Emma Bowden
We've found confirmation that Emma was a real person (check the details on her Subject page) and we'd guess that she was, at one time, a person of means, possibly the pub landlady. But we have no explanation for this neat inscription high up in the bricks opposite her pub, and we know of no other such memorial. A puzzle.
Other similar brick graffiti at Caxton Street, Myddelton Passage, Dock Graffiti, Fenton House and German church.
Site: Bowden & Dryden (3 memorials)
WC2, Rose Street, Lamb & Flag pub
This pub and the nearby streets are the subject of a post by the great A London Inheritance.
At around 8pm on 18 December 1679, Dryden was attacked in Rose Alley probably because, in his poem "An Essay upon Satire," he attacked amongst others King Charles II, one of the king's mistresses Louise De Keroualle, and the Earl of Rochester. It is generally thought that Rochester hired some henchmen to carry out the attack.
The pseudo-antique panel is on the ceiling of the passageway to the right (east) of the pub.
