May 27th - 'Bills of Fare, Delicacies and Dainties,' hosted by Emily O'Brien
May 13th - 'Secrets and Arcane Lore,' hosted by Edel Semple
April 29th - 'Monsters & Sea Creatures,' hosted by Dr Francis Leneghan
April 15th - 'Grief, Crying and Lamentations', hosted by Rory Loughnane
February 26th - ‘Fashion and Apparel,’ hosted by Dr Naomi McAreavey
February 12th - ‘Weddings, Betrothals and Ill-fated Matches.’
January 29th - 'Hearsay, Gossip and Reputations,' hosted by Emily O'Brien
January 15th - ‘Guardian Angels and Personal Demons.’
December 11th- ‘Extreme Weather,’ hosted by Darragh Greene
November 27th - 'Xenophobia and Xeniality,' hosted by Kate Roddy
November 13th - 'Tavern Life,' hosted by Dr Andrew J. Power
from Lines on the Mermaid Tavern
I have heard that on a day
Mine host’s sign-board flew away,
Nobody knew whither, till
An astrologer’s old quill
To a sheepskin gave the story,
Said he saw you in your glory,
Underneath a new old-sign
Sipping beverage divine,
And pledging with contented smack
The Mermaid in the Zodiac.
- John Keats (1795–1821)
The Sun which doth the greatest comfort bring
- Beaumont's epistle to Jonson (1605?)
Mine host’s sign-board flew away,
Nobody knew whither, till
An astrologer’s old quill
To a sheepskin gave the story,
Said he saw you in your glory,
Underneath a new old-sign
Sipping beverage divine,
And pledging with contented smack
The Mermaid in the Zodiac.
- John Keats (1795–1821)
On Ben Jonson and a Country Man
Ben Johnson in a tavern once began
Rudely to talk to a plain Country man.
And thus it was, Thou dull laborious Moyle
That I beleeve wert made for nought but toyle
For every Acre of thy Land I have
Twenty of wit: Such Acres Sir, are brave,
Replyed the Country man: What great Mistakers
Have we been of your wealth, Mr Wise-Acres.
- Thomas Jordan (from Jewels of Ingenuity. 1660?)
The Sun which doth the greatest comfort bring
...what things have we seen
Done at the Mermaid: heard words that have been
So nimble, so full of subtil flame …
Then when there hath been thrown
Wit able enough to justifie the Town
For three days past, wit that might warrant be
For the whole City to talk foolishly
Till that were cancell'd, and when that was gone,
We left and Air behind us which alone,
Was able to make the two next Companies
Right witty; though but downright fools, more wise.