The FALCON ON THE HOOP is named in 1443. “In the xxj yer of Kyng Harry the vj^{te},” the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity received “for the rent of ij yere of Wyllym Wylkyns for the Sarrecyn Head v li. vj s. viij d., paynge by the yer liij s. iiij d. and of the _Faucon on the Hope_, for the same ij yer vi li., that is to say paynge by the yer iij li.” Rent, it must be confessed, seems small, and landlords exceedingly accommodating in those days. Six days before that period, there is an entry in the church-wardens’ accounts for “kervyng and peinting of the seigne of the Faucon vj sh.”[309] This mention of the sign clearly shows that it was not a picture, but a carved and coloured falcon, suspended in a hoop, whence the name of the sign. The MAGPIE being a bird of good omen, was, on that account, very often chosen; with this another reason concurred, namely, the sign of the eatable pie falling into disuse, it was transformed into the Magpie, (see Cock and Pie;) and this transition was so much the easier as the original name of the magpie was _pie_, (Latin _pica_, French _pie_,) and only subsequently for its knowing antics, did it receive the nickname of _maggoty_[310] pie, which gradually was abbreviated into Magpie. The full form of the epithet is preserved in the nursery rhyme:-- “Round about, round about, _Maggoty Pie_, My father loves good ale And so do I.” The MAGGOTY PIE was an inn in the Strand during the reign of James I.: it is alluded to in Shirley’s Comedy of “The Ball,” a. i. sc. 1, where Freshwater, the Italianised Englishman, says:-- “I do ly at the signe of Dona Margaretta de Pia in the Strand.” which his man Gudgin explains to mean, “the Maggety Pie in the Strand, sir.”