Over the fireplace was seen these lines:-- “All you who stand Before the fire, I pray sit down. It’s my desire That other folks As well as you May see the fire And feel it too.” An inscription upon the stable-door ran as follows:-- “Whoever smokes tobacco here, Shall forfeit sixpense to spend in beer. Your pipes lay by when you come here, Or fire to me may prove severe.” The only other sign of the kind now to be seen in Essex is the OLD MAYPOLE at Barkingside. Andrews and Drury’s _Map of Essex_, however, published in 1777, shows houses with this sign then existing at Chigwell, Barking, and Collier’s Row. A writer in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, speaking of Maypoles, says, “The last in London was taken down in 1717, and removed to Wanstead in Essex. It was more than 100 feet high, and stood on the east side of Somerset House.” The custom of celebrating Mayday has now almost died out in the county, except at Saffron Walden, where, every “Garland Day,” it is customary to see the High Street of the town crowded during the morning with children, each bearing a “garland” more or less tastefully arranged upon a hoop, or in some other way. They diligently visit all the houses asking for coppers, which are generally given with liberality. The WHEATSHEAF, as already stated (p. 33), appears as a sign no less than seven times in Essex. Wheatsheaves form charges on the arms of at least three of the great Trade Companies, namely, the Brewers’ (p. 32), the Bakers’ (p. 33), and the Inn-holders’.[85] Although the sign of the BAKERS’ ARMS now only occurs once in Essex, two tokens issued in Chelmsford, one issued in Braintree, and several issued in Colchester, bear the arms of the Bakers’ Company; and as there are now houses displaying the sign of the WHEATSHEAF in each of those places, and all of them have existed for at least forty years, it is quite possible that they are the same establishments kept, two centuries ago, by the issuers of the tokens. As a beer-house sign, too, the WHEATSHEAF is still common. The CROWN AND THISTLE, which occurs at Great Chesterford, is a rather uncommon sign. It, of course, represents the royal badge of Scotland, _a thistle, imperially crowned_. [Illustration: ROSE AND THISTLE. (_Badge of James I._)]