the fess and martlets in the various arms of Thorpe are found to vary from each other.

No. 29. Quarterly.-First and fourth; sable, guttée d'eau; a Catherinewheel argent: second and third, BUCKTON.

This shield was one of those which presented to the spectator the deceptive appearance of being entirely sable, without any heraldic charges. From the observations which have already been made upon the arms which this escutcheon contains, the subject may be dismissed, by remarking merely that the frequency in which the names of de Boys, Buckton, Thorpe, and Fastolf occur in the annals of Yarmouth, leads to a conclusion that these arms were those of individuals intimately connected with the town. I am not prepared to say that the first coat in this shield belonged to the family of de Boys; though that name has been suggested by the circumstance already adverted to,—of a similar coat attached to that name. It has also been suggested that the name of Buckton might originally have been Beketon, or de Beketon, by an easy transition in pronunciation; names which constantly occur in Swinden, amongst those of the chief magistrates of Yarmouth in the fourteenth century; and in one instance, mentioned in Druery's history of that town, as a Burgess to Parliament in 1350. The impalements of the Catherine-wheel coat with Fastolf and Thorpe respectively, and quartering Buckton, evidently denote family connections; but in the absence of any pedigree, it is impossible to arrive at any genealogical conclusion upon these highly interesting heraldic remains. The fact also, that the name of Thorpe is constantly associated with that of Beketon in affairs relating to Yarmouth, and that the

Thorpes were frequently bailiffs of that town contemporaneously with the Beketons, indicates that those families possessed great interest in the town. The first occurrence of the name of Beketon as one of the bailiffs of Yarmouth was in 1338, when Richard de Beketon and Bartholomew de Thorp were two of the bailiffs; and the last occurrence was in 1403, upon John Beketon being one of the four bailiffs that year. The Thorpes held that office first in 1319, when Bartholomew de Thorpe was one of the bailiffs; and as late as 1460 Thomas Thorp was one of the two bailiffs of Yarmouth. It is also curious to find that in 1342, Richard Beketon, Adam Beketon, and John Thorpe were owners of ships in the Yarmouth fleet in the expedition to Brittany.

*

No. 30. The arms of England, (gules, three lions passant guardant, in pale, or); dimidiated with azure, three fishes † naiant in pale argent, finned gold; also dimidiated: TOWN OF YARMOUTH.

+

These may be called the modern arms of the town of Yarmouth ; and it is one of those extraordinary instances in early times, when it became the fashion to represent two coats in one shield by dimidiation; or to halve sometimes only one, and sometimes both coats. The practice of dimidiating coats of arms preceded that

of impaling them when intended to denote marriage; though on seals, marriages, after the introduction of dimidiation and impalement, were very frequently indicated by other means.

* Swinden, 925.

+ Query: herrings ?

In the Visitation-Book of Norfolk, Ao. 1563, they stand as "the vsuall armes of the towne of Greate Yermouth at this psent." The burgesses' seal is there represented as three fishes naiant in pale.-G. 1, 105, Coll. Arm.

Dimidiation originated as early as in the thirteenth century; but for many obvious reasons the practice was not of very long continuance; though it was protracted to a later period in other countrics. The ancient coat of Yarmouth, perhaps assumed at the time of receiving its first charter from the hands of King John, was, parted per fess, in chief the royal arms of England, and in base azure three fishes naiant, two and one, argent:* it is therefore probable that the present coat was adopted as early as the time of Edward the First. The town received this high mark of royal favour, of incorporating the arms of England with those which they had adopted to denote their staple article of commerce, probably from the interest which our early sovereigns appeared personally to take in their prosperity. The arms of the city of Chester will afford support to an hypothesis of this nature, being composed of the royal arms of England and those of the old Earls of Chester;† both coats dimidiated, so that the dexter half of the shield shows the three demi lions passant, and the sinister side one garb and a half of the arms of the Earls of Chester. The arms of the Cinque Ports give another instance of dimidiation; and there are also several arms of towns composed of impalements. Of this latter class, though not as the arms of any particular town, but somewhat connected with this subject, is a remarkable instance of impaling municipal arms. In a collection of ancient arms, apparently executed about the early part of the sixteenth century, now in this College, there is a painting of the arms of Calais, (barry nebulée of six, argent and sable; on a chief gules, a lion passant guardant or,) impaling those of the Cinque Ports. I need not point out the intimate connection of this country with France, and that Calais was once a favourite and important possession of the English crown; but why the armorial

* These arms were registered at the Visitation of Norfolk, Ao. 1563, as "the oulde and auncient armes of Greate Yarmouthe."-G. 1, 105, Coll. Arm. † Azure, three garbs, two and one, or. ‡ M. 10, 129b. VOL. II.

Ο

insignia of Calais should impale those of the Cinque Ports must remain an open question, unless any commercial associations led to uniting the arms of those important towns, on each side of the channel.

In conclusion, I have only to add that the shields which have been the subject of this essay have again been restored to the ceiling of the south aisle of Yarmouth church; and it is gratifying also to observe that, under the judicious and tasteful proceedings of the Committee entrusted with the restorations in that sacred edifice, the ceiling and its decorations have given the highest satisfaction. In order to complete the whole heraldic design of the ceiling, in consequence of the removal of a modern cornice, sixteen other shields of .arms have been added; being those chiefly of individuals immediately connected with the town in former days, or otherwise with the royal and illustrious persons mentioned in these remarks.

THOS. WM. KING,

COLLEGE OF ARMS, LONDON,

26th February, 1848.

Rouge Dragon.

EXTRACTS

FROM THE

CHAMBERLAIN'S BOOK OF ACCOUNTS,

14 HEN. IV.

IN THE POSSESSION OF THF

Corporation of Lynn Regis.

COMMUNICATED BY THE REV. G. H. DASHWOOD,

IN A LETTER

TO DAWSON TURNER, ESQ., V. P.

MY DEAR SIR,

I had lately put into my hands by one of our members, Mr. A. H. Swatman, a book of the Chamberlain's Accounts, belonging to the Corporation of Lynn Regis; and he called my attention to an account of the expenses of a journey to London, in the time of King Henry the Fourth, which I think might prove interesting to some of the members of our Society. Should you agree with me in this view, I shall be obliged by your submitting the following notice to the Committee.

Yours, very sincerely,

G. H. DASHWOOD.

In the reign of King Henry the Fourth, it appears there had been divers dissensions and discords" between the Burgesses and Commonalty of Lynn, concerning the election