Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/518

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NOTES AND QUERIES. LHS.X. DEC. 26,1914.


his " allies of the Empire " at a Parliament at Brussels to solicit the Flemings to give him their aid in the war, and in return he would assist them in the recovery of Lisle, Douay, and Bethune. The Flemings heard the proposal with pleasure, but desired further consideration before accepting it. Subsequently they explained that they were bound under a heavy penalty to the Apostolic Chamber " not to act offensively against the King of France in any way, whoever he may be " ; but they suggested, as a way out of the difficulty, that Edward should take the arms of France, quarter them with those of England, and call himself King of France. They, on their side, would acknowledge his title as good, and obtain quittance of their bond from him as King of France, and so be absolved. After some demur Edward agreed to these terms, and the agreement having been formally ratified at Ghent, he returned to England from Antwerp at the latter end of the year.

The only reason to doubt the story as related by Froissart would be, it seems to me, to show that the English sovereign had some other good ground for the assumption of the French Boyal arms. Montagu, in his 'Guide to the Study of Heraldry' (1840), asserts, perhaps, a more justifiable reason for Edward's action when, in giving instances of early quartered coats, he speaks of (p. 12) " the seal of Edward III., after he took the arms of France in right of his mother Isabel, daughter of Philip IV. of France, and heir to her brothers Charles IV., Philip V., and Louis X."

These arms, he tells us, on the authority of Barnes (' History of Edward III.,' p. 155), were first borne with the arms of England in the first and fourth quarters.

However it may be, I think that sufficient has been shown to make it clear that the assumption of the French Boyal arms was not in respect of any connexion with the house of Anjou by way of descent or inheritance, as contended by MB. EDEN. These arms thus assumed by Edward III. reduced to three lilies only by Henry IV. were relegated to the second quarter on the union of England and Scotland in 1707, and on the further union with Ireland in 1801 were removed altogether from the Royal arms, the present ones being merely a com- bination of the insignia of the three realms of the United Kingdom. Mr. Boutell, indeed (p. 300), suggests the substitution of a ship in the fourth quarter in place of the repeated lions as the cognizance of the British Colonial Empire. Personally, I would rather see, if any change were to be


made, " gallant little Wales " represented here England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales though there may be some difficulty in deciding what arms should be used to represent the Principality. The fact that it is only a Principality may, I admit, create some difficulty.

Lastly, it seems to me that MB. EDEN'S support of the resumption of the French lilies on the ground that it would be a graceful recognition of the entente cordiale now subsisting between Great Britain and France would weaken his contention that such arms represent Anjou not France. We must remember, too, that the present Government of our ally is a republican one, and that the lilies of the old kings of France hold no place in its present heraldic insignia. Whilst I am writing these lines another English sovereign a descendant of our third Edward nearly 600 years later, attends his army on the soil of Flanders, not for the purpose of seeking the assistance of the Flemings against France, but in support of both these countries against a common aggressor. J. S. UDAL, F.S.A.

Inner Temple.


DBEAMS AND LITEBATUBE (11 S. x. 447). The most famous instance of dream poetry is related by Bede of the Saxon poet Caedmon, who dreamed that an angel taught him to sing of the creation of the world, and remembered the song when he awoke.

I have come across several references to dream-verses for instance, in S. D. Col- lingwood's ' Life of Lewis Carroll,' pp. 79, 221-3, and in A. W. Yen-all's ' Collected Literary Essays,' p. xcix. ; but none of them have any literary value.

I think that prose writers generally profess to obtain only scenes and suggestions from dreams, not complete stories. Lewis Carroll said in the Preface to ' Sylvie and Bruno ' that he had dreamed two passages of dialogue in the book. In the Preface to her popular historical story ' The Dove in the Eagle's Nest ' Miss C. M. Yonge said that she dreamed the scene which occurs in chap, vii., the return of the squire with the tidings of the death of the two knights, and she composed the rest of the book to fit the dream.

Edward Bulwer Lytton was a great dreamer. In his recently published ' Life ' his grandson, Lord Lytton, says that ' Zanoni,' his first mystic novel, published in 1842, was inspired by a dream which