At Nortwich and Altringham, Chester, there is a sign called the BLEEDING WOLF, which has not been found anywhere else. Its origin is difficult to explain, and the only explanation that can be immediately offered for it is the crest of Hugh Lupus and Richard, first and second Earls of Chester, which was a wolf’s head erased; the neck of the animal being _erased_ may, by primitive sign-painters, have been represented less conventionally than is done now, and probably exhibited some of the torn parts, whence the name of the _Bleeding_ Wolf. As for the use of the term “wolf,” instead of “wolf’s head,” we have a parallel instance in one of the gates of Chester, which, from this crest, was called Wolfsgate instead of Wolfshead Gate. There is another equally puzzling sign, peculiar to this county and to Lancashire--namely, the BEAR’S PAW. Of this sign, it must be confessed that no explanation can be offered; it certainly looks heraldic, and lions jambs erased are the crest of many families. Easy enough to explain is the sign of PARTA TUERI, (Cellarhead, Staffordshire,) which is the motto of the Lilford family: this is the only instance as yet met with of a family motto standing for a sign; though in Essex a public-house sign, representing a sort of Bacchic coat of arms, with the motto, IN VINO VERITAS, may be seen. The OAKLEY ARMS, at Maidenhead, near Bray, deserves passing mention, on account of some amusing verses _connected with the_ place. As it is frequently the custom with publicans to choose for their sign the name or picture of some real or imaginary hero connected with the locality in which their house stands, the following verses were written on the Oakley Arms, near Bray:-- “Friend Isaac, ’tis strange you that live so near Bray Should not set up the sign of the Vicar.[191] Though it may be an odd one, you cannot but say It must needs be a sign of good liquor.” Answer: “Indeed, master Poet, your reason’s but poor, For the Vicar would think it a sin To stay, like a booby, and lounge at the door,-- ’Twere a sign ’twas bad liquor within.” The WENTWORTH ARMS, Kirby Mallory, Leicestershire, may also be mentioned on account of its peculiar inscription, which has a strange moral air about it, as if a pious Boniface drew beer and uncorked wine, and wished to compromise matters on high moral grounds, and limit with puritanical rigidity the government regulation above his door, “to be Drunk on the Premises”:-- “May he who has little to spend, spend nothing in drink; May he who has more than enough, keep it for better uses. May he who goes in to rest never remain to riot, And he who fears God elsewhere never forget him here.”