Cheltenham.
_The Bell Savage_ (Vol. vii., p. 523.).--MR. JAMES EDMESTON is correct in
rejecting the modern acceptation of the sign of the well-known inn on
Ludgate Hill, as being _La Belle Sauvage_. Its proper name is "The Bell
Savage," the bell being its sign, and Savage the name of its proprietor.
But he is wrong in supposing that "Bell" in this case was the abbreviation
of the name Isabella, and that the inn "was originally kept by one Isabella
Savage." In a deed enrolled on the Close Roll of 1453, it is described as
"Savage's Ynne, _alias_ Le Belle on the Hope." The bell, as in many other
ancient signs, was placed within a hoop. (See the _Gentleman's Magazine_
for November last, p. 487.)