A cock and bull story is a fanciful, unlikely story. The Cock Inn and the Bull Inn, both in

Stony Stratford Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Historically it was a market town on the important route from London to Chester (Watling Street, now the A5). It is also the name of a civil parish with a town co ...

, a town on

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main ...

(now a constituent town of Milton Keynes in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

), were staging posts for rival coach lines on the LondonBirmingham

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

. It is said that local people, regarding the passengers staying at the inns as a source of news, were told fanciful stories; there was even rivalry between the two inns as to who could tell the most outlandish story. These inns are still in existence: the Cock Hotel is documented to have existed n one form or anotheron the current site since at least 1470; the present building dates from 1742. The provenance of The Bull is less well documented but is certainly older than 1600; the present building is "late

eighteenth century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave tradin ...

". According to another source, the rival inns were in

Fenny Stratford Fenny Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and in the Civil Parish of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Originally an independent town, it was included in the Milton Keynes " designated area" in 1967. From 1895 ...

, a nearby town on Watling Street, but no such hostelries exist there today.

Provenance

There is no known record of the

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

of the expression itself, in particular there is no reliable support for the Stony Stratford origin. The first recorded use of the phrase in English was in John Day's 1608 play ''Law-trickes'' or ''Who Would Have Thought It'':

Notes

References

{{reflist English-language idioms Storytelling

Provenance

See also

Notes

References