London's market names

A few years ago, I used to help out occasionally on a stall at Broadway Market – the one where Dad sold the finest Cheshire cheese (made, of course, in Cheshire) to discerning consumers of traditional English cheeses. Days at the market involved early starts, much cheese-related talk, generous discounts at the stalls of fellow-traders and a slow journey back to North London afterwards if Arsenal happened to be playing at home on that particular Saturday.

Those days came to mind recently, along with thoughts of early-morning visits to Billingsgate and Smithfield, when I was working on my latest piece for Londonist – another instalment of its popular etymology series, this one on how London’s various markets got their names. Here’s the link:

http://londonist.com/2016/10/how-london-s-markets-got-their-names

As usual with tales of etymology, stories abound as origins can be found in the most unlikely places; here, we have appearances by the illegitimate son of James II and a naval hero associated with Horatio Hornblower, some Canadian content and a mythical pre-Roman British king. Plus some fantastic market photos taken by Allison!

The Docks

What with one thing and another, I’ve found myself exploring some of London’s docks of late. Last year, my ongoing Capital Ring saga took me along the Royal Albert Dock. Earlier this year, more walking – for Londonist, this time – saw me visit Limehouse (it’s at the end of the Regent’s Canal) and what remains of the East India Dock (it’s near the mouth of the River Lea); I liked the nature reserve there so much that I went there for another look, and did a write-up about it for the Wildlife Articles website. I’ve even been to Rotherhithe for a walk around, but that’s a story for another time (believe it or not, it concerns a film adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier novel which also took me to a field outside Rickmansworth).

I’ve also been working on a number of articles relating to the etymology (name origins) of various things in London in recent months – sporting venues, castles and palace – and for my next subject, I thought: why not the docks? The stories behind the names are, as these things tend to be, varied – there are saints, royals and places in London as well as locations around the world. The finished article can be seen here:

http://londonist.com/2016/08/how-london-s-docks-got-their-names

Of palaces and castles

What with being the capital city, London has a lot of palaces and castles but there is more to them than present-day Royal residences (although admittedly that does factor in quite a bit); there are also long-gone medieval fortifications and Tudor palaces, a Georgian folly and even a pub (of London’s many pubs and former pubs with the word ‘castle’ in their names, one made it onto the list). But how did they get their names? I looked into this for Londonist, and found that the answers are varied; as well as English place-names, London’s various castles and palaces owe their names to a Danish princess, French and Scottish nobility, an Indian fortress, the Latin language, a rebel leader and even one of the Disciples. Here’s the link:

http://londonist.com/2016/07/how-london-s-castles-and-palaces-got-their-names

How did London's squares get their names?

Well, how did they? London has had squares since the mid-17^th century, when a piazza was laid out in Covent Garden in imitation of the Italians. Grand garden squares and public squares followed over the next few centuries, and the name origins of them include aristocratic families, a Latin phrase, a hunting-call, the word for a castrated horse and a famous naval battle! This I (now) know because I’ve written a piece on the name origins of London’s squares for Londonist. The article, which includes a fantastic photograph of Trafalgar Square taken by Allison (I can take the credit for the ones of Bloomsbury Square, Golden Square, Paternoster Square and Soho Square), can be found via the following link:

http://londonist.com/2016/07/how-london-s-squares-got-their-names

How did London's sports venues get their names?

Ever wondered where Wembley got its name from, or why the Stoop is called the Stoop? What about Lord’s or White Hart Lane? I thought I’d do a little historical research, and in the process found that the origins of names can at times be both intriguing and unexpected. The result has been published on Londonist:

http://londonist.com/2015/09/how-london-s-sporting-venues-got-their-names

How did the Tube lines get their names?

I wondered about this myself, and decided to find out. The result can be seen on Londonist via the following link:

http://londonist.com/2015/08/how-the-tube-lines-got-their-names