The City of London swords are five swords that the City of London has for special occasions. They are the Mourning Sword (or Black Sword), the Pearl Sword, the State Sword (or Sunday Sword), the Old Bailey Sword and the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. When the Lord Mayor goes outside the City of London sometimes he or she takes the Travelling Sword of State, which is different from the State Sword. They are kept at Mansion House, where the Lord Mayor of London lives.
Mourning Sword
The Mourning Sword is used for funerals and related events. It has also been known as the Black Sword and the Lenten Sword. The facts behind the sword's history are unclear; however, speculations have been made. The Telegraph says some people think it is from the 16th century and that it might have been found in the River Thames. More than one sword has been used as the Mourning Sword.[1]
Samuel Pepys wrote about this sword in his diary on September 1663. He is writing about talking to Anthony Bateman, who was the Lord Mayor:
After dinner into a withdrawing room; and there we talked, among other things, of the Lord Mayor's sword. They tell me this sword, they believe, is at least a hundred or two hundred years old; and another that he hath, which is called the Black Sword, which the Lord Mayor wears when he mournes, but properly is their Lenten sword to wear upon Good Friday and other Lent days, is older than that.
Writing about that part of Pepys' diary, Henry Benjamin Wheatley says that William St John Hope says places like the City of London have had simple, black swords for this reason for a long time. He also says that the blade of the sword is old but the rest of it is newer.[3][4]
In Ceremonial Swords of Britain: State and Civic Swords (2017), Edward Barrett says that the Mourning Sword they have now is from 1615 or 1623. It has a blade 3 ft 2+3⁄8 in (0.975 m) long and 1+7⁄8 in (4.8 cm) wide, and a 12 in (30 cm) hilt.[5]
The Pearl Sword is supposed to have been given to the City of London Corporation by Elizabeth I of England in 1571[a] when the Royal Exchange was opened. The Pearl Sword derives its name from the roughly 2,500 pearls on the scabbard.[7] Wheatley says that Hope says it might not be from 1571, but from 1554 or 1555.[3]
Its blade is 3 ft (0.91 m) long and 1+3⁄4 in (4.4 cm) wide, and it has a 10+3⁄4 in (27 cm) hilt. It weighs 4 lb 6+3⁄4 oz (2.01 kg) without the scabbard. The first 20+1⁄2 in (52 cm) of the blade have been made blue and scratched with pictures of fruit, arrows, a ship and other things. Its scabbard is from at least as long ago as 1808.[8]
When the Queen comes to the City in State, she is met at the border between the City and Westminster, where Temple Bar used to be, by the Lord Mayor of London. He offers her the sword to touch.[7][9][b][10] Before 1641, the king or queen would take the sword and keep it while they were in the City. In 1641 Charles I gave it back to the Lord Mayor instead of keeping it for himself during his travels, and from that point forward this became the new tradition. This ceremony traces its roots to 1215, when the Mayor (now the Lord Mayor) began to be elected.[11]
When George III became king on 22 September 1761, they had to use the Pearl Sword because someone forgot to bring the royal Sword of State.[12][13]
Lord Montbatten wrote in his diary that Queen Elizabeth was going to hit Idi Amin on the head with the pearl sword if he came to her Silver Jubilee (when she had been Queen for 25 years) in 1977. She was probably joking.[14][15][16] It was used at her Diamond Jubilee (60 years).[17] It was also used at her 90th official birthday.[18]
State Sword
The State Sword is one half of the Sword and Mace. Thye are symbols of the authority of the Lord Mayor and the City of London Corporation. It is carried by the Sword Bearer. The mace is carried by the Serjeant-at-Arms. The City of London has had a Sword of State since before 1373. The first known sword-bearer of the City was John Blytone. He left the job in 1395.[19] The current sword is from the middle of the 17th century.[7] It is also called the Sunday Sword. It was made in about 1670.[20]
The blade is 3 ft 1+1⁄2 in (0.953 m) long and 1+5⁄8 in (4.1 cm) wide. The hilt is 12+3⁄4 in (32 cm) long and it weighs 5 lb 1+1⁄4 oz (2.30 kg) without the scabbard. It used to have a blue and gold pattern on the blade but that has worn off.[5]
Travelling State Sword
Because the State Sword is so valuable, it isn't taken outside the City of London. Instead there is a Travelling State Sword. It looks the same but it is lighter and slightly longer. It was made by Wilkinson Sword in 1962 and given to the City by Lord Mayor Sir Ralph Perring.[21]
It was first taken out of the country to Canada in 1963 by Ralph Perring.
The Old Bailey Sword stays at the Old Bailey, which is one of the buildings of the Crown Court in London. It is on the wall behind the most senior judge.[22][23] The Cutlers' Society says it was made by Richard Mathew in 1562 or 1563 and given to the City in 1563.[24]
It has a blade 2 feet 11+3⁄4 inches (0.908 m) long and 1+5⁄8 in (4.1 cm) wide, and an 11+1⁄4 in (29 cm) hilt. It weighs 3 lb 6+3⁄4 oz (1.55 kg) without the scabbard. It has some decorations on the blade, like the Pearl Sword. The scabbard is covered with crimson (dark red) velvet and decorated with gold lace and decorative metal.[25]
Mansion House Justice Room Sword
The last sword is the Mansion House Justice Room Sword. The Lord Mayor is chief magistrate of the City, so the Swordbearer's room was made into a court in 1849. That's where this sword gets its name. Its blade is 2 ft 9+5⁄8 in (85.4 cm) long and 1+1⁄2 in (3.8 cm) wide. It has an 11+3⁄4 in (30 cm) hilt and weighs 4 lb 13 oz (2.2 kg) without the scabbard. It is from around 1830 and it might be Portuguese.[26]
Swords like this in other cities
Other cities have swords similar to the City of London's swords. Bristol, Lincoln and Exeter each have four. Thirteen other places in Britain have two swords each. So does Dublin.[27]
A Mourning Sword from before 1373 when Bristol became a county corporate. It was first used as a Sword of State[28][29]
A Pearl Sword from the 14th century given by Lord Mayor of London John de Welles[c] in 1431.[27][30]Ewart Oakeshott says it is "of superlative quality" (very good) with a "beautiful silver gilt hilt".[31]
A Lent Sword from the 15th century,[d] which used to be carried at the Lent assizes[29]
A State Sword from 1752. Barrett (2017) says it is a "bit ugly but very big."[32]
↑Wheatley says Hope says 1570, but Mason says 23 January 1571.[3][33]
↑From The New York Times, 15 May 1887: "At the Queen's approach, the Lord Mayor received the pearl sword from the sword bearer. His Worship lowered the point, congratulated her Majesty in coming to the most loyal city, and presented the sword to the Queen. She took it and returned it."
↑Sometimes spelled as "de Wells" (Oakeshott), "de Welles" (Evans), "Wells" (Barrett), "Wallis" (on the hilt, says Evans).
↑Bristol County Council says about 1459, Barrett (2017) says about 1499.
Perks, Sidney, City Surveyor to the City of London (1922). "IX: The Building of the Mansion House". The History of the Mansion House. Cambridge University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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