Future barrister helps bar students select Inn by ‘scientifically’ ranking their animal badges
Gray’s griffin scores five stars for mystique

A future barrister has come up with an amusing way of helping bar students select an Inn of Court — ranking them by their animal-themed badges.
Taking to Twitter, Robin Harris has “scientifically” scored the animals of each Inn across three important categories: fight, flight and of course, mystique.
Choosing an Inn of Court can be difficult. Each inn is a community with a range of things to recommend it.
Key amongst them are the animals on the badge of each inn.
I have rated them scientifically to help you make your choice. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/vnHm8e8VFF
— Robin Harris (@casescasescases) February 13, 2023
First up, Gray’s Inn’s griffin. “The griffin is a strong contender,” according to Harris, who hands the mystical creature an impressive five stars in the fight category.
Gray’s Inn’s griffin
Fight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mystique:⭐️⭐️The griffin is a strong contender. It’s going to win a fight with any other inn animal. It loses flight stars as I bet it never runs from a scrap. Mystique low, lots of griffins around. Golden.
— Robin Harris (@casescasescases) February 13, 2023
Next for the Harris treatment, Inner Temple’s pegasus. “Solid mystique score for the Greek mythology link to Hercules,” he writes. “Dashing”.
Inner Temple’s Pegasus
Fight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mystique: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Gets 3 fight stars as a horse trod on my foot once and it really hurt. Easily the fastest in the air and on land. Solid mystique score for the Greek mythology link to Hercules. Dashing.
— Robin Harris (@casescasescases) February 13, 2023
Third up is the lion of Lincoln’s Inn. Just two stars for fight due in part to its “tiny” stature, according to Harris. “Lincoln’s might want to consider enlarging it”.
Lincoln’s Inn’s tiny lion
Fight: ⭐️⭐️
Flight: ⭐️⭐️
Mystique: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Even a tiny lion’s going to be tough. But it’s still tiny. Going to get trodden on by mistake by the other animals. Lincoln’s might want to consider enlarging it. High mystique because why is it tiny?
— Robin Harris (@casescasescases) February 13, 2023
Finally, Middle Temple’s lamb. “The dark horse of the gang” potentially has “magic powers” thanks to its halo and golden staff. Five stars for mystique but just the one for fight.
Middle Temple’s lamb
Fight: ⭐️
Flight: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mystique: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️The dark horse of the gang. Got a halo and a golden staff. Potential for magic powers. Probably our weakest fighter, but I’m putting nothing past a lamb with a halo. Can’t fly but quick on land. Fluffy.
— Robin Harris (@casescasescases) February 13, 2023
Harris rounds off his tongue-in-cheek rankings with some slightly more sensible advice when it comes to selecting an Inn. “When in doubt; whoever gives you a scholarship!” he writes.
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15 Comments
Middle till I die
Fantastic!
Lincoln's Inn heraldry buff
As a Lincoln’s man, I am of course biased, but also there are some factual inaccuracies in the “tiny lion” review. When it’s on heraldry, lions are referred to as Leopards. Also, this person clearly has not seen ‘Ant Man’, which is a derivative recreation of the small but mighty leopard rampant depicted on Lincoln’s Inn’s crest.
58 years of hurt
This shows everyone who sings Three Lions is wrong. It should be Three Leopards.
And the years-of-hurt-meter now stands at 58 (going up to Euro 2024), if we are going to be accurate. I appreciate it scans less well, but it is important to be realistic when it comes the failures of the national soccer squad.
Heraldry Hooligan Pursuivant
You need to brush up on your heraldry. A lion rampant is always a lion. It’s only lions passant which are sometimes referred to as leopards – and even then, the question isn’t settled. The College of Arms has said that those on England’s royal arms are lions, by custom and practice if nothing else.
Also, it’s not a ‘crest’, it’s a coat of arms.
Three Leopards On The Shirt
The creatures on the English soccer badge are passant. They are leopards.
Heraldry Hooligan Pursuivant
Not the Lincoln’s one, though. That’s rampant. Think the reply chain has got mixed up.
Quefferus
I think that a sorting hat type ceremony (sorting wig?) would be more appropriate.
Quifferam
And everyone knows Lincoln’s Inn is Slytherin.
Quape
And Gray’s is GRIFFINDOR!!!
Facts are Facts
Gray’s is Hufflepuff,
Lincoln’s is Gryffindor
Middle is Slytherin
Inner is Ravenclaw
These are objective facts
Al
Our lamb is the only one actually tooled up. So in a fight my money’s on them.
She who know
Outer Temple’s crest used to feature a rabbit rampant.
🤣
“When in doubt; whoever gives you a scholarship!”
True.
You don’t need to pay it back either if you don’t get pupillage and never set foot in your Inn again!
HSLI>
Missed an opportunity to call Middle Temple’s lamb “the black sheep” of the lot.
Heraldry Hooligan Pursuivant
Hercules? HERCULES?!
Pegasus is the mount of Bellerophon, and in some cases Perseus, not ruddy Hercules.
Comments are closed.