Locals tell of a time when the badger above the hearth was an iron-down payment on a claim to the land, forged by a traveling blacksmith who refused coin and accepted a story in return. It's said that newcomers who steal the snout or break it will find themselves pursued by bad luck until they return it. The smugglers operating through curtained booths are rumored to use a hand-signal involving tapping a tankard twice and turning it rim-down to mark a safe table — newcomers are advised to watch and not imitate unless they know what they're doing.