The RED LION at Abberton figures in the Rev. S. Baring-Gould’s

_Mehalah_. The RED LION at Springfield is an extremely ferocious one,

if one may judge from the appearance of his effigy, which is rudely cut

out of a thin sheet of iron, painted red, and placed upon the top of the

beer-house to which he serves as a sign. A RED LION at Radwinter

(perhaps the existing LION) finds mention in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_

on January 20, 1786. The LION AND BOAR at Earls Colne may represent the

lion and boar which sometimes appear as the supporters of the arms of

King Richard III., or it may simply be an impaled sign. The sign is not

mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. The LION AND KEY at Leyton is a sign of

somewhat obscure origin. It is not a modern invention, as there was a

house of the same name near Lion’s Quay, London, in 1653. Our house,

which is over forty years old, and was formerly a blacksmith’s shop, may

have taken its sign from this one, or it may have derived its name

independently from the popular version of some family crest. This is

rendered extremely likely from the fact (supplied by the present

landlord, who, however, is unable to give any further information as to

the sign) that among the old property taken with the house is a

punch-bowl bearing the heraldic device of a lion rampant, its paw

resting upon the ring of an upright key, and dated either 1756 or 1786.

Whose this crest is, it is hard to say. The Rev. H. L. Elliot has

ascertained that it is not included among those in _The Book of Family

Crests_, although the family of Lyngard of Northants bore _a lion sejant

guardant sable, in the dexter fore paw a key in pale or_; while the

families of Knox, Criall, and Chamberlain had crests with a demi-lion

holding a key. The very common sign of the LION AND LAMB is now met with

at Braintree, Stratford, Takeley, Chelmsford, and Brentwood, although,

twenty years ago, the county only contained three examples. At the

last-named place the sign seems to have existed since 1786 at least, as

it is mentioned in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ on March 17th in that

year. At *Chelmsford a LION AND LAMB carved in stone repose peacefully

upon the parapet of the building, while a newly-painted sign-board, very

well designed, depicts them in the same attitude. The fact of the name

containing an alliteration has, no doubt, had something to do with its

adoption; but it is also an emblematic representation of the Millennium,

when (as Larwood and Hotten say) “the lion shall lie down by the kid.”

Those gentlemen, however, together with all who use the sign, appear to

be a little at fault in their knowledge of Scripture. The passage

describing the “Millennium” (Isaiah xi. 6) says nothing about a lion

lying down, either with a lamb or a kid. It runs as follows: “The wolf

shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;

and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together.” The sign

first came into use over two centuries ago. In connection with this sign

there is an amusing tale, which is worth repeating, told of a sceptical

American. When the significance of the sign was explained to him, he

remarked that the state of things depicted might possibly come to pass

some time, but that, when it did, he “guessed that there Lamb would be

inside that there Lion!”

Bovine signs are very frequently to be seen upon our Essex sign-boards.

The simple sign of the BULL is the commonest device, occurring no less

than twenty-two times. Its intimate connection with Christmas beef,

heraldry, and bull-baiting is sufficient to account for the frequent

appearance of this animal on the sign-board. About seventy years ago the

BULL Inn, Whitechapel, was the resort of the Essex farmers, who came to

London once a week to dispose of their corn, &c. The landlord, named

Johnson, who was formerly “boots” at this inn, being in good credit with

his customers, they occasionally left their samples with him, and he

acted as a middle man so much to their satisfaction, that he shortly

after opened an office upon Bear Quay, styling himself “Factor of the

Essex Farmers.” The business ultimately grew to one of great extent. In

old deeds Mr. King finds mention of a BULL--either shop, inn, or

dwelling-house--at Billericay as early as 1616, also of another house

with the same sign at Hockley early in the seventeenth century. Taylor,

in his _Catalogue of Tavernes_, mentions a BULL (probably the existing

inn of that name) at Barking in 1636, and another at Brook Street, where

also there is a still existing Bull. The BLACK BULL appears at Fyfield,

Chelmsford, Margaretting, and Old Sampford, while an OLD BLACK BULL

occurs at Stratford. Very probably these two signs owe their existence

to the fact that a _bull sable_ formed one of the badges, as well as the

sinister supporter of the arms, of Edward IV. In 1662 there was a BLACK

BULL Inn at Romford, as appears from a mention made of it in the

_Account of the Murder of Thomas Kidderminster_, already referred to. In

1789 there were other examples of the BLACK BULL at Loughton and Harlow,

and that at Fyfield was then existing. Sixty years ago there was also

one at Grays. On the map of the road between London and Harwich, given

in Ogilby’s _Itinerarium Angliæ_, published in 1675, “Ye BULL

INN”--evidently a house of some importance--is shown about midway

between Ingatestone and Widford. In the _Traveller’s Guide_, a smaller

edition of the same work, published in 1699, the same house figures as

the BLACK BULL Inn. Probably this is the still existing BLACK BULL at

Margaretting. The BULL AND CROWN, which has been in existence at

Chingford for at least forty years past, may be simply an impaled sign,

or it may (like the last sign spoken of) be derived from the black bull

of Edward IV., or from the white bull used as a supporter by Henry VIII.

In either case the bull would probably be crowned. This device is not

referred to in the _History of Sign-boards_, nor is that of the BULL AND

HORSESHOE, which occurs at North Weald. It is probably only an impaled

sign. The BULL’S HEAD, to be seen at Loughton, is, as already stated (p.

34), probably taken from the arms of the Butchers’ Company. There was

once a famous BULL Inn at Newport. It has now disappeared, having, it is

said, been compelled to close owing to the opening of the HERCULES just

opposite; but there are old folks still living who can recollect the

shields of arms in coloured glass in the windows, and the “Bull Orchard”

still remains. The house is mentioned in the Corporation records of

Saffron Walden for the year 1734. Cole also, in his MSS., speaks of it

by the name of the RED BULL (a rather uncommon sign, of which Essex does

not now possess an example). The sign, however, seems to have undergone

a change of colour, for it is referred to as the BLACK BULL in _Poor

Robin’s Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London, performed this

month of July, 1678_.[56] The author says:

“To Newport Pond my course I next way bent,

And in at the sign of the Black Bull went.

Where scarcely in a room I had set down,

When in came my old friends, kind Mr. Br ...

And Mr. Woo ..., two who love their friend

With true and hearty love unto the end;

For though they in another town do live,

They to their neighbour some kind visits give.

’Twas twelve o’clock; dinner time did approach,

When men whet knives on wheels of cart or coach.

The cloth was laid, and by the scent o’ th’ meat,

One might perceive there something was to eat.

And so it proved, indeed; for from the pot

Came forth a rump of beef, was piping hot,

And from the spit was brought a loyn of mutton,

Would satisfy the stomack of a glutton,

For like a loyn of beef it might well have been knighted,

To which our hostess kindly us invited;

Which we accepted of, and to delight her,

Told her that none could deny such an inviter;

For she’s a widow of such excellent carriage,

Would make a man most happy in her marriage,” &c.

Boyne describes a halfpenny token issued by “Thomas Rvnham at y^{e} Bull

[represented in the centre] in Newport, 1667.” He assigns the token to

Newport in Shropshire; but, as Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., has informed

the author that no less than seven examples have been found at Newport,

Essex, and as the man’s name also occurs in the parish register, there

can be no doubt that Boyne was wrong.[57] At Chingford Hatch there is a

house with the sign of the DUN COW. This is an ancient device, and

probably has reference to the feat of Guy, Earl of Warwick, who,

according to an old ballad, slew a “dun cow bigger than an elephaunt” on

Dunsmore Heath. The RED COW, as a sign, may be seen at Chrishall, Ashen,

and Shelley. A once well-known RED COW at *Chelmsford is now an equally

well-known coffee-tavern with the same sign. At Waltham Holy Cross a

beer-shop displays the very strange sign of the SPOTTED COW, which is in

all probability unique. Larwood and Hotten do not mention it. The sign

of the RED COW is probably intended to express the idea that good drink

may be obtained within, as from a cow; but, in former times, especial

value seems to have attached to the milk of red cows. At Cold Norton,

near Maldon, there is a house with the very strange, and probably

unique, sign of the FLY AND BULLOCK, kept by one William Pond. It is at

first difficult to see what possible sign-board connection the two

creatures can have. Farmers have reasons for believing that, during hot

weather, a great animosity exists between the two. Inquiry has at last

elicited the fact that the sign is a corrupted one, but this was not

arrived at until after much amusing and erudite speculation, as the sign

in its present form is a very perplexing one. The first guess was that

it was a corruption of the “Flying Bullock” or “Winged Bull,” the usual

emblem of St. Luke. This seemed the more likely, as we have in Essex

signs which might represent at least two other of the Apostolic emblems,

namely, the ANGEL for Matthew, and the EAGLE for John; and who can say

but that some of our LIONS were not once winged, thus representing the

only remaining Evangelist, Mark? Moreover, Larwood and Hotten, although

they do not refer to this sign, mention (p. 73), when speaking of the

sign of the FLYING HORSE, “a facetious innkeeper at Rogate, Petersfield,

who has put up a parody in the shape of a _Flying Bull_.” But then arose

the question, “Why should Luke be thus commemorated?” It was next

suggested in several quarters that the sign might have originated in the

old fable of _La Mouche et le Toreau_, of which Miss Elliot of Gosfield

has kindly forwarded a copy, and which is thought to be of Oriental

origin. This, however, did not decide the question, so inquiry was made

of the landlord, who, though knowing nothing of the origin of his sign,

stated that it formerly was, and should now be, the BUTCHERS’ ARMS,

thereby clearing up the doubt, the crest and supporters of those arms

being “Flying Bulls.”[58] There can be no doubt, therefore, that the FLY

AND BULLOCK originally represented one of the FLYING BULLOCKS in the

Butchers’ Arms. It seems, moreover, that the sign does after all

represent the winged ox of St. Luke, that Evangelist being, in a way,

the Patron Saint of butchers, for in Chambers’s _Book of Days_ (ii. p.

464) it is stated this symbol has been associated with St. Luke,

“because, to quote the words of an ancient writer, ‘he deviseth about

the presthode of Jesus Christ,’ the ox or calf being the sign of a

sacrifice, and St. Luke entering more largely than the other Evangelists

into the history of the life and sufferings of our Saviour.”

The BLUE BOAR is, perhaps, the most interesting of all our Essex signs.

At present it occurs five times in the county--namely, at *Prittlewell,

*Maldon, *Colchester, *Stratford, and Abridge. The two first-named

houses have been in existence at least a century, as they are mentioned

in advertisements in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ in 1786 and 1788

respectively, while the last-named is marked on Greenwood’s Map of

Essex, published in 1824. Forty years ago there was another example of

the sign at Stanford Rivers, and Mr. H. W. King informs the author that

the house at Hadleigh, now known as the CASTLE, displayed the sign of

the BLUE BOAR until late in the last century. Taylor (see p. 28)

mentions another BLUE BOAR at Ilford in 1636. In 1789, too, there was

one at Fyfield. In the year 1750, a BLUE BOAR’S HEAD Inn existed

opposite the Church at Waltham Abbey. Mr. Charles Golding, of

Colchester, in writing to _Notes and Queries_[59] to inquire the latest

date at which bull-baiting is known to have taken place in England,

mentions that an entertainment of this kind was announced, in an old

advertisement that he had seen, to take place at the above house on

Whitsun Monday, 1750, and “any gentleman bringing a dog should be

entertained at a dinner free.” The same house is referred to in an

entry in the parish registers in 1647, when 12s. 6d. was “paid for a

dinner at the Borsehed when the ould Churchwardens gave up their

accounts.” The sign of the BOAR’S HEAD occurs at East Horndon,

*Braintree, and *Dunmow. The first of these houses appeared in the list

forty years ago as the OLD BOAR’S HEAD. Our houses of this name have,

perhaps, been named after the famous BOAR’S HEAD tavern which used to

exist in Eastcheap, or they may have had a separate origin. As to the

derivation of the sign itself, Larwood and Hotten are inclined to

believe that it represents the boar’s head as formerly often brought to

table, rather than a charge taken from some one’s arms; but, in this, it

is difficult altogether to agree with them. A boar’s head forms part of

the arms of the Butchers’ Company (p. 34), and we have had in Essex

several families bearing the same charge in their arms, such as the

Borehams of Haverhill, the Welbores of Clavering, and the Tyrrells,

Baronets, of Boreham House--the charge and the name of the place being

very probably connected in some way in the latter case. Indeed, so far

as the BOAR’S HEAD at East Horndon is concerned, there can be no doubt

whatever that it represents the crest of the family of Tyrrells,

Baronets (connected with the Boreham Tyrrells), formerly of Heron Hall,

in the same parish, which was demolished about the year 1789. Their

crest, which was _a boar’s head, couped and erect, argent, issuant out

of the mouth a peacock’s tail proper_, is now correctly represented on

the sign-board, exactly as upon several of the family monuments in the

church. Both the sign-board and the heraldic device it bears are new,

having been recently set up under the supervision of the rector of the

parish. The old board, which is altogether unheraldic, is displayed over

the door, and exhibits the head of an extremely ferocious-looking boar

emerging from a clump of rushes in a most threatening manner.

There can be very little doubt that in Essex the sign of the BLUE BOAR

represents the _boar azure, armed, unguled, and bristled or_, which

served as a crest, as one of the supporters, and also as one of the

principal badges of the once powerful De Veres, Earls of Oxford,

formerly of Hedingham Castle. This is shown to be the more probable by

the fact that we have still no less than five examples of the sign in

the county, while the adjacent counties of Kent, Middlesex, and Herts

possess none. Elsewhere, too, the sign is very uncommon. Not a single

example now appears in Surrey, Sussex, Durham, Devonshire,

Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland,

or Cheshire. Norfolk, Kent, and Cambridge have one each. Leicestershire

and Suffolk (in which county the De Veres also had large estates) have,

however, two each. In London, although there is both a BOAR’S HEAD and a

BLUE BOAR’S HEAD, there is not now a BLUE BOAR. However, a tradesman’s

token issued “at the Bleu Boore without Bishopsgate” in the seventeenth

century still exists. Much valuable information concerning the _Blue

Boar_ as used by the De Veres, is contained in a paper by the Rev. H. L.

Elliot, of Gosfield, _On Some Badges and Devices of the De Veres, on the

Tower of Castle Hedingham Church_.[60] Four of these--the Boar, the

Mullet, the Whistle, and the Windlass--are here reproduced.

[Illustration:

BLUE BOAR.

MULLET.

WHISTLE.

WINDLASS.

(_Badges of the De Veres._)]

[Illustration: BADGE OF THE DE VERES.

(_Front the Black Boy, Chelmsford._)]

The motto of the family, _Vero nihil verius_ and _Verite vient_ formed a

rebus on the name. The boar as a badge was evidently assumed for the

same reason. The Latin name for the animal is _verres_, though the De

Veres probably got it through the Dutch (_veer_ or _vere_), as they were

a branch of the House of Blois, and owned the Lordship of Vere in

Zetland. The boar has been a favourite device of the De Veres from a

very early period. The feet of the cross-legged and mail-clad figure of

Robert, the fifth Earl, who died in 1296, still existing at Earls Colne

Priory, are placed against a boar, and the same animal appears in

different capacities on all, or nearly all, the other existing monuments

of the family. Stowe speaks of John, the sixteenth Earl, “riding into

the city, to his house by London Stone, with eighty gentlemen in a

livery of Reading tawney, and chains of gold about their necks, before

him, and one hundred tall yeomen in the like livery to follow him,

without chains, but all having his cognizance of the Blew Boar

embroydered on their left shoulder.” As a badge, the boar is carved,

alternately with the mullet (another device of the De Veres[61]), over

the clerestory windows of Castle Hedingham Church; on several parts of

Lavenham Church, Suffolk; on the roof of the south aisle of Sible

Hedingham Church; over the west door of Chelmsford Church, and

elsewhere. In the Chelmsford Museum, moreover, is preserved a wooden

boss, taken from the ceiling of a room of the old BLACK BOY Inn when it

was pulled down. On this is carved a boar, within a circular ribbon

charged with seven mullets. Some information as to how these devices

came into these positions is given hereafter. For close upon five

centuries this mighty family, whose riches were immense, and whose power

was second only to that of the sovereign, ruled over a large portion of

East Anglia in semi-regal fashion. For 567 years, too, was the same

title retained in this one family. It is no wonder, therefore, that

their armorial bearings should have been largely used as signs by those

who were in various ways dependent upon them; but it is interesting to

find at the present day such comparatively clear evidence of this fact.

The principal Essex inn exhibiting the sign of the BLUE BOAR (and the

one from which, in all probability, some, at least, of our others have

taken the name) was the once famous BLUE BOAR at Castle Hedingham. This

ancient house may be cited as a good example of an inn deriving its sign

directly from the armorial bearings of a great historical family which

formerly resided in the immediate vicinity, and, without doubt, owned

the house. Its sign, of course, represented the badge of the mighty

Earls of Oxford. The inn was a fine old house standing in St. James’s

Street, where its ornamental chimneys once formed the most prominent

feature. After being injured by fire it was pulled down in 1865. On this

occasion various old coins and other relics were discovered, the most

interesting being an inscription in Early English characters, written in

chalk on a blackened beam behind the wainscot. It ran thus:--

“Hans pes withe yore nebor whilom ye maye,

For oftyn tymes favore do the passe withe ye daye.”

This may be translated as follows:--

“Be at peace with your neighbour while ye may,

For often times the favour will pass with the day.”

According to the authors of the _History of Sign-boards_ (p. 116), this

sign was originally a _white_ boar, and represented the _boar argent_,

which formed the favourite badge of Richard III., as well as one (or,

more generally, both) of the supporters of his arms.

[Illustration: THE WHITE BOAR.

(_Badge of Richard III._)]

“The fondness of Richard for this badge appears from his wardrobe

accounts for the year 1483, one of which contains a charge ‘for

8,000 bores made and wrought upon fustian,’ and 5,000 more are

mentioned shortly afterwards. He also established a herald of arms

called ‘Blanc Sanglier,’ and it was this trusty squire who carried

his master’s mangled body from Bosworth battle-field to

Leicester.... After Richard’s defeat and death the WHITE BOARS were

changed into BLUE BOARS, this being the easiest and cheapest way of

changing the sign; and so the [WHITE] BOAR of Richard, now painted

‘true blue,’ passed for the [BLUE] BOAR of the Earl of Oxford, who

had largely contributed to place Henry VII. on the throne.”

Shakespeare in Richard III. (act v., scene 3) alludes to the dead king

and his badge as follows:--

“The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar

That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines;

... This foul swine ... lies now ...

Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn.”

It is related that in this king’s reign one William Collingbourne was

executed for composing the following couplet:--

“The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell our Dog,

Rule all Englonde under an Hogge.”

The king and his ministers, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir William Catesby,

and Lord Lovell, were, of course, thus referred to. At Earls Colne, as

already stated (p. 63), there is a LION AND BOAR. Here, in all

probability, we have again represented the boar of the De Veres, Colne

Priory having been another seat of the family, some members of which lie

buried there. Other signs, which have, in all probability, been derived

(partly, at least) from other badges of the De Veres, will be noticed

hereafter.

The sign of the FLITCH OF BACON is most conveniently described in

connection with the boar. The authors just quoted say (p. 420), “The

FLITCH OF DUNMOW is a common sign in Essex, and is sometimes seen in

other counties;” but it does not appear that we have had more than one

in the county for forty years past, that one being, of course, the

well-known inn at *Little Dunmow. How the sign originated is too well

known to need any explanation here. A similar custom has occasioned a

similar sign at Wichnor, near Lichfield (_Gent’s Mag._, 1819). A

beer-shop, about thirty years old, in the market-place at Romford, is

known by the appropriate name of the PIG IN THE POUND. A PIG AND WHISTLE

is in existence at Thames Haven, and there are beer-shops of the same

name in Broomfield and Writtle parishes. The origin of this sign appears

not to have come down to us out of the mists of antiquity. Very many and

very learned are the explanations which have, of late, been proposed as

the solution of it. Half the European languages have been ransacked for

its derivation, but so far without any satisfactory results. Larwood and

Hotten dismiss it as “simply a freak of the mediæval artist.” Possibly

it may represent, in a corrupted form, the peg said to have been placed

in the wassail-bowl by King Edgar, who, in order to discourage

drunkenness, imposed a penalty upon any one who drank so deeply as to

leave it uncovered. There is, however, a by-no-means-unlikely origin for

the sign, and one which the author believes has never before been

suggested. In Mr. Elliot’s interesting paper just quoted (p. 70) it is

stated that, in addition to the _blue boar_, the De Veres, among several

other devices, made use of a _Whistle and Chain_ as a household badge.

Thus, among the devices of this one family, are found the two objects--a

pig (or boar) and a whistle--which, when combined, constitute this most

perplexing sign. It is very difficult--perhaps impossible--to prove now

that the sign was actually derived from these two badges of the De

Veres, but, remembering the enormous past importance of the family, it

must be admitted that the sign was in no way unlikely to have been so

derived. Mr. Elliot himself writes that he considers this suggestion not

unlikely to be the correct one. Very probably this description of the

Earl’s badges was a derisive one, applied to them by the Yorkist party

during the Wars of the Roses. A whistle, like that adopted by the De

Veres, was formerly worn by sea-captains, even of high rank; and Mr.

Elliot is of opinion that it was assumed by the De Veres as a symbol of

the office of Lord High Admiral, an appointment held by John, the

thirteenth Earl, who was very active on behalf of the Lancastrian

party.

Forty-six inns in Essex exhibit signs which are more or less canine. A

few of these may have had their origin in Heraldry; but there can be no

doubt that, in the great majority of cases, the signs have originated in

the modern use of the dog, whether for sporting or other purposes. At

Wethersfield and Halstead the DOG appears alone; at East Horndon there

is an OLD DOG; a POINTER exists at Alresford; and at Colchester, East

Mersey, and Tolleshunt Knights the DOG AND PHEASANT appears; while at

Stifford and Great Leighs (beer-house) the DOG AND PARTRIDGE is used, as

it was also at *Halstead sixty years ago. The sign of the SPOTTED DOG,

although it is not mentioned by Hotten, occurs four times, namely at

Witham, Barking, Chelmsford, and West Ham, and there is a beer-house of

the same name at Braintree. The sole use of the Spotted, or Dalmatian,

Dog in this country, says a writer in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, “is to

contribute, by the beauty of its appearance, to the splendour of the

stable establishment, constantly attending the horses and carriage to

which he belongs.” On October 22, 1804, a disastrous and fatal fire took

place at the SPOTTED DOG, *Chelmsford. The details are given in a scarce

pamphlet, reprinted in Hughson’s _London_ (vol. vi. p. 246). It seems

that about 120 Hanoverian soldiers marched into Chelmsford on the day in

question, and about 70 of them took up their lodgings in the stables of

this inn. While most of them were asleep it was discovered that the

straw upon which they lay had caught fire. All were, of course, at once

aroused, but being unused to the fastening of the door, they were unable

to open it. When at last it was opened and the inmates liberated, many

of them were sorely burned, and others had their clothing on fire. The

flames were got under after a time, but not until they had extended to

other stables and burned several horses. On clearing away the rubbish,

the bodies of no less than thirteen of the Hanoverian soldiers who had

perished in the flames were found. They were afterwards buried with

military honours in the church. At Hordon-on-the-Hill there is a BLACK

DOG (beer-house). The SHEPHERD AND DOG is a device which

[Illustration: DOG’S HEAD IN POT.

(_After Larwood and Hotten._)]

is now to be seen at Upminster, Ramsden Cray, and Great Stambridge

(beer-house). Two centuries ago it appeared on the farthing token of

“Peeter Pearcce” of Braintree; while a DOG WITH CHAIN, _passant_, occurs

on that of “Thomas Peeke, Wyre Street, in Colchstr,” and a dog eating

out of a fleshpot (the DOG’S HEAD IN POT) on the halfpenny issued by

John Phillips of Plaistow in 1670. This device seems to have been

originally used to indicate a dirty, slovenly housewife. It was never

common. The HARE AND HOUNDS occurs seven times, the FOX AND HOUNDS ten

times, and the HUNTSMAN AND HOUNDS once (at Upminster). Both the FOX and

the FOX AND HOUNDS are very common beer-house signs. The HARE, an

unusual sign when not accompanied by the Hounds, appears at Great

Parndon. The TALBOT at North Weald may be named after the famous TALBOT

in Southwark, which, under its former name of the TABARD, sheltered

Chaucer’s pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. Talbot is the name of an

old variety of hunting dog which, at the present day, is never heard of

except in connection with Heraldry; and, as the sign in question is not

now a pictorial one, most of the inhabitants of North Weald would

probably be much puzzled to explain what it originally represented.

There was another TALBOT in Stapleford Tawney until about ten years ago,

but it is now a private house. The county contains no less than thirteen

GREYHOUNDS, one of which is an OLD GREYHOUND. The sign of the GREYHOUND

existed at Chelmsford in 1786, according to the _Chelmsford Chronicle_

for July 21st in that year, but it is not now extant, though Greyhound

Lane still exists. In all probability this was the house that existed

under the same name in 1662, as mentioned in the _Account of the Murder

of Thomas Kidderminster_, to which reference has been already made. The

GREYHOUND at Waltham Abbey is mentioned in the parish registers on June

4, 1735, when “John Munns from y^{e} Greyhound was Bur.” The GREYHOUND

at Barking is mentioned in the parish register as early as 1592.[62] An

entry states that “Henry, the supposed son of Henry Fisher of London,

from the Greyhound, was bap^{d} the 17th of October.” For this sign we

are probably about equally indebted both to the sport of coursing and

the art of Heraldry. _Greyhounds argent_ formed either one or both of

the supporters of Henry VII., the badge, and often one of the

supporters, of Henry VIII., and one of the supporters of Elizabeth and

Mary; so that in all probability the sign found its origin in Heraldry,

but owes its use in the present day, largely at least, to coursing.

In a hunting district like Essex it is in no way surprising that there

should be as many as twenty-five references to the fox on our

sign-boards. Although twenty years ago the sign of the Fox only occurred

five times, it now occurs eleven times; while there are ten signs of the

FOX AND HOUNDS, and three of the FOX AND GOOSE. The latter is a

combination which mediæval artists never tired of representing. It may

be seen, among other places, on a carved oak screen in Hadstock Church.

Of the FLYING FOX at Colchester, Larwood and Hotten say (p. 170)--“It

may represent some kind of bat or flying squirrel (?) so denominated, or

is a landlord’s caprice.” It seems much more probable, however, that the

device is intended to represent a fox flying before the hounds.

There is a beer-house known as the WOLF at Great Coggeshall. The origin

of the sign, which is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten, is hard to

explain. Probably it is unique.

The sign of the HARE AND HOUNDS, of which, as previously stated (p. 76),

we have seven examples, is, doubtless, entirely derived from the sport

of coursing; but the RABBITS, a very old house still in existence at

Little Ilford, has probably an heraldic origin. Most likely the sign is

derived from three coneys appearing on some family coat of arms, but

whose, it is now difficult to say. The sign appeared in the list as the

THREE RABBITS forty years ago, and as the THREE CONEYS on Jean Roque’s

_Map of Ten Miles Round London_, published in 1746. Lysons, in his

_Environs of London_ (1796, vol. iv. p. 157), says--

“A great mart for cattle from Wales, Scotland, and the North of

England is held annually, from the latter end of February till the

beginning of May, on the flat part of the forest of Waltham

(commonly called Epping Forest), within the parishes of Ilford,

Eastham, Westham, Leyton, and Wanstead. A great part of the

business between the dealers is transacted at the RABBITS in this

parish--on the high road.”

There is also a beer-shop known as the RABBITS in Stapleford Tawney

parish. It is probably named after the foregoing. There is another

beer-house so called at West Thurrock. Larwood and Hotten do not mention

the sign under any of the above forms, although they say that in 1667

Hugh Conny, of Caxton and Elsworth, Cambridge, had THREE CONIES for a

sign, and a RABBIT is depicted on the farthing token of one William

Hutchenson, of Chelmsford.

[Illustration: FLEECE.]

The sign of the FLEECE occurs twice at *Colchester, once at *Coggeshall,

and once at Brentwood. That of the GOLDEN FLEECE appears at Chelmsford

and East Ham, although the former seems to have become golden only

during the last forty years. There were also FLEECES at Halstead and

Witham sixty years ago. Both forms of the sign are, of course, intended

to represent Jason’s Golden Fleece, or Gideon’s, and their use

commemorates the time when the woollen trade was one of the staple

industries of Essex. The Fleece also formed the pendant of the Order of

the GOLDEN FLEECE, which was founded in 1429 by Philip, Duke of Burgundy

and Count of Flanders, “to perpetuate the memory of his great revenues

raised by wools with the Low Countries,” as Ashmole says. Ancient

encaustic tiles have been found, Mr. Elliot writes, both in Witham and

Maldon (St. Mary’s) Churches bearing the arms of the Dukes of Burgundy,

with their badge of flint, steel, and sparks in the upper and side

spandrels, and the figure of the Fleece below. A fleece forms a charge

in the arms of the town of Leeds,[63] now the principal seat of the

woollen trade. Larwood and Hotten facetiously remark that “a fleece at

the door of an inn or public-house looks very like a warning of the fate

a traveller may expect within.” The STAR AND FLEECE is an odd

combination, which does not appear to be noticed in the _History of

Sign-boards_. It may simply be an impaled sign, or may represent the

fleece of one of the mullets in the arms of Leeds. An example has

existed at Kelvedon for over forty years, and another was in existence a

few years since. Another emblem of the woollen trade is the WOOLPACK, of

which, as already stated (p. 39), we have six examples, arranged in an

almost straight line across the county, namely, at *Romford,

Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, *Coggeshall, and *Colchester. Three, at

least, of these were in existence sixty years since, at which time there

was another at Bocking. It is recorded in _Bufton’s Diary_[64] that on

May 1, 1693, at Coggeshall, “Y^{e} soldiers set up a Maypole at y^{e}

WOOLPACKE doore.” The WOOLPACK is a device which appears commonly on the

tokens of the seventeenth century. It is met with at Billericay, Dunmow,

Castle Hedingham (twice), Braintree, Bocking, Witham, and Colchester.

The sign of the WOOLPACK, it should be noticed, is still, or was lately,

to be seen at the three last-named places. The sign of the SHEARS, as

pointed out elsewhere (p. 41), is another relic of the now departed

woollen trade. From the middle of the seventeenth to the end of the

eighteenth century, the spinning, carding, and weaving of wool formed

the staple industry in most of the larger towns and villages of Eastern

England. Several prominent families of the district in former days owed

their wealth to this trade. In the neighbourhood of Hedingham it is said

that several old houses, of which remnants only now exist, were once

“wool-halls,” combining a residence for the merchant with a warehouse

for his wools, worsteds, and “pieces.” Very high wages were earned by

the workpeople, even by children and old persons. It has been estimated

that, at the middle of last century, not less than 20,000 hands in and

around Colchester were employed in the woollen trade; but by the end of

the century the number had sunk to less than 8,000. Many old persons

still living can remember their parents’ or grand-parents’ accounts of

the festivities on St. Blaize’s Day, the 3rd of February, when there

were processions in mediæval fashion, with shepherdess and lamb, and men

and women spinning and weaving, accompanied by a great deal of noise and

fun, bell-ringing and band-playing, ribbons and banners, roystering and

drinking. In the evening bonfires were lit upon the hills to commemorate

(as the common people thought) the name of their patron, St. Blaize. The

weaving of bunting for ships’ flags lingered in and around Sudbury until

about twenty years ago, but has now quite died out in East Anglia. The

RAM, at North Woolwich, perhaps, represents the crest of the

Clothworkers’ Company.[65] Our six examples of the sign of the LAMB may,

or may not, have had an heraldic origin. They probably represent the

Lamb with the flag of the Apocalypse; but this was used as a crest by

the Merchant Taylors’ Company.[66] The farthing issued in 1654 by “Tho.

Lambe at Bvttls Gate in Colchester” bears a _Holy Lamb couchant_, and

that of “Joseph Lamb of Lee [Leigh], 1664,” bears the same device. In

both cases a rebus or pun on the name of the issuer is, of course,

intended. The LAMBS at *Colchester and *Romford are both at least sixty

years old. Probably the sign was first set up as an emblem of the

woollen trade. The five instances in which the Lamb occurs in

conjunction with a Lion have already been noticed (p. 63), and attention

has also been drawn to the fact (p. 23) that some, at least, of our

SHIPS are probably intended for _sheep_. The SHOULDER OF MUTTON, which

occurs both at Great Totham and Fordham, probably represents the joint

so often brought to table.

The BEAR occurs by himself only twice, namely, at Buttsbury (where he is

at least forty years old), and at Romford. The BEAR at Buttsbury is

mentioned in the Stock parish registers in 1673. Forty years ago there

were also BEARS at Colchester and Great Baddow. We are probably more

indebted to the old custom of bear-baiting for this sign than to

Heraldry. Larwood and Hotten say that it was originally adopted by

ale-houses as a pun on the word “beer.” If so, the pun was a very weak

one. The WHITE BEAR is to be seen at Galleywood and at Stanford Rivers.

At the latter place he has existed at least since 1789, and is

represented on a board over the door, but not upon the swinging

sign-board, as a Polar Bear picking his way over blocks of ice. The sign

of the WHITE BEAR is not a modern one. It was used in the seventeenth

century, and both of our Essex examples are over forty years old. The

Queen of Richard III. used a White Bear as her badge, and this perhaps

originated the sign.

Of the ELEPHANT AND CASTLE, a very old device, we have two instances in

Essex, one at Harwich, and the other at Colchester. Neither seems to

have been in existence twenty years ago. Most probably they are named

after the famous old coaching inn at Newington Butts; but they may have

originally been cutlers’ signs. The elephant with a castle on his back

(as he was generally represented in the Middle Ages) formed the crest of

the Cutlers’ Company.[67] At Great Baddow, Rayleigh, and elsewhere the

device serves as a beer-house sign.

The GOAT AND BOOTS on *East Hill, Colchester, though over forty years

old, is a sign which is not noticed in the _History of Sign-boards_. It

is, doubtless, a corruption of the not-uncommon sign of the GOAT IN

BOOTS, which appears to be a caricature of Welshmen, and not a

corruption of the Dutch description of Mercury, _der goden boode_ (the

gods’ messenger), as is often stated. We have in Essex no example of the

not-uncommon sign of the GOAT AND COMPASSES, which is usually supposed

to be a corruption of the Puritan motto, “God encompasses us.” This

explanation, however, is not sound. The motto could never have been

represented pictorially upon the sign-board, and we know that pictorial

representation was the sole aim and object of the sign in olden times.

Probably the sign is merely a compound one; or it may represent the arms

of the Cordwainers’ Company[68] in a corrupted form. To this origin may

be certainly traced the sign of the THREE GOATS’ HEADS, which, however,

does not occur in Essex.

The SQUIRREL’S HEAD at Squirrel’s Heath, Romford, has no doubt some

connection with the locality. It was not in existence forty years ago.

The sign of the THREE SQUIRRELS, which is not found in Essex, has been

in use for over two centuries.

The sign of the SEA HORSE, which has existed at *Colchester for at least

sixty years past, is not noticed by Larwood and Hotten. Very likely it

commemorates the capture in the Colne, and subsequent exhibition in the

town, of some such strange creature as a seal or porpoise, which vulgar

belief set down as a “sea horse.”

The sign of the DOLPHIN occurs four times in the county, namely, at

*Colchester, *Chelmsford, Maldon, and *Romford. The animal also figures

as a beer-house sign at Stisted, Goldhanger, &c. The houses bearing it

may have taken their sign from the many representations of the dolphin

in private coats of arms; but, most likely, they have simply been called

after the famous DOLPHIN Inn which existed in London for several

centuries, and is said to have been occupied by Louis, the Dauphin of

France, who, in 1216, came over to contest the English crown with King

John. It was once adorned with fleurs-de-lys, dolphins, and other French

cognizances. The dolphin formed the badge of the Dauphins of France,

just as the three ostrich feathers form the badge of our own Princes of

Wales. Larwood and Hotten do not notice the sign of the WHALEBONE of

which Essex possesses four examples, namely, at Woodham Ferrers,

*Colchester, Fingringhoe, and White Roothing. That at the latter place

has apparently been in existence for at least a century, as it is

mentioned more than once in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ in the year 1786,

while the one at Colchester figured in the list as the OLD WHALEBONE

forty years ago. The FISHBONE, however, spoken of by Larwood and Hotten

as being “rarely met with as a public-house sign,” though frequently

used by dealers in rags and bones, is probably the same sign under a

different name. In the museum at Saffron Walden there has been, for

nearly fifty years past, a large whale’s scapula, which is said formerly

to have hung as a sign in one of the streets of that town. Mr. Joseph

Clarke believes it was displayed at the KING’S HEAD, and it has on it an

almost illegible letter R, probably part of the monogram G. R.; but more

likely it formed the sign of the WHALEBONE at some house not now in

existence, or not under that name. Of the SUN AND WHALEBONE which has

existed at Latton since 1789 at least, the authors so frequently quoted

say that “it may have originated from a whalebone hanging outside the

house or [it may indicate] that the landlord had laid the foundation of

his fortune as a rag merchant.” More probably, however, its origin was

the impalement of two distinct signs. The sign-board is not pictorial.

This sign was very fully discussed in _Notes and Queries_ in 1862 (3rd

series, vol. i. pp. 250, 335, 359, 397, 419, and 473). Several most

profound speculations were advanced to account for it, but they were all

more or less far fetched. The WHALEBONE at Chadwell Heath has now

disappeared, though a beer-shop so named existed there until about the

year 1870. From it, in all probability, our four existing houses of this

name, as well as the SUN AND WHALEBONE at Latton, have taken their

designation; for the sign is a very uncommon one in the adjoining

counties, and does not appear at all in London. The house in question

originally took its name from two whale’s jaw-bones (not _rib_-bones, as

is commonly supposed) set up in the form of an archway over the road

close at hand. Local tradition says that the bones were those of a whale

that was stranded in the Thames near Dagenham during the great storm

that prevailed on the night preceding September 3, 1658, when Oliver

Cromwell died.

This was, perhaps, the case, as “Ye Whalebone” is marked against the

tenth milestone from London on the map of the high-road from London to

Harwich, given in Ogilby’s _Itinerarium Angliæ_, published in 1675, only

seventeen years after the whale is said to have been stranded. Also in

Dr. Howell’s _Ancient and Present State of England_, first published in

1678, it is stated (6th Ed. p. 263) that, “near about this time [1658],

there came up the Thames as far as Greenwich a whale of very great

length and bigness.” Daniel Defoe, too, in his _Tour through the whole

Island of Great Britain_, first published in 1724, says (vol. i. p. 3)

the WHALEBONE was “so called because the rib-bone of a large Whale,

taken in the River of Thames, was fixed there in 1658, the year Oliver

Cromwell died, for a monument of that monstrous creature, it being at

first about Eight and Twenty Foot long.” The WHALE’S BONE is also marked

on _Andrew and Drury’s Map of Essex_, published in 1777. That a storm of

most unusual magnitude did rage on the night in question, is certain.

Prideaux, in his _Introduction to History_ (1682), speaks of “that most

horrid tempestuous night which ushered in this day [on which Cromwell

died].” Pepys also mentions the storm. Nor is it anything new for whales

and similar animals to appear in the Thames. In Sir Richard Baker’s

_Chronicles of the Kings of England_ (p. 425), published in 1684, it is

recorded that on the 19th of January, 1606, “a great Porpus was taken at

West Ham, in a small creek a mile and a half within the land; and within

a few days after a Whale came up within eight miles of London, whose

body was seen divers times above the water, and was judged to exceed the

length of the largest ship in the River: but when she tasted the fresh

water and scented the land, she returned again into the sea.” On the

morning of April 31, 1879, too, a whale alarmed some fishermen by his

spouting near Hole Haven. Many other records might be cited. It is,

however, a curious circumstance that in M. J. Farmer’s _History of

Waltham Abbey_, published in 1735, there is given as an appendix “The

Inquisition taken the 17th of King Charles I. [1642] of a Perambulation

of Waltham Forest in the County of Essex,” in which occurs the following

passage:--[The Forest boundary runs] “from Great Ilford directly by the

same King’s High Way leading towards Rumford, to a certain _Quadrivium_

(or way leading four ways), called the Four Wants, where late was placed

and yet is a certain side of a whale, called the _Whale bone_.” From

this it would appear that the spot was known as the Whalebone long

before Cromwell’s death. Possibly, however, there is an error in the

above date, Charles I. being inserted instead of Charles II.

A good deal of discussion upon the subject took place several years ago

in the pages of _Notes and Queries_. In 1871 (p. 4), “G. S.” wrote that

he had often seen whales’ bones set upright in Holland for cattle to rub

against, and that he “was once struck with the same in a large park

between Ingatestone and Chelmsford. The owner was a Dutch gentleman, who

had introduced this sensible idea into England.” Other correspondents

wrote that they knew of whales’ bones having been set up in various

parts of England. Later on (p. 195), Mr. J. Perry, of Waltham Abbey,

wrote that--

“There is (or was lately) a pair of whale’s ribs placed over the

old toll-gate at Chadwell Heath, near Romford, Essex, which form a

kind of Gothic arch across the roadway. They must have been there

for a considerable period, as it is beyond the memory of any of the

good old country-folks living in the locality to tell when first

erected. At a little distance from the toll-house occurs a similar

pair, set up over the carriage entrance to a residence.”

Afterwards (1878, p. 397) “S. P.” wrote as follows:--

“When I was a boy, there stood by the roadside, about two miles

west of Romford, at the east end of the long straggling village of

Chadwell Heath, and on the left hand going from London, a

tremendous pair of bones, forming an arch. The bases were deeply

rooted in the earth, but even then the space spanned was

considerable. Near by was a toll-house, with its bar, known from

the adjacent relic as ‘Whalebone Gate.’ I think, too, if I remember

rightly, there stood near the spot a road-side inn called by the

sign of ‘the WHALEBONE.’ My father, an Essex man, long since dead,

used to tell me that he had it from his grandfather, that the bone

was the upper [should be lower] jaw of an immense whale, which had

been cast ashore about three miles to the south of the spot, on the

north bank of the Thames, at Dagenham, while the Great Storm was

raging on the night that Oliver Cromwell died. In course of time,

toll on suburban roads was abolished; the toll-house and gate were

cleared away; and the jaw was appropriated to serve as an entrance

arch to the front garden of a neighbouring suburban villa--the

rural residence, I believe, of a Whitechapel pork-butcher--an

edifice known, and still indicated on suburban maps of a tolerably

modern date, as ‘Whalebone House.’ ... What became of the worthy

tradesman I have above alluded to, I do not know. Probably his

house is still standing, but I am unable to identify it now by its

former title or peculiar gate. I am under the impression that what

remains of the relic has been transferred to its original site; for

I was past the spot where, so far as my memory serves me, it

formerly stood, on July 25th in this year. Half the arch (_i.e._,

one bone) stood upright, still deeply rooted in the earth, but

alone, forgotten and deserted, by the side of the high road in a

fallow field. No one in the neighbourhood seemed to know anything

about it or its history.”

To this, Mr. J. A. Sparvel-Bayly, of Billericay, wrote (1879, p. 58):--

“In the little village of East Tilbury in Essex, situate on the

banks of the Thames, and not far from Romford, is a house known as

‘Whalebone Cottage,’ in front of which is an arch composed of the

jawbones of a huge whale. From their weather-worn appearance they

may possibly have belonged to that alluded to by S. P.”

In reply to this, Mr. W. Phillips (p. 338) stated that--

“The jawbones spoken of by Mr. Sparvel-Bayly as being at East

Tilbury, ‘not far from Romford’ (it is twelve miles from Romford as

the crow flies), cannot be identical with those mentioned by S. P.,

whose account I can corroborate, so far as knowing the jawbones he

mentions, forty years ago, when travelling on the box-seat of the

old Colchester Coach alongside a coachman of the Mr. Weller sort,

of some sixty-five summers. The two bones were then in existence on

the north side of the road near the tenth milestone, and two miles

the London side of Romford, in front of a roadside public-house

with the sign of the ‘WHALEBONE,’ which my coachman said used to be

the resort of the many highwaymen that once infested Chadwell Heath

close by. He spoke of his being told when a boy that the bones had

been there from the time of Cromwell.”

From the foregoing, it is clear that there were formerly _two_ pairs of

bones set up near together; indeed, Mr. J. Perry distinctly says there

were. One pair has now entirely disappeared. The other pair still stand

(although S. P. seems to have overlooked them), as described, over the

entrance of an adjoining house, known to this day as “Whalebone House”

or “Lodge,” and marked as such in local directories. There is also in

the immediate vicinity a “Whalebone Farm,” as well as a “Whalebone

Lane.” The bones (of which an illustration is here given) are of the

following dimensions:--

Feet. Inches.

Height out of ground (along curve) 15 6

Circumference (at base) 3 3½

“ (near top) 2 0

Breadth at base (flat inner side) 1 5

“ (round outer side) 1 10½

[Illustration: GATEWAY AT WHALEBONE HOUSE.

(_Chadwell Heath._)]

If, as seems probable, the bones are those of the Greenland whale

(_Balœna mysticetus_), it is extremely unlikely that the creature

which owned them was ever stranded in the Thames. The following letter

from Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., is of much interest. He says--

“Pairs of the lower jawbones of the Greenland whale, erected

usually as gate-posts, occur in many parts of the eastern counties,

especially in the neighbourhood of the old whaling-ports--the

Thames, Yarmouth, Hull, Whitby, &c. They have all been brought from

the Arctic Seas by whalers, at any time since 1611, when the first

ships left England for the Spitzbergen whaling, which (with the

Baffin’s Bay whaling) has been carried on with more or less success

ever since, though now confined to Peterhead and Dundee. I very

much doubt Defoe’s ‘28 feet long.’ Twenty feet, following the

curve, is the maximum of the Greenland whale, and no other whale

has such large jaws. I also doubt the story of the creature being

stranded, because, if so, it cannot have been a Greenland whale--a

species which never visits our shores.”

Larwood and Hotten, in common with nearly all heraldic writers,

innocently treat of whales and dolphins as _fishes_, as they were

commonly supposed to be in the Middle Ages. A writer in _All the Year

Round_, so lately as the year 1879, commits the same absurd error.

It will here be necessary to ask pardon of modern men of science for

discussing, under the heading “Zoology,” certain monstrous beasts which,

though unknown to us in these enlightened times, were accredited with a

material existence by the ancient heralds, and others who wrote in the

dark days of several centuries ago. Such imaginary creatures as dragons,

griffins, unicorns, and the like, are, of course, here referred to.

[Illustration: DRAGON.]

The DRAGON in his own proper colour (whatever that may be) does not

occur in the county; but we have four examples of the GREEN DRAGON,

situated respectively at Shenfield, Black Notley, *Saffron Walden, and

Waltham Abbey. Sixty years ago there were also GREEN DRAGONS at

*Colchester and elsewhere. It is very easy to account for the origin of

the use of the Dragon as a sign, but it is not so easy to say why he

should so often be green. The GREEN DRAGON, however, has been a common

sign for over two centuries. As the badge and supporter of the arms of

many of our sovereigns, he was generally red, though occasionally black

or golden. The Dragon appeared on the standard of the Saxons, and was

used as a badge by several early Princes of Wales. It formed one or

other of the supporters of the arms of Henry VII., and of all the Tudor

sovereigns except Queen Mary. It appears also in the heraldic bearings

of many private families. There can, therefore, be very little doubt as

to its heraldic derivation, although it was formerly used as a chemist’s

sign, in which case its origin was probably non-heraldic. Perhaps, as

the Rev. H. L. Elliot writes, the strange colour in which this monster

usually appears on sign-boards is due to the fact that a Green Dragon,

holding in his mouth a bloody hand, was a badge of William Herbert, Lord

Steward, created Earl of Pembroke in the time of Edward VI. The GEORGE

AND DRAGON is a sign which occurs eight times in Essex. This very

common sign has increased greatly in popularity since the institution of

the Order of the Garter, of which a representation of St. George killing

a dragon forms the pendant; but the fact that several of our recent

kings have borne the name of George has no doubt had a good deal to do

with its adoption. The legendary act of St. George, the patron-saint of

England, is alluded to in the following amusing little rhyme:--

“To save a mayd, St. George the Dragon slew--

A pretty tale, if all that’s told be true.

Most say there are no dragons, and ’tis sayd

There was no George;--let’s hope there was a mayd.”

A representation of St. George killing the Dragon appears on the token

issued by J. Lark of Coggeshall in 1667.[69]

There are also in Essex three examples of the sign of the GRIFFIN,

situated respectively at Great Canfield, Halstead, and Danbury. The

GRIFFIN at Danbury, an ancient and well-known inn, is mentioned in the

_Chelmsford Chronicle_ on May 9, 1788. It is also several times

prominently alluded to (ii. p. 174, iii. pp. 130 and 144, and iv. p. 66)

in Mr. Joseph Strutt’s Essex and Herts Romance of _Queenhoo Hall_,

published in 1808. Although in former ages people firmly believed in the

existence of griffins, the animal has never yet been seen except in

Heraldry. Consequently it is only natural to assign the origin of its

use as a sign to that art; but griffins appear upon the escutcheons of

so many families that it is now quite impossible to say in whose honour

it made its first appearance upon the sign-board.

[Illustration: GRIFFIN.]

The UNICORN appears as a public-house sign at West Ham and at Romford.

At the latter place the house is situated in Hare Street, and is at

least a century old, as it is mentioned in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_

for March 2, 1787. A _unicorn rampant_ is depicted on the farthing

tokens of William Alldred of Colchester, and a _unicorn passant_ on

those of “Will. Anger of Mvch Clafton [? Clacton] in Esex, 1654.” The

original use of the UNICORN as an inn-sign may be attributed to the fact

that it was formerly a common chemist’s sign, and is one of the

supporters of the arms of the Apothecaries’ Company, or to the fact that

it now forms the sinister supporter of the Royal Arms. Much interesting

information as to the ancient belief in its existence, and the power of

its horn as an antidote to all poison, is given in the _History of

Sign-boards_.

[Illustration]

[Illustration] CHAPTER IV.

_ORNITHOLOGICAL SIGNS._

Ornithological signs stand next in turn for notice. They are fairly

numerous, and many are of strictly heraldic derivation.

[Illustration: SPREAD EAGLE.]

The Eagle appears in one form or another on nineteen Essex sign-boards.

On seven occasions a simple EAGLE is intended. Twenty years ago,

however, there were but three. Ten times the sign of the SPREAD EAGLE

occurs, and the same device is depicted on the tokens issued by John

Millbank of Colchester in 1665, and by Samuel Wall of Witham in 1668.

The SPREAD EAGLE at Harwich, which is a house still extant, is referred

to in the issue of the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for March 31, 1786. At

Little Bardfield a carved and gilded SPREAD EAGLE is set up on the top

of a post before the inn. The sign is truly heraldic, inasmuch as the

bird does not seem to require to use its legs, but stands upon its tail.

In the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for March 2, 1787, there appears an

advertisement stating that a “Main of Cocks” was to be fought on the 7th

of that month at the *SPREAD EAGLE in Prittlewell, between the Gentlemen

of that place and the Gentlemen of Great Wakering. Eagles occur so

frequently in Heraldry that there can be no doubt whence the sign of the

EAGLE is derived; and the fact that the bird is, more often than not,

described as “spread,” goes far to confirm its heraldic derivation. An

eagle was displayed upon the ensign of the Roman emperors, and has since

formed one of the chief

[Illustration: EAGLE AND CHILD.]

cognizances of the sovereigns of Germany, Russia, Prussia, Austria,

France, &c. Edward III. bore a crowned eagle as his crest, and Henry IV.

adopted a spread eagle as one of his badges. The bird is also of very

frequent occurrence in the armorial bearings of private families. The

EAGLE at Snaresbrook is a well-known old hostelry, and is a very

favourite Bank Holiday resort of “‘Arry and ‘Arriet” from the East End

of London. The EAGLE AND CHILD, which is to be seen at Shenfield and

Forest Gate, is not uncommon elsewhere, and will be at once recognized

as the crest of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, which represents an eagle

carrying off a child, as told in the well-known legend,[70] and as here

depicted. In a curious collection of miscellanea relating to signs

formed by a Mr. G. Creed, and now preserved in the British Museum, it is

stated that in the parlour of the last-named inn there is (or was in

1850) framed “a MS. bit of Doggrell,” commencing as follows:--

_The Essex Flats too Knowing for the Yorkshire Sharps._

“An Essex Landlord of some fame,

Whose honesty deserves a name,

Near to the Forest hangs his sign,

A house well known for Bowls of wine.

It represents a lovely boy,

Such as would give a father joy;

Beside him (don’t say ’tis absurd)

Stands the majestic kingly Bird,

And both are named and known together,

As birds are known that’s of one feather.”

The rest of the poem, which is long, does not merit reproduction. This

house is marked on Jean Roque’s _Map of Ten Miles round London_,

published in 1741. The FALCON occurs three times, namely, at Southend,

Littlebury, and Wivenhoe. Twenty years ago one of these figured in the

list as the NEW FALCON, and sixty years since there was another in the

High Street at *Braintree. A farthing token showing a bird holding a

sceptre, and issued by “John Parker at the Falken in Wevenhoe,” is

described by Boyne. Taylor (see p. 28) also mentions this Parker in

1636. As the sign of the FALCON still exists at Wivenhoe it is probably

the same house kept more than two centuries ago by John Parker,

especially as the same house is mentioned again in an advertisement in

the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for January 13, 1786. At the end of last

century there was an inn with the sign of the FALCON close against the

Cross at Waltham. Two illustrations of it, published respectively in

1787 and 1791, are preserved in Mr. Creed’s collection. They show the

sign-board (a pictorial one, inscribed with the name of the

landlord--Sibley) suspended from a beam which extends across the road.

Above this beam is hung a bunch of grapes within an iron frame, as here

shown. The sign has now been altered to that of the GREAT EASTERN.

[Illustration: FALCON.

(_At Waltham Cross in 1787._)]

The OLD FALCON Inn, which formerly existed at Castle Hedingham, though

now reduced to a mere beer-shop, was once evidently a very good house.

Its beams and rafters are very massive, and bear the crest and badge of

the Earls of Oxford, like not a few other old houses in the vicinity.

The sign is probably identical with that of the HAWK, which occurs at

Battles Bridge. Its origin may have been the ancient sport of hawking;

but, more probably, it has an heraldic derivation. A _falcon volant_

forms part of the arms of the Stationers’ Company, and it was probably

adopted by booksellers on this account. Both Edward III. and Richard II.

used a falcon as one of their badges, and the FALCON HOLDING A SCEPTRE,

which, as just mentioned, existed at Wivenhoe in the seventeenth

century, was presumably derived from one of the badges of Queen

Elizabeth, _a falcon crowned, holding a sceptre_. It is, however, by no

means improbable that the particular instance of the sign of the FALCON

in Falcon Square, Castle Hedingham (which happens to be _triangular_!),

may be a relic of the ancient family of the Hawkwoods, who resided in

the adjoining parish of Sible Hedingham. Sir John Hawkwood, the famous

soldier who became so prominent in the Italian wars of the fourteenth

century, was buried in Florence, but upon the beautiful crocketted

canopy of the monument erected to him in the south aisle of Sible

Hedingham Church, his badge (?), a Hawk or Falcon, is carved several

times, with other devices.

[Illustration: WHITE SWAN.

(_The Badge of the De Bohuns._)]

The Swan, including several variations in colour, &c., is a very common

Essex sign, and appears in thirty-eight different places; while, forty

or fifty years ago, it seems to have been even commoner. Thirty-two

times he occurs as a simple SWAN; at Harwich he appears as a NEW SWAN;

at Rayne and Roydon (where he is at least one hundred years old) as a

BLACK SWAN; at Chelmsford as an OLD SWAN; and at Epping and West Ham as

a WHITE SWAN. The SWAN now existing at Brentwood is, apparently, at

least a century old, as it is mentioned in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ on

March 24, 1786. The fondness of the bird for liquid (though of a purer

kind than that usually supplied at public-houses) is said to have been

the reason for its very common adoption as a public-house sign; but the

custom is equally likely to have had an heraldic origin. Kings Henry IV.

and V. both used a swan among other badges, and the same device formed

part of the coat of arms of the De Bohun and other families. The annexed

wood-cut of the _swan proper, ducally gorged and chained or_, which

formed the badge of the De Bohuns, is taken from the central spandrel of

the canopy of the brass in Westminster Abbey to Alianore De Bohun,

Duchess of Gloucester, who died in 1399. It is also very probable that

the white swan which formed the badge of the great De Mandevilles, once

Earls of Essex, has had something to do with the abundance of this sign

in the county. In _Tavern Anecdotes_ (p. 241) it is stated that in 1825

the landlord of the *SWAN at Stratford recommended the charms of his

house in the following poetic strain:--

“At the Swan Tavern kept by Lound

The best accommodation’s found,--

Wine, Spirits, Porter, Bottled Beer,

You’ll find in high perfection here.

If in the garden with your lass

You feel inclined to take a glass,

There Tea and Coffee of the best

Provided is, for every guest.

And, females not to drive from hence,

The charge is only fifteen pence.

Or, if disposed a Pipe to smoke,

To sing a song or crack a joke,

You may repair across the Green,

Where nought is heard, though much is seen;

There laugh and drink, and smoke away,

And but a moderate reckoning pay,

Which is a most important object

To every loyal British subject.

In short, the best accommodation’s found

By those who deign to visit Lound.”

In Mr. Chas. Golding’s _List of Essex Tokens_,[71] pieces inscribed

“Abel Bond at y^{e} WHITE [SWAN] in Stratford, His Halfe Penny,” and

“John Chandler [a SWAN] in Stratford, J. C.” are mentioned. The

still-existing SWAN at Baythorn End, Birdbrook, appears to be over two

centuries old. In the parish register is the following entry: “Martha

Blewitt, y^{e} wife of nine husbands successively, buried eight of y^m,

but last of all y^{e} woman dy’d allsoe, was bury’d May 7th, 1681.” A

slab in the Church shows that Martha Blewitt was landlady of the above

inn.

In Cromwell’s _Excursions through Essex_ (i. p. 17) it is stated that

“The SWAN, a very large and famous inn, anciently stood in the road near

the farm called Shakestones.” The view of Romford given in Wright’s

_History of Essex_ (1831, ii. p. 435) shows the graven sign of the WHITE

SWAN Inn, projecting from the front of the building exactly as it does

now. It appears from an old Manor Roll[72] that in 1572 there was a

“tenement called the SWAN”--not necessarily an inn--in Coggeshall. The

sign still exists there--namely, in East Street--though possibly not at

the same house. It is, however, again mentioned in 1678 in _Bufton’s

Diary_.[73] Mr. King finds mention in ancient deeds of a SWAN--either

inn, shop, or tenement--at Prittlewell in 1652. In the _Records of the

House of Gurney_ (p. 539) there is mention of “a messuage or tenement

heretofore called or known by the name or sign of the SWAN, situate in

the parish of St. Mary, Maldon,” in the seventeenth century. Perhaps the

*SWAN Inn still existing in the High Street is the same house. In 1678

there was a BLACK SWAN at or near Audley End. Poor Robin (see p. 66)

mentions it in his _Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London_. After

his acquaintances had drunk heavily with him at the ROSE AND CROWN,

Saffron Walden, whence he started, he says--

“Yet would my jovial friends on me attend,

Part of my Journey unto Audley End,

By them called Ninevah, but no great city,

Though too much sin may be there, more’s the pity.

There at the sign (of such a thing, I think,

As never swam on pond or river’s brink)

Of a Black Swan, I entered in.

* * * * *

Yet although of this sign there’s no such thing,

It was a sign there was good drink within.”

Of the well-known OLD FOUR SWANS at Waltham Cross Mr. E. Walford, in

_Greater London_ (vol. i. p. 393), writes as follows:--

“It is undoubtedly an old building; but it is questionable whether

it can properly lay claim to the antiquity that is locally assigned

to it; for in it, according to tradition, the body of Queen Eleanor

remained for the night preceding its solemn entry into London.

Salmon considers this inn to have been the original manor-house of

the honour of Richmond; and Gough says that it ‘bears marks of

great antiquity in the forms of its chimneys, and the quantity of

chestnut timber employed about it.’ A large signboard, supported on

tall posts, placed on the opposite sides of the way, swings across

the road, having on it the inscription, ‘Ye Olde Foure Swannes

Hostelrie, 1260.’”

David Hughson, in his work on _London_ (vol. ii. p. 339), says of this

house, that in 1805 it was a good specimen of the old style of house,

“consisting of three sides, sometimes of four, with an entrance by a

square aperture in the front, into the quadrangle.... It is the

manor-house of the manor of Theobalds, and was formerly the residence of

a natural son of Henry VIII., whom he created Earl of Richmond.” In the

parish register of Waltham Holy Cross, or Waltham Abbey, there is the

following entry: “Julii, 1612, Margarett, the daughter of Edward

Scarlett of Cestrehunt, was buried 26 daye, dwelling at the signe of Ye

Old Swanne in Waltham Cross.” In days gone by this inn was a well-known

posting-house, and more recently it numbered Charles Lamb among its

patrons. The SWAN WITH TWO NECKS was formerly the sign of a private

house in Head Street, Colchester, once occupied by Miles Gray, the

celebrated bell-founder. In his day he was quite the head of his craft.

Bells founded either by him or his son and successor Miles, who died in

1686, are still found in many belfries throughout Essex. In his will,

dated May 17, 1649,[74] he bequeaths unto his wife Dorothy all the

“rents, issues, p’fits, cominge, growinge, and arisinge out of the east

end of the capitall messuage or tenement, lately burned downe, scituate

and beinge below Head Gate, in Colchester aforesayd, commonly called or

knowne by the name of the Swann w^{th} two Neckes,” &c. It is commonly

supposed that the word “necks” has been corrupted from “nicks,” swans

having formerly been marked by nicks or notches on the bill. The Rev.

Stephen Weston, in the _Archæologia_ for 1812, states that the king’s

swans were formerly marked by _two nicks_, as shown in the two

illustrations given below, which represent the royal swan-marks of Henry

VIII. and Edward IV. respectively. These, he says, were not afterwards

understood, and the double-headed two-necked swan was invented. Larwood

and Hotten, however, doubt this derivation, chiefly because the nicks

would have been so small when represented on the sign-board as to be of

no practical use as a distinctive sign.

[Illustration: SWAN BILLS WITH TWO NICKS.

(_After Yarrell._)]

[Illustration: SWAN WITH TWO NECKS.

(_After Larwood and Hotten._)]

The COCK is a very ancient and very common sign. Larwood and Hotten say

that it was already in use in the time of the Romans. We have no less

than eighteen examples of the simple COCK, and an OLD COCK occurs at

Sheering. The ancient and well-known COCK Hotel at Epping finds frequent

mention in the numbers of the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for the year 1786.

Taylor (see p. 28) also mentions it by name as long ago as 1636. It is a

very old house, though now re-fronted with brick. The Rev. Wm. Cole, in

his voluminous MSS. in the British Museum, says that on the 26th of

October, 1774, he “arrived at Epping in the dusk of the evening, and

lodged and dined late at the COCK Inn.” The COCK Inn still existing at

Stock is several times mentioned in the parish registers, namely, in

1634, 1639, and 1693. On the latter occasion, “a stranger who died at

the Cock, being a poor man, was buried by the constables, November 20.”

The COCKE Inn at Great Coggeshall (not now existing) was once a house of

good standing. In 1614 James I. granted it to Henry Eades, and in 1616

to Peregrine Gastrell and Ralph Lounds.[75] Not improbably in this case

the sign was derived from the arms of the Abbey of Coggeshall.[76] The

COCK, near the Church at Waltham Abbey, is a very ancient inn. It finds

frequent mention in the old parish registers. The marriage of John

Broadly, of the COCK Inn, is recorded as early as February, 1599. In

1662 there was a COCK at Chelmsford, which does not appear to be in

existence now. It is mentioned as being “on the hither side of the

bridge” (_i.e._, the side nearest to Romford) in the _Account of the

Murder of Thomas Kidderminster_, already referred to. This was probably

the same inn mentioned by Foxe in his _Book of Martyrs_ when he says

that “one Richard Potto the elder, an inn-holder, dwelling at the sign

of the Cocke, did much trouble” George Eagles, who was martyred in 1557.

For the prevalence of this sign we have probably to thank the barbarous

old custom of cock-fighting, as is obvious in the case of the sign of

the FIGHTING COCKS, which occurs at Little Sampford and Wendens Ambo,

and the GAME COCK at Chadwell Heath. But the cock is also by no means an

uncommon heraldic bearing, and several combinations into which the bird

enters have probably had an heraldic origin. For instance, the sign of

the COCK AND CROWN, which existed at Colchester forty years back, may

have represented one of the badges of Henry VIII., which was a _white

cock crowned, with the cypher H.R._ The same king also often used a

_white cock crowned_, as one of his supporters. At the same time it may

simply have been an impaled sign of very modern date. In any case it is

very rare. The COCK AND BELL, which appears at High Easter, Writtle, and

*Romford, is an apparently meaningless sign, and is probably an

impalement. The last-named example seems, however, to have been in

existence for at least a century, as it is mentioned in an advertisement

in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for September 14, 1764. In Wright’s

_History of Essex_ the inn itself is depicted. Taylor, too, probably

refers to this house in his _Catalogue of Tavernes_ when he mentions a

COCK at Romford in 1636. The example at Writtle has an old pictorial

sign-board representing a resplendent, though faded, cock, with a bell

over his head. The COCK AND MAGPIE, which has existed since 1789 at

least on Epping Green, is probably called after a celebrated London

tavern of the same name. The sign is identical in its origin with that

of the COCK AND PIE. By the latter name is known some wine and spirit

vaults of repute which for over a century have been established on

*North Hill, Colchester. Several more or less likely meanings for the

sign have been suggested, but the authors of the _History of

Sign-boards_ consider it to be a corrupted sign. They believe that it

originally represented the PEACOCK PIE, formerly a very favourite dish.

When the dish went out of fashion the sign became abbreviated into the

COCK AND PIE; and as that appeared meaningless, it was in time corrupted

into the COCK AND MAGPIE, in both of which forms we still have it. Forty

years ago the sign of the MAGPIE existed at Great Warley, and there is

now a PEACOCK at Canning Town. A rebus upon the name of the issuer,

Richard Cock of Colchester, occurs on a farthing token dated 1658. The

RAVEN as a sign is found at Berden. It was a badge of the old Scotch

kings, and may have been set up as a Jacobite symbol. The BLACKBIRDS,

which occurs at Bulmer, and the THREE BLACKBIRDS, which occurs at

Leyton, are, doubtless, two signs which were identical in their origin,

and are probably connected with the RAVEN, the THREE RAVENS, the THREE

CROWS, and the THREE CHOUGHS, all of which are fairly common in other

counties, and are supposed by Larwood and Hotten to typify Charles,

James, and Rupert. It is, however, just as likely that they represent

the modern version of some family coat of arms. Many such coats bear

three birds, which might, with almost equal correctness, be referred to

any of the species just mentioned. Various doves and pigeons have

already been spoken of (p. 38), but there still remains to be mentioned

the curious sign of the RAINBOW AND DOVE, which is to be found at North

Weald. In the list of signs in 1789 (p. 7) it appears as the RAINBOW

merely. The sign is apparently quite meaningless, unless it typifies the

rainbow and dove which figure in the account of “the Flood” (Genesis,

chaps. viii. and ix.). The NIGHTINGALE at Wanstead is another inn-sign

which does not seem to be mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. It is at

least forty years old, and, doubtless, takes its name from, or gives its

name to, Nightingale Square, in which it stands. The sign of the OWL,

which has existed at High Beech since 1789 at least, is spoken of in the

_History of Sign-boards_ as occurring only once elsewhere, namely, at

Calverley, near Leeds. A bird (presumably a FINCH) occurs on the

halfpenny token of John Finch of Halstead, who was probably a maltster,

as the other side of his token bore the representation of a MALT-SCOOP.

The BIRD IN HAND occurs five times in Essex, namely, at Braintree,

Halstead (twice), Coggeshall, and *Stratford. There are also beer-houses

so called at Goldhanger and Chelmsford. Mr. G. F. Beaumont of Coggeshall

states that the *BIRD IN HAND at that place was formerly known as the

THOROUGH Inn, because there was a right of way or thoroughfare through

it from Earl Street to Church Street. He also mentions, as a curious

coincidence, that a short time since the name of the tenant was Joseph

_Bird_, and that of the owner Richard _Bird_ Holmes. The same gentleman

contributes to the _Coggeshall Almanac_ for the present year an

interesting “Programme of a Procession, exhibited by the Weavers of

Coggeshall, on Wednesday, the 15th of June, 1791,” and which was to “set

out precisely at eight o’clock from the BIRD IN HAND.” The idea of the

sign is suggested by the proverb--

“A bird in hand is better far,

Than two that in the bushes are.”

The device is to be seen on some of the trade tokens of the seventeenth

century. The sign of the FEATHERS at Hatfield Broad Oak is clearly

identical with that of the PLUME OF FEATHERS at Loughton; indeed, the

former appears in Mr. Creed’s list (p. 7) as having been the PLUME OF

FEATHERS in 1789. The house at Loughton is also mentioned in the same

list, so that both are at least a hundred years old. Both, of course,

now at least represent the badge of our Princes of Wales. Ostrich

feathers have been among the devices of our kings and princes from very

early times; and the pretty tale of how the Black Prince took them from

the King of Bohemia, whom he killed in the battle of Creci, is a pure

delusion. As the Rev. H. L. Elliot points out, “Single feathers,

differenced in various ways, were used as badges by the kings and the

Beauforts before the Wars of the Roses. Henry VI. used two feathers in

saltire, the sinister argent, surmounted of the dexter or, as here

depicted, as one of his badges.”

[Illustration: PLUME OF FEATHERS.

(_Badge of the Prince of Wales._)]

[Illustration: THE FEATHERS.

(_Badge of Henry VI._)]

Twenty years since a house at Stanstead bore the sign of the BELL AND

FEATHERS, which is a combination not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. It

was probably merely an impaled sign, as it was formerly the BELL simply,

and has now returned to its old name, under which it will be hereafter

referred to. The sign of the PHŒNIX now only occurs at Rainham,

though there was another example at Billericay forty years since. The

sign was formerly often set up by chemists, but other tradesmen also

used it. The fact that a phœnix forms the crest of the Blacksmiths’

Company (p. 32) has, perhaps, had something to do with bringing the bird

into favour as a sign. This completes our list of ornithological signs.

[Illustration] CHAPTER V.

_PISCATORY, INSECT, AND REPTILIAN SIGNS._

... “Ye ale-house painted signs.”

SHAKESPEARE: _Titus Andronicus_, Act iv., Scene 3.

This class of signs--or rather combination of several small groups,

taken together for the sake of convenience--is, naturally, very far from

a large one. It contains, indeed, only four signs, all told.

The FISH AND EELS, which is a very strange device appearing at Roydon,

is our only existing sign connected with fish, although TWO FISHES

appeared on the tokens of the two William Wildmans (father and son) of

Saffron Walden, issued in 1656 and 1667 respectively. The former spells

the name Saffron Wallding. The sign, perhaps, originated in the arms of

the Fishmongers’ Company.[77] Larwood and Hotten do not notice the Fish

and Eels, although this house has displayed the sign since 1789 at

least. It may be a meaningless impalement.

Only two signs occurring in the county are in any way connected with

insects. These are the FLY AND BULLOCK, already described (p. 67), and

the BEEHIVE, which occurs five times, namely, at Great Baddow, Witham,

Horkesley, Ilford, and Lambourne. The sign is generally represented (as

at Witham and Baddow) by an old straw hive, or skep, with a great many

bees, _volant, counter-volant_ (as heraldic writers say), around it,

probably to indicate that a busy trade is carried on within. It is

recorded[78] in the Barking parish register, that in 1653, “Francis, the

sonne of an Ethiopian, born at the BEEHIVE,” was baptised. Under this

heading must be noticed a sign which, although it does not occur in

Essex, is, nevertheless, connected with the county. This sign is the

ESSEX SERPENT, which still exists in King Street, Covent Garden; and,

when Larwood and Hotten wrote, there was also another example in Charles

Street, Westminster. Those gentlemen think that it was, perhaps,

originally set up “in allusion to a fabulous monster recorded in a

catalogue of wonders and awful prognostications contained in a broadside

of 1704,[79] from which we learn that ‘Before Henry the second dyed, ...

a Dragon of marvellous bigness was discovered at St. Osyph in Essex.’

Had we any evidence that it is an old sign, we might almost be inclined

to consider it as dating from the civil war, and hung up with reference

to Essex, the Parliamentary General; for, though we have searched the

chroniclers fondest of relating wonders and monstrous apparitions, we

have not succeeded in finding any authority for the St. Osyph Dragon,

other than the above-mentioned broadside.” Another reference to the same

unwelcome visitor is, however, to be found in Dr. Howell’s _Ancient and

Present State of England_ (1712), wherein it is recorded (p. 75) that

“At St. Osyphs in Essex was seen a dragon of marvellous bigness, which

by moving burned houses.” The dragon is also mentioned in Sir Richard

Baker’s _Chronicles of the Kings of England_, published in 1684. It is,

nevertheless, fairly certain that the sign has no reference to the St.

Osyth dragon; for there is a much more likely origin. In the British

Museum Library may be seen a highly remarkable tract of the year 1669,

entitled, _The Flying Serpent, or Strange News out of Essex: being a

true relation of a Monstrous Serpent which hath divers times been seen

at a parish called Henham on the Mount, within four miles of Saffron

Walden. Showing the length, proportion, and bigness of the

[Illustration: THE FLYING SERPENT.

(_Facsimile of Original._)]

Serpent, the place where it commonly lurks, and what means hath been

used to kill it. Also a discourse of other Serpents, and particularly

of a Cockatrice killed at Saffron Walden_,” &c.[80] The truth of the

statements contained in the tract is attested by the Churchwarden, the

Constable, the Overseer of the Poor, and four Householders. The

title-page bears no author’s name, and the imprint of the copy in

question is partially destroyed; but there can be little doubt that it

is one of the many curious productions of “Poor Robin,” whose

_Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London_ has already been noticed

(p. 66).[81] In addition to an awe-inspiring portrait of the beast, here

reproduced, the tract contains a very amusing, though now highly absurd,

account of the first discovery of the serpent, the nature of its

habitat, the means taken to kill it, and other details, as set forth in

the title. Doubtless the appearance of the tract caused sufficient talk

and attracted enough attention to induce some enterprising publican or

other tradesman to set up the ESSEX SERPENT as a sign; or perhaps some

former GRIFFIN or GREEN DRAGON was rechristened under that name in order

to attract customers. That it is a fairly old sign is certain. Gough, in

his _British Topography_,[82] after alluding to the pamphlet just spoken

of, says: “Mr. Oldys [who died in 1761] says there is a public-house in

King Street, Covent Garden, called the Essex Serpent, and having a

serpent painted on its sign.” Sussex had a “strange and monstrous

Serpent (or Dragon)” in 1614, as may be learned from a very curious old

pamphlet of that date, entitled _True and Wonderful_, republished in the

_Harleian Miscellany_.[83] Essex can boast of a reptilian sign which

probably exists nowhere else, a beer-house keeper at Ingatestone having,

for some inscrutable reason, selected the VIPER--a device not noticed by

Larwood and Hotten.

[Illustration] CHAPTER VI.

_BOTANICAL SIGNS._

The next great class of signs which will be noticed includes those which

are derived from the Vegetable Kingdom. These may be called “Botanical

Signs.” Though not so numerous as the Zoological Signs, they are,

nevertheless, fairly common; but only a comparatively small number can

be traced back to an heraldic origin.

Those signs will be noticed first which are obviously derived from some

prominent tree or trees growing close to the houses called after them.

These seem generally to be of very modern origin, as they figure but

sparsely in the list printed forty years ago. Most of them, it will be

noticed, are in the vicinity of London. There is a BAY TREE at

Stratford, a CHESTNUT TREE at Walthamstow, an ELMS at Leytonstone, a FIR

TREES at Wanstead, a FOUR ASHES at Takeley, a GROVE Tavern at

Walthamstow, a HOLLY BUSH at Leyton, and another at Loughton, a HOLLY

TREE at Forest Gate, and a MAY BUSH at Great Oakley. The sign of the

WILLOWS appears at Willingale Doe. There is also on the list a THREE

ASHES at Cressing, and another at Chelmsford, while forty years since

there was another at Rochford, a YEW TREE at Great Horkesley, and

another at Felstead (beer-house), a THREE ELMS at Chignal St. James

(which has three elm trees in front of it), and no less than seven

CHERRY TREES in different parts of the county, although forty years ago

only four were in existence. The THORN INN at *Mistley seems to have

been in existence since 1786 at least, as it is mentioned in an

advertisement in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ for February 24th in that

year. Its sign is, obviously, connected with the old name of the place,

which was Mistley Thorn. In the _Very Young Lady’s Tour from London to

Aldborough and Back_ (1804, see p. 37) occurs the following:

“Our first stage is to Mistley; we stop at the Thorn,

And shall see the fine sights which that village adorn.”

There is a ROUND BUSH (beer-shop) at Purleigh. At Havering there is an

ORANGE TREE, and in the *Cattle Market at Braintree there is another

house with the same name. The latter has been in existence for at least

forty years. At Chelmsford, too, near the New London Road, there is a

beer-shop known as the ORANGE TREE. Inquiry has shown that the house was

built some years ago by a woman who had saved sufficient money for the

purpose out of dealing in oranges. She named her beer-shop the ORANGE

TREE, a name which it has since retained, though it has long since

passed out of her hands. There are WALNUT TREES at Little Horkesley and

Great Waltham (beer-house). In 1662 there was another house of the same

name at “Mile-end Green” (probably Mill Green, Writtle, or Mile End

Green, Great Easton), as mentioned in the _Account of the Murder of

Thomas Kidderminster_, already referred to (p. 56). There is some doubt

as to whether or not the sign of the OAK, which occurs three times,

namely, at Halstead, Messing, and Great Saling, and that of the OLD OAK,

which occurs at Romford, ought to be included in this catalogue. These

signs may be, and probably are, identical with that of the ROYAL OAK,

which occurs eighteen times in different parts of the county, and of

course commemorates the incident of King Charles II. hiding in an oak

tree, though it is certainly strange that this comparatively trivial

incident should have continued to be so long and so frequently

commemorated. It is also a very common beer-house sign. The OAK, too, is

put to the same use at Braintree. The following very unpoetical

production, by H. Jopson, the landlord, is displayed in the tap-room of

the ROYAL OAK at Saffron Walden:

“As customers come, and I do trust them,

I lose my money, likewise my custom;

Though chalk is cheap, say what you will,

Chalk won’t pay the brewer’s bill;

So I must try to keep a decent tap,

For ready-money and no strap.”

The THEYDON OAK at Theydon Garnon until last year bore upon one side of

its sign-board a very good representation of the fine old oak from which

it takes its name, and close to which it stands. The KING’S OAK at High

Beech is a sign which is probably quite distinct from the ROYAL OAK. The

author of _Nooks and Corners in Essex_ says that the house takes its

name “from an old stump near thereto, formerly called Harold’s Oak.”

This, however, is probably an error, as the large old oak which stands

on the green before the house has long been known as the “King’s Oak.”

Local tradition says that Henry VIII., while hunting in the forest on

the day on which Ann Boleyn was beheaded, rested under this tree while

waiting to hear the gun, fired from the Tower, which announced the death

of the Queen. Other localities also claim the oak under which the king

listened, but this is as likely as any other to be the right one. The

KING’S OAK is marked on Cary’s _Map of Fifteen Miles round London_

(1786), and also on Andrew and Drury’s _Map of Essex_ (1777). There was

formerly an OAKS in Stifford. It now serves as three cottages, standing

opposite the school. At it, in the beginning of last century, the

churchwardens treated themselves to costly dinners. In 1712, for

instance, the records in the parish chest inform us that the “vestory

stood adjourned” to the OAKS. A TREE occurs upon the farthing token of

“W. Spiltimber of Hatfild Broad Oake,” doubtless in allusion both to the

name of the issuer and to the old oak, commonly called the “Doodle Oak,”

from which the village takes its name. At the same place a beer-house is

still known as the DOODLE OAK.

A public-house on Shenfield Common has, for at least forty years, borne

the sign of the ARTICHOKE. This is one of the very last productions of

the vegetable kingdom which one would expect to find represented upon a

sign-board; but Larwood and Hotten, who think it originally found a

place there when first introduced, say that “it used to be a great

favourite, and still gives name to some public-houses.” Another very

extraordinary sign, unnoticed in the _History of Sign-boards_, is the

CAULIFLOWER, which appears at Great Ilford. Unless due merely to a

landlord’s caprice, it is difficult to suggest any possible origin for

it. The present landlord, in whose family the house has been for 120

years, can give no information about the matter, further than that the

existing house was built forty-eight years ago, the old inn having been

pulled down to make room for the railway. There is also a beer-house so

called at Rainham. Of the BUSH, which, according to Larwood and Hotten

(p. 4), “must certainly be counted amongst the most ancient and popular

of signs,” Essex does not appear to have a single example. The same

authorities elsewhere (p. 233) declare it to be “the oldest sign

borrowed from the vegetable kingdom,” and state that it came originally

from the Romans, together with the common saying, “Good wine needs no

bush.” As late as the reign of James I. many inns used it as their sign.

At Bardfield, and probably other towns in the county, houses specially

licensed for the sale of liquor at fair time still fasten branches of

oak and other trees to their fronts as a sign, a custom which is not

unknown in other parts of the country. It is without doubt a modern form

of the ancient sign of the BUSH. It appears, too, in every way probable

that the curious besom-like ornaments so often to be seen upon the ends

of old sign-irons are also conventional representations of the same

venerable device. Examples are to be seen in the drawings of the

sign-irons of the SIX BELLS at Dunmow (p. 168), and the SUGAR LOAVES at

Sible Hedingham (p. 39). At Theydon Garnon there is a beer-house called

the GARNON BUSHES, so named doubtless after a part of Epping Forest,

which goes by that name. At Hornchurch there is a beer-shop known as

the FURZE, probable a unique sign. The TULIP at Springfield appears to

be also unique. Possibly the landlord who adopted the sign was a

cultivator of tulips.

The BARLEY MOW, meaning a barley stack, is an ancient sign which still

occurs at Stanstead and at *Colchester. Doubtless it was first put up as

a sign in honour of John Barleycorn, just as the VINE, which occurs at

Great Bardfield and Black Notley (beer-house), and the GRAPES, which

occurs at Colchester (the latter being still the recognized sign of a

vintner), both undoubtedly found a place on the sign-board because they

helped to supply the wherewithal for the worship of Bacchus. Forty years

since there was another VINE Inn at Thaxted. The HOP-POLE, which is a

sign occurring at Good Easter, and the HOP-POLES, which is another

occurring at Great Hallingbury, both obviously found their place on the

sign-board for the same reason. There are also beer-houses with the sign

of the HOP-POLES at Little Hallingbury and Roydon, although the

cultivation of hops has now ceased at those places. Hop-growing once

flourished extensively in Essex, and these two signs are relics of the

now almost relinquished industry. At the beginning of this century they

were grown at the Hedinghams, the Maplesteads, the Colnes, Halstead,

Wethersfield, Finchingfield, Great Bardfield, and Shalford, as well as

at Moulsham, Good Easter, Roxwell, Chignal St. James, and other places

round Chelmsford. Fifty years earlier the cultivation of hops in the

county was spread over a wider area, though the number of acres grown

was about the same. At the present time the cultivation is all but

discontinued. Until the year 1883 there was a hop-ground adjoining

Skreen’s Park, Roxwell, but it is now devoted to other purposes. Round

the Hedinghams, however, hops are still grown, their cultivation having

been introduced by a former Mr. Majendie in 1792. Daniel Defoe says, in

his _Tour through Great Britain_, that in 1724, hops were brought direct

from Chelmsford for sale at the great Stourbridge Hop Fair.

The description of the MAYPOLE at Chigwell, given by Dickens in _Barnaby

Rudge_, will occur to every one. It runs as follows:--

“In the year 1775, there stood upon the Borders of Epping Forest,

at a distance of about twelve miles from London--measuring from the

standard in Cornhill, or rather from the spot on or near to which

the standard used to be in days of yore--a house of public

entertainment called the Maypole; which fact was demonstrated to

all such travellers as could neither read nor write (and sixty-six

years ago a vast number, both of travellers and stay-at-homes, were

in this condition) by the emblem reared on the roadside over

against the house, which, if not of those goodly proportions that

maypoles were wont to present in olden times, was a fair young ash,

thirty feet in height, and as straight as any arrow that ever

English yeoman drew.

“The Maypole--by which term henceforth is meant the house and not

its sign--the Maypole was an old building, with more gable ends

than a lazy man would care to count on a sunny day; huge zig-zag

chimneys, out of which it seemed as though even smoke could not

choose but come in more than naturally fantastic shapes, imparted

to it in its tortuous progress; and vast stables, gloomy, ruinous,

and empty. The place was said to have been built in the days of

King Henry the Eighth; and there was a legend not only that Queen

Elizabeth had slept there one night while upon a hunting excursion,

to wit in a certain oak panelled room with a deep bay-window, but

that next morning, while standing on a mounting-block before the

door with one foot in the stirrup, the virgin monarch had then and

there boxed and cuffed an unlucky page for some neglect of duty.

The matter-of-fact and doubtful folks, of whom there were a few

among the Maypole customers, as unluckily there always are in every

little community, were inclined to look upon this tradition as

rather apocryphal; but, whenever the landlord of that ancient

hostelry appealed to the mounting-block itself as evidence, and

triumphantly pointed out that there it stood in the same place to

that very day, the doubters never failed to be put down by a large

majority, and all true believers exulted, as in a victory.

“Whether these, and many other stories of the like nature, were

true or untrue, the Maypole was really an old house, a very old

house, perhaps as old as it claimed to be, and perhaps older, which

will sometimes happen with houses of an uncertain, as with ladies

of a certain, age. Its windows were all diamond-pane lattices, its

floors were sunken and uneven, its ceilings blackened by the hand

of time and heavy with massive beams. Over the doorway was an

ancient porch, quaintly and grotesquely carved; and here on summer

evenings the more favoured customers smoked and drank--ay, and sang

many a good song too, sometimes--reposing on two grim-looking

high-backed settles, which, like the twin dragons of some fairy

tale, guarded the entrance to the mansion.

“In the chimneys of the disused rooms, swallows had built their

nests for many a long year, and from earliest spring to latest

autumn whole colonies of sparrows chirped and twittered in the

eaves. There were more pigeons about the dreary stable-yard and

outbuildings than anybody but the landlord could reckon up. The

wheeling and circling flights of runts, fantails, tumblers, and

pouters, were perhaps not quite consistent with the grave and sober

character of the building, but the monotonous cooing, which never

ceased to be raised by some among them all day long, suited it

exactly, and seemed to lull it to rest. With its overhanging

storys, drowsy little panes of glass, and front bulging out and

projecting over the pathway, the old house looked as if it were

nodding in its sleep. Indeed it needed no very great stretch of

fancy to detect in it other resemblances to humanity. The bricks of

which it was built had originally been a deep dark red, but had

grown yellow and discoloured like an old man’s skin; the sturdy

timbers had decayed like teeth; and here and there the ivy, like a

warm garment to comfort it in its age, wrapped its green leaves

closely round the time-worn walls.

“It was a hale and hearty age, though, still; and in the summer or

autumn evenings, when the glow of the setting sun fell upon the oak

and chestnut trees of the adjacent forest, the old house, partaking

of its lustre, seemed their fit companion, and to have many good

years of life in him yet.”

The house indicated in the foregoing description still stands, much as

it was in the days of which Dickens wrote. It is, however, _not_ the

MAYPOLE at Chigwell. Dickens, to suit the purposes of his tale, made

free use of that license usually allowed to poets and writers of

fiction. His description, as above, gives a very fair idea of the fine

old hostelry known as the KING’S HEAD, situate opposite the church in

the village of Chigwell, where it has displayed the same sign since 1789

at least. It was in what has since been known as the “Chester Room” in

this house, that a portion, at least, of _Barnaby Rudge_ was penned. On

the sign-board swinging over the door, there is a large portrait of King

Charles I., painted some years ago by Miss Herring. At Chigwell Row,

about two miles distant, there _is_ a MAYPOLE INN, with a maypole still

before the door, and on the site which Dickens indicates; but the

foregoing description is (as has been said) that of the KING’S HEAD. The

present MAYPOLE is an inn of no special pretensions, and is not the same

house that displayed the sign at least as early as 1789. A writer in

_Notes and Queries_,[84] says that the following was formerly to be seen

on the sign:--

“My liquor’s good,

My measure’s just,

Excuse me, sirs,

I cannot trust.”

[Illustration: KING’S HEAD INN.

(_At Chigwell._)]

Over the fireplace was seen these lines:--

“All you who stand

Before the fire,

I pray sit down.

It’s my desire

That other folks

As well as you

May see the fire

And feel it too.”

An inscription upon the stable-door ran as follows:--

“Whoever smokes tobacco here,

Shall forfeit sixpense to spend in beer.

Your pipes lay by when you come here,

Or fire to me may prove severe.”

The only other sign of the kind now to be seen in Essex is the OLD

MAYPOLE at Barkingside. Andrews and Drury’s _Map of Essex_, however,

published in 1777, shows houses with this sign then existing at

Chigwell, Barking, and Collier’s Row. A writer in the _Gentleman’s

Magazine_, speaking of Maypoles, says, “The last in London was taken

down in 1717, and removed to Wanstead in Essex. It was more than 100

feet high, and stood on the east side of Somerset House.” The custom of

celebrating Mayday has now almost died out in the county, except at

Saffron Walden, where, every “Garland Day,” it is customary to see the

High Street of the town crowded during the morning with children, each

bearing a “garland” more or less tastefully arranged upon a hoop, or in

some other way. They diligently visit all the houses asking for coppers,

which are generally given with liberality. The WHEATSHEAF, as already

stated (p. 33), appears as a sign no less than seven times in Essex.

Wheatsheaves form charges on the arms of at least three of the great

Trade Companies, namely, the Brewers’ (p. 32), the Bakers’ (p. 33), and

the Inn-holders’.[85] Although the sign of the BAKERS’ ARMS now only

occurs once in Essex, two tokens issued in Chelmsford, one issued in

Braintree, and several issued in Colchester, bear the arms of the

Bakers’ Company; and as there are now houses displaying the sign of the

WHEATSHEAF in each of those places, and all of them have existed for at

least forty years, it is quite possible that they are the same

establishments kept, two centuries ago, by the issuers of the tokens. As

a beer-house sign, too, the WHEATSHEAF is still common.

The CROWN AND THISTLE, which occurs at Great Chesterford, is a rather

uncommon sign. It, of course, represents the royal badge of Scotland, _a

thistle, imperially crowned_.

[Illustration: ROSE AND THISTLE.

(_Badge of James I._)]

Few will be surprised to learn that the ROSE is very common as a sign. A

rose imperially crowned is now the national badge of England; white and

red roses formed the cognizances of the rival factions of York and

Lancaster in the “Wars of the Roses;” the same flower, under different

forms, served as the badge of nearly all the English sovereigns from

Edward I. to Anne; and it is one of the very commonest “vegetable”

charges known in Heraldry. The fact that, while the sign of a simple

ROSE occurs only three times in Essex, namely, at Southchurch, Peldon,

and West Mersea, the ROSE AND CROWN occurs as many as twenty-five times,

clearly shows the heraldic origin of the sign, most of our kings and

queens having worn the rose crowned. The Rose and the Thistle combined

together in a very absurd heraldic style, and crowned, were used as a

badge by James I. to typify the union of the two kingdoms of England and

Scotland. On the beautiful chapel of Henry VII. at Cambridge the rose

and crown are repeated innumerable times, together with the king’s other

badges, a portcullis and a fleur-de-lys, both of them crowned. A rose

crowned also appears on the token of “Iohn Freeherne iunior, in Witham,

1667.” The authors of the _History of Sign-boards_ say (p. 124):

“Hutton, in his _Battle of Bosworth_, says that ‘upon the death of

Richard III., and consequent overthrow of the York Faction, all the

sign-boards with white roses were pulled down, and none are to be found

at the present day.’ This last part of the statement, we believe, is

true.” The rose in the sign of the ROSE AND CROWN at Thaxted is,

nevertheless, painted white, though this is certainly unusual. On Cary’s

and other old maps of Essex, published about a century ago, may be seen

marked two houses, presumably inns, known as the WHITE ROSE and the RED

ROSE, situated near one another on the edge of Epping Forest. Neither of

these signs appear in Essex at the present day, nor do Larwood and

Hotten mention them. There is also a WHITE ROSE in Castle Street,

Leicester Square, London. The ROSE AND CROWN at Saffron Walden has long

been the principal inn in the town. One of the earliest references to it

in the Corporation records occurs in 1654, when 2s. were expended “For 1

Quart of canary at the Rose when Moulton and Douglas suffered.” In 1660,

2s. 4d. was “Spent at the Rose and Crown when Captain Turner sent about

the town armes.” In the following year, and again in 1682, the name

appears again; while in the years 1689, 1704, 1709, and 1819, the

Corporation seems to have expended various sums at “the ROSE”

(undoubtedly the same house) upon certain special occasions. It was from

this house, too, that “Poor Robin” started on his _Perambulation from

Saffron Walden to London_ in 1678 (see p. 66), as shown by the following

extracts. He says:--

* * * * *

“Thus, having shown you _when_, in the next place

I’ll show you _whence_, my journey I did trace.

* * * * *

It was from the Rose and Crown, where Mr. Eve

Doth keep a house like to an Under Sheriff;

There is good Sack, good French wine and good Beer.

* * * * *

There, at my parting, some kind friends of mine,

Would needs bestow on me a quart of wine,

Where, with stout drinking, ere my parting hour,

That quart was made at least a three or four.

Yet would my jovial friends on me attend,

Part of my journey unto Audley End.”

The Mr. Eve mentioned herein is undoubtedly the same landlord mentioned

in the Saffron Walden _Mayor’s Book_ in 1680, when the Corporation “Pd.

Mr. Eves for wine at

[Illustration: ROSE INN AT PELDON (_after the earthquake_).]

the Dinner, &c., when the King came to Audley End, when we delivered the

Address--£5 2s. 0d.” The ROSE at Peldon appears to be at least a century

old, as it is mentioned in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ on May 5, 1786.

The inn plays a rather conspicuous part in the Rev. Baring-Gould’s

_Mehalah_, wherein (ii. p. 58) it is described as “an old-fashioned

house with a vine scrambling over the red tile roof, and an ancient

standard sign on the green before the door, bearing a rose painted the

size of a gigantic turnip.” Few houses suffered more severely from the

earthquake of April 22, 1884, than this. An illustration of its

appearance immediately after that event is here given.

Mr. King finds mention in ancient deeds of a ROSE AND CROWN--either inn,

shop, or tenement--at Rochford in 1693. In the Stock parish registers it

is recorded that on August 23, 1676, “Richard Barnes, a citizen of

London, dwelling (as he sayd) in the Minories, taken sick in travell,

dyed in y^{e} highway neare y^{e} house called y^{e} Rose, and was

burried at y^{e} p’ishes charge.” Presumably this ROSE was not an inn. A

ROSE appears on the token, dated 1670, of Thomas Guyon of Coggeshall,

but no house with that sign now exists there. The ROSE AND CROWN at

Rochford is referred to in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ on April 14, 1786.

The sign of the _Rose of Denmark_ occurs at Canning Town. Its origin is

not obvious. Larwood and Hotten do not refer to the sign.

[Illustration]

[Illustration] CHAPTER VII.

_HUMAN SIGNS._

... “And make my image but an ale-house sign.”

SHAKESPEARE: HENRY V., Part II., Act iii., Scene 2.

The next class of signs to be treated of is that which includes those

derived from “Man and His Parts,” as the old books on Heraldry have it.

Such signs may be styled “Human Signs.” They are numerous, though

usually of but very slight interest; and, as might be expected, very few

are of heraldic origin. In speaking of them it will not be necessary to

give much more than a mere list. The numerous “heads” obviously indicate

a portrait once to have been the sign; and most of these portraits

represent persons of very modern fame. Many Human Signs have already

been noticed under the heading “Arms,” and elsewhere, and it will be

quite unnecessary to refer to them again.

By no means a few of our inns are named after personages who have made

themselves eminent either in the political, military, literary, or

social worlds. The mere mention of these will call to mind many

historical events of importance during the last two centuries. Thus our

six examples of the DUKE OF WELLINGTON, our two of the WELLINGTON, and

our six of the DUKE’S HEAD, remind us of the hero of Talavera and

Salamanca--_the_ Duke of his day--who died in 1852. A DUKE’S HEAD,

however, which existed at Hatfield Broad Oak in 1789, evidently

commemorated some other and earlier Duke, perhaps one of the Dukes of

York. There is also a DUKE OF WELLINGTON (beer-house) at Bocking. The

ADMIRAL ROUS at Galleywood, where Chelmsford Races are held,

commemorates the father of modern English racing, who died only a year

or two ago. The OLIVER TWIST at Leyton was doubtless set up in honour of

the popular Dickens, who well deserves further sign-board honours. The

same may be said of another great Englishman, who is commemorated only

by the SHAKESPEARE’S HEAD at Canning Town. In various parts of the

county we meet with two examples of the EARL OF ESSEX, one of the DUKE

OF NORFOLK, three of the GROSVENOR, one of the LORD HENNIKER, and one of

the CLIFTON, all of which were unquestionably set up in honour of great

titled families. Statesmen are represented by two examples of the EARL

OF DERBY, one of the LORD STANLEY, one of the LORD PALMERSTON, two of

the CLARENDON, and one of the PITT’S HEAD. LORD DENMAN alone seems to

have been selected to represent the legal profession. Among great

military commanders, we have the MARQUIS OF GRANBY (represented by three

examples), the LORD RAGLAN (by three), the LORD GOUGH (by one), the

MARLBOROUGH’S HEAD (by three--one of which is mentioned in the

_Chelmsford Chronicle_ in 1764, while another at Maldon, not now

existing, is mentioned in the same paper on March 2, 1787), and the

*BLUCHER’S HEAD (by one at Romford). The KING OF PRUSSIA still figures

as a sign at *Stratford. Prominent Indian officers seem to be well

represented. Thus we have a GENERAL HAVELOCK (very modern), a SIR COLIN

CAMPBELL, and a SIR JOHN LAWRENCE. Sign-writers seem to have been unable

to keep pace with the rapid promotion of these gentlemen. For instance,

the first became Sir Henry Havelock so long ago as 1857; the second

became Lord Clyde in the same year, and died in 1863; while the third

was created Lord Lawrence in 1869, and died in 1879. Eminent naval

commanders are commemorated by four examples of the LORD NELSON, one of

the NELSON’S HEAD, and one of the LORD NAPIER. Sixty years ago, too,

there was a *DUNCAN’S HEAD at Colchester. It was doubtless in honour of

Admiral Duncan, who died in 1804. Larwood and Hotten do not notice this

sign. The RODNEY at Little Baddow is a house well known to the

worshippers of “St. Lubbock” and to other holiday-keepers in the

neighbourhood of Chelmsford. It, of course, commemorates Admiral Lord

Rodney, who died in 1792.

Mr. H. W. King writes:

“The taking of Porto Bello in 1739, and the popularity of Admiral

Vernon at the time, caused many VERNON’S HEADS. One formerly

existing at *Rochford is now demolished and has ceased to be.

Either entirely new inns were thus named, or else old signs were

abolished to make way for the portrait of the new favourite.

Probably there were often similar changes for the sake of

popularity.”

One of the most notable signs in the county belonging to this class is

the SIR WILFRID LAWSON at Woodford. It will be quite unnecessary to

state that this is not an ordinary inn-sign. A Conservative politician

would be more likely to deliver himself of an oration in praise of Mr.

Gladstone and his virtues, than a publican to erect a sign to the honour

of Sir Wilfrid Lawson. The house which exhibits this sign is a Coffee

Tavern erected by an ardent abstainer and opened by Sir Wilfrid in May,

1883. The following amusing lines were penned by a member of the company

present at the opening. They are, it is said, still to be seen in the

house.

“All hops abandon, ye who enter here;

The wicked Wilfrid haunts this Watery Cavern;

No wine, no whisky, nor even bitter beer,

Flow through the channels of this Coffee Tavern.

The steaming coffee and the fragrant tea

Are ready, where each eye can plainly see ’em;

Tea-total, then, let each incomer be,

And while ‘Te-total’ let him sing Te Deum.”

On the map of the road between London and Harwich, given in Ogilby’s

_Itinerarium Angliæ_, published in 1675, a house--presumably an

inn--called the MONK’S HEAD is shown on the east side of the road,

exactly opposite New Hall Park. There can be no doubt that this sign

represented, not the head of an ecclesiastic, but that of General Monk,

the great promoter of the Restoration, although he had been created Duke

of Albemarle some fifteen years before. After the Restoration, New Hall

was purchased by, or for, General Monk, and he lived there, as Morant

says, “in very great splendour, to the diminution of his estates.” He

died in 1670, and was succeeded by his son. Forty years ago there was a

FRIAR’S Inn in Fryer’s Street, Chelmsford, but it has now disappeared.

At Rayleigh there is a PAUL PRY (beer-house). At Widford a beer-house

keeper has adopted as his sign that modern, though distinguished, Essex

worthy, SIR EVELYN WOOD. Another at Waltham Abbey has selected the

SULTAN. Others, at Saffron Walden and Waltham Abbey respectively, do

honour to the OLD ENGLISH GENTLEMAN. Probably these latter have in their

minds the hero of the song, rather than any gentleman in particular. At

Theydon Garnon there is a MERRY FIDDLERS, which displays no less than

three sign-boards. At Becontree Heath there is a beer-shop with the same

sign. The landlord of the former states that, although he has

endeavoured to unearth the meaning of his sign, he has hitherto failed.

He adds, however, that, previous to his own occupation, the house had

been in one family for many generations, and that for long it displayed

a pictorial sign-board representing THREE FIDDLERS, but these have of

late given place to the present sign. What particular three fiddlers are

meant, is difficult to explain. The house bore merely its present name

of the MERRY FIDDLERS in 1789. Larwood and Hotten do not mention the

sign. At Abbots Roothing there is a COOPERS (beer-house), a sign which

is doubtless the same as that of the COOPERS’ Arms. At Willingale Doe

there is a FERRY MAN. Probably he has retired from business and settled

there, as it is hard to discover any ferry at that place. About

sixty-five years ago *BISHOP BLAYS, the patron saint of wool-combers,

appeared as a sign at Colchester. It was a most appropriate sign in that

town in the seventeenth century, when it was an important seat of the

woollen trade. *NEPTUNE appears beside his “native element” at the

Hythe, Colchester. Sixty years ago there was a *JOLLY SAILOR at Harwich,

a *SAILOR’S RETURN at Grays, and a *MARINER at Colchester. These signs

were all appropriate enough, being situated in maritime places, but the

same cannot be said of the *THREE MARINERS which appeared at Chelmsford

at the same period. Sixty years ago, too, there was to be seen at

Colchester the curious sign of the *SAILOR AND BALL, which Larwood and

Hotten do not mention. Probably it was not an impaled sign, but took its

name from some game of ball played by sailors.