Back in London’s mythological times, this was a very important guy.
He’s the King who reputedly gave his name to the city – Lud’s Town – which over the years evolved into the word London.
He was, for all intents and purposes, the first Ludoner!
Now if you’re thinking that’s bit of a dubious link, there are of course many explanations to the etymology of London – including Celtic names for the River Thames which sounded vaguely like the word London. A bit too scholarly for me.
One of the privileges of being a tour guide is you get to choose your favourite source and what better than a story of a King that loved the city so much, he was prepared to put his name to it. That’s true commitment.
So, who was King Lud and where does he fit into things? Well needless to say it’s all a bit fuzzy what exactly was going on the time. Geoffrey of Monmouth the 11th century chronicler and never one to be accused of spinning an outlandish yarn, wrote that Lud was a descendant of Brutus of Troy and when he became King was appalled at the state of the city and was determined to rebuild. Now don’t ask what he built, remember we are still talking mythological times, but I’m sure it was very impressive.
Legend says he’s supposed to be buried under Ludgate, the eastern entrance to the City and in the 16th century a statue of Lud and his two sons was erected by the Roman gate that stood here.
When the gate was demolished in 1760, the statues were moved to their current location next to St Dunstan’s in the West in Fleet Street where they remain, looking a bit dilapidated, but that’s kind of in-keeping with an old mythological figure.
And to make sure King Lud was not forgotten the Victorians named the street junction and the road leading up to St Paul’s Cathedral – Ludgate Circus and Ludgate Hill.
Who says road planners don’t have a heart.
Image courtesy of Wikipedea. King Lud and his sons statues
Author: Matt Brown. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.