In 2009, the exterior of the Merchant’s House in Plymouth U.K.
The best part of beer traveling is all the other things one learns while in pursuit of beer.
The Merchant’s House museum in Plymouth U.K. is one of the few remaining Elizabethan (1558-1603) buildings in a city where the urban core was very nearly wiped clean by the Luftwaffe during World War II, destruction suffered as collateral damage when the Germans targeted the Royal Navy’s base of operations in Plymouth, one of England’s finest natural ports.
I’m informed by the interwebz that the house is closed to the public at the present time, with a restoration project supposedly waiting in the wings (the Plymouth Herald seems very skeptical) but in 2009 the historic building was still welcoming tourists like us. I took only two photos on the day of our visit, one of the exterior and the other of a dog and pot.
It’s taken a mere 14 years for me to seek an answer to the question that likely came to mind back in 2009: “Why a dog and pot?” Procrastination is a lifelong specialty of mine, but here we go, at last.
As you might guess, the Dog and Pot originally was the name of a pub in Plymouth. I’ve highlighted a passage from Wikipedia’s explanation of pub names and signs.
Pub names are used to identify and differentiate traditional drinking establishments. Many pubs are centuries old, and were named at a time when most of their customers were illiterate, but could recognise pub signs. The use of signage was not confined to drinking establishments. 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). Other names come from historic events, livery companies, occupations, sports, and craftsmen’s guilds.
Specifically, Plymouth’s Dog and Pot was a 19th-century watering hole favored by seamen, given its location near the ships at the dockyards gate in Devonport.
But what does it mean?
Seemingly a reference to an old joke about a lazy wife who let her dog lick her pots clean …
