Folklore: Odd pub names

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Mrs_Annie
Date: 11 May 05 - 04:53 AM

I don't think anybody has mentioned the Eel's Foot in Suffolk.
It's an absolutely great pub, and this July there is a step dancing weekend happening there.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mandoleer
Date: 10 May 05 - 06:02 PM

Halsall area seems to have a minor thing abour Moors - there's a main road called Blackamoor Lane and (not in it) a pub called The Saracen's Head. Litherland has The Salt Box, which was originally the St Catherine's Hotel until the management bowed to local custom.
In Leyland, it was a thing about stars. There was The Seven Stars, The New Seven Stars, The Old Seven Stars, The Original Seven Stars and a couple of other versions of Seven Stars. Used to be a pub there that served the biggest range of cocktails I've ever seen, and which had a Sri Lankan guitarist accompanying the groups that played there - pub was The Leyland Tiger, after the buses of course. Long gone now, though.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,vikster
Date: 03 May 05 - 08:53 PM

weve got

the turks head: who was this turk? and what happened to his head?
the liquorice bush
the orange house: which isnt orange, or a house and recently renamed shout.
scruffy murphys
the groggers rest
theres a swan with two necks in wakefield
the winter seam
the winding wheel
the king billy

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 05:35 AM

I think the Floating Light acquired it's name because in some weather conditions when the hillside is shrouded in mist all you can see is a floating light

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 04:31 AM

Nice to see this thread again - I had forgotten about it! Having visted the US last year it is nice to see pub naming traditions getting just as odd there. In downtown Edwardsville, Illinois, I found a really good pub with lots of real ales and a good atmosphere. It used to be called the Stagger Inn a few years ago but got itself a rather bad name as a rough place. They closed it for a while, re-fitted it and re-opened it with the name the Stagger Inn... Again! Yes, the whole bit including the again. Story goes that when the new management were deciding what to call it someone just said why not call it the Stagger Inn again. And it stuck:-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,pinion
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 03:18 AM

In Philadelphia, PA is the "He's Not Here" Tavern. It's great to hear the bartender answer the phone.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mandotim
Date: 18 Apr 05 - 03:08 AM

A couple for the pot; along the lines of the pub called 'the office', there used to be a pub in Oldham called 'The Doctor Syntax'. Hence 'I'm going to be late, love, I'm at the Doctors; nothing serious, just feeling a bit wobbly...'. Another one was on the road from Saddleworth to Huddersfied, called 'The Floating Light'. Difficult to see how this pub on the top of the moors had anything to do with water, until you realise that the Stanage canal tunnel runs underneath from Diggle to Marsden. The tunnel has no towpath, so the boats were 'legged' through the tunnel, and the tow horses would be walked over the hills to meet the boat at the other side. They would stop at the pub for refreshment on the way. Must be a song in this somewhere..
Tim from Bit on the Side

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Muttley
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 09:42 PM

There are just SO many names - and really good ones, too! Since I'm going to the UK in September / October - I may just have to record some of the names as I travel.

Here's an Australian offering: "The Coach and Horses" - probably not terribly original, but interesting in that it is in Ringwood, east of Melbourne and was a stopover and team changing station for the Cobb & Co. stage coaches in the late 19th Century.
Ringwood seviced the goldrush town of Warrandyte, 7 or 8 miles to the north as a market-gardening settlement and then hit a 'boom' of its own when antimony and a REALLY small amount of gold were discovered there. Antimony was the paying mineral and Ringwood was honeycombed with shafts - now the town hall and old police station and courthouse are all collapsing into old shafts that weren't backfilled properly and Ringwood Lake was an accident when the heavily mined areas around it sank!

The Coach and Horses served as a way stop to Warrandyte and as well to the goldfields of Healesville / Warburton and then up into the ranges.

Nice history to it.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 08:23 PM

Pogo:

Lots of results on Google:

Children's skipping rhymes

CHEERS
Nigel

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Pogo
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 05:24 PM

[Schantieman, the Throstle's Nest has been on Scottie Rd in Liverpool for a very long time (a throstle being a thrush). It became One Flew Over the Throstle's Nest when a certain film became popular- just can't think of the name of the film...]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That in turn comes from an old children's rhyme...all I can recall is the last verse " one flew east and one flew west and one flew over the cuckoo's nest! "

Friend of mine came up with The Lusty Chicken as a good inn/pub name for something he's writing {O)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mandoleer
Date: 17 Apr 05 - 04:44 PM

Update on the Blue Elephant - it IS now an Indian restaurant. Slightly odd name for a pub is No 3 - in Blackpool. Used to be at number 3, but has expanded and now incorporates number 1 as well. Whitegate Drive? Pass it occasionally but can't remember road name....

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 24 Mar 05 - 07:50 PM

"hometown" that is.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 24 Mar 05 - 07:46 PM

There's one near my hometwon called "The Office." That's so you can call home and say, "I'll be home late. I'm at the office" and you wouldn't be lying!

Chanteyranger

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Mar 05 - 07:45 PM

Worst renaming of Pubs is down round here - At least six pubs within five miles of me are now called MacDonalds !!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mandoleer
Date: 24 Mar 05 - 07:15 PM

The Blue Bell at Barton (West Lancs) used to have a blue bell hanging with a similar legend, but with
This bell hangs well
And injures none
Refresh yourself, pay
And travel on.
One more not far from that, by the way, that I've never seen elsewhere, is the Running Horses. This is a canal pub, not far from the former Maghull racecourse, and by coincidence, it's in Bells Lane... Oh, and the Red Lion at Scarisbrick seems to have become the Blue Elephant, but I'm still trying to find out if it's become an Indian restaurant....

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Noreen
Date: 24 Mar 05 - 06:50 AM

Told you before, it runs on batteries!

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Big Mick
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 07:06 PM

That ain't right, Raggy. I asked first. Tried to get her to stay an extra day in the States. I could have had that clocked fixed, wound, and purring along. But she had to get back to UK.....

.... singing tooraloora-loora, tooraloora-loora, tooraliay

Mick, the clockwinder

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Raggytash
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 06:40 PM

Your clock is wonderful, I cannot wait to wind it up again !

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Andrew
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 05:49 PM

Not as good as lots here but I like the Dirty Duck in Stratford on Avon, or the White Swan if you approach it from the other direction

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mad2
Date: 23 Mar 05 - 01:22 PM

how about The Gate Hangs Well -? great isn't it - why on earth would you name a pub after a spot of DIY ?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: 8_Pints
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 08:40 PM

The Davenport Arms in Woodford, Cheshire bears the coat of arms of the local gentry. They had the right of summary execution of anyone caught trespassing in their woods. The point was graphically re-inforced by the felon's head with a noose around it, mounted above the shield on said coat of arms.

Consequently, the pub is known by the locals as the 'Thief's neck'! (or simply the 'Thieve's')

Bob vG

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Noreen
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 11:12 AM

Oh Mick- I thought you'd never ask!

*grin*

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 10:40 AM

Lamorna's Wink..In Cornwall.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Big Mick
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 10:32 AM

From the first minute I met you, Noreen, I wondered how your aul clock was!!! ....singing tooraloora-loora, tooraloora-loora, tooraliay

Mick, ducking and running for cover.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Noreen
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 10:23 AM

Hey Raggy, a Google search is useful to check the veracity of such sweeping statements....

How's my clock?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 09:48 AM

There was/is a pub named the Blue Lion somewhere on the south side of Manchester, which I seem to recall being told was the only one of that name in the country

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Paul Burke
Date: 22 Mar 05 - 09:19 AM

"I have seen two pubs round here in the Midlands called "The Gate Hangs well" "

This used to be on the Gate Hangs Well between Whaley Bridge and Chapel en le Frith:

This gate hangs well
And hinders none
Sit down, refresh,
And travel on.

The reference is to the turnpike gate, where you had to stop to pay road tolls up to about 1880.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Snuffy
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 07:55 PM

Daughter (aged 4): What's that pub called, Dad?
Me: It's called The Sun
Daughter: What's it called at night, then?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Cats
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 05:12 PM

There used to be a pub somewhere near Brighton called the 'Jovial Whippet'.. Is it stil there?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 02:16 PM

Two in the Maidstone area of Kent.

The "Who'd have thought it", and the "Duke without a head".

Don T.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,The Barden of England
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 10:58 AM

There's 'The Dirty Habit' just by trhe Pilgrims Way in Hollingbourne, Kent.
My favourite nickname was 'The Trout & Knacker' for the Salmon & Bull that was on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Cambridge Heath Road in the East End of London

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 10:37 AM

I have seen two pubs round here in the Midlands called "The Gate Hangs well" which always struck me as odd but my favourite pub name is from a few years ago when I lived in London. There was a fairly grotty bar under the arches of Cannon St Railway Station called "The Bouncing Banker" which of itself was not very interesting until Roberto Calvi, God's Banker, was found swinging from a rope under the same bridge.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,furg
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 09:14 AM

There are two pub's in Leuven in Belgium one called the 'Nod' and around the corner and up some stairs 'Wink' - why these names are not in the local language is i believe linked to the fact that they do (or at least once did) belong to an Irish seminary in the same time.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: JennyO
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 08:50 AM

Then there was that pub in Canberra in Oz, where Mudcatters met a couple of years ago at the National - called the Wig and Pen. Sounds like a pub for lawyers. I don't know, but I suspect that might in fact be the reason for the name.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Paul Burke
Date: 21 Mar 05 - 08:19 AM

Years ago, when the daughter was 3,the Boy asked about a slightly odd pub name (the Hurt Arms in fact).. I explained about where pub names come from. Daughter stayed very quiet .. then when I'd finished piped up "I know some pub names Daddy... the Flying Snail.. the Tree Snail... the Ground Snail.. the Flat Horse and Slug"

I don't know why gastropods figured so strongly, but I've never come across a better name than that last one.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Bill the Collie
Date: 20 Mar 05 - 11:02 PM

There used to be a pub in Bristol called "The pen and filofax", much frequented by the suits.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: mandoleer
Date: 20 Mar 05 - 06:53 PM

The UpSteps in Birkdale, Southport was originally Bankfield House, but as you have to go up steps to get in (very unusual in Southport pubs!) the name stuck and has officially been changed. The Guest House is a bit odd as a pub name, and Southport also has The Cheshire Lines (despite having been in Lancashire - now Merseyside) because it was near a terminus of the aforesaid railway. The Eureka in Ormskirk is in Halsall Lane, and so far as I know, Ormskirk still has the unique Snig's Foot (a snig being a grass snake). Liverpool has The Flat House, and The Paraffin Oil Store, apart from The Roscoe Head and Doctor Duncan's. Liverpool also has a modern pub called the Cockwell, which for the first part of its existence had the word Inn after it's name. For some reason it was changed... Further afield, just outside Drybrook in the Forest of Dean there is The Wonky Donkey.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Haruo
Date: 20 Mar 05 - 05:59 PM

I always thought "Pig & Whistle" was a strange one (though not unique, as I know there are identically named premises in (at least) Seattle, San Francisco, Pattaya (Thailand) and London. However, at least as odd as the image the name conjures up is the etymology, from "Piggin (and) Wassail" of peripatetic Christmas toasting fame.

Haruo

Subject: RE: Folklore: Black Bitch Linlithgow
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 05 - 05:42 PM

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Bernard
Date: 02 Nov 04 - 12:39 PM

The Swan With Two Nicks...

This is often seen as 'The Swan With Two Necks', which is an incorrect interpretation...

In the UK, all swans belong to the Queen by law, with the exception of the Vintners' swans on the Thames which have two 'nicks' (or notches) in their bills as distinguishing marks.

This may well be more widespread (or even inaccurate!) than I've indicated, but is given as the explanation of the pub name...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: muppitz
Date: 02 Nov 04 - 06:48 AM

Nottingham has a pub somewhere in the city centre called "The Frog and Onion", and once upon a time we had a "Slug and Fiddle".

Also, not really an odd name, but our "Pitcher and Piano" is a converted church!

muppitz x

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Mikey joe
Date: 02 Nov 04 - 05:58 AM

I like the pub names from Little Britain:

The Scarecrow and Mrs King

&

The Chaka Demus & Pliers

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 01 Nov 04 - 02:20 PM

I accept that the pub name seems to be in use following on from George Orwell's writings. However, my comments about "The Moonrakers" give it a certain credibility as a pub name. Did Orwell just pluck a name from thin air, or was there a thought of this at the back of his mind.

Nigel

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Joe_F
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 08:58 PM

"But now is the time to reveal something which the discerning and disillusioned reader will probably have guessed already. There is no such place as `The Moon under Water'.

"That is to say, there may well be a pub of that name, but I don't know of it, nor do I know of any pub with just that combination of qualities [scil. draught stout, china mugs, open fires, cheap meals, a garden, motherly barmaids, no radio, the solid comfortable ugliness of the nineteenth century, & the availability of pipe tobacco, aspirin, & stamps]."

-- George Orwell, _Evening Standard_, 9 February 1946

Did the Wetherspoons pay attention?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Noreen
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 04:29 PM

Re Taggart's post about the New Inn whose pubsign pictures a gnu, I have this evening driven through the village of Newbald in the East Riding of Yorkshire where The Gnu. public house is directly opposite The Tiger.

Some competition there, I'll warrant!

And Snuffy, I believe you're right- the Moon Under Water Wetherspoon's "pub" on Deansgate in Manchester was previously a cinema. Nice place to drink, put I wouldn't call it a pub.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Snuffy
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 01:29 PM

Nigel, I think you will find that all the Moon Under Water pubs are operated by Wetherspoons and have either beeen re-named or used to be banks, post offices etc. The name is definitely Orwellian.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: GUEST,Auldtimer
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 12:45 PM

In Kilmarnock, well known for it's conections with Robert Burns, there is a pub/resturant called The Parched Poet. However it is better known as The Poached Parrot.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 31 Oct 04 - 09:33 AM

"Moon Under Water" maybe fictitious for George Orwell, but a quick Google will find several in London, One in Manchester, Milton Keynes, Cannock....
Perhaps an allusion to Orwell, but perhaps earlier legend of the Moonrakers and the film "The Moonraker" (1958) had something to do with it.

CHEERS
Nigel

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: Joe_F
Date: 30 Oct 04 - 08:14 PM

"The Blue Bull, the Dragon, the Star of Wales, the Twll in the Wall, the Sour Grapes, the Shepherd's Arms, the Bells of Aberdovey: I had nothing to do in the whole wild August world but remember the names where the outing stopped and keep an eye on the charabanc." -- Dylan Thomas, "A Story"

"The Moon under Water" -- name of a fictitious pub described in loving detail by George Orwell in one of his columns.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Odd pub names
From: fogie
Date: 30 Oct 04 - 05:09 AM

Great thread
Way out in the sticks near where I live between Clun and Newtown- about as far from the sea as you can get, there stands a closed pub of great local fame called the Anchor that the wild Welsh used to cross the border to when their area was dry. It used to run rock music gigs late into the night. I cant remember how many times it was raided and closed down because of what went on in the early hours, but I do remember the pet fox that was chained up outside the door and used to scare the wits out of you if it jumped at you!