Pub names

British pubs may be named after and depict anything from everyday (particularly agricultural) objects, to sovereigns, aristocrats and landowners (shown by their coats of arms).

[4] Exceptions do exist, however, along with less obvious examples of the form - a combination of both features being Cross Foxes (a name most commonly found in rural Wales), referring to a darker-furred breed of the common Red Fox whose pelts were considered more valuable and sometimes worn as a sign of status.

[37] Before painted inn signs became commonplace, medieval publicans often identified their establishments by hanging or standing a distinctive object outside the pub.

This tradition dates back to Roman times, when vine leaves were hung outside tabernae to show where wine was sold.

Common enough today, the pairing of words in the name of an inn or tavern was rare before the mid-17th century, but by 1708 had become frequent enough for a pamphlet to complain of 'the variety and contradictory language of the signs', citing absurdities such as 'Bull and Mouth', 'Whale and Cow', and 'Shovel and Boot'.

Two years later an essay in the Spectator echoed this complaint, deriding among others such contemporary paired names as 'Bell and Neat's Tongue', though accepting 'Cat and Fiddle'.

[citation needed] Many traditional pub names allude to the beer available inside, or items used in its production like the Hop Pole and the Barley Mow.

Many old names for pubs that appear nonsensical are often alleged to have come from corruptions of slogans or phrases, such as "The Bag o'Nails" (Bacchanals), "The Cat and the Fiddle" (Caton Fidele) and "The Bull and Bush", which purportedly celebrates the victory of Henry VIII at "Boulogne Bouche" or Boulogne-sur-Mer Harbour.

[163][164] The amount of religious symbolism in pub names decreased after Henry VIII's break from the church of Rome.

The two surveys most often cited, both taken in 2007, are by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

[246] The Salley Pussey's Inn at Royal Wootton Bassett is said to have been named after Sarah Purse, whose family owned The Wheatsheaf pub in the 19th century.