138 Seals and Arms of Jedburgh. By A. C. Mounsey. 



The minute adds that Provost Ainslie "has produced the twa 

 old seals." 



The new arms referred to in the minute were accordingly 

 granted to the burgh, and they are matriculated and thus 

 blazoned in the Lion's Register of Arms : — " The Eoyall Burgh 

 of Jedburgh gives for Ensignes Armoriall Grules on a horse 

 Saliant argent furnished azure a Chevalier armed at all points 

 grasping in his right hand a Kynde of Launce (called the Jed- 

 burgh Staff) proper. The motto in ane Escroll Strenue et 

 prospere." 



After receiving the above new arms in 1680, the Town Council, 

 therefore, had in their possession four different seals of the 

 burgh, namely, the seal that had been last used, the new seal, 

 and the '*twa old seals." 



The number of seals known to have been used by the burgh 

 is also four. They are : — 



1. An oval seal bearing the Virgin sitting in a chair opposite 

 another figure also on a chair. Legend, S. communitatis de 

 Jeddeworthe. 



2. A seal bearing the Virgin and Child. Legend, Sigillum 

 commune de Jedburgh. This seal is figured in Jeffrey's History of 

 Roxburghshire. 



3. A seal bearing on a shield an unicorn passant. Legend, 

 8. communitatis de Jedburgh. Figured in Jeffrey's History. 



4. A seal bearing an armed Knight at full gallop. Legend, 

 Sigillum burgi de Jedburgh. Figured in Jeffrey's History. 



Now, of these four seals, Nos 1 and 2 are evidently the oldest. 

 They are pre-Eeformation seals, and they are no doubt the "twa 

 old seals" produced by Provost Ainslie at the Council board in 

 1680. Of these two, again, No 1, on which the name of the 

 burgh is spelt Jeddeworthe, seems clearly to be the more ancient ; 

 it is the seal which **at fii-st has been made use of," the original 

 seal of the burgh. 



Of the other two seals. No 3, bearing the unicorn, succeeded 

 that with the Virgin and Child, and was used from 1650, the 

 second year of the Commonwealth, to 1680, the thirty-second 

 year of the reign of Charles II. This statement is corroborated 

 by the fact that the Weavers' Seal of Cause, subscribed by Pro- 

 vost Kirkton in 1625 and now in Jedburgh Museum, is sealed 

 with the Virgin and Child, while the Eatification of it in 1671 

 bears the unicorn. No 4, with the chevalier and "a kind of 



