HON. HENRY  HASTINGS SIBLEY, LL.D.                    7
The coat of arms of this distinguished man is "a shield,
quarterly; in first and fourth a tiger, gules, viewing himself,
backward, in a mirror, az.; in second and third a chevron,
gules, between three cows' heads, caboshed, fable."1 Burke,
in his General Armory, gives " the tiger looking backward in
a mirror, en reguard," as the heraldry of the Sibells of Kent
county, thus, "Sibell (county Kent), ar., a tiger looking
down in a glass, reguard, az."2 This accounts for the first
and fourth quarters of the shield, and identifies the "John
Sibile" of Gray's Inn with the "Sibells of Kent," famous in
defense of the nation. The explanation of the second and
third quarters is given by Hasted in his "History and Survey
of the County of Kent." Writing of Axton Hundred, Kent,
he describes the estate of the "Sibills of Little Mote" as one
which, in 22 Henry, Vol. VIII, was greatly increased, and
subsequently passed over, through Anne, daughter of "Lance-
lot Sibill," to John Hope, in the time of Charles I. At the
time of the survey of Domesday, the estate became the
possession of Odo, bishop of Baieux, and half-brother of
William the Conqueror, and was unquestionably reclaimed in
some late period of English history; an estate which, held, at
first, by its Saxon owners, either from Harold or Edward the
Confessor, 1Q42, was, doubtless, confiscated in 1066, and given,
like others, by the Conqueror, to his relatives, nobles, and
friends.3 The explanation of the three cows' heads is that
the manors of Little Mote, possessed by the Sibells, were
increased by the marriage of one of the Sibells to the heir of
Cowdale," and the heraldic emblem, commemorating this
accession, is the "three cows' heads" in the third and fourth
quarters of the combined escutcheon. * Among these Kentish
"Sibells," in the time of Henry VII. we find "Thomas
Sibell," and "Mcolas Sibell" in the time of Edward VI., both
men of distinction.
The coat of arms, therefore, of "John Sibile, 1559," of
Gray's Inn, connects him with the Kentish Sibells, and com-
memorates the increase of their estates by the marriage
referred to. The names with which the name of this eminent
and "utter barrister" of Gray's Inn is associated are second
1  Hasted's Hist. Topog. Surrey, Kent CouDty, Vol. II, p. 533.
2  Burke's General Armory, p. 926.
3  Hasted's Hist, and Xopograph. Survey of County of Kent, 1797, 12 volumes, Vol. II,
p. 538.