8 THE ESSEX NATURALIST
drawing could well be an early execution scene of someone too
lowly to have been recorded at the time.
Inside the main doorway of Colchester Castle, on the west side,
is to be found a crowned lion: he is a noble beast, and is shown
with a monogram including the letters M, V (or U) and A, of
which I cannot interpret the significance. Near this main doorway
are several heraldic graffiti, and one example of a frequently-en-
countered design, that produced by scribing a circle and setting
off intersecting arcs of the same radius contiguously round its
circumference. This circle design seems to occur after the seven-
teenth century and persists to the present day; it may well date
from the widespread introduction of drawing compasses in the
eighteenth century, and most examples are of eighteenth or early
nineteenth century date. There is one at Great Totham, clearly
superposed upon initials dated 1738.
Among the graffiti which I have described, many come from
Colchester Castle; indeed I shall have shown you all the ancient
(that is to say, pre-nineteenth century) graffiti which can be found
in the Castle, some of them not being generally known or pub-
lished.
Lastly, we come to the external doorway of Colchester Castle to
consider the effect of wear and weather on the appearance of
graffiti. The depth of incision and state of wear of a cut or scratch,
particularly in the interior of a building, are poor evidences of
date and may lead one sadly astray. If, however, the graffito be
exposed to the weather, as in the case of the lettering on this door-
way, then a "weathered" appearance at the edges of the cut at
least betokens antiquity, say of three or four hundred years, but
greater precision than this is unjustified. In the case of these par-
ticular initials, I simply do not know their date. If the very indis-
tinct marks which I take to be "Richd" on the opposite side of
the doorway to the bold "R", are as old as the tail of the "Lom-
bardic" d appears to be, then thirteenth or fourteenth century
would be my guess for both R and RICHARD: I wonder who he
was?
If I have induced some of you to look more kindly on the de-
facements of an earlier age, or even to bestow upon them more
than a passing glance, I shall be glad to have added another facet
to your antiquarian interests.