_Swearing by Swans_ (Vol. ii., p. 392.).--Symbology of the swan.
"Tunc allati sunt in pompatica gloria duo cygni, vel olores, ante
regem, &c. &c.,--vindicaturus."[12]--_Matthæus Westmonasteriensis_.
Dr. Lingard states that "the vows of chivalry were not taken on the
gospels, but, ridiculous as it may appear, in the presence of a peacock, or
{71} pheasant, or other bird of beautiful plumage."--_History of England_,
Edward I.
"Nec dissimili ingenio Heraldi antiquiores, musicos et cantatores
cygnis[13] donarunt. Ejusque haud ignarus perspicax noster Franciscanus cum
hos a non cantoribus latos observasset, rationem se ait a rege heraldorum
petiisse, eumque duplicem assignasse: hanc quia viri essent pulcherrimi,
illam quia haberent longa colla. Sane candorem animi per cygni effigiem
antiquitùs prædicabant, nec insulsè igitur corporis. Sed gloriæ studium ex
eodem hoc symbolo indicari multi asserunt.
"Cum Edwardus primus," &c. &c.--Spelmanni _Aspilogia_, p. 132.
The Spaniards found that the swan had been employed emblematically in
Mexico, supporting the theory of Hornius that that part of America was
colonised by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, inasmuch as, according to
Bryant, "where the Canaanites or their descendants may have settled, there
will a story be found in reference to swans."
The mythological history of the Cygnus will be found in the latter author's
_Analysis_, and in Hill's _Urania, or a Complete View of the Heavens,
containing the Ancient and Modern Astronomy, in Form of a Dictionary_,
which will perhaps meet the wants of G.I.C. (Vol. iii. p. 24.).
It will not, perhaps, be irrelevant to this subject to advert to the story
of Albertus Aquensis (in _Gesta Dei per Francos_, p. 196.), regarding a
_Goose and a Goat_, which in the second crusade were considered as "divino
spiritu afflati," and made "duces viæ in Jerusalem." Well may it be
mentioned by the histoian as "scelus omnibus fidelibus incredibile;" but
the imputation serves to show that the Christians of that age forgot what a
heathen poet could have taught them,--
[Greek: "Eis oiônos aristos amynesthai peri patrês."]