Dave and I took the tube down to Soho yesterday to meet up with our friends Sally and Mike, who we haven't seen in ages. (In fact I don't think we've seen them both together since the pandemic began!) I met Sally through blogging way back in 2006 or so. She hasn't kept a blog in more than a decade but we've remained in touch and see each other now and then, and Mike (her husband) sometimes joins in as well. So it was great to reconnect with them.
Dave asked me the other day why Soho is called that. In New York, for example, SoHo is an abbreviation for "South of Houston," the neighborhood immediately below Houston Street. (Pronounced HOUSEton, not HYOOston.) But what's London's Soho named for?
A good question, so I looked it up. According to Wikipedia (which is never wrong): "The name 'Soho' first appears in the 17th century. The name is possibly derived from a former hunting cry. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, used 'soho' as a rallying call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, half a century after the name was first used for this area of London."
We still have no idea why it's named after a hunting cry. Wouldn't that be like calling a neighborhood "Yahoo" or "Woohoo" or "Tallyho"? Which I guess you could do, but it seems a little strange.
Anyway, Soho has long been London's "gayborhood," and we met Sally and Mike at a Thai restaurant in the heart of it, just off Old Compton Street. We had a good lunch marred only by the tendency of people going in and out of the restaurant to forget to close the door. There was a persistent chill wind at my back.
Afterwards we went to the Cafe in the Crypt below the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and had coffee. (We're not in the photo above, so don't try to find us!) Somehow I've never been to the crypt but I've heard about it for ages, so it was fun to finally go.
The floor is paved with old gravestones. One wonders how George and Ann Veale would feel if they knew total strangers were sipping lattes and eating walnut cake atop their memorials. (Allegedly the crypt's bodies were removed long ago, so I don't think George and Ann themselves are nearby.)
Anyway, we stayed until 4 p.m., when Dave and I made our way back home to rejoin Olga. I settled in to do some blog reading, and coincidentally, when I read John Gray's post about being curled up on the couch with his dogs, this was the scene on our own couch:
Somewhat pertaining to my own post today, did you drop your aitches in Soho square?
ReplyDeleteA learned person told me that the name Soho came from the phrase, So ho, what's your price.
Sounds like a wonderful day. The crypt is a bit unsettling but I guess it works.
ReplyDeleteI love the sharing of pets on the couch. When my dogs are on the couch (their couch) there is no room for humans. A cat might perch on the back.
That area of London was once fields upon which hunting took place and the call for the dogs to come back was something that sounded like Soo Hoo. Around here all farmers fields have strange names and when the houses are built on them the estates often get the names that the farmers had for the fields. Looks like Soho was wet yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered where the name Soho came from in London -- and I never bothered to look it up. I love the shot of Olga and the thought that you and John & Co. were doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI recognised the crypt straight away. Back in July 1971 I hitchhiked down to London to attend a free concert in Hyde Park - Grand Funk Railroad and Humble Pie etc.. At some time that weekend I was in St Martin's having a free meal courtesy of the church along with hundreds of other concertgoers. The context is a little blurry after all this time.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't eat a big dish of beef chow mein at Lee Ho Fooks? That has always been on my to do list when visiting Soho, in London, on some future rainy day, thanks to Warren Zevon. I will pass on seeing a "little old lady get mutilated late last night" though.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I still enjoy is going out for a coffee, I would love to have one in the crypt, looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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I always associate Soho with food stores and restaurants, where Barbara pym's characters went to daringly buy olive oil and garlic!
ReplyDeletewere those actual graves under the markers? were the markers laid on the ground like that when they were graves? I guess what I'm asking is were the grave markers/headstones alway on the floor like that or repurposed as floor tiles.
ReplyDeleteA pleasant social outing is good for the soul. Glad you got to meet up with old friends for a bite and a sip. I like Ellen's question- where those markers repurposed as floor tiles or were they originally placed that way? I have a feeling it's the second. That the bodies were buried and the markers laid over flat.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed a visit with friends. Aren't those old tombstones getting ruined?
ReplyDeleteHo many other names are made from bits of words? Probably quite a few. How many pass words are a combination of parts of words.?
ReplyDeleteWhat an educational post today! I love that colorful building in your top photo. Sweet Olga.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was today year's old when I realized that both London & NYC have a Soho. I have been SO CONFUSED! When someone would talk about the London one I would think "but isn't that in NYC?" And when someone would talk about the NYC one I would think "but isn't that in London?" Lord.
ReplyDeleteLots of memories flooded into my head with this post. I had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Soho and I remember it being very good. I also thing it was on a lower level somehow. I haven't been to Cafe in the Crypt but I once had lunch at the Cafe Below St. Mary le Bow many years ago. I wonder if it's still there. Great memories of London.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you caught that guy with the rainbow bag on the street in front of the rainbow painted building.
When my Older Daughter lived in NYC, she said they could always tell the tourists by how they pronounced Houston. :) It looks like an interesting time out. I would love to have coffee there!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anyone has listed the gravestones used in the floor?
ReplyDeleteWe have Veales in the Rixon family...you never know!! Some of the family marriages were in that church too!!
That looks a good café venue...plenty of happy eaters there!
It's such fun to reconnect with friends not seen in ages. And I'm glad you made it to the Crypt. We had a wonderful dinner there a few years ago and I found it very interesting. (The concert in the church upstairs after was wonderful too.)
ReplyDeleteThe cafe looks good
ReplyDeleteCan we meet up again, I’d like that
The gravestone floor is quite remarkable. I like it.
ReplyDeleteBlog friends are real true friends, I’ve found, whether we ever meet in the flesh or not. You with Olga and my daughter with munch have thinking about life with a dog.
ReplyDeleteNo Way - Olga On Her Pink Blanket - Best Photo On The W W Dot Inter Web - Stay Strong Brother Man
ReplyDeleteCheers