At 24 characters, this was the longest pub name in London until modern pubs were created with fanciful names (such as Chelsea's The Ferret and Firkin in The Balloon Up The Creek).

[4] The pub is variously said to be named after a retired footman who bought the establishment and named it after himself,[5] or via its then owner William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, who employed a footman "said to be able to keep up a respectable 8 mph".

[3] Footmen were originally employed to run ahead of a carriage to ensure the way was clear.

As roads got better and clearer the demand for their services fell away and many were re-employed as household servants.

[4] It is a significant location in Martha Grimes's 1986 mystery novel I Am the Only Running Footman, which takes its title from the pub.