Magazine_ for 1842, or to the republication of my essays which I have
already promised, for fuller details of the evidence I have collected; but
its leading results, as affecting the origin of this device, may be stated
as follows:--It is ascertained that the Collar of Esses was given by Henry,
Earl of Derby, afterwards King Henry IV., during the life-time of his
father, John of Ghent, Duke of Lancaster. It also appears that the Duke of
Lancaster himself gave a collar, which was worn in compliment to him by his
nephew King Richard II. In a window of old St. Paul's, near the duke's
monument, his arms were in painted glass, accompanied with the Collar of
Esses; which is presumptive proof that his collar was the same as that of
his son, the Earl of Derby. If, then, the Collar of Esses was first given
by this mighty duke, what would be _his_ meaning in the device? My
conjecture is, that it was the initial of the title of that high office
which, united to his vast estates, was a main source of his weight and
influence in the country,--the office of Steward of England. This, I admit,
is a derivation less captivating in idea than another that has been
suggested, viz. that S was the initial of _Souveraine_ which is known to
have been a motto subsequently used by Henry IV., and which might be
supposed to foreshadow the ambition with which the House of Lancaster
affected the crown. But the objection to this is, that the device is traced
back earlier than the Lancastrian usurpation can be supposed to have been
in contemplation. It might still be the initial of _Souveraine_, if John of
Ghent adopted it in allusion to his kingdom of Castille: but, because he is
supposed to have used it, and his son the Earl of Derby certainly used it,
after the sovereignty of Castille had been finally relinquished, but also
before either he or his son can be supposed to have aimed at the
sovereignty of their own country, therefore it is that, in the absence of
any positive authority, I adhere at present to the opinion that the letter
S was the initial of Seneschallus or Steward.