Laurence sits and watches with close attention as the younger man draws out the characters, then nods at the translation. "I believe most, if not all of the dragons in China are named with this convention," he says. "The middle name indicates their breed – Temeraire is, as you know, a Celestial."

Feeling he should offer some knowledge in return, he continues: "When we first arrived in Scotland at the training yards, it swiftly became clear that there was a naming convention in place in England also, which I had neglected through ignorance. Many of our English dragon names are based in Latin: Maximus, Excidium, and so forth."