I50 FLORA OF THE 



If, as is likely, in the midst of the turmoils of wars, 

 the real origin of the ' fleur-de-lys ' symbols had been 

 forgotten, it is no wonder that its pseudo-origin was 

 suggested by indigenous irises.^ 



What would have been more natural than that some- 

 body, with a poetic turn, seeing this symbol, and not 

 knowing its origin, should assimilate it with one or other 

 of the irises, which were frequently in flower there, just 

 as the Florentines have assimilated ///^z> 'fleur-de-lys ' 

 with the Iris florentina, that grows wild on tlieir hills. 



The pseudo-origin of this symbol will probably stick 

 to it for a long time to come, for it is a pretty notion, 

 while its real origin is rather repulsive. No priest or 

 habit-maker of the Roman church is likely to own 

 that this decoration and the coral horned-hand of the 

 Naples shops have had a common ancestor? 



Nevertheless, there can be no question that, as the 

 * fleur-de-lys ' has inherited the ligature, and as it is 

 found ' tale quale ' on a number of Assyrian monu- 

 ments and cylinders, it is neither a lily nor an iris, 

 but Hvo pairs of horns tied to a stick. The steps of 

 degradation from the tree and horns to the 'fleur- 

 de-lys' emblem can be clearly followed on the Assyrian 

 cylinders themselves. 



It is evident to me that Assyrian artists had worked 



^ See fig. 93 for various forms of ' fleur-de-lys.' 



^ More especially as horns, in the Christian church, are associated with 

 the devil. 



