Casgliadau Arlein

Reverse. The king on horse-back to sinister, differing from the First Seal in the more spirited action of the horse, in the fan-like ornament with a lion upon it encircled by radiant lines, adorning the helmet in the manner of a crest, and in the three leopards of England charging the shield, the earliest appearance of these royal arms. (It has been asserted that ‘the heralds would only allow one ''lion'' on account of his native fierceness, and where more are depicted they should strictly be called ''leopards''.’) Bloom asserts that this is the first appearance of coat-armour on the seal of a sovereign, and that ‘the horse is so well drawn that the engraver seems almost to have had some structural knowledge of anatomy’.