An English council is looking for a new king or queen on a small island dominated by a castle, seals and a pub.
The local government has a website where people can apply for the job on the ancient throne.
A job listing for a pub on Piel Island, half a mile off England's northwestern coast, was posted this week by the Barrow Borough Council in Cumbria. The island has an eccentric tradition of naming a king at the old pub in the winter and travel is limited in the summer.
John Murphy, a 73-year-old resident of nearby Walney Island, and the guide of walking tours of the area for four decades, said they were not talking about St. Lucia or the Hawaiian islands. There is a small and isolated island in the north of England.
The primary responsibility of the landlord is to run the pub, called the Ship Inn, and to manage and maintain the island's roughly 50 acres of grass, rock and sand. A 14th-century castle has a history of medieval monks, Scottish raiders and a pretender to the English throne.
The leader of the council, Ann Thomson, described the island as an absolute jewel in the crown after the previous landlord retired.
She said that the successful candidate would need to be dedicated to the task. There will be periods of quiet as well as periods of bustling when the pub and the island is bustling with people. Someone who will make a 10-year commitment is needed by the council.
The council described the custom of crowning the King of Piel in a ceremony of uncertain origin, separate from the announcement.
Tony Callister said in an interview that the custom would continue. The person coming in gets the title of King of Piel, which is nice to have, and there is no reason for that to change.
The pub is said to be over 300 years old and has a murky history. The title may be related to a 19th-century pub game and the ceremony involves a lot of beer. Each new landlord gets a gallon of beer poured on their head when they sit in the old chair with a rusty helmet and sword.
He said that the new landlord swore an oath that included being a good smoker, a good drinker and giving anyone found dead on the sands free refuge in the pub.
It is a image.
The King of Piel Island is sitting on his throne in a Ship Inn guest book.
The regent of Piel Island has to look after the various parts of the island after the show is over.
English Heritage, a charity that manages historic buildings and monuments, is in charge of the duties. The green energy plan is one of several projects planned for the island this year.
Some of the visitors to Piel Island find their way to Barrow on trips to England's Lake District. They can book a room at the inn, watch seals and sunsets over a beer, and tour the ruined castle on Piel, which was built by monks affiliated with the nearby Furness Abbey.
The monks used the castle as a place to store goods from their estates, as well as taking refuge from Scottish raiders in the 1300s. Mark Douglas is a properties curator of English Heritage. Not many abbots built castles.
The island is where the young son of an Oxford tradesman landed in June 1487 with an army of mercenaries and a claim to be the rightful heir to England's throne. He was defeated by Henry VII and wound up as a kitchen servant.
Mr. Douglas said that the King of Piel custom was probably invented in the early 19th century as a reference to Simnel's doomed claim. He said that he was looking back to the good old days and reinventing some kind of arcane ceremony. It is a bit weird.
The history buffs and picnickers leave the island in the fall and winter to visit the birds, seals and two full-time residents in one of the private homes. Mr. Murphy said it was a tranquil place. If you don't have any customers, you have to be a Robinson Crusoe and enjoy the facilities that you have in your mind.
Mr. Callister said that the landlord would have to live on Piel year-round in some parts of the contract.
Mr. Callister said that it was an opportunity for someone who was open minded, loves the outside, and loves history. At the end of the day, you think, "I wish I would have done that." Don't let that opportunity pass you by.
The job requires someone who doesn't mind a lot of time alone. He said the winter was very harsh, with storms bringing heavy wind and rain. You are stuck on the island.
You have only so many ways to leave once you are there. It is possible to walk across two miles of sand when the tide is low. When the tide comes back, there is only a small ferry that Mr. Murphy described as a rowing boat with a little engine on the back.
One of the island's two full-time residents has to call ahead and drive across the sands at low tide in order to get groceries from a supermarket. Mr. Murphy said that one needs a license from the Duke of Buccleuch, who owns the sands around the island, in order to legally make that drive.
Mr. Murphy admitted that it was a little weird that he could see the pub from his house.
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