The Trade Signs of Essex / A popular account of the origin and meanings of the public houses & other signs

by Miller Christy

M. Edouard Fournier, in his most interesting Histoire des Enseignes de Paris, makes some valuable remarks on the connection between Trade Signs and Heraldry. The following is a translation. After stating that coats of arms came into use at the time of the Crusades, he says:

“The first Crusade dates from the year 1090.... Is it not allowable to suppose that, among the Crusaders who had taken the sign of the cross upon their coats [of arms], there were some who, prevented from starting upon the Crusade, displayed the cross upon their houses, as a token of their having taken a vow, sooner or later, to proceed to the Holy Land? This would be a rational explanation of the general and widely followed custom of using the cross as the sign of a house or a shop—Red Crosses, White Crosses, Golden and Silver Crosses, &c., which form a kind of sign-board crusade. It is impossible otherwise to explain the singular and obvious analogy which exists between the devices on the shield of arms and those on the oldest sign-boards. On the sign-boards, as upon the armorial bearings, are to be seen the same devices, borrowed from every object which has a shape or a name in the creation of God or of man; moreover, upon the sign-boards, these figures are reproduced with the various colours and ‘metals’ in which they appear on the coats of arms. The only difference is in the ‘field’ or background upon which the figures are painted. On the sign-board this is of no importance; while it is, on the contrary, one of the distinctive features of the coat of arms. In Louvan Geliot’s Indice Armorial (Armorial Index) is to be found not only a glossary of all the words used in heraldic ‘blazon,’ but also the names of nearly all the devices displayed upon sign-boards.... In a word, sign-boards and shields of arms, both alike, display figures of everything that strikes the eye or the mind in our every-day life....

“The mansions built or inhabited by noble families bore, as signs, the arms of these families, sculptured or painted, over the entrance-door. These escutcheons of the nobility, without doubt, excited the envy of the merchants, who wished also to have signs, and who, therefore, placed their trade or occupation under the protection of the shield of France, or some other shield, either of a province or even of a monastery. There was nobody to object to this, and such signs quickly multiplied in every direction.”

M. Fournier next gives a long list of houses which formerly displayed armorial signs in several of the “Quartiers” of Paris. “After this enumeration [he says] it will be possible to form an idea of the multitude of signs of this kind which must have existed at the same periods in the other Quarters of Paris.”

Before proceeding to discuss in detail the various signs to be met with in the county of Essex, it will be well to point out two cunningly-concealed pitfalls into which the ardent antiquary is likely to fall, unless he is careful to exercise vigilance in avoiding them.

The first of these arises from the combination of two different signs into one. Larwood and Hotten speak of such signs being “quartered,” but “impaled” is a much better word, if used in its old heraldic sense. Signs of this kind first began to appear about the beginning of last century, and are still common, although less so than formerly. It is noticeable that Taylor in his Catalogue of Tavernes, published in 1636 (see p. 28), does not name a single impaled sign, properly so-called. In some cases, such as the Eagle and Child, the Star and Garter, the George and Dragon, &c., the connection is at once obvious; but in the great majority no meaning or connection is apparent. In such cases it will be found best not to search too deeply for a meaning, for the good reason that none exists. The mind of Addison seems to have been considerably exercised by the signs of this kind to be seen in his day in the London streets. In an amusing letter to the Spectator, in 1710, he professes himself desirous of obtaining office as “Superintendent of Signs,” in order that he might be able to expunge those of an unnatural kind.

“My first task, therefore [he says], should be, like that of Hercules, to clear the city from monsters. In the second place, I should forbid that creatures of jarring and incongruous natures should be joined together in the same sign; such as the Bell and Neat’s Tongue, the Dog and Gridiron. The Fox and the Goose may be supposed to have met; but what have the Fox and Seven Stars to do together? And when did the Lion and Dolphin ever meet except upon a sign-post? As for the Cat and Fiddle, there is a conceit in it; and I, therefore, do not intend that anything that I have here said should affect it.”

Further on, he makes it plain to us how some of these strange combinations arose.

“I must, however, observe to you upon this subject [says he], that it is usual for a young tradesman, at his first setting up, to add to his own sign that of the master whom he served, as the husband, after marriage, gives a place to his mistress’s arms in his own coat. This I take to have given rise to many of those absurdities which are committed over our heads; and, as I am informed, first occasioned the Three Nuns and a Hare, which we see so frequently joined together.”

According to Messrs. Larwood and Hotten (p. 21) impaled signs, too, were often set up “on removing from one shop to another, when it was customary to add the sign of the old shop to that of the new.” Numerous examples may be cited of impaled signs which occur at the present time in Essex. Such are the Bull and Horseshoe (p. 65) at North Weald, the Lion and Boar (p. 63) at Earl’s Colne, the Lion and Key (p. 63) at Leyton, the Bull and Crown (p. 65) at Chingford, the Star and Fleece (p. 79) at Kelvedon, the Sun and Whalebone (p. 83) at Latton, the examples of the Cock and Bell (p. 99) at Writtle, Romford, and High Easter, the Rainbow and Dove (p. 101) at North Weald, the Crown and Blacksmith (p. 131) at Tendring, the examples of the Plow and Sail (p. 146) at Tollesbury, East Hanningfield, Paglesham, and Maldon, the Sun and Anchor (p. 147) at Steeple, the Bell and Anchor (p. 159) at Canning Town, the Coach and Bell (p. 159) at Romford, the Old Windmill and Bells (p. 159) also at Romford, the Crown and Crooked Billet (p. 162) at Woodford Bridge, and many others. These will all be found noticed in their proper places. Many other apparently impaled signs might be noticed. Such are the Coach and Horses (p. 57), the Lion and Lamb (p. 63), the Eagle and Child (p. 92), the Dog and Partridge (p. 75), the Rose and Crown (p. 116), the George and Dragon (p. 128), &c., &c.; but these do not properly belong to this class, there being some obvious or possible connection between the two objects named in each case. Among signs of this kind—apparently, though not strictly speaking, impaled—belong all, or most, combinations of any object with either a Hand or a Hoop. Such are the Hand and Glove (p. 142), the Hand and Ball (p. 142), the Cross and Hand (p. 142), and the Hand and Star (p. 28); also the Cock and Hoop, the Hoop and Horseshoe, the Hoop and Grapes, which do not occur in Essex. Combinations with a Hand generally arose from the fact that it was once common to represent on the sign-board a hand holding or supporting some other object. In many cases, no doubt, such combinations originally represented some family crest, in which (as is commonly the case) a hand supported a cross, a glove, a spear, or some other object as the case might be. Combinations into which a Hoop enters may be explained by mentioning the fact that formerly the sign was not always painted on a board, but often carved in wood or metal and suspended before the house within a hoop.