about the hour of eight
`` If so , '' muttered the rebel , `` we can see how the tide turns , before we endanger ourselves ; and at the worst , our prisoners will bring something of prize-money . '' While thus soliloquizing , he spied one of those cumbrous vehicles of the day called whirlicotes -LSB- Whirlicotes were in use from a very early period , but only among the great , till , in the reign of Richard II. , his queen , Anne , introduced side-saddles , when the whirlicote fell out of fashion , but might be found at different hostelries on the main roads for the accommodation of the infirm or aged . -RSB- standing in the yard of the hostelry ; and seizing upon it , vi et armis , in spite of all the cries and protestations of the unhappy landlord , he ordered his captives to enter , and recommenced his march . As the band proceeded farther on their way , they were joined by fresh troops of the same class as themselves , and they pushed on gayly , till , about the hour of eight , they halted before the hostelry the captain had spoken of . It stood a little out of the high road , not very far from the village of Hadley , and the heath or chase of Gladsmore , on which was fought , some time afterwards , the battle of Barnet . It was a house of good aspect , and considerable size , for it was much frequented by all caravanserais and travellers from the North to the metropolis . The landlord , at heart a stanch Lancastrian , who had served in the French wars , and contrived , no one knew how , to save moneys in the course of an adventurous life , gave to his hostelry the appellation and sign of the Talbot , in memory of the old hero of that name ; and , hiring a tract of land , joined the occupation of a farmer to the dignity of a host .