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Canary Wharf, Isle of Dogs, is *probably* named after both birds and dogs, but not in the way you might think... (1/5)
The wharf was renamed from South Quay Import Dock to Canary Wharf, as it was the docking place for bananas imported from the Canary Islands. This itself was an opportunistic way to fill returning ships that exported coal to the Canaries for refueling transatlantic voyages. (2/5)
The islands gets their name from Latin "Canariae Insulae" meaning "Islands of Dogs". Why? Because, according to King Juba II of Mauritania, it was full of large dogs. Or perhaps because the original Guanche inhabitants used to worship dogs. Or maybe both. (3/5)
The canary (bird) is also named after the Canary Islands, but has nothing to do with the naming of the wharf. So where does the bird come into the name? And what does the Isle of Dogs (the one in London) have to do with dogs? (4/5)
Nobody really knows, but it's suspected it's a corruption of "Isle of Ducks" because it used to be marshland and ducks would hang out there. Which is ironic—aside from it not actually being a real isle—because it became more of an isle of "docks" than dogs or ducks. (5/5)
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