92
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. AUG. i, i9oe.
Argent, on a saltire gules an escallop shel
or, and shows a well-drawn illustration o]
it in its proper heraldic tinctures (plate xxiv.
fig. 3). He says :
"The cross of St. Andrew in these arms alludes to the dedication of the Cathedral to that saint. The escallop may possibly refer to the oyster fisheries of the diocese. (The early seals of the Priory bear the effigy of St. Andrew on the cross. Vid. Brit. Mus. Cat., Nos. 3919, 3920.)"
And on p. 383, in his chapter (Part II. chap. v. ) on the * Arms of Abbeys and other Religious Houses of Great Britain,' he gives as those of Rochester Abbey, Arg., a saltire gules ; the escallop shell thus marking the only difference between the See and the Abbey.
A short time ago I was reading in the Times (Weekly Edition) Supplement for 28 February Lord Rosebery's very interest- ing and amusing address to the children of the Edinburgh Board schools on the occa- sion of his presentation to them, at the instance of the Victoria League, of some fifty flags or " Union Jacks," in the course of which his lordship showed as delightful an acquaintance with heraldry as he possesses with history. As his remarks are apt to my present subject, I hope that I may be allowed to make one or two extracts from his speech.
Unfurling one of the flags, and pointing to it, Lord Rosebery said :
" Do you understand what this flag represents?
A great many grown-up people do not We begin
with the Scottish flag. (Loud cheers.) The Scottish flag was a blue ground with a white St. Andrew's cross on it."
And after describing in humorous terms the effect upon the National Flag of the union, first of Scotland, and then of Ireland in other words, the origin of the present " Union Jack " he proceeded :
" How did we come to have a St. Andrew's cross in Scotland ? Well, that is more than I can tell you. (Laughter.) in old days, in the Middle Ages, countries used to like to have a saint under whose special protection they placed themselves, and somewhere between 700 and 800, the learned people tell us, Scotland chose St. Andrew. Why they chose St. Andrew I cannot tell you. St. Andrew, as we know, was a fisherman, and perhaps the great fishing industry made them want a fisherman as their saint. Anyhow, they took St. Andrew, and I rather think Russia took St. Andrew too, so we shall never come to blows with Russia on that point ; and somewhere in the north of Italy, where he has got moved by some mysterious process, I have seen the tomb of St. Andrew."
Lord Rosebery is, no doubt, quite right as to Russia, whose patron saint is St. Andrew, and whose naval flag is white, charged with the saltire, St. Andrew's
cross. But I wonder where is the place
" in the north of Italy " in which he states that he has seen " the tomb of St. Andrew." Dr. Woodward, indeed, speaks of some of the saint's relics having been removed from Patrae (or Patras, in Achaia, where he is said to have been crucified on a " saltire ") and having formed the subject of shipwreck near the site of the present city of St. Andrews. Other authorities state that the relics were removed to Constantinople. Perhaps some of your readers may be able to supply information on this point.
But Rochester is not alone amongst English sees in having its cathedral dedicated to St. Andrew. The Cathedral of Wells is so dedicated ; the earliest arms borne for the See of Wells, before its junction with Bath, were probably those of its patron saint the saltire only. See the remarks of Dr. Woodward in his ' Ecclesiastical Heraldry/ pp. 176 and 497 (Appendix), on this point.
St. Andrew has many followers also amongst the Scottish and Colonial sees, particularly those of the latter whose early settlers were Scottish. Amongst the former I may mention Edinburgh and Dunblane ; and amongst the latter, Caledonia (British Columbia), Waiapu (New Zealand), and, as we may well expect in such a Scottish province as Otago (New Zealand), Dunedin (in which St. Andrew is represented as holding his cross before him) ; whilst in South Africa the Sees of Bloemfontein and Maritzburg (taken from the original diocese of Natal) bear distinct references to St. Andrew. I fancy that I can also trace some such origin in the arms of the Oriental See of Travancore. Of course all these bear iheir due " differences."
Dr. Woodward's beautifully illustrated chapter on the arms of Colonial Sees (Part II. chap, ii.) will well repay perusal.
J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.
Antigua, W. I.
GEORGE HENLEY OF BRADLEY, HANTS (10 S. ix. 141, 470, 496). In the Rev. F. Browne's ' Collections of Somerset Wills,' 6 vols., printed by Crisp, there are given in vol. i. pp. 14, 15, vol. iv. 128-9, and vol. v. 26, several Henley wills. They are,of course, only abstracts, and other interesting information may very likely be gathered from the wills themselves. The references at Somerset House, which I shall be very pleased to send to MRS. SUCKLING or MR. OLIVER if they cannot readily refer to this collection, are given by Mr. Browne.
Is not Blackborough (p. 143, col. 1) a mistake for Black Bourton, where the
