THE signs which still remain to be treated of defy all efforts to classify them. All classification, indeed, when applied to this subject, is very vague and unsatisfactory. The following will, therefore, be spoken of as “Miscellaneous Signs,” and will be taken in any order found most convenient. Those already noticed under other headings will not be referred to again, and many are not of sufficient interest to be worth noticing. The great majority are uninteresting modern vulgarisms, while very few are of heraldic origin.

Many signs of this class are named after places or towns, or after objects of local or general celebrity. Such are the Albion, the Balmoral Castle, the Windsor Castle, the Walmer Castle, the Trossachs Hotel, the Bridge Hotel, the Gibraltar Tavern, the Graving Dock Tavern, the Higham Hill Tavern, the Hallsville Tavern, the Cambridge Hotel, the Common Gate, the London Tavern, the Dock House Tavern, the Forest Gate, the Forest Glen, the Town of Ayr, the Trafalgar Tavern, the *Waterloo Tavern (at Colchester), the Tidal Basin Tavern, the Half-way Tavern (at Southchurch), the Norfolk Inn, the Ground Rent Tavern, the Brick and Tile Inn at Copford, two British Inns, two Canteens, two Flags, two Union Flags, two Fountains, the Stores at Willingale Doe (beer-house), the Golden House at Forest Gate, an Ivy Chimneys (beer-house) at Theydon Bois, the Red House at Ilford, two Guns, two Hopes (one at Southend being at least sixty years old), the Imperial Tavern, the Locomotive, the New Mill, the Old Mill, two Pier Hotels, two Punch Bowls, the Quart Pot, the Red Tape Tavern, several Royal Standards, the Telegraph, the Temple, the Thatched House, the Old Thatched House (a very old inn at Epping), the Warren Inn, the Tollhouse, the Waggon, and the Waggon and Horses, all of which are probably less than forty years old. It is doubtful whether a single one of these signs could claim an heraldic origin. Most of them lie upon the outskirts of London. There are now four Alma Taverns, though twenty years ago there was but one. The name, of course, commemorates the battle of Alma, but why fresh inns should be thus named so long after the event, is by no means obvious. There is a Bowling Green at Elmstead, near Colchester, and sixty years ago there was another at Dunmow.

The Windmill, which is an ancient sign, occurs no less than eight times within the county. In most cases houses have adopted this sign on account of there being a windmill adjacent to them. At Romford there has been for at least sixty years an Old Windmill and Bells, which is doubtless an impaled sign.

At Laindon there is a Fortune of War, well known as a meet of the Hounds. Larwood and Hotten do not notice the sign, though there are several examples of it in London. The Title Deed Tavern is a small house of recent origin at Buckhurst Hill. Thirty years ago the ground on which it stands was unenclosed forest. At Hornchurch there is an inn with the strange sign of the Good Intent, which is not mentioned by Larwood and Hotten. It was opened as a beer-shop, some fifty years ago, by the father of the present landlord, who had been so far an unfortunate man. In opening his new house with good intentions for the future, he thus appropriately named it, and his hopes appear to have been realized, as his house still remains. There is a beer-house with the same name at Waltham Holy Cross. At Springfield there is an Endeavour, which presumably derived its name from some similar circumstance. There are beer-houses with the motto Live and Let Live at Little Canfield, Theydon Bois, and Chadwell Heath. Another at Pitsea was, within the recollection of Mr. King, thus inscribed:

which was intended to mean “who would have thought it?” but the landlord’s orthographical knowledge was very imperfect. The Havering Bower Inn, situated in Ann Street, Shadwell, close to Bow Station, is a house connected with, though not situated in, Essex. Why an inn of this name should appear thus fifteen miles at least from the place from which it takes its name, is not very clear.

In the Roman Road at Colchester appears the sign of the Roman Urn. One would conclude that the house had been named after some Roman urn that had been dug up on its site, did it not figure in the list years ago as the Roman Arms. Possibly, however, this is a misprint, although the sign of the Roman Arms does actually occur elsewhere, namely, in the Roman Road, London, E. Mr. Walford, in Greater London (vol. i. p. 385), says that there is another example of the sign of the Roman Urn just over the county boundary at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire. “It is to be seen embedded in the front of the inn in Crossbrook Street. The urn was found on the spot many years ago, but its date is far from certain.” Messrs. Larwood and Hotten do not allude to the sign, which is certainly very uncommon.

One of our very strangest signs—that of the Coal Hole—occurs at Leigh. It has only appeared there within the last few years, and Mr. H. W. King is of opinion that it is probably named after the once-well-known Coal Hole Tavern in the Strand. At the same place another beer-house is known as the United Brethren, probably after a Friendly Society there; but their club-house is now the Crooked Billet.

The sign of the New Inn, which is the commonest sign in Devonshire, and occurs no less than one hundred and four times in that county, is only twice met with in Essex, but there is also a beer-house so called at Romford. Evidently the Conservative nature of the majority of Essex folk leads them to prefer things old, instead of new. At Plaistow there is a Green Gate, and forty years since there was a *Blue Posts at Witham, in both of which cases the colour of the portals probably served the same office as a sign in distinguishing the house. Neither sign is mentioned in the History of Sign-boards, though the former is certainly a century old, as it is mentioned in an advertisement in the Chelmsford Chronicle for January 5, 1787, and the latter is referred to in another advertisement on the 23rd of the following month. It was an old house of good standing, as it is also mentioned in the Very Young Lady’s Tour from London to Aldborough and Back (1804, see p. 37). The writer says:

The house was closed as an inn some time since, and is now a china shop, kept by a prominent Witham teetotal advocate. Its door-posts are still painted blue. Sixty years ago there was another inn of this name at *Colchester. No Essex inn now displays the sign of the Gate, but there are beer-houses of that name at Saffron Walden, Bardfield, and Dagenham. At the two last-named places the houses bear the following very unpoetic couplet:—

At Wanstead there is a Red House, presumably so called from its colour. In 1789 there was an Epping Place Inn at Epping, and a Bush-fair House at Latton. The Essex Inn, No 41, Aldgate High Street, London, E., is, without doubt, so named because it forms the stopping-place of many hay-carters and other travellers by road from Essex up to town.

Railways are referred to thirty-one times in all on Essex sign-boards, although, as might be expected, mention is very rarely made of railways among the signs of forty years ago. Thus we have five examples of the Railway Inn, one of the Railway Arms, two of the Railway Bell, seven of the Railway Hotel, and sixteen of the Railway Tavern.

Twenty years ago there was an Abbey Gate in Stanwell Street, Colchester, doubtless named after the beautiful gateway of St. John’s Abbey, which still stands. At the same time there was a Betting-stand at Galleywood, where the Chelmsford Races are held, as well as an Exchange Inn and a Chelmer Inn, both at Heybridge. There is a Mark’s Gate in Markgate, Dagenham; and a Marsh Gate at Stratford. Eight Essex inns are named after the great Globe itself, while the World’s End appears, at last, to have been discovered near Tilbury Fort. This is a very proper name, if, as has been thought, Tilbury is derived from two Saxon words, Til, end, and burgh, city, i.e., the city at the end of the river road. A beer-house keeper at Paglesham, however, seems also to consider that the World’s End is situated in the vicinity of his house. Probably both are equally right and equally wrong. The Globe at *Epping is mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle for January 13, 1786. At Bocking there is a beer-house known as the Dial, a device not named by Larwood and Hotten. At the same place there is a Park End beer-house, and at Felstead another, known as the Pye’s Bridge tavern. A beer-house at Chigwell styles itself the Retreat. At Waltham Abbey is a Flower Pot. A beer-house at Inworth is known as the New Times, while another not far off styles itself the Old Times, probably out of rivalry. At Great Baddow a beer-house appears as the New Found Out. At Chelmsford there is a United beer-house, and a Cornucopia at Southend.

No less than forty-two Essex inns display the sign of the Bell. Bells were set up as signs as early as the fourteenth century. The origin of their use in this way is probably due largely to our national fondness for bell-ringing, but partly also to the great veneration in which bells were held in superstitious times. Advertisements which appeared in the Chelmsford Chronicle refer to the inns with the sign of the Bell at Castle Hedingham, Sible Hedingham, and Purleigh on January 6th, July 21, 1786, and March 2, 1787, respectively. These houses all exist at the present day. The Bell at *Saffron Walden, though it does not now exist, must formerly have been a house of some standing, for it is fairly often referred to in the records of the Corporation. It is mentioned, for instance, in 1642, in 1645, and in 1650. In 1664 3s. was “paid at the Bell when the Quakers were committed,” and in 1714 4s. 4d. was “spent at the Bell when Lord Suffolk took the oaths.” Tokens are extant, issued by “Will. Mason at the [Bell] in Thaxtead, 1662,” though the sign does not now exist there. The Bell at Castle Hedingham, still a first-class hostelry, was a house of considerable note in the old coaching days. It was a stopping-place for the “Old Bury Coach,” which passed through the town. The building is ancient and extensive, though now much cut up and divided. The spacious kitchen is roofed with massive timber, black with age. In the large room upstairs have been held for many years the annual meetings of the once-famous Hinckford Hundred Conservative Club. In times past these meetings regularly formed the subject of a leader in the Times, and addresses were delivered by Disraeli and other prominent Conservative statesmen, but the club has now lost its old importance. The ornamental sign-iron is represented elsewhere (p. 150). Of the Bell at Leigh, Mr. King writes that he has no particular account, but he believes “it has been an inn for probably a century, and that it was pulled down to make way for the railroad, but rebuilt on part of the same site.” The present rectory at West Tilbury was once an inn with the sign of the Bell. The house was built by a speculator about the year 1780, and opened as an hostelry for the accommodation of the gentry that always crowded to the Fort during war time. Six years later, however, it had to be closed, and about the beginning of this century it was purchased for the sum of £700 by the Rev. Sir Adam Gordon, Bart., who then held the living, and presented to the parish as a rectory. A certain number of Bells frequently appear on a sign-board. In such cases the peal of bells in an adjacent belfry is generally alluded to, as may be seen on reference to the Rev. H. A. Cockey’s List of Essex Rings. In 1662 there was a house with the sign of the One Bell at Romford. It is mentioned in the Account of the Murder of Thomas Kidderminster, already referred to (p. 56). Taylor also, in 1636, mentions a Bell at Romford, probably the same house. The sign of the Five Bells occurs at Vange and Colne Engaine. At the latter place there are five church bells, but at the former only one, although there may formerly have been more. There was another example of the sign at Bocking forty years ago, when perhaps there were only five bells there. Now, however, there are six, and the sign of the Six Bells (probably the same house) appears there, as also at Dunmow and Great Waltham. At the former place there are six bells, but at the latter eight. At Boreham a beer-house is known as the Six Bells, that being the number at that place. At Mashbury is a cottage still known as the Bells. In a MS. dated 1761 it is spoken of as the Five Bells, and was probably then an inn with that sign, though no church in the immediate vicinity has that number of bells. The sign of the Eight Bells appears at *Saffron Walden, Great Tey, Belchamp Walter, and Bures Hamlet, at all of which there seem to be peals of eight bells. In addition to these, we have a New Bell at Harwich, and two Railway Bells, one near the station at Maldon, and the other in Trinity Street, Halstead. The bell also enters into numerous combinations, most of which are impalements, and therefore quite meaningless. Thus we have a Bell and Anchor at Canning Town, a Coach and Bell (a sign not referred to in the History of Sign-boards) at Romford, the Old Windmill and Bells, also at Romford, and examples of the Cock and Bell at High Easter, Writtle, and Romford. The latter has apparently been in existence since 1786, as it is mentioned in the Chelmsford Chronicle for January 13th in that year. Twenty years ago there was a Bell and Feathers at Stanstead, which seems now to have returned to the use of its former sign, which was a Bell simply (see p. 102). Though the fact is not mentioned by Boyne, tokens with the following inscriptions are extant: “George Perrin at y^e Bell in Stanstead. His Half Peny. 1669.” The same house and the same landlord are also mentioned in Poor Robin’s Perambulation, already referred to (p. 66). The writer (one cannot say poet) says:

In 1868 there was a Clapper at Woodham which, perhaps, belonged to one or other of the bells just mentioned.

The Castle is a frequent Essex sign, occurring thirteen times in all. It is an ancient sign, which is thought by Larwood and Hotten to have originated in the fact that anciently entertainment was to be had at the castles of the great, as at an inn. In later times the custom arose of naming inns after particular castles, and it is easy to see that the example of the sign now found at Hadleigh, and the two examples now existing at **Colchester, originated in this way. Sixty years ago there was another at *Saffron Walden, which was, of course, named after the old castle there. Not improbably, in some cases, the sign may have been derived from the arms of the Masons’ Company.[95] A castle is represented on the seventeenth century token of Thomas Hewes of Castle Hedingham—being, of course, the fine old castle of the De Veres at that place. Mr. King finds mention in some old deeds dated 1693 of the Castle at Trimme at Rochford in that day. This was probably an inn-sign, but perhaps that of a shop or tenement. It was doubtless so called from the ancient castle of the De Lacys, built in 1220, at Trim in Ireland, which figured in the Civil War. As this castle does not appear to have had any connection with Essex, the most probable conclusion is that the sign was set up by some one who was present at the surrender of the castle to Cromwell in 1649. The following advertisement appeared in the Chelmsford Chronicle on March 2, 1787:

Mr. H. W. King writes:

The Chequers is a sign of great interest and antiquity. It is very common in Essex, as it appears no less than twenty times, including one Old Chequers. It is equally common as a beer-house sign. Robt. Bowyer kept the Chequers at Bardfield in the seventeenth century, as shown by his token, but no house now exists there under that name. Mr. Creed’s list (p. 7) shows inns with this sign at Epping, Nazing, Waltham Abbey, High Laver, and Nettleswell in 1789. The Chequers at Roxwell seems to have existed since 1787, as it is referred to in the Chelmsford Chronicle for February 2nd in that year. As a sign it is said to be found even among the ruins of Pompeii, and, according to Larwood and Hotten, it “is, perhaps, the most patriarchal of all signs.” The same writers say (p. 488) that in England it is “said to represent the coat of arms of the Earls de Warrenne and Surrey, who bore chequy, or and azure, and in the reign of Edward IV. possessed the privilege of licensing ale-houses.” The old money-changers used boards divided up into squares like a modern chess-board, and the sign of the Chequers may have originated, partly, at least, in these “exchequers,” as they were called, being hung up outside their places of business. Not improbably the sign also represents the “chequer,” or board divided into squares, and still used in some country inns for keeping a tally or record of the amount drunk by each regular customer. As the sign is now painted it is almost as often lozengy as chequy. In the year 1764, according to an advertisement of that date in the Chelmsford Chronicle, the present Ipswich Arms at Ingatestone was impaled with a Chequers, forming the Ipswich Arms and Chequers.

The sign of the Coach and Horses, which occurs thirteen times in the county, has already been alluded to. As might be expected, it was considerably commoner forty years ago than now. An inn of this name at Chelmsford has a pictorial sign-board, representing a number of gentlemen, in the costume of fifty or sixty years ago, riding on the top of a coach.

Four houses in Essex, situated respectively at Leigh, Barking, Chadwell Heath, and Nazing, now make use of the Crooked Billet as their sign. Twenty years ago another did so, and there is still a beer-house so styled at Felstead. There is also an Old Crooked Billet at Walthamstow, and a Crown and Crooked Billet (doubtless merely an impaled sign) at Woodford Bridge. It is not by any means clear what this sign was derived from. Larwood and Hotten confess that they “have not been able to discover any likely origin; it may have been originally a ragged staff, or a pastoral staff.... Frequently the sign is represented by an untrimmed stick suspended above the door.” Mr. H. W. King writes that the sign existed at Leigh in the earlier part of last century, being used by a small house which still stands, but is not the inn now displaying the sign in that town. He says:

Mr. King adds:

The sign of the Cross might, with equal probability, be ascribed either to an ecclesiastical or an heraldic origin: in the one it is the symbol of Christianity, and in the other it is a very common ordinary. It came to be used very commonly as an heraldic charge at the time of the Crusades. The house with this name at Mistley was, however, probably so called on account of its being situated at a “four-want-way,” where two roads cross. There is another example of the sign at Boxted, and in 1823 there was a Red Cross at *Colchester. On the map of the road between London and Harwich, given in Ogilby’s Itinerarium AngliÆ, published in 1675, a house—presumably an inn of importance—known as the Cross and Hand, is shown at Marks Tey, and just forty-five miles from London. Salmon (History of Essex, p. 69) quotes an ancient document, describing the ceremonies connected with the annual making and presenting of the Wardstaff in Ongar Hundred, in which another house—probably an inn—with the sign of “the Cross with a Hand at the three wants in Fiffield” [Fyfield] is mentioned. In Essex, three or four roads meeting are spoken of respectively as the three or four “wants.” “The Cross [says Jewitt] whether golden, red, blue, or otherwise, was formerly a much more common sign than now.” Several other Essex signs are more or less ecclesiastical. For instance, the *Mitre at Colchester is at least sixty years old. Very probably it was first so called after one or other of the several well-known taverns of the same name which formerly existed in London. Though it may have been derived from the fact that the Abbot of St. John’s Abbey, at Colchester, was one of the twenty-eight mitred abbots, and sat in the Upper House of Parliament. The Cardinal’s Hat, formerly a not uncommon sign, was displayed by a house in Bocking forty years since, but has now disappeared. At Coggeshall, one of the chief inns has long been known as the *Chapel Inn. Mr. G. F. Beaumont has kindly supplied the following information concerning it:

Mr. Beaumont adds: “By deed, dated Oct. 7th, 1588, a messuage called the old Chapel was conveyed to the fullers and weavers of Coggeshall. The site of this building, which was pulled down in 1795, is now open ground, on the west side of which is the Chapel Inn.” The sign is probably unique. The Cross Keys, which represent the arms of the Papal See, appear five times on Essex sign-boards, namely, at Saffron Walden, *Colchester, White Notley, Dagenham, and Chadwell St. Mary, while there is a beer-house so distinguished at North Weald. The Cross Keys have survived the Reformation on account of their appearing also in the coats of arms of several English sees, namely, York, Cashel, Exeter, Gloucester, and Peterborough. Three pairs of keys crossed also form a prominent charge in the arms of the Fishmongers’ Company (see p. 103). Sometimes the Cross Keys was used as a locksmith’s sign, as may be learned from the trade-tokens of the seventeenth century. Thus Three Keys are represented on the farthing of “Thomas Haven, Locksmith, in Chelmsford, 1669,” and the Crossed Keys on that of “Edward Keatchener of Dunmow, Locksmith.” The sign of the Crown is very common in Essex, occurring twenty-eight times altogether. Judging from Mr. Creed’s list (p. 7) it was equally common in Essex a century ago. There is also an Old Crown at Sandon. As an emblem of Royalty, the badge of several of our Kings and Queens, and as a very frequent heraldic bearing, the Crown is in every way likely to be common. Larwood and Hotten (p. 101) say that it “seems to be one of the oldest of English signs. We read of it as early as 1467, when a certain Walter Walters, who kept the Crown in Cheapside, made an innocent Cockney pun, saying he would make his son heir to the Crown, which so displeased his gracious Majesty, King Edward IV., that he ordered the man to be put to death for high treason.” The Crown at Romford, a once-famous hostelry, built about three centuries ago, was demolished in the spring of 1881, when fine specimens of Tudor work, and some massive beams beautifully carved, were brought to light. It was once of large size, with frontages both to High Street and what is now known as South Street. At the beginning of this century, however, having declined before younger rivals, it was divided into shops. Later a considerable portion was pulled down to make room for a new bank. This demolition, and that of 1881, left nothing standing of the old house except a portion which still remains between the Bank and the White Hart Hotel. Mr. King learns from old deeds and from other sources that an inn with the sign of the Crown existed at Leigh in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when it was known as the “Crown Brewery” or “Crown House,” but it does not seem to have retained its existence later than the end of last century or thereabouts. Mr. King believes that this was the inn referred to by “Taylor the Water Poet,” in his Catalogue of Tavernes, as being kept by a certain James Hare in 1636. No doubt it was an inn also, for, as Mr. King remarks, “all, or nearly all, inns formerly brewed their own beer.” He can trace it actually from 1619 and practically from 1570. After it ceased to be an inn it was converted into a private house and bought by a certain Francis Marriage, who after several law-suits resold it. A Crown also appears on the token, dated 1667, of “Abra. Langley, iunior, of Colchester, Baymakr.” The Crown at *Billericay (a house not now existing) is referred to in the Chelmsford Chronicle for February 17, 1786, and the Crown at Chesterford is referred to in the same newspaper on the 2nd of March, 1787. Daniel Defoe, in his Tour through Great Britain, published in 1724, also mentions the Crown at Chesterford. Probably this is the house at Little Chesterford still known as the Crown. The Crown Inn at Brentwood, which was mentioned by Taylor in 1636, was closed many years ago. In 1740, Salmon, who seldom noticed the inns, wrote of it as follows in his History and Antiquities of Essex (p. 262):—

The Crown at Ilford finds mention in the Barking parish register as early as 1595.[96] Fox, in his Book of Martyrs, says that George Eagles, who was martyred in 1557, “was carried to the new inn, called by the sign of the Crown, at Chelmsford” (see p. 136). The sign does not now appear there.

The Builder of July 8, 1848, contains an illustration of a fine, old, timber-roofed hall at Saffron Walden. Its interior, we are told, was “so completely hidden by the subdivision of walls and ceilings within it, to adapt it to the necessities of a dwelling-house, that until the demolition of the buildings in the spring of the present year all that could be seen were the carved heads of the ends of the hammer-beams. These heads were beautifully and spiritedly carved, and, indeed, the ornamentation of the entire hall was well and boldly cut. It was of small dimensions.... The buildings with which it was connected were old, but no record of the history or occupation of the place is known, except that about two centuries ago it was an inn, the sign being the Iron Crown. The Hall appears to be of the time of Henry VII., judging from its detail. It may have been the hall of some wealthy tradesman, for Walden had many rich traders in the olden time.... The ancient hall, and the buildings with which it was connected, have been pulled down in order to construct a new market-place. The carved heads from the hammer-beams (six in all) have been preserved by the Hon. R. C. Neville (afterwards Lord Braybrooke) in his museum at Audley End.” The origin of this sign is very doubtful. Larwood and Hotten do not notice it. Goldsmith, in The Traveller, speaks of “Luke’s Iron Crown.” George and Luke Doza were two brothers who led a revolt against the Hungarian nobles at the beginning of the sixteenth century. They were defeated, captured, and cruelly tortured. George, not Luke (Goldsmith’s memory must have been at fault), had, among other things, a red-hot iron crown placed on his head. John of Leyden, an Anabaptist leader, was also tortured to death in the same way in 1536, but it is difficult to imagine any connection between these incidents and the inn at Saffron Walden. What was known as the “Iron Crown of Lombardy,” was not a crown of torture, but one of the nails used in the Crucifixion, beaten out into a thin rim of iron, magnificently set in gold and adorned with jewels. Charlemagne and Napoleon I. were both crowned with it, but it is hard to see what this had to do with the inn at Saffron Walden. The sign of the Three Crowns occurs at Rainham, Rowhedge, North Woolwich, and *Halstead. The sign at the latter place was in existence forty years ago, at which time another was also in existence. In 1668, Anne Ellis kept the Three Crowns (not necessarily an inn) at Southminster, as shown by tokens of hers, still extant. An Old Three Crowns also existed in the county in 1786 according to an advertisement in the Chelmsford Chronicle for the 5th of May in that year. There are several sources from which the sign of the Three Crowns may have been derived. They might be taken from the arms of the Essex family of Wiseman (sable; a chevron between three crowns argent), or from the arms of Chich Priory (or; three ducal coronets, gules, two and one), or from the arms of the Drapers’ or the Skinners’ Companies, which have already been given. The signs of the Crown and Thistle, the Crown and Crooked Billet, and the Crown and Anchor have all been previously noticed. The Crown and Sceptre, which existed at Chelmsford in 1764, as we learn from an advertisement in the Chelmsford Chronicle for that year, was a sign which was doubly emblematic of Royalty. It was, doubtless, merely an impalement. Sixty years ago there was a *Crown and Punch Bowl at Colchester. Doubtless, it too was merely an impaled sign.

Of the sign of the Leather Bottle we have three examples, situated respectively at Little Laver, Blackmore, and Lexden. The first-named has existed since 1789 at least. There is also a beer-house so called at West Hanningfield. It is an old sign, taken from the “leathern bottels” formerly used to hold liquor, and, as previously mentioned (p. 3), is still to be seen on the cheques and over the door of Messrs. Hoare’s Bank in Fleet Street. A beer-shop at Pleshey had on its sign-board until recently a faded, but correct, representation of the Leather Bottle. Under it, and on another board, is an inscription intimating that George Philpott, the landlord, dispenses “fine Ale’s and beer at 4d. per Pott.” The sign-board has recently been re-painted, and the bottle is not now so well represented as formerly. Below is a figure of the old board (with the sign-iron of the Six Bells at Dunmow (p. 159)), its faded “bottle” having been restored from one of several still preserved in the Museum at Saffron Walden. The example at Lexden had, but has not now, a pictorial sign. The house is probably an old one under its present sign, as it appears to have given the name of “Bottle End” to that part of the parish in which it stands—a name it seems to have long had, it being marked on an old map published in 1802. Mr. Thos. B. Daniell writes:

Portions of the Rev. Baring-Gould’s Mehalah are laid at the Leather Bottle at Mersey—a fictitious name, unless there is a beer-house there with that sign.

At Bardfield there is a beer-house with the sign of the Boot, so distinguished unquestionably because the landlord is also a boot and shoe maker, as a partly pictorial board over his door informs passers-by. His pictorial sign-board is here depicted (p. 170) within the old sign-iron of the Bell Inn at the same place. Immediately opposite to the Boot is another beer-house known as the Three Horseshoes, because the landlord also carries on the trade of a farrier and blacksmith. This is not an uncommon way of naming beer-houses and small inns. The *Evening Gun (which may be regarded as a military sign) appeared at Colchester sixty years ago.

In an agricultural county like Essex it is in no way surprising that as many as eighteen inns should display the sign of the Plough. At Great Chishall a model of a plough, about half the usual size, set up on the top of a pole, serves as a sign. The connection between the Plough and Harrow, which are combined to form a sign at Leyton, is at once apparent, but not so the connection between the Plough and Sail, which is an incomprehensible combination, occurring four times in the county, and already treated of (p. 146). The sign of the Harrow occurs four times, namely, at North Benfleet, Bulphan, *Stratford, and Hornchurch. There is also a beer-house so called at Navestock. It may have had an agricultural origin, but is equally likely to represent, in a corrupted form, the portcullis, which was a favourite badge of Kings Henry VII. and VIII., as already pointed out (p. 24). Another obviously agricultural sign is that of the Two Hurdles (beer-house) at Beauchamp Roothing. The Drill House (beer-shop) at Stanford Rivers, too, is probably another agricultural sign. Doubtless there is, or used to be, near it a house or shed in which a drill was kept. The Drill Inn at Romford is, however, probably a military sign. At Boxted there is a beer-house with the very strange and probably unique sign of the Wig and Fidget. Inquiry has elicited the fact that the house was built about forty years ago by a man who was a Whig in his political views. His neighbours regarded him also as a “fidgety man;” hence, when the house was opened the people of the parish, having regard to its owner’s peculiarities, named it the Whig and Fidget, otherwise the Fidgety Whig. In Stapleford Tawney is a beer-shop with the sign of the Mole Trap. It is probably unique. At Loughton is a beer-shop known as the Bag of Nails. According to Larwood and Hotten, a bag of nails, with the spikes of the nails sticking through it, was formerly a very common sign, and may be seen on old tokens. The sign seems, in some cases at least, to have been a corruption from the “Bacchanals.”

Of the sign of the Hoops we have two examples, one at Littlebury, the other at *Saffron Walden, while a beer-house at Buttsbury is so designated. Anciently signs were not always painted on a sign-board, as now, but were often carved in wood and suspended within a hoop, from which custom many inns became known as the “Something-on-the-Hoop,” and thus the sign of the Hoops arose.

The Welch Harp at Waltham Abbey, probably taken from the arms of the Principality of Wales, is presumably the modern form of the Harp, which existed there in 1789 and long after. At the same time, and long after, there was also a Harp at Epping, and twenty years since there was even a Jew’s Harp at Waltham Abbey.

The Still, which has been used as a sign at Barking for many years, is very appropriate for a spirit-merchant. It occurs on the arms of the Distillers’ Company, and is also depicted on the tokens issued at Thaxted in 1666 by William Purchas, and on those issued at Witham three years later by George Robinson. The family of Purchas was well known in Thaxted two centuries ago. Samuel Purchas, the author of the quaint, though celebrated, book of travels known as Purchas, His Pilgrimes, was born there in 1577. Another member of the family—very possibly a son of the William mentioned above—came to a very bad end. He murdered his mother in a fit of drunkenness, and was hung for it about the year 1635. His “Wofull Lamentation” on the occasion is to be found in a quaint broadside of about that date preserved in the celebrated collection known as the Roxburghe Ballads in the British Museum. A Last occurs on the token issued at Braintree in 1670 by Thomas Mirrils, who was doubtless a shoemaker. A Pestle and Mortar are depicted on the token issued at Felstead in 1669 by Henry Bigg, who was probably an apothecary. A Lime-kiln is represented on the halfpenny issued at “Pvrflet Limekill” in 1669 by Samuel Irons, who was without doubt a lime-burner. Three Hats are shown on the halfpenny tokens issued by “Barge Allen at the [Three Hats] at Stebbing in Essex,” and a Hat on those issued at Stebbing in 1668 by Richard Sayer, who doubtless kept the same house. The Rev. W. H. Beckett of Stebbing has inquired of the oldest inhabitants of the town (two of them being over ninety) without being able to hear of any tradition as to these signs. Both Allen and Sayer have been, but are no longer, Stebbing names. The Two Pipes crossed, which appear on the tokens of Samuel Leader of Saffron Walden in 1653, of William Leader of “Safforn Wallding” in 1668, and of William Martin of “Brayntry,” the Three Tobacco-pipes, which are represented on the tokens issued in 1666 by “Miles Hacklvitt in Bilrekey in Essex,” and in 1668 by “Thomas Warrin of Waltham Abby,” and the Roll of Tobacco, which is depicted on the token of “Iohn King, grocer, in Cooldchester,” were probably, all of them, more or less, tobacconists’ signs. The latter, indeed, is a very common tobacconist’s sign at the present day. A Wooden Pail occurs on the token issued in Moulsham in 1666 by Thomas Joyce, who was perhaps a cooper, and a Bundle of Yarn on that of “Iohn Hance of Kelvedon, clothier, 1669.” At Epping a large Kettle, painted red and suspended before a house, indicates that tea and hot water are obtainable within.

There still remain to be noticed several signs which are in use at the present day, though they are not public-house signs. Several such have already been alluded to, as, for instance, the Black Boy and the Tobacco Roll for a tobacconist, and the Bunch of Grapes for a vintner. The Cow or a Calf, too, forms the recognized sign of a dairyman. At Witham a harness-maker displays a harnessed Horse’s Head, life-size, as his sign. Many similar instances of tradesmen, other than publicans, displaying signs indicative of their trades might be named throughout the county. Few public-house signs, however, are more familiar than the Three Golden Balls displayed by pawnbrokers. The device is a truly heraldic one, the balls being taken, according to Messrs. Larwood and Hotten (p. 128), from—

According to the same authors (p. 341), the Barber’s Pole dates from the time when barbers practised phlebotomy: the patient undergoing this operation had to grasp the pole in order to make the blood flow more freely. This use of the pole is illustrated in more than one illuminated MS. As the pole was, of course, liable to be stained with blood, it was painted red: when not in use barbers were in the habit of suspending it outside the door with the white linen swathing-bands twisted round it; this, in later times, gave rise to the pole being painted red and white, or black and white, or even with red, white, and blue lines winding round it. The Pole was also once a tooth-drawer’s sign. In some cases, too, it is probable that it was intended punningly to indicate the fact that the barber who displayed it attended to the needs of peoples’ polls. Presumably it formed the sign of Roger Giles, who is said to have circulated the following amusing advertisement in the neighbourhood of Romford:—

Two very quaint, though modern, tradesmen’s signs are now to be seen in the town of Thaxted, one belonging to a sweep, the other to a farrier. The former is situated at the end of the town nearest Dunmow, and consists of a large picture representing a wide, empty street of houses. A chimney belonging to one of these houses is belching forth flame and smoke like a volcano, and a man is just giving the alarm with much shouting and gesticulation. At the opposite end of the town a farrier displays as his sign a device rudely cut out of tin or thin sheet-iron, and representing a horse, held by a boy, and being shod by the man. The affair evidently once formed a weather-cock, and its appearance in its present position gives it a decidedly comical aspect.

None of our Essex inns appear to have names quite as jocose as that of a small public-house to be seen on an unusually long, straight, and uninteresting road near the city of York. It is called the Slip Inn, and probably a good many do “slip in” to relieve the weariness of the way. Nor do our inn-keepers seem able to compete with one at Leigh in Lancashire, who merely places over his door the pithy inscription:—“My sign’s in the cellar.”

With this we will conclude our examination of “The Trade Signs of Essex.” All that it is now possible to do towards bringing to light their much-obscured meanings and original significance, has been done, and it only remains for the author to express the hope that the reader will deem the result satisfactory.

FINIS.