|The history of elephants in Europe dates back to the ice ages, when mammoths (various species of prehistoric elephant) roamed the northern parts of the Earth, from Europe to North America (mastodons only occurred in North America.) There was also the dwarf elephant of Cyprus (“Palaeoloxodon cypriotes”), Sicily-Malta (“Palaeoloxodon falconeri”) and mainland (“Palaeoloxodon antiquus”). However, these became extinct several thousand years ago, and subsequently the presence of elephants in Europe is only due to importation of these animals.
Europeans first came in contact with elephants in 327 BC, when Alexander the Great descended into India from the Hindu Kush, but Alexander was quick to adopt them. Four elephants guarded his tent, and shortly after his death his associate Ptolemy issued coins showing Alexander in the elephant headdress that became a royal emblem also in the Hellenized East. Aristotle depended on first-hand information for his account of elephants, but like most Westerners he believed the animals live for two hundred years. Roman scouts in the royal Syrian parks shortly before the last of the Seleucids fell to Rome had orders to hamstring every elephant they could capture, and while elephants performed in the circuses of Rome, Shapur’s war elephants in the mid 4th century numbered in the hundreds (Fox 1973 p 338).
Elephants disappeared from Europe after the Roman Empire. As exotic and expensive animals, they were exchanged as presents between European rulers, who exhibited them as luxury pets, beginning with Harun ar-Rashid’s gift of an elephant to Charlemagne.
Historical accounts of elephants in Europe include:
* The 20 elephants in the army of Pyrrhus of Epirus, which landed at Tarentum in 280 BC for the first Battle of Heraclea, recorded in Plutarch’s “Lives”, Polybius, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Livy. “The most notable elephant in Greek history, called Victor, had long served in Pyrrhus’s army, but on seeing its mahout dead before the city walls,it rushed to retrieve him: hoisting him defiantly on his tusks, its took wild and indiscriminate revenge for the man it loved, trampling more of its supporters than its enemies” (Fox 1973). Coins of Tarentum after this battle also featured elephants.
* The 37 elephants in Hannibal’s army that crossed the Rhône in October/November 218 BC during the Second Punic War, recorded by Livy.
* The first historically recorded elephant in northern Europe was the animal brought by Emperor Claudius, during the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, to the British capital of Colchester.
* “Abul-Abbas”, the Asian elephant given to Charlemagne by Harun ar-Rashid in 797 or 802. The animal died in 810, of pneumonia.
* The “Annals of Innisfallen” record that King Edgar of Scotland gave a large, exotic animal to Muirchertach Ua Briain in 1105, possibly an elephant but more probably a camel. (“Annals of Innisfallen”, s.a. 1105; A. A. M. Duncan, “Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom” (1975), p. 128)
*The Cremona elephant was presented to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor by Al-Kamil in 1229.
* The elephant given by Louis IX of France to Henry III of England, for his menagerie in the Tower of London in 1255 (see: Sandwich, Kent). Drawn from life by the historian Matthew Paris for his Chronica Majora, it was the first elephant to be seen in England since Claudius’ war elephant. Matthew Paris’ original drawing can be found in his bestiary, on display in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The bestiary explains that while in residence at the Tower of London, the elephant enjoyed a diet of prime cuts of beef and expensive red wine and is claimed to have died in 1257 from drinking too much wine. The accompanying text reveals that at the time, Europeans believed that elephants did not have knees and so were unable to get up if they fell over (the bestiary contains a drawing depicting an elephant on its back being dragged along the ground by another elephant, with a caption stating that elephants lacked knees). Europeans also interpreted descriptions of howdahs to mean that Indian elephants were capable of carrying actual stone castles on their backs, albeit only big enough to be garrisoned by three or four men. A carving of the elephant can be found on a contemporary miserichord in Exeter Cathedral. This animal may be the inspiration for the heraldic device ‘Elephant and Castle,’ the arms of the Cutlers’ Company of London, a guild founded in the 13th century responsible for making scissors, knives and the like. Its heraldry survived in an 18th century pub sign that in turn gave its name to a largely modern locality in Southwark, South London.
* In the 1470s, King Christian I of Denmark founded a chivalric order, the “Order of the Elephant”, and had it confirmed by Pope Sixtus IV. The order is named for the battle elephants which symbolized the Christian Crusades. Today, it continues to be awarded under statutes established by king Christian V in 1693, amended in 1958 to permit the admission of women to the order.
* The elephant given by Afonso V of Portugal to René d’Anjou about 1477.
* The merchants of Cyprus presented Ercole d’Este with an elephant in 1497.
* Suleyman the elephant was a present from the Portuguese king John III to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Travelling from Spain in 1551, it arrived un Vienna in 1552, but died in 1554.
* Hanno, or “Annone”, was a white elephant presented by king Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X on the occasion of his coronation in 1514. He died, probably of an intestinal obstruction misdiagnosed as angina, with Pope Leo at his side in 1518. His story is told in Silvio Bedini’s “The Pope’s Elephant” (Nashville: Sanders 1998). At the Villa Madama, in the garden facing the loggia, the Elephant Fountain designed by Giovanni da Udine depicts “Annone”, whose tomb was designed by Raphael himself.
*Hansken, a female elephant from Ceylon that became famous in early 17th century Europe, touring through many countries demonstrating circus tricks, and sketched by Rembrandt and Stefano della Bella.
The founding secretary of the OBA, “JP” Jeyapalan, compeered the night and set the tone for the proceedings. His pithy remarks and informative banter sent ripples of mirth throughout the hall. Despite his now customary caveat that he was not a current committee member, his profound insider knowledge hinted that he might be a paid consultant. However, in light of the skit which followed the President of the OBA, Suren Salgado’s welcome message, it became clear what he was no doubt trying to convey was that he wasn’t game to “cross dress” as it appeared to be de rigueur for committee members.
The skit was a re-enactment of the 1960 Peter Sellers/Sophia Loren hit song – Goodness Gracious Me. It was brilliantly performed by Dr Siridev Abeywardene (as Peter) and Janaka Subasinghe (as Sophia). Whilst Janaka Subasinghe is no Sophia Loren, he was the perfect foil to Dr Siridev as they both delivered a spirited and convincing rendition of “Goodness gracious me” with gestures to match. Though their voices were pre recorded, again to the musical arrangement done by the same lady who did the College song, they did full justice to the song and took many old boys back to their school days when they mimicked Sellers mimicking an Indian accent and in doing so, unconsciously sent themselves up.
The Order Of the Elephant is the most valuable of all the Danish orders of chivalry, ranking third in importance, with Queen Margrethe II as the Sovereign of the Order. The origins are uncertain but can be traced back to a company or brotherhood in being at the time of King Christian I, the first king of the Oldenburgh line. At his coronation in Stockholm, in 1457 he distributed chains to high born men and women of his three kingdoms. Unfortunately no names of recipients are known. But why elephants? The answer is purely symbolic – in mediaeval times the elephant was used as a symbol of the fight against evil and also a symbol of chastity as the elephant was thought to mate
secretly. The badge is a “white enameled gold elephant with a diamond on its side, another on its forehead and a blue saddlecloth on its back carrying a gold brick tower, later red enameled and, in front of this, a blackamoor” to be worn on a blue silk sash over the left shoulder or from “a chain of conjoined alternately gold towers and gold elephants with blue-enameled saddlecloths bearing the letter ‘D’ for Dassiak (Latin for Denmark). Except when held by royal princes all other orders must be given up when becoming a Knight of the Order of the Elephant.
The coat-of-arms of the City of Coventry
Medieval thinking relating to animals may seem strange today. It was in those times of the ‘Bestiary’ stories that the elephant first appeared on the seal of the City of Coventry. It is thought that the elephant was seen to be not only strong; being able to carry the, now long gone, Coventry Castle on it’s back, but also could relate to the fall of Adam of Eve and even to the redemption of the human race by Christ. In addition the enemy of the elephant in medieval times was believed to be the dragon who devoured newly born elephants. (The defense of its young by the elephant was a quality much admired in medieval times). So the elephant symbolised Strength, Redemption, Protection – and the ability to slay dragons.
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| Coventry Police – collar-badges | ||||
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| The arrow, a pun for “Bolt”, and the crown representing a ‘tun’ (a settlement within a stockade), thus “Bolt-tun”. Above the shield is a closed helm, with a wreath and mantling in red and gold. On the wreath stands an elephant upon a rocky moor within a ‘tun’, the red rose of Lancashire is seen on the trappings of the elephant. The elephant symbolises courage, great strength, wit, longevity, happiness, royalty, dignity, good luck, ambition, patience and wisdom. Legend has it that in the Middle Ages, people believed the elephant was such a huge animal that it must sleep standing up and never lay down. People therefore assumed that if you built your castle on an elephant’s back, you’d have an impenetrable fortress that would never fall down. The motto – SUPERA MORAS – means “Overcome delays”. (The Armorial Bearings were designed by N Ellis Tomlinson, M.A., F.H.S.)
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| There are many ideas of where the name “Elephant & Castle” comes from. The most plausible is also the most incorrect, that it is from a corruption of “la Infanta de Castile” referring to any of a number of Spanish princesses connected to English history including Eleanor of Castile, Catherine of Aragon, and Maria, daughter of Philip III of Spain. The second is that it’s from the name of a pub (oldest records date to 1765), which places the pub in the same position as the area. Where did they both get the name from? Author John Timbs documents the story from the 21st March 1661, repeated from a pamphlet printed at the time and now in the British Library. | ||||
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| This story almost certainly, once documented in rare written form, became famous in London, and pubs (as was the wont) were named after such things. | ||||
| The “Elephant and Castle” is derived from a coaching inn of that name on the site. The earliest surviving record of this name relating to the area is in the Court Leet (a Court of Record, and its duty was not only to view the pledges – the Freemen’s oath of peacekeeping and good practice in trade – but also to try by jury) of the Manor of Walworth and punish, all crimes committed within the jurisdiction although more serious crimes were committed to the King’s Justices. . This local court had met at the “Elephant and Castle, Newington” on 21 March 1765. Previously the site was occupied by a blacksmith and cutler – the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers features an elephant with a castle on its back, which in turn was used because of the use of elephant ivory in handles. The Worshipful Company of Cutlers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The trade of knife making and repairing was organised in the thirteenth century; the organisation received a Royal Charter later in 1416. The Company ranks eighteenth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies. Arms were first granted to the Company in 1476. The current elephant and castle crest was granted in 1622. It features two elephants and three crossed-swords, a helmet and a smaller elephant and castle. The elephant probably relates to the ivory used in hafting (making handles) for swords, knives and other weapons – an expensive material employed for the best of implements. The elephant and castle crest gave rise to a pub of the same name on the site of an old cutler’s inn in Newington, London, which in turn gave its name to the entire area, the Elephant and Castle. | ||||
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| “HMS COLOMBO” “HMS CEYLON” ROYAL NAVY | ||||
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| SOUTH AFRICA | ||||
| The arms of the City of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, are based on those of Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin, Acting Governor of the Cape of Good Hope in 1820-21, who named the town after his late wife and supervised its planning. With the exception of the anchors, which were added as a mark of difference and an allusion to the harbour, the entire shield is taken from Donkin’s arms (see below). Whether the Donkin family ever granted permission to use their arms is not known. The arms were officially granted on August 6th 1958 and were based on older, arms unofficially used by the city. The chief differences are that in 1958 the heralds added a pair of anchors for difference and a mural crown. The mural crown not only signifies civic authority, but allows the addition of the arms of Jan van Riebeeck (gules, three annulets or), first Commander of the Dutch settlement in Table Bay, thereby signifying that the arms are South African. In addition, the College of Arms has corrected the wording of the motto. In the corrected wording, “TU MELIORA SPERA”, the use of the word “TU” (you or thou) is an injunction to seek out better things. Port Elizabeth had previously used the motto with the wording “IN MELIORA SPERA”, which has a rather lackadaisical ring of merely hoping for better things. The elephant incorporated in both coats-of-arms is, rather strangely, an Indian elephant. The elephant is taken from the arms of Sir Rufane and were not changed to the local elephant (Addo) species… Several arms that are based on the arms of the city, however, depict an African elephant. The elephant was awarded in recognition of General Donkin’s services in India in the Mahratta Campaign of 1817-18. The life of Sir Rufane Donkin is a remarkable and honourable one. Sir Rufane Donkin was born in Ireland in 1773 and died in Southampton England in 1841. He was born into a military Northumbrian family of French origin, his father Robert Donkin was a highly respected General. Sir Rufane Donkin joined the army at the age of five under his father’s command and later served in the 11th Light Foot and the 44th Light Regiment of Foot. In 1793 he received the rank of Captain, 1776 Major and at the age of 25 was promoted to the rank of Lt General. He led a battalion with distinction and received the KCB. Later the British government deployed him in India. He also saw active service in the West Indies in 1794 and in the Ostend Expedition. He honoured his country and served wherever they required him. | ||||
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| The elephant with a tower on its back in the badge is derived from the Dumbartonshire County’s coat-of-arms. It is a device which appeared on an ancient burgh seal of which a 1357 impression is on record. The elephant has been blazoned ‘statant’ and not ‘passant’ (as it inaccurately is) in the burgh arms and its forehead bears a red crescent for difference, thus indicating that it is ‘a second happening’. It is said to have been chosen originally because in shape it was thought to resemble Dumbarton Rock; the tower on its back represents Dumbarton Castle | ||||
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| DUMBARTON BURGH POLICE – SCOTLAND (Helmet-plate & collar-badges) | ||||
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