This card gives us a very famous British dish, shepherds pie, also known as cottage pie. It is also, oddly, popular in France, where it is known as "hachis parmentier". Basically it is cooked, minced meat, generally lamb, and often mutton (hence the Shepherd`s connection) - though it can also be made with beef. On the top of the meat is a layer of mashed potato often with stripes incised across the top with a fork ,and then the whole confection is baked in an oven.
As for the inn, whose sign this is, I am delighted to say it is still going strong, which is even more surprising when you hear that it is one of the oldest inns in the whole of Romney Marsh, dating from the fifteenth century - its home town, Burmarsh is also a very ancient settlement. The inn has a colourful past, with rumours of smuggling, and then there is a strange tale that it was constructed of stone "removed" from the local church.
In our original British Trade Index part II, all seven sets are catalogued together, and our set appears as :
- INN SIGNS. Md. 76 x 51 ... WHI-1
3..Third Series. Nd. (50). On (a) aluminium (b) board