The Original Cock and Bull Story

[@mickeydodds1]

One explanation I read of the origin of phrase 'Cock and Bull story' is that it refers to communications from the Vatican, which were termed 'Papal Bulls', the said Bulls' bore the official Vatican seal, which was a cockerell - the cockerell being a symbol of St. Peter. The source claimed the phrase took hold during the English reformation as performative term for Vatican missives, and by extension, nonsense. Cf the use of the term 'pontification' meaning pomposity in speech and writing, which took hold at the same time, deriving, of course, from 'pontiff' meaning the pope.

[@wingshad0w00982]

“I’m staying at a hotel named the cock. Stop snickering at that!” Never.

[@trevordance5181]

Is it the Cock Inn? (Asking for a friend)

[@davidbennetts616]

A similar expression for a tall story here in Australia is referred to as a furphy. The Furphy was a brand of water cart built in Shepparton, Victoria. These water carts, now collectors items, were introduced in the late 19th century, and used by the military in the time of World War I. The soldiers would gather around the water carts and swap stories, many of which were of dubious authenticity. Hence referred to as a furphy. Thanks Jago for your interesting take on history.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Shepparton is about a 2 hour drive from where I live in Albury NSW.

[@kimvibk9242]

Sounds like the origin of the tradition of chatting with your colleagues around the water cooler...!

[@Colt45hatchback]

They still make them dont they?

[@dj_efk]

@@Colt45hatchback water coolers? Yes absolutely

[@Colt45hatchback]

@@dj_efk nah i meant the furphy water carts. Im pretty sure the company i work for supplies things to j furphy and sons.

[@pjxr2]

Jago, was delighted to hear you recall the history of Stony Stratford, my local. It is widely believed and if you add in the supposed history of Dick Turpin’s hide out being in the area, the coach man would embellish their stories of being held up between the two hotels, it was 10 highway men nah it was 20 etc, etc. It’s also of note, the coachman’s bar, the vaults, is in between the two hotels. It all adds plausibility to the tale of enlarged tales…

[@pmichael73]

The Withnail and I reference did not go unappreciated.

[@sh8736]

I did not get it my claim to fame is to have consumed cake in the chemist !

[@geoffreypiltz271]

At the end of the novel Tristram Shandy (itself a Cock and Bull story) published in 1767 the author Laurence Sterne uses the phrase to describe the novel. Interestingly Tristram Shandy contains passages taken word for word from The Anatomy of Melancholy.

[@sianwarwick633]

Please don't tell me I now should re-read Tristram Shandy, and not look at the film , as a crib.

[@austenhamilton7312]

I have always understood that Tristram Shandy doesn't have an end - like all the best shaggy dog stories (to coin another phrase Jago might like to muse upon)., rather that it just stopped because Sterne died.

[@johnfry1011]

A fascinating diversion and lovely video on something I’d never even considered the origins of. Next week, back to the underground and the phrase “Barking up the wrong tree”…

[@paulsengupta971]

Barking, on the wrong branch line?

[@johnfry1011]

@@paulsengupta971 that took me longer than it should have 😂

[@rickymherbert2899]

This actually refers to Dick Whittington slapping a preservation order on the wrong tree in Barking that his cat was using as a scratching post at the time. 🙃

[@jammin023]

No doubt it was originally "from Barking up to Becontree"...

[@paulsengupta971]

@@jammin023 Maybe they were supposed to be going to Elstree, Braintree, Manningtree, Fairoaks or Sevenoaks. Maybe Burnham Beeches, Pinewood or Poplar. Possibly even Mountain Ash.

[@jodyarmstrong]

Cool as ever, you are the diversion to my lunchbreak.

[@johna5635]

Oddly, the other pub-related 'Bull reference' that springs to mind is "Bull & Bush" (...as in the popular old Musical Hall song "Down At The Old Bull & Bush"). This would appear to make a [potentially unfortunate] link between "The Cock" and... "The Bush" - let's hope that's coincidental.

[@thomasburke2683]

Ah, the good old days, those wonderful 1970s when Leonard Sachs presided over the variety show of the same name. His use of alliteration enthralled me, not to mention the beautiful costumes. "Down at the old Bull and Bush" was the signature tune.

[@johna5635]

@@thomasburke2683 I actually have an MP3 of a 1905 version of that song recorded by Florrie Forde on my phone! Of course MP3's were much larger (and coated in wax) in those days!

[@neilthehermit4655]

The explenation I heard as a child was that the phrase came from farmers. Imagine that you have spent all week working hard on your farm and no-one to talk to except your family. Come the weekend you go to the pub and have the chance to talk to friends and neighbours,so... five or six days a week you are looking forward to that pint of beer and a good chat, you are going to be thinking of what to say and be the center of attention. Walking between the cowshed and the hens you'll be thinking up good conversation......Possible ? Likely? Or is the phase coming from multiple different places and times?

[@neilthehermit4655]

@@creamwobbly I resemble that remark !😀

[@SFNightOwl]

As a farmer with both cocks and bulls, I can concur. Some of the best conversations I have are with them, and the only pushback I tend to get are demands for head scratches from the bulls. They like to listen, though bribery with grain is always helpful.

[@dj_efk]

@@creamwobbly horrors indeed!

[@SornGeorge]

Sounds like a cock and bull story if you ask me

[@1258-Eckhart]

Stony Stratford was the scene of Edward V's only political action as king, when he protested strongly to his uncle (later Richard III) at the arrest of his half-brother Richard Grey and his maternal uncle Anthony Woodville. They were imprisoned, was was Edward himself not long afterwards.

[@Canisporc]

You missed a picture nearer to your usual subjects. At the back of the passage between the main building of the Bull Hotel and the Vaults Bar is a large barn-looking building now used as a parking area; this used to be a shed for the rolling stock of the Stony Stratford to Wolverton tramway

[@atraindriver]

Given that Watling Street links London and Holyhead, I can't really see Stony Stratford being a centre of east-west coaching (although it certainly had a lot of coaches linking London, the west midlands and the north-west), or indeed any east-west coaching being affected by the opening of the London and Birmingham railway which didn't go west-east. Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that I can fully understand using Stony Stratford to represent Penrith because (apart from it being oop north), Penrith doesn't look much like what people think a historic town should look like.

[@garrymartin6474]

So if the story originated with the two coaching inns in the small market town where I now live it would be a George and Lion story 🤔

[@Erdnussbuttertoast]

not super proud to say that i thought the term was "cock and ball story"... to be fair i'm not a native english speaker and never saw it written

[@JacobBax]

Think in dutch this is "een broodje aap verhaal" "a monkey sandwich story"

[@JagoHazzard]

Now there’s a phrase with a story!

[@bobcosmic]

Now we are on to names of hotels and coaching inns. I’m still intrigued !

[@johntait491]

In the early 70's, The Bull had an excellent Folk Club. Folk Clubs of course have gone the way of the Dodo..!! It was run by Matt Armour a resident of Stony Stratford.

[@greybeardp]

Gilbert and Sullivan "Yeomen of the Guard" (1888), Act II, "Hereupon we're both agreed" chorus: "Tell a tale of cock and bull, Of convincing detail full Tale tremendous, Heav'n defend us! What a tale of cock and bull!"

[@PeterT1981]

I do enjoy your absolutely brilliant writing style. The research that you apparently do for each of these episodes boggles the mind. Thank you Jago!

[@ZGryphon]

I wonder about the connection (if any) between this phrase and the similarly-employed adjective "cockamamie". Also, I propose co-opting the name of our favorite Tube station along the same lines, as in, "What a load of Cockfosters."

[@TheWinnipegRailfan]

I had to double take on the video’s title, LOL interesting little town there!

[@pamelamckirdy294]

i just searched for "cock and bull" in our NZ newspaper archive and got a hit from 1855 which references Nosatradamus' predictions. "The following is taken from an old volume of predictions, written in the 15th century, and now in possession of a gentleman residing at Chard, Somerset: - “ In twice two hundred years the Bear The Crescent will assail; But if the Cock and Bull unite. The Bear will not prevail. In twice ten years again, Let Islam know and fear, The Cross shall stand, The Crescent wane, dissolve, and disappear.” Could a cock and bull story be a reference to Nostradamus' crazy tales? I love your channel!

[@stephenspackman5573]

It seems more likely that some tale of a cock and a bull came first, and one inn being named the Cock (or perhaps the Bull) the other named itself the Bull (or perhaps the Cock) in rivalry. If we knew which inn was named first, we might even guess which animal came out on top in the original tale. But cf. also the Stacked Animals of Bremen, whence the all knowing Wikipedia directs us to The Bull, the Tup, the Cock, and the Steg, though written references to that date only to the turn of my century. Why, my life's changed, ever since I discovered Stackable Livestock®.

[@sianwarwick633]

Very good ! That would make a terrific kids' illustrated story

[@nixer65]

I lived in Stony Stratford for 13 years (although I am now in Cambridgeshire) and I very much miss the place. I highly recommend the vaults in the Bull!

[@williammallender8391]

I agree with your version - havng lived in MK for a few years I was told of the origin of the saying and saw no reason to doubt it.

[@ronwhitmill7068]

Keep an eye out around march for the MKC Raleigh Chopper ride out ;)

[@davidemery1557]

That little tale made me home sick. Other interesting subjects for you the deviate to could be the fenny poppers in Fenny Stratford, the tar barrels in Ottery St Mary, or the hot pennies in Honiton.

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

What fun. Next - Elephant and Castle. I know of two reasons for that name, both almost certainly wrong. But it has got an underground; the London Stratford also has but the Stony lacks.

[@thomasburke2683]

Enfant de Castille, sort of anglicised as Elephant and Castle, abbreviated by underground staff to Elephant.

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

@@thomasburke2683 Except probably not, the timing is all wrong. Um, a historian looked at that and said it just didn't work. Can't remember his name. How about Heffalump and Parcel?

[@frglee]

To Leighton Buzzard, next, please! There's plenty to see there, too, film and charmingly ramble on about. And a sweet narrow gauge heritage railway, England's longest and oldest apparently.

[@BrunoAlexLUX]

6:45 that full brake in the background though

[@simongleaden2864]

Jago, some of the adverts you do for your sponsors are more entertaining than some other KZbin-ers' actual videos!

[@9tophat]

Wonderful stuff Jago. Do keep a firm grasp on silly things from time to time; they make for interesting back stories and speak to how many things really don't make sense, though someone at some point wanted them to or thought they did. It's always a pleasure to enjoy your offerings. Cheers!🙂

[@SportyMabamba]

Stony Stratford also had the Wolverton Works Steam Tramway running through it, so if you are looking for another video there’s that. The surviving trailer car is in the Milton Keynes Museum; which also has a lot of LNWR ephemera from the Works as well as a 1:1 Replica of a Bloomer steam locomotive outside built by Works Apprentices. Wolverton is also the first Railway Town, beating out Swindon. Indeed, Brunel visited to get ideas for his works’ town. BIG UP Stony Stratford, BIG UP Wolverton, BIG UP Milton Keynes 😁

[@ben-cansonthetraina6182]

Lovely to see this. Hope you had a pint in each pub. There’s some nice Railway signage at the back of the Fox & Hounds.

[@StrawbyteWorkshop]

Lovely seeing Stony Stratford. Bags of history. What’s more interesting for me is the shop Odell and Co. which appears in a few of your shots. It’s a hardware shop which has stood on the same site and been in the Odell family for 275 years. Impressive as B&Q or Block and Quayle has only been around the 50 plus years I’ve been around. Oh, and if you haven’t covered this on your channel, the Wolverton works is just down the road.

[@allenwilliams1306]

I have heard a story on Radio 4 about a British visitor to the USA who went to a “store” and noticed that practically every customer produced a card at the till and got a discount. Therefore, they tried their (obviously) British B&Q card. Asked what the B and Q stood for, they replied “Bush and Quayle”, and got 10% off with no further questions asked.

[@stepheneyles2198]

@SW: Well I never knew what B&Q actually meant, thank you for that!! Here's a Wiki for anyone interested: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%26Q

[@andrewschildhauer2898]

I grew up not too far away from Stony Stratford, and went to school in Wolverton, where I too heard the same story regarding the two coaching inns. I haven't been back to Stony for decades and it was lovely to see it again. As you say, it could also be a Cock and Bull story about a Cock and Bull. We will never know for sure.

[@TheEulerID]

I have stayed in the Cock inn, but that was something like 35 years ago, so my memories of it are none too fresh. However, the Cock and Bull story was just about the first thing you hear about the town.

[@rjjcms1]

I used to visit Stony Stratford (accessed from the main road network by driving through Old Stratford) often when I was working in several locations at Buckingham,Deanshanger,Newport Pagnell,etc. in the "noughties" and very early 2010s,and frequented both the Cock and Bull from time to time. One of them,and yes I'm pretty sure it was the Bull,did a steak sandwich to which I was partial when dropping in for some brunch/lunch while in the town on business/work-related duties such as paying visits to the banks. A chap I used to work for used to take me with him to a gun shop located in the hinterland behind the Cock and Bull coaching inns,between the main drag and Ostlers Road (or is it Lane? It's been a while). An ex-army marksman rendered spinaly injured by a motorcycle accident,he acquired four pellet-shooting pistols,which we had fun doing target shooting in his house and garden and used to visit that shop to stock up on paper/card targets,pellet ammo,little gas canisters that one of the pistols used to run on,etc. He also bought a metal contraption that had four metal ducks in a kind of mini-shooting gallery that would fall backwards once struck,and a lever which would stand them back up again. He chose to prop in on an opened drawer in a wooden chest of drawers in his bedroom,and there it stayed for quite a while for sessions of target practice. When doing a bit of dusting and cleaning for him one day,I moved it and discovered that the drawer behind it had been shot full of holes. Naturally,it wasn't long after I started visiting Stony Stratford that I began to hear by word of mouth,with interest,that the two aforementioned coaching inns in the town were the origin of the Cock and Bull story. There were a couple of specific tales,at least one involving a failure of punctuality by an operative stopping in the town en route in their journey,that were claimed to be the origin,but after almost 20 years I'm damned if I can remember then precisely to relate now.

[@Mitch-Hendren]

What have you got against bin lorries ? It was Quickly edited out there !! Signed a bin lorry driver 😊

[@RJSRdg]

"An ancient Roman road" - as opposed to all the roads the Romans have been building round here recently ;-)

[@apolloc.vermouth5672]

"I've come to a wedding by mistake, are you the farmer?!"

[@MKAdamski]

Slight correction on the town's name origin - Stratford is a Saxon name meaning " river crossing on a Roman road" and the Stony part means that the crossing point has a lot of stones in it. You also mentioned Fenny Stratford (about 10 miles south also on Watling Street) which means a marshy river crossing on a Roman road. a mile or so north of Stony is Old Stratford.

[@steveaskey]

"Stoney"(or "Stony") as a prefix or suffix often indicates that a place was a Roman settlement.

[@frglee]

🙂I remember regularly passing by Newton Poppleford station regularly in my Devon childhood days. Only recently did I find that 'popple' is a local word for 'pebble'. So, the 'poppleford' was a pebbly ford. As Michael Caine would say "Not a lot of people know that".

[@iankemp1131]

@@frglee What a lovely explanation for one of our most euphonious place names.

[@LiqdPT]

@@frglee so "new town at the pebbly crossing"?

[@teecefamilykent]

The Romans never "built" straight roads, they just paved over preexisting dirt tracks. Bloody Romans, what have they done for us. Btw brilliant video n keep up the awesome work.

[@garrywatters1140]

I used to drink in the Bull pub back in the late 70's early eighties. Howard was the landlord and he used to regale this tale all the time.

[@captaincodpiece3263]

Most of us have met or known that man who boasts of his sexual prowess to the disbelief of those listening and bull cults go back a few thousand years seemingly based on its strength and usefulness in agriculture, pulling a plough and carts etc. So maybe it could relate to masculine bravado and exaggeration, or just rivalry in telling a tall yarn, judging by medieval chronicles some people seemed to have believed or advocated some pretty wild tales in their time. However, Jago’s suggestion that it once related to a well known tale , a discourse between a cock and a bull, may have something going for it. In Europe there is a genre of tales known as fox and bear stories, which deal with the supposed rivalries between foxes and bears, indeed it’s quite probably the Goldilocks and 3 bears nursery story started out this way a later writer deciding a little girl would be more appealing than a wily old fox (in the initial version she wasn’t blonde , a later writer still made that change). The earliest mention of Robin Hood come as asides, someone knows the tale of Robin Hood as any man, kind of thing, without saying what that tale was as their audience would know it all too well. Now today the ballads of Robin Hood survive but imagine if they didn’t and people used the phrase A Robin Hood Story to mean a tall story or for some other general context but no one knew why? Anyway, well done Jago for another episode with a vague railway connection, the more the merrier, now I wonder where that phrase originated?

[@boohaka]

Oh Jago! You are excelling yourself. I love this, you’re brilliant!

[@sempriestrhetoric3843]

I liked this video. Very nicely done. I was discussing a possible idea for a thesis about coaching inns, and this video came up in the conversation.

[@JonniePolyester]

V. Good. I knew the tearoom wasnt in Penrith which you can tell straight away. Hobson’s Choice is another interesting phrase… I believe Hobson was an ostler at a coaching inn where fresh horses maybe hired. He would present you with whatever horse he felt like and as travellers were often in hurry to quibble it became a phrase that meant no choice at all. 😊

[@GeorgeChoy]

I have relatives there, I need to check these two venues out when I next visit them.

[@redmist5890]

Are you sure it not all C & B, Keep up the good work !!

[@sh8736]

Stony Stratford is very near me mortified I didn’t see you filming in the high street! Surprised you didn’t visit Wolverton whilst you were here. You do have a brief shot opposite the pub the old school house of the local dance school which was the tram ticket office back in the day. I sadly can’t offer a lot of local historical insight as to whether the cock and bull story is true but have heard it many times. Do come and visit again I think you’d enjoy the Milton Keynes museum which I recall has an old tram and railway coaches 😊

[@BillyNoMates1974]

Are you going to cover 'the dogs bollocks' ? That has an interesting history from the printing press days

[@DD-qq8sn]

I thought that was from Meccano - two standards of sets were Box Deluxe and Box Standard which were translated by young scamps to Dogs Bollocks and Bog Standard. What's your understanding of the printing press history? Sounds an interesting alternative

[@thomasburke2683]

Good heavens! And Jago afraid of trouble with KZbin for his mention of a hotel named after a poultry male.

[@DD-qq8sn]

@@BillyNoMates1974 Interesting astuff Billy. The early bits really just say that the word bollocks goes back a long way, but the bit about printing presses really takes me back. At school, we had an old printing press that I was allowed to use during art classes, so a lot of the terms you use in your comment resonate. I remember picking type from the upper case and lower case, the upper case being a bit further to reach but that didn't matter as you didn't use capitals as much. I remember minding my 'p's and 'q's as the backwards p is identical to the right way round q and vice versa. I don't remember anything made out of dog leather though, that had probably stopped by the early 1980s and replaced with chamois or something. I think the Meccano sets allowed the phrase to come into popular use, but your history just shows the richness of the language and the fact that it is difficult to have a definitive 'this is where it is from', as other comments have suggested about the whole 'Cock and Bull' thing. If someone comes up with a really plausible explanation of where 'Cock and Bull' comes from, they might just be spinning a cock and bull story themselves....

[@SFNightOwl]

Must say, your presentation style works wonderfully well with etymology. If you ever wanted to start another channel focusing on it I'd subscribe in a hot second. No bull.

[@RJSRdg]

Stony Stratford was a station on the Revd Peter Denny's original "Buckingham Branch Line" - replaced by Leighton Buzzard (Linslade) in later versions.

[@AJSAN1971]

I've never heard Stony described as "delightful". I'll try to remember that next time I'm there.

[@robclarkson]

Loved this one! And all filmed 10 minutes walk from my house! Watling Street is fascinating, it runs past the end of my garden and was a big factor in us choosing to move here. Jago, it strikes me as the sort of book you would already be aware of, but if you haven't yet come across John Higgs' 'Watling Street' then I highly recommend it.

[@neilbain8736]

An interesting deviation, a tale well told. Also, gallus means talkative. Now there must be a connection there somewhere. I don't know if gallus is a Scots word or not, but I always seem to hear Scots using it. It certainly backs up the notion that the value and strength of words are an outward part of character or programming and that you could therefore speak an entirely different language using entirely the same one. American and English are ideal candidates for this notion.

[@SeverityOne]

Do you get a fine in Stony Stratford if you don't have the Union Jack outside, or were they celebrating "The Government Has Survived For Two Fortnights Day"? (Taking into account the delay between filming and publishing.)

[@sh8736]

Flags were left up along with bunting from the queens jubilee celebrations only recently taken down

[@SeverityOne]

@@sh8736 Considering that she's no longer alive, that feels a little overdue.

[@ArcAudios77]

Excellent Sir, well put together. Regards from Scotland.

[@jackiespeel6343]

The Cross Keys pub - probably relates to a nearby past or present church dedicated to St Peter's Close to Highbury and Islington Station are The Cock Tavern and The Hen and Chickens Theatre Bar - perhaps the pairing is the base for another tale?

[@camenbert5837]

Cross Keys probably originally refers to the throne of st Peter, ie the pope

[@SussexHistory]

I first heard the expression "A cock and bull story" when the Geography teacher used it in reference to a pupil who had not done his homework and could not provide a convincing explanation. You could get the cane for not completing school work in those days, so the pupil had an incentive to tell a "Cock and Bull Story"! Thanks for uploading.

[@adrianrutterford762]

Wonderful stuff as ever. Thanks Mr H.

[@RobinWootton]

3:18 The giant gold lettering across the façade is quite tasteful isn't it

[@mryeti1887]

My sister dumped me at The Crown in Stony Stratford for an hour or so last year while she was running errands. It was dark and I had no idea where I was. Now I know.

[@Trek001]

Oh, Jago... I wondered how you would end and you did not disappoint with a little latin thrown in for good measure

[@stepheneyles2198]

yes that was impressive, wasn't it? :-D

[@frankupton5821]

Although it is almost completely irrelevant, when it comes to funny pub names, I should like to record that the Castle and Ball pub in Marlborough - another former coaching inn - is locally known as 'The Tower and Testicle'.

[@JamesNagington]

I live in the new town of Telford made up of old towns such as Wellington (Shropshire). Watling St goes through Wellington and also on a busy junction of Watling St is the Cock Hotel!

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

"Where every brick tells a tail"?? This is a strange phrase to write on a board outside an inn. Was it the bull's tail or the cock's? We must get to the bottom of this!! 🙄🤭

[@ianpatterson6552]

Stony Stratford’s other claim to fame relates to the apprehension and detention thereafter of Edward V by the Uncle Richard of Gloucester in 1483.

[@DavidShepheard]

I was expecting a story about a London Underground Station, called The Cock and Bull, that never got opened. 🤣

[@cantliff9]

Our town had a Cock Hotel. It was recently leveled and a new care home was built on the site.

[@eliotreader8220]

didn't realise Dickens had visited the pubs both look as if they have come straight out of his stories

[@mr51406]

An updated version of the expression would be a Fox and Sun story. 😜 Now you should go off and try to find a pub called the Shaggy Dog.

[@ronwhitmill7068]

Spent many a happy hour in the old George (GREAT KARAOKIE NIGHTS!!), as well as some time in the bars of Cock and bull... Most favourite moment was leading well over 50, yes FIFTY Raleigh choppers Through the arch of the Cock inn, out onto the high street and leading them, all strung out behind, straight up the road heading back towaRDS MKC.

[@Russell_G]

Also spent many happy hours in the Old George (thanks for showing it BTW) playing in various bands, its a lovely pub and no mistake. The tale I heard re Cock and Bull is a slight variation in that the news the coachman would tell in one pub, was skewed somewhat by the consumption of ale by the time they got to the 2nd pub, with the disparity being referred to as a load of cock and bull.

[@ronwhitmill7068]

@@Russell_G Thats about what I heard too, but then, I also heard of the fact that both tales were abound at the same time. Coachmen bringing news, then going to the bull and skewing it, but also that each place tried to out-do each other with wild stories. Re: the Old Geaorge. I love the fact that the floor level is that of the original road level. Spent many hours sitting in the windows or "out back" in the "patio" area, those Creaky stairs and the small space for the toilets upstairs only add to the charm, have to watch your head when using the stairs though! Kardamon lounge opposite and slightly up the road is great and there is a "decent enough" chippy close by as well.

[@qwertyTRiG]

Etymology and history! Awesome stuff.

[@tenalafel]

Just to clarify... the French expression Sauter/Passer du Coq à l'Ane ( jump from the cock to the donkey ) is not related in any way to Cock & Bull stories. Sauter du Coq à l'Ane means moving from one topic to another that is in no way related to the previous topic without any transition. Usually it's done by somebody that got cornered during a discussion to get people moving on to another topic, or to deflect a discussion on a topic they would prefer not talk about into another topic. Now I have to say that it's a bit like trying to explain to a French what Being Sent to Coventry means for a British. ( been there done that, I'm not certain half those I explained it understood )

[@iankemp1131]

Interesting. Though sometimes, a cocksure person ends up looking a total ass. Probably not the etymology, but it's a nice coincidence.

[@the-real-iandavid]

We have a similar term in English for that. It's called "poly-tish-an"! 🤣🤣

[@burprobrox9134]

Beautiful little hamlet

[@sams3015]

I enjoyed this, I loved hearing about coaching inns and stuff

[@stephenpegum9776]

A very interesting divergence from your normal transport-related fare Jago - cheers 🍺🍺

[@stepheneyles2198]

"Don't forget to be awesome" says the sign at the end!! Certainly an awesome tale, we don't really worry about the true origins of the phrase, we just enjoy watching awesome videos by our fav KZbinr! ;-))

[@pullformore]

Yes, all very interesting BUT WHICH PUB SERVES THE BEST ALE?!? I feel this is a hole in your research! 😀

[@fuzzylon]

Thanks for an interesting video. You get bonus stalker points for this one! My mother lived in Stony Stratford for part of her childhood.

[@timsully8958]

What amazes me is that the fella coming out of Cox and Robinson was so distracted when crossing (perhaps by the sudden appearance of the grey dude with the hat) the road that he caused the driver to brake smartly…but did he learn? Oh no! Same scenario at the end…and it happened again! 🤷🏻‍♂️ What are the odds? 🤔 I don’t know how but you always seem to throw in a three or four word phrase that makes me do a sort of inner smug intellectual guffaw. In this case, “Paging Mr Aesop” caused said effect 🐋 🦊 🦫 🐻 🦅 🦔 🐢 🐇 🐓 🐮 😅😅😅 This is certainly one of those conundrums which throws up a great degree of supposition and wonder. It’s also one of those things that rather odious people will swallow whole in order to sound interesting and doubtless get shorty if you dare to question the solidity of the evidence of their assertions. I am sure we all know a few of them: they’ll be the ones who bring up a subject like Jack the Ripper at a party when everyone was quite happy discussing the documentary they saw on Victorian pottery the previous evening 🤣😂😅 I think that in fairness there is merit in most of the suggestions as to the origin of the phrase, but since one could surely never truly get a definitive answer, let’s allow Stoney Stratford this little gem. Let’s face it, we’re at a stage where most people below 30 have sod all idea about Withnail & I, let alone comprehend the relevance of “Monty, you terrible c***!”, so perhaps this is a more likely longer lasting legacy for it to cling to in its attempts to distance itself from the coma-inducing mundanity of being seen as just a part of Milto Key…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@sevenowls7776]

And out of the blue comes a time-tunnel journey... The story of cock-and-bull I was told in Stony Stratford 30 years ago when I went there for a course on Yourdon SASD. Cheers Jago!

[@knuckles1206]

I'm convinced that james may is infact not from bristol but rather milton keynes, and that CBT was invented there.

[@LarryJohnVA]

Milton Keynes?! Why, yes, Milton Keynes! ;-)

[@AFCManUk]

"...'Strat' meaning 'Street', and 'Ford' meaning 'River Crossing'...." The 'Stony' bit, I would assume, refers to the state of those roads!!

[@stephenbrasher]

There is an English folk story called "The Bull, the Tup (sheep), the Cock and the Steg (gander)". Sort of similar to the Musicians of Bremen.

[@rainyfeathers9148]

I love these little history lessons😃👂🏾.

[@kidmohair8151]

the mighty and all prescient wiki-o-pedia is fully on your side Mr Hazzard...

[@ThePlayerToBeNamedLater]

YTs automatic subtitles don't show the word 'cock"!!!

[@JagoHazzard]

Ha, brilliant!

[@tsungiraichiramba]

Brilliant as always Jago

[@anthonytull1611]

it could be that stories get more exaggerated as customers go from one inn to another and then back to the first.

[@keatiki5254]

Nah... "Cock and bull" is derived from a misunderstood 16th Century Dutch/Flemish phrase "kok ende boel" meaning "cook and mess", referring to Jan Vandepypersele-Werbroeck, cook at the dukes of Burgondy's court in Brussels and who was such messy person that on an evening he mixed chocolate, milk and sugar, heated this with hazelnuts and produced a bar of Côte d'Or chocalate. Dare me ! 😉😁🍫

[@iangriffiths9840]

Thank you for all your videos. Perhaps you could pull the other one!

[@iankr]

Love the Withnail And I script parody. Oh, and the rest of the video.

[@johnjephcote7636]

A cock and a bull is also so spelled in W S Gilbert's 'Mikado'.

[@maifantasia3650]

I'm wondering at which of the inns a coach would stop for the full complement of geriatric shoe makers to alight. Or, as some might say, 'a load of old cobblers.' I'll get my coat . . . Regardles of the topic you cover, love your research, your wit and your productions. Edit to correct the spelling of 'complement.'

[@1963archer]

Ah yes. Good old Stony Stratford. I do miss it so.

[@PabloBD]

More farm animal stories, please

[@MrBillmcminn]

Were you hinting that your video about the Northeastern terminus of the Piccadilly Line was demonetized?

[@JagoHazzard]

No, but the KZbin bots are subtle and quick to anger. You never know what’s going to incur their wrath.