Duck Lane
Preserved but no longer current.
Duck Lane (now Duke Street, leading from Little Britain to Long Lane, in the City of London), in Queen Anne's time was famous for its second-hand bookstalls. Scotists and Thomists now in peace remam Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. POPE: Essay on Criticism.
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 “Duck Lane” mean?
Duck Lane (now Duke Street, leading from Little Britain to Long Lane, in the City of London), in Queen Anne's time was famous for its second-hand bookstalls. Scotists and Thomists now in peace remam Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane. POPE: Essay on Criticism.
Is “Duck Lane” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.