The names of pubs often reveal England’s particularly Catholic roots. Today I met the splendid Anna Arco for lunch at the Lamb and Flag near Leicester Square. I was tempted to go to Chinatown again… but it was time for pub food: lamb hotpot seemed appropriate.
Conversation was wide ranging but eventually she told me about a article she is working on which will include a bit about an old sister I knew in Rome. But I won’t say any more about that!
Here are a couple views of the Lamb and Flag and then it is back to the National Gallery!
Maybe later I can wanderer back to Chinatown for some if that hot and sour soup I had the other day… Hmmm…
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If you go to China town check out either a place called ‘Hungs’ (which is on Wardour St slightly opposite the end of Gerrard St – if you are walking down Gerrard St walk past the London China Town restaurant and then turn left) for fairly authentic Cantonese food that isn’t dim sum or 1997 which is a few doors down. Or you could try the Taiwanese restaurant ‘Leong’s Legends’ (half way up Gerrard St turn on to Macclesfield St) – the head chef used to work at the famous Din Tai Fung in Taipei and the Siu Long Bao are excellent.
http://blogs.independent.co.uk/independent/2008/08/eat-chinatown-l.html
These covert photos are kind of eerie. Imagine if you were a WDTPRS fan and saw yourself passing by in one of these pics. You think to yourself, “Fr. Z. was right there and I didn’t even notice!” Fr. Z. sits back smugly and grins a clever grin ;-)
If you have time,try The Bishop’s Finger pub at Smithfield – favourite site (of both sides) for burning heretics during the Reformation. It is near the incredible medieval church of St.Bartholomew the Great, now CoE.
Close by is the excellent Bleeding Heart bistro and restaurant in Bleeding Heart Yard, off Hatton Garden. That’s near St. Ethelreda’s church which is in Ely Place, site of the London palace of the bishops of Ely. St. Ethelreda’s was later given back to the RC church.
Both The Bishop’s Finger and the Bleeding Heart should satisfy a trencherman like yourself, Father! You can check them out online.
Father, thank you for these. Brings back fond memories!
The Wikipedia site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lamb_and_Flag says that, in England, the symbol of St. John the Baptist is a lamb carrying a flag. Can this be true? I always thought that the lamb and the flag was a symbol of the Risen Christ. Does anybody know about the John the Baptist connection, if any?
genna: thanks for the ideas!
There is a Lamb and Flag in Oxford too, nearly across the street from the Eagle and Child.
TA: been there!
re 12.14
It just goes to show that Wikipedia is not infallible!
Fr. Francis: Wikipedia, however, can be easily corrected, while printed volumes remain wrong until the next edition.
Dear Fr. N.,
My home town of Preston has the lamb and flag as its coat of arms. I understand it to derive from the emblem of St. Wilfrid, an early mediaeval abbot of Ripon whose monastery was granted land hereabouts and who became the patron saint of the town. I also understand a similar lamb to symbolise St. John Baptist.
This can cause confusion. Our local professional football team has also adopted St. Wilfrid’s lamb as its emblem. A few years ago a friend of mine spotted a chap in Oxford wearing a tie emblazoned with a lamb and flag and declared “Ah, I see you support Preston North End”. The wearer, an alumnus of St. John’s College, was greatly offended (although he need not have been).
You can tell the difference if you look carefully because our lamb sits down.
The Lamb & Flag pub was once nicknamed “the bucket
of blood”. It was given this name because bare knuckle
boxing matches were held where the second floor bar
is located.