I04 A BOOK OF MORTALS 



How it came there all know. James VI. brought it 

 with him " argent, imperially crowned, armed, enguled, 

 crined, gorged with open crown and chain affixed, reflexed 

 over the back" (as the heraldic description runs), from the 

 Scotch coats of arms, when he took the title of James the 

 ist of England. 



So, since those days of Union, favoured by some, dis- 

 favoured by others, " the Lion and the Unicorn have been 

 fighting for the crown." That the " Lion beat the Unicorn 

 round and round the town " is an addition from the south 

 side of the Tweed with which we have nothing to do. All 

 that we know is that the unicorn will not be " taken alive ; 

 for the greatnesse of his minde is such that he chooseth 

 rather to die " ; also that " the longer it runs, the more 

 marvellously it exerts itself, and runneth faster and faster." 



Therefore the fact that the Lion beat it vainly round 

 and round the town is not entirely to the credit of the 

 Lion ! 



How or why the Scotch Unicorn became Scotch is also 

 a difficulty. True, James IIL in the fourteenth century 

 had it on the Great Seal, but there is no doubt that, as a 

 supporter, it came over from France with the immortal 

 red-haired, brown-eyed princess whose name and fame, like 

 that of Helen of Troy, will never fade from history, but 

 will always give to it the unreal atmosphere of romance. 

 Why Mary, Queen of Scots, chose it, none know. Most 

 probably because the unicorn " pays homage to innocence, 

 and falls asleep in a virgin's lap." It has, indeed, become 

 the symbol of virginity. 



A strange irony of fate, therefore, that the sad yet glad 

 young girl who brought it with her to support her em- 



