St. Stephen's, Westminster.
_Dogs in Monumental Brasses._--Is there any symbolical meaning conveyed in
the dogs which are so often introduced at the feet of ladies in brasses,
and dogs and lions at the feet of knights? One fact is worthy of notice,
that while the omission of the dog is frequent in the brasses of ladies
(e.g. in that of Lady Camoys, 1424, at Trotten, Sussex, and Joan, Lady
Cobham, 1320, Cobham, Kent, and several others), the lion or dog, as the
case may be, of the knight is scarcely ever left out; indeed, I have only
been able to find two or three instances. But again, in brasses later than
1460, the dogs and lions are seldom, if ever, found either in the brasses
of knights or ladies. Can you afford me any information on these points?