If you’re travelling on the A1 you will have seen The Ram Jam Inn. Originally a thriving coaching inn, it now sits on the side of the road between Stamford and Grantham, looking a little worse for wear. It is said that Dick Turpin was a frequent guest, with stories of the lawbreaker up-to-no-good at the establishment. However, in 1823, another theory of how the Ram Jam got its name came to print in the Stamford Mercury…
“Travellers on the great North road are puzzled with the meaning of the “Ram Jam House,” near Greetham Inn. The vulgar opinion has been that it arose from an unintelligible exclamation of a man made drunk with the ale he found there- “Ram Jam, by. G-!” The true origin of the word may, however, be found in the language of Indostan, where Ramjam signifies a drunkard. Ramjam house must therefore mean the house of drunkards, which probably was not the intention of the magistrates who renewed the license, nor of the respectable persons who keep the house- Rees’ Cyclo., art. Drunkenness”
Stamford Mercury, 23 February 1823.