The Merchant, Scarborough

Unashamedly Irish pub as a look at the Guinness and Smithwick window dressing will tell. Inside on two levels with barrels, bare board and bench seating at the top, bench seating and dining chairs at cast iron tables on a flag floor below. Obviously lots of Irish posters and stuff as decor. The counter appears to be made of cut-offs of railway sleepers or perhaps ships timbers. There was a single hand pump with a reversed Theakstons clip, the rest of the beer being ordinary UK kegs. Irish folk or as we call it "diddly diddly" music played gently in the background. There's a music room upstairs and all in all quite a contrast to the Golden Last across the road.

I have been in this pub too many times to mention and have been it under three different names,the first time it was called the Captains House and the after that it was called the Jolly Roger which is when i took a photo of this pub. Once inside the pub is on different levels and had bare boards throughout,the area near the bar is fairly narrow and when you go down the steps to the lower level the room is a lot bigger. The pub was a Camerons tied house for a while but this review dates from 23 August 1986 when the pub was a free house and there were two real ales on here with both the Tetley bitter and Youngers bitter being decent drinks. On a recent visit in 2010 the pub had Black Sheep bitter on the bar. The pub has always attracted a bit of an alternative crowd veering towards the rock type but we have always felt comfortabe and enjoyed having a drink in here. Pub visited 23/8/1986