Saturday 24 May 2014

The Stag as a pub's name

If you travel in England, you probably noticed that many pubs share the same name: the King's Head, the Queen's Head,the Red Lion, the Duke of Something or Other, George & Dragon, etc. Even when they are not part of a chain (Wetherspoon, Harvester), they have these very banal, generic names. Or even when they do belong to a chain, they have every single pub take one of these names to make themselves seem more local. Even though there is a pub with the same name almost everywhere. Some of these common name I don't like, some I find full of charm. The Stag is one of the latter. It is short, simple, it has a nice rustic ring to it and it is associated with wildlife and an animal I love (and not only on a plate). And a pub named The Stag often has a nice ensign of a... stag, which is worth the look. In this particular one, I was not really impressed with the food, it was nice enough but nothing outstanding (maybe next time I should check if they have venison), but what an ensign. I guess it is like judging a book by its cover, but the appearance of the pub, its architecture and ensign, in sum its overall aesthetic, is an important part of the experience.

3 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

I wonder if the word "stagger" comes from seeing drunks rolling out of pubs called "The Stag"?

jaz@octoberfarm said...

i agree with you...the sign would have drawn me in! i love debra's sense of humor!

Guillaume said...

@Debra-Good question. Maybe it has more to do with "stag nights", when the future groom usually gets seriously drunk.
@Jaz-Sadly the meal was not as good as the sign, but still, what a sight.