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NOTES AND QUERIES. [11 s. in. APRIL 22, 1911.
DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS ON
BRASSES AND STONE EFFIGIES.
(US. iii. 208.)
IT seems that the dog generally occurs at the feet of the deceased's monument as a memento of some faithful animal : but not always so, for the dog, it is well known, had his heraldic place, like the lion and the bear and many other heraldic quadrupeds. On his brass at Ingham, Norfolk, Sir Bryan Stapleton rests one foot on a lion and the other on a dog apparently a talbot. At Deerhurst in Gloucestershire there is, in the Priory Church, a large slab of blue marble marking the place of interment of Sir John Gassy, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and his lady, at whose feet is a carved repre- sentation of her favourite dog " Terri." In Walpole Church, Norfolk, which gives its name to the family of Walpole, is a tomb to the memory of Sir Ralph de Rochford, with his lady by his side, and at her feet a dog looking up, and another couchant ; and in the chancel of Shernborne Church in the same county is, or was formerly, the figure of Sir Thomas Sherborne's lady (1458), at whose right foot is sitting a small dog with a collar of bells. In St. Mary's Church, Warwick, en a marble slab near the entrance to the Beauchamp Chapel, is the tomb of the Earl and Countess of Warwick. The Earl's feet rest on a bear (his cognizance), and the lady's on a dog which also has a collar of bells. Another tomb, I think, in the same church represents another Earl and Countess of Warwick, the leet of the former resting again on a bear, but of the Countess on a lamb, presumed to be sym- bolical of the Saviour. Salisbury Cathedral has a monument to Robert, Lord Hunger- ford, in which the feet are supported by a dog with a coil of rope hanging from hi 8 collar. In Newton Church, near Gteddington, Northamptonshire, Richard Tresham, who died in 1433, has a dog at his feet. On the Belasye monument in Coxwold Church, Yorkshire, is a finely wrought stag, and a lion is at the feet of the lady beside her husband. At the foot of an effigy cf Bishop Harewell in the south-choir aisle of Wells Cathedral are two hares, doubtless by way of armes parlantes. At Earls Coin in North Essex, where there was a seat of the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, there will, I think, be found at the foot of the monument of
Robert Vere (1296) a boar, the well-known
cognizance of that illustrious family.
There are many other instances, but a complete list would take up too much space.
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
The county of Gloucester is peculiarly fortunate in its preservation of these curious monuments. At Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, Bristol Cathedral, and at Newland Church, near Coleford, may be seen recumbent figures with their feet resting on a dog or some other animal. Ne\vland possesses one inside the church, and, what is still more uncommon, one in the graveyard adjoining, which has withstood our rigorous winters for over four centuries. It com- memorates an old forester of the Forest of Dean, who is represented in hunting costume, with his horn and " coteau du chase." Effigies of this nature are of great rarity, though there is an example in Glinton Church, near Peterborough.
Around the plinth of the outer Newland tomb runs this inscription, now hardly de- cipherable i
" Here : lythe : Ion : Wyrall : foister : of : fee : the : whych : dysesyd : on : the : viii : day : of : September : in : ye : yeare : of : oure : Lord : MCCCCLVII : on : hys : soule : God : have : mercy : Amen."
Portions of the ircn hearse which originally covered the effigy still remain.
No doubt John Wyrall was one of the nine ancient foresters of Dean, who held office and had certain privileges, in return for denned duties. One of the duties was to blow a horn to give notice of the approach of an enemy.
A view of the tomb, and plates of others, with many interesting particulars, will be fcund in the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society's Transactions by referring to the index under ' Effigies.'
WILLIAM JAGGARD.
I know of no single work devoted entirely to these accessories.
The Rev. Herbert Haines in his Intro- duction to ' A Manual of Monumental Brasses,' p. cxxv, &c., says :
" Knights have no peculiar devices besides their arms, unless we are to consider the lions and dogs beneath their feet as emblematical of the virtues of courage, generosity, and fidelity indispensable to their profession. The idea of placing a helmet beneath the head of the knight, and his faithful dog reposing at his feet, may have been suggested by the soldier's actual practice when on military service. The lion at the foot is rare after 1460. One or two little dogs are often at the feet of ladies ; they are probably intended for some favourite animal,
