Bleeding Heart Yard is a cobbled courtyard

Courtyard

A court or courtyard is an enclosed area, often a space enclosed by a building that is open to the sky. These areas in inns and public buildings were often the primary meeting places for some purposes, leading to the other meanings of court....

 off Greville Street in the Farringdon area of the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

.

Urban legend

Urban legend

An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

 has it that the courtyard's name commemorates the murder of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, second wife of Sir William Hatton, whose family used to own the area. It is said that her body was found here on 27 January 1626, torn limb from limb, but with her heart still pumping blood. Trey Philpotts of the University of Delaware

University of Delaware

The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

 writes that the courtyard is, in fact, named after a sign dating back to the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

 that was displayed on a pub called the Bleeding Heart in nearby Charles Street. The sign showed the heart of the Virgin Mary pierced by five swords.

In Little Dorrit

Bleeding Heart Yard features in the Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 novel Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit

Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. It is a work of satire on the shortcomings of the government and society of the period....

as the home of the Plornish family. Dickens wrote of it:

[It was] a place much changed in feature and in fortune, yet with some relish of ancient greatness about it. Two or three mighty stacks of chimneys, and a few large dark rooms which had escaped being walled and subdivided out of the recognition of their old proportions, gave the Yard a character. It was inhabited by poor people, who set up their rest among its faded glories, as Arabs of the desert pitch their tents among the fallen stones of the Pyramids; but there was a family sentimental feeling prevalent in the Yard, that it had a character.

Ingoldsby Legends

Before Dickens, the courtyard was best known for its appearance in R.H. Barham

Richard Harris Barham

Richard Harris Barham was an English cleric of the Church of England, novelist, and humorous poet. He was known better by his nom de plume Thomas Ingoldsby.-Life:Richard Harris Barham was born in Canterbury...

's The Ingoldsby Legends

The Ingoldsby Legends

The Ingoldsby Legends is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English clergyman named Richard Harris Barham....

, a collection of poems and stories first published in Bentley's Miscellany beginning in 1837.

In one of the stories, The House-Warming: A Legend Of Bleeding-Heart Yard, Lady Hatton, wife of Sir Christopher Hatton

Christopher Hatton

Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...

, makes a pact with the devil to secure wealth, position, and a mansion in Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

. During the housewarming of the mansion, the devil dances with her, then tears out her heart, which is found, still beating, in the courtyard the next morning. It is from this legend, together with a case of mistaken identity, that the myth of Lady Elizabeth Hatton's murder — wife, not of Christopher, but of William Hatton — was born.

The yard today

A French restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

, bistro

Bistro

A bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Home cooking with robust earthy dishes, and slow-cooked foods like cassoulet are typical...

 and tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

 called The Bleeding Heart now occupies a number of the buildings in the courtyard. A gate at the south of the yard leads to Ely Place

Ely Place

Ely Place is a gated road at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. It is the location of the Old Mitre Tavern and is adjacent to Hatton Garden.-Origins:...

.

Greville Street links Bleeding Heart Yard to another notable street from Charles Dickens' novels; Saffron Hill

Saffron Hill

Saffron Hill is the name of a street in the south eastern corner of the London Borough of Camden, between Farringdon Road and Hatton Garden. The name of the street derives from the fact that it was at one time part of an estate on which saffron grew....

, which was the home of Fagin

Fagin

Fagin is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, referred to in the preface of the novel as a "receiver of stolen goods", but referred to more frequently within the actual story as the "merry old gentleman" or simply the "Jew".-Character:Born...

 in Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens, published by Richard Bentley in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to...

(see map in the External links section below).

Ann's Story of the Bleeding Heart http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/teach/msg0718085618402.html
by Elma Lang
Ann thought she was the most unhappy girl in the world. Although she had gone to her new school for a whole week, she hadn't made a single friend. Things might have been different if she hadn't been so frightened that first day. Some of the girls had spoken to her, but her throat had become so tight that she hadn't been able to answer them. Maybe after that the girls had though she was stuck up or unfriendly. At any rate, then had left it up to her to make the next move.

Ann stopped to pick a bouquet of lilies of the valley and bleeding hearts for her new teacher. Many were growing in the garden of her new home.
As soon as she was in their classroom after the morning bell rang, Ann took the flowers to her teacher.
"My what lovely bleeding hearts!" exclaimed Miss Johnson, smiling at Ann. "Isn't that a sad name for such pretty flowers? Why to you suppose it was given that name?"

"Don't you know the story?" asked Ann in surprise. "My mother told it to me when I was just a little girl."
" Perhaps you can tell the story to the class," suggested Miss Johnson.
Ann looked at the class and felt horrified. Then she thought, I know the story well, and I love it. Of course I should share it.
Both her hands and her knees were shaking as she broke off one of the flowers, but she bravely stood before the class and told her story. "Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess. Young men from far and near came to pay her court. But the princess was very vain and would have nothing to do with any of them. A young prince from the neighboring country fell deeply in love with her. She ignored him like the others, though he tried and tried to win her heart. One day the prince found a pair of pretty pink rabbits at the market. He sent them to the princess thinking 'these will surely melt her heart.'" Ann carefully broke off the two outside petals of the flower in her hand. She placed them on the teacher's desk. Sure enough they looked like a pair of pink rabbits.

"But the princess went right on ignoring him," Ann continued with her story. "Then the prince sent her a pair of beautiful Oriental slippers." From the front and back of the flower, Ann took off the two long petals. One could easily imagine the dainty heels, the slender insteps, and the widened toes. The looked like a pair of real Oriental slippers.

Ann had to wait until the OH's and ah's of the class had quieted down before she could go on.
"Still the princess would have nothing to do with him. The young prince was so heart broken that he took his dagger and drove it into his heart." The remains of the flower in Ann's hand made the outline of a heart with a line down the center. Ann broke out the stamen, which had made the line. It looked like a dagger. She put it through the center of the heart. Ann held her hand so that the class could see the perfect heart pierced by the dagger.

Ann went on with the story. "As soon as the prince was dead, the princess realized that she had really loved him. 'As long as I live, my heart shall bleed for my prince,' she wept"

"That" finished Ann, "is the story of the bleeding heart.

"Show me how to do it," said Donna, who sat in the front seat.

"Me too, me too!" cried the other girls.

"Ann may show you at recess," Miss Johnson stated firmly.

My story has made everything all right, Ann thought happily as she went back
to her desk. I won't have any trouble making friends now.

ALSO breeches on the clothes line is another variation of the story:
Dutchman's’ Breeches is a delightful spring woodland wildflower, with soft, low growing fern-like foliage. The cream-colored flowers look just like a pairs of Dutch boy pants hanging on the line to dry. These flowers are short-lived, so check local woods in late-April and early May for these gems.

http://hollowtreetales.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/thursday-myths-legends-101-bleeding-heart-flower/

(for pictures to accompany this fairytale go to website shown above)

There once was a young man who fell dearly in love with a beautiful and wealthy maiden. He made her lavish gifts to try to win her love. Firstly, he gave her a pair of the most luxurious swans to keep as pets.
These she took happily, but declared she could not love him. Still, he can’t bear to give up hope, and he makes her another gift of slippers made of the finest silk.
She also received these gifts, but told the young man her feelings would never change towards him. Desperate, he spends the rest of his small savings to send her the most beautiful pair of earrings he could purchase.
The maiden took the earrings, but still refused to marry the young man. Torn, and bereft, the young man knew finally that he had no more to give, and so he took his knife and pierced himself through the heart.

External links

• Map showing Bleeding Heart Yard, Streetmap.co.uk.