“My birthday began with the water-
Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name
Above the farms and the white horses
And
walked abroad in shower of all my
days”
From ‘Poem
in October’ by Dylan Thomas
The White Horse
Tavern
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In
issue one of American Public House
Review our publisher lamented the
fact that we featured stateside locations that celebrated the peoples
of the British Isles without finding a tavern that suitably paid homage
to the inhabitants of Wales. He vowed to correct that injustice, and
since I am a citizen of the realm, that assignment was entrusted to me.
I can think of no better way to accomplish this than to recognize the
much preferred Greenwich Village tavern of one of the greatest literary
voices of the twentieth century and favorite
son of Swansea City -
Dylan Thomas.
The White Horse Tavern had
already been in operation as a working class
local’s bar for seventy three years when the Scottish poet Ruthven Todd
introduced the eminent Welshman to the establishment. Thomas had come
to New York in the spring of 1953 to play the role of narrator for the
premier of his play, ‘Under Milk Wood’. During this period he became
romantically involved with the play’s Assistant Director, Liz Reitell.
Both artists spent many of their off hours at the White Horse. Their
patronage paved the way for the Bohemian enclave that would soon
compete with longshoreman for the barstools at the corner of Hudson and
11th. |
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Dylan
Thomas
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Warm, inviting bar
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On
November 5th of 1953, two days after his 39th birthday, Thomas was
marking the occasion at the White Horse in his usual exuberant fashion.
After falling ill, he returned to his room at the Hotel Chelsea where
he later slipped into a coma. He died four days later at St. Vincent’s
Hospital. Although the cause of departure was later determined to be
chronic alcohol poisoning, Thomas’ predilection for potables has been
embellished and greatly exaggerated over time. Popular myth states that
his final words were, “I’ve had eighteen straight whiskies, I believe
that is a record.” It is my opinion that a man who had courted and
challenged death so skillfully in verse would have uttered something
more profound about his own passing.
The fact that Thomas took his last drink at the White Horse gave the
place touchstone status among artists, writers and musicians. Through
the 1950s and 60s such notables as Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Hunter
S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, Jim Morrison, Richard Farina, Liam Clancy
and Bob Dylan held court amidst the tin ceilings, tiled floors and
equine memorabilia. That influx of luminaries fostered a brisk trade of
tourists, union organizers and political activists for a good portion
of the second half of the last century. |
The stylish back room
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| Today
the din has calmed a bit, and one can clearly grasp why this
venerable old tavern was a favored gathering place for generations of
laborers from this West Village neighborhood. One can also understand
the allure this place would hold for the brilliant and brash young poet
from Wales. When you get beyond the hyperbole and hype, you must come
to the conclusion that the White
Horse Tavern,
simply stated, is just a
damn good bar! |
THE WHITE
HORSE TAVERN
567 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212)
989-3956
no
web site
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