Just curious. What do you make of this pubs name?

[ChrisPrattAteMyHomework]

Hmm?

There's one near me - they wanted to change it but there was an outcry so they didn't.

Apparently the original pub sign was of a chimney sweep.

Named after a lad who wears a black outfit?

Apparently the original pub sign was of a chimney sweep

The black boy pub i know of was also called that as it is where the chimney sweep traders used to drink.

I have a vague memory that it’s a reference to a king, maybe Charles the second?

it's a name that goes back 250 years and either of the meanings given above could be behind the name.

But yes, I’m not particularly comfortable with the pub name.

What is the picture on the pub sign?

I thought it was a name for a horse

Still better than 'Swan and Paedo'

There's a black boys near me and it's named after coal miners.

Saw one of these outside Swansea and was mortified, but I didn’t understand the cultural reference. Still not crazy about it.

Seen a few of these before. Also Black Boy Lane and Whiteladies Road in Bristol - dockyard/slavery history in Bristol I think. But I’ve just googled, see pic (Wikipedia)

Miners pub name here, nothing offensive just based on the area it's in history.

There's a pub with a similar name in Hull. We did raise an eyebrow when we saw it, but realised that it will have an innocent, non racist historical origin.

@iwouldprefernotto but they are men... with ven...
😂

OP I think I’d have to know what it was named after in all honesty. Could have an innocent explanation which is quite likely.

Legh Arms in Cheshire was always known as the Black Boy. They changed the name, but kept the inn sign as it dated from the 1500s.

Maybe don't visit Ashbourne in Derbyshire. They have a Black's Head, the sign goes right over the road and includes a carving of a black person's head complete with large red lips grinning.

images.app.goo.gl/drwu5BpLS9p84CnM6

....Yea we've got one by us.

It's not offensive and if anyone genuinely believes it is they can walk past it.

According to the Ordnance Survey:

Now a rather controversial pub name, records of ‘Black Boy’ inns go back at least 250 years. There are four potential origins of the name – and no-one’s really sure which is the real explanation! The pub could be named after:

a character with skin darkened by their work, like chimney sweeps or miners covered in soot or coal-dust.

King Charles II, who was nicknamed ‘Black Boy’ by his mother, Henrietta Maria of France because of his dark hair and complexion. The name was adopted by Charles’ supporters fighting for the restoration of the Monarchy in the 1650s. Inns using the Black Boy name were possibly declaring their royalist allegiance against Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentarians.

The least watertight etymology is that they’re named after local dark-coloured shipping signals, the name being a misspelling of Black Buoy.

I never cease to be amazed at the rabbit holes MN takes me down! This is our local Black Boy

I know of a Black Boy and a Black Buoy.

There's a "the black bitch" in Linlithgow in Scotland.

Actually the first one is the Black Boys Inn - in a hamlet of the same name (not sure which came first).

There's one in Oxford, 'the black boy' used to mean a boy with black hair.

I think theres one in retford and pretty sure the sign depicted a dark skinned boy - i was surprised it had survived!?