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Archaeologia Cantiana -  Vol. 57  1944  page 46

Two Coats of Arms from Kent in London by F. C. Elliston-Erwood, F.S.A. 

   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

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