I can answer ALPHEGE's Query, having some notes by me on the subject. He
will pardon my throwing them, in a shapeless heap, jolting out as you
unload stones.
The Romans had signs; and at Pompeii a pig over the door represents a
wine-shop within. The Middle Ages adopted a bush. "Good wine needs no
bush," &c., answering to the gilded grapes at a modern vintner's. The bush
is still a common sign. At Charles I.'s death, a cavalier landlord painted
his bush black. Then came the modern square sign, formerly common to all
trades. Old signs are generally heraldic, and represent royal bearings, or
the blazonings of great families. The White Hart was peculiar to Richard
II; the White Swan of Henry IV. and Edward III.; the Blue Boar of Richard
III.; the Red Dragon came in with the Tudors. Then we have the Bear and
Ragged Staff of Leicester, &c. Monograms are common; as Bolt and Tun for
_Bolton_; Hare and Tun for _Harrington_. The Three Suns is the favourite
bearing of Edward IV.; and all Roses, white or red (as at Tewkesbury), are
indications of political predilection. Other signs commemorate historical
events; as the Bull and Mouth, Bull and Gate (the Boulogne engagement in
Henry VIII.'s time, and alluded to by Shakspeare). The Pilgrim, Cross Keys,
Salutation, Catherine Wheel, Angel, Three Kings, Seven Stars, St. Francis,
&c., are medieval signs. Many are curiously corrupted; as the Coeur Dore
(Golden Heart) to the Queer Door; Bacchanals (the Bag of Nails); Pig and
Whistle (Peg and Wassail Bowl); the Swan and Two Necks (literally Two
_Nicks_); Goat and Compasses (God encompasseth us); The Bell Savage (La
Belle Sauvage, or Isabel Savage); the Goat in the Golden Boots (from the
Dutch, Goed in der Gooden Boote), Mercury, or the God in the Golden Boots.
The Puritans altered many of the monastic signs; as the Angel and Lady, to
the Soldier and Citizen. In signs we may read every phase of ministerial
popularity, and all the ebbs and flows of war in the Sir Home Popham,
Rodney, Shovel, Duke of York, Wellington's Head, &c. At Chelsea, a sign
called the "Snow Shoes," I believe, still indicates the excitement of the
American war.
I shall be happy to send ALPHEGE more instances, or to answer any
conjectures.