavors. It deals in large part with the world of the famous bare-knuckle bruisers of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century when the George at Crawley was closely associated with prize-fighting. Much of the action takes place at the George and on the nearby Crawley Down and Copthorne Common which were the scene of numerous real life marathon bouts.
Rodney, the narrator tells us that his friend: "Boy Jim went down to the George, at Crawley, under the charge of Jim Belcher and Champion Harrison, to train for his great fight with Crab Wilson, of Gloucester… I had twice been down to Crawley to see Jim in his training quarters, where I found him undergoing the severe regimen which was usual… He was so confident of success that my own misgivings vanished as I watched his gallant bearing…"
There a blue plaque on the George commemorating another writer; long time Crawley resident Mark Lemon - the first editor of the satirical magazine Punch. Lemon was also a prolific writer for the stage and for journals like Dickens' Household Words. Crawley was then a village and Lemon became so caught up in the whirl of local activities on some days the Punch staff came to him and they held editorial meetings at The George.
This busy coaching inn was a half-way house on the London to Brighton road with up to fifty coaches a day changing horses here every 24 hours. An extension to the inn was built on an island site in the middle of the main road and the famous gallows sign was erected to link the two parts. You can see a facsimile of it in the photograph. The original building was a private house which became an inn in 1615. This is the date on a massive stone fireplace to be seen in the hall.
The Dr Syn novels of Russell Thorndike are mostly set on Romney Marsh. Russell took the fiercely independent character of the marsh men, mixed it with a strong
dash of more or less accurate smuggling history and created the Kent born Christopher Syn. In the beginning Syn is a Doctor of Divinity and a vicar but as the story unfolds his beautiful young wife
runs away with his best friend, forcing the parson to turn pirate to find her again.
Returning from adventures in the Americas Syn is shipwrecked in Dymchurch Bay and ingeniously re-establishes himself as the Vicar of Dymchurch. But by night he becomes the devil-may-care Scarecrow, an ace duelist and smuggler who rides his fierce black stallion, Gehenna, across the moonlit marshes. Russell killed off Dr Syn in 1915 in the first book of the seven-novel sequence so when he resurrected the idea the rest of the novels had to pre-date the original.
The saga really took off in 1935 when the second title appeared; 'Dr Syn Returns'. The whole of chapter 11 titled 'The Red-Bearded Bridegroom' is set here in the Mermaid Inn: "In spite of the dryness of his erudite sermons, Dr. Syn, in his capacity of Dean of the Peculiars, which gave him the privilege of periodically preaching in the magnificent parish church of Rye in the adjacent county of Sussex, had gained a considerable popularity in that town. Whenever he took the short journey across the Kentish ditch into Sussex, he would put up at the 'Mermaid', and amidst the bustle of that great old inn he was ever a welcome guest, taking a lively interest in all, from the very exalted "mine host" down to the humblest kitchen wench.
In 1913 the Mermaid was run as a club by the mother of novelist and poet Richard Aldington. Rupert Brooke was among the literati who visited during this period. In E. F. Benson's novels Rye appears as 'Tilling'. Benson did not feature the Mermaid in his stories but sometimes gave large dinner parties here for his friends who included many of the prominent writers of the 1930s. Re-built in 1420 after being burnt down during a raid by the French, the Mermaid is one of the oldest and finest inns in England. It caters for those who appreciate tradition and charm, coupled with the modern facilities.
Returning from adventures in the Americas Syn is shipwrecked in Dymchurch Bay and ingeniously re-establishes himself as the Vicar of Dymchurch. But by night he becomes the devil-may-care Scarecrow, an ace duelist and smuggler who rides his fierce black stallion, Gehenna, across the moonlit marshes. Russell killed off Dr Syn in 1915 in the first book of the seven-novel sequence so when he resurrected the idea the rest of the novels had to pre-date the original.
The saga really took off in 1935 when the second title appeared; 'Dr Syn Returns'. The whole of chapter 11 titled 'The Red-Bearded Bridegroom' is set here in the Mermaid Inn: "In spite of the dryness of his erudite sermons, Dr. Syn, in his capacity of Dean of the Peculiars, which gave him the privilege of periodically preaching in the magnificent parish church of Rye in the adjacent county of Sussex, had gained a considerable popularity in that town. Whenever he took the short journey across the Kentish ditch into Sussex, he would put up at the 'Mermaid', and amidst the bustle of that great old inn he was ever a welcome guest, taking a lively interest in all, from the very exalted "mine host" down to the humblest kitchen wench.
In 1913 the Mermaid was run as a club by the mother of novelist and poet Richard Aldington. Rupert Brooke was among the literati who visited during this period. In E. F. Benson's novels Rye appears as 'Tilling'. Benson did not feature the Mermaid in his stories but sometimes gave large dinner parties here for his friends who included many of the prominent writers of the 1930s. Re-built in 1420 after being burnt down during a raid by the French, the Mermaid is one of the oldest and finest inns in England. It caters for those who appreciate tradition and charm, coupled with the modern facilities.
Copyright T.W. Townsend - the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and any observations were correct at the time of the
review.