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42-766: The Mermaid Tavern was a tavern on Cheapside in London during the Elizabethan era , located east of St. Paul's Cathedral on the corner of Friday Street and Bread Street. It was the site of the so-called "Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen", a drinking club that met on the first Friday of every month that included some of the Elizabethan era's leading literary figures, among them Ben Jonson , John Donne , John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont , Thomas Coryat , John Selden , Robert Bruce Cotton , Richard Carew , Richard Martin , and William Strachey . A popular tradition has grown up that

84-621: A cash economy, it was essential to raise one's esteem with fellow craftsmen to whom one could turn for favors in preference to the Verlag capitalist. A restaurant in Greece is commonly known as a taverna . Their history begins in Classical times, with the earliest evidence of a taverna discovered at the Ancient Agora of Athens ; the style remains the same to this day. Greek tavernes (plural of taverna) are

126-493: A jest. Two hundred years later, in early February 1819, John Keats composed a poem on the legend initiated by Beaumont, Lines on the Mermaid Tavern —26 lines of verse that open and close with the following couplets: Souls of poets dead and gone, What Elysium have ye known, Happy field or mossy cavern, Choicer than the Mermaid Tavern? Keats' precedent was followed by Theodore Watts-Dunton in his poem Wassail Chorus at

168-509: A literary critic. Theodore Watts-Dunton died at The Pines , Putney, on 6 June 1914, and was survived by his wife, Clara (née Reich). He is buried at West Norwood Cemetery , where his monument is a low capped stone. A blue plaque marks his home in Putney. Watts-Dunton's elongated name was celebrated by Stephen Potter 's book on Gamesmanship , in which the Dunton-Watts supercharger was merely

210-429: A move towards "gastro" pubs where the menu is more ambitious. Originally, taverns served as rest stops about every fifteen miles and their main focus was to provide shelter to anyone who was traveling. Such taverns would be divided into two major parts – the sleeping quarters and the bar . There is generally a sign with some type of symbol, often related to the name of the premises, to draw in customers. The purpose of this

252-686: A recent addition. In Byzantine times, tavernes were the place for a social gathering, to enjoy a meal, live music and friendly talk with a drink accompanied by small variety dishes ( mezes ). In former Yugoslavia, the kafana serves food and alcoholic beverages. The most frequent Czech translation of tavern or pub is "hospoda". It comes out from hospodář (landlord) and is also close to hostitel (host), host (guest) and hostina (dinner, banquet). And also to Russian gospodin (master, lord, sir) and, not to forget, to hospitality . Traditionally, "hospoda" or "hostinec" were full-fledged facilities, providing lodging, meals and drink, an inn . In modern times,

294-420: A treatise on the romantic movement . His Studies of Shakespeare appeared in 1910. But it was not only in his published work that Watts-Dunton's influence on the literary life of his time was potent. His long and intimate association with Rossetti and Swinburne made him a unique figure in the world of letters. His grasp of metrical principle and of the historic perspective of English poetry brought him respect as

336-441: A wider variety of foods, though it would be cabarets and later traiteurs which offered the finest meals before the restaurant appeared in the 18th century. Their stated purpose, however, was to serve wine (not beer or cider, which had other outlets) and they were so disreputable that women of any standing avoided them. After 1500, taxes on wine and other alcoholic beverages grew increasingly more burdensome, not only because of

378-512: A will dated, 1603. In 1600, a notable disorder caused by some drunken members of a group known as the Damned Crew attacking the watch after they were challenged, began after they were ejected from the Mermaid Tavern. It resulted in a Star Chamber trial. The building was destroyed in 1666 during the Great Fire of London . William Gifford , Jonson's 19th-century editor, wrote that the society

420-453: Is an expressive word, and "krčma" is rather archaic in Czech. The word "taverna" (from Italian) is understood as a foreign term for establishment from South-European cultures, especially Greek or Italian. In Moravia , especially South Moravia, this social role is rather fulfilled by "wine cellars". Slovak language prefers the word "krčma" as a neutral colloquial term for pubs and restaurants. It

462-549: Is an old panslavic word. One of the earliest references to a tavern is found in the Code of Hammurabi . Theodore Watts-Dunton Theodore Watts-Dunton (12 October 1832 – 6 June 1914), from St Ives , Huntingdonshire , was an English poetry critic with major periodicals, and himself a poet. He is remembered particularly as the friend and minder of Algernon Charles Swinburne , whom he rescued from alcoholism and drug use and persuaded to continue writing. Walter Theodore Watts

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504-579: Is elemental and primitive. He is not of our time, but of all times. One imagines him wrestling with the giant Skrymir and drinking deep draughts from the horn of Thor, or exchanging jests with Falstaff at the Boar's Head in Eastcheap, or joining in the intellectual revels at the Mermaid Tavern, or meeting Johnson foot to foot and dealing blow for a mighty blow. With Rabelais he rioted, and Don Quixote and Sancho were his "vera brithers." One seems to see him coming down from

546-617: Is not used for wine bars.) As drinking beer is an important part of the Czech culture, inviting to "hospoda" generally means: "let's go and have a drink together, let's meet, chat, and socialize…". It is often equipped with a TV, billiards table, darts etc. Pubs serve both local regulars as well as excursionists, tourists and other guests. Establishments specialized primarily in the consumption of beer (beer bars) are called "výčep" ("výčap" in Slovak), expressively "nálevna", or "pajzl" (from German Baisel, originally from Jidish). "Knajpa" (from German)

588-556: Is now used to describe these houses. The legacy of taverns and inns is now only found in the pub names, e.g. Fitzroy Tavern , Silver Cross Tavern , Spaniards Inn , etc. The word also survives in songs such as " There is a Tavern in the Town ". The range and quality of pubs varies wildly throughout the UK as does the range of beers, wines, spirits and foods available. Most quality pubs will still serve cask ales and food. In recent years there has been

630-455: Is to indicate that the establishment sells alcohol and to set it apart from the competition. Scandinavia had very high drinking rates, which led to the formation of a powerful prohibition movement in the 19th century. Magnusson (1986) explains why consumption of spirits was so high in a typical preindustrial village ( Eskilstuna ) in Sweden , 1820–50. An economic feature of this town of blacksmiths

672-460: The Mermaid Tavern , a Christmas drinking-song imagined having been sung in the tavern, in which each new verse is "composed" by one of the poet-guests, including Raleigh, Drayton, "Shakespeare's friend", Heywood and Jonson. In his 1908 Prophets, Priests and Kings (p. 323), A. G. Gardiner turned to these "intellectual revels" at the Mermaid Tavern to express the independent genius of his friend G. K. Chesterton : Time and place are accidents: he

714-457: The Mitre tavern in London, that seemed to be located nearby. The opening scene of Bartholomew Fair by Ben Jonson (1614) has one of the characters, John Littlewit, refer negatively to those "Canary-drinking" wits who keep company at the ‘Three Cranes, Mitre, and Mermaid’. Apparently they were seen as too elitist. The wine in question seems to be the same as sack . Jonson and Beaumont both mentioned

756-569: The ballad poet Alfred Noyes published Tales of the Mermaid Tavern , a long poem in a series of chapters, each dedicated to Elizabethan writers associated with the tavern. These include Jonson, Shakespeare and Marlowe. Beryl Markham , in her 1942 memoir, West with the Night , remarked that "every man has his Mermaid's Tavern, every hamlet its shrine to conviviality". 51°30′46″N 0°05′43″W  /  51.512826°N 0.09532°W  / 51.512826; -0.09532 Tavern Over time,

798-627: The continual increase in the level of taxation but also because of the bewildering variety and multiplicity of the taxes. This chaotic system was enforced by an army of tax collectors. The resultant opposition took many forms. Wine growers and tavern keepers concealed wine and falsified their methods of selling it to take advantage of lower tax rates. The retailers also refilled their casks secretly from hidden stocks. Wine merchants stealthily circumvented inspection stations to avoid local import duties. When apprehended, some defrauders reacted with passive resignation, while others resorted to violence. Situated at

840-586: The family with ease. Watts is widely praised for extending Swinburne's life and encouraging his enthusiasm for the landscape verse that was amongst the best of his later works. However, Watts has also been castigated for sabotaging the completion of Swinburne's erotic sadomasochistic novel Lesbia Brandon . Even so, he was not able to wean Swinburne of his interest in flagellation . Watts-Dunton later decided also to take in Henry Treffry Dunn , who had been one of Rossetti's assistants. Like Swinburne, Dunn

882-452: The following year his prose romance Aylwin attained immediate success and ran through many editions in the course of a few months. The late 19th-century English novelist George Gissing noted in his diary in November 1898 that the novel had been "extravagantly praised", but that Gissing thought it showed a "dull mechanism". Both The Coming of Love and Aylwin set forth – the one in poetry,

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924-472: The group included William Shakespeare , although most scholars think that was improbable. According to Jonson, the Tavern was situated on Bread Street ("At Bread Street's Mermaid, having dined and merry..."). It probably had entrances on both Bread Street and Friday Street. The location corresponds to the modern junction between Bread Street and Cannon Street . The tavern's landlord is named as William Johnson in

966-406: The heart of the country town or village, the tavern was one of the traditional centers of social and political life before 1789, a meeting place for both the local population and travelers passing through and a refuge for rogues and scoundrels. Taverns symbolized opposition to the regime and to religion. Taverns sometimes served as restaurants . In Paris, the first restaurant in the modern sense of

1008-545: The household, women could deploy public power to impose limits on men's drinking behaviour. Taverns were popular places used for business as well as for eating and drinking – the London Tavern was a notable meeting place in the 18th and 19th centuries, for example. However, the word tavern is no longer in popular use in the UK as there is no distinction between a tavern and an inn. Both establishments serve wine and beer/ale. The term ' pub ' (an abbreviation of 'public house')

1050-479: The meaning of the word has a bit narrowed. Nevertheless, it is used colloquially to denote both traditional restaurants where people go to eat, and bars, where people mainly go to drink and socialize. "Hospoda" is nowadays a very widespread but only colloquial word, while "hostinec" or "pohostinství" were often official names of such establishment in the 20th century, now a bit obsolete. "Hospoda" could be with meals served or without, typically with tapped beer. (This term

1092-564: The most common restaurants in Greece. A typical menu includes portion dishes, or small dishes of meat and fish, as well as salads and appetizers. Mageirefta is the menu section that includes a variety of different casserole cooked dishes every day. The other choices are mainly prepared roasted ( tis oras) or fried. Orektika (appetizers) include small dishes of Greek sauces, alifes , usually eaten on bites of bread. Tavernes offer different kinds of wines and retsina in barrels or in bottles, ouzo or tsipouro , with beer and refreshments being

1134-474: The other in prose – the romantic and passionate associations of Romany life, and maintain the traditions of George Borrow , whom Watts-Dunton had known well in his own youth. Imaginative glamour and mysticism are their prominent characteristics, and the novel in particular was credited with bringing pure romance back into public favour. Watts-Dunton edited Borrow's Lavengro in 1893 and Romany Rye in 1903. In 1903 he also published The Renascence of Wonder ,

1176-405: The physical and moral degradation of alcoholics. Zola's correspondence with physicians reveals that he used authentic medical sources for his realistic depictions in the novel. A common German name for German taverns or pubs is Kneipe . Drinking practices in 16th-century Augsburg, Germany, suggest that the use of alcohol in early modern Germany followed carefully structured cultural norms. Drinking

1218-426: The poet into his semi-detached home, The Pines , 11 Putney Hill, Putney , which they shared for nearly thirty years until Swinburne's death in 1909. Watts' household included his sister Miranda Mason, her husband Charles (also a solicitor), her son, Bertie (born 1874) and later, a second sister. They also employed a live-in cook and a housemaid. Watts-Dunton married Clara Reich on 29 November 1905 and she settled into

1260-464: The tavern in their verse. Jonson's Inviting a Friend to Supper refers to "A pure cup of rich Canary wine, / Which is the Mermaid's now, but shall be mine". Beaumont, in his verse letter to Jonson, describes "things we have seen done / At the Mermaid", including, ...words that have been So nimble, and so full of subtle flame, As if that every one from whence they came, Had meant to put his whole wit in

1302-554: The tavern's literary clientele, as well as with the tavern's landlord, William Johnson. When Shakespeare bought the Blackfriars gatehouse on March 10, 1613, Johnson was listed as a trustee for the mortgage. And Hugh Holland, mentioned in Coryat's letters, composed one of the commendatory poems prefacing the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays (1623). "The Sireniacal gentlemen" also met at

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1344-702: The term was founded in 1765. However, the first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name was the one founded by Beauvilliers in 1782 in the Rue de Richelieu, called the Grande Taverne de Londres . Émile Zola 's novel L'Assommoir ('The Tavern', 1877) depicted the social conditions typical of alcoholism in Paris among the working classes. The drunk destroyed not only his own body, but also his employment, his family, and other interpersonal relationships. The characters Gervaise Macquart and her husband Coupeau exemplified with great realism

1386-527: The twilight of fable, through the centuries, calling wherever there is a good company, and welcome wherever he calls, for he brings no cult of the time or pedantry of the schools with him. Canadian poets William Wilfred Campbell , Archibald Lampman , and Duncan Campbell Scott together wrote a literary column called " At the Mermaid Inn " for the Toronto Globe from February 1892 until July 1893. In 1913

1428-409: The words "tavern" and "inn" became interchangeable and synonymous. In England, inns started to be referred to as public houses or pubs and the term became standard for all drinking houses. From at least the 14th century, taverns, along with inns, were the main places to dine out. Typically, a tavern offered various roast meats, as well as simple foods like bread, cheese, herring, and bacon. Some offered

1470-466: Was Swinburne , whom he befriended in 1872. Watts-Dunton contributed regularly to The Examiner from 1874 and to The Athenaeum from 1875 until 1898, being for more than twenty years the principal poetry critic of poetry in the latter. He wrote widely for other publications and contributed several articles to the Encyclopædia Britannica 9th edition (1885), of which the most significant

1512-535: Was born at St Ives, in what was then Huntingdonshire . He added his mother's maiden name Dunton to his surname in 1897. He was originally educated as a naturalist, and saw much of the East Anglian Gypsies , of whose superstitions and folklore he made careful study. Abandoning natural history for the law, he qualified as a solicitor and went to London, where he practised for some years, giving his spare time to his chosen pursuit of literature. One of his clients

1554-601: Was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603 based on a note by John Aubrey , but Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower of London from 19 July of that year until 1616 and it is hardly likely that someone of Raleigh's status and temperament would preside over tavern meetings. Gifford also was the first to name the Mermaid as the site of Jonson and Shakespeare's battle-of-wits debates in which they discussed politics, religion, and literature. According to tradition, Shakespeare, though not as learned as Jonson, often won these debates because Jonson

1596-566: Was more ponderous, going off on tangents that did not pertain to the topic at hand. How much of the legend is true is a matter of speculation. There is an extended reference to the Tavern and its witty conversation in Master Francis Beaumont's Letter to Ben Jonson. Coryat's letters also refer to the Tavern and mention Jonson, Donne, Cotton, Inigo Jones , and Hugh Holland – though Coryat was intimate with this group apparently from 1611 on. Shakespeare certainly had connections with some of

1638-412: Was not a sign of insecurity and disorder. It helped define and enhance men's social status and was therefore tolerated among men as long as they lived up to both the rules and norms of tavern society and the demands of their role as householders. Tavern doors were closed to respectable women unaccompanied by their husbands, and society condemned drunkenness among women, but when alcohol abuse interfered with

1680-489: Was prone to alcoholism. He died in 1899 whilst still living with Watts-Dunton and Swinburne. It was not until 1897 that Watts-Dunton published a poetry volume under his own name, albeit with the addition of his mother's maiden name. His erstwhile friend Whistler sent him a letter mocking his perceived aggrandisement: "Theodore," it read, "What's Dunton?" The book was his collection of poems called The Coming of Love , some of which he had printed previously in periodicals. In

1722-473: Was the Verlag , or outwork production system , with its complex network of credit relationships. The tavern played a crucial role in cultural and business life and was also the place where work and leisure were fused. Heavy drinking facilitated the creation of community relationships in which artisans and workers sought security. Buying drinks rather than saving money was a rational strategy when, before adjustment to

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1764-506: Was the one on "Poetry" in the ninth edition, where he explored poetry's first principles. Watts-Dunton had considerable influence as the friend of many of the leading men of letters of his time; he enjoyed the confidence of Tennyson and contributed an appreciation of him to the authorised biography. He was in later years Dante Gabriel Rossetti 's most intimate friend (Rossetti made a portrait of Watts in pastel in 1874). In 1879 Swinburne's alcoholic dysentery so alarmed him that he moved

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