Mermaid Tavern was a famous inn during the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603) in England. It stood in Bread Street, Cheapside, near the Mansion House in the City of London. The name of the tavern came from the painted sign of a mermaid hanging outside its door.
According to popular legend, in the late 1500’s and early 1600’s, brilliant literary figures often met at the Mermaid Tavern. They may have included the English writers Francis Beaumont, John Donne, John Fletcher, Robert Herrick, Ben Jonson, and John Selden. Historians doubt that this literary club really existed. Many people believe that the English playwright William Shakespeare was a member of the club, but there is no evidence that he was.
