door and horse-trough afforded presumptive proof of the excellent
quality of the ale and spirits which were sold within."

Phiz's picture, forming the vignette on the title-page, hardly does
justice to this description, although the incident of old Weller
performing the "beautiful and exhilarating" act of immersing Mr.
Stiggins's head in the horse-trough full of water, is spirited enough.

The "Markis Gran by Dorken," as the elder Weller styled it in his
letter to Sam, is another of those inns, which figure prominently in
the book, that have never been actually identified. Robert Allbut,
in 1897, claimed to have found the original in the High Street
opposite the Post Office at the side of Chequers' Court. Only a
part of it then existed, and was being used as a grocer's shop.

Herbert Railton gave an artistic picture of the courtyard in the
Jubilee edition of the book, but we are not able to state on what
authority it was based.

There were, however, two inns at Dorking, the "King's Head" and the
"King's Arms," over which speculation has been rife as to which was
the original of the inn so favoured by the Revd. Mr. Stiggins. Of
the two, perhaps, the latter, still existing, seems to fit Dickens's
description best.




CHAPTER VI