the
coat of arms and supporters of the original owner of the chateau, and
sometimes of the kings of France. The Sussex ironfounders worked chiefly
at Cowden, Hawkhurst, and Lamberhurst, and there were forges at
Cranbrook, Coudhurst, Tonbridge, and Biddenden. The principal
ironmasters of Kent were the Knights and the Tichbornes, whose
descendants became baronets.

"Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And heated hot with burning fears,
And dipped in baths of hissing tears,
And battered with the shocks of doom
To shape and use."

TENNYSON, _In Memoriam_.

[Illustration: FIG. 11.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS.]

[Illustration: FIG. 12.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS.

(_In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]

Fireirons and Fenders.

Fire brasses or fireirons came into vogue with grates, although the sets
now regarded as old fire brasses, some of which are very elaborate and
massive, made at the beginning of the nineteenth century, were first
used when fenders came into vogue; instead of being reared up alongside
the fire-dogs in the chimney corner they rested on the fenders. There is
not much to distinguish the variations in fireirons except the obvious
indications of older workmanship and design, when contrasted with modern
"irons." The shovel pans gave the artist in metal some opportunity for
showing his skill in design and perforated work. It is probable that the
earliest form of shovel was that known as the "slide," its use being to
shovel up the ashes of a wood fire, an operation necessary more
frequently then than in modern days when coal has been the principal
fuel consumed. Some of the older specimens are dated, and bear the
owner's initials; thus one authentic specimen from Shopnoller, in the
Quantock Hills, is engraved, "I T. 1784." Many of the Dutch metal
workers produced very beautiful and decorative stands on which miniature
sets of rich brasses were hung; some of the old English fireside stands
were arranged as receptacles for tongs, shovel, and brush, and now and
then the baluster stem supported by a tripod base had a central
attachment from which a toddy kettle could be slung. The brass toddy
kettle formerly stood upon the hob of the grate, singing merrily, always
ready for the cup of tea which "cheers but not inebriates," or, as was
frequently the case, for the preparation of hot toddy or spirit.

The