Dictionary Of Pub Names

For hundreds of years, the public house in its many guises, from urban gin palace to wayside coaching inn, has been a charming and quintessential feature of British life, and hence the names and signs associated with pubs are a constant reminder of our history, cultural heritage, folklore and local identity.The Wordsworth Dictionary of Pub Names is a fascinating compilation containing nearly five thousand absorbing entries and can be dipped into for fun or consulted on a serious level for intriguing and amusing information not readily available elsewhere. The local pub is an institution unique to the British Isles, but since English literature abounds with references to hostelries past and present, real and imagined, and no tourist's itinerary is complete without a visit to one or several on their route, its virtues are celebrated worldwide and readers everywhere will enjoy an affectionate and, perhaps, nostalgic browse through the pages of this entertaining dictionary.

Have you ever wondered how England's pubs got their names? How did some of the more weird and wonderful ones come into being? What is the history behind such names as Blink Bonny, Bucket of Blood, Lamorna Wink and My Father's Moustache? England's pubs have always been at the heart of the community they serve and their names are instantly recognisable, even when taken out of context. Coming almost from a language of their own, these names all have an origin and a meaning, with such diverse beginnings as heraldic imagery, religion, advertising, location, wildlife, humour and persons of note. Origins of English Pub Names features some of the most obscure names, alongside one or two well-known favourites such as the Red Lion and the Dukes Head, and is a must-have for all those interested in learning a little of the history behind their local. This fascinating book will appeal to historians and etymologists everywhere and, indeed, anyone who has enjoyed a lazy afternoon in a pub and, perhaps, contemplated the origin of its name.

This is a book for everyone who has ever wondered why pubs should be called The Cross Keys, The Dew Drop Inn or The Hope and Anchor. You'll be glad to know that there are very good - strange and memorable - reasons behind them all. After much research about (and in) pubs, Albert Jack brings together the stories behind pub names to reveal how they offer fascinating and subversive insights on our history, customs, attitudes and jokes in just the same way that nursery rhymes do. The Royal Oak, for instance, commemorates the tree that hid Charles II from Cromwell's forces after his defeat at Worcester; The Bag of Nails is a corruption of the Bacchanals, the crazed followers of Bacchus, the god of wine and drunkenness; The Cat and the Fiddle a mangling of Catherine La Fidele and a guarded gesture of support for Henry VIII's first, Catholic, wife Catherine of Aragon; plus many, many more. Here too are even more facts about everything from ghosts to drinking songs to the rules of cribbage and shove hapenny, showing that, ultimately, the story of pub history is really the story of our own popular history

A handy reference guide to the history of British pub signs, with illustrations of the most interesting.

Have you ever wondered how England's pubs got their names? How did some of the more weird and wonderful ones come into being? What is the history behind such names as Blink Bonny, Bucket of Blood, Lamorna Wink and My Father's Moustache? England's pubs have always been at the heart of the community they serve and their names are instantly recognisable, even when taken out of context. Coming almost from a language of their own, these names all have an origin and a meaning, with such diverse beginnings as heraldic imagery, religion, advertising, location, wildlife, humour and persons of note. Origins of English Pub Names features some of the most obscure names, alongside one or two well-known favourites such as the Red Lion and the Dukes Head, and is a must-have for all those interested in learning a little of the history behind their local. This fascinating book will appeal to historians and etymologists everywhere and, indeed, anyone who has enjoyed a lazy afternoon in a pub and, perhaps, contemplated the origin of its name.