The custom of Serjeants-at-law presenting rings on their creation was
used in (and probably before) the reign of Henry VI. (See _Fortescue De
Laudibus Legum Angliæ_, cap. 50,; and see instances and particulars in
the reigns at Henry VIII., Edward VI., Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth in
Dugdale's _Origines Juridiciales_, 2nd edit., pp. 116. 118. 122. 123.
124. 130.) Mottoes were used as early as 1606, but I am not prepared to
say they originated at that period, though I do not observe any mention
of them in Dugdale's accounts of the ceremonies at the creation of
Serjeants of an earlier date. The following mottoes may interest some of
your readers: