Over 140 years ago in Piercebridge, North Yorkshire, England, there was a charming traveler's haven known as the George Hotel. The hotel was a routine stop for horse coaches and was managed by two bachelor brothers named Jenkins. In the lobby stood a floor clock that had been there for many years. One unusual characteristic on the old clock was that it kept very good time. This was uncommon, since in those days clocks were generally not noted for their accuracy.

One day, one of the brothers died and the old clock started losing time. At first it lost 15 minutes per day and eventually more than an hour each day. The clocks incurable problem became as talked about as its precision had been. The old clock stopped when the surviving brother died at the age of ninety.

The new manager of the hotel never attempted to have it repaired. He just left it standing in a sunlit corner of the lobby, its hands resting in the position they assumed the moment the last Jenkins brother died.About 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Clay Work stayed at the George Hotel during a trip to England. He thought this was a great story and decided to write a song based on it. He called the song “My Grandfather’s Clock.” The lyrics were about a clock that was “taller by half than the old man himself” and that “stopped short – never to go again” when the grandfather died. Eventually, the term "Grandfather clock" became synonymous with this style of clock that inspired the song.

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