had owned a small number of pubs, to which he gave humorous or nonsensical names, with the effect of differentiating them from competitors. Found objects Before painted inn signs became commonplace, medieval publicans often identified their establishments by hanging or standing a distinctive object outside the pub. A fictional example of this otherwise real-life practice can be found in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books, where the pub in Ankh Morpork starts off as The Drum, becomes The Broken Drum after a bar fight damages it and then in later books The Mended Drum. This tradition dates back to Roman times, when vine leaves were hung outside tabernae to show where wine was sold. Boot Inn, Whittlesea Boot and Slipper, Amersham. Crooked Billet, Portsmouth St, London (a bent branch from a tree) Sometimes the object was coloured, such as Blue Post or Blue Door. Heraldry The ubiquity of heraldic pub names shows how important heraldry has been in the naming of pubs. The simpler symbols of the heraldic badges of royalty or local nobility give rise to many of the most common pub names. Five common colours (heraldic tinctures) are gules (red); sable (black); azure (blue); vert (green); and purpure (purple). The metals are or (gold) and argent (silver), although in practice they are usually depicted as yellow and white. Items appearing in coats of arms Blue Boar, the name of many pubs in Westminster, Norwich, Billericay, Maldon, Witney and elsewhere, from the badge of the Earls of Oxford. Castle: sometimes originally referred to the Coat of Arms of Castile in Spain, and meant that Spanish wines were available within. Checkers or Chequer(s), March, Isle of Ely and many other sites : sometimes derived from the coat of arms of a local landowner (see Chequy), this name and sign originated in ancient Rome when a chequer board indicated that a bar also provided banking services. The checked board was used as an aid to counting and is the origin of the word exchequer. The last pub to use the older, now American spelling of checker was in Baldock, Hertfordshire, but this closed circa 1990; all pubs now use the modern "q" spelling (but see also Chequers, in Plants and horticulture below). Cross Keys, Wisbech, derived from the town's coat of arms and the town's church of SS. Peter & Paul. Eagle and Child, Oxford, derived from the arms of the