In the novel The Rose and the Yew Tree, Poppy Narracott is the barmaid at the Smugglers' Arms in Greatwithiel. She was said to be very close to James Burt. However, one night, James Burt had drunk too much and had become sadistically rough and Poppy refused to have anymore to do with him. James Burt returned home and took it out on his terrified wife Milly and thus set into motion a chain of events that jeopardised the election fortunes of John Gabriel.