|
II. Or, a Lion rampant, Gules, within a
double tressure,
Gules.
Scotland.
III. Azure, a Harp,
Or.
Ireland.
IV. Gules (error for Azure) three Fleurs des Lis, Or.
France.
Inescutcheon. Or, seme with Hearts (should be Billets)
Azure (Should be
Or) a Lion rampant, Azure.
Nassau.
Crest. A Lion passant regardant on a Helmet Crowned,
Or, with Mantling Or
and Argent.
Supporters. A Lion rampant gardant Or, Langed
(tongue missing) Gules. A
Unicorn rampant
Argent, collared and chained Or.
Garter and Motto: Azure, Letters and Border, Or.
There can be little doubt that these arms are intended for
those of William III after the death of his wife and would therefore
date 1694-1702, though I believe that Queen Anne used these same arms
till the Union, 1707. There might, too, be an element of doubt over the
inescutcheon, where there is evidently confusion between the arms of
Nassau (a golden rampant lion on a blue field sown with golden billets)
and Luneburg (a similar lion but blue on a gold field sown with red
hearts), but Luneburg only appears on early Hanoverian arms and not then
in an escutcheon. The billets (or hearts or roundels or bezants merely
painted on by the decorator, and because of their small size, and the
lack |
|
of knowledge on the part of the workman, have led to this difficulty of interpretation, but the
fact that such a well-known detail as the blue ground of the French lily
is rendered red, is in itself sufficient proof of ignorance and
carelessness.
The arms have, since rediscovery, been cleaned, repaired
and correctly painted.
Now the questions arise, "How did these arms get into
the inn?" and "Where was their original home?" for it is
quite evident that there can be little or no truth in the local legends
which grew up round them. The ease with which the tale was varied to
suit amended information is in itself sufficient to mark down the story
as apocryphal. It will by this time have been apparent to all readers
familiar with such things that these arms are exactly of the type
frequently found in churches as emblems of the Royal Supremacy, but if
that was their origin (and I suspect it was) I can at this time give no
further information with regard to any particular church or even hint at
a time of removal.
There is possibly the slightest of slight clues. The
birthplace of the present parish church of Shooters Hill was the old
Bull Hotel. The Rev. Thomas Dallin, the first incumbent, was a local
resident and a considerable freeholder of much of the land comprising
the Hill, including the Bull Hotel, and when the said hotel ceased to be
a place |