The horse and his belongings are referred to no less than seventy-three times on Essex sign-boards, although a simple horse does not once occur. The use of the horse as a sign is probably derived both from the animal himself and from the part he anciently played in Heraldry. Horses of fantastic colour, such as the Golden Horse at Forest Gate, are, in all probability, of heraldic origin. No less than thirty-six times in this county do we meet with the sign of the White Horse, and there is an Old White Horse at North Ockendon. Boyne describes tokens issued by “John Tvrner at the White Horse in Chelmsford, 1667,” and by “John Langston at the Whit Horse in Mvchboddow.” White Horses are still in existence at both of these places. There can be no doubt that the one at Great Baddow is the one from which the token was issued in the seventeenth century; but in the case of Chelmsford there is some doubt. The matter is not without interest, for there is in the British Museum a scarce and curious quarto tract, of twenty-one pages, published in the year 1688, with the following title: “A True Relation of a Horrid Murder, committed upon the person of Thomas Kidderminster of Tupsley in the County of Hereford, Gent., at the White Horse Inn in Chelmsford, in the County of Essex, in the Month of April, 1654, together with a True Account of the Strange and Providential Discovery of the Same nine years after, &c., &c.” In this tract one Mr. Turner (without doubt the man who issued the token in 1667) is many times mentioned as landlord at the time the murder was discovered. Forty years ago the White Horse at Dovercourt styled itself the Great White Horse. The White Horse in the High Street, Maldon, is several times referred to in advertisements in the Chelmsford Chronicle during the year 1786. Likely origins for this sign have already been given (p. 18). The Flying Dutchman, which is a beer-house sign at Braintree, probably commemorates the racehorse of that name. There are Black Horses at White Roothing, Widdington, Sible Hedingham, Pilgrim’s Hatch, and Chelmsford (beer-house). Sixty years ago there was another at *Coggeshall. There are also Yorkshire Greys at Coggeshall (at least forty years old), Stratford (two), and Brentwood. Probably these are named after some famous racer. One or other of those at *Stratford is several times referred to in the Trials of John Swan and Elizabeth Jeffries (1752). It was then kept by a certain Ann Wright. Sixty years since, too, there was another at *Colchester. Adjoining the racecourse at Galleywood there is a Running Mare. The Nag’s Head is a sign which seems to be becoming increasingly common, as we have five now existing in the county, not counting a beer-house so called at Chelmsford, though, twenty years ago, there were only three. The sign of the Three Colts, which occurs at Stanstead Montfitchet and Buckhurst Hill, has very likely an heraldic origin. It is not a modern device, as there was an inn of this name in Bride Lane, London, in 1652, and our houses may have taken their name from this one. A Horse passant is depicted on the farthing token of “Ioseph Gleson,” 1664, and a Horse Galloping on that of “Samvell Salter,” 1656, both of Dedham. In Essex the horse enters into many combinations with other sign-board objects. In most cases the meaning of the combination is so evident that no explanation of it is required. For instance, at Colchester we find a Chaise and Pair, at Stratford a Cart and Horses, at Mistley a Waggon and Horses, and another at *Colchester. There are also beer-houses so called at Braintree and Hadleigh. The Coach and Horses occurs no less than thirteen times, the Old Coach and Horses once, the Horse and Groom seven times, and the Horse and Wheel once. This latter is, however, a misprint on the part of the compilers of the Post Office Directory. Twenty years ago it appeared in the list as the Horse and Well, and as the house is situated at Woodford Wells, this is undoubtedly its correct form. The sign is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. That part of Woodford known as Woodford Wells, takes its name from a mineral spring which once existed there. It was formerly in great repute, but is now quite dry and neglected. An Itinerary of Twenty-five Miles round London, published towards the end of last century, and quoted by Mr. Walford in Greater London (vol. i. p. 464), indicates that the name of the house was then the Horse and Groom. The adjoining mineral spring, says the author, “was formerly in good repute, and much company resorted to drink the waters at a house of public entertainment called ‘Woodford Wells;’ but the waters have long lost their reputation.” Hood, in his witty poem on the Epping Hunt, refers to the house as follows:
“Now many a sign at Woodford Town,
Its Inn-vitation tells;
But Huggins, full of ills, of course,
Betook him to the Wells.”
The Horse and Groom at Great Warley seems to be at least a century old, as it is mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle on March 10, 1786. At Margaret Roothing there is a Horseshoe, which is a comparatively rare sign by itself. The Bull and Horseshoe at North Weald is, doubtless, merely an impaled sign. Our three Horseshoes and ten Three Horseshoes have already been referred to (p. 40). At Finchingfield there is a beer-house with the sign of the Kicking Dickey, and the Cross Keys at Roxwell is commonly known in the parish by the same name. The origin of the sign, which Larwood and Hotten do not mention, is hard to explain.
The Lion, with frequent variations of colour and position, is of common occurrence in the county. This great variety in colouring clearly shows that we are indebted to the art of Heraldry for most of our sign-board lions. Messrs. Larwood and Hotten say (p. 118): “The lion rampant most frequently occurs, although in late years naturalism has crept in, and the Felis leo is often represented standing or crouching, quite regardless of his heraldic origin.”
When it is remembered that three lions passant, guardant, or occur on the Royal Arms of England, and a lion rampant gules on the arms of Scotland; that a crowned lion statant, guardant or is used as the Royal Crest of England, a crowned lion sejant affrontée gules as the Royal Crest of Scotland, and a lion rampant guardant, or as the dexter supporter of the Royal Arms of England; and that lions of various colours and in different attitudes have served as charges, badges, crests, and supporters to many of our earlier sovereigns, and now appear in the armorial bearings of innumerable private families, it will not be found in any way surprising that the lion figures so commonly as he does upon our sign-boards. So frequently, indeed, are lions made use of in Heraldry that it is almost impossible to assign the variously-coloured examples now to be seen on our sign-boards to their original wearers. Lions rampant appear on the trade-tokens of John Rayment of Brentwood, in 1669, and of Richard Boyse and Richard Rich, both of Colchester, in 1668 and 1656 respectively. At present the animal occurs eight times in Essex as a simple Lion, and once as a British Lion. The Lion at Chelmsford, although it has now disappeared, was once evidently a very important inn. The Rev. R. E. Bartlett finds several mentions of it in the parish registers, the earliest before the middle of the sixteenth century. They are as follows: “1543. William Knight, a stranger, who by misfortune and his own lewdness was drowned at the Lion, and was buried the 22nd of May.” Again, in 1545, “Wyllyam Pemberton, servaunte to the Irle of Essex, was slayne at the Lion by one of his Fellows and bury’d the 19th Day of Januarii.” From the first of these it appears that the inn was near the river. Taylor, in his Catalogue of Tavernes, also mentions the Lion as one of the chief inns in Chelmsford in 1636. Whether this was the same inn afterwards known as the White Lion, and mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle on April 14, 1786, as then existing at Chelmsford, is hard to say. Possibly the latter house was identical with that shown with the sign of a rampant lion in the frontispiece. Its back premises would probably abut upon the river bank. The site is now occupied by an inn with the sign of the Queen’s Arms. The Golden Lion, if it does not represent the true “lion of England,” may represent the lion passant, guardant, or which appears on the arms of the Haberdashers’ Company.[53] The sign now occurs at Prittlewell, *Chelmsford, *Romford, and Rayleigh. There are also beer-shops so-called at Braintree, Hatfield Peverell, Rochford, and elsewhere. The Golden Lion at Rayleigh is mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle for February 24, 1786. Sixty years ago another house of this name existed. A Golden Lion at Harwich in 1764 is also mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle for that year. The sign of the Blue Lion occurs at Galleywood and at Great Baddow. Larwood and Hotten think that it “may possibly have been first put up at the marriage of James I. with Anne of Denmark.” There can, however, be very little doubt that in Essex this sign represents the arms of the Mildmay family,[54] which was once of very great influence in the county. At the time of James I. there were nine several families of this name possessed of very large estates in the county, the heads of eight of them being knights. Our nine White Lions perhaps represent the badge of Edward IV., though the Dukes of Norfolk, the Earls of Surrey, and other prominent personages have also borne lions argent. Forty years since an Old White Lion existed at Epping, being probably the *White Lion which lived there in 1789 (p. 7). As he has now disappeared, it is only natural to suppose that he has died of old age. The sign-board of the existing house at Epping is fully pictorial. The White Lion at Waltham Abbey is mentioned in the parish registers in July, 1746, when W. Chesson (presumably the landlord) was buried. Black Lions are to be seen at Plaistow, Stisted, Althorne, Layer Marney, High Roothing, and *Epping. At the last-mentioned place two houses of this name existed forty years ago, one of which has existed since 1789, at least. According to advertisements in the issues of the Chelmsford Chronicle for February 10 and April 14, 1786, a Black Lion then existed at Braintree; but, unless identical with the Lion and Lamb or White Lion, still in existence there, it has now disappeared. Larwood and Hotten say (p. 120), “The Black Lion is somewhat uncommon; it may have been derived from the coat of arms of Queen Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III.,” or it may represent the lion sable in the arms of Owen Glendower. The Red Lion is, however, by far our commonest leonine sign in Essex. It occurs as many as thirty-four times. The authors so frequently quoted, say (p. 119) that it doubtless originated in the badge of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who bore the lion of Leon and Castille on his arms as a token of his claim to the throne of those countries. In after years it may often have been used to represent the lion of Scotland. The Red Lion, opposite the church at Stambourne, has a truly heraldic sign—a lion, rampant, gules, armed, langued, &c., argent, on a wreath argent and sable. On one of its gables this inn has two designs—one representing an old man with long white hair, wearing a large green coat and boots of the same colour, and apparently blowing a long horn or trumpet; the other a monogram “I.W.E.” and the date 1709. This may indicate that it was formerly known as the Green Man. The Red Lion at *Colchester is a very well-known house. Like the White Hart at Brentwood, it is one of the few examples now remaining in the county of the old-fashioned inn of several centuries ago. Its capacious courtyard has evidently once been galleried, and it is altogether one of the most ancient inns now existing in Colchester, or even in the county, as well as being certainly one of the most quaint and antique in its appearance. Its uppermost story considerably overhangs the others, and the whole of the front shows much old carving which is certainly not later than the fifteenth, and probably the fourteenth, century, to which has been added some good modern work. Probably if the plaster were removed much more old carving would be brought to light. Among other faces, are those of two lions, which look down upon the entrance. The doorway is also carved. Miss L. S. Costello, in an article on Colchester in Bentley’s Miscellany for 1840 (vol. xviii. p. 62), says, that among the few interesting houses in the High Street, she “was struck with a wooden doorway at the entrance of the [Red] Lion Inn. It has evidently been elaborately carved on the different storeys all over, but very little of its ornament remains. The spandrels of the arch have a representation, on one side, of a dragon, huge and grim, and on the other of a knight on foot, with an immensely long spear, tilting at the monster.” An entry, dated Jan. 9, 1603-4, in one of the old Corporation assembly books, states that “the Lion, the Angel, and the White Hart were appointed the only three wine taverns in ye towne, being auncyent Innes and Taverns.” Mr. Chas. Golding of Colchester has, however, traced its existence back many years earlier, having found mention of it under its present name in the Corporation records of the year 1530 or thereabouts. The still-extant Red Lions at Great Wakering and Ilford are referred to in advertisements in the Chelmsford Chronicle on Jan. 20 and 27, 1786, respectively. The latter was a posting-house of great importance in the days when coaching was at its height; but, like its neighbour, the Angel (another house once of considerable fame), it has now sunk into comparative insignificance, though still quite one of the leading inns of the district. It is a large, massive square brick building, before which on the top of the sign-post reposes a graven representation of a Red Lion couchant. The Red Lion at Waltham Abbey is referred to in the parish registers in 1644, when 1s. 8d. was “given to the woman that lay in at the Reed Lyon.” Capt. Andrew Hamilton has given[55] an interesting account of an old house at Kelvedon, formerly known as the Red Lion Inn. It is now converted into four good-sized tenements, and is known as Knight Templars Terrace, from a tradition that the inn once belonged to that fraternity. In its day it was probably the most considerable inn in Kelvedon, and the largest on the main road between Chelmsford and Colchester. It was certainly built before the year 1420, and is now an excellent example of a half-timbered house of that date. Until lately, however, the original work has been hidden by no less than two false fronts of lath and plaster of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries respectively. Capt. Hamilton describes in detail both the internal and external construction of this singularly interesting house, but his remarks are too lengthy to quote here. Opposite to it stood the Angel.
The Red Lion at Abberton figures in the Rev. S. Baring-Gould’s Mehalah. The Red Lion at Springfield is an extremely ferocious one, if one may judge from the appearance of his effigy, which is rudely cut out of a thin sheet of iron, painted red, and placed upon the top of the beer-house to which he serves as a sign. A Red Lion at Radwinter (perhaps the existing Lion) finds mention in the Chelmsford Chronicle on January 20, 1786. The Lion and Boar at Earls Colne may represent the lion and boar which sometimes appear as the supporters of the arms of King Richard III., or it may simply be an impaled sign. The sign is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. The Lion and Key at Leyton is a sign of somewhat obscure origin. It is not a modern invention, as there was a house of the same name near Lion’s Quay, London, in 1653. Our house, which is over forty years old, and was formerly a blacksmith’s shop, may have taken its sign from this one, or it may have derived its name independently from the popular version of some family crest. This is rendered extremely likely from the fact (supplied by the present landlord, who, however, is unable to give any further information as to the sign) that among the old property taken with the house is a punch-bowl bearing the heraldic device of a lion rampant, its paw resting upon the ring of an upright key, and dated either 1756 or 1786. Whose this crest is, it is hard to say. The Rev. H. L. Elliot has ascertained that it is not included among those in The Book of Family Crests, although the family of Lyngard of Northants bore a lion sejant guardant sable, in the dexter fore paw a key in pale or; while the families of Knox, Criall, and Chamberlain had crests with a demi-lion holding a key. The very common sign of the Lion and Lamb is now met with at Braintree, Stratford, Takeley, Chelmsford, and Brentwood, although, twenty years ago, the county only contained three examples. At the last-named place the sign seems to have existed since 1786 at least, as it is mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle on March 17th in that year. At *Chelmsford a Lion and Lamb carved in stone repose peacefully upon the parapet of the building, while a newly-painted sign-board, very well designed, depicts them in the same attitude. The fact of the name containing an alliteration has, no doubt, had something to do with its adoption; but it is also an emblematic representation of the Millennium, when (as Larwood and Hotten say) “the lion shall lie down by the kid.” Those gentlemen, however, together with all who use the sign, appear to be a little at fault in their knowledge of Scripture. The passage describing the “Millennium” (Isaiah xi. 6) says nothing about a lion lying down, either with a lamb or a kid. It runs as follows: “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together.” The sign first came into use over two centuries ago. In connection with this sign there is an amusing tale, which is worth repeating, told of a sceptical American. When the significance of the sign was explained to him, he remarked that the state of things depicted might possibly come to pass some time, but that, when it did, he “guessed that there Lamb would be inside that there Lion!”
Bovine signs are very frequently to be seen upon our Essex sign-boards. The simple sign of the Bull is the commonest device, occurring no less than twenty-two times. Its intimate connection with Christmas beef, heraldry, and bull-baiting is sufficient to account for the frequent appearance of this animal on the sign-board. About seventy years ago the Bull Inn, Whitechapel, was the resort of the Essex farmers, who came to London once a week to dispose of their corn, &c. The landlord, named Johnson, who was formerly “boots” at this inn, being in good credit with his customers, they occasionally left their samples with him, and he acted as a middle man so much to their satisfaction, that he shortly after opened an office upon Bear Quay, styling himself “Factor of the Essex Farmers.” The business ultimately grew to one of great extent. In old deeds Mr. King finds mention of a Bull—either shop, inn, or dwelling-house—at Billericay as early as 1616, also of another house with the same sign at Hockley early in the seventeenth century. Taylor, in his Catalogue of Tavernes, mentions a Bull (probably the existing inn of that name) at Barking in 1636, and another at Brook Street, where also there is a still existing Bull. The Black Bull appears at Fyfield, Chelmsford, Margaretting, and Old Sampford, while an Old Black Bull occurs at Stratford. Very probably these two signs owe their existence to the fact that a bull sable formed one of the badges, as well as the sinister supporter of the arms, of Edward IV. In 1662 there was a Black Bull Inn at Romford, as appears from a mention made of it in the Account of the Murder of Thomas Kidderminster, already referred to. In 1789 there were other examples of the Black Bull at Loughton and Harlow, and that at Fyfield was then existing. Sixty years ago there was also one at Grays. On the map of the road between London and Harwich, given in Ogilby’s Itinerarium Angliæ, published in 1675, “Ye Bull Inn”—evidently a house of some importance—is shown about midway between Ingatestone and Widford. In the Traveller’s Guide, a smaller edition of the same work, published in 1699, the same house figures as the Black Bull Inn. Probably this is the still existing Black Bull at Margaretting. The Bull and Crown, which has been in existence at Chingford for at least forty years past, may be simply an impaled sign, or it may (like the last sign spoken of) be derived from the black bull of Edward IV., or from the white bull used as a supporter by Henry VIII. In either case the bull would probably be crowned. This device is not referred to in the History of Sign-boards, nor is that of the Bull and Horseshoe, which occurs at North Weald. It is probably only an impaled sign. The Bull’s Head, to be seen at Loughton, is, as already stated (p. 34), probably taken from the arms of the Butchers’ Company. There was once a famous Bull Inn at Newport. It has now disappeared, having, it is said, been compelled to close owing to the opening of the Hercules just opposite; but there are old folks still living who can recollect the shields of arms in coloured glass in the windows, and the “Bull Orchard” still remains. The house is mentioned in the Corporation records of Saffron Walden for the year 1734. Cole also, in his MSS., speaks of it by the name of the Red Bull (a rather uncommon sign, of which Essex does not now possess an example). The sign, however, seems to have undergone a change of colour, for it is referred to as the Black Bull in Poor Robin’s Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London, performed this month of July, 1678.[56] The author says:
“To Newport Pond my course I next way bent,
And in at the sign of the Black Bull went.
Where scarcely in a room I had set down,
When in came my old friends, kind Mr. Br ...
And Mr. Woo ..., two who love their friend
With true and hearty love unto the end;
For though they in another town do live,
They to their neighbour some kind visits give.
’Twas twelve o’clock; dinner time did approach,
When men whet knives on wheels of cart or coach.
The cloth was laid, and by the scent o’ th’ meat,
One might perceive there something was to eat.
And so it proved, indeed; for from the pot
Came forth a rump of beef, was piping hot,
And from the spit was brought a loyn of mutton,
Would satisfy the stomack of a glutton,
For like a loyn of beef it might well have been knighted,
To which our hostess kindly us invited;
Which we accepted of, and to delight her,
Told her that none could deny such an inviter;
For she’s a widow of such excellent carriage,
Would make a man most happy in her marriage,” &c.
Boyne describes a halfpenny token issued by “Thomas Rvnham at ye Bull [represented in the centre] in Newport, 1667.” He assigns the token to Newport in Shropshire; but, as Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., has informed the author that no less than seven examples have been found at Newport, Essex, and as the man’s name also occurs in the parish register, there can be no doubt that Boyne was wrong.[57] At Chingford Hatch there is a house with the sign of the Dun Cow. This is an ancient device, and probably has reference to the feat of Guy, Earl of Warwick, who, according to an old ballad, slew a “dun cow bigger than an elephaunt” on Dunsmore Heath. The Red Cow, as a sign, may be seen at Chrishall, Ashen, and Shelley. A once well-known Red Cow at *Chelmsford is now an equally well-known coffee-tavern with the same sign. At Waltham Holy Cross a beer-shop displays the very strange sign of the Spotted Cow, which is in all probability unique. Larwood and Hotten do not mention it. The sign of the Red Cow is probably intended to express the idea that good drink may be obtained within, as from a cow; but, in former times, especial value seems to have attached to the milk of red cows. At Cold Norton, near Maldon, there is a house with the very strange, and probably unique, sign of the Fly and Bullock, kept by one William Pond. It is at first difficult to see what possible sign-board connection the two creatures can have. Farmers have reasons for believing that, during hot weather, a great animosity exists between the two. Inquiry has at last elicited the fact that the sign is a corrupted one, but this was not arrived at until after much amusing and erudite speculation, as the sign in its present form is a very perplexing one. The first guess was that it was a corruption of the “Flying Bullock” or “Winged Bull,” the usual emblem of St. Luke. This seemed the more likely, as we have in Essex signs which might represent at least two other of the Apostolic emblems, namely, the Angel for Matthew, and the Eagle for John; and who can say but that some of our Lions were not once winged, thus representing the only remaining Evangelist, Mark? Moreover, Larwood and Hotten, although they do not refer to this sign, mention (p. 73), when speaking of the sign of the Flying Horse, “a facetious innkeeper at Rogate, Petersfield, who has put up a parody in the shape of a Flying Bull.” But then arose the question, “Why should Luke be thus commemorated?” It was next suggested in several quarters that the sign might have originated in the old fable of La Mouche et le Toreau, of which Miss Elliot of Gosfield has kindly forwarded a copy, and which is thought to be of Oriental origin. This, however, did not decide the question, so inquiry was made of the landlord, who, though knowing nothing of the origin of his sign, stated that it formerly was, and should now be, the Butchers’ Arms, thereby clearing up the doubt, the crest and supporters of those arms being “Flying Bulls.”[58] There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Fly and Bullock originally represented one of the Flying Bullocks in the Butchers’ Arms. It seems, moreover, that the sign does after all represent the winged ox of St. Luke, that Evangelist being, in a way, the Patron Saint of butchers, for in Chambers’s Book of Days (ii. p. 464) it is stated this symbol has been associated with St. Luke, “because, to quote the words of an ancient writer, ‘he deviseth about the presthode of Jesus Christ,’ the ox or calf being the sign of a sacrifice, and St. Luke entering more largely than the other Evangelists into the history of the life and sufferings of our Saviour.”