their Guildhall, in 1411, they
carved both of these shields on the bosses of the groined crypt, where
they can be seen to this day, those down the centre aisle having only
the cross of St. George without the sword. On the screen to the chantry
chapel of Bishop Roger de Walden, in the church of St. Bartholomew the
Great, erected in 1386, the arms of London appear as a simple cross, and
a much later example occurred in the windows of Notre Dame at Antwerp.
In the north transept windows of that church were portraits of Henry
VII. and Elizabeth of York, which survived the damage wrought by the
Gueux; and a traveller, one William Smith, who was Rouge Dragon
Pursuivant, in 1597, says he saw with them the arms of many English
towns, including London, which had in the dexter chief a capital L, and
not a sword.

[Illustration: FIG. 1--SIR WILLIAM WALWORTH'S DAGGER, FISHMONGERS' HALL,
MCCCLXXXI.]

In the year 1380, as we have seen, a new seal was made, on which were
the effigies of the Blessed Virgin and SS. Peter and Paul, and in the
base on a shield the arms of the City, a cross with a sword in the
dexter chief, and on either side of it a demi-lion as a supporter. As to
the origin of the sword, there is a very old story, very generally
credited, which only requires retelling to show how inconsistent it is
with historical truth. About the part played by the Lord Mayor, Sir
William Walworth, in slaying Wat Tyler at Smithfield, there need be
little doubt, and at the hall of the Fishmongers' Company is preserved
the veritable dagger with which, it is asserted, the deed was done; and
as the addition was made to the City arms about the time of this
occurrence, popular fancy connected the two events, and ascribed the
advent of the dagger on the shield to its use in Smithfield (fig. 1).
Since, however, the new seal was made in 1380, and Wat Tyler was slain
and Sir William Walworth was knighted a year later, we have to look
elsewhere for the origin of the augmentation.

[Illustration: FIG. 2--SEAL OF RALPH DE STRATFORD, BISHOP OF LONDON,
MCCCXL-MCCCLIV. (_In the British Museum._)]

Until the episcopate of Ralph de Stratford, the seals of the bishops of
London had borne the effigy only of St. Paul, and that bishop's seal was
the first on which the arms of the See of London were placed. An impress
of this seal is preserved in the Stowe collection at the British Museum,
attached to a deed of 1348, which, although in a somewhat broken