Dr Johnson's House in Gough Square sits within one of a handful of old Georgian courtyards north of Fleet Street. It saddens me that many of the old alleys I recall from as recently as the 1990s have been bulldozed and redeveloped, replaced with high rise office developments. Gough Square is only one of a few tiny spaces that still hint at this area's rich history, and it's thanks to Samuel Johnson.
The great lexicographer spent many years of his life producing a dictionary in which the phonetic pronunciations were also supplied but, whenever I pop in to attend events and talks, I cannot fathom why the curators have created these curious information boards, headed up with words that contain rogue apostrophes:
The apostrophes here serve no purpose as they are not inserted between the cojoined words and neither do they demote missing letters. As the explanation for Be'dchamber says, it is a conjunction of Bed and Chamber, so why put that apostrophe after the first E unless the original words had been Bedded or Bend or Behead?
Ah, the Withdra Wing Room, or perhaps this denotes that it used to be the Withdra Owing Room. Then we have the Pa'rlour which I like to pronounce Pah-relour, often spoken out loud, with confused looks from anyone else in the room even when I point to the sign. Pah-relour sounds like a card game in the round that you might play in the parlour. Or perhaps the Pa'rlour here was used only by Sam's Pa and his mother used the Ma'rlour...?!
The nonsense continues below ground...
Why not L'oo? (the ooh). They could also added LAVAT'ORY, DU'NNY and RE'STROOM...?
To my mind, these additional marks are unhelpful, meaningless, and at totally at odds with what Dr Johnson was trying to achieve. Does anyone know the thinking behind this nonsense? I have asked a couple of people who help out there but no one has a decent explanation. All I get in return are pleasant shrugs.
If Samuel was to time-travel to today and pop in and see these signs I wonder what he'd have to say. He'd probably turn tail and head to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese for a pint of ale and a chinwag with his mates though I think they'd be sorely displeased that they can't spark up a tobacco pipe in there any more. It's far too clean and sanitised these days, such that it looks more like a pastiche/recreation of an oldey worldey pubbe. To my mind, there should be a rule in this particular pub that at least one person on every table should be filling the place with smoke in order to constantly evoke the atmosphere of Dr Johnson's era.
Incidentally, if you haven't already noticed it, look out for this protective metalwork low down on the Fleet Street side of the pub which bears the initials of the pub, YOCC:
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Thanks, Jane