The news has been so dull this week we might as well continue to pursue last week's investigations concerning the historical value of English pub names. If nothing else it may prompt readers to recall some of the more exotic inns where they have supped ale. It beats politics anyway.
You can learn a fair bit of local history from pub names. Everyone is familiar with standard English names such as Red Lion, White Hart, The Swan, the Plough and White Horse. Many have a royal flavour such as the Royal Oak, the Crown and the George and the Victoria.
The Royal Oak became particularly popular after Prince Charles (later King Charles II) escaped from Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads by hiding up an oak tree in a Staffordshire wood. It became a celebrated event and Royal Oak pubs sprouted up throughout England. We've even got one in Bangkok.
Cromwell's son Richard was briefly in power in the late 1650s and was hugely unpopular. As a child I was fascinated by a pub called the Tumbledown Dick near my grandmother's house in Farnborough, Hampshire. My father explained it was a derogatory nickname given to the younger Cromwell after his abrupt fall from power. The pub became an important overnight stop for stagecoaches.
Alas a few years ago the Tumbledown Dick was replaced by a McDonald's. Another slice of history bites the dust.
Yard of Ale
The first pub I frequented in Bangkok had a very English name, The Yard of Ale, a lovely little spot on the corner of Convent Road and Silom. It was in 1969 and was possibly the only pub around until Bobby's Arms opened a few years later.
The pub actually possessed an authentic yard of ale hanging above the bar. It consisted of a tall thin glass with a bulb-shaped bottom, which could hold a couple of pints. Every now and again the yard would come down off the wall as customers foolishly attempted to drink its contents in one go. It invariably ended up as a very messy "bottoms up" with the patrons covered in beer as the contents gushed out. However, the resident rodents appeared to appreciate the spillage.
The Yard of Ale was run by an amiable and talented pianist called Sam Scott who was particularly adept at Noel Coward songs. One of the most popular was "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" which of course gives Thailand an honorary mention: "In Bangkok at 12 o'clock they foam at the mouth and run./ But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun."
Sam would sometimes add to the song his own witty lyrics about life in Thailand.
Blind Beggar
In the 1960s The Blind Beggar pub in London's Whitechapel gained notoriety as being the scene of a gangland killing, but it had a colourful background before that. The current pub was built in 1894 but it had been a drinking place for centuries. The name is said to be derived from a nobleman Henry du Montfort who was blinded in a battle in 1265 and subsequently earned a living as a beggar in the area. He became known as the Beggar of Bethnal Green and the inn adopted the name Blind Beggar.
Among the landlords for a brief time was England's World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore.
The Blind Beggar became a tourist attraction after Ronnie Kray shot gang rival George Cornell in cold blood in 1966. On seeing Kray enter the saloon bar Cornell reportedly commented: "Look what the cat's dragged in."
Those were his last words.
Running Footman
Although it closed years ago, for a long time the pub with the most unusual name in London was I Am The Only Running Footman in Mayfair.
The pub began life in 1749 as The Running Horse and most of the customers were footmen from the nearby mansions owned by the aristocracy. When the demand for footmen died out, one of them bought the place and gave it the new name.
It gained further recognition in 1986 when American writer Martha Grimes used the pub's name as the title of one of her novels featuring fictional Scotland Yard sleuth Richard Jury. In fact all 25 novels in that series are named after pubs.
Another is called The Old Silent Inn after a 400-year-old pub set in the heart of Bronte country. The name is derived from folklore that Bonnie Prince Charlie, who led the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 hid in the inn and the villagers kept silent when interrogated by the Redcoats.
The gentleman goat
Goats feature a lot in pub names and there are some really curious combinations. The Goat and Compasses in Hull is believed to be a corruption of the ancient saying: "And God encompasses us all."
In Bournemouth there is the oddly-named Goat and Tricycle. Its sign features an aristocratic-looking goat holding a glass of wine while aboard a tricycle. Another intriguing hostelry is the Ferret and Radiator.
Whistling pigs
One of the most common pub names is the Pig and Whistle but confusingly the name has nothing to do with pigs or whistles. It originates from an ancient expression "piggin wassall" meaning "good health".
So perhaps a suitable way to conclude today's column is to wish all readers "piggin wassall".
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