A 4.5 Irish pub named after the cockerel, one of the oldest pub emblems, serving some of the cheapest pints in London
The Cock Tavern holds a 4.5 from five hundred and fifty-three people, is an Irish pub near Euston, offers some of the cheapest pints in central London, and is named after one of the oldest and most common emblems on the English pub sign: the cock, the rooster, the cockerel.
The cock on the sign
The cockerel is an ancient and widespread pub name, and it carries a rich bundle of meanings. The cock is, first, the herald of the dawn – the bird whose crow announces the morning, a symbol of watchfulness, vigilance, and the coming of light. It has been a Christian symbol of St Peter and of resurrection, and it sits atop countless church weathervanes for exactly this reason, turning to face the wind.
The cock is also a symbol of pride, courage, and pugnacity – the strutting, fearless bird, ready to fight. This connects to the darker historical origin of many Cock taverns: cockfighting, the once-popular and now-banned blood sport in which cockerels were set to fight, often to the death, with heavy betting. Many an old Cock tavern was a venue for, or associated with, cockfighting – the pub and the cockpit went together, and the name sometimes recalls this grim sporting past.
The French connection
The cockerel is also, famously, the national symbol of France – le coq gaulois, the Gallic rooster, which appears on French sporting shirts and coins and stamps. The association comes from a Latin pun: “gallus” means both “a Gaul” (an inhabitant of ancient France) and “a cockerel.” The Romans made the joke, and the French, with characteristic flair, embraced the proud, strutting bird as their own. So the humble English pub cockerel is cousin to the national emblem of France – a connection that would surprise most drinkers at the Cock Tavern.
The cheapest pints in London
The Cock Tavern’s real modern fame is its prices – it is known for serving some of the cheapest pints in central London, a genuine rarity in an area and a city where drink prices have soared. In a district transformed by regeneration and rising prices, a pub holding the line on genuinely cheap beer is a valuable and beloved thing.
The Prat’s economics desk notes that cheapness is its own kind of authenticity – a pub that keeps its prices low, in defiance of the gentrification all around it, is providing a real service to the ordinary drinker, and earning real loyalty for it. A 4.5 from five hundred and fifty-three people reflects, in part, the genuine gratitude of drinkers who can still afford a round here.
The pub
A 4.5 across five hundred and fifty-three people is a strong, genuine score. The reviews describe a friendly, unpretentious Irish pub with remarkably cheap drink and a warm atmosphere – a proper, honest boozer holding out against the rising tide of prices.
Verdict
A friendly, unpretentious Irish pub named after the cockerel – herald of dawn, old fighting bird, and cousin to the national symbol of France – serving some of the cheapest pints in central London.
Go, have a genuinely cheap pint under the sign of the rooster, and raise it to a pub that keeps its prices honest while the whole district around it grows expensive.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
