CHAPTER VIII.NAUTICAL SIGNS.

“Restorat.1858. R. C.—In memory of yeCherrey Pey as cost ½ a Guiney, ye17th of July, 1752.

That day we had good cheer,I hope to so do many a year.—David Jersey.”

TheGeorge and Dragonalso occurs eight times elsewhere in the county, as well as on several beer-house signs. At Chelmsford there is anOld George(beer-house). Mr. H. W. King also finds mention in early deeds of a house known as theGeorge and Tankardat Shopland in 1579. It is not stated that it was an inn, but from the sign there can be very little doubt that it was. The appearance of an apparently impaled sign at so early a date is certainly very remarkable. Larwood and Hotten do not notice this device.

Various military signs occur at places where there are barracks. For instance, there are at Colchester houses with such signs as theBugle Horn, theArtillery-man, theRifleman, theDragoon, the *Fencers(a sign which is at least forty years old, though it is not mentioned by Larwood

Image not available: GRENADIER.GRENADIER.

and Hotten), anOrdnance Arms, and aRoyal Artillery; whilst at Great Warley there is aHorse Artilleryand aSoldier’s Hotel, which seems to have been theSoldier’s Hopeforty years ago. At Waltham Abbey there is aVolunteer; there areRiflemenat Colchester and Black Notley (beer-house); at Kelvedon Hatch there is aGuardsman, at Rettendon aLife Guards, and at Leyton aGrenadier. The figure of a Grenadier, here reproduced, is taken from theGentleman’s Magazinefor December, 1845 (p. 591), to which it was contributed by the late Mr. J. A. Repton, F.S.A., formerly of Springfield. ASoldieris represented on three different farthing tokens issued by John Allen of Braintree, one of which bears the date 1657. All bear his initials, but one has the inscription, “Turne a penny,” in the place of the name of the issuer. On these tokens the orthography is decidedly peculiar. Thus,Braintree is twice spelled “Brantre” and once “Brantry,” while Essex is twice spelled “Esex” and once “Esaxes.”

Among the more miscellaneous of Human Signs we meet with aCrown’s Innat Ongar, aForesterat Coggeshall, aForester’s Innat Plaistow, anAncient Forestersat Hatfield Broad Oak (all, of course, connected with the “ancient order”), threeFreemasons’ Taverns, severalFreemasons’ Arms, aMerry Fiddlersat Theydon Garnon, eight examples of theCricketers(against five in 1862), two of theCricketers’ Arms, aJolly Cricketers, aJolly Fisherman, aJolly Sailor, aSailor’s Return, twoWelcome Sailors, anOld Welcome Sailor, aThree Travellers(perhaps representing the three wise men from the East), and aMinervaat Southend, which, as Mr. H. W. King has ascertained, was recently christened by its owner after a barge of the same name that he possessed. At Chigwell there has been for at least a century past a house with the sign of theThree Jolly Wheelers(whatever they might be). There areTravellers’ Friendsat Moulsham and Woodford Wells (the former being at least forty years old), as well as a beer-house of the same name at Epping;Travellers’ Restsat Forest Gate and Wethersfield (the latter being a beer-house);Britanniasat Canning Town, Barking, Southend, and Hornchurch (beer-house); andTwo Brewersat *Stratford, Springfield, High Ongar, and Chigwell (beer-house). This is a sign once common, but now becoming rare. They were usually represented carrying a barrel of beer between them, slung on a pole. There areWoodmenat Halstead, Elmdon, Waltham Abbey, Stanford Rivers, Thundersley, Romford, &c., all but the first two being beer-houses. TheThree Marinersis an odd sign which occurs at Colchester and at Moulsham (Chelmsford). At the latter place it seems to have existed for at least a century, being referred to in theChelmsford Chroniclefor January 27, 1786. In the garden of theAdam and Eveat West Ham (p. 37) stands the remains of an old stone arch, now almost the only remaining portion of the ancient abbey of Stratford Langthorn. In the kitchen are (or were lately) a coffin, aseal, some coins, and some urns dug up in an adjoining field towards the end of last century. TheEssex Head, in Essex Street, Strand, London, W.C., probably commemorates the Earl of Essex, who was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth, rather than the county of that name. It clearly either takes its name from, or gives its name to, the street in which it stands. The inn was established in the last century. On the Forest, near High Beech, is a beer-shop known as theDick Turpin’s Cave. It clearly takes its name from a hole in the ground not far distant, commonly spoken of as “Dick Turpin’s Cave.” The “cave” (if such it ever was) is now thickly overgrown with trees and brushwood. It is well known that Messrs. Dick Turpin and Co. especially haunted the neighbourhood of Epping and Hainault Forests, and until the end of last century it was not considered safe to traverse the roads thereabouts unless well armed. It may very well be, therefore, that the famous highwayman did, at some time or other, use this hole as a place of refuge.

TheHerculesat Newport (the only example in Essex of this rather uncommon sign) has already been mentioned (p. 65), also the tradition that theBull, which stood opposite to it, was by it compelled to close its doors. With regard to this inn Mr. C. K. Probert of Newport sends an interesting note. He says:

“TheHerculesstands next to the old Vicarage. Now we know it was a common custom among village clergymen to take their pipe and pot at the village inn, as mentioned in the old song, which says:‘At the sign of the Horse,Old Spintext, of course,Each night takes his pipe and his pot,O’er a Jorum of “nappy,”Contented and happy,There sits this canonical sot,’ &c., &c.Further, it is my belief that theHerculeswas started in opposition to theBull, our Pastor (being the most learned individual in the place at the period) probably suggesting the classical name, in reference to the seventh labour of Hercules—the slaying of the Cretan Bull.”

“TheHerculesstands next to the old Vicarage. Now we know it was a common custom among village clergymen to take their pipe and pot at the village inn, as mentioned in the old song, which says:

‘At the sign of the Horse,Old Spintext, of course,Each night takes his pipe and his pot,O’er a Jorum of “nappy,”Contented and happy,There sits this canonical sot,’ &c., &c.

Further, it is my belief that theHerculeswas started in opposition to theBull, our Pastor (being the most learned individual in the place at the period) probably suggesting the classical name, in reference to the seventh labour of Hercules—the slaying of the Cretan Bull.”

Forty years ago there existed at Colchester aMaltster’s Inn, aMariner’s Inn, and aNeptune; at Stratford aChinaman, and at Tendring aCrown and Blacksmith, thelatter being, perhaps, an impaled sign signifying that the landlord of theCrownwas also a blacksmith.

It will be most convenient to treat of the sign of theAngel, which occurs eleven times in Essex, among Human Signs, although an angel is commonly accounted to be something more than human. AnAngeloccurs on the seventeenth-century tokens of “Francis Aleyn at the Angell in Brentwood,” of “Georg Silke at the Angell in Rvmford,” of Francis Dilke, also of Rumford, of William Hartley of Colchester, and of George Taylor of Ilford in 1665. As the sign still exists at the two last-named places, the probabilities are that the two houses bearing it are identical with those from which the tokens were issued a couple of centuries ago. TheAngelat Ilford was formerly a posting-house of great importance; but, like its neighbour, theRed Lion, and all the other once-busy inns on this great highway from London into the Eastern counties, it is now sadly decayed from its old importance, though still a house of high standing. Its massive sign-post and ornamental sign-iron date from at least a century ago. Probably it was at this house that, on August 18, 1662, Pepys, “while dinner was getting ready, practised measuring of the tables and other things, till [as he says] I did understand measure of timber and board very well.” This he did that he might know how to detect fraud on the part of those who bought timber for the navy. Taylor (see p. 28) in 1636 mentionsAngelsat Romford and Brentwood, which do not now exist. The *Angelin the High Street at Colchester is, perhaps, the modern representative of theAngelmentioned in one of the Corporation records (see p. 62) as being an “auncyent inne” in 1603. There are beer-houses with the same sign at Braintree, Bocking, and elsewhere. In the Corporation records of Saffron Walden for the year 1645 it appears that the sum of 6s. 2d. was expended upon “a pottle of sack, 3 qts. of claret and white wine burnt, for the committee, when they sat at theAngel.” This is probably the same house which continued to exist in Gould Street up to about fifty years ago, when it was kept by one Butterfield,who was also a barber, and who displayed the following rhyme upon his sign-board:

“Rove not from pole to pole, but call in here,Where nought exceeds the shaving, but the beer.”

The pole referred to is, of course, the barber’s pole. The couplet was, however, not original. TheAngel, which still continues to exist at Kelvedon, is referred to in an advertisement in theChelmsford Chroniclefor December 29, 1786. It is also stated in the Bufton MSS.[88]that on the 20th of October, 1692, King William III. “stayed and dined at theAngell,” at Kelvedon. Doubtless he was on his way to Holland,viâHarwich. Larwood and Hotten say (p. 266) that this sign “was derived from the Salutation; for, that it originally represented the Angel appearing to the Holy Virgin at the Salutation or Annunciation, is evident from the fact that, even as late as the seventeenth century, on nearly all the trades-tokens of houses with this sign, the Angel is represented with a scroll in his hands; and this scroll we know, from the evidence of paintings and prints, to contain the words addressed by the Angel to the Holy Virgin:‘Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.’ Probably at the Reformation it was considered too Catholic a sign, and so the Holy Virgin was left out, and the Angel only retained.” The supporters of the arms of Richard II. were also two angels, blowing trumpets. TheAngel and Harpat Church End, Dunmow, is a strange sign which does not appear to be noticed by the authors so often quoted. Probably it is a modern, though by no means inappropriate, impalement, as it appears in the list of sixty years ago simply as the *Harp.

The sign of theBlack Boyoccurs seven times in the county, namely, at Chelmsford, Wrabness, Bocking, Weeley, *Coggeshall, Wivenhoe, and Great Bromley. At the latter place it seems to have existed since 1786, as a sale is advertised to take place at theBlack Boyin Great Bromley, in theChelmsford Chroniclefor March 3rd in that year. Thereis also a beer-house of this name at Danbury, and the large brick house in the High Street at Epping, lately occupied by that eminent naturalist, Henry Doubleday, was an inn with this sign before the Doubleday family acquired it about 1770. TheBlack Boynow existing at Chelmsford is not the same house that went under that name during the last and previous centuries, though standing on the same site. The old inn ranked as a coaching-inn of the first importance. It was pulled down in 1857, having been fairly run off the road by the opening of the railway in 1843. Two wooden bosses, taken from the ceiling of one of the rooms, and now to be seen in the Chelmsford Museum, are carved, respectively, with the Blue Boar of the De Veres (to which family the house probably once belonged), and the red and white rose combined. Mr. John Adey Repton, F.S.A., formerly of Springfield, writing to theGentleman’s Magazinein May, 1840, sends sketches of these two bosses, which were duly inserted. He says:

“There is a tradition that Richard III. was hunting in the forest, and being missed by his courtiers was afterwards found at this house.... The beam is massive, being not less than 16 inches wide. The room, although only 9½ feet high, was originally a hall 28½ feet long, but subsequently reduced to 18½ feet by a partition, leaving a passage to the inn. Yet this partition, from the style and character of the panels, appears to have been added so early as the reign of Henry VIII. The doors to the buttery-hatch, &c., may still be traced on the wall of the passage.”

Writing again to the same Magazine in December, 1845, Mr. Repton says:

“I send you a sketch of a Chambermaid. The figure is now at the White Hart, Chelmsford, having been recently removed thither from the Black Boy. It was formerly the custom in ancient family mansions to introduce a painting which represents a housemaid holding a broom in her hands, which was cut out of a board, and generally placed in a passage or at the top of the stairs. The earliest specimens I have seen are of the date of Charles I., or the early part of Charles II.... The enclosed specimen is of a later period, having the Fontaine head-dress which prevailed about the time of William III. or Queen Anne.... Sometimes the figure of a soldier, like a sentry, was exhibited in like manner.... Such a figure is on the staircase of the Bull at Dartford. Another, of which I send you a sketch [see p. 129], is at the Black Boy in Chelmsford.”

Mr. Chancellor of Chelmsford writes that—

“In 1424 [when Chelmsford Church was largely built] John De Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, was at the head of that family, having succeeded to the title in 1415. From his known adherence to the House of Lancaster, he may be presumed to have been a person of some importance, and as a consequence in constant communication with the Court. Undoubtedly, therefore, he would journey to and from Hedingham Castle, his baronial seat, to London, many times in the course of the year; and as it would appear that the old hostelry, known as the Black Boy, in this town, belonged to the De Vere family, it is a very fair presumption that Chelmsford was not only a halting-place for the Earl and his retainers upon the occasion of their journeys, but probably used as an occasional residence; and as he lived in almost royal state, his comings to and fro would be a matter of as much importance to the then townsfolk as a visit of the sovereign in the present day.... We can readily believe that so powerful and wealthy a man would be the first applied to for aid. That he did assist, is proved by the fact of his shield, charged with the mullet, being carved in the spandrel of the west door of the tower; and his crest, the boar, being introduced in the apex of the arch of the same door; this latter corresponds with the carved boar which formed part of the ceiling of an apartment in the old Black Boy [see p. 71]. For five centuries did this mighty family rule it most royally over many parts of the country, their riches being immense, and their power and influence being second only to the sovereign; and yet now a cubic foot of stone in our parish church, and a cubic foot of oak deposited in our museum, are all that remain in this town to remind us of the De Veres.”

A good view of this famous old inn is given in Ryland’s view of Chelmsford High Street, engraved in 1762, and reproduced as the frontispiece of this volume. From it, in all probability, our six other Essex Black Boys have taken their name, as the sign is unusually common in the county. It stood at the corner of Springfield Lane and the High Street. TheIpswich Express, in speaking of the closing of this ancient house, which, as it remarked, had been “for centuries one of the oldest inns on the road,” remarked as follows:—

“There are not only pleasant recollections of ‘slippered ease,’ but historical associations, connected with the old Inn. Here royal heads have rested, and warriors have halted as they hurried off to draw the sword on fields of military renown. Within its rooms, martyrs have passed the last night of life, in the fiery days of religious persecution, on their way to the fatal stake. In the old war, its roof often resounded with the mad jollity of prizemen and privateers, who had just brought their rich booty into Harwich, and, as they posted off to London, had halted at the well-known hostelry to make merry with their gains. A quarter of a century ago, between forty and fifty stage-coaches passed itsdoor daily, most of which pulled up, if they did not pause, to allow the travellers to partake of the provision made for them; while numberless pairs of post-horses stood saddled in its capacious stables.”

Dickens mentions this house inPickwick Papers(1st Edition, p. 161), when Mr. Weller, Senior, relates how he transported Messrs. Job Trotter and Charles Fitz-Marshall from “the Black Boy at Chelmsford ... right through to Ipswich.” Mr. Chancellor has ascertained that, in a deed dated 1642, this inn is described as “heretofore known by the name or sign of theCrownorNew Inn, or theKing’s Arms, and later as theBlack Boy.” That it was theBlack Boyin 1636 is certain, for Taylor, “the Water Poet,” in hisCatalogue of Tavernes, mentions it as one of the chief inns in the town at that time. In 1660, the Rev. R. E. Bartlett finds it recorded in the Chelmsford registers that “Andrew Speller, a dumb man, who lived at the Black Boy in Chelmsford, was buried the 2 day of August.” It has probably retained the same sign ever since. This frequent change at so early a date is very interesting. It seems to indicate (as Mr. Chancellor suggests) that, on the house passing out of the hands of the De Veres, it became an inn, and that, although it may have displayed the sign of theCrown(see p. 166), it was commonly known as theNew Inn. Afterwards, for some reason, it came to be styled theKing’s Arms, and still later theBlack Boy, though why, it is not apparent. At the time of his demise, this “Old Boy” (as he may be familiarly styled) was, therefore, at least 250 years old. It might be thought strange that having existed so long, and having begat the seven sons already mentioned, he never grew into a “Black Man,” but died as he had so long lived, a “Black Boy”! ABlack Boyformerly existed in Saffron Walden, as shown by the following entries in the Corporation records:—“March 27th, 1682, ‘Spent at the Black Boy 12 pence,’ ” and a little later 4s. 6d. was “spent at the Black Boy with the Chamberlains when we assessed the fines on the Quakers.” In the Waltham Abbey parish register is the following entry:—“Judith Sutton, from yeBlacks, Bur. May 26, 1740.” This was probably theBlackBoyInn that formerly stood in Town-mead Lane. TheBlack Boyis a sign of venerable antiquity. From the first it has been largely used as a tobacconist’s sign. The crest of the Tobacco-pipe Makers’ Company, incorporated in 1663, was a demi-Moor, while the supporters weretwo young Moors proper, wreathed about the loins with tobacco leaves vert. A black Saracen’s head, too, was the badge of Lord Cobham in the time of Edward IV., and also of Sir John Harlwyn.

Essex contains at the present time no less than twenty-seven houses showing the sign of theGreen Man. TheGreen Manat Leyton is mentioned in theTrials of Swan and Jeffriesin 1752, while theGreen Manat Leytonstone is mentioned by Daniel Defoe in hisTour through Great Britain, first published in 1724, and is also marked on Roque’sMap of Ten Miles round London, published in 1741. It is recorded in theGentleman’s Magazine(vol. xxiii. p. 148) that Charles, Earl of Tankerville, died of an apoplectic fit at theGreen Manon Epping Forest on the 14th of March, 1753, as he was travelling to London. Old maps of the latter half of last century show quite a number ofGreen Menround Epping and Hainault Forests, showing the connection even then existing in the minds of men between the sign-boardGreen Menand foresters. In Mr. Creed’s list of signs round Epping in 1789,Green Menare named at the following places: Epping, Waltham Abbey, Moreton, Stanford Rivers, Magdalen Laver, Harlow, and Roydon. Evidently this sign was very common a century ago. Although this device has a two-fold origin, it is rather difficult to account for its great prevalence in the present day. Originally, no doubt, the sign represented the green-clad morris-dancers that played an important part in the shows and pageants of mediæval times; but, when these went out of date and were forgotten by the common people, the sign was made to represent a forester in his coat of green. As early as the seventeenth century the sign had come to be connected with that celebrated forester, Robin Hood, as is shown by the designs on many of the tokens, which represent the outlaw accompanied by his friendLittle John. At Elsenham and at High Beech the sign now takes the name of theRobin Hood, whileRobin Hood and Little Johnoccur in combination at Brentwood, although in an advertisement in theChelmsford Chroniclefor January 20, 1786, the house is spoken of simply as theRobin Hood. At High Beech, as is often the case, the following couplet is appended to the sign:—

“If Robin Hood be not at home,Step in and ask for Little John.”

Mrs. F. B. Palliser says,[89]“Queen Anne bore, as one of the supporters of her arms, one of the savage men, wreathed with ivy and bearing clubs, of Denmark, since designated and adopted for an inn-sign as theGreen Man.” This, however, is probably not the only origin of the sign. At the present day the sign is generally represented on Essex signboards by a gamekeeper in a green velveteen coat. At Grays there is aGreen Man and Bell(beer-house), which is doubtless an impaled sign.

A beer-shop at Great Chesterford displays a pictorial sign—evidently of some age—representing, apparently, theMan and Plough. A rustic in a green smock-frock stands at the handle of his plough, politely touching his hat to passers-by.

At Chelmsford and Dunmow the principal inn in each of the two towns has for its sign theSaracen’s Head. The former is mentioned in theChelmsford Chroniclefor January 6, 1786. It is also many times named in theTrials of Swan and Jeffriesin 1752, on account of a robbery having been committed there. It also finds mention in Mr. Joseph Strutt’s Essex and Herts romance, entitledQueenhoo Hall, published in 1808. The hero of the tale says (ii. p. 179) that “on my arrival at Chelmsford, I went to one of the principal inns, distinguished by the sign of the Saracen, or Man Quintain, where I took some small refreshment.” Other examples, making five in all, occur at Danbury, Braintree, and Thaxted. Though not described by Boyne,tokens, bearing a representation of a Saracen’s head, and issued by John Havers at the house of that name in Thaxted, are still extant, showing the house and its sign to be of considerable antiquity. Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., of Saffron Walden can recollect that, many years ago, the sign-board bore the representation of a man’s head with a very ferocious countenance, but the sign-board is not now pictorial. The sign owes its origin (largely, at least) to the Crusades. It was formerly much more common than now.

TheMaid’s Headat Thorpe-le-Soken is, in all probability, not a sign put up by some enamoured publican. As a general rule the sign, wherever it appears, has been derived from the arms of the Mercers’ Company, already given (p. 33). Sir William Parr, K.G., and also his grand-daughter, Queen Catherine Parr, both bore the same device as a badge. But in the case of the example at Thorpe there can be little doubt that the sign is a really ancient one, and that it represents the crest of the D’Arcy family, Barons of Chiche,[90]to whom, in 1551, Edward VI. granted the manor of Thorpe and neighbouring lands, which long afterwards remained in the family. The same sign often occurs elsewhere as theMaiden Head. There was apparently a house of this name (not necessarily an inn) at Chelmsford in the seventeenth century, as the Rev. R. E. Bartlett finds the following entry in the parish registers:—“1620, Matthew Prentys of Chelmsford, husbandman and householder at the Maidenhead in Chelmsford, was buried the xiiii. of May, being Sunday.” TheVillage Maid, which occurs at Bradfield, is a very modern sign, and is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. Probably the landlord set it up in honour of some damsel of his acquaintance.

TheMermaid, though only a semi-human sign, is most conveniently noticed here. There is no example of it now existing in the county, though it occurs on the farthing token of Michael Arnold of Colchester. As a sign it used formerly to be not uncommon.

The *Silent Womanis the name of a public-house, with a truly pictorial sign, at Widford. The signs of theGood Womanand theQuiet Woman, which occur occasionally in other counties, are identical with this, and, all alike, constitute a piece of unwarrantable slander on the fair sex, being intended to convey the idea that a woman can only be silenced by being deprived of her head. Larwood and Hotten say (p. 455):

“There is a very curious example of this sign at Widford, near Chelmsford, representing on one side a half-length portrait of Henry VIII., on the reverse, a woman without a head, dressed in the costume of the latter half of the last century, with the inscriptionForte Bonne. The addition of the portrait of Henry VIII. has led to the popular belief that the headless woman is meant for Anne Boleyn, though probably it is simply a combination of theKing’s HeadandGood Woman.”

Image not available: THE SILENT WOMAN AT WIDFORD.THE SILENT WOMAN AT WIDFORD.

The inscription on the sign-board is, presumably, intended to be the French for “Very Good,” but it is spelled “Fort Bon,” and it has been “Fort Bone.”

A writer inOnce a Week(N. S., ii. p. 487) says:

“The Essex tradition is that St. Osyth, when the convent was attacked by the Danes [A.D.635], fled down the park to a thicket, since called ‘Nun’s Wood,’ where she was overtaken, and her head cut off; and that on the spot where the head fell, a spring of water burst forth, which flows to this day. Another local tradition asserts that on one night in each year St. Osyth revisits the scene of her former abode, walking with her head under her arm. It is this legend which probably gave rise to the sign of the ‘Good Woman,’ at Widford, near Chelmsford,—of whom, by the way, I may remark that she is currently said to be the only good woman in Essex.”

Larwood and Hotten say that the sign was largely used by oilmen, which makes it very probable that the device has some reference to the “heedless virgins” who had no oil in their lamps when the bridegroom came—heedandheadhaving formerly been pronounced alike, according to those authors. The sign is not uncommon on the Continent also.

A writer inNotes and Queries(Fifth Series, vol. iv. p. 337) very ingeniously explains the origin of this sign. He says:

“In the days of old it wasla bone fame, with a meaning the same as that ofla bonne renomméein later times. According to Virgil, Fame walks on the earth while her head is concealed in the clouds—‘Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit.’Consequentlyla bone famewas represented by a headless woman—at times, no doubt, very roughly drawn. By degrees the wordfamedropped out of the French language, and then people readla bonne femme, correcting what they deemed an orthographical error. But [then arose the question] why should the ‘good woman’ have no head? The explanation was, of course, suggested by some hen-pecked cynic at the wineshop.”

“In the days of old it wasla bone fame, with a meaning the same as that ofla bonne renomméein later times. According to Virgil, Fame walks on the earth while her head is concealed in the clouds—

‘Ingrediturque solo, et caput inter nubila condit.’

Consequentlyla bone famewas represented by a headless woman—at times, no doubt, very roughly drawn. By degrees the wordfamedropped out of the French language, and then people readla bonne femme, correcting what they deemed an orthographical error. But [then arose the question] why should the ‘good woman’ have no head? The explanation was, of course, suggested by some hen-pecked cynic at the wineshop.”

On the high road between Braintree and Chelmsford, and in the parish of Great Leighs, stands an inn with the strange sign of theSt. Ann’s Castle. On the map of the road between Chelmsford and Bury, given in Ogilby’sItinerarium Angliæ, published in 1675, the words “St. Ann’s” appear against a house beside the high road at Leighs and on the site of the present inn. It appears from this that the word “Castle” is a modern addition to the name, perhaps connected with the adjacent ruins of Leighs Priory. The house is, however, marked as theSt. Ann’s Castleon Greenwood’s map of Essex, published as long ago as 1824. In White’sGazetteer of Essexit is stated that there formerly stood upon the spot a hermitage, known as St. Ann’s, “where pilgrims rested on their way to and from the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket. At the Dissolution, in 1571, it was given to Thos. Jennings, and its site is now occupied by an inn, called the St. Ann’s Castle, and said to be the oldest licensed public-house in England.” Morant says of it in 1768, “ ‘Tis now converted into an ale-house.” Probably it had become an inn much earlier, for Taylor, in 1636, mentionsone Will. Chandler as being a keeper of “innes at Plashie and St. Annes.”

According to G. W. Johnson’sHistory of Great Totham, it is stated that a hill at that place “seems to have been dedicated to the Virgin Mary, for at its base is a small public-house known now [1831], and as far back as memory can go, as theVirgin’s Tavern.” The sign is not now in existence.

In speaking of theLame Dog, which does not occur as a sign in this county, Larwood and Hotten say that it is sometimes accompanied by the following couplet:

“Stop, my friends, and stay awhileTo help the lame dog over the style.”

They continue (p. 450): “Sometimes, as at Bulmer, Essex, we see a somewhat similar idea expressed by aMan strugglingthrough a globe—head and arms protruding on one side, his legs on the other—with the inscription, ‘Help me through this world.’ ” This sign is not now to be seen at Bulmer.

AHandoccurs on the halfpenny token issued by Lawrence Brown, junior, of Wickham, in 1669; aHand and Gloveon that of Henry Cordall of Chelmsford in 1658; aHand and Penon that of Samuel Cox of Coggeshall; and aHand and Ballon that of “D. G.” issued at “The Hand and Bowle in Barking” in 1650. In 1675, a house of some kind displayed the sign of theCross and Handat Marks Tey (see p. 163). Although the hand does not now appear, either singly or in combination, on any Essex sign-board, it is not uncommon in other counties. Its use is attributable to the fact that early sign-painters often represented it issuing out of a cloud to perform some action or support some object. This brings to a close the list of human signs now occurring in the county of Essex.

THE small class which will next receive notice contains what may be called “Nautical Signs.” Essex supports quite a considerable fleet of ships upon its sign-boards. These are of widely different builds, and are very variously rigged. Most of them are, of course, situated near the coast; but others are, strange to say, far inland. The author would be guilty of great impropriety did he not speak first ofNoah’s Ark—the greatest feat of early ship-building on record. As a sign, it was to be seen at Kelvedon twenty years ago, but is now non-existent.An ark or, on the top a dove argent, holding in the beak an olive-branch vert, forms the crest of the Shipwrights’ Company, incorporated in 1605. As already stated, no less than twenty-twoShipsare to be found in different parts of the county. The surmise that some of these are intended to representsheephas been elsewhere advanced (p. 23). Mr. King finds evidence in ancient deeds of no less than three different houses at Leigh which have formerly borne the sign of theShip. The existing example was probably converted into an inn about the end of last century. It was a private house in the middle of the century. Another inn is first spoken of as the Ship in 1728. In 1732, it was “known by the sign of the Ship,” but before 1756, when it was spoken of as “formerly known by the sign of the Ship,” it had ceased to be an inn. The third and probably the earliest house of this name was a private residence in 1756, having formerly been called theShip. AShipis depicted on thetokens of “William Martin at the Key [? Quay] in Barking,” and of “Thomas Pollard at the [Ship] in Plaistowe,” 1668, and theShipat *Colchester is several times mentioned in the advertisements appearing in the various numbers of theChelmsford Chronicleissued during February, 1786. The first and last are, perhaps, identical with the houses of the same name still existing at those places. In addition to the foregoing we have fiveOld Ships. If Mr. Plimsoll were informed of this fact it would probably cause him some alarm; but he would be reassured on learning that, with one exception, all are some distance inland. They are situated respectively at West Thurrock, Debden, Chelmsford, Aveley, and Rochford. The *Old Shipat the last-named place must be in very unseaworthy condition, for it was described asoldin an advertisement in theChelmsford Chroniclefor January 27, 1786. There is also a *New Shipat Rochford—doubtless a house started in opposition to theOld Shipat the same place. The sign of the *Ship and Anchor, which occurs at Maldon, is a combination the meaning of which will be at once apparent. TheShip and Shovelat Rippleside, Barking, is at least forty years old. It is probably in some way connected with Sir Cloudesley Shovel, as there is a portrait of that gentleman in the inn. The sign also occurs elsewhere, namely, in Steel Yard, St. Thomas’ Street, London, S.E. An old newspaper cutting says a house known as theShip and Shovel“is situated near to Dagenham Beach, in Essex, eleven miles from London, where Parish and Hadbrook fought a hard battle of 41 rounds, on the 13th of March, 1820, which terminated in favour of Parish in thirty-eight minutes. TheShip and Shovelwas the house of call for that day.” There is aLobster Smackat Canvey Island, aFishing Smackat Barking, anOyster Smackat Burnham, and aSmackat Leigh, concerning which Mr. H. W. King writes, that it was no doubt so named when the oyster-fishery flourished there in the last century. There is not now a smack belonging to the port. The house itself was for centuries a private residence of persons of good account. The sign of thePeter Boat,which also occurs at Leigh, is apparently unique. A peter-boat was a sort of fishing-vessel, sharp both stem and stern, and half-decked, with a spritsail, instead of a mainsail and boom. Mr. King states that the inn derives its name from the fact that “all the fishing-boats at Leigh were formerly peter-boats. But, out of a fleet of 120 or more fishing-boats here now, only one peter-boat, I am told, remains, and that I have not seen. The house itself, of the descent of which I have a complete record since 1645, is built of timber and is of the middle of the seventeenth century or earlier. The present owners have held it since 1662, the landlord who now keeps the inn being about the sixth in direct descent. It is first mentioned as known by the sign of the Peter-boat in 1757. The then owner had come into possession in 1739, and had so named the house between those years.” At Vange there is aBarge, at North Woolwich anOld Barge House, at Forest Gate aSteamship, and at Chelmsford aRoyal Steamer(probably an impaled sign). The Barge here mentioned was formerly theMan with Seven Wives, as Mr. King can recollect. At the time it belonged to a man namedWife. Presumably his family numbered seven individuals. There is also a beer-house of the same name at Rettendon, up to which place the river Crouch is navigable for barges. ThePacketoccurs at *Harwich and *Manningtree. Sixty years ago there was another example at *Colchester. The sign of theFerry-boatoccurs at Walthamstow, North Fambridge, and Canewdon. Another house of the same name has recently disappeared from the county, as also aFerry House. Sixty years ago the sign of theWherry(not noticed by Larwood and Hotten) occurred at *Mistley. The sign of theHoystill occurs at Tollesbury and at South Benfleet. Mr. King remarks that one would naturally expect to find this sign at the latter place, “as a long succession of hoymen carried on a lucrative business there. TheHoyis now pictorially represented on the sign-board by a barge, though the house is still called theHoy; and a trade in hay, straw, and corn is still carried on in two or three barges.” The sign is notreferred to in theHistory of Sign-boards. The following epitaph upon a Hoyman appears in the churchyard at South Benfleet. Though not a very scholarly production, it is said to be the work of a former rector of the parish.

“James Mathews, Ob. July 14, 1728.Sixty-three years our Hoyman sailed merrily round,Forty-four lived parishioner where he’s aground,Five wives bare him thirty-three children—enough:Land another as honest before he gets half.”

A hoy was a one-masted, sloop-rigged coasting vessel, formerly much used. It is extremely difficult to suggest any likely origin for the sign of thePlough and Sail, which occurs no less than four times in the county, namely, at Tollesbury, East Hanningfield, Paglesham, and Maldon. Larwood and Hotten do not allude to it. The two first are each at least forty years old. At first one might suppose it a meaningless impalement of two distinct signs, thePloughand theSail, but it does not appear that the latter figures as a sign, either singly or in combination with any other article except a plough, in any part of England. Moreover, it is hardly likely that the two signs would appear impaled four times in Essex, while the combination is (with one exception) unknown in all other counties of England. An examination of the lists of signs in thirty of the principal counties of England will show that it does not occur in any of them, with the exception of the adjoining county of Suffolk, wherein the sign occurs twice. It appears probable, therefore, that the sign has some local significance, though it is difficult to say exactly what. Several gentlemen have offered suggestions as to its origin. It has been thought to be a corruption of the “Plow and Flail” (and therefore doubly agricultural), or a representation of the old toast of “Agriculture and Commerce” (represented by a plough and a ship), but the most likely suggestion seems to be one put forward by the Rev. H. L. Elliot, who thinks it is intended as an appeal for the custom of thirsty souls working both on land and sea. All our Essex examples, except that at Hanningfield, are upon the coast. The same gentleman suggests thatthe sign may be a corruption of the “Plough-tail” or handle, which Edwards, in hisWords, Facts, and Phrases, says is probably derived from the Anglo-Saxonstail, a handle. The word is still in use, meaning a handle, in Warwickshire and other parts of the country. An appeal to the readers ofNotes and Querieshas so far thrown no light on the meaning of this sign. Forty years ago there was aShip and Excise Officeat Waltham Abbey and aPrivateerat Harwich. At Wivenhoe there is aShip at Launch. Forty years ago it was known as theShip Launch. This large fleet of sign-board ships is, however, supplied with only eighteenAnchors; and, as some of these may represent the symbol of Hope, the supply must be regarded as very inadequate. One of them, belonging to Barking, is described as aBlue Anchor. Another of the same description used formerly to exist on Canvey Island, but it appears to have been lost in some storm during the last forty years; while another at Mersey, which is mentioned in the Rev. Baring-Gould’sMehalah, has also disappeared, unless it be identical with theAnchorstill existing at that place. TheAnchorat Canewdon seems to have existed there since at least 1787, as it is mentioned in an advertisement in theChelmsford Chroniclefor the 5th of January in that year. At Grays there is anAnchor and Hope. TheCrown and Anchor, the emblem of the Royal Navy, occurs at Aveley and Braintree; and theSun and Anchor, which is probably nothing but an impaled sign, occurs at Steeple. A token is extant bearing anAnchor, the initials “R.S.I.,” and the inscription, “At the Anker, in Lee [Leigh], 1664.” Mr. H. W. King writes:[91]“This is undoubtedly the token of Robert Sayer and Joan his wife, shopkeepers, at this precise date. TheAnchorwas their shop sign. There was no inn of that name. Joan Sayer survived her husband and died in 1689.” Most of ourAnchorsare situated upon the sea coast, but there are not a few inland—at Ingatestone, Chelmsford, Abbots Roothing, &c. In 1789 there was one at Chipping Ongar.

ASTRONOMICAL signs fall naturally into another small class, which will be treated of next. In Essex we have six examples of the sign of theHalf Moon, which may represent either crescents taken from some one’s arms or else the emblem of temporal power. TheHalf Moonat *Chelmsford, a small, though ancient, house, possesses a quaint and truly pictorial sign-board. At 94, Great Suffolk Street, London, S.E., there has been for three-quarters of a century, at least, a house with the most extraordinary sign of theMoonrakers. It is all but impossible to conceive any origin for so strange a device. It is just possible, however, that the sign may have some connection with a tale told of the inhabitants of the town of Coggeshall, about whom so many similar stories are told. One fine night, so says the tale, certain of the natives of that celebrated town observed what they took to be a fine round cheese floating on the surface of a pond. Thereupon, it is further stated, they procured rakes and endeavoured to draw the supposed cheese to land. Nor did they discover, until they had been some time so engaged, that their cheese was merely the reflection of the moon in the water! TheSunis met with twelve times and theRising Sunnine times. The use of the sun as a sign is very ancient, both in England and on the Continent. A rising sun formed one of the badges of Edward III., and shining suns were used as badges by several other English sovereigns. A sun also

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