Fishes, Flowers & Fire as Elements and Deities in the Phallic Faiths ...

Frequent occurrence of the Fish Symbol-Fish HeraldryEarliest Devices-Fish Devices in churches and other public buildings-The Catacombs-Ichthus-Fish Devices in Glastonbury Abbey, &c.-The Book Fish-Glasgow Fish Arms-The Fish and Ring Story of Scotland-Solomon and the Fish and Ring-The Hermit's Fish Pond of St. Neot's-The Sacred Perch-The Dolphin-Neptune.

NEW, if any, symbols are of such frequent occurrence among the relics of bygone ages as that of the fish. Whether we look upon the monuments of Babylon and Nineveh, upon the walls of the Roman Catacombs where the early Christians sought a refuge from the fury of their Pagan persecutors, or amongst the heraldic devices adopted by our ancestors as coats of arms in comparatively modern times, the fish is ever prominent. With regard to the latter, it is certainly remarkable to what an extent it prevails, and several writers on Heraldry (particularly Moule) have given us very full accounts and graphic illustrations of its use. Nor is it one kind of fish only we find thus employed, which might perhaps be associated with some special myth or tradition-the dolphin, the herring, the salmon, the trout, the pike, the barbel, the roach, the sole, the turbot, the flounder, the haddock, the cod, the hake, the ling, the whiting, the mullet, the grayling and others have all been pressed into the same service, and even the different modes of taking fish by the spear, the net, or the hook, are found in the armorial ensigns of the lords of manors deriving revenue from the produce of the fishery. "The boats," says Moule, "employed in the same service, which were at the command of the sovereign in time of war, and formed the original navy of Britain, distinguish the ensigns of the maritime lords, and the corporate bodies to whom the jurisdiction of the ports was entrusted."

It is not unlikely that the vast numbers of fishes and their great variety may have had much to do with their employment in this connection; some years ago the British Museum contained fifteen hundred different species, while the museum in Paris-one unusually rich in specimens of this part of the animal kingdom-possessed as many as five thousand, a number which has steadily gone on increasing. "As the symbol of a name, almost all fish have been used in Heraldry; and in many instances fish have been assumed in arms in reference to the produce of the estate, giving to the quaint device a twofold interest. They are borne upright and extended, and when feeding are termed devouring; Allumé, when their eyes are bright, and Parné when their mouths are open." "'*

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"The earliest known device of fish, the zodiacal sign, is emblematical of the fishery of the Nile, commencing in the month of February, about the time when the enters Pisces, which is the best season for fishing, according to Pliny. Modern travellers relate that the walls of the temple of Denderah are literally covered with magnificent sculpture and painting. The figures representing the Zodiac are on the ceiling of the portico, and are engraved in the great work on Egypt published by order of the French Government. The signs of the Zodiac were frequently sculptured on the exterior of ancient churches, presenting a sort of rural calendar for the labours of the field each month in the year, which was of practical use.

'When in the Zodiac the fish wheel round,

They loose the floods and irrigate the ground.'

"In his directions to the husbandman for the month

of February, old Tusser says:

'To the coast, man, ride, Lent stuff provide ;'

an ornament

with another couplet in encouragement of the fisherman, 'The land doth will, the sea doth wish, Spare sometimes flesh, and feed off fish.' "The Zodiacal signs also appear as antique vases, coins, pavements, &c., and are painted in bright colours on the inside of several mummy cases now in the British Museum. A manuscript in the Cottonian Library shows the sign Pisces having a connecting line from the tail of each fish."*

* Moule's Heraldry.

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