City of London swords

They comprise part of the plate collection of Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor of London.

Its history is somewhat uncertain—The Telegraph reports its to be of 16th-century origin and that there is a rumour that it was found in the River Thames, but there has been more than one Mourning Sword through time.

In his footnote to that entry in his 1893 transcription, Henry Benjamin Wheatley quotes Sir William St John Hope, FSA[3] and Assistant Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries, who read a paper on the history of the insignia of the City of London to the Society on 28 May 1891,[4] as saying "It has long been the custom in the City as in other places to have a sword painted black and devoid of ornament, which is carried before the Lord Mayor on occasions of mourning or special solemnity.

The present Mourning Sword has an old blade, but the hilt and guard, which are of iron japanned-black, are of the most ordinary character and seemingly modern.

[6] The Mourning Sword was carried by then-Lord Mayor Roger Gifford at the funeral of the Baroness Thatcher in 2013, leading the Queen and Prince Philip in and out of St Paul's Cathedral for the ceremony.

[6] According to tradition, the Pearl Sword was presented to the Corporation of London by Elizabeth I of England in 1571[a] on the occasion of her opening of the Royal Exchange.

[9] When the King visits the City in State, he is ceremonially welcomed at Temple Bar, its boundary with Westminster, by the Lord Mayor of London, who offers HM the hilt of the Pearl Sword to touch.

[8][10][b][11] Before 1641, the monarch would take the sword for the duration of their visit, but in 1641 Charles I was offered it and immediately returned it to the Lord Mayor, a practice that was then carried on.

[15][16] In 1977, Queen Elizabeth II mused that should Idi Amin (as President of Uganda) attend her Silver Jubilee uninvited, she might hit him over the head with the Pearl Sword, according to Lord Mountbatten's diary.

[20] In 2016, the Pearl Sword was carried by then-Lord Mayor Jeffrey Mountevans to lead the Queen into St Paul's Cathedral for a service in honour of her official 90th birthday.

[22] The current sword, which is from the mid-17th century, has a red velvet sheath and a pommel decorated with images representing Justice and Fame.

[27] Perring himself took the Travelling State Sword on its first foreign excursion, together with the mace, on a visit to Canada in 1963, during which he opened Ottawa's Exhibition.

[32] They quote Sir William St John Hope describing it as follows: "Its blade is of no great antiquity, but the pommel and quillons, which are of copper-gilt and handsomely wrought, belong to the sixteenth century, and very possibly to the sword given to the City by Richard Matthew, citizen and cutler, in 1563.

The scabbard is covered with purple velvet and retains its original six lockets and chape of copper-gilt with intermediate devices of recent date."