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Julian: Pip-pip, tally-ho, and roger me with a prize-winning marrow,
and bury me in a y-shaped coffin.
Joolz Guides here, in which I wander around London, and tell you fascinating facts about
this city,
whilst trying to make faintly ribald remarks.
We're in Fleet Street here at the moment,
but the reason why I'm being so verbose is
because I'm standing next to the statue of Dr. Johnson,
England's foremost man of letters.
But we're going to be concentrating on a few things starting over there with Australia
House.
[Music]
This is the Australian diplomatic service, High Commission.
They actually used it for Gringotts Bank, when they filmed the Harry Potter films.
And they also did Wonder Woman in there.
Today, I am with Ariel all the way from Argentina.
Ariel: Hello. How are you everybody?
Julian: Excellent name by the way, Ariel.
Were you named after the spirit in Shakespeare's Tempest?
“Cast now forgot the foul which sicker acts who with age and envy was grown into a hoop.”
This is the Church of St. Clement Danes,
and it's called St. Clement Danes because King Harold Harefoot –
one of those Viking kings or whatever.
He is buried here. Harold Harefoot was the son of Cnut.
My friend is always calling me a bit of a cnut, C-N-U-T.
Anyway, Harold Harefoot was buried over here in Westminster.
But, his brother -- who was called half a Cnut –
dug up his bones and chucked them into the river.
And then some fisherman came along,
and then buried him here.
It’s the official Church of the Royal Air Force.
Which is why we've got bomber Harris here.
He did destroy quite a lot of beautiful cities.
You can still see the shrapnel from the bombs in the Second World War.
I reckon they just left it there because they've got the same builder as me.
He just didn't show up to finish the job.
I mean, it only takes a bit of Polyfilla.
Look at that one there. That’s massive.
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Now, William Webb Ellis, who invented rugby,
he was the reverend at this church.
I think they were just playing football one day
and he just decided to pick up the ball
and run with it. And everyone say,
“Ay, oh that's a good idea. Let's just call that rugby.”
Because I think he was at Rugby School, where he invented that.
That should appeal to you Ariel, being Argentinian.
They like to use their hands whilst playing football.
On the hour, it plays the song, “Oranges and Lemons,”
and it’s a song about children sing about all the churches.
It goes, “Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement’s,
I owe you five farthings, say the bells of St. Martin’s.
When will you pay me? Say the bells at Old Bailey.”
[Church Bells}
And, then, I think, what it's referring to is
the fact that it used to cost a lot more money
to bring your goods ashore in the old city of London.
What a lot of merchants would do is, they'd sail up the river
and they’d bring their goods ashore here and –
where it was a bit cheaper. And a lot of people would bring
ashore oranges and lemons.
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This is the Temple Bar.
There’s always been a little barrier here since 14th century, I think.
It was here in order to regulate trade into the city.
This is officially the point at which many London
guides will tell you the monarch
has to ask for permission to enter the city.
But, actually, that is what is commonly known
as bollocks. What is it, Ariel?
Ariel: Bollocks.
Julian: It’s bullocks. Yeah.
There's no real law saying that
she has to ask permission.
It's just more ceremonial.
For some years this was a beautiful gateway
designed by Sir Christopher Wren,
because he designed bloody everything in London.
You can still see it. It's up near to Paul's Cathedral.
Someone bought it for £1,
and they moved out to there because it
was causing too much congestion.
Fleet Street, is one of the oldest streets in London.
I mean, I think there was a road here at 200 AD.
It's the main ceremonial procession route
from the Tower of London up to the Palace of Westminster.
If you walk past these dragons,
they're dotted around all over London,
and it means that you're entering the old city
as defined by the Romans more or less.
Bollocks is a very interesting English term.
Because if you're describing something that's rubbish,
you often say, “That's bollocks.”
“Oh, god. I don't like my football team.
They're really bollocks,” you know.
But if you're describing how good something is,
you might describe it as being the dog's bollocks.
So, you know, “Oh, wow, you've got to go
and eat in that restaurant over there.
It's the dog's bollocks.”
We only do it to confuse foreigners.
Oh, that’s Prince Henry's room over there.
One of the few to have survived the Fire of London.
I think it was built around 1610 or something.
The fire didn't quite reach as far as this,
and it was originally a pub called the Princes Arms,
but then it was later called The Fountain Tavern.
Dr. Johnson and Dickens,
and all these famous people came down a bit,
but one of my favorites is Samuel Pepys
who were -- because he kept a famous diary
of London in the 17th century.
So, The Fountain Tavern,
and there stayed ‘til 12:00 at night,
drinking and singing.
Mr. Simmons and one Mr. Agar singing
very well. Then Mr. Galton,
being almost drunk, had the which to be gone.
And, so, I took my leave too.
I wonder if he took his hat as well.
To take your hat and your leave.
That's a zeugma.
I'm going look that up when we get to Dr. Johnson's house.
Do you like zeugmas? I love zeugmas.
Like when you use one word to govern
two words in a different sense
for stylistic effect. Or was that syllogism?
‘He left in his van and a hurry’,
or ‘he took his hat and his leave.’
In the comments below,
please feel free to use as many zeugmas
as you can. I always find them very pleasing.
This is Bell Yard, where Marjorie Lovett’s pie shop was.
You know, the lover of Sweeney Todd.
If you watch my other video about Sweeney Todd,
apparently the tunnel came under the road there,
and it emerged here at a pie shop.
But, they also sell pies here in
the Bank of England pub.
But, they're very good pies.
This actually used to be a branch
of the Bank of England up until about 1975.
But that's a rather nice pub.
[Music]
Sorry.
They didn't want me to film.
I said to him,
“What if I film in my mobile phone?” He went,
“Yeah, that's alright.” I said,
“Well, it's exactly the same as if
I film with my camera.” I mean,
what the -- it makes no difference.
But, anyway, so I didn't buy a beer.
There we go. Their loss.
They didn’t seem to say a word
whilst people stick stuff up on Instagram.
I’m walking there. No, no.
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Now, William Caxton,
famously brought the printing press to London,
but his apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde,
set up his first printing shop down there.
Somewhere in Shoe Lane.
Since then, all the newspapers decided
it would be a convenient place to start their
newspaper businesses.
And, the first of which, was the Daily Courant.
At the entrance of all these little passages,
you can see little reminders of the newspapers
that used to be around here.
[Music]
I love the fact that, Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens,
Dr. Johnson, King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, they've all
been down this street and now we're doing the same.
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This is Dr. Johnson’s cat.
And, I have to say,
I don't know much about it
I don't know why he's here,
but we're going to go and
call on Dr. Johnson's house right now.
He was kind of like an 18th century Oscar Wilde.
A very witty man.
Tis I.
Seleen: Hello, sir.
Julian: Hello.
Seleen: Welcome to Dr. Johnson’s house.
Julian: Excellent. Oh, wonderful.
[Music]
Seleen, is the curator who
lives in the curators cottage.
That's such an excellent residence.
Seleen: Isn’t it just.
Julian: Now, Dr. Johnson described himself as a
lexicographer, which was a writer of dictionaries.
A harmless drudge, that busies himself
in tracing the original and
detailing the signification of words.
Seleen: A remarkable man.
One of the most prolific writers of
the 18th century, and a great wit.
He wrote many works, but he's best
remembered for the dictionary.
So, he lived in this house
back in the middle of the 18th century.
So, it's a glorious home.
Open to the public.
Built just after the Great Fire of London,
so back in 1699.
Most of it is original, including the
wide floorboards and this stairwell.
Now, it is said that he had
some sort of compulsive disorder,
and he was known for tapping each of these posts,
as he moved throughout the house,
in order. And if he missed one,
he'd have to go back down to the beginning.
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Julian: Dr. Johnson was very proud
of having included every word
in the English language in his world-famous dictionary.
You're not staying for your prandiastatiary interperiludicule?
Seleen: We have tried to acquire over the years,
a copy in first edition where possible,
of everything Johnson ever wrote.
And he wrote a huge range of things.
But, yes, we do have a very healthy supply of dictionaries.
Julian: People were small in those days.
Now I hear that Dr. Johnson,
although he was famous for writing the dictionary,
I don’t know if he actually wrote the first ever dictionary.
Seleen: A common misconception.
We actually have a huge range
of the ones that existed beforehand.
So this one on display,
happens to be the one that
Johnson would have grown up knowing.
Oh, this one's by Nathan Bailey.
Julian: Boo. Boo, for Nathan Bailey.
Seleen: He had things like, rose:
a flower well-known.
A dog is described as an animal well-known.
Julian: These are rubbish.
No wonder Dr. Johnson came along.
Seleen: So, this is probably where Johnson
would have spent most of his time
talking about all sorts of things
with the great of
London Literary Society at the time.
Here, this is an extremely rare
surviving original feature.
You effectively create a huge door
that is hinged and would slide close,
fill the frame above me here;
so you've got wholly separate room.
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Seleen: I happen to have lost the dictionary
you lent me. Can you give me a copy?
Julian: Making a copy would be like
fitting wheels to a tomato,
time-consuming and completely unnecessary.
Seleen: One of my favorite things
about being in this room is
actually the floorboards themselves.
To think these are the very ones that
he trod when coming up with definitions
for dog and daisy and such.
Julian: Subscribe,
thing that people who enjoy my videos should do.
[Shrieking]
Oh, these are the actual first editions.
Seleen: There are only 2000 of these made.
Julian: Do any words still have the same definition in there?
Seleen: Lots of words would still be the same,
but there would be plenty
that were rather humorously described,
such as, pension:
money given to a wretch
for treason to his country no less.
A politician:
a man of deep contrivance.
Perhaps that's not one that's changed
over the years. I had a quick flick through
this, and came across this one particularly
for your patrons and subscribers.
Guidage: the reward given to a guide.
Julian: Fart: wind from behind.
Love is the fart of every heart.
It pains a man went ‘tis kept close,
and others doth offend,
when ‘tis let loose.
[Laughter]
Julian: There's one postcard in here,
which I believe they've been having trouble selling.
Dr. Johnson as a baby.
So, if you really want to make their day,
come to the shop and purchase
one of these baby postcards.
Jiggumbob: a trinket; a
knick-knack; a slight contrivance
in machinery.
Oats: a grain, which in England
is generally given to horses,
but in Scotland supports the people.
[Laughter]
Julian: I like these.
Joolz: an excellent guide to London,
and somebody that you should employ
to make videos for you.
Brilliant. How did he know?
And for a limited time only,
if you utter the Joolz Guides
catchphrase which is,
pip-pip tally-ho,
on the door here,
you'll actually get a £2 discount.
How good is that?
A pint at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, I think.
[Music]
There was a pub here before, but it
burned down in the Fire of London.
And, so, this, I think it was the first public building
to open up after the Fire of London
along here. So many famous people have
been drinking here, like Benjamin Franklin,
Dr. Johnson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain.
And what I really like about the picture up
there on the wall, is that the bloke
in the picture, he’s leaning on a table
which still exists. It's in the other room.
You can go and see that table
in the other room.
I think they've got Dr. Johnson's flagon.
The vessel with the pestle,
has the pellet with the poison.
The flagon with the dragon,
has the brew that is true.
It used to be a medieval monastery here.
So you can see you down in the depths,
they say it’s like a labyrinth in here.
It got the vaults of this medieval monastery.
Hey, this is cool. Can I hire this for a party?
Seleen: You can.
Julian: Really?
Seleen: This is a folio edition of the great Dr. Johnson
dictionary. Yeah, in the pub in Johnson's room,
members of Congress are always very interested
because whenever, apparently, there is a debate
about the interpretation of the founding fathers,
words in the Declaration of Independence,
they consult Johnson's dictionary
because that's a record of the time
that language that was being used.
And they can see the subtle nuances of
what they interpreted that particular word to be.
Even if it means something quite radically different
200 to 250 years later.
Julian: I think they actually used to have a brothel upstairs.
Seleen: There was a fire here,
and as they were excavating
they uncovered some tiles that were on one of
the fireplaces. These are really pretty pornographic,
to be honest. They are now held in the Museum of London
Archaeology. So, you can't see them unless
by appointment, but it's worth making the appointment.
[Laughter]
Seleen: Book in advance.
Julian: Embarrassing, isn’t it, like, “Excuse me, can I see the porn?”
[Laughter]
Julian: Well, thanks for watching.
If you enjoy my videos,
don't forget to come for a pint
here at the Cheshire Cheese,
and go visit Seleen and her amazing
Dr. Johnson Museum around the corner,
and most importantly of all, don’t forget to subscribe
to my YouTube channel.
And if you want a private guided tour of London
then feel free to head over to my website
Joolzsguides.com, where you can find out
more about me. And you can even leave
a generous, or not so generous donation
via PayPal or become my Patreon,
whatever that means. Or if you want me to make a video
about you or the -- your institution
then feel free to get in touch too.
Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.
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