_Pelican in her Piety_ (Vol. v., p. 59.).--In Warner's _Glastonbury_,
plate 18, fig. E., is a very _early_ representation of the pelican
feeding her young with her own blood: an emblem of Christ's love for His
church. The stone was dug out of the ruins of the Abbey.
In Parker's _Glossary_ the symbol is explained by a quotation from
_Ortus Vocabulorum_:
"Fertur, si verum est, eam occidere natos suos, eosque per triduum
lugere, deinde seipsum vulnerare, et aspercione sui sanguinis
vivos facere filios suos."