This is a fine old English pub name and customarily after the royal sport of falconry or, in some cases, the name of a famous stagecoach. The image of a falcon also appeared in the arms of Elizabeth 1 and William Shakespeare. During the English Civil War, part of this hotel was a blacksmith’s premises and forge. A man called Arthur was blacksmith at the time and one day, Parliamentarian troops arrived, searching for the then Marquis of Northampton. He was a Royalist who had gone into hiding, with the soldiers expected to find him there. They also required their horses shod for the further trip to Naseby. A Royalist supporter through and through, Arthur refused to shoe their horses, or reveal the whereabouts of the aristocrat. The soldiers then hanged him from a walnut tree in the grounds. Now, Arthur the blacksmith stands guard, albeit as a ghost, with , witnesses see, on frequent occasions in the lobby, wearing a leather apron.