The Swan, including several variations in colour, &c., is a very common Essex sign, and appears in thirty-eight different places; while, forty or fifty years ago, it seems to have been even commoner. Thirty-two times he occurs as a simple SWAN; at Harwich he appears as a NEW SWAN; at Rayne and Roydon (where he is at least one hundred years old) as a BLACK SWAN; at Chelmsford as an OLD SWAN; and at Epping and West Ham as a WHITE SWAN. The SWAN now existing at Brentwood is, apparently, at least a century old, as it is mentioned in the _Chelmsford Chronicle_ on March 24, 1786. The fondness of the bird for liquid (though of a purer kind than that usually supplied at public-houses) is said to have been the reason for its very common adoption as a public-house sign; but the custom is equally likely to have had an heraldic origin. Kings Henry IV. and V. both used a swan among other badges, and the same device formed part of the coat of arms of the De Bohun and other families. The annexed wood-cut of the _swan proper, ducally gorged and chained or_, which formed the badge of the De Bohuns, is taken from the central spandrel of the canopy of the brass in Westminster Abbey to Alianore De Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester, who died in 1399. It is also very probable that the white swan which formed the badge of the great De Mandevilles, once Earls of Essex, has had something to do with the abundance of this sign in the county. In _Tavern Anecdotes_ (p. 241) it is stated that in 1825 the landlord of the *SWAN at Stratford recommended the charms of his house in the following poetic strain:-- “At the Swan Tavern kept by Lound The best accommodation’s found,-- Wine, Spirits, Porter, Bottled Beer, You’ll find in high perfection here. If in the garden with your lass You feel inclined to take a glass, There Tea and Coffee of the best Provided is, for every guest. And, females not to drive from hence, The charge is only fifteen pence. Or, if disposed a Pipe to smoke, To sing a song or crack a joke, You may repair across the Green, Where nought is heard, though much is seen; There laugh and drink, and smoke away, And but a moderate reckoning pay, Which is a most important object To every loyal British subject. In short, the best accommodation’s found By those who deign to visit Lound.” In Mr. Chas. Golding’s _List of Essex Tokens_,[71] pieces inscribed “Abel Bond at y^{e} WHITE [SWAN] in Stratford, His Halfe Penny,” and “John Chandler [a SWAN] in Stratford, J. C.” are mentioned. The still-existing SWAN at Baythorn End, Birdbrook, appears to be over two centuries old. In the parish register is the following entry: “Martha Blewitt, y^{e} wife of nine husbands successively, buried eight of y^m, but last of all y^{e} woman dy’d allsoe, was bury’d May 7th, 1681.” A slab in the Church shows that Martha Blewitt was landlady of the above inn.