On Charles Street exploring the history of the Lass O' Gowrie

The Lass O' Gowrie, Charles Street, © 2013 Peter Topping

Now there is a lot of tosh written about the Lass O’ Gowrie which is on Charles Street hard by the Medlock.

One of the most common mistakes is that it was in Little Ireland that notorious slum much written about by Dr Kay, Frederick Engels and others.

I suppose it adds something to the pub’s profile but sadly it is just not so.  Little Ireland was on the other side of Oxford Street in the bend of the river Medlock and some of it was swept away when the Manchester South and Altrincham Railway was built.

What was left pretty much vanished under new textile factories, although two of the streets still existed as entrances to mills on Great Marlborough Street and are still there today.

That said I guess some of the residents of Little Ireland could have walked the short distance and drank in the Lass O' Gowrie, which was certainly there by 1849 and may have been serving beer on the spot in 1841.

Charles Street and the Lass O' Gowrie in 1849

The pub is marked on the 1849 OS map as the Lass O’ Gowrie, and eight years earlier it was known as the George IV which might push back the date when the site was licensed to sometime between 1820 when he came to the throne and 1830 when he died.

Neither names appear on lists for the early 1820s through to the 1840s and the answer will have to wait till I can look at the licensing records and Rate Books for the area.

I doubt that they will shed any light on the origin of the name Lass O’ Gowrie and so it may well be that as many have already written it is in some way connected to the poem the Lass O' Gowrie by the Scottish poet Lady Carolina Nairne.

All of which I think is enough said on the history leaving me only to comment on the painting by local artist Peter Topping.

Regular readers will know that I have collaborated with Peter over the years on various projects with him painting the pictures and me telling the stories.*

And I rather think we may have fallen into another joint venture.**

It started with his painting of the Peveril of the Peak, continued with Mr Thomas’s on Cross Street and we seem set to explore more Manchester pubs.

I rather think it should include the Castle on Oldham Street, the Turk’s Head at Shude Hill, and the Sawyers Arms on Deansgate.

This last pub has strong links with the History of Chorlton and in turn has a connection with both the Peveril and the Turk’s Head.

Now having stated a few of my preferences I shall sit back and invite suggestions for other old, quirky or picturesque pubs that we could include.

In the meantime the collaboration can be viewed at various locations around Chorlton where our history trail is previewed along with the new book Didsbury Through Time which was published in December 2013, and available at Chorlton Bookshop and in Didsbury from Morten’s Bookshop on Warburton Street, Didsbury, as well of course as other bookshops.

Map; detail of Charles Street from the OS map of Manchester & Salford, 1844-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

Painting; The Lass O’ Gowrie, © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures who painted the picture.

* Chorlton artist Peter Topping in collaboration with Andrew Simpson, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Chorlton%20artist%20Peter%20Topping%20in%20collaboration%20with%20Andrew%20Simpson

**Manchester Pubs and Hotels, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Manchester%20Pubs%20and%20Hotels