Pub names in Great Britain

Pub names in Great Britain identify traditional drinking establishments. Many pubs are centuries old, from a time when most customers were illiterate but could recognise pub signs or symbolic objects, such as a boot hung outside. Names may be for anything from everyday items to sovereigns and landowners, often represented through coats of arms. Some reflect historic events, occupations, sports, and craftsmen' guilds. Others are rooted in myths and legends, such as the Green Man or local stories like the Moonrakers of Wiltshire. Names may straightforwardly describe their building or the services offered in addition to serving beer. Several refer to stages in growing barley and in brewing or transporting beer, such as John Barleycorn, the Hop Pole, the Malt Shovel, the Mash Tun, and the Three Barrels. Establishments that served wine might use names like the Spread Eagle, indicating the coat of arms of Germany. Sporting associations appear in names such as the Hare and Hounds or the Bowling Green. Some pub names are literary, referring to books such as Uncle Tom's Cabin or The Hobbit, fictional characters like Sherlock Holmes, or authors including Edgar Wallace. Many old pubs are named for famous figures or ordinary trades. Several have names intended to be humorous, including the names used by some pub chains. Among the most common pub names are the Red Lion, the Royal Oak, the Crown, and the Swan. Closed pubs are marked †.

Heraldry

Badges

Many pubs have heraldic names, often directly naming the animal or object used as a badge or heraldic charge. Among the most common, both in heraldry and on pub signs, is the Red Lion. As a pub sign, it probably has multiple origins: in the arms or crest of a local landowner; as the personal badge of John of Gaunt, founder of the House of Lancaster; or in the royal arms of Scotland, conjoined to the arms of England after the Stuart succession in 1603. The White Hart was the livery badge of King Richard II of England; it became so popular as an inn sign during his reign that it was adopted by many later inns and taverns. The Blue Boar, the name of many pubs in Westminster, Norwich, Billericay, Maldon, Witney and elsewhere, was the badge of the Earls of Oxford. The White Boar on the other hand was the badge of King Richard III, while the White Horse was for the Hanoverian Kings. King Edward III's badge was the Rising Sun, the name of several pubs and taverns, while the Red Dragon denotes Wales. The Eagle and Child, Oxford, its name derived from the arms of the Earls of Derby, was a meeting place of the Inklings; the name was in 2005 shared by 25 other pubs.

Arms

Names starting with the word "Three" are often based on the arms of a London Livery company or trade guild. Thus the Three Compasses is named for the Worshipful Company of Carpenters. Sometimes the livery company or guild is named directly, as in the Blacksmiths Arms, Bricklayers Arms, Carpenters Arms, Masons Arms, and Saddlers Arms; people in these trades often met in these places. Another old profession recorded in a pub name is the Drover's Inn, Loch Lomond, Scotland, named after the cattle drovers.

History, myth and legend Many pub names record aspects of history, real or imagined, from specific events to local legends.

Historic events Several historic events are commemorated in pub names. A few of these, such as the Royal Oak, are extremely common. One or two events, like the Battle of Trafalgar, have resulted in multiple different pub names.

Religion

The amount of religious symbolism in pub names decreased after Henry VIII's break from the church of Rome. For instance, many pubs originally called the Pope's Head were renamed to the less contentious King's Head. Publicans sometimes changed the names of their premises to something close to the original Catholic meaning, so the St Peter could be renamed to the Crossed Keys (that the saint holds, to the gates of heaven), or the Ark could be called the Ship. Among the surviving religious references, the Lion and Lamb, Pennington, Hampshire, is named from St Augustine's usage, where the lion represents the resurrection of Christ, and the lamb denotes Christ's sacrifice. The Shaven Crown, at Shipton-under-Wychwood, once belonged to the monks of Bruern Abbey. The Cardinal's Hat, Harleston, Norfolk was an inn from at least 1591.

Myths and legends Several pub names commemorate English myths and legends.

Historic opinions

All Labour In Vain or Labour In Vain is a pub name probably of Biblical origins. The name was formerly often illustrated by a person trying to scrub the blackness off a black child. Such signs have been mostly replaced with more innocuous depictions of wasted effort. There are numerous old pubs and inns in England named The Black Boy(s), many now claimed to refer either to child chimneysweeps or coal miners, or to a (genuine) historic description of King Charles II. The Black Boy Inn in Caernarfon, North Wales, has received at least a dozen complaints from visitors over the name, which dates back at least 250 years. In 2021 brewer Greene King changed the names of three pubs called The Black Boy, and another called The Black's Head. The Black Bitch, a pub in Linlithgow, West Lothian, is named after the local legend of a black greyhound who is said to have repeatedly swum to an island in the town's loch to bring food to its imprisoned master, only to suffer the same fate when its efforts were discovered. The pub's name has caused more than a few surprised tourists to question the name or decry it as racist.

The pub itself

The pub building

The Hippodrome in March, Isle of Ely was once a cinema. The Hole in the Wall is the name of several very small pubs. One such at Waterloo, London, is spacious but built into a railway viaduct. The Hole in the Wall, Gibraltar was an iconic bar well frequented by the navy workers. The Hundred House Inn, Great Witley originates from when the building was a collecting house for the tithes from districts in the Doddingtree Hundred. The Lattice House, King's Lynn was named for its timbered structure. The Thatched House Tavern, Cambridge is named after the building's roofing. The Three Legged Mare, High Petergate, York is named after the design of a gallows, like the one in the pub's garden; affectionately known as the Wonky Donkey.

Services provided by the pub

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