220 IRISH HAIIP. 



MRS. F. 



What the true shamrock is, has given rise to many learned 

 disputations; some writers identifying it with Medicago 

 maculata, others with the wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), 

 with whose elegant little spring flower you are all well ac- 

 quainted. The advocates for the pretensions of this plant, 

 assert that the clover (Trifolium repens] is not a common wild 

 plant in Ireland; but I do not, I confess, trouble myself with 

 this controversy,* being content to receive, as the real sham- 

 rock, that which is worn as such by the Irish on St. Patrick's 

 day. 



HENRIETTA. 



Pray, aunt, when was the Irish harp introduced into the 

 arms of the king of England? 



MRS. F. 



It was James the First who added it to the royal achieve- 

 ment; and it was also this king who first had the unicorn as 

 one of the supporters of the Royal Arms. 



HENRIETTA. 



But were not the lion and the unicorn always the royal 

 supporters? 



MRS. F. 



No, they varied much with the different sovereigns Ed- 

 ward III had a lion and an eagle; Henry IV, a white ante- 

 lope and a white swan; Henry V and Henry VI, an antelope 

 and a lion; Edward IV, a black bull and a lion; Edward V, a 

 yellow lion and a white lion. 



HENRIETTA. 



Aunt, I know that Richard III had a boar, because Shaks- 

 peare calls him " the boar," and sometimes, in derision, the 

 " hog." 



MRS. F. 



Yes; a white boar was the crest of the York family, and 

 * See Journal of Royal Institution. 



