COCK & BULL STORIES
The ancient north
Buckinghamshire town of Stony Stratford, now part
of the new city of Milton Keynes, is famous as
the place of origin of the term 'Cock & Bull
Story', recognised throughout the
English-speaking world.
This dates back to the late
18th/early 19th centuries, at the height of the
great coaching era, when Stony Stratford (which
is located on the old Roman Road of Watling
Street, latterly the A5) was an important
stopping-off point for mail and passenger coaches
travelling between London and the North.
Travellers on these coaches
were regarded as a great source of current news
from remote parts of the country - news which
would be imparted in the town's two main inns,
The Cock and The Bull. The two establishments
rapidly developed a rivalry as to which could
furnish the most outlandish and scurrilous
travellers' tales.
Hence Cock & Bull
Story.
It's a fine tradition was resurrected
some years ago by the COCK & BULL
STORY SOCIETY:
"To pay homage to Stony Stratford's
unique provenance, as the home to The Cock &
Bull Story (a term familiar throughout the
English-speaking world), by positioning the town
as THE UK CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE for the
origination, perpetration and dissemination of
the totally preposterous.
"Above all - by the adeptest
manipulation of the English language - to have
fun."
Further information
from:
Tel: 01908 265774
e-mail:
cock@tauruspr.co.uk
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