By the Rev. A. C. Smith. . 309 
borough; and the Red Lion, which is represented fourteen times in 
the county ; are simply the several animals painted in their heraldic 
colours, or, argent, sable, azure, vert, or gules. So that, however dis- 
tressing to the mind of the naturalist, if he comes to reflect on it, 
may be the notion of a blue lion, or a golden swan ; to those versed in 
the language of heraldry, a lion azure, and a swan or, seem not only 
legitimate, and present no anomaly, but are perfectly correct ; while 
to the unthinking: public one colour would be as good as another. 
There are at the present moment in the county of Wilts some 
seven hundred taverns, and they comprehend every variety of sign- 
board, from the grand and imposing to the trivial and grotesque. 
In order to. ascertain. their several proportions, I have classified them 
under various heads, and. I propose to consider them under these 
nine conventional divisions :— 
(1) The Heraldic. (6) The Incomprehensible. 
(2) The Loyal. (7) The Singular. 
(3) The Religious or Ecclesiastical. (8) Miscellaneous. 
(4) The Professional. (9) The Prosaic. 
(5) The Sporting. 
In examining the particulars of these several divisions, it is not 
a little curious to see the bent of the public mind, as it has developed 
itself in our sign-boards at various times, and in one locality and 
another: and, though it is of course frequently quite impossible to 
trace the origin of a particular sign, there are certain broad principles 
which seem to have left their mark in these emblems, and (taken in 
a lump) they represent in no small degree the tone of feeling which 
(it may be presumed) predominated in that precise district, at the: 
time they severally started into being. 
_ (1) The Heraldic of right occupies the first place in my catalogue. 
‘not only because it ranks first in priority of time—for I make bold to. 
‘say that at the first institution of hostelries, every sign-board’ was. 
heraldic—but also because in Wiltshire it still holds the first place 
in priority of numbers. Thus, by way of example, we have the 
Bath Arms, at Warminster; the Ai/esbury Arms, at Marlborough ; 
Lansdowne Arms, at Calne; the Pembroke Arms, at Wilton ; 
