The Strangest Things in London's Pubs - A Guided Pub History Tour

In this video, Jessica the Museum Guide (that’s me!) takes you on a guided tour of the strangest things in London’s iconic pubs. We’ll see not one but two nooses, underground jail cells, taxidermized parrots, ossified old buns, ominous stopped clocks, and more mummified cats than you can shake a stick at.
Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts about these bizarre stories and objects, and tell me which pub you’d like to visit most.
As always, thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this virtual museum tour, then please consider leaving me a tip at www.paypal.me/jessicatourguide or buy me a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/JessicaG...
You can also become a member of my channel for all kinds of great perks, like shout-outs and early access - click the membership button below.
/ @themuseumguide
Remember - I guide private museum, oddities, and graveyard tours in London. Get in touch at [e-mail]
CORRECTION: The Duke of Monmouth was Lucy Walters’ son, not Nell Gwynne’s son. I wish I could edit this out! Alas, it proves I’m not AI. 😉
VIDEO SUMMARY
We start our tour at the iconic Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, and learn about its pronunciation before discovering poor Polly, stuffed and mounted after imitating too many champagne corks in the roaring ‘20s. We talk about some naughty Georgian plaster casts found in the walls before heading down the street to the Viaduct Tavern gin palace, venturing into the cellar to discover its old jail cells, possible connected to the Old Bailey.
Next, we make our way to Dirty Dicks - stop giggling! It’s named for an old hoarder known for collecting dirty old bits like mummified cats - he was even written about by Charles Dickens! We open a whole can of worms there, with tons of mummified cat trivia as we swing up to Highgate to talk about the now-closed Whittington and Cat pub.
We head to Bloomsbury to see the stopped clock at the Dolphin Tavern, levelled by a German Zeppelin attack during the First World War, and then make our way to the river to skulk through the divey pubs of Wapping. We gaze at the old hangman’s noose at the Prospect of Whitby and reminisce about the execution dock and Captain Kidd.
Heading further north, we swing by the Widow’s Son, known to all as the Bun House for its peculiar tradition of hanging a hot cross bun from the rafters every Good Friday, and learn that there’s another pub in Essex that does the same! Finally, we sneak into The Tower of London and see the executioner’s axe on display at The Keys, the ultra-private Yeoman Warder’s club.
0:00 - Introduction to the Tour
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/ themuseumguide
You should really join the London Urban Oddities Facebook group to submit your favourite weird places in London. / 2037408773114764
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[@samuelgarrod8327]

We've lost so many beautiful historic pubs in the UK, particularly recently, it's very important that we use the ones we have left. Mine's a Guinness. 🍻

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I make sure to patronise my local pubs all the time! 🍺

[@johnthiel7422]

One of the coolest things that I've been lucky enough to experience was a pub crawl years ago. At a walk at night on the south side of the Thames..... something I'll always remember. What a great city , what a great time I had . It truly felt like I was living a Dickens novel!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It’s truly a special place.

[@kevinhouse7143]

Great video Jessica! We hit the Olde Cheshire Cheese for a few each time we are in London as well as The George on Borough high Street. On our last trip we did a bit of a pub crawl walking along the Thames path from London Bridge through Wapping stopping in at the Prospect, the Kidd, Ramsgate and finishing up at the Grapes in Limehouse for fish and chips. It was such a nice stroll, we saw a family of local foxes spending a lazy afternoon in a lot across from the Captain Kidd and then a seal in the Thames just off of the top deck at the Prospect. London pubs are a treasure!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

That sounds like a wonderful walk!

[@lumpfish100]

I feel so lucky to be a Londoner born and bred! Just so much history and layers of weirdness! Love your videos xx

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you like them!

[@nygelmiller5293]

​@TheMuseumGuide I've never seen any programmes so knowledgeable! I really never knew that "Ye Olde" so and so , was just a gramatical thing. I didn't know that the YE was actually pronounced THE!

[@rosiereviewsbooks72]

I love the look of old pubs, great video very interesting :)

[@TheMuseumGuide]

They have such a great atmospheric feel. Thanks for watching!

[@robertcombs55]

there are no better guides on Englands past than you!!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you kindly.

[@sarahcorrigan9522]

Greetings from Canada. Another awesome vid. All your videos make me miss London. Your suggestions for future vids are excellent but I'm quite happy to watch anything you post. :)

[@vickiewallace415]

YES For all offered videos!!!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You got it!

[@vickiewallace415]

@@TheMuseumGuide YIPPEE!!!

[@marvinc9994]

Amen to THAT!!!!!

[@pablozewoppa]

I absolutely love the pubs here in London. I've patronised all but 2 of the pubs mentioned here, and yet I've hardly spotted any of the artefacts. An opportunity to look again! Thanks!

[@beverleyarscott8589]

Jeffries is hated in the WestCountry because he shipped and sold many countrymen to the West Indies where they were sold as slaves the proceeds being put in James’s treasury.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re very welcome!

[@TheDailyWitch]

Yes to all the ideas for possible future videos that you mention. I really enjoy your channel Jessica. Happy New Year!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Same to you!

[@cindymarasligiller2115]

Another great video! Looking forward to visiting these pubs. Yes please to a video on the Sloane Museum.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Coming soon!

[@janeceeastwood8035]

Fascinating.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you for watching!

[@TheNatashaDebbieShow]

Fabulous video!! Brava! 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Aw shucks 🤭

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

I remember my dad and grandfather telling me about the parrot. The pair of them were great leg pullers, they never met a story that couldn't benefit from a little "improvement"! Miss both, you crazy buggers.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

The last time me and the old man went for a drink with grandpa, was at The Prospect. It's still one of my favourite London pubs.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Awww, I miss my grandpa (also a tall tale teller) too. ❤️

[@ladyacid654]

KZbin's algorithm suggested this channel and I am delighted! It pleases my inner history nerd, and lets me live vicariously as I'm on the other side of the planet. Each time I hear "let me know if you want a video on xyz" I find myself loudly thinking "Yes, of course I want a video on that!" So I'm super excited to subscribe and see what comes next, from mudlarking to mummies and everything else.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’m so happy you found me! ❤️

[@jamieknight326]

This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing :)

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnmchardy1229]

Well I have a very strong connection to the UK. Many years ago in a Pub in Auckland NZ. A man sang a song "Here's good luck the the landlord good luck to the barley mow." I knew that song immediately, but never heard it sung before and have real connection to Yorkshire. I live in Australia now and really enjoy these type of videos. My lady friend Rebecca is from Kent as was a child migrant bought over here. It is really my home and so familiar to me. I have a condition that does not permit me to travel so I will watch your efforts thanks.

[@tamarrajames3590]

This was amusing and informative…you always do such a good job. I love the old pubs that keep their history. We are utterly lacking such establishments in Canada, which I feel is a terrible thing. Happy New Year.🖤🇨🇦

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you for watching!

[@lawriefoster5587]

Wow...such atmosphere...slightly grisly as I am a cat lover. I do believe putting mummified cats in a wall has something to do with The Old Religion. Another great tour....now I am thirsty!! Thank you again. Lawrie

[@widowswisdom-soulflower9147]

Yay Jessica love seeing you showing us Pubs again ❤

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you for watching!

[@eclecticeddie3694]

You did an amazing job. I loved it. I had my fill of imfo. now i feel i have a better sense of everything that has been missed on other channels.

[@zeebilly]

Just subscribed Jessica. There is something in your videos that made me enjoy it. then I realized it was your personality. This feels like a good friend giving you a tour.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you so much!!

[@JJ-of1ir]

I' m afraid this video was a trip down 'memory lane' for me so I thank you for it. Some historic facts I knew, but many others I didn't. It was nice to see them all again. Cheers!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You're very welcome

[@Reallifeintheblue]

I been to the Prospect! Food is rubbish, but such a cool place to visit. Couldn’t toss a coin on the top on the noose holder. It’s pretty cool to see what happens and the floor when it is high tide

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Food in these type of pubs is usually dire. Don’t get me started on the Cheese!

[@alexisl4158]

Wonderful tour! Can't wait to see these on my next London visit! Hopefully soon. Thank you!

[@jeffmason3785]

Thanks for the informative video! (Although as a lifelong cat person, the sight of so many mummified moggies was a little unsettling). We visited the Cheshire Cheese while visiting the UK from Canada in 2017. While I did pop downstairs to look at the vaults, I missed the parrot and dictionary, so will have to go back. Our waiter there was lovely, and so very stereotypically English, a middle aged man with a white shirt, tie and apron, very polite (though never actually cracking as much as a grin) and slightly bemused. Another pub we really enjoyed was The George in Southwark. Tons of history there too.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

That’s a fantastic pub. I should film there, too!

[@lordbarristertimsh8050]

Another lovely video, I also would very much like to see a video from you on the "History of Public Executions as Told Through the Artifacts in London's Museums and Churches" Next time you are at The Prospect of Whitby, kindly raise a glass to Judge Jeffery's for me.

[@carolabruzzo4935]

Keep it up - love your tours!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! Will do!

[@Itsduggan]

Great video with history and pubs….two of the best things about London. Thanks to another pub crawl video you did, we spent two days in the City Of London and visited The Old Bank Of England, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (had a pint in the vault area!), Ye Olde Cock, The Blackfriar and gin tasting at Whitley Neill……I think a couple more pubs as well….but the memory was a bit hazy after pint #8!!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

So glad I could help! (But sorry to your liver…)

[@ProfessorMichaelT]

Serendipity had brought this video to my recommended feed. I'm so thankful that it did!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’m glad you’re here!

[@martijnkeisers5900]

A delight to watch again!

[@annettewillis2797]

Brilliant and fascinating insights into some of the many quirky and bizarre pubs in London! Your insights are fantastic Jessica!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you!

[@katanaki3059]

This was awesome! Just subscribed. If I ever get to London I hope to run into you!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Welcome aboard!

[@lynnschaeferle-zh4go]

Excellent history. Here in the States we have a small town that angered a local businessman. They are located on a major highway and so to avenge he took his semi and parked it parallel to the road. The sign he had painted referred to himself: Big Dickl

[@TheMuseumGuide]

🤣🤣🤣

[@clarkharvell5242]

fabulous video! I've always dreamed of going to London to experience these kinds of things. Thanks for sharing!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re very welcome!

[@ianbarkham5080]

The most famous parrot in British History is the Norwegian Blue ( lovely plumage!)

[@TheMuseumGuide]

🤣🤣🤣

[@iamauntmeem]

Loved this video! Thank you.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You are so welcome!

[@Seahorse1414]

Excellent video , so interesting !

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@joncampbell3641]

Just wonderful ! Cheers !

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Many thanks!

[@jenniferryersejones9876]

Yes, to all of your proposed videos and perhaps a look into mudlarking? (I know, there are other vids I could watch about that, but I don't wanna!) Enjoyable and informative as always. Thanks, Jessica!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Great suggestion!

[@noxpunkis]

Absolutely fascinating! I will definitely visit these pubs next time I'm in London.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I love to hear it! ❤️

[@kathrynross1613]

Just come over from the natasha an debbe show loved your video

[@TheMuseumGuide]

So happy to hear that! Welcome aboard.

[@MusicalAddictionOnlineLessons]

Awesome video! Flagged up a few more places to visit in London. Thanks 🖤

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re very welcome!

[@mandypotts9090]

Really enjoyed and learned so much about these london pubs . Maybe l will look some up when l next visit . Saw and learned about your channel( l have subscribed today )from The Natasha And Debbie Show . Looking forward to watching lots more of your content

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you, and welcome!

[@eddavis1832]

Great video! My favorite “Pub Crawl” last summer included the trio of pubs in Wapping. BTW, Town of Ramsgate serves a fantastic steak & ale pie! Cheers!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Very cool - a perfect pub crawl. Thanks for watching!

[@K3LLYMHENRY]

So excited. My mum and I are scheduling a tour just like this with Jessica!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’m excited to meet you!

[@K3LLYMHENRY]

@@TheMuseumGuide Same here!

[@charlieblah]

Love this! Will definitely call should i take a trip to london

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You should!

[@JulioAvalos3000]

Exelent channel. You got yourself a sub, and thanks for the content.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Welcome aboard!

[@charlenestrauss3539]

It just looks so interesting! Would love to visit at some stage 😊

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You should!

[@alex-E7WHU]

These pubs are absolutely brilliant. ⚒️👍

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Such great places for a drink. Or three…

[@bobcalderon2534]

Nice video. Happy new year to you and your family 😊

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Same to you! (Belated!)

[@sort555]

I just found your channel and I must say that I’ve been binging all of your videos since. Im a doctor in clinical psych and forensic psych. i have a great fascination for museums. Thanks for being our eyes to the world. ❤

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Welcome aboard!

[@sort555]

@@TheMuseumGuide have you considered doing a detailed tour of the museum of the mind? I learned about it from u!

[@samd8724]

"Let me know if you would like a video about--" Yes, yes I would like all the videos. Thank you.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

🤣 Noted!

[@jamesmortimer4405]

So much of London’s history has been sanitised and tidied up

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Especially when it comes to mummified cats!

[@GodWearsGucci]

Commenter before watching! Yes! I was just thinking of your channel and I’m so happy. Back to business. Wishing you well from across the pond

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you so much!!

[@newtron1]

Just found ur channel and enjoying the content. Congrats to my fellow canuck 🇨🇦

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thanks and welcome, eh!

[@10toMidnight]

An excellent presentation. Informative and entertaining. Very best, Calgary, Canada

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you kindly!

[@chrisball3778]

I love historic pubs- this was a delight. I'm going to London next week, but the friend I'm visiting is doing Dry January, so sadly I don't think we'll be visiting any of these. Hopefully some other time! Dr Johnson's wasn't actually the first English dictionary- it was just loads better than any of the previous ones and was the first to become popular. That Executions exhibition was really good- very dark obviously, but a fascinating insight into the past. Also... OMG... those tiles... not a lot left to the imagination. You can kinda see why the Museum of London is afraid to put them on display! 18th century London was properly debauched. Future video idea if you need one- Georgian London's seedy underbelly, from Covent Garden to Tyburn Tree...

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Great ideas, and thank you for clarification on Dr Johnson’s dictionary! He was a proper character. I have visited the Tyburn monastery and plan to do a video about the Tyburn tree! It’s on the long list.

[@chrisball3778]

@@TheMuseumGuide Great- look forward to it. Johnson was definitely a character- he was regarded as conservative in his day due to his beliefs about religion and government, but he hated slavery, had lots of female friends, left most of his money to his Black servant and loved snarky humour. He seems like one of the most humane and also fun people from his era. One of those rare historical figures it'd genuinely be great to have at a dinner party!

[@jamieknight326]

Love to see your tour of the Sloan museum!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I have it filmed! I need to edit it.

[@markshinnawi7477]

Wow, u r too good. Love this

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you!

[@AndyKing1963]

Great video, many thanks

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@theworldbysiege]

Great video! Makes me want to plan a trip to London.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You should!

[@paulpayton8238]

Very interesting 👌 I haven't been to London for over 40 years 🤔 thanks for sharing this video 😀

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re welcome 😊

[@ashtraydekay6624]

Omg those tiles are so "graffic" Lol

[@taraelizabethdensley9475]

First time I even heard of them, can understand why they're not on display - not family friendly

[@TheMuseumGuide]

They’re shocking, to say the least! 😝

[@GyleCast]

fantastic vid!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you!

[@debbralehrman5957]

Thanks 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌹

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re welcome 😊

[@mazdelaney]

Great video! One small error: James, Duke of Monmouth was not the son of Nell Gwynn. He was the son of Charles II and Lucy Walter. They were allegedly married briefly and she died young. Charles II was the one who reared his son until he was invited back to England.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you! Where did I get this idea?!

[@franrowe8696]

Many houses I've renovated have had mummified cats in the walls, I was told it was down to a few things suchlike as good luck, protection from evil or vermin.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It’s good luck! What a cool/weird find.

[@amb163]

I've been to the Viaduct, but I definitely have to hit up the Olde Cheshire Cheese next time I visit :) Thanks for the video!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You’re welcome!

[@Robslondon]

Nice video Jessica! 🙂

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you!

[@brady2n]

Sir John Soane’s museum, please!

[@davidberesford7009]

Hi Jessica. I'm another come over from the Natasha and Debby show, so I have seen this twice! The city I come from is Nottingham. Where some of the pubs are built into the sandstone rock. Most notably the Old Trip To Jerusalem under the Castle. Well it was a castle until the local lads burnt it down. History!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

That’s on my shortlist of places to visit! Welcome. :)

[@davidberesford7009]

@@TheMuseumGuide I would love to be your guide But! at 70 walking on sticks I am probably not best suited. Here are a couple of other folks who might be better suited: 1. Nottingham Area Historical KZbinr [Nottsflix] www.youtube.com/@Nottsflix 2. Documenting Changes In The High Street www.youtube.com/@wanderingturnip You may already be aware of them, but I am going to try to connect you anyway.

[@CrowSkeleton]

Alas for the lack of mummies, but it's always good fun to see inside old pubs. I am reminded to look up whether the MoL ever took an archive picture of the erotic fireplace tile with the Thing With The Basket now, I stumbled on them whilst trying to find the Deftware 'love cup' that was displayed in the museum throughout my childhood to prove a point about 18th century, ah, bedroom accessories (never found it in the digital record, *not* going to Google it). Also, just in case your husband is so fond of hot cross buns that he devours them on sight, I'll note for any non-UK comment readers inspired to try one that they're supposed to be cut in half, gently toasted, then eaten hot with butter as part of your Easter feast. A raw hot cross bun just isn't the same.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’m not a fan toasted or untoasted, but that’s good advice! Thank you for watching. Let me know what you find regarding the MoL archive!

[@CrowSkeleton]

@@TheMuseumGuide ...I have found that the useful catalogue search has been replaced with browser cookie Hell, and promptly ran away, I'm afraid. On the upside, being unable to actually look at the tile in question makes The Thing With The Basket seem all the more like a mysterious forbidden advanced erotic technique, tantalisingly awaiting rediscovery by someone with a really good source of wicker withies, a winch and a well-endowed gentleman friend...

[@Lizablue0608]

Just found your phenomenal channel. I absolutely love it. I’m American and boy, are we boring compared to this. ;) I’m binge watching every single one. Also helps that I love history as well. You present this perfectly. 👏🏼👏🏼 ♥️ from 🇺🇸!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you so much!

[@hetrodoxlysonov-wh9oo]

Great video The Thames doesn't artificially narrow, the tides are very natural.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I was referring to the artificial narrowing of the embankment project in the 1850s, but I probably wasn’t clear! Thanks for watching.

[@postmanpat2964]

Hey Jessica. Awesome video as usual. Do you have a website where you can book onto your tours?

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I do! Www.themuseumguide.com

[@Elderly-Marian-in-UK]

Have you found the tiny pub in Fulham?? One of the smallest in the world. Near Fulham Broadway..

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I haven’t! There is a teensy one in Margate, too- it’s in my Bizarre UK Christmas traditions video, during the Morris dancing segment. It’s called the Petit Prince!

[@Rye_Toast]

Today I learned "Ye Olde" is actually "The Olde"... fascinating! I'm always intrigued by alternate spellings, like using f's and such.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It changes how I read old signs!

[@wirewalker]

Visited in 1963 in the evening lines of children walking up to car drivers " look after your car guv" was the earliest mugging i ever came across

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Smart kids!

[@LinzYoutube]

17:30 YES! YES! YES!

[@robhamilton8993]

Friends took us to London and a Pub/restaurant attached to a church. It was called The Crypt. Now that is a place you should go & review

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Was it in St Mary Le Bow on Cheapside?

[@franciscopineda2594]

St Christ church in Spitalfields is the name of that church

[@MrSuperG]

Cool

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thanks!

[@liamkatt6434]

My father like many Irish people before and since, came to the UK to find work. He lived in London from 1935 to 1938. When I visited London as a young man in 1974, he told me to look up Dirty Dicks. I did but found it very much as it is in this video. Nothing strange nor macabre or remotely dirty, just sawdust on the floor. When I phoned him he told me to go back and go into the cellar bar. I did and there was a huge collection of various objects including the poor mummified cats hanging from the beams. People form all over the world had written notes and pinned them to the walls. The bar had coins from all over the world glued to it. Health and safety should keep their noses out and let us live our lives.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I wish I could have seen it like that!

[@bfhfhfhdj]

My Dad told me there was a pub during the war in London, in or near Liverpool St. Aircrew would sign their names and squadron number all over the walls and ceiling, not sure if it is still there. Dirty Dicks was also popular with crew. Similar to the 'the Eagle, in Cambridge?.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I’d love to see these signatures!

[@bfhfhfhdj]

Check out the eagle in Cambridge in Google, they burnt their signatures on the ceiling using their cigarette lighters, the rest were written on the walls. My dads name and unit is in there somewhere. @@TheMuseumGuide

[@BigJoeChrisLewis]

One of the pictures on the wall of the Viaduct Tavern has a bullet hole in it, apparently because an off-duty soldier in World War I let his weapon go off. I think the Nutshell in Bury St Edmunds (England's smallest pub by some counts) also has a mummified cat.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I knew about the bullet hole but forgot to film it when I was there! Thanks for the other suggestion- so many mummified cats in this country. 🤣

[@griffin2263]

we have a big old house built in 1932 and the old owner would paint amazing pictures right on to the walls the living room and dinning room are covered in them ..one of the pictures is a copy of "the fighting Temeraire " I had no idea that it was a copy of a turner until we went to the London National Gallery and saw the original

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Was it any good?

[@griffin2263]

@@TheMuseumGuide it looks exactly like the painting ! .the old owner was a really good artist ..

[@TX200AA]

For another interesting pub, stop the video at 10 minutes and you will see Woodin's Shades. Now you might think that the word Shades just has the meaning of cellars or vaults where wines were stored, however in this case it may be something quite different. In the 1980's, when I worked in the City the original painted name at the top of the building, on the corner, had not been painted over. It was quite clear that the S of Shades had been rather clumsily inserted and that the original name was Woodin's Hades. In Victorian London a Hades referred to the Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld. A hades was therefore not just a pub, but a much more disreputable establishment, at best a gambling house, and maybe with other entertainments on sale.

[@user-wh8mg4gh8d]

I've always loved weird artifacts and strange things.....we used to have a restaurant close to where I used to live that had an clock that was backwards...instead of 1-12 it was12-1 and it lit up but the restaurant was changed into a church so I don't know what happened to it

[@user-wh8mg4gh8d]

Aren't some of these museums haunted...I think isn't THE Charles Dickens house in London haunted by him reading his A Christmas Carol and I'd love to visit the Sherlock Holmes museum

[@user-fv5ms4sz8e]

As you probably knew, the USS Texas was the first Battleship Museum ever commissioned and its completion of repairs, repainting, and refitting of the USS Texas, Battleship Texas, BB-35 draws closer. Is there anything your channel can do to spotlight this excellent floating legendary warship museum?

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I would absolutely love to, but I don’t think a trip to Texas is in the cards anytime this year!

[@flannmacein774]

Great! I need more creepy videos! Thanks from Ukraine!

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Glad you like them!

[@lbco5229]

The ancient Egyptians also had a thing for mummified cats. And mummified ‘everything else’ for that matter.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I mention that briefly on this video! I cover Egyptian mummified cats in my video on the strangest things in the British Museum.

[@user-wh8mg4gh8d]

Please do it'll be interesting on stuff like that

[@user-wh8mg4gh8d]

I wonder if Judge Jeffrey's was anything like Judge Roy Bean

[@WillN2Go1]

Fun video. re Polly the Parrot in the Cheese. John Le Carré in his memoir The Pigeon Tunnel, tells of a parrot in a basement bar in Beruit during the civil war. This parrot can mimic the sound of AK47s and a Rocket Propelled Grenade shooting through the air. Newby war correspondents dive under the tables. It seems pretty obvious the whole story is a fabrication. Now I know its roots. (the local mockingbird at my old used to mimic car alarms. I only realized this after I heard an NPR radio news story mention a mockingbird doing this. Of course there was no audio. You have to know to listen for it and you'll never rush out to check your car.) Dirty Dick might also be the inspiration for hoarder Mr Krook's spontaneous combustion incident in Dickens's Bleak House. It's ridiculous that health and safety disapproves of mummified cats and rats. They should also make every establishment remove any leather covered furniture as well, ban wigs in court and maybe wool sweaters.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

Thank you for these neat insights!

[@craigwendler7204]

I wonder if Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese had any influence on Monty Pythons two skits.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I bet it did! I should have referenced the parrot. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@jimmaloney3738]

Ignore the stupid comments. Really good video 👍

[@TheMuseumGuide]

It’s just one guy who came back twice, 17 hours apart. 😂 as a woman on the internet, I’m used to it! Thank you for watching.

[@JosMorn1]

The Widow's Son is a Masonic reference. I'm surprised that none of the brethren had commented this when they were speculating on what the name might mean. There are more than a few pubs in the UK with Masonic names dating back a few hundred years...

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I knew about the Masonic pubs near Holborn, but I didn’t realise this was a Masonic reference! Fascinating- it didn’t come up in any articles.

[@alwaystruetoblue]

To be completely historically accurate, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was the eldest illegitimate child of Charles II and his mistress Lucy Walter, not Nell Gwyn (who came later and called herself the Protestant Whòre). This is not to put down this fascinating tour by The Museum Guide (I am a subscriber---her tour of the Hunterian is wildly fascinating and macabre). English history is my forte and specialty.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

I know! I wish I could correct it. What a silly mistake! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@alwaystruetoblue]

17:10 I believe nowadays you have to have a license or permit to go mudlarking. Just a heads up for those who want to go.

[@TheMuseumGuide]

You do!

[@heatherbarrett2080]

Great vlog but The Duke of Monmouth"s mother wasn"t Nell Gwen but Lucy Walters

[@TheMuseumGuide]

😭😩 I know- what a terrible mistake! I don’t know how I got that mixed up.

[@Corgis175]

Wonder how all these gruesome royalty will fare at the pearly gates or the hot gates.