E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
France.
The heraldic device of the city of Paris is a ship. As Sauval says, “L’ile de la cité est faite comme un grand navire enfoncé dans la vase, et échoué au fil de l’eau vers le milieu de la Seine.” This form of a ship struck the heraldic scribes, who in the latter part of the Middle Ages emblazoned a ship on the shield of Paris.
