Blue Boar
Preserved but no longer current.
A public-house sign; the cognisance of Richard III. In Leicester is a lane in the parish of St. Nicholas, called the Blue Boar Lane, because Richard slept there the night before the battle of Bosworth Field. The bristly boar, in infant gore, Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Blue Boar” mean?
A public-house sign; the cognisance of Richard III. In Leicester is a lane in the parish of St. Nicholas, called the Blue Boar Lane, because Richard slept there the night before the battle of Bosworth Field. The bristly boar, in infant gore, Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
Is “Blue Boar” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.