Beggars Bush: A Perambulation through the Disciplines of History, Geography, Archaeology, Literature, Philology, Natural History, Botany, Biography & Beggary

Dublin, Donnybrook – False Trails Baggotrath & Folly

At the date of the earliest record in 1573 Baggotrath Castle would have been a prominent landmark in the countryside south east of the city. As However, as the record refers to both it appears to exclude the possibility that the place name Beggars Bush was an Anglicisation of Baggotrath. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 30th, 2011 | Filed under: Places, Speculations | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »


Dublin, Donnybrook – False Trails Lazars Hill

In 1573 “the Old Shore” of South Dublin continued to Townsend Street, then called Lazey or Lazar’s Hill (also Louseyhill, Louzy Hill and Lowsyhill) from the leper hospital. This is too far away to have any direct connection with Beggars Bush at Donnybrook.
I have encountered an article by Sean Donnelly which speculates that connects the two sites in Dublin through Poor Robin’s An Almanack of the old and new fashion (1694) which says “Since the King of the Beggars was married to the Queen of the Sluts at Lowzy-Hill near Beggars-Bush, being most splendidly attended by a ragged Regiment of Mumpers.” I do not believe this has anything to do with Dublin. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 30th, 2011 | Filed under: Places, Writers | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »


Clause “King of the Beggars”

Clause, King of the Beggars, is a central character in The Beggars Bush (1622) and the later variations of it. At the end of the play it is revealed that he is actually Gerrard, a deposed Earl of Flanders, who before the action starts has rescued his heir Florez and apprenticed him to an English merchant Goswin, whose business and name Florez has inherited. Gerrard has taken the disguise of Clause the beggar, but his natural authority has lead to his election as the King of the beggars, in the episode which formed the droll The Lame Commonwealth. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 30th, 2011 | Filed under: Writers, Speculations, The Play | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »


Sticky: Laugharne, Carmarthenshire Beggars Bush 1909 ?

The name is a “Hoisting Place” on the Laugharne Common Walk. This is a ceremony of beating the bounds held once every three years, when the people of the town, led by the Portreeve and the officials of the Court, retrace the town’s ancient boundaries. Ritual “hoisting” is used to remind younger walkers of the location and name of Hoisting Places – more civilised than the more corporal ways of getting young boys to remember bounds in some historical records. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , , | No Comments »


Wroxton, Oxfordshire Beggars Bush Furlong ?

This name is given in John Field’s English Field-Names; A Dictionary, Newton Abbott, 1993, p.18.

There is also a Beggar Hill in Wroxton.

OS Grid

SP410410

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , | No Comments »


Wombourne, Staffordshire Beggars Bush Lane 1841

Beggars Bush Lane runs off the A449 Stourbridge Road, The name is recorded in the 1841 Census and also as Beggars Bush Lodge, Himley Park, which was a gatehouse for Himley Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , | 5 Comments »


Henbury, Bristol, Gloucestershire Beggars Bush Close 1790

A Lease dated 12 May 1790 of minerals rights (lead, copper, iron ores, coal and calamine) under Knowle Field refers to the adjoining wood, Knowle Paddock, and Beggars Bush Close in Henbury. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , | No Comments »


Bearley, Warwickshire Beggars Bush 1891

1891 Census Return, RG12/2479 for Bearley District, Bearley Parish, records at 139, Whitley Beggars Bush, with Samuel Shervington, Head, aged 64, a Farm Labourer, with a housekeeper and at 140, Beggars Bush,  with Clement Weetman, Head, age 68, an Agricultural Labourer, with his wife, and adult son. Assuming the census taker is proceeding sequentially the location appears to be between Preston Green and Whitley House, along or near the Warwick Road east of Henley-in-Arden. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , | No Comments »


Madley, Herefordshire Beggars Bush 1842

Field name Beggars Bush, No 241 in the Tithe Survey, owned by Thomas Lea, just south of the River Wye, east of Canon Bridge. The Grid Ref. given is just to the west of the Roman Road running north north east towards Credenhill, west of Hereford. The Herefordshire Field Names Database also records Beggars, Beggars Ash, Beggars Grave, Beggars Leys, and Beggars Stool. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 21st, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: , , | No Comments »


John Fletcher

John Fletcher (1579-1625) was born in Rye, Sussex, and came from a staunchly Protestant family including many clergymen. He is connected with Sussex, where there are many early Beggars Bush place names and the phrase was known to be in use. He can also be assumed to have encountered the Huntingdon Beggars Bush site, or Saxton’s Five Counties Map through studying at Cambridge, his father’s appointments, or his patrons. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: May 15th, 2011 | Filed under: The Play | Tags: , , , | No Comments »