Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 2).djvu/362

 1704; although neither the sword to which this hilt belonged nor the one now at Coventry could have been the sword which in 1384 Richard II ordered to be carried behind the mayor of the town, both being of XVth century date, and not of the period of that monarch. We are of opinion that the sword now at Coventry is of about 1430, and that the hilt in the writer's collection may have been made in 1471 for a sword replacing the one which Edward IV took away; but it may be that this hilt belongs to a sword made about 1481 to replace the 1430 sword stolen during the riots in that year, which was not recovered for some months later.

Into which are incorporated portions of the sword made in 1440

Once again we return to Bristol to find the next most ancient ceremonial sword (Fig. 699). This is the city's second processional sword, known as the "Pearl" sword, because the sheath is supposed to have originally been richly studded with pearls. No traces of pearls are now visible; but there are portions of silver embroidery on the crimson velvet with which the sheath is covered. This sword was given to the city of Bristol by Sir John de Wells, grocer, Mayor of London in 1431. The blade is apparently the original made for the hilt. The pommel is of flattened pear-shaped form, the quillons straight, plain, and six-sided. At each end of the grip is a shield of arms, that next the quillons bearing those of England, impaling the cross and martlets ascribed to Edward the Confessor, the other showing those of the city of Bristol. Below the former shield and continued above the latter is the inscription:

On the other side of the grip is engraved: