CARDIAM;. COCKLE. 45 



mall/' In 1663, May 15th, lie says " I walked in the 

 Park (St. James's) discoursing with the keeper of the 

 Pall mall, who was sweeping it, and who told me, that 

 the earth is mixed that do floor the mall, and that 

 over all there is cockle-shells powdered, and spread, to 

 keep it fast, which however, in dry weather turns to dust 

 and deads the ball. The person who had the care of the 

 ground was called the " King's Cockle Strewer." * 



In the heraldry of Prussia, the cockle-shell is used. 

 " Barry of four, argent and azure, semee of cockle- 

 shells counterchanged, are borne by the Silesian family 

 of Von Strachwitz, which has for crest, two wings also 

 charged with cockles. v f 



We also find this shell figured on coins. A speci- 

 men in the British Museum of the sextans, the sixth 

 part of the as, or piece of two ounces, has on one side 

 a caduceus, a strigil, and two balls, and on the other, a 

 cockle-shell. 



Ossian, in his poem the 'War of Inis-thona,' tells 

 us that the king of that island gave a feast to Oscar, 

 which lasted three days, and that they " rejoiced in 

 the shell/' meaning that they feasted sumptuously 

 and drank freely. Again, we meet with the " chief of 

 shells," and the " halls of shells." Macpherson calls 

 the cockle the "heroes' cup of festivity," being known 

 by the name of Sliga-crechin,% or the drinking -shell ; 

 and it is also stated that this shell is used in the 

 Hebrides for skimming milk. This seems, however, 

 hardly possible, for the " heroes " would probably not 



* ' London : its Celebrated Characters and Remarkable Places/ 

 vol. i. p. 138. 



f Sibmacher's ' Wapenbuch,' Heraldry of Fish, p. 226. 

 J In Manx, Shligh, is the name for the cockle. 

 * A Book for the Seaside.' 



