MUTE SWAN. 123 



Every swanlierd on the stream was bound to attend upon 

 the king''s swanherd upon warning, or suffer fine. 



The king''s swanherd was bound to keep a book of swan 

 marks, and no new marks were permitted to interfere with 

 old ones. 



Owners of Swans and their swanherds were registered in 

 the king's swanherd's book. 



The marking of tlie cygnets was generally performed in the 

 presence of all the swanherds on that stream, and on a par- 

 ticular day or days, of which all had notice. Cygnets re- 

 ceived the mark found on the parent birds, but if the old 

 Swans bore no mark, the whole were seized for the king, and 

 marked accordingly. No swanherd to affix a mark but in 

 the presence of the king's swanherd or his deputy. 



Formerly, when a Swan made her nest on the banks of the 

 river, rather than on the islands, one young bird was given 

 to the owner of the soil, who protected the nest, and this 

 was called ' the ground bird.' A money consideration, in- 

 stead of a young bird, is still given. 



The swan mark, called by Sir Edward Coke, cigimiota, 

 was cut in the skin on the beak of the Swan with a sharp 

 knife or other instrument. These marks consisted of annulets, 

 chevrons, crescents, crosses, initial letters, and other devices, 

 some of which had reference to the heraldic arms of, or the 

 office borne by, the swan owner. 



The representations inserted overleaf are swan marks sup- 

 posed to be cut on the upper surface of the upper mandible. 



Nos, 1 and 2 Avere the royal swan marks of Henry the 

 Eighth. No. 3 was the swan mark of the Abbey of Swin- 

 stede, on the Witham in Lincolnshire ; and I may notice 

 that the crosier, or crook, is borne by the divine, the shep- 

 herd, the swanherd, and the gooseherd, as emblematic of a 

 pastoral life and the care of a flock. " 



No. 4 was the swan mark of Sir Edward Dimock of Lin- 



