Pub Odyssey 28

Tuesday 19 July:  THE GOAT, CODICOTE  (Chris Haden, Mike Horsman, Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, Roger Toms, John Westwood)

COMMENT:  David Lloyd George (1863-1945), Prime Minister 1916-22, saviour of Britain in the First World War, was the only Welshman to be a statesman of world-class importance (and the only British Prime Minister for whom English was a second language; as a child he spoke Welsh).  He was also known to friend and foe alike as "The Goat" because of his promiscuity and impressive sexual performance.  With this background I thought a visit to a pub called "The Goat" held unusual promise.  I wasn't altogether disappointed.  The Goat was the first pub on the Odyssey to have a dispenser for herbal viagra outside the loos (free condom included) and, better still, at the front door was a signed rugby shirt from the Codicote Sex Panthers.  But otherwise this friendly attractive little boozer didn't suggest exciting exotic sexuality.  It's a nicely preserved 16th century foundation with a 17th century conference room (locked, unfortunately, so I couldn't have a look) and a clientele which which was more sixty-plus than sex panthers. So much so, the pub offered a lunch deal to over-sixties which, of course, included every single Odyssian present. We did prove somewhat more noisy than the other elderly gents present in the pub; this was pointed out to us by a sombre individual in the window seat opposite us.

Despite this, we enjoyed our lunch.  It's a good sign in a way when most of us ordered omelettes and the landlady hared across Codicote High Street to buy more eggs from the local store.  At least you know its not pre-packaged and  microwaved!

It is disappointing to have to record that pubs called "The Goat" are not celebrating uninhibited sexuality. However, the usually suggested explanation is almost equally odd.  In primitive rural areas the idea of the "scapegoat" was very real, the idea that a goat could take on to itself the ills and misfortunes of people or other animals. Goats could be paraded round a house where anyone was ill, to carry away the disease. This made the goat a rural talisman very likely to appear on a pub sign.  Or so they say.