Annotation:Thatch'd House (1) (The)
X:1 T:Thatch’d House [1], The M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig S:William Vickers’ 1770 music manuscript (Northumberland) K:G G2c (B/c/dB)|g2d (B/c/d)B|G2c (B/c/d)B|gdB TA3| G2c (B/c/d)B|g2d B/c/dB|G2c B/c/dB|gdB G3:| |:d2g (f/g/a)f|(e/f/g)e (f/g/a)f|d2f (e/f/g)e|(f/g/a)f d3| d2g f/g/af|(e/f/g)e f/g/af|d2f (e/f/g)e|f/g/af d2:||
THATCH'D HOUSE [1], THE. AKA and see "Ben Wade's Thatch'd House." English, Jig (6/8 time). G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABA. "Thatch'd House [1]" was entered into the large c. 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers; fuller titles ("Ben Wait's Thatch'd House" and "Ben Wade's Thatch'd House") are to be found in the music manuscript collections of London musician Thomas Hammersley (1790) and Manchester, England, musician biography:John Roose (mid-19th century.
Vickers' title was possibly also associated with the Thatched House Tavern, St. James’s, was the resort of all the wits, politicians, and men of fashion of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It played host to a number of convivial clubs, including the Catch Club, the Royal Academy Club, the Neopolitan Club, the Royal Society Club, the Johnson Club, the Dilettanti Society, the Linnaean Society and several others. The inn probably had modest beginnings, but benefited when the Court settled in St. James’s, which drew a fashionable clientele and expanded to meet the trade. Joseph Cradock (who died in 1826 at the age of 85), writing in his Memoir, described an evening in the Thatch’d House Tavern where he dined as a guest of Dr. Percy, and was introduced to Edmund Burke and Oliver Goldsmith, among others. He relates:
The table that day was crowded, and I sat next Mr. Burke; but as the great orator said very little, and as Mr. Richard Burke talked much, I was not aware at first who my neighbour was.” He adds an amusing story which beings in both Burke and Johnson, and my therefore well bear telling here: --- “One of the party near me remarked that there was an offensive smell in the room, and thought it must proceed from some dog that was under the table; but Burke, with a smile, turned to me and said, ‘I rather fear it is from the beef-steak pie that is opposite us, the crust of which is made of some very bad butter which comes from my country. Just at that moment Dr. Johnson sent his plate for some of it; Burke helped him to very little, which he soon dispatched, and returned his plate for more; Burke, without thought, exclaimed, ‘I am glad that you are able so well to relish this beef-steak pie.” Johnson, not at all pleased that what he ate should ever be noticed, immediately retorted, ‘There is a time of life, sir, when a man requires the repairs of a table.
Before Dinner was finished, Mr. Garrick came in, full-dressed, made many apologies for being so much later than he intended, but he had been unexpectedly detained at the House of Lords; and Lord Camden had absolutely insisted upon setting him down at the door of the hotel in his own carriage. Johnson said nothing, but looked a volume. During the afternoon some literary dispute arose; but Johnson sat silent, till the Dean of Derry very respectfully said, ‘We all wish, sir, for your opinion on the subject.’ Johnson inclined his head, and never shone more in his life than at that period. He replied, without any pomp; he was perfectly clear and explicit, full of the subject, and left nothing undetermined. There was a pause; and he was then hailed with astonishment by all the company. The evening in general passed off very pleasantly. Some talked perhaps for amusement, and others for victory. We sat very late; and the conversation that at last ensued was the direct cause of my friend Goldsmith’s poem, called ‘Retaliation.’
