mottoes in full, would be extremely curious and interesting, and certainly of no little value in many questions of history and pedigree. N. &. Q. We are able only to give a few examples. One of the earliest on record is that of Chief Justice Sir John Fireux, called Serjeant in the time of Henry viij, 1485, with the motto "Suce quisque fortunæ faber." That of Chief Justice Sir Edward Montague when he assumed the coif in 1531, was "The jest, an excellent one, of 'Causes produce effects,' for a successful barrister's motto, I often heard repeated when I lived in Chambers, in Lincolns Inn, and always attributed to Lord Abinger then Mr. Scarlet, who, if not so profound a scholar of law as Mr. Holroyd, and several others, was said to be the best red man at the bar." J. C. H. in N. & Q. Camden relates-A lawyer once chose for his motto the following palindrome : "Si nummi immunis." ("Give me my fee, and I warrant you free.") Funeral Garlands. "Now the low beams with paper garlands hung, ANNA SEWARD. One of the most simple, beautiful, and sweetly sentimental customs handed down to us from early times, but which is now obsolete is that of carrying garlands before the corpses of unmarried females on their way to the grave, then hanging them up in the church as mementos of the departed. In some of the villages of Derbyshire this custom has continued till within the last sixty or seventy years. Flowers have ever been an emblem of purity. They have always been the delight of the innocent. Nature has asserted her sweet power in the attraction of childhood towards her varied flowers, in her wreath for the virgin's nuptials upon earth, and in her garland for the bride of heaven. În later days the funeral garlands for the churches were made of ribands and paper, arranged on hooks-an old ballad says― "But since I'm resolved to die for my dear, I'll chuse six young virgins my coffin to bear; They may see I've been constant, been constant They may see I've been constant to my heart's delight." But few examples of these garlands remain, these are composed of two hoops of wood, with hands crossing each other at right angles, forming a sort of open-arched crown, the hoops and bands are covered with white paper, and are decorated with paper flowers and rosettes, and at the top is a flower formed with hearts; from between the rosettes of the upper hoop are paper ribands gimped on the edges, which hang down below the lower band. In another example, from the centre of the top are suspended a pair of gloves cut out of white paper, a kerchief and collar of the same. In most instances the name of the female, in whose honour these garlands are prepared, is written on either the collar, or kerchief, or gloves. On one of these the following was with much difficulty deciphered : "Be always ready, no time delay, I in my youth was called away, ANN TWINDALL, aged 22 years. December 9, 1798." The origin of garters is surrounded by obscurity; it is supposed that both garters and stockings passed from Spain to England at a remote period. They are frequently mentioned by Shakspere and the earlier poets and dramatists, and formed in those days an important article of gentlemen's dress. Garters took the form of a richly embroidered scarf, fringed with point lace, and tied at the side with a large bow. In one of Ben Jonson's plays we read— "This comes of wearing Your fine gartering, with blown roses. And John Taylor, the water poet, alludes to the reckless extravagance of those days thus "Wear a farm in shoestrings edged with gold And spangled Gartering, with blown roses.' Garters as an article of ladies apparel have generally been associated with acts of gallantry; the most celebrated and most interesting of which is that of King Edward the Third, in 1348, in which originated that most illustrious order of knighthood, "The Order of the Garter," and its motto "Honi soit qui mal y pense." When Salisbury's famed Countess was dancing with glee, In a work published in 1753, are the following sarcastic lines :— Make your petticoats short That a hoop eight yards wide May decently show How your garters are ty'd. At a fancy fair not many years since, were purchased a pair of garters to each of which a verse was attached. To one : When night with morning lingers, Awake and stirring be, And with your tiny fingers Cast this around your knee. To the other this little conceit : When day with eve reposes, And, dearest, think of me. Tabern Signs. I'm amused at the signs British Apollo. 1710. THE absurdities of Tavern Signs are very curious, but may in general be traced to that almost unavoidable propensity which the vulgar of all countries have, to make havoc with everything in the shape of a proper name. Although impossible in some cases, from length of time, change of manners, and other circumstances, to trace either any connection between the words or the corruption of language, thus we cannot conjecture what a magpie could have to do with a crown, a whale with a crow, or a hen with a razor; yet in many other cases we are able to unravel their origin and meaning, thus the sign of Leg and the Seven Stars was an orthographical deviation from the League and the Seven Stars, or the Seven United Provinces. The Axe and Bottle was doubtless a transposition of the Battle-axe; an appropriate and significant sign in warlike times. The Swan with Two Necks was a corruption of the Swan with Two Nicks, i.e., marks on the beaks of the swans by which they were known by their owners. The Goose and the Gridiron was originally the Mitre, but being used by the Society of Musicians, who displayed their arms-the Lyre of Apollo surmounted by a Swan-this was afterwards jocularly called the Goose and Gridiron, and in course of time actually represented. The Devil and the Bag o' Nails is merely a corruption of the Satyr and the Bacchanals. Well might Ben Jonson exclaim— 66 -It even puts Apollo To all his strength of art to follow What's meant by every sign?" The faithful governor of Calais-Caton fidele-is transformed into the Cat and Fiddle; and Sir Cloudesly Shovel, Queen Anne's brave Admiral, into the Ship and Shovel. The rage for sacred titles during the Commonwealth brought forth the sign, God encompasseth us, which is the origin of that very odd one, The Goat and Compasses. Many of these strange combinations are quite comprehensible when we remember that it was the custom to combine a new sign with an old one, that apprentices placed their masters' with their own, and that others are the badges of old families, as the "Eagle and Child." Many of the signs were, and are still, adapted to please their peculiar customers-thus Heywood sings in 1608 :— The gentry to the King's Head, The nobles to the Crown, The knights unto the Golden Fleece, And to the Plough the clown. The churchman to the Mitre, The shepherd to the Star, The gardener hies him to the Rose, AT the " POETICAL TAVERN SIGNS. King's Head" Inn, Stutton, near Ipswich, until very recently there was a sign-board, inscribed on which was the following courteous invitation, addressed to wayworn travellers, and others who were passing by : : Good people stop, and pray walk in, On the sign of "The Baker and the Brewer," in more than one street in Birmingham, is the following quatrain :— The Baker says, "I've the staff of life, And you're a silly elf!" The Brewer replied, with artful pride, 66 Why, this is life itself!" At the "Red Lion," Stretton, near Warmington,— The Lion is strong, the Cat is vicious (sic), My ale is good, and so is my liquors. At Swainsthorpe, a village five miles from Norwich, on the road to Ipswich, is a Public-house known as the "Dun Cow." Under |