Mermaid Tavern
Mermaid Tavern was an Elizabethan-era London tavern associated with a celebrated circle of writers, scholars, and courtiers.
Last updated August 24, 2026
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Overview
Mermaid Tavern was a historic London tavern that stood in Cheapside during the Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods. It was located east of St Paul's Cathedral, probably at the junction of Bread Street and Friday Street, corresponding broadly to the modern intersection of Bread Street and Cannon Street. The establishment is remembered less as a surviving hospitality business than as a literary and cultural meeting place associated with an influential group of early seventeenth-century writers and intellectuals. The tavern became linked with the so-called Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen, an informal drinking circle that is generally described as meeting on the first Friday of each month. Its known or traditionally associated participants included Ben Jonson, John Donne, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, Thomas Coryat, John Selden, Robert Bruce Cotton, Richard Carew, Richard Martin, and William Strachey. The group appears to have been a network of literary, antiquarian, legal, and political figures rather than a formally incorporated organization. The Mermaid was one of several London taverns connected with this circle; the nearby Mitre was also mentioned in contemporary literary contexts. The tavern's reputation rests heavily on literary references. Ben Jonson referred to the Mermaid in verse, including a poem inviting a friend to supper and celebrating Canary wine. Francis Beaumont's verse letter to Jonson described the quick, witty conversation associated with gatherings there. These references helped establish the tavern as a symbol of convivial intellectual exchange. Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair also alluded disparagingly to the Canary-drinking company associated with the Three Cranes, Mitre, and Mermaid, suggesting that contemporaries viewed such gatherings as sophisticated, fashionable, and perhaps socially exclusive. William Shakespeare has long been connected with the Mermaid in popular tradition. Later writers and editors developed a story that Shakespeare and Jonson engaged in brilliant debates there over literature, religion, and politics, with Shakespeare supposedly prevailing through conversational wit. The historical basis for this story is uncertain, and most scholarship treats Shakespeare's regular participation in the Mermaid circle as improbable or unproven. Shakespeare nevertheless had documented connections with several people associated with the tavern, including landlord William Johnson, who acted as a trustee in the 1613 mortgage transaction for Shakespeare's Blackfriars gatehouse. Hugh Holland, another figure linked with the circle, contributed a commendatory poem to the 1623 First Folio. A notable disturbance began at the tavern in 1600 when drunken members of a group known as the Damned Crew attacked members of the watch after being expelled from the premises. The incident led to proceedings in the Star Chamber and provides evidence that the Mermaid was an active, sometimes unruly drinking establishment rather than merely a later literary invention. A will dated 1603 identifies William Johnson as the tavern's landlord. The building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. It did not survive as a continuous commercial venue, but its cultural afterlife continued through poetry, biography, literary criticism, and historical writing. John Keats's 1819 poem "Lines on the Mermaid Tavern" helped revive the image of the tavern as an ideal gathering place for poets. Later works by Theodore Watts-Dunton and Alfred Noyes, as well as references by A. G. Gardiner and Beryl Markham, further transformed it into a symbol of conviviality, literary fellowship, and imagined conversation among writers across generations.
History
The Mermaid Tavern was an early modern London drinking house situated in Cheapside, east of St Paul's Cathedral. Historical descriptions place it on or near Bread Street, with a probable entrance from Friday Street as well. Its location corresponds approximately to the present-day junction of Bread Street and Cannon Street, although the original building no longer survives. The tavern is chiefly associated with an informal circle called the Fraternity of Sireniacal Gentlemen. The group brought together prominent literary figures and scholars during the Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. Among those connected with it were Ben Jonson, John Donne, John Fletcher, Francis Beaumont, Thomas Coryat, John Selden, Robert Bruce Cotton, Richard Carew, Richard Martin, and William Strachey. The meetings were traditionally said to occur on the first Friday of each month. They should be understood as gatherings within London's wider culture of tavern sociability rather than as a clearly documented club with formal officers or membership records. Contemporary and near-contemporary literary evidence helped create the tavern's reputation. Jonson mentioned the Mermaid in verse, including a reference to its Canary wine. Beaumont described the lively verbal exchanges that took place there in a verse letter addressed to Jonson. The Mermaid was also named alongside the Three Cranes and the Mitre in Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, where the associated drinkers are portrayed as fashionable and somewhat pretentious intellectuals. Thomas Coryat's writings refer to members of the circle and help place some of the connections in the period around 1611. The tavern has traditionally been presented as a meeting place for Shakespeare and Jonson, where the two dramatists supposedly conducted witty debates. This image was developed especially by later editors and biographers. William Gifford, Jonson's nineteenth-century editor, attributed the society's foundation to Sir Walter Raleigh on the authority of a note by John Aubrey, but that claim is historically doubtful. Raleigh was imprisoned for much of the relevant period, making it unlikely that he presided over a regular tavern society in the way later tradition suggested. Shakespeare's direct attendance is also uncertain. He did, however, have relationships with people in the Mermaid's orbit. William Johnson, identified as the tavern's landlord in a 1603 will, later served as a trustee in the 1613 mortgage of Shakespeare's Blackfriars gatehouse. Hugh Holland, another associated figure, wrote a poem for the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays. The establishment was also connected with urban disorder. In 1600, members of a drinking group called the Damned Crew were expelled from the Mermaid and then attacked the watch after being challenged. The resulting disturbance led to a Star Chamber case. This episode indicates that the tavern functioned as a busy and occasionally turbulent commercial drinking venue, not solely as a literary salon created by retrospective legend. The original building was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. There is no evidence in the supplied material that the tavern continued afterward as the same establishment. Its name nevertheless survived in literary culture. Keats's 1819 poem "Lines on the Mermaid Tavern" recast it as an imagined paradise for poets. Theodore Watts-Dunton later produced a fictionalized drinking song set at the tavern, while Alfred Noyes's 1913 poem series Tales of the Mermaid Tavern celebrated writers associated with the Elizabethan literary world. Twentieth-century references, including those by A. G. Gardiner and Beryl Markham, treated the Mermaid as a metaphor for convivial intellectual fellowship. In this sense, the Mermaid Tavern's enduring identity is that of a historic place-brand and literary emblem rather than an active hospitality company.
- 1913
Publication of Tales of the Mermaid Tavern
[1]Alfred Noyes published a long poem in chapters devoted to Elizabethan writers associated with the tavern.
- 1819
Keats revived the tavern's literary legend
[1]John Keats wrote "Lines on the Mermaid Tavern," helping establish the tavern as a poetic symbol of fellowship among writers.
- 1666
Destroyed in the Great Fire of London
[1]The tavern building was destroyed during the Great Fire of London.
- 1614
Mention in Bartholomew Fair
[1]Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair referred to the Canary-drinking company associated with the Mermaid, Mitre, and Three Cranes.
- 1613
Connection with Shakespeare's Blackfriars property
[1]William Johnson, the tavern's landlord, was listed as a trustee for the mortgage when Shakespeare acquired the Blackfriars gatehouse.
- 1611
Coryat's references place the literary circle at the tavern
[1]Thomas Coryat's writings refer to Jonson, Donne, Cotton, Inigo Jones, Hugh Holland, and other figures connected with the Mermaid circle.
- 1603
William Johnson identified as landlord
[1]A will dated 1603 names William Johnson as the tavern's landlord.
- 1600
The Damned Crew disturbance
[1]After drunken members of the Damned Crew were ejected from the tavern, they attacked the watch when challenged. The incident resulted in a Star Chamber trial.
Products and positioning
A historic London tavern remembered as an informal hub for Elizabethan and Jacobean literary sociability. Its modern significance is cultural and literary rather than commercial.
Hospitality
Tavern beverages
The Mermaid served alcoholic drinks typical of an early modern London tavern. Literary references particularly associate it with Canary wine, also described in the period as sack. The beverage became one of the strongest recurring elements in the tavern's literary image.
Hospitality
Meals and supper
The establishment provided food as well as drink. Ben Jonson's reference to dining at the Mermaid supports its role as a place for meals, private sociability, and extended conversation.
Cultural venue
Literary meeting space
The tavern's most enduring offering was its setting for informal gatherings among writers, scholars, and other London intellectuals. This was not a separately branded service, but it became central to the Mermaid's historical reputation.
Controversies
Sources1 sources
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