Here is an inn sign from Mold in
North Wales. It is, as you will have
gathered, in Welsh. y Pentan translates as the pentane. But what, I hear many of you ask, is pentane?
Pentane is ‘any of
three known isomeric, colorless alkanes, CH, occurring in petroleum, etc.: used
as a solvent, in low-temperature thermometers, etc.’
However, the real translation of y
Pentan is an ingle-nook or fireside.
That’s a far more sensible name for an inn but it still doesn’t explain
to me why we have a late Victorian or early Edwardian gentleman’s face on the sign!
Perhaps he's the kind of traveler they want you to think you will meet at their fireside if you stop in. He certainly would make a respectable customer.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the inn's name really is about the alkane, and the gentleman was a scientist who did something or discovered something special about pentane.
ReplyDeleteMy immediate thoughts echoed Meike's.
ReplyDelete