Nicholas Upton, one of our earliest heraldic writers, who was present at the siege of Orleans in 1428, states,—"Rex etiam scoeie dare solebat pro signo vel titulo suo unum COLLARIUM de gormettis fremalibus equorum de auro vel argento;" whilst, in a wood-cut engraving of the arms of a German, Herr Florian Waldauff, of about the time of Albert Durer, are three collars, one of the letters SS. linkings into each other, terminating in front with portcullises. Put these notices together and they may be considered sufficient to demolish the Lancastrian origin theory of the collar, on the one hand, and to unfold the true source of the collar's nomenclature on the other, viz. that it comes from the S-shaped lever upon the bit of the bridle of the war steed.
To [Greek: Ph].'s question, "Who are the persons now privileged to wear these collars?" MR. NICHOLS answers, "I believe the reply must be confined to the judges, the Lord Mayor of London, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the kings and heralds of arms." The privilege of wearing a Collar of SS., so far as the various persons enumerated are concerned, is a mere official privilege, and can scarcely be cited in reply to [Greek: Ph].'s interrogative, except upon the principle, "Exceptio probat regulam." The persons now privileged to wear the ancient golden Collar of SS. are the equites aurati, or knights (chevaliers) in the British monarchy, a body which includes all the hereditary order of baronets in England, Scotland, and Ireland, with such of their eldest sons, being of age, as choose to claim inauguration as knights. It is presumable too that the Collar of SS. is also an incident of the minor degree of knight bachelor (bas-chevalier seu miles-bachillarus); whilst the silver Collar of SS. belongs to every head of a family of ancient esquirage quality, bearing arms. It is true, the fashion of wearing the collar, whether gold or silver, may be said to have been in desuetude for centuries. But rights of blood never prescribe; and there are strong grounds to believe that there will again be a general revival of the use of such distinctions.
There are various other points bearing upon the subject of the Collar of SS., upon which I wish to offer some remarks, and with your permission I will return to the subject. I cannot, however, conclude without observing, that it would much add to the value of MR. NICHOLS' compilation if he would extend it so as to embrace a description of the floreal coronet of knighthood, the belt of honour, the helmet, scarf, ring, spars, &c.,—all indeed, that the words "ad recipiendum a nobis ARMA MILITARIA" implied in the ancient proclamations for taking the order of knighthood. If MR. NICHOLS, in addition to this, will show also wherein the knights of this equestrian quality differed from such persons as were distrained "ad se milites faciendos," he will solve a number of knotty difficulties in heraldic literature, and will enable the public generally to understand that there are many more chivalrous rights and privileges inherent in the subject than what is dreamt of in the philosophy either of the court at St. James's, or the college on St. Bennet's Hill.
ARMIGER.
TENYSON.—COLERIDGE.—EXTRACT FROM BAKER'S MSS. ON BARTH. DODYNGTON, AND WILLIAM JENKYN.
The well-known lines in Tenyson's Locksley Hall,—
"This is truth the poet sings,
That a sorrow's crown of sorrow is, remembering happier things."
appear to be taken from Dante (Inferno, canto v. Verse 121.),—