Here be dragons
This silk embroidery was attached to Ludlow's map, in the Islington area.
As your researches have now discovered, the dragon and lion are part of the crest of Elizabeth I.
The dragon is traditionally the image of Wales, the lion - Scotland or England. Queen Elizabeth chose as the supporters the English Royal Lion (on the left) and the Welsh Dragon (on the right), symbolising she was Queen of England and Wales.
In Arthurian legend, England would be represented by a White Dragon. The legend of Merlin has him discovering the two dragons fighting in a chest beneath a lake. He prophesies that for some years the white dragon - representing the Saxons - will rule, but then be thrown down by the red dragon - Wales or the British in general.
The lion and dragon symbols and motto are also linked to the First Earl of Leicester - Robert de Bellomonte, or better known as Robert Dudley. The title was then inherited by the Duke of Lancaster. Robert had become a favourite courtier of Queen Elizabeth and the death of his wife would have made it possible for them to marry.
In 1564, Elizabeth made Robert the Earl of Leicester - inventing the position for him, and sharing her personal motto, Semper Eadem. They never did marry, and Robert fell in and out of favour with the queen on a semi-regular basis. At one point she even offered his hand to Mary, Queen of Scots (she may have given him the rank in order to facilitate that union). A rather scandalous poem, Leicester's Ghost, was published about him.
The Earl of Leicester's first wife, Amy Robsart, died in 1560 under suspicious circumstances - she was found at the bottom of some stairs at Cumnor Place with her neck broken. Dudley ordered an enquiry into Amy's death, but neglected to attend her funeral. A superstition regarding her ghost persisted for many years, and at one stage nine parsons were called upon to lay her spirit to rest in a pond. Cumnor Place fell into ruin.
Semper Eadem ('forever the same') was her personal motto.
There is also a poem by Charles Baudelaire entitled Semper Eadem (1861):
FOREVER THE SAME (Semper Eadem)
From where, tell me please, did this strange sadness come
Rising like the sea over rocks black and bare?
When harvest time for our hearts is done
Living becomes evil. This secret is known to all who are aware
This sorrow very simple, this pain not mysterious
Explodes, like your joy, with a glittering rush.
Cease then your searching, O belle curious!
And though your voice may be soft, please hush!
Hush your ignorant mouth! Your infantile cackle!
Soul always stolen, heart always crippled!
But Death, more than Life, ties us to its wishes.
So please, let my heart become drunk on a lie
And plunge as in a dream into your beautiful eyes
And doze for a while in the shade of your lashes.
You can find out how Elizabeth I is connected to 44 Essex Road by checking out Ludlow's maps.
