FISH IN HERALDRY. 73 



the fish form is very frequent. Among the curiosities of 

 foreign heraldry must certainly be accounted the fish 

 skeletons which we find as baronial crests on the Con- 

 tinent, That Amsterdam is built on herring bones is an 

 old saying ; but why Bavaria, Franconia, and Switzerland 

 should adopt such a singular, such a beggarly, badge, is a 

 phenomenon still requiring explanation. 



On signboards the fish is a figure of common recurrence. 

 The trout is a favourite angler's cognizance, and " the 

 golden perch," the gudgeon, the salmon, and the pike are 

 among the individual fishes that swing before the doors of 

 riverside inns. The Elephant and Fish — unless fish means 

 " dragon," which in tradition is the hereditary foe of the 

 elephant — is a device that puzzles the herald ; nor is the 

 Cock and Dolphin more obvious in its significance. The 

 dolphin, of course, is everywhere, in all kinds of curious 

 combinations, and passing through as large a range of 

 colours as the fabled creature when dying. 



Moule only glances at piscine heraldry in his admirable 

 work. " Frequently," he says, " the sign of the fish is seen 

 without any further specification ; in this case it is probably 

 meant for the dolphin, which is the signboard fish par 

 excellence. The fish sign is a very common public-house 

 decoration at the present day, probably for the same 

 reason as the swan, because he is fond of liquor — nay, to 

 such an extent goes his reputation for intemperance, that 

 to ' drink like a fish ' is a quality of no small excellence 

 with publicans." In Carlisle, however, there are two signs 

 of the Fish and Dolphin, a rather puzzling combination, 

 unless it has reference to the dolphin's chase after the 

 shoal of small fishes. The Fish and Bell, Soho, may either 

 allude to a well-known anecdote of a certain numskull, 

 who, when he caught a fish which he desired to keep for 



