"Mr. Punch's" Book of Arms

Chapter 13: The London County Council.

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

A sequence of humorous mock coats of arms presents parody blazons, crests, supporters, and mottos that lampoon prominent public figures, institutions, and current events of the author's day. Each entry mimics heraldic language while twisting symbols into absurd, ironic descriptions that expose political foibles, journalistic excesses, and imperial pretensions. The work alternates detailed visual description with sharp, often bawdy wordplay, arranging entries like an illustrated armorial interspersed with brief epigrams. Through exaggerated symbolism and mock-formality, it satirizes power, public personalities, and civic ceremonial, inviting readers to view familiar characters and controversies through a comic, barbed heraldic lens.

The London County Council.

Arms / quarterly / i three music-hall stars blatant voided of guile charged with double-entendres studded azure / ij issuant from a 'ring' sinister spotted and exposed proper a balance-sheet doctored and distinctly fichee to the last, all under a cloud sable / iij a civic turtle pommelled and affronted proper charged in the middle for betterment with a belabour member poignant in satire or Battersea cough-drop rampant / iiij two party-coloured fighting-cocks dancette in fury chronically embroiled proper on a ground litigious in the main. Crest / a prude vigilant on the pounce armed with pince-nez and reticule highly proper / in her bonnet an heraldic bee rampant. Supporters / on either side an antique civic effigy habited proper up to date, the dexter bearing a special globe gules, and the sinister a star extra-special vert.