MUTE SWAN. 223 



to, at their hospitable entertainments, where one of the 

 regular stand-up toasts of the day is, the Worshipful Com- 

 pany of Vintners, with five . 



Mr. Kempe appears to discountenance the popular no- 

 tion that the sign of the Swan with two necks has any 

 reference to the two nicks in the swan-mark of this com- 

 pany ; but the sign has been considered a fair heraldic 

 personification of the term ; united, as it is, with the fol- 

 lowing considerations : that the Swan has been for some 

 hundred of years identified with the Vintners' Company 

 and its privileges ; that the principal governing officers of 

 the company for the time being are, a Master and three 

 Wardens, the junior Warden of the year being called the 

 Swan Warden ; that models of Swans form conspicuous 

 ornaments in their Hall ; and that the first proprietor of 

 the well-known inn, the Swan with Two Necks, was a 

 member of the Vintners 1 Company. 



No. 16 is the Royal swan-mark of our Most Gracious 

 Queen Victoria. This mark has been used through the 

 reigns of George the Third, George the Fourth, and Wil- 

 liam the Fourth, to the present time. 



By the kindness of a friend I have been favoured with 

 an account of the whole number of old and young Swans 

 belonging to Her Majesty, and the two Companies, at 

 the last Swan voyage, in August 1841. 



OLD SWANS. CYGNETS. TOGETHER. 



Her Majesty 185 47 232 



The Vintners' Company 79 21 100 



The Dyers' Company 91 14 105 



365 82 437 



But the numbers formerly were much greater ; at one 

 period, the Vintners'* Company alone possessed five hun- 

 dred birds. 



