V2 S. V. APRIL, 191 9. j
NOTES AND QUERIES.
99
STAGS AND EGLANTINE :
ELIZABETHAN COURT STORY.
(12 S. v. 13.)
OLD EAST ANGLIAN' s suggestion as to the origin, of the honeysuckle borne in the mouth of the crest of the Sucklings (a stag current) becomes very interesting in view of a recent paper contributed to Norfolk Archaeology by Mr. F. R. Beecheno on
- The Suckling House at Norwich.' The
latter was the town residence of the Robert Suckling upon whom Queen Elizabeth is said to have conferred, as " an augmenta- tion to his arms, the honeysuckle as a rebus on his name Suckling, colloquially the honeysuckle or eglantine."
In the paper in question is a quotation from Kirkpatrick's* MS. collection for a history of Norwich, describing this house &,s he saw it, thus :
" On the great stone gate of y e flint stone house against the east end of St. Andrew's Churchyard, on the one side of y e . arch Suckling's arms, on the other side y e merchant Adventurers' arms. An Dni. being the year whsn Robert Suckling was Sheriff."
It will, however, be observed that further on in his paper Mr. Beecheno remarks that " the arms were granted to Robert Suckling on the 24th of August, 1578 " ; and when asked his authority for that date, he replied,
- ' Burke's ' Armory.' '
There the matter rested, as one of little moment, until the appearance of ' Stags
- and Eglantine ' in ' N. & Q.' when, the dates
assuming additional importance, the matter was referred to a well-known authority on heraldry, who said :
" I suspect that the arms of Suckling were confirmed and the crest was granted in 1578. Crests as a rule are much later than arms, and hence a grant for the crest in which the old arms were comprised, and hence, at times, there is some confusion. The ' Armory,' though of course a most useful book, is not an official publication, and therefore, to answer the question as to the grant, I think it would be well to apply to the Heralds' College."
This was accordingly done, with the result that official copies were made of four dockets, and it is interesting to observe that the tradition as to the "augmentation" gains
- John Kirkpatrick died August, 1728, aged 42. i
credence from the fact that Robert Cooke,
Clarenceux, was " at Norwich " in August,
1578, during Queen Elizabeth's visit to that
city.
The copies from the College of Arms read :
" Camden's Grants, vol. i. folio 29 : ' Per Bobert Cooke, Clar., at Norwich 13 August, 1578. Arms and" crest as in E.D.N. 56, p. 86b.' "
" Camden's Grants, vol. iii. folio 24b : ' Suck- lings, per pale gules and azure three roe bucks or. Crest, a buck current, holding a honeysuckle in his mouth, proper. Blazon only. No trick of arms or crest.' "
Moreover, the above arms, with the crest surmounting an esquire's helmet, and the date " An 1584," were placed in the windows* of his manor houee at Woodton by Robert Suckling himself, with the addi- tion of a similar coat of arms, but without the crest, impaling the arms of his wife, Cardinall of Essex.
Robert Suckling died in the house in St. Andrew's parish in November, 1589, and was buried in the church opposite, where his younger son John erected in 1611 a memorial to him, with his effigy kneeling, facing that of his wife, under a canopy which is sur- mounted by a shield-shaped plaque en- tirely covered by trails of honeysuckle. The latter serves as a background for the coat of arms, on which are the esquire's helmet, wreath, and the roebuck crest ; but the latter is distinctly azure a remarkable fact in view of the following passage in Suck- lings ' Antique and Armorial Collection,' preserved in the British Museum, t which, under "Woodton, Norfolk," says:
" The Sucklings orginally had for crest a roebuck current azure, mantled gules, and in 1617, for what cause I know not, the celebrated Camden, ' upon mature advice,' altered the crest to a roebuck current or, holding in his mouth a honeysuckle proper. The document is signed ' William Camden.' "
It then becomes a question if this state- ment as to a change of tincture has any relation to a third " grant " by Camden (vol. ii. folio 49b), dated "26 November, 1617 ": " Charles Suckling of Woodton, Com. Norf., Esquire. The crest. "
The arms here are tricked, and the crest shows the stag to be almost springing upwards, with " or " written at the side of his head, and "ppr." against the huge
- These two old windows of arm'orial glass
were removed many years since to Barsham (Suffolk), where they may still be seen at the Recto rv.
t Add. MSS. 18,476 to 18,491, 15 vols.by the author of the ' Antiquities of Suffolk.'
