Fitzroy Tavern, Charlotte Street, London

The Fitzroy Tavern is a public house situated at 16 Charlotte Street in the Fitzrovia district of central London, England, to which it gives its name. It is currently owned by the Samuel Smith Brewery. It became famous during a period spanning the 1920s to the mid 1950s as a meeting place for many of London's artists, intellectuals and bohemians such as Dylan Thomas, Augustus John, and George Orwell. It is named either directly or indirectly after the Fitzroy family, Dukes of Grafton, who owned much of the land on which Fitzrovia was built. Read more on Wikipedia.

The tavern was manged by in the early years of the 20th century, Judah Morris Kleinfeld, a [Savile Row]? tailor and naturalised British citizen originally from Polish Russia, decided that he wanted to become a pub licensee, and started the work of persuading the brewery that owned the Hundred Marks, Hoare & Co., that he was the man for the job. the  History of Fitzroy Tavern

Lowry refers to the Fitzroy in Chapter 6 of his novel Under The Volcano; "No, the idea was to camp outside a pub down a back alley, and that not any pub, but the Fitzroy Tavern in Charlotte Street, chock full of starving artists drinking themselves to death simply because their souls pined away, each night between eight and ten, for lack of just such a thing as a hot dog. That  was the place to go!" (Pg. 156) and "And--not even the hot-dog man was the answer; even though by Christmas time,obviously, he had been doing a roaring trade outside the Fitzroy." (Pg. 156)

Lowry frequented the Fitzroy Tavern during his time in London between 1931 and 1933. (See Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pgs. 140-41). Lowry refers to a brawl at the tavern in a letter to Conrad Aiken dated Summer/Autumn 1932; "I would have written you before this only I got beaten up in an Ulyssean brawl near Kleinfelds' in Charlotte street the first night of my arrival..." (Collected Letters Vol 1 Pg. 81). The fight occurred while Lowry was staying with John Davenport in London when they started a fight with a group of Welsh miners. (Bowker Pg. 118). Paul Ferris records that Lowry met Dylan Thomas at the Fitzroy in July 1933 on Thomas's second ever visit to London (Dylan Thomas Pg. 166).

Red Lion, Perim

Lowry refers to a pub on the island in his novel Ultramarine"; "Perim in the Red Sea, they have red-headed n...... I don't know if any of you fellers ever been ashore there. There's one pub, the Red Lion. And its as flat as a flipper and bloody hot. We took a chap out there once to be a signalman”. (Pg 175.). The pub remains unidentified to date though there was hotel as seen above on the island. Read more

Lowry did not stop at the island on his voyage to the Far East in 1927.

Red Lion is the name of over six hundred pubs in the UK. It thus can stand for an archetypal British pub. The lion is one of the most common charges in coats of arms, second only to the cross, and thus the Red Lion as a pub sign probably has multiple origins: in the arms or crest of a local landowner, now perhaps forgotten; as a personal badge of John of Gaunt, founder of the House of Lancaster; or in the royal arms of Scotland, conjoined to the arms of England after the Stuart succession in 1603.

County Inn, Wallasey

Lowry's refers to this pub in his  novel; Ultramarine; "The puddles are lying at the foot of the Wallasey sandhills after the rain, the groundsel is growing on the vacant lot by the County Inn. At eleven-thirty Samuel Broster comes smiling out of the bar parlour, tying his apron." (Pg. 133).

The pub remains unidentified as no such pub existed in Wallasey in the late 1920's.

The Right Whale

A fictional pub in Lowry's short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour"; “Drawing near the Birkenhead dockside the pubs came thick and fast, with sea-sounding names here: ...... the Right Whale....” in ‘Enter One In Sumptuous Armour’ (Psalms Pg. 233).

Originally called Black Pan in the first draft of the story. However, Lowry changed the name due to the Herman Melville connection. Due to their familiarity to whalers over a number of centuries, the right whales have had many names. These names were used throughout the world, reflecting the fact that only one species was recognized at the time. In his novel Moby-Dick, Herman Melville writes:

Among the fishermen, the whale regularly hunted for oil is indiscriminately designated by all the following titles: The Whale; the Greenland whale; the black whale; the great whale; the true whale; the right whale

Blue Peter Pub

A fictional pub in Lowry's short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour"; “Drawing near the Birkenhead dockside the pubs came thick and fast, with sea-sounding names here: ...... the Blue Peter....” in ‘Enter One In Sumptuous Armour’ (Psalms Pg. 233).

Lowry may have chosen the name because of the connection to the sea - the Blue Peter is a flag which means in harbour: "All persons should report on board as the vessel is about to proceed to sea" - which would have appealed to Lowry as he may have drank in the pubs before he set out on his 1927 voyage to the East, or he may have been thinking of the nautical magazine Blue Peter which he used to read.

Coach & Horses, Greasby, Wirral

The Coach and Horses is a very old pub, definitely in business in 1832 (named on the Bryant map of that year) possibly dating as far back as 1725.

Lowry refers to the pub in his short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'; "I noticed the pubs longingly. ..in Greasby, the Coach and Horses. I was sorry to be leaving the pubs behind though I had never entered one." (Pg. 232). Lowry refers to the pub in In Ballast to the White Sea; Sigbjørn passes the pub on his way to Birkenhead to catch the train to Liverpool on his journey to Preston; "Soon they had turned the dangerous Frankby corner into the Greasby road, passed the village green and the village cross, and roared into the straight. At the corner, by the Coach and Horses, he slowed down." (Chapter X1)

Coach & Horses in January 2009

Dock-road, Birkenhead

A name given by local people to Corporation Road which runs parallel to Birkenhead Docks from Rendell Street to Beaufort Road. The dockside of the road still features a high wall while across the road there used to be a mixture of terraced housing for dockers, workshops and other industrial sites. Though most of the housing has since been demolished and many of the former dockside industries replaced.

Former Mersey Arms

Former Wheatsheaf Hotel

The road also featured many docklands pubs including the Wheatsheaf Hotel (corner of Pool Street), Dolphin Hotel  (corner of Cathcart Street) and Mersey Arms (corner of Neptune Street) which have now all closed. The road is crossed by Cathcart Street which led to the Blue Funnel Line berths where Lowry sailed to the Far East in 1927.

Lowry refers to the road in his short story 'Goya The Obscure'; "Yellow-toothed the piano, Bluthner, which stood in the corner of the saloon in the Dolphin Hotel, Birkenhead Dock-road." (Pg. 270). A journey along the road may have inspired a scene in Lowry's short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'; "Drawing near the dockside the pubs came thick and fast, with sea-sounding names here: the Dolphin, the Blue Peter, the Right Whale." (Pg. 233). The last 2 pubs are fictional.

The Anchor, Cathcart Street, Birkenhead

The Anchor Inn was located at 77, 79, and 81 Cathcart Street, Birkenhead. The landlady in 1927 was Mrs Elizabeth Annie Davies.

Lowry refers to the pub in his novel Ultramarine as Dana is preparing to go to sea on the Oedipus Tyrannus; "A pale-faced fireman told him where he could get his clothes, and the two of them whiled away an hour lounging against the swimming bar of the Anchor." (Pg. 19)

We must assume that Lowry drank at the pub before his voyage to the Far East in 1927. The pub is about 400m from the berth in Birkenhead from which Lowry sailed aboard the Blue Funnel Line ship Pyrrhus in 1927. This may have been after Lowry got kitted out for the voyage at the Mutual Aid Society Booth also in Cathcart Street.

The pub no longer exists having been demolished in the 1970s and replaced by public housing.

Sapporo Cafe and Bar, Dairen

Lowry mentions several bars and brothels his novel Ultramarine in the fictional port of Tsjang Tsjang, which actually existed in Dairen in 1927. One bar that was real was the Sapporo; "There we go, boys, there's the old Sapporo-" (Pg. 30); "Sapporo Bar's the place to go, down the Yamagata Dori." and "Yes, the Sapporo Bar, Hilliot. Follow the tramlines, it's just past the Customs House, Meet you there tonight." (Pg 67) "What was the name of the place?" "Sapporo Cafe and Bar. Here, I've got the card. Listen to this. Nice and clean accommodation. Quick service. Sapporo Cafe and Bar, No. 157, Yamagata-Dori, Tel. No. 6705. Soft and hard drinks. Mariners are all welcome. Here is a place you must not fail to visit, everything at very moderate charges." (Pg. 134). Lowry first used that last sentence in his short story 'Punctum Indifferens Skibet Gaar Videre' (Pg. 71).

The above card from Stan Hugill's book Sailortown confirms the address given by Lowry. Given the precise detail referred to on page 134 of Ultramarine we must assume that Lowry visited the bar and kept the card as the language is very similar to the cards depicted in Hugill's book. Hugill also refers to a Sapporo Cabaret in Tsingtao a port visited by Lowry on his voyage to the Far East.

Miki Bar

An unidentified bar/club in the fictional Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen) of Lowry's first novel Ultramarine; "There's the Miki Bar!" (Pg. 30); "And the Miki or the Baikine; you'll probably find plenty of bobbed head tigers in this dump." (Pg.81); "Miki Bar. Dancing." (Pg. 85); Dana is told by a waiter after asking about dancing; "Miki Bar is your place. All sam firm, sir". (Pg.85); "We'll go the Miki Bar some time tonight,' I said." (Pg. 85); "Miki Bar. Dancing" (Pgs 96, 104 and 118); "Well, talking of niggers, there was two whacking bull niggers in the Miki too, last night; firemen they were, and when I told Olga-" (Pg. 130); "Andy fumbling for his entrance ticket to the Miki dancing saloon.." (Pg. 133).

The name probably reflects the Japanese influence on Dairen. The name is a Japanese female name Miki which may be written with the characters for "beauty; beautiful" (mi) and "chronicle; narrative; account" (ki). Other possibilities include "truth; reality" (mi) and "hope; pray" (ki), as well as "beautiful" (mi) and "timber trees; wood" (ki). Not to be confused with the port of Miike.

Cafe Baikine

An unidentified bar/club in the fictional Tsjang Tsjang (Dairen) of Lowry's first novel Ultramarine; "And the Miki or the Baikine; you'll probably find plenty of bobbed head tigers in this dump." (Pg.81); Cafe Baikine (Pgs. 85, 104, 109, 115 and 118).

The name is Russian probably relating to the owner who was probably a White Russian refugee.

Hubbard and Martin's, Birkenhead

Hubbard & Martin Ltd were a longstanding bakers, confectioners and caterers who ran a cafe and restaurant at 258 Grange Road in Birkenhead.

Lowry must have been familiar with the cafe as he mentions it in his novel Ultramarine; "That day it was, on the Saughall Massie Road with Janet, when he found the white campion on the windy hill, it was the only sound to break the stillness, the traction engine, and the sleep-shattering fall of white stones. Afterwards they had tea at Hubbard and Martin's, in Grange Road." (Pg. 31). The days events are probably based on his love affair with Tess Evans in 1927.

Red Cow, Cambridge

A pub at 1 Corn Exchange Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. In 1851 and earlier, the address was given as Butcher Row. At 5 Guildhall Street in the 1871 & 1881 census. At Guildhall Street & 1 Corn Exchange Street at different times. Arthur Jn. Quick was the landlord during Lowry's time at Cambridge University. In 2002 the pub was renamed to just the Cow.

Lowry refers to the pub in Chapter 4 of his novel Ultramarine when Dana Hilliot is recalling his time in Cambridge; "- and later the two undergraduates fighting outside 'The Red Cow'." (Pg. 130).

Ring O' Bells, West Kirby, Wirral

The Ring O' Bells was a public house in Village Road, West Kirby. The pub was rebuilt in 1810 on the site of an older pub of the same name. The cellars are cut into sandstone and extend underneath Village Road. The rock has been shaped to hold the barrels of ale, with a drainage channel below. The pub once had a bowling green and tennis courts. The pub is now a restaurant.

Situated in the most healthy and picturesque part of West Kirby. Full-sized Bowling Green attached to the home which, from its position and surroundings, may be classed as second to none; and the Pavilion in the Grounds affords accommodation both to Bowlers and Picnic Parties. The shore is also within a few minutes easy walking distance, and a ramble on the celebrated Hills may be commenced from the very..With the Hotel will ever be associated the memory of J.L. Hatton, who wrote here the grand old rollicking song, 'Simon the Cellarer' (Advert Porter's Directory for West Kirby, Hoylake etc 1901) 

This hotel has proved a port of call and pleasant resting place for such national characters as the poets SHELLEY and KEATS, also the artist TURNER when painting his pictures of sunsets on the River Dee. It was the source for that famous song "SIMON THE CELLARER", which was composed here.

This famous Hostel still retains its pleasant and old time atmosphere of fragrance and charm.

We can assure all callers that in Mr W.B. FEATHERSTONE, the present proprietor, we have one well worthy- in our opinion-of carrying on the old tradition. (1936 Advert).

The pub was one of the nearest to where Lowry lived in Inglewood, Caldy. Lowry reminisced about drinking there in a letter to James Stern 13 June 1947; .…a pewter tankard of strong Falstaff & a hunk of Cheshire at the Ring O Bells… (Collected Letters Volume 2 Pg. 63-4 ). Lowry also refers to a Ring o' Bells pub being near to Upton in his short story 'Enter One In Sumptuous Armour'. However, no such pub has existed and he appears to have transposed the pub from West Kirby to Upton.

The claims that Shelley and Keats visited are spurious and are not founded on fact but myth. J.L. Hatton, did not write his song, 'Simon the Cellarer' in the pub but more than likely it was the former Ring O' Bells in Bidston.

Heres to Pa nds Pen Da Soci alho uR etc

Lowry used many signs in his work and there are many examples in his first novel Ultramarine. Most of the signs used appear to have been either noted down by Lowry in notebooks (most long lost) or memorised for later use:


Heres to Pa nds Pen Da Soci alho uR
InHa RmlE ssmiR THan
Dfunl Etfrie ENDshirEi
GnbeJ Ustand
Kin DanDevils Peakof None (Pg. 112)

The above translates as "Here stop & spend a social hour in harmless mirth & fun, let friendship reign, be just & kind & evil speak of none". 


These kinds of word puzzles can be traced back to the 17th Century. Removing the first letter of a word (beheadment) or the last (curtailment) was a device used by writers to add a new element of interest to their work. In the seventeenth century, the poet George Herbert included this form of word play in his poem, 'Paradise':

I bless thee, Lord, because I GROW
Among thy trees, which in a ROW
To thee both fruit and order OW.

What open force, or hidden CHARM
Can blast my fruit, or bring me HARM,
While the enclosure is thy ARM?

Enclose me still for fear I START.
Be to me rather sharp and TART,
Than let me want thy hand and ART.

When thou dost greater judgements SPARE,
And with thy knife but prune and PARE,
Ev'n fruitful trees more fruitful ARE.

The source of Lowry's puzzle may be traced to the following:


A former landlord of the inn at Croyde, near Ilfracombe, must have been a humourist in his way, and had probably read Pickwick before he composed the following, which, like the "Bill Stumps his Mark" -


   +
BILST
 UM
PSHI
S.M.
ARK


is easily rendered into English:


Here's to Pands Pen 
Das oci Al Hourin
Ha! R: Mm: Les Smir
Thand Funlet
Fri Ends Hipre:
Ign Be Ju!
Stand Kin
Dan Devils
Peak of No! no


The composition of this could have been no tax on the tapster's brain. Charles George Harper The old inns of old England: a picturesque account of the ancient and storied hostelries of our own country 1906. The reference to Dicken's Pickwick Papers relates to the following passage:


The exultation and joy of the Pickwickians knew no bounds, when their patient assiduity, their washing and scraping, were crowned with success. The stone was uneven and broken, and the letters were straggling and irregular, but the following fragment of an inscription was clearly to be deciphered:

+

BILST

UM

PSHI

S.M.

ARK


Mr Pickwick's eyes sparkled with delight, as he sat and gloated over the treasure he had discovered. He had attained one of the greatest objects of his ambition. In a country known to abound in remains of the early ages; in a village in which there still existed some memorials of the olden time, he - he, the Chairman of the Pickwick Club - had discovered a strange and curious inscription of unquestionable antiquity, which had wholly escaped the observation of the many learned men who had preceded him. Read more

Charles George Harper doesn't say the name of the inn at Croyde. But given the date of the text as 1906 then it can only be one of 2 inns - either Manor House Inn or Carpenter's Arms.

Lowry may have seen the puzzle at the inn at Croyde either on his family holiday to Looe in Cornwall (early 20's) or Budleigh Salterton, Devon 1924. He did travel around Devon in 1933 but Ultramarine was complete at that time.

Zelli's Club, Paris

Louise Brooks at Zelli's 

Zelli's Club was the most famous of the nightclubs in Paris owned by Joe Zelli (On right in above photograph).


He opened this club in 1922 and it closed 10 years later. It was considered to be less classy than Le Grand Duc and was regularly raided by the police. Nevertheless, it was always crowded and a membership card was needed to enter an underground dance hall. 


This club was located at 16 bis rue Fontaine which had previously been La Feria cafe. This was a large rectangular underground dance hall on two floors in an almost Moorish style. The main floor area had a bandstand, stage, dance floor, ornate pillars and was littered with tables. At one end was an arched alcove with mirrored walls. The entrance made way onto a balcony overlooking the main floor with a modern American-style bar. Here, were what Zelli called ‘royal boxes’, set out along the balcony. Patrons could look down upon the festivities taking place on the floor below as well as talk to other parties on telephones in each box. One day a little Italian caricaturist arrived called Zito and over four years he drew all the famous guests and visitors to Zelli’s and these sketches filled the walls downstairs. Read more on Jazz Age Club

Lowry refers to the night club in his film script for Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is The Night; "Now we are in the Rue Blanche and we pass Zelli's" (The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: a scholarly edition of Lowry's "Tender is the Night" Edited by Miguel Mota and Paul Tiessen Pg. 78).

La Coupole, Paris

La Coupole is located at 102 Bd du Montparnasse. It was opened in1927 by Ernest Fraux and René Lafon.  Read more

François Bernouard organised Les Amis de 1914 event to celebrate James Joyce's 'Work In Progress' on 23rd February 1934 ( (Maria Jolas and J. Aubert: Joyce and Paris 1902..1920-1940..1975 Papers of the Fifth International James Joyce Symposium, Paris 16-20 June 1975) which Jan Gabrial attended.(Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55). The event took place on the Boulevard Montparnasse in a vast temporary wooden structure next door to La Coupole and was reported by the Nouvelle Littérature as Joyce a La Coupole.

Café de Flore, Paris

The Café de Flore, at the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Rue St. Benoit, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, has long been celebrated for its intellectual clientele. The classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors has changed little since World War II. 


This may have the location where Jan Gabrial met Lowry after she had attended Les Amis de 1914 event  to see James Joyce. (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175). This is contradicted later by Jan Gabrial in her book Inside The Volcano when she states the cafe was the Café de la Rotonde where they argued after Lowry had read her diaries while she was seeing Joyce.

Café de la Rotonde, Paris

The Café de la Rotonde is a famous café in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France. Located on the Carrefour Vavin, at the corner of Boulevard du Montparnasse and Boulevard Raspail, it was founded by Victor Libion in 1910. Along with Le Dome and La Coupole it was renowned as an intellectual gathering place for notable artists and writers during the interwar period.

Jan Gabrial met Lowry here after she had attended the Les Amis de 1914 event after Lowry refused to believe that James Joyce would be present. (Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 55). Gordon Bowker says that the argument took place at the Café de Flore (Gordon Bowker Pursued By Furies Pg. 175).

La Corbeille, Rue Delambre, Paris

The small restaurant La Corbeille was in the Rue Delambre around the corner from Le Dôme Café. Jan and Lowry went there on New Year's Eve 1933 with a party of people including Julian Trevelyan and Louise Scherpenberg before returning to Le Dôme Café. ( Jan Gabrial Inside The Volcano Pg. 43).