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[[File:Magpie lane.jpg|right|upright|thumb|200px|Magpie Lane in Oxford, once known as Gropecunt Lane]] |
[[File:Magpie lane.jpg|right|upright|thumb|200px|[[Magpie Lane, Oxford|Magpie Lane]] in [[Oxford]], once known as Gropecunt Lane]] |
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'''Gropecunt Lane''' ({{pronEng|ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn}}) was a [[street name]] found in English towns and cities during the [[Middle Ages]], believed to be a reference to the [[prostitution]] centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function |
'''Gropecunt Lane''' ({{pronEng|ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn}}) was a [[street name]] found in English towns and cities during the [[Middle Ages]], believed to be a reference to the [[prostitution]] centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words ''[[grope]]'' and ''[[cunt]]''.<ref name="HoltBakerpp201202">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=201–202.}}</ref> Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare. |
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Although the name was once common throughout England,<ref name="Harbenp164"/> changes in attitude resulted in |
Although the name was once common throughout England,<ref name="Harbenp164"/> changes in attitude resulted in its being replaced by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561. |
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==Toponymy== |
==Toponymy== |
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Variations include Gropecunte, Gropecountelane, Gropecontelane, Groppecountelane, and Gropekuntelane. There were once many such street names in England, but all have now been bowdlerised.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=202–203.}}</ref> In the |
Variations include Gropecunte, Gropecountelane, Gropecontelane, Groppecountelane, and Gropekuntelane. There were once many such street names in England, but all have now been [[Expurgation|bowdlerised]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=202–203.}}</ref> In the city of [[York]], for instance, Grapcunt Lane—''grāp'' is the [[Old English]] word for grope<ref name=OEDGrope>{{citation |title=grope |series=Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=2 |year=1989 |accessdate=2009-04-06|postscript=.}}</ref>—was renamed as the more acceptable Grape Lane. |
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The first record of the word |
The first record of the word 'grope' being used in the indecent sense of sexual touching appears in 1380;<ref name=OEDGrope /> ''cunt'' has been used to describe the [[vulva|female external genital organs]] since at least 1230, and corresponds to the [[Old Norse]] ''kunta'', although its [[etymology]] is uncertain.<ref name=OEDCunt>{{citation |title=cunt |series=Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/ |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2 |year=1989 |accessdate=2009-04-06|postscript=.}}</ref> |
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==Prostitution== |
==Prostitution== |
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[[File:Bread street ward and Cordwainer ward 1720 john stow with streets highlighted.jpg|right|thumb|A 1720 map of Breadstreet and Cordwainer wards included in a 19th-century edition of [[John Stow]]'s ''Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster''. The routes of three extinct streets are highlighted in blue, Puppekirtylane on the left, "Grope Countlane" in the middle, and Bordhawlane on the right. The location is opposite the modern-day [[Mercers' Hall]].<ref name="Holtbakerp206"/> Little Friday Street (Pissing Alley) is visible on the left.]] |
[[File:Bread street ward and Cordwainer ward 1720 john stow with streets highlighted.jpg|right|thumb|A 1720 map of Breadstreet and Cordwainer wards included in a 19th-century edition of [[John Stow]]'s ''Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster''. The routes of three extinct streets are highlighted in blue, Puppekirtylane on the left, "Grope Countlane" in the middle, and Bordhawlane on the right. The location is opposite the modern-day [[Mercers' Hall]].<ref name="Holtbakerp206"/> Little Friday Street (Pissing Alley) is visible on the left.]] |
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Under its entry for the word |
Under its entry for the word ''cunt'', the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' reports that a street was listed as Gropecuntlane in about 1230, the first appearance of that name.<ref name=OEDCunt /> Organised prostitution was well established in London by the middle of the 12th century, initially mainly confined to [[Southwark]] in the southeast, but later spreading to other areas such as [[Smithfield, London|Smithfield]], [[Shoreditch]], [[Clerkenwell]], and [[Westminster]].<ref>{{Harvnb|McIntyre|2006|pp=255–256.}}</ref> The practice was often tolerated by the authorities, and there are many historical examples of it being dealt with by regulation rather than by censure: in 1393 the authorities in London allowed prostitutes to work only in Cocks Lane,<ref>In passus 5 of ''[[Piers Plowman]]'' the writer mentions a "Clarice of Cokkeslane and the Clerk of the chirche". It is unlikely that the word ''cock'' was at that time a reference to the male anatomy; the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' places the first use of the word in a sexual sense in 1618.</ref> and in 1285 French prostitutes in [[Montpellier]] were confined to a single street.<ref name="HoltBakerpp204205"/> |
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It was normal practice for medieval street names to reflect their function, or the economic activity taking place within them, hence the frequency of names such as Silver Street, Fish Street, and Swinegate (pork butchers) in cities with a |
It was normal practice for [[Middle Ages|medieval]] street names to reflect their function, or the economic activity taking place within them (especially the commodities available for sale), hence the frequency of names such as [[The Shambles]], Silver Street, Fish Street, and Swinegate (pork butchers) in cities with a medieval history. Prostitution may well have been a normal aspect of medieval [[Urban culture|urban]] life;<ref name="HoltBakerpp204205">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=204–205.}}</ref> in {{nowrap|''A survey of London'' (1598) }} [[John Stow]] describes Love Lane as "so called of Wantons".<ref>{{Harvnb|Stow|1842|p=111.}}</ref> The more graphic Gropecunt Lane, however, is possibly the most obvious allusion to sexual activity.<ref name="HoltBakerpp201202"/> |
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==Changing sensibilities== |
==Changing sensibilities== |
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[[File:John speed 1605 map oxford gropecunt.jpg|left|thumb|[[John Speed]]'s 1605 map of Oxford, with Gropecunt Lane, by then Grope or Grape Lane, highlighted in blue.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=209.}}</ref> The major road it connects to is High Street, and north is at the bottom.]] |
[[File:John speed 1605 map oxford gropecunt.jpg|left|thumb|[[John Speed]]'s 1605 map of Oxford, with Gropecunt Lane, by then Grope or Grape Lane, highlighted in blue.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=209.}}</ref> The major road it connects to is High Street, and north is at the bottom.]] |
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The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' |
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the word ''cunt'' as "The female external genital organs" and notes "Its currency is restricted in the manner of other taboo-words: see the small-type note s.v. FUCK v."<ref name=OEDCunt /> During the [[Middle Ages]] the word may often have been considered merely vulgar, having been in common use in its anatomical sense since at least the 13th century. In ''[[The Miller's Tale]]'', [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] writes "And prively he caughte hire by the queynte" (and intimately he caught her by her crotch),<ref>{{Citation | title = The Miller's Prologue and Tale – 3276 | url = http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/milt-par.htm#TALE | publisher = courses.fas.harvard.edu | accessdate = 2009-05-13}}</ref> and ''Philotus'' (1603) mentions "put doun thy hand and graip hir cunt."<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|1994|p=350.}}</ref> Gradually though the word became used more as the obscenity it is generally considered to be today. In ''Wandring Whore II'' (1660) the word is applied to a woman, specifically a [[whore]]—"this is none of your pittiful Sneakesbyes and Raskalls that will offer a sturdy C— but eighteen pence or two shillings, and repent of the business afterwards".<ref>This publication regularly abbreviates cunt to C</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|1994|p=353.}}</ref> [[Francis Grose]]'s ''A Classical Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) lists the word as "C**t. The ''chonnos'' of the Greek, and the ''cunnus'' of the Latin dictionaries; a nasty name for a nasty thing: ''un con Miege''."<ref>{{Citation |last=Grose |first=Francis |title=1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5402 |year=1788 |publisher=gutenberg.org |accessdate=2009-04-06 |postscript=.}}</ref> Grose's implied derivation from the Greek and Latin is probably incorrect; the word more likely derives from a common Mediterranean language now unknown, evidenced by the [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] ''qefen-t'' and ''ka-t'', meaning vulva.<ref>{{Harvnb|Partridge|1977|p=700.}}</ref> |
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This change in |
This change in usage may be responsible for the disappearance of "Gropecunt". Although some medieval street names such as Addle Street (stinking urine, or other liquid filth; mire<ref>{{Citation |title=addle, n. and a. |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50002480? |series=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=2 |year=1989 |accessdate=2009-04-06|postscript=.}}</ref>) and Fetter Lane (once Fewterer, meaning "idle and disorderly person") have survived, others have been changed in deference to contemporary attitudes. Sherborne Lane in London was in 1272–73 known as Shitteborwelane, later Shite-burn lane and Shite-buruelane (possibly due to nearby cess pits).<ref name="byanyothername">{{Citation |title=A street by any other name... |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2004/apr/18/property.homebuying1 |last=Partridge |first=Chris |date=2004-04-18 |publisher=Guardian|Guardian News and Media |accessdate=2009-04-06|postscript=.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=10.}}</ref> Pissing Alley, one of several identically named streets whose names survived the [[Great Fire of London]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Wall|1998|pp=124–125.}}</ref> was called Little Friday Street in 1848, before being absorbed into [[Cannon Street]] in 1853–54.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=211.}}</ref> Petticoat Lane, the meaning of which is sometimes misinterpreted as related to prostitution, was in 1830 renamed as Middlesex Street, following complaints about the street being named after an item of [[underwear]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Glinert|2003|p=289}}</ref> More recently, Rillington Place, where [[John Christie (murderer)|John Christie]] murdered his victims, was renamed Ruston Close.<ref>{{citation |title=Christie's ghost returns |date=18 May 1970 |periodical=[[The Times]] |page=5 |issue=57872 |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/842/399/60784594w16/purl=rc1_TTDA_0_CS84243122&dyn=3!xrn_4_0_CS84243122&hst_1?sw_aep=mclib |format=subscription required |accessdate=2009-04-18}}</ref> Selous Street in London was renamed as a mark of respect for [[Nelson Mandela]], as it may have been perceived to have been named in honour of the colonialist [[Frederick Selous]], although it was actually named after the artist [[Henry Courtney Selous]].<ref name="byanyothername"/> |
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With the exception of [[Shrewsbury]] and possibly [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], where a Grapecuntlane was mentioned in 1588, the use of Gropecunt as a street name seems to have fallen out of favour by the 14th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=206–212.}}</ref> The ruling [[Protestant Reformation|Protestant]] conservative elite's growing hostility to prostitution during the 16th century resulted in the closure of the Southwark [[Brothel|stews]] in 1546, replacing earlier attempts at regulation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Archer|2003|pp=248–250.}}</ref> |
With the exception of [[Shrewsbury]] and possibly [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], where a Grapecuntlane was mentioned in 1588, the use of Gropecunt as a street name seems to have fallen out of favour by the 14th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=206–212.}}</ref> The ruling [[Protestant Reformation|Protestant]] conservative elite's growing hostility to prostitution during the 16th century resulted in the closure of the Southwark [[Brothel|stews]] in 1546, replacing earlier attempts at regulation.<ref>{{Harvnb|Archer|2003|pp=248–250.}}</ref> |
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==Locations== |
==Locations== |
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London had several streets named Gropecunt Lane including one in the parishes of St. Pancras and St. Mary Colchirche, between Bordhawelane (bordello) and Puppekirty Lane (poke skirt)<ref name="Holtbakerpp207208">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=207–208.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=49.}}</ref> near present-day [[Cheapside]]. First recorded in 1279 as Gropecontelane and Groppecountelane,<ref name="Harbenp164">{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=164.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Keene|Harding|1987|pp=727–730.}}</ref> it was part of a collection of streets which appears to have survived as a small island of prostitution outside Southwark, where such activities were normally confined during the medieval period.<ref name="Holtbakerpp207208"/> |
London had several streets named Gropecunt Lane including one in the parishes of [[St_Pancras, London|St. Pancras]] and St. Mary Colchirche, between Bordhawelane ([[bordello]]) and Puppekirty Lane (poke skirt)<ref name="Holtbakerpp207208">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|pp=207–208.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=49.}}</ref> near present-day [[Cheapside]]. First recorded in 1279 as Gropecontelane and Groppecountelane,<ref name="Harbenp164">{{Harvnb|Harben|1918|p=164.}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Keene|Harding|1987|pp=727–730.}}</ref> it was part of a collection of streets which appears to have survived as a small island of prostitution outside Southwark, where such activities were normally confined during the medieval period.<ref name="Holtbakerpp207208"/> |
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[[Image:GropeLane.jpg|right|thumb|Grope Lane in Shrewsbury]] |
[[Image:GropeLane.jpg|right|thumb|Grope Lane in [[Shrewsbury]]]] |
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The name was also used in other large medieval towns across England, including [[Bristol]], [[York]], [[Shrewsbury]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[Worcester]], [[Hereford]], and [[Oxford]]. [[Norwich]]'s Gropekuntelane (now Opie Street) was recorded in Latin as ''turpis vicus'', the shameful street.<ref name="HoltBakerpp201202"/> In 1230 Oxford's [[Magpie Lane, Oxford|Magpie Lane]] was known as Gropecunt Lane, renamed Grope or Grape Lane in the 13th century, and then Magpie Lane in the mid-17th century. It was again renamed in 1850 as Grove Street, before once again assuming the name Magpie Lane in the 20th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Crossley|Chance|Colvin|Cooper|Day|Hassall|Jessup|Selwyn|1979|pp=475–477.}}</ref> Newcastle and Worcester each had a Grope Lane close to their public [[quay]]s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=212.}}</ref> In their 2001 study of medieval prostitution, using the ''Historic Towns Atlas'' as a source, historian Richard Holt and [[archaeologist]] Nigel Baker of the University of Birmingham studied sexually suggestive street names around England. They concluded that there was a close association between a street with the name Gropecunt Lane, which was almost always in the centre of town, and that town's principal market-place or high street.<ref name="Holtbakerp206">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=206.}}</ref> |
The name was also used in other large medieval towns across England, including [[Bristol]], [[York]], [[Shrewsbury]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[Worcester]], [[Hereford]], and [[Oxford]]. [[Norwich]]'s Gropekuntelane (now Opie Street) was recorded in Latin as ''turpis vicus'', the shameful street.<ref name="HoltBakerpp201202"/> In 1230 Oxford's [[Magpie Lane, Oxford|Magpie Lane]] was known as Gropecunt Lane, renamed Grope or Grape Lane in the 13th century, and then Magpie Lane in the mid-17th century. It was again renamed in 1850 as Grove Street, before once again assuming the name Magpie Lane in the 20th century.<ref>{{Harvnb|Crossley|Chance|Colvin|Cooper|Day|Hassall|Jessup|Selwyn|1979|pp=475–477.}}</ref> Newcastle and Worcester each had a Grope Lane close to their public [[quay]]s.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=212.}}</ref> In their 2001 study of medieval prostitution, using the ''Historic Towns Atlas'' as a source, historian Richard Holt and [[archaeologist]] Nigel Baker of the University of Birmingham studied sexually suggestive street names around England. They concluded that there was a close association between a street with the name Gropecunt Lane, which was almost always in the centre of town, and that town's principal market-place or high street.<ref name="Holtbakerp206">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=206.}}</ref> |
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Streets named Gropecunt Lane are also recorded in several smaller market towns such as [[Banbury]] |
Streets named Gropecunt Lane are also recorded in several smaller market towns such as [[Banbury]] and [[Wells]], where a street of that name existed in 1300, regularly mentioned in legal documents of the time.<ref name="HoltBakerpp201202"/><ref name="Harbenp164"/><ref>{{Citation |title=D\P\gla.j/17/1/2 - Grant to Church of St John the Baptist of plot of land in Gropecunt Lane |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |accessdate=2009-04-06|postscript=.}}</ref> Parsons Street in Banbury was first recorded as Gropecunt Lane in 1333, and may have been an important thoroughfare,<ref name="Holtbaker210">{{Harvnb|Holt|Baker|2001|p=210.}}</ref> but by 1410 its name had been changed to Parsons Lane.<ref>{{Harvnb|Crossley|Colvin|Cooper|Cooper|Harvey|Hollings|Hook|Jessup|Lobel|Mason|Trinder|Turner|1972|pp=18–28.}}</ref> Grape Lane in [[Whitby]] may once have been Grope Lane, or Grapcunt Lane.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sheeran|1998|p=38.}}</ref> A street called Grope Countelane existed in [[Shrewsbury]] as recently as 1561, connecting the town's two principal marketplaces. At some date unrecorded the street was renamed Grope Lane, a name which it has since retained. In Thomas Phillips' ''History and Antiquities of Shrewsbury'' (1799) the author is explicit in his understanding of the origin of the name as "... [a place of] scandalous lewdness and venery", but Archdeacon Hugh Owen's ''Some account of the ancient and present state of Shrewsbury'' (1808) describes it as "called Grope, or the Dark Lane". As a result of these differing accounts, some local tour guides attribute the name to "feeling one's way along a dark and narrow thoroughfare".<ref name="Holtbaker210"/> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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* {{Citation | last1 = Crossley | first1 = Alan | last2 = Colvin | first2 = Christina | last3 = Cooper | first3 = Janet | last4 = Cooper | first4 = N. H. | last5 = Harvey | first5 = P. D. A. | last6 = Hollings | first6 = Marjory | last7 = Hook | first7 = Judith | last8 = Jessup | first8 = Mary | last9 = Lobel | first9 = Mary D. | last10 = Mason | first10 = J. F. A. | last11 = Trinder | first11 = B. S. | last12 = Turner | first12 = Hilary | title = Banbury: Origins and growth of the town, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 10: Banbury hundred | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=542 | year = 1972 | publisher = Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk }} |
* {{Citation | last1 = Crossley | first1 = Alan | last2 = Colvin | first2 = Christina | last3 = Cooper | first3 = Janet | last4 = Cooper | first4 = N. H. | last5 = Harvey | first5 = P. D. A. | last6 = Hollings | first6 = Marjory | last7 = Hook | first7 = Judith | last8 = Jessup | first8 = Mary | last9 = Lobel | first9 = Mary D. | last10 = Mason | first10 = J. F. A. | last11 = Trinder | first11 = B. S. | last12 = Turner | first12 = Hilary | title = Banbury: Origins and growth of the town, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 10: Banbury hundred | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=542 | year = 1972 | publisher = Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk }} |
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* {{Citation | last1 = Crossley | first1 = Alan | last2 = Elrington | first2 = C. R. | last3 = Chance | first3 = Eleanor | last4 = Colvin | first4 = Christina | last5 = Cooper | first5 = Janet | last6 = Day | first6 = C. J. | last7 = Hassall | first7 = T. G. | last8 = Jessup | first8 = Mary | last9 = Selwyn | first9 = Nesta | title = Street-Names, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=10 | year = 1979 | publisher = Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk }} |
* {{Citation | last1 = Crossley | first1 = Alan | last2 = Elrington | first2 = C. R. | last3 = Chance | first3 = Eleanor | last4 = Colvin | first4 = Christina | last5 = Cooper | first5 = Janet | last6 = Day | first6 = C. J. | last7 = Hassall | first7 = T. G. | last8 = Jessup | first8 = Mary | last9 = Selwyn | first9 = Nesta | title = Street-Names, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=10 | year = 1979 | publisher = Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk }} |
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* {{Citation | last = |
* {{Citation | last = Glinert | first = Ed | title = The London Compendium | url = | publisher = ''[[Penguin Books]]'' | year = 2003 | isbn = 9780141012131}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Harben | first = Henry A. | title = Historical notes of streets and buildings in the City of London, including references to other relevant sources | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=3 | publisher = Centre for Metropolitan History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk | year = 1918}} |
* {{Citation | last = Harben | first = Henry A. | title = Historical notes of streets and buildings in the City of London, including references to other relevant sources | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=3 | publisher = Centre for Metropolitan History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk | year = 1918}} |
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* {{Citation | last1 = Holt | first1 = Richard | last2 = Baker | first2 = Nigel | editor = Lynne Bevan | title = Indecent Exposure - sexuality, society and the archaeological record - Prostitution in English Medieval Towns | publisher = Cruithne Press | location = Glasgow | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-873448-19-8}} |
* {{Citation | last1 = Holt | first1 = Richard | last2 = Baker | first2 = Nigel | editor = Lynne Bevan | title = Indecent Exposure - sexuality, society and the archaeological record - Prostitution in English Medieval Towns | publisher = Cruithne Press | location = Glasgow | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-873448-19-8}} |
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* {{Citation | last1 = Keene | first1 = D. J. | last2 = Harding | first2 = Vanessa | title = St. Pancras Soper Lane 145/17', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=9293 | year = 1987 | publisher = Chadwyck-Healey, hosted by british-history.ac.uk | accessdate = 2009-04-06}} |
* {{Citation | last1 = Keene | first1 = D. J. | last2 = Harding | first2 = Vanessa | title = St. Pancras Soper Lane 145/17', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=9293 | year = 1987 | publisher = Chadwyck-Healey, hosted by british-history.ac.uk | accessdate = 2009-04-06}} |
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* {{Citation | last = McIntyre | first = Angus | chapter = London | editor = Melissa Ditmore | title = Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fcYq72qYRTcC | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | location = Westport, Conn.; London | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-313-32968-0}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Partridge | first= Eric | title= Origins: An Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xA9dxrhfa5kC | publisher = Routledge | edition = 4 | year = 1977 | isbn = 9780203421147}} |
* {{Citation | last = Partridge | first= Eric | title= Origins: An Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xA9dxrhfa5kC | publisher = Routledge | edition = 4 | year = 1977 | isbn = 9780203421147}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Sheeran | first = George | title = Medieval Yorkshire towns | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rtj3vVg1ooAC | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | year = 1998 | isbn = 1853312428 }} |
* {{Citation | last = Sheeran | first = George | title = Medieval Yorkshire towns | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rtj3vVg1ooAC | publisher = [[Edinburgh University Press]] | year = 1998 | isbn = 1853312428 }} |
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* {{Citation | last = Stow | first = John | title = A survey of London | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VNkHAAAAQAAJ | editor = William John Thoms | publisher = Whittaker and co. | location = London | year = 1842 }} |
* {{Citation | last = Stow | first = John | title = A survey of London | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VNkHAAAAQAAJ | editor = William John Thoms | publisher = Whittaker and co. | location = London | year = 1842 }} |
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* {{Citation | last = Wall | first = Cynthia | title = The Literary and Cultural Spaces of Restoration London | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KMOW5zL6LMwC | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-521-63013-4}} |
* {{Citation | last = Wall | first = Cynthia | title = The Literary and Cultural Spaces of Restoration London | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KMOW5zL6LMwC | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-521-63013-4}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Williams | first = Gordon | title = A dictionary of sexual language and imagery in Shakespearean and Stuart literature | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2XtWDhgljvkC | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group | year = 1994 | isbn = 0485113937}} |
* {{Citation | last = Williams | first = Gordon | title = A dictionary of sexual language and imagery in Shakespearean and Stuart literature | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2XtWDhgljvkC | publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group | year = 1994 | isbn = 0485113937}} |
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* {{Citation | last = Ekwall | first = Eilert | title = Street-names of the City of London | publisher = Clarendon Press | year = 1954 }} |
* {{Citation | last = Ekwall | first = Eilert | title = Street-names of the City of London | publisher = Clarendon Press | year = 1954 }} |
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* {{Citation|first=Brian|last=Sewell|publisher=London Evening Standard|title=The pride of London but no gilded cage|date=2001-05-11}}—Gropecunt Lane in London |
* {{Citation|first=Brian|last=Sewell|publisher=London Evening Standard|title=The pride of London but no gilded cage|date=2001-05-11}}—Gropecunt Lane in London |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Wiktionary|cunt|grope}} |
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*[http://shrewsburyforum.co.uk/index.php?showforum=219 Shuts of Shrewsbury]—photographs of Grope Lane in Shrewsbury |
*[http://shrewsburyforum.co.uk/index.php?showforum=219 Shuts of Shrewsbury]—photographs of Grope Lane in Shrewsbury |
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*{{wiktionary-inline|grope}} |
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*{{wiktionary-inline|cunt}} |
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[[Category:History of England]] |
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[[Category:History of Oxford]] |
[[Category:History of Oxford]] |
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[[Category:Red-light districts in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[cy:Gropecunt Lane]] |
[[cy:Gropecunt Lane]] |
Revision as of 23:03, 10 July 2009
Gropecunt Lane (Template:PronEng) was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and cunt.[1] Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England,[2] changes in attitude resulted in its being replaced by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561.
Toponymy
Variations include Gropecunte, Gropecountelane, Gropecontelane, Groppecountelane, and Gropekuntelane. There were once many such street names in England, but all have now been bowdlerised.[3] In the city of York, for instance, Grapcunt Lane—grāp is the Old English word for grope[4]—was renamed as the more acceptable Grape Lane.
The first record of the word 'grope' being used in the indecent sense of sexual touching appears in 1380;[4] cunt has been used to describe the female external genital organs since at least 1230, and corresponds to the Old Norse kunta, although its etymology is uncertain.[5]
Prostitution
Under its entry for the word cunt, the Oxford English Dictionary reports that a street was listed as Gropecuntlane in about 1230, the first appearance of that name.[5] Organised prostitution was well established in London by the middle of the 12th century, initially mainly confined to Southwark in the southeast, but later spreading to other areas such as Smithfield, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, and Westminster.[7] The practice was often tolerated by the authorities, and there are many historical examples of it being dealt with by regulation rather than by censure: in 1393 the authorities in London allowed prostitutes to work only in Cocks Lane,[8] and in 1285 French prostitutes in Montpellier were confined to a single street.[9]
It was normal practice for medieval street names to reflect their function, or the economic activity taking place within them (especially the commodities available for sale), hence the frequency of names such as The Shambles, Silver Street, Fish Street, and Swinegate (pork butchers) in cities with a medieval history. Prostitution may well have been a normal aspect of medieval urban life;[9] in A survey of London (1598) John Stow describes Love Lane as "so called of Wantons".[10] The more graphic Gropecunt Lane, however, is possibly the most obvious allusion to sexual activity.[1]
Changing sensibilities
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word cunt as "The female external genital organs" and notes "Its currency is restricted in the manner of other taboo-words: see the small-type note s.v. FUCK v."[5] During the Middle Ages the word may often have been considered merely vulgar, having been in common use in its anatomical sense since at least the 13th century. In The Miller's Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer writes "And prively he caughte hire by the queynte" (and intimately he caught her by her crotch),[12] and Philotus (1603) mentions "put doun thy hand and graip hir cunt."[13] Gradually though the word became used more as the obscenity it is generally considered to be today. In Wandring Whore II (1660) the word is applied to a woman, specifically a whore—"this is none of your pittiful Sneakesbyes and Raskalls that will offer a sturdy C— but eighteen pence or two shillings, and repent of the business afterwards".[14][15] Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue (1785) lists the word as "C**t. The chonnos of the Greek, and the cunnus of the Latin dictionaries; a nasty name for a nasty thing: un con Miege."[16] Grose's implied derivation from the Greek and Latin is probably incorrect; the word more likely derives from a common Mediterranean language now unknown, evidenced by the Ancient Egyptian qefen-t and ka-t, meaning vulva.[17]
This change in usage may be responsible for the disappearance of "Gropecunt". Although some medieval street names such as Addle Street (stinking urine, or other liquid filth; mire[18]) and Fetter Lane (once Fewterer, meaning "idle and disorderly person") have survived, others have been changed in deference to contemporary attitudes. Sherborne Lane in London was in 1272–73 known as Shitteborwelane, later Shite-burn lane and Shite-buruelane (possibly due to nearby cess pits).[19][20] Pissing Alley, one of several identically named streets whose names survived the Great Fire of London,[21] was called Little Friday Street in 1848, before being absorbed into Cannon Street in 1853–54.[22] Petticoat Lane, the meaning of which is sometimes misinterpreted as related to prostitution, was in 1830 renamed as Middlesex Street, following complaints about the street being named after an item of underwear.[23] More recently, Rillington Place, where John Christie murdered his victims, was renamed Ruston Close.[24] Selous Street in London was renamed as a mark of respect for Nelson Mandela, as it may have been perceived to have been named in honour of the colonialist Frederick Selous, although it was actually named after the artist Henry Courtney Selous.[19]
With the exception of Shrewsbury and possibly Newcastle, where a Grapecuntlane was mentioned in 1588, the use of Gropecunt as a street name seems to have fallen out of favour by the 14th century.[25] The ruling Protestant conservative elite's growing hostility to prostitution during the 16th century resulted in the closure of the Southwark stews in 1546, replacing earlier attempts at regulation.[26]
Locations
London had several streets named Gropecunt Lane including one in the parishes of St. Pancras and St. Mary Colchirche, between Bordhawelane (bordello) and Puppekirty Lane (poke skirt)[27][28] near present-day Cheapside. First recorded in 1279 as Gropecontelane and Groppecountelane,[2][29] it was part of a collection of streets which appears to have survived as a small island of prostitution outside Southwark, where such activities were normally confined during the medieval period.[27]
The name was also used in other large medieval towns across England, including Bristol, York, Shrewsbury, Newcastle upon Tyne, Worcester, Hereford, and Oxford. Norwich's Gropekuntelane (now Opie Street) was recorded in Latin as turpis vicus, the shameful street.[1] In 1230 Oxford's Magpie Lane was known as Gropecunt Lane, renamed Grope or Grape Lane in the 13th century, and then Magpie Lane in the mid-17th century. It was again renamed in 1850 as Grove Street, before once again assuming the name Magpie Lane in the 20th century.[30] Newcastle and Worcester each had a Grope Lane close to their public quays.[31] In their 2001 study of medieval prostitution, using the Historic Towns Atlas as a source, historian Richard Holt and archaeologist Nigel Baker of the University of Birmingham studied sexually suggestive street names around England. They concluded that there was a close association between a street with the name Gropecunt Lane, which was almost always in the centre of town, and that town's principal market-place or high street.[6]
Streets named Gropecunt Lane are also recorded in several smaller market towns such as Banbury and Wells, where a street of that name existed in 1300, regularly mentioned in legal documents of the time.[1][2][32] Parsons Street in Banbury was first recorded as Gropecunt Lane in 1333, and may have been an important thoroughfare,[33] but by 1410 its name had been changed to Parsons Lane.[34] Grape Lane in Whitby may once have been Grope Lane, or Grapcunt Lane.[35] A street called Grope Countelane existed in Shrewsbury as recently as 1561, connecting the town's two principal marketplaces. At some date unrecorded the street was renamed Grope Lane, a name which it has since retained. In Thomas Phillips' History and Antiquities of Shrewsbury (1799) the author is explicit in his understanding of the origin of the name as "... [a place of] scandalous lewdness and venery", but Archdeacon Hugh Owen's Some account of the ancient and present state of Shrewsbury (1808) describes it as "called Grope, or the Dark Lane". As a result of these differing accounts, some local tour guides attribute the name to "feeling one's way along a dark and narrow thoroughfare".[33]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Holt & Baker 2001, pp. 201–202.
- ^ a b c Harben 1918, p. 164.
- ^ Holt & Baker 2001, pp. 202–203.
- ^ a b grope, Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, 1989, retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b c cunt, Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, 1989, retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b Holt & Baker 2001, p. 206.
- ^ McIntyre 2006, pp. 255–256.
- ^ In passus 5 of Piers Plowman the writer mentions a "Clarice of Cokkeslane and the Clerk of the chirche". It is unlikely that the word cock was at that time a reference to the male anatomy; the Oxford English Dictionary places the first use of the word in a sexual sense in 1618.
- ^ a b Holt & Baker 2001, pp. 204–205.
- ^ Stow 1842, p. 111.
- ^ Holt & Baker 2001, p. 209.
- ^ The Miller's Prologue and Tale – 3276, courses.fas.harvard.edu, retrieved 2009-05-13
- ^ Williams 1994, p. 350.
- ^ This publication regularly abbreviates cunt to C
- ^ Williams 1994, p. 353.
- ^ Grose, Francis (1788), 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, gutenberg.org, retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ Partridge 1977, p. 700.
- ^ addle, n. and a., Oxford English Dictionary (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, 1989, retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b Partridge, Chris (2004-04-18), A street by any other name..., Guardian, retrieved 2009-04-06.
{{citation}}
: Text "Guardian News and Media" ignored (help) - ^ Harben 1918, p. 10.
- ^ Wall 1998, pp. 124–125.
- ^ Harben 1918, p. 211.
- ^ Glinert 2003, p. 289
- ^ "Christie's ghost returns" (subscription required), The Times, no. 57872, p. 5, 18 May 1970, retrieved 2009-04-18
{{citation}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Holt & Baker 2001, pp. 206–212.
- ^ Archer 2003, pp. 248–250.
- ^ a b Holt & Baker 2001, pp. 207–208.
- ^ Harben 1918, p. 49.
- ^ Keene & Harding 1987, pp. 727–730.
- ^ Crossley et al. 1979, pp. 475–477.
- ^ Holt & Baker 2001, p. 212.
- ^ D\P\gla.j/17/1/2 - Grant to Church of St John the Baptist of plot of land in Gropecunt Lane, Somerset County Council, retrieved 2009-04-06.
- ^ a b Holt & Baker 2001, p. 210.
- ^ Crossley et al. 1972, pp. 18–28.
- ^ Sheeran 1998, p. 38.
References
- Archer, Ian W. (2003), The Pursuit of Stability: Social Relations in Elizabethan London, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-52216-1
- Crossley, Alan; Colvin, Christina; Cooper, Janet; Cooper, N. H.; Harvey, P. D. A.; Hollings, Marjory; Hook, Judith; Jessup, Mary; Lobel, Mary D.; Mason, J. F. A.; Trinder, B. S.; Turner, Hilary (1972), Banbury: Origins and growth of the town, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 10: Banbury hundred, Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk
- Crossley, Alan; Elrington, C. R.; Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Cooper, Janet; Day, C. J.; Hassall, T. G.; Jessup, Mary; Selwyn, Nesta (1979), Street-Names, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford, Victoria County History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk
- Glinert, Ed (2003), The London Compendium, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780141012131
{{citation}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - Harben, Henry A. (1918), Historical notes of streets and buildings in the City of London, including references to other relevant sources, Centre for Metropolitan History, hosted by british-history.ac.uk
- Holt, Richard; Baker, Nigel (2001), Lynne Bevan (ed.), Indecent Exposure - sexuality, society and the archaeological record - Prostitution in English Medieval Towns, Glasgow: Cruithne Press, ISBN 1-873448-19-8
- Keene, D. J.; Harding, Vanessa (1987), St. Pancras Soper Lane 145/17', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire: Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane, Chadwyck-Healey, hosted by british-history.ac.uk, retrieved 2009-04-06
- McIntyre, Angus (2006), "London", in Melissa Ditmore (ed.), Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, Westport, Conn.; London: Greenwood Publishing Group, ISBN 0-313-32968-0
- Partridge, Eric (1977), Origins: An Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English (4 ed.), Routledge, ISBN 9780203421147
- Sheeran, George (1998), Medieval Yorkshire towns, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 1853312428
- Stow, John (1842), William John Thoms (ed.), A survey of London, London: Whittaker and co.
- Wall, Cynthia (1998), The Literary and Cultural Spaces of Restoration London, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-63013-4
- Williams, Gordon (1994), A dictionary of sexual language and imagery in Shakespearean and Stuart literature, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 0485113937
Further reading
- Ekwall, Eilert (1954), Street-names of the City of London, Clarendon Press
- Horsler, Val (2006), All for Love: Seven Centuries of Illicit Liaison, Kew: National Archives, ISBN 1-903365-97-X
- Sewell, Brian (2001-05-11), The pride of London but no gilded cage, London Evening Standard—Gropecunt Lane in London
- Walford, Edward (1878), Bermondsey: Tooley Street, Old and New London: Volume 6, hosted by british-history.co.uk
External links
- Shuts of Shrewsbury—photographs of Grope Lane in Shrewsbury