Comments on Jane's London: Pub pairs

May I add some more E&C explanations to the mi...

2009-07-08T10:39:40.916+01:00

May I add some more E&C explanations to the mix? Henry III kept a private zoo at the Tower of London and in 1255 it was recorded that he was given an elephant. The story could have travelled the country as "the elephant at the castle"

When crusaders went to the Holy Land they saw that Persian knights fought from castle-like structures on the back of elephants. These descriptions found their way into Medieval Bestiaries - illustrated stories of mythical animals that were less than anatomically correct.

Many of these images were copied into church carvings such as in the 13th Century Exeter Cathedral (where the elephant has horse's legs) and 15th C Ripon. Pilgrims would therefore have been more than familiar with these images and, as many pubs were established to serve the pilgramage trade, the E&C was often used as a name.

Or that's my theory anyway!

Elaine Saunders
Author – A Book About Pub Names
It’s A Book About….blog
PS. I've just linked to you from my blog

Re Elephant and Castle, I thought that explanation...

2009-06-14T13:40:57.614+01:00

Re Elephant and Castle, I thought that explanation had ben blown out of the water... scroll down to 'Name' in this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_and_Castle

The Boot and Flogger... weird.

The Boot and Flogger in SE1

2009-06-14T09:20:05.539+01:00

The Boot and Flogger in SE1

My bad, it was the Infanta De Castilla if she was ...

2009-06-13T23:19:49.999+01:00

My bad, it was the Infanta De Castilla if she was Spanish and "
L'enfant de castilla" if she was French.

AFAIK, The Elephant and Castle is a SarfLundun mod...

2009-06-13T23:17:13.845+01:00

AFAIK, The Elephant and Castle is a SarfLundun modification of an ancient Spanish princess's title - she was "The Elefantia de Castillia".