- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Particular Books; 1st Book People Edition edition (3 Sep 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1846142539
- ISBN-13: 978-1846142536
- Product Dimensions: 18.2 x 13.6 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 220,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Old Dog and Duck: The Secret Meanings of Pub Names
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Product Description
Review
The fascinating stories behind our favourite inns, from the Nag's Head to the Green Man
--DAILY EXPRESS
Lively and intriguing... a testament to the nature of the pub as a focus for creativity, wit and yarn-spinning.
--THE TIMES
Highly entertaining and full of stories...a book worth taking down the pub, methinks. --METRO
The ultimate booze who of Britain - the amazing tales of how pubs got their weird and wonderful names.
--DAILY STAR
Hopefully, with books like this, we can try and keep some of these places - and their intriguing names - alive.
--SCOTSMAN
--DAILY EXPRESS
Lively and intriguing... a testament to the nature of the pub as a focus for creativity, wit and yarn-spinning.
--THE TIMES
Highly entertaining and full of stories...a book worth taking down the pub, methinks. --METRO
The ultimate booze who of Britain - the amazing tales of how pubs got their weird and wonderful names.
--DAILY STAR
Hopefully, with books like this, we can try and keep some of these places - and their intriguing names - alive.
--SCOTSMAN
Product Description
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 ha'penny, showing that, ultimately, the story of pub history is really the story of our own popular history
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Great book, one to pick up and put down at will. Nice to dip into but informative.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Neither of my locals, the Daisy and the Old Unicorn, are in this book but it is nevertheless a treasure house of other delights. We have such as the Bag of Nails, the Bucket of Blood, the Pickled Parson and the Quiet Woman. All are explained as to their origins and it makes good reading.
My favourite, perhaps, is the Drunken Duck. The said duck was found apparently dead in the pub's back yard, taken indoors and plucked ready for the oven. As it happened, the duck wasn't dead but dead drunk and was slowly reviving. A barrel had leaked beer into its feeding trough and it had drunk its fill, and more besides. No matter, the landlord's wife knitted it a pullover until some of its feathers grew back and the duck became something of a celebrity. So much so that the pub's name was changed accordingly.
Excellent bed-time reading.
John Whitaker.
My favourite, perhaps, is the Drunken Duck. The said duck was found apparently dead in the pub's back yard, taken indoors and plucked ready for the oven. As it happened, the duck wasn't dead but dead drunk and was slowly reviving. A barrel had leaked beer into its feeding trough and it had drunk its fill, and more besides. No matter, the landlord's wife knitted it a pullover until some of its feathers grew back and the duck became something of a celebrity. So much so that the pub's name was changed accordingly.
Excellent bed-time reading.
John Whitaker.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Hi,this book was sent to both my sister and brother,they both said they have had happy hours reading it.Pick it up,put it down when you wish,great little boredom breaker and a laugh too.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Old Dog & Duck
I had lots of fun reading this book. Albert Jack has done some major research into the subject and has some very amusing anecdotes and observations. Definitely worth buying !
Published 1 month ago by jonboy
...a good read...
I have to say, after ready Albert Jack's other books ("Red Herrings & White Elephants" and "Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep"), I didn't enjoy this one quite as much. Read more
Published 4 months ago by JoJo70
Great book for pub trivia
Well written and thoroughly enjoyable, would be a great gift for anyone who is interested in history or the strange weird names that pop up around Britain and beyond.
Published 5 months ago by ATG
the old dog and duck
bought this for my hubby as he used to be in the pub game. wonderfully informative and truly interesting.
Published on 18 Jan 2010 by J. Shade-smith
Shoddy research
If Mr Jack really believes that "Cat and Fiddle" is a corruption of "Catherine Fidele" and a reference to Henry VIII's first wife, his research can't have been very thorough, since... Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Potboy
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