PZ547 wrote on Feb 18
th, 2014 at 3:12pm:
Cofgod wrote on Feb 10
th, 2014 at 2:32pm:
Britain has had its fair share of dragons, the Lambton Worm being one of the most famous.
Griffins were spotted flying over Brentford in west London, in the London Borough of Hounslow, in 1984. Funnily enough Brentford FC's stadium (which was once shared with the London Broncos rugby league club) has been called Griffin Park since it opened in 1904.
All over Britain as evidenced by the number of places which incorporate 'Orm' and 'Worm' into their name and 'myths'
The writer, F.W. Holiday has devoted at least two books to the subject and they're fascinating, including as they do contemporary accounts of quite numerous 'water horses' in Irish lakes
Haliday's book, '
The Dragon and the Disc', includes a condensed listing of the innumerable British references to dragon-type entities within place-names, statues, coats of arms, gargoyles, illustrations, etc.. The ancients of Britain even incorporated and modified the natural landscape in order to create representations of dragons (as did the Chinese)
It's claimed by some that the dragon myths arose from veneration and fear of natural earth energies. Numerous standing stones, for example, bear engraved zig-zag motifs. Others however, such as those in Ireland who claim sightings of flesh and blood dragon-type creatures, are in no doubt they're real and exist within the lakes in our dimension
And don't forget that the Welsh flag features a red dragon ("Y Ddraig Goch" - "The Red Dragon") and the white dragon was a symbol of the Anglo-Saxons.
Basically, the red dragon was the symbol of the ancient Britons and the white dragon was the symbol of the Anglo-Saxons.
Welsh flag - "Y Ddraig Goch" ("The Red Dragon")Anglo-Saxon white dragon or wyrmThe ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex (what is now western and south western England) was also symbolised by a dragon, wyrm or wyvern.
Both Henry of Huntingdon and Matthew of Westminster talk of a golden dragon being raised at the Battle of Burford in AD 752 by the West Saxons (Wessex). The Bayeux Tapestry depicts a fallen golden dragon, as well as a red/golden/white dragon at the death of King Harold II, who was previously Earl of Wessex, at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. However, dragon standards were in fairly wide use in Europe at the time, being derived from the ensign of the Roman cohort, and there is no evidence that it identified Wessex.
A panel of 18th century stained glass at Exeter Cathedral indicates that an association with an image of a dragon in south west Britain pre-dated the Victorians. Nevertheless, the association with Wessex was only popularised in the 19th century, most notably through the writings of E A Freeman. By the time of the grant of armorial bearings by the College of Arms to Somerset County Council in 1911, a (red) dragon had become the accepted heraldic emblem of the former kingdom. This precedent was followed in 1937 when Wiltshire County Council was granted arms. Two gold Wessex dragons were later granted as supporters to the arms of Dorset County Council in 1950.
In the British Army the wyvern has been used to represent Wessex: The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division adopted a formation sign consisting of a gold wyvern on a black background, and both the Wessex Brigade and Wessex Regiments used a cap badge featuring the heraldic beast.
When Sophie, Countess of Wessex was granted arms, the sinister supporter assigned was a blue wyvern, described by the College of Arms as "an heraldic beast which has long been associated with Wessex".
Golden dragon: A modern version of the Wessex flag