is now to be seen at Upminster, Ramsden Cray, and Great Stambridge (beer-house). Two centuries ago it appeared on the farthing token of “Peeter Pearcce” of Braintree; while a DOG WITH CHAIN, passant, occurs on that of “Thomas Peeke, Wyre Street, in Colchstr,” and a dog eating out of a fleshpot (the Dog’s Head in Pot) on the halfpenny issued by John Phillips of Plaistow in 1670. This device seems to have been originally used to indicate a dirty, slovenly housewife. It was never common. The Hare and Hounds occurs seven times, the Fox and Hounds ten times, and the Huntsman and Hounds once (at Upminster). Both the Fox and the Fox and Hounds are very common beer-house signs. The Hare, an unusual sign when not accompanied by the Hounds, appears at Great Parndon. The Talbot at North Weald may be named after the famous Talbot in Southwark, which, under its former name of the Tabard, sheltered Chaucer’s pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. Talbot is the name of an old variety of hunting dog which, at the present day, is never heard of except in connection with Heraldry; and, as the sign in question is not now a pictorial one, most of the inhabitants of North Weald would probably be much puzzled to explain what it originally represented. There was another Talbot in Stapleford Tawney until about ten years ago, but it is now a private house. The county contains no less than thirteen Greyhounds, one of which is an Old Greyhound. The sign of the Greyhound existed at Chelmsford in 1786, according to the Chelmsford Chronicle for July 21st in that year, but it is not now extant, though Greyhound Lane still exists. In all probability this was the house that existed under the same name in 1662, as mentioned in the Account of the Murder of Thomas Kidderminster, to which reference has been already made. The Greyhound at Waltham Abbey is mentioned in the parish registers on June 4, 1735, when “John Munns from ye Greyhound was Bur.” The Greyhound at Barking is mentioned in the parish register as early as 1592.[62] An entry states that “Henry, the supposed son of Henry Fisher of London, from the Greyhound, was bapd the 17th of October.” For this sign we are probably about equally indebted both to the sport of coursing and the art of Heraldry. Greyhounds argent formed either one or both of the supporters of Henry VII., the badge, and often one of the supporters, of Henry VIII., and one of the supporters of Elizabeth and Mary; so that in all probability the sign found its origin in Heraldry, but owes its use in the present day, largely at least, to coursing.
In a hunting district like Essex it is in no way surprising that there should be as many as twenty-five references to the fox on our sign-boards. Although twenty years ago the sign of the Fox only occurred five times, it now occurs eleven times; while there are ten signs of the Fox and Hounds, and three of the Fox and Goose. The latter is a combination which mediæval artists never tired of representing. It may be seen, among other places, on a carved oak screen in Hadstock Church. Of the Flying Fox at Colchester, Larwood and Hotten say (p. 170)—“It may represent some kind of bat or flying squirrel (?) so denominated, or is a landlord’s caprice.” It seems much more probable, however, that the device is intended to represent a fox flying before the hounds.
There is a beer-house known as the Wolf at Great Coggeshall. The origin of the sign, which is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten, is hard to explain. Probably it is unique.
The sign of the Hare and Hounds, of which, as previously stated (p. 76), we have seven examples, is, doubtless, entirely derived from the sport of coursing; but the Rabbits, a very old house still in existence at Little Ilford, has probably an heraldic origin. Most likely the sign is derived from three coneys appearing on some family coat of arms, but whose, it is now difficult to say. The sign appeared in the list as the Three Rabbits forty years ago, and as the Three Coneys on Jean Roque’s Map of Ten Miles Round London, published in 1746. Lysons, in his Environs of London (1796, vol. iv. p. 157), says—
“A great mart for cattle from Wales, Scotland, and the North of England is held annually, from the latter end of February till the beginning of May, on the flat part of the forest of Waltham (commonly called Epping Forest), within the parishes of Ilford, Eastham, Westham, Leyton, and Wanstead. A great part of the business between the dealers is transacted at the Rabbits in this parish—on the high road.”
There is also a beer-shop known as the Rabbits in Stapleford Tawney parish. It is probably named after the foregoing. There is another beer-house so called at West Thurrock. Larwood and Hotten do not mention the sign under any of the above forms, although they say that in 1667 Hugh Conny, of Caxton and Elsworth, Cambridge, had Three Conies for a sign, and a RABBIT is depicted on the farthing token of one William Hutchenson, of Chelmsford.
The sign of the Fleece occurs twice at *Colchester, once at *Coggeshall, and once at Brentwood. That of the Golden Fleece appears at Chelmsford and East Ham, although the former seems to have become golden only during the last forty years. There were also Fleeces at Halstead and Witham sixty years ago. Both forms of the sign are, of course, intended to represent Jason’s Golden Fleece, or Gideon’s, and their use commemorates the time when the woollen trade was one of the staple industries of Essex. The Fleece also formed the pendant of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which was founded in 1429 by Philip, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, “to perpetuate the memory of his great revenues raised by wools with the Low Countries,” as Ashmole says. Ancient encaustic tiles have been found, Mr. Elliot writes, both in Witham and Maldon (St. Mary’s) Churches bearing the arms of the Dukes of Burgundy, with their badge of flint, steel, and sparks in the upper and side spandrels, and the figure of the Fleece below. A fleece forms a charge in the arms of the town of Leeds,[63] now the principal seat of the woollen trade. Larwood and Hotten facetiously remark that “a fleece at the door of an inn or public-house looks very like a warning of the fate a traveller may expect within.” The Star and Fleece is an odd combination, which does not appear to be noticed in the History of Sign-boards. It may simply be an impaled sign, or may represent the fleece of one of the mullets in the arms of Leeds. An example has existed at Kelvedon for over forty years, and another was in existence a few years since. Another emblem of the woollen trade is the Woolpack, of which, as already stated (p. 39), we have six examples, arranged in an almost straight line across the county, namely, at *Romford, Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Witham, *Coggeshall, and *Colchester. Three, at least, of these were in existence sixty years since, at which time there was another at Bocking. It is recorded in Bufton’s Diary[64] that on May 1, 1693, at Coggeshall, “Ye soldiers set up a Maypole at ye Woolpacke doore.” The Woolpack is a device which appears commonly on the tokens of the seventeenth century. It is met with at Billericay, Dunmow, Castle Hedingham (twice), Braintree, Bocking, Witham, and Colchester. The sign of the Woolpack, it should be noticed, is still, or was lately, to be seen at the three last-named places. The sign of the Shears, as pointed out elsewhere (p. 41), is another relic of the now departed woollen trade. From the middle of the seventeenth to the end of the eighteenth century, the spinning, carding, and weaving of wool formed the staple industry in most of the larger towns and villages of Eastern England. Several prominent families of the district in former days owed their wealth to this trade. In the neighbourhood of Hedingham it is said that several old houses, of which remnants only now exist, were once “wool-halls,” combining a residence for the merchant with a warehouse for his wools, worsteds, and “pieces.” Very high wages were earned by the workpeople, even by children and old persons. It has been estimated that, at the middle of last century, not less than 20,000 hands in and around Colchester were employed in the woollen trade; but by the end of the century the number had sunk to less than 8,000. Many old persons still living can remember their parents’ or grand-parents’ accounts of the festivities on St. Blaize’s Day, the 3rd of February, when there were processions in mediæval fashion, with shepherdess and lamb, and men and women spinning and weaving, accompanied by a great deal of noise and fun, bell-ringing and band-playing, ribbons and banners, roystering and drinking. In the evening bonfires were lit upon the hills to commemorate (as the common people thought) the name of their patron, St. Blaize. The weaving of bunting for ships’ flags lingered in and around Sudbury until about twenty years ago, but has now quite died out in East Anglia. The Ram, at North Woolwich, perhaps, represents the crest of the Clothworkers’ Company.[65] Our six examples of the sign of the Lamb may, or may not, have had an heraldic origin. They probably represent the Lamb with the flag of the Apocalypse; but this was used as a crest by the Merchant Taylors’ Company.[66] The farthing issued in 1654 by “Tho. Lambe at Bvttls Gate in Colchester” bears a Holy Lamb couchant, and that of “Joseph Lamb of Lee [Leigh], 1664,” bears the same device. In both cases a rebus or pun on the name of the issuer is, of course, intended. The Lambs at *Colchester and *Romford are both at least sixty years old. Probably the sign was first set up as an emblem of the woollen trade. The five instances in which the Lamb occurs in conjunction with a Lion have already been noticed (p. 63), and attention has also been drawn to the fact (p. 23) that some, at least, of our Ships are probably intended for sheep. The Shoulder of Mutton, which occurs both at Great Totham and Fordham, probably represents the joint so often brought to table.
The Bear occurs by himself only twice, namely, at Buttsbury (where he is at least forty years old), and at Romford. The Bear at Buttsbury is mentioned in the Stock parish registers in 1673. Forty years ago there were also Bears at Colchester and Great Baddow. We are probably more indebted to the old custom of bear-baiting for this sign than to Heraldry. Larwood and Hotten say that it was originally adopted by ale-houses as a pun on the word “beer.” If so, the pun was a very weak one. The White Bear is to be seen at Galleywood and at Stanford Rivers. At the latter place he has existed at least since 1789, and is represented on a board over the door, but not upon the swinging sign-board, as a Polar Bear picking his way over blocks of ice. The sign of the White Bear is not a modern one. It was used in the seventeenth century, and both of our Essex examples are over forty years old. The Queen of Richard III. used a White Bear as her badge, and this perhaps originated the sign.