The Mermaid Tavern
Preserved but no longer current.
The famous meeting- place (in Bread Street, Cheapside) of the wits, literary men, and men about town in the early 17th century. Among those who met there at a sort of early club were Ben Jonson, Sir Walter Raleigh, Beaumont, Fletcher, John Selden, and in all probability Shakespeare.
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 “The Mermaid Tavern” mean?
The famous meeting- place (in Bread Street, Cheapside) of the wits, literary men, and men about town in the early 17th century. Among those who met there at a sort of early club were Ben Jonson, Sir Walter Raleigh, Beaumont, Fletcher, John Selden, and in all probability Shakespeare.
Is “The Mermaid Tavern” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.