•Mar. 18. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



251 



As the Rev. Philip Morant was a native of 

 Jersey, it is more than probable that he was an 

 offset of the ancient Norman stock, though their 

 armorial bearings are widely different. The latter 

 bore, Azure, three cormorants argent ; but the 

 family of Astle, of Colne Park in Essex, are said 

 to quarter for Morant, Gules, on a chevron argent, 

 three talbots passant sable. 



Having only a daughter and heiress, married 

 to Thomas Astle, Keeper of the Records in the 

 Tower of London, the reverend historian of Essex 

 could hardly have been the ancestor of the Mo- 

 rants of Brockenhurst. 



There was also another family in Normandy, 

 named Morant de Bois-ricard, in no way con- 

 nected with the first, who bore Gules, a bend 

 ermine. John o' the Ford. 



Malta. 



INN SIGNS. 



(Vol. ix., p. 148.) 



Alphege will find a good paper on the origin 

 of signs in the Mirror, vol. ii. p. 387. ; also an 

 ai-ticle on the present specimens of country ale- 

 house signs, in the first volume of the same in- 

 teresting periodical, p. 101. In Hone's JEvery- 

 Day Book, vol. i., are notices of curious signs at 

 pp. 1262. and 1385. In vol. ii. some very amusing 

 specimens are given at p. 789. Others occur in 

 Hone's Table-Book, at pp. 448. 504. and 756. 



F. C. H. 



I can answer Alphege's Query, having some 

 notes by me on the subject. He will pardon my 

 throwing them, in, a shapeless heap, jolting out as 

 you unload stones. 



The Romans had signs ; and at Pompeii a pig 

 over the door represents a wine-shop within. The 

 Middle Ages adopted a bush. " Good wine needs 

 no bush," &.c, answering to the gilded grapes at a 

 modern vintner's. The bush is still a common 

 sign. At Charles I.'s death, a cavalier landlord 

 painted his bush black. Then came the modern 

 square sign, formerly common to all trades. Old 

 signs are generally heraldic, and represent royal 

 bearings, or the blazonings of great families. The 

 White Hart was peculiar to Richard II ; the White 

 Swan of Henry IV. and Edward III. ; the Blue 

 Boar of Richard III. ; the Red Dragon came in 

 with the Tudors. Then we have the Bear and 

 Ragged Staff of Leicester, &c. Monograms are 

 common ; as Bolt and Tun for Bolton ; Hare and 

 Tun for Harrington. The Three Suns is the fa- 

 vourite bearing of Edward IV. ; and all Roses, 

 white or red (as at Tewkesbury), are indications 

 of political predilection. Other signs commemo- 

 rate historical events ; as the Bull and Mouth, 

 Bull and Gate (the Boulogne engagement in 



Henry VIII.'s time, and alluded to by Shak- 

 speare). The Pilgrim, Cross Keys, Salutation, 

 Catherine Wheel, Angel, Three Kings, Seven 

 Stars, St. Francis, &c, are medieval signs. Many 

 are curiously corrupted ; as the Cceur Dore 

 (Golden Heart) to the Queer Door ; Bacchanals 

 (the Bag of Nails) ; Pig and Whistle (Peg and 

 Wassail Bowl) ; the Swan and Two Necks (lite- 

 rally Two Nicks) ; Goat and Compasses (God 

 encompasseth us) ; The Bell Savage (La Belle 

 Sauvage, or Isabel Savage) ; the Goat in the 

 Golden Boots (from the Dutch, Goed in der 

 Gooden Boote), Mercury, or the God in the 

 Golden Boots. The Puritans altered many of the 

 monastic signs ; as the Angel and Lady, to the 

 Soldier and Citizen. In signs we may read every 

 phase of ministerial popularity, and all the ebbs 

 and flows of war in the Sir Home Popham, Rod- 

 ney, Shovel, Duke of York, Wellington's Head, 

 &c. At Chelsea, a sign called the " Snow Shoes," 

 I believe, still indicates the excitement of the Ame- 

 rican war. 



I shall be happy to send Aephege more in- 

 stances, or to answer any conjectures. 



G. W. Thornburt. 



A century ago, when the houses in streets were 

 unnumbered, they were distinguished by sign- 

 boards. The chemist had the dragon (some astro- 

 logical device) ; the pawnbroker the three golden 

 pills, the arms of the Medici and Lombardy, as 

 the descendant of the ancient bankers of England ; 

 the barber-chirurgeon the pole for the wig, and 

 the parti-coloured ribands to bind up the patient's 

 wounds after blood-letting ; the haberdasher and 

 wool-draper the golden fleece ; the tobacconist 

 the snuff-taking Highlander ; the vintner the 

 bunch of grapes and ivy-bush ; and the Church 

 and State bookseller the Bible and crown. The 

 Crusaders brought in the signs of the Saracen's 

 Head, the Turk's Head, and the Golden Cross. 

 Near the church were found the Lamb and Flag, 

 The Bell, the Cock of St. Peter, the Maiden's Head, 

 and the Salutation of St, Mary. The Chequers 

 commemorated the licence granted by the Earls 

 of Arundel, or Lords Warrenne. The Blue Boar 

 was the cognizance of the House of Oxford (and 

 so The Talbots, The Bears, White Lions, &c. may 

 usually be reasonably referred to the supporters 

 of the arms of noble families, whose tenants the 

 tavern landlords were). The Bull and Mouth, 

 the hostelry of the voyager to Boulogne Harbour. 

 The Castle, The Spread Eagle, and The Globe 

 (Alphonso's), were probably adopted from the 

 arms of Spain, Germany, and Portugal, by inns 

 which were the resort of merchants from those 

 countries. The Belle Sauvage recalled some show 

 of the day ; the St. George and Dragon comme- 

 morated the badge of the Garter ; the Rose and 

 Fleur-de-Lys, the Tudors ; The Bull, The Falcon, 



