bishop of York, the Duke of Ireland, the Earl of Suffolk, and Chief Justice Tresilian, in 1387,. that Richard II. was the first of our kings who gave badges to those who were connected with him.¹ These badges, whether a collar or in any other form, thus became a party symbol ; and the violent accession of the Lancastrian family to the throne would naturally lead to the assumption of their livery by all those who were, or who wished to be reputed, friends to their cause. That these formed so numerous a class as to become a nuisance, it is evident from an Ordinance in Parliament, made so early as the second year of Henry's reign, altogether abolishing all liveries and signs, except that peers and bannerets were allowed to use the livery of the King, " de la Coler," at all times; while all other Knights and Esquires were prohibited from doing so, except in the King's presence :² thus showing that the use of the collar was not at the earliest period confined to knights; but besides dukes and other noblemen, their use was recognized by esquires also. And we may presume that those who were thus allowed to wear the king's livery were only those, whatever their rank, who were of the retinue or household of the king. 
   Thus, in the few monumental effigies that remain of this period which are distinguished by this ornament, there are scarcely any in which we are not able to trace the connection of the wearer with the family or the court of the House of Lancaster.
   1. The first is in the reign of Richard II. The collar appears upon the brass of Sir Thomas Burton, in Little Castreton church, in Rutlandshire, dated in 1382,³ seventeen years before the usurpation of Henry IV. This knight, we find, received letters of protection on accompanying the Duke of Lancaster to France in 1369, when
   ¹  State Trials, vol. i. p. 106.        ²  Rot. Parl. vol. iii. p. 477.
    ³  Boutell's Mon. Brasses and Slabs, p. 55.