Although the suggestion made by C. (Vol. ii., p. 330.), _viz._ that the
Collar of Esses had a "mechanical" origin, resulting from the mode of
forming "the chain," and that "the _name_ means no more than that the links
were in the shape of the letter S.," could only be advocated by one
unacquainted with the real formation of the collar, yet, as I am now
pledged before the readers of "NOTES AND QUERIES" as the historiographer of
livery collars, it may be expected that I should make some reply. This may
be accompanied with the remark, that, about the reign of Henry VIII., a
collar occurs, which might be adduced in support of the theory suggested by
the REV. MR. ELLACOMBE, and adopted by C. It looks like a collar formed of
esses; but it is not clear whether it was meant to do so, or was merely a
rich collar of twisted gold links. That was the age of ponderous gold
collars, but which were arbitrary features of ornamental costume, not
collars of livery. Such a collar, however, resembles a series of esses
placed obliquely and interlaced, as thus: _SSSS_; not laid flat on their
sides, as figured by C. Again, it is true an (endless) _chain_ of linked
esses was formed merely by attaching the letters [three letter Ss
horizontally] like hooks together. This occurs on the cup at Oriel College,
Oxford, engraved in Shaw's _Ancient Furniture_ in Shelton's _Oxonia
Illustrata_, and in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for August last; but the
connexion of this with the English device is at least very doubtful. The
cup is not improbably of foreign workmanship, and Menneus assigns such a
collar to the knights of Cyprus; even there the S was not without its
attributed import:
"Per literam autem S. quæ _Silentii_ apud Romanos nota fuit, secretum
societatis et amicitiæ simulachrum, individuamque pro patriæ defensione
_Societatem_ denotari."--_Fr. Mennenii Deliciæ Equest. Ordinum_, 1613.
12mo. p. 153.
However, the answer to the suggestion of MR. ELLACOMBE and C. consists in
this important distinction, that the Lancastrian livery collar was _not a
chain_ of linked esses, but a collar of leather or other stiff material,
upon which the letters were _distinctly_ figured at certain intervals; and
when it came to be made of metal only, the letters were still kept distinct
and upright. On John of Ghent's collar, in the window of old St. Paul's
(which I have already mentioned in p. 330.), there are only five,