Филологические науки/ 2. Риторика и стилистика.

К.п.н. Волкова Е.В., Бумакова М.В.

Санкт-Петербургский Гуманитарный университет профсоюзов, Россия

Women in British Pub Names: Linguistic and Cultural Analysis

Introduction

Pubs play a very important role in British culture. Pub names usually have some historical connections with the place where a pub is located. In this paper we provide the gender and cultural analyses of the British pub names along with the British female pub names classification.

There is a range of books about British pubs and pub names. Also there is a lot of gender research provided in linguistics. However, the gender analysis of the British pub names still needs to be done.

Female pub names and their cultural connections

Women whose names were used for naming British pubs can be divided into several groups.

1. Royalty. Examples:

Anna Boleyn - Rochford - her brother was George Boleyn, viscount of Rochford

Egyptian Queen - Blaby, near Leicester - Queen Nefertiti. A 'theme place' in Egyptian style.

Elizabeth of England - Elmey Castle, near Evesham - The inn sign says that Elizabeth I visited the village on 20 August 1575. Her portrait is on one side of the sign, her retinue on the other.

Empress Eugene - Cardiff - Presumably a reference to Eugenie-Marie de Montijo de Guzman (1826-1920), wife of Napoleon III and Empress of the French 1853-1870, no connections.

Empress of Russia - London - Catherine I and II of Russia, no connections.

Lady Diana - London, formerly Prince Arthur, the pub was renamed in favour of Lady Diana Spencer 2 months before she became Princess Diana.

Princess Beatrice - London. - 5th and youngest daughter of Queen Victoria.

Queen - London and elsewhere - signs show various queens, e.g. Queen Anne at London, Elizabeth I at Tadcaster.

Queen’s Head and Artichoke - London - Sister of Henry VIII was passionately fond of artichokes (it is said). She persuaded her chief gardener to call his tavern by this name. That tavern is gone, but the name survives here.

Indian Queen - Boston- (recently renamed the Indian Queen and Three Kings) - Indian princess Pocahontas. During her time in captivity she converted to Christianity, changed her name to Rebecca, and met and married John Rolfe, from Heacham, Norfolk. Her connection with the Boston pub is uncertain but historian, academic and author Esmerelda Weatherwax said: “Pocahontas and her party had a very good reason to visit Heacham and it is my personal belief that they did so. Boston is a prominent town in the history of the colonisation of the east coast of America. Boston Stump being visible from Heacham makes a trip across The Wash highly likely.”

Royal Victoria and Bull - Rochester - recalls a visit to the town by Queen Victoria, which caused the Bull to be renamed.

Lady Jane - Whitwhick - Lady Jane Grey, her home in early childhood was on the nearby Bradgate Park.

Scottish Queen - Sheffield - Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned for a time in Manor Castle, opposite this pub.

Victoria - everywhere - after Queen Victoria.

2. Aristocracy. Examples:

Emma Hamilton - London ('Lady Hamilton' in Neston, Cheshire, she was born there) - celebrated English beauty. At first mistress and wife of William Hamilton, British ambassador at Naples. Later mistress of Lord Nelson.

Fair Maid of Kent - Lower Walmer, Kent. - Joan (1328-1285), only daughter of Edmond Plantagenet, Earl of Kent, wife of Edward, the Black Prince, was known as 'the fair maid of Kent'. She was the mother of Richard II. The very first princess of Wales.

Fair Rosamund - Botley, neat Oxford. (before 1150 – ca. 1176). A lady who is said to have been the mistress of Henry II. In some accounts she was poisoned by queen Eleanor. In others, after having two children by the king, she retired to Godstaw Nunnery and died there of a broken heart. The sign shows her in a pastoral setting, holding a bunch of primroses. She is thought to have entered Henry's life around the time that Eleanor was pregnant with her final child, John who was born on 24th December, 1166.

Jane Shore - London. A London woman who died in poverty in 1527, though she had lived in great luxury as the mistress of Edward IV, Lord Hastings, Marquis of Dorset.

Lady Franklin - London - Lady Jane Franckline - 2nd wife of the celebrated Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin

Lady Godiva - Coventry - wife of Leofric, Lord of Coventry (11th century).

3. Landladies. Examples:

Aunties - Bristol - a former landlady was always known as 'Aunty' to her regulars and is now immortalised in the pub name. The former sign showed two ladies in Victorian dress beneath a shared parasol.

Sarah Mansfield - Willey, near Rugby - a former landlord named the pub in honour of his mother, using her maiden name.

Lady Charlotte - Dowlais. She was a wife of a prominent local businessman of mid 19th centuryand a well-known local benefactress.

4. Book characters. Examples:

Betsy Trorwood - London EC1 (Dickens 'David Copperfield', great-aunt of the main character, no connections).

Eliza Doolittle - London NW1 (Bernard Shaw "Pygmalion". Connection: situated near the Shaw Theatre).

Galatea - London SE15 (A sea nymph/ the statue of Pygmalion who loved his creature so much it came to life. No connections. Now demolished.)

Jeannie Deans - Glasgow, 'Jeanny Deans' Tryst' - Edinburgh (Sir Walter Scott’s 'The Heart of Midlothian'. Connections:

Jeanie Deans, 512 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, G3 8XZ. In this pub, there are pictures of the passenger ship, Jeanie Deans hanging on the walls. The patrons of the pub are convinced that it was named after the ship which was built in Glasgow. However, there are roundels in the windows of the pub showing a young woman with a tartan shawl round her head. This is undoubtedly Jeanie Deans as depicted by Scott in the novel. The pub may have got its name in the late nineteenth century during the height of her popularity and well before the ship was built in 1931. (However, this pub has been recently renovated and it re-opened in January 2012 under the name of Barco.) + Walter Scott was born and lived in Edinburgh

Jeanie Deans Tryste. This pub is situated at 67 St Leonards Hill, Edinburgh. The 'tryste' in the pub's name refers to Jeanie Deans' meeting with the outlaw, George Robertson, which took place in Holyrood Park at Muschat's Cairn. This cairn can be seen today at the eastern (Meadowbank) entrance to Holyrood Park, though in the novel Scott seems to locate it further west, near the ruins of St. Anthony's Chapel. The pub is in the vicinity of Jeanie Deans Cottage as depicted in Scott's novel. He seems to have imagined the cottage as being on St. Leonards Crags situated behind where the pub is.)

Jenny Jones - Llangollen, Clwyd (19th century Welsh ballad, sung to the tune of Cader Idris. Connection: Jenny Jones and her lover are from Llangollen).

Lady of Shalott - Louth, Lincs (Lord Tennyson's poem ' Lady of Shalott'. Tennyson was born at Somersby, a few miles from Louth).

Lady of the Lake - Bridge of Allan, near Stirling (Loch Katrine); Outlon Broad, near Lowestoft (no connections).

(Lady of the Lake - a famous character from Arthurian legends, Merlin fell in love with her. Sir Walter Scott wrote a poem 'Lady of the Lake', main character Ellen Douglas lives with her father on Loch Katrine).

Lorna Doone - Galleywood, near Chelmsford; Edinburgh. (R D Blackmore's most famous novel Lorna Doone, writer have done for Devon what Sir Walter Scott did for the Highlands and Hardy for Wessex. All the action in Devon, but no pubs in Devon. No connections.)

Maid Marian - Arnold, near Nottingham, not far from Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood's Lady-love.

Another in Norwich - no connection.

Merry Wives of Windsor - Windsor (Shakespeare's play).

Miranda - Liverpool (Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". Main heroine. No connections.)

Mother Shipton - Knaresborough and in many other places not connected to her, (according to Richard Head's "Life and Death of Mother Shipton" - Ursula Southiel, later Shipton. Famous foreteller. She is supposed to be born in a cave at Knaresborough.)

Mother Hubbard - Loughton; Doncaster - famous humorous rhyme about mother Hubbard and her dog. Supposed to be a political satire, no single meaning. Probably: a satire on the Court and on the conflict then being waged between the old faith and the new (Elizabeth I time). No connections.

Wife of Bath - a tale from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. No connections.

5. Artistic women. Examples:

Jenny Lind - Wimbledon and elsewhere. (Jenny Lind (1820-1887), one of history’s most famous international opera stars, settled for many years near Wimbledon after taking the world by storm in the mid-19th century. She was also known as 'Swedish Nightingale'. She sang in Europe and America.

A pub in Inner Park Road which opened in 1959 is still named after her today)

Jersey Lily. Jersey Lily was a nickname of the British actress Lillie Langtry (1852-1929). There are two pubs in London (Langtry had a dwelling in Alexandra Road called Leighton House, possibly demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Alexandra Road Estate. She is remembered in the area in the name of Langtry Walk and a local pub. There is a pub named after her on the Lillie Road (The A3218), Kensington, London, near West Brompton tube station.)

Lillie Langtry - London NW6, Norwich, Norfolk.

Marie Lloyd - London N1. Marie Lloyd was a stage-name of the immensely popular music-hall artiste, born Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (1870-1922). She took the name Bella Delamare at first, but became Mary Lloyd when she appeared at the Star Palace of Varietes, Bermondsey, in 1885. She was born in London and played in London theatres.

Sarah Siddons - Brecon, Pwys. Also at Warwick and Cheltenham. (1755-1813) a celebrated English tragic actress born in Brecon. She was renowned for her beauty and deportment and is said to have lived a blameless life. Her most famous role was that of Lady Macbeth.

The classification is represented in the following table:

Table 1

Conclusion:

· Women represented in British pub names can be mostly divided into the following groups:

1) Novelty (including royalty, aristocracy and local landladies);

2) Book characters (British and non-British);

3) Artistic professions (singers and actors);

4) Local hostesses;

· The choice of names is in general determined by connections of a certain place with the person (e.g. in each group there are examples which are determined by the fact that the pub is situated in a place where a certain woman lived (Lady Diana - London, Fair Maid of Kent /Joan, wife of the Black Prince/ - Kent);

· Royalty, aristocracy and actresses are also determined by the place of birth (e.g. Lady Jane Grey - Whitwhick; Sarah Siddons - Brecon, Pwys);

· The majority of examples are represented in England, particularly in London;

· Some pub names are represented out of groups: Virgin Mary, Four sisters, Florence Nightingale - national heroine, Martha Gunn's - famous local person, Maggie Murphy - Tywyn, Conwy - famous hostess of the late 19th century;

· Northern Ireland doesn't have any pubs named after women;

· In Scotland there are only two pubs which are both connected to Walter Scott's characters. They may be regarded as a sign of respect to their national writer;

· Wales has only five pubs named after women: one ballad character, two novelty members (one landlady, and Empress Eugene-choice is not determined by anything), an actress which was remembered in her place of birth, and a local hostess;

· The artistic professions are represented in London, where they worked and were they were known ( and also one in her hometown in Wales);

· There are no many representatives in the group of Artistic professions, only some actresses and singers, as the pubs are mostly rather old, and such kinds of professions were not very developed among women before. Women writers are not represented at all (though names after men-writers exist) despite the great number of outstanding women-writers;

· Book characters are mostly British, with only one example of a non-British character (Galatea) in London, the choice of which can be connected with Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion”. We can suggest that the British are more interested in their own literature than in foreign one.

· The majority of examples belong to the group Royalty which can mean that the highest respect is paid to the women in power, not ordinary/artistic women.

References

The Dictionary of Pub Names (2006). Wordsworth Editions, Limited.