Rose. An inn and tavern sign which, as a painted device, red or white, displayed a partisanship for the Lancastrians or the Yorkists. After the union of the two royal houses nothing was easier to quench the former partiality for either the red or white rose than to exhibit in place of the coloured design the name of “The Rose,” as a general compliment to the Crown.
Rose and Crown. This inn and tavern sign symbolised the cessation of the Wars of the Roses by the marriage of Henry VII. to Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV.
Rosebery Avenue. After Lord Rosebery, the erstwhile leader of the Liberal party in our time.
Rosoman Street. Perpetuates the memory of Mr Rosoman, who converted Sadler’s Musick House into a regular theatre in 1765.
Rosslyn Hill Park. From Rosslyn House, the residence of Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of Rosslyn, and Lord Chancellor of England.
Rotherhithe. Properly Roth-hithe, the Anglo-Saxon for “red haven.” See “[Rutland].”
Rotten Row. This name is a survival of the days when French was the language of the Court. Properly route du roi, it is literally “route of the King,” and meant the King’s drive across the park.
Rouge et Noir. French for “red and black,” the alternate colour of the diamonds that distinguish the spaces on the gaming-table.
Roughriders. The name borne by expert horsemen in Natal, who dispense with saddles.
Roulette. Expresses the French for “a little wheel.”