When Arthur Stokes of Cumbria contacted the Remember When? desk to inquire about the significance of the boar on the Bradford coat of arms, we knew that readers would not let him down.

Thank you for all your communications, some of which we reprint below. Hopefully Mr Stokes will be more than happy with your efforts!

Firstly, to Derek Mozley, of Shipley, who tells us: “It is the legendary wild boar of Cliffe Wood, round about the 14th century. I cannot say for certain but apparently it proved a menace to local people and a reward was offered to anyone who killed it. Someone produced a boar’s head with the tongue missing, which was suspected to be an attempt to gain the reward dishonestly. Eventually, a youth produced the real boar’s head with tongue intact.”

More detail is provided by Ron Nichols, of Idle, who sent in a huge amount of information which is so interesting we wish we had space to reproduce it in its entirety. As it is, we’ll offer select highlights.

He quotes a piece written by 18th century schoolmaster James Hartley, of Bradford: “A ravenous wild boar, of most enormous size, haunted a certain place called the Cliffe Wood and at times very much infested the town and the neighbouring inhabitants thereof; so that a reward was offered by the Government to any person or persons who should bring the head of the boar, which must have excited some to attempt it.”

The report goes on to say that the boar was known to frequent a well in the woods, which still has the name Boar’s Well to this day. According to the Hartley account, sent to us by Mr Nichols, a young man shot the boar and removed the tongue from its head as proof that he had done the deed.

Here the fairytale aspect of the story comes into play. When the youth had gone, another man chanced upon the corpse of the boar and, spying his chance to make a bit of money, cut off the beast’s head and presented it to the authorities, claiming the kill as his own.

Hartley wrote: “The head was examined but was found without a tongue, concerning which the man being interrogated could give no satisfactory account.

“Whilst this was held in suspense, the other man was introduced with the tongue, and claimed the promised reward.”

The reward was a large piece of land at Great Horton known as Hunt Yard, and part of the deal was that “he, and his heirs for ever, should annually attend in the market-place at Bradford, on St Martin’s Day in the forenoon, and there, by the name of the heir of Rushforth, hold a dog of the hunting kind, whilst three blasts were blown on a Gelder’s horn and these words following expressed aloud: Come, heir of Rushforth, Come hold me my dog, Whilst I blow three blasts of my horn, To pay my Martinmas rent withal.”

Interesting to know if any of the “heirs of Rushforth” (or, apparently, Rushworth – James Hartley was not quite sure) still exist today. And, if they do, why are they not attending the market every year to blow their horn?

John Panwar, from Manningham, relates a similar story, and gives the actual time in history it is supposed to date from, when Bradford, or Brafford as it was then known, came under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Duke of Lancaster at that time was John of Caunt (1340-1399) the fourth son of Edward III.

It was the Duke who offered a reward for the demise of the aforementioned boar. The reward, Mr Panwar says, was land that “rejoices in the name of Hunters Fold/Yard”.

The earlier reference to Bradford as ‘Brafford’ can be verified by the inscription on the flagstone just to the right of the front entrance to the Oastler Centre.

R Schofield, from Shipley, tells us that during the 1950s, when the Queen visited Bradford, he was given the job of planting a carpet flowerbed in Roberts Park, Low Moor, which included the coat of arms of Bradford. On it was the head of a wild boar (without tongue).

“The coat of arms has been changed and now only has two horns,” he writes.