Swan Inn signs 2

The Swan Inn sign is very common everywhere, and is in fact fourth on the list of most common signs. It has been in use as a tavern sign since the fourteenth century, either as a direct allusion to the majestic bird itself or to a coat of arms which featured it. In the latter role it was much favoured by Henry the VIII and Edward III and of course was also used in the arms of much lesser gentry including the Swan Family. The sign remains fairly popular today, with some thirty examples in Greater London. At Clare, Silk, there is a particularly fine wrought iron sign. The Swan at Pangbourne has special literary associations with both Kenneth Grahame and Jerome K Jerome. The White Swan is a frequent variant, as is also the Black Swan.

Black Swan Idridgehay, Derbyshire and elsewhere. The Roman satirist Juvenal jokingly referred to a ‘black swan’ as an example of a rare avis, a rare bird. He did not know that such birds existed in Australia. Black Swan appeared as a tavern sign in the sixteenth century, at which time it may have been meant to be a signal what a rare avis, a remarkable person was the landlord. Later references may well be to Australia, since a black swan is the emblem of Western Australia. Later still, a naval reference is possible, since HMS Black Swan was active between 1939 and 1956..
The Swann at Guist, near Dereham and elsewhere. A variant of Swan, a leftover from the times when spelling was anything but standardised. Before the twentieth century the majority of people were illiterate. Written records of all kinds show that those minor officials and others who were entrusted with committing words and names to writing frequently adopted their own idiosyncratic spelling systems. The preservation of spellings like Swann in modern times is meant to show that the pub concerned is of great age.