9. /ˈbʌrə ˈmɑːkɪt/
One place that my friends the YouTubers seem to be set out to totally destroy, if they haven’t already, is a near 1,000-year-old (at least) London food market. It has survived Civil War, The Black Death, fires, two World Wars, the Blitz, the “developers”, terrorists and several pandemics of which Covid is merely the latest. But the YouTube and blogger army is proving harder to beat off.
On an almost daily basis, mobs of them pour in, tripping over each other and completely disturbing business as they photograph and film everything and anything, whether they know what it is or not. They expect the traders to stop their work to answer their moronic questions but buy almost nothing. They don't realise how much they are loathed. And, the imbeciles can’t even pronounce the name of the place they are in!
Borough Market
I am, of course, talking Borough Market. “Borough” is pronounced “BURRa”; not “burROW” as these ignorant, rude assholes have it (The IPA is above in the title for those who know it, as everyone should!) I think it’s basic politeness to at least learn how to say the name of the places you are visiting and making your pitiful videos about. But politeness is not on their agenda. It’s all me, me, me. Egotistical pricks! </ENDRANT>
It isn’t known precisely when the market started, but it appears that it was there in the 12th century, if not before. Although the earliest written reference is from 1276, the official market history claims a date of 1014, if not earlier. The present market buildings were built starting in the 1850s and have been added to or restored over the years.
The market sits at the junction of Southwark Street and Borough High Street, just south of The Thames, near the gothic Southwark Cathedral, at the southern end of London Bridge (not Tower Bridge!) The Southwark Street entrance is in an art deco style and was built in 1932.
Art Deco 1930s entrance to Borough Market on Southwark Street, London, UK, at the junction with Borough High Street.
When I last lived in London (early 1990s), it was a wholesale market only, but in 1998, it added a retail market. Today both operate. The retail market (which is what the budding Scorseses want) opens Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm, Fridays 10 to 6 and Saturdays 8 to 5. The wholesale market opens every weekday at 2 am and closes by 8 am. YouTubers never film that! Weekends are, of course, the busiest. Avoid.
The retail market specialises in high quality meats, vegetables and speciality goods and has many stalls selling cooked food from all over the world. For some reason, all the camera toters, when they do buy something, seem to go for an "artisan" Scotch egg. Maybe it’s the cheapest thing on offer! They then eat this while explaining its origins and etymology – except, without fail, they all get it wrong. Probably.
Scotch Eggs
Both the origin and etymology are unknown, although there many competing speculative theories. About the only thing almost certain is that their origin has nothing to do with Scotland. “Scotch” and “scot” have many meanings. It could even be a mispronunciation of “scorch”. Another story that is often repeated is that the Queen’s grocer, Fortnum and Mason’s situated near Buckingham Palace invented the things in 1738 but they also claim to have lost the evidence and anyway, there is strong evidence they existed before that.
Fortnum and Mason's
The Oxford Companion to Food gives an origin in India, as does food historian, Annie Gray, as quoted in this excellent article from the Guardian.
Many of my friends and family have told me that they have stopped going to the market as it is just too crowded with tourists. On Saturday, June 3rd 2017, there was a terrorist attack in the area. Three terrorists drove a van into crowds on London Bridge killing two people, then ran into the market where they stabbed and killed another six. Many more were injured. Of the eight killed, only one was British. I don't have a breakdown of the injured's nationalities. The terrorists were shot dead by police.
Fortunately, there is a smaller, less well known and considerably less busy market just a short distance away. Most of the vendors are ex-Borough Market. I’m not going to name it here. A YouTuber may see it! But if anyone wants to know just ask and I’ll PM the details.
Image credits
1. Borough Market March 2018 - image by Øyvind Holmstad –licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0
2. Art Deco 1930s entrance to Borough Market on Southwark Street, London, UK, at the junction with Borough High Street - Image by Carcharoth; licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0.
3. Fortnum and Mason's - Image by me, 2019
4. Scotch Eggs - Image by Anon - This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
