Parenthetically, it is worth noticing that while a large proportion of the few coins known to be British bear the effigy of a horse, not one of the Roman coins figured in Camden’s _Britannia_ bear such a device; nor do the coins of Saxon origin. To a horse-loving people this proof of the esteem in which their forefathers held the animal is particularly interesting. A large white horse is stated by Mr. Walker, Camden’s collaborator, to have been the ensign of Hengist and Horsa, who landed in Britain in A.D. 449, and this seems to be the only instance in which the figure of a horse was employed as an emblem by others than the Britons. Mr. Walker, whom Camden introduces as the great expert of the day, remarks, _apropos_ of the coins figured in the _Britannia_, that in ancient times special value attached to white horses; in this respect, however, horses were not singular, white animals of all domesticated species being regarded with peculiar favour, and commonly selected as gifts to Royalty, and as ceremonial tribute when state or tribe was required to acknowledge suzerainty. Mr. Walker asserts also, that only men of the highest rank were permitted to ride white horses on state occasions. That the use of a white steed implied dignity is well shown by the treatment accorded John of France by Edward the Black Prince when he conducted the French King to London. Anxious that the captive should appear not as a prisoner but as a royal guest, John “was clad in royal robes, and was mounted on a white steed, distinguished by its beauty and size; whilst the conqueror, in meaner attire, was carried by his side on a black palfrey.” Richard Berenger, gentleman of the horse to George III., who wrote _The History and Art of Horsemanship_, published 1771, observes that “The King of Naples at this day pays an annual fief of a white horse to the See of Rome as acknowledgment for the kingdom which he holds from the Pope.” Thus we see that the ceremonial value of the white horse was both ancient and lasting. We must not, however, allow this point to detain us. FROM THE SEVENTH CENTURY TO THE CONQUEST.