The Green Dragon

Dragons abound in legend and, in religious terms represented sin and paganism. As with St George and the dragon, another popular pub sign, they were an evil to be vanquished by the forces of good.

Medieval travellers to the Holy Land saw crocodiles so representations of dragons on pub signs and in heraldry might have come from these exagerated descriptions.

Pictured above is the Green Dragon in Marlborough and is one of many countrywide. A green dragon appears on the crest of the 1st Earl of Pembroke, a high-ranking Tudor nobleman whose wife was sister to Queen Catherine Parr. Two green dragon-like creatures also support the crest of the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers (plasterers).

To alchemists the green dragon is the universal spirit present in all things, not a mythical creature. Alchemy, a forerunner of modern chemistry, was considered cutting-edge science in the 16th Century; not only seeking to turn base metal into gold but also to purify and transform humankind. As early books on alchemy are recorded as being sold from the Green Dragon in St Paul’s Churchyard, it’s fair to assume there might be some connection between the pub and the science (unless it was a very clever marketing ploy in 1652).

The most famous Green Dragon has to be the Hobbit alehouse in the Shire in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The Green Dragon Tavern in Boston was a favourite haunt of Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty, and the headquarters of the leaders of the American Revolution.

To find out more about dragons on pub signs, why not download now A Book About Pub Names by Elaine Saunders. For a free extract, articles and details of how to buy click here

A Book About Pub Names on TV

Yesterday I spent a great day in London presenting a segment on pub history for a Canadian TV channel.

Filming took us around Bishopsgate in the City of London, visting pubs like Dirty Dicks and the Magpie. Both pubs have interesting and suprising stories behind them, more details of which can be found in A Book About Pub Names

It was fascinating to see how television history programmes are put together and how many filming hours go into every minute of transmission time. Sadly, we had torrential rain throughout which made it far more difficult for the crew to keep mikes and camera lenses dry.

More details of the filming will follow but, in the meantime why not follow the link to download A Book About Pub Names today?

Great pub sign photos

Colourlovers has just posted a great collection of pub sign photos picked up from Flickr. The derivations of most are pretty obvious although there are a couple of interesting variations on a theme.

Another blog, Existing Visual showed similar photos but includes the sign for the Lion & Snake, presumably in Lincoln.

If anyone has any idea how or why this pub got its name, I'd be fascinated to know. Leave a comment here or email me through my website at Complete Text where you're also find extracts from A Book About Pub Names, free pub history articles and details of how to buy.