HERE'S a horn-tingly evocative picture of pub supremo James Butler.

Taken 19 years ago in 1986, it shows the York Brewery man tasting Viking Festival cocktails with Judith Bailey, then the landlady of the Red Lion, Merchantgate.

And it seems James, who divides his time between the Three Legged Mare on High Petergate and new pub the Yorkshire Terrier on Stonegate, still has a soft spot for those plunderers of yore.

This year's Jorvik Viking Festival comes to an end on Sunday. It has staged a marvellous variety of events, but nothing like the 1986 Viking Assembly Rooms cocktail competition.

James, whose legendary dad Don then ran the Cock and Bottle, remembers it well.

"Lots of Vikings drinking cocktails - it was just bizarre," he said. "Green drinks in dainty glasses with cherries and umbrellas, being sipped through straws by allegedly rugged Vikings."

The winning drink was a blend of vodka, Danish schnapps and white rum called Kunnung (Danish for king).

At a later Viking festival, James entered the boat race as part of the Junior Chamber team. "We trained for weeks with the coach from St Peter's," he recalled.

"We learned all the tactics. But we tried too hard. By the time the day came we were knackered. We came last."

James, who does not look a day older than when this picture was taken, celebrated his 40th birthday last week. And where did he go to celebrate? To Sweden and Norway.

However, his family's Irish roots seem to have overpowered any Viking blood flowing through the Butler veins. They ended up in the Auld Dublin Bar in Gothenburg.

"It was terrible," he said.

MORE on BAFTA-winning John Barry's early days.

Bill Barrett, 74, of Dringhouses, saw an early performance of the John Barry Seven at York's Rialto, when the band supported star rocker Bill Haley. John's dad, Jack Prendergast, was watching proudly at the back.

"When it was time to leave we got up and his father Mr Prendergast says to me and Pauline 'what do you think?'" Bill recalled.

"I said, 'well, his songs are very good, but he's got a bit to learn'."

Mr P was apparently quite taken aback by this lukewarm response. Considering John Barry's subsequent fame and fortune, Bill still can't believe he said it.

Still, Pauline stuck by him - they have been married 49 years.

ON what grounds, asks a reader, does York Minster qualify as being the largest Gothic cathedral this side of the Alps? "Is it the tallest, widest, greatest internal cubic capacity or occupies the largest floor space?"

If you could have an answer on the Diary desk next week, that would be marvellous.

Updated: 11:16 Friday, February 18, 2005