St Mungo's coat of arms. Glasgow
This is the fish that never swam
This is the bell that never rang
This the tree that never grew
This is the bird that never flew.
The coat of arms always shows the fish with a ring held in its mouth. This is because a King of Strathclyde had given his wife a ring as a present. But the Queen gave it to a knight who promptly lost it. Some versions of the story say that the King took the ring while the knight was asleep and threw it in the river. The King then demanded to see the ring - threatening death to the Queen if she could not do so. The knight confessed to St Mungo who sent a monk to catch a fish in the river Clyde. When this was brought back (presumably catching salmon in the Clyde in those days was a lot easier then!) St Mungo cut open the fish and found the ring. When the Bishop of Glasgow was designing his own seal around 1271, he used the illustration of a salmon with a ring in its mouth and this has come down to us in today's coat of arms.
My blip here is of an ornate lamppost, incorporating all the symbols of the coat of arms. It is located near Glasgow Cathedral - founded nearly 1500 years ago by St Mungo.
Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.