_Gloves at Fairs_ (Vol. viii., pp. 136. 421.).--This title has changed into
a question of the open hand as an emblem of power. In addition to the
instances cited by your correspondents, the following may be mentioned.
The Romans used the open hand as a standard.
The Kings of Ulster adopted it as their peculiar cognizance; thence it was
transferred to the shield of the baronets created Knights of Ulster by
James I.; to many of whose families recent {602} myths have in consequence
attributed bloody deeds to account for the cognizance of the bloody hand.
The Holte family of Aston Hall, near this town, affords an instance of such
a modern myth, which has, I think, already appeared in "N. & Q." The
subject of _modern myths_ would form a very interesting one for your pages.