Memorial: Bull and Mouth Inn - at Museum of London
{On a cartouche below the bull:}
Milo the Cretonian an ox slew with his fist and ate it up at one meal. Ye gods what a glorious twist.
{Below this is a monogram:}
SI {or IS}
The bull is easy to see but the mouth, and face, are easily missed. Seems likely that 'Milo of Crete' in the inscription refers to Milo of Croton.
Site: Edward VI and the Bull and Mouth Inn (2 memorials)
EC1, London Wall, Rotunda garden at Museum of London
A gaping mouth about to chomp on a whole ox; pineapples sprouting from pipes instead of smoke - this strange terracotta sign was originally set high on the facade of the now demolished Queen's Hotel in nearby St Martins-le-Grand. It commemorated the Bull and Mouth Inn which was demolished in 1830 to make way for the Queen's Hotel which was itself demolished in 1888 and replaced by a building for the GPO.
Spitalfields Life describes this green enclave as "a hidden garden spiralling down to a large closed door, just as implacable as the blank walls upon the exterior." and goes on to visit the "mausoleum {where are stored} the fourteen thousand human remains in the Museum’s collection".
