Distinguished Heralds and Heraldric Writers.
In the earliest ages after the introduction of Heraldry the laws of the
science must have been orally taught to novitiate heralds: but when the
regulations of chivalry were framed into a code they began to be committed
to writing, and among the earliest MSS. are some on this subject.[281] But
these generally have reference rather to feats of arms than to the
technicalities of blazon.
[Sidenote: A.D. 1441.]
The first author, of any note, on this subject is Doctor Nicholas Upton, a
native of Devonshire, who was honoured with the patronage of Humphrey,
"the good" Duke of Gloucester, temp. Henry IV, by whose influence he
became canon of Sarum, Wells, and St. Paul's. Previously to obtaining
these preferments he had served in the French wars under Thomas de
Montacute, earl of Salisbury; and it was during those campaigns he wrote a
Latin treatise, entitled 'De Studio Militari,' MS. copies of which are
preserved in the College of Arms, and elsewhere.[282] It consists of five
books; viz. 1, Of officers of Arms; 2, Of Veterans, now styled Heralds; 3,
Of Duels; 4, Of Colours; 5, Of Figures; forming altogether a systematic
grammar of Heraldry. The latinity of Upton is considered very classical
for the age in which he flourished.
One of the earliest treatises on Heraldry, as well as one of the first
productions of the press in this country, is contained in the
highly-celebrated =Boke of St. Albans=, printed within the precincts of
the monastery from which it is designated, in the year 1486. This singular
work contains tracts on hawking, hunting, and 'coot-armuris'--the last
constituting the greater portion of the volume. It is printed in a type
resembling the text-hand written at the period, and with all the
abbreviations employed in manuscript. The margin contains exemplifications
of the arms described in the text, stained with coloured inks. This
edition, like others of that early date, is now exceedingly scarce, there
being probably not more than five or six copies extant. Another edition
was published in 1496 by Wm. Copeland, and a single copy occurs of the
same date with the imprint of Wynkyn de Worde: these were probably of the
same impression with different title-pages. A new edition appeared in
1550; and another was included in Gervase Markham's 'Gentleman's
Academie,' in 1595.[283] The entire work was attributed, for the first
three centuries after its publication, to Dame Julyan Berners,[284]
prioress of Sopewell, and sister of Richard, Lord Berners, a woman of
great personal and mental endowments.[285] That a woman, and especially
the superior of a religious sisterhood, should have devoted her pen to
the secular subjects of heraldry and field-sports, at first sight, seems
singular; but the rude complexion of the times in which she lived renders
little apology necessary for this apparent violation of propriety; and we
may fairly venerate the memory of this gentle lady as a promoter of
English literature. Dallaway is the first, and, as far as I am aware, with
the exception of Mr. Haslewood, the only author who questions the
pretensions of Dame Juliana to the authorship of the whole work; and he
founds his doubts upon the difference observable between the style of the
heraldric essay and the previous ones. He considers the former as the work
of some anonymous monk of St. Albans. But as several almost contemporary
authors ascribe it to her, and there is no positive proof to the contrary,
far be from me that want of gallantry which would despoil the worthy
prioress of the honour of having indited this goodly tractate, this
'nobull werke!'[286]
If the reader has never seen the Boke of Saint Albans, and feels only half
as much curiosity to become acquainted with its contents as I did before I
had the good fortune to meet with it, I am sure he will not consider the
following choice bits of Old English, extracted from it, impertinently
introduced.
Dame Julyan Berners merits honourable notice as one of the earliest of
English poetesses. The treatise on hunting is in rhyme, and consists of
606 verses. The style is didactic. Take a specimen:
"_Bestys of venery._
"Whersoever ye fall by fryth or by fell,
My dere chylde take heed how Tristrom dooth you tell,
How many maner beestys of venery ther were,
Lysten to your dame and then schall you lere,
Ffour maner beestys of venery there are;
The first of them is the hert--the secunde is the hare,
The boore is oon of them--the woolff and not oon moe."
"_How ye schal break an hert._
"Then take out the suet that it be not lefte,
For that my child is good for lechecrafte (medicine),
And in the myddest of the herte a boon shall ye fynde,
Loke ye geve hit to a lord--and chylde be kynde.
For it is kynd for many maladies."
In subsequent parts of the poem, 'the namys of diverse maner houndys,'
'the propertees of a good hors,' 'the company of bestys and fowles,' and
other sporting subjects are discussed, and interspersed with proverbs of a
somewhat caustic description. The composition very oddly concludes with an
enumeration of "all the shyeris and the bishopryckes of the realme of
England."
From the heraldrical portion of the Boke many short extracts have already
been given. Some others follow:
"_Note here well who shall gyue cotarmures_:
"Ther shall none of the IV. orduris of regalite bot all onli the soueregne
kyng geue cootarmur. for that is to hym improperid by lawe of armys.[287]
And yit the kyng shall nott make a knyght with owte a cootarmure byfore.
"Ev'y knyght cheftayn i the felde mai make a cootarmur knight.
"_In how many places a knyght may be made_:
"A knyght is made in IV. dyuerse placis. in musturing in lond of werys. In
semblyng under baneris. In listys of the bath and at the sepulcur.
"_A gentylman spirituall_:
"Ther is a gentylman a churls sone a preste to be made and that is a
spirituall gentylman to god and not of blode. Butt if a gentylmannys sone
be made a preste he is a gentilman both spirituall and temperall. Criste
was a gentylman of his moder's behalue and bare cotarmure of aunseturis.
The iiij Euangelists berith wittenese of Cristis workys in the gospell
with all thappostilles. They were Jewys and of gentylmen come by the right
lyne of that worthy conqueroure Judas Machabeus but that by succession of
tyme the kynrade fell to pouerty, after the destruction of Judas
Machabeus, and then they fell to laboris and ware calde no gentilmen. and
the iiij doctores of holi church Seynt Jerom Ambrose Augustyn and Gregori
war gentilmen of blode and of cotarmures!"
The following are specimens of her directions for 'blasing of armys,' the
most important part of the work:
"Off armys palit crokyt and sharpe now I will speke.
"Loke and beholde how mony maner of wyse thes palit armys be borne
dyuersli, as it is shewyt in thys boke, and theis armys now shewyt here
[referring to the exemplification in the margin] be calde palit, crokyt
and sharpe, for in theys armys ij coloris paly ar put togethir: oon into
another crokytly and sharpe. Therefore it shall be sayd of hi' the wich
beris thes armis in thys wyse, first in latyn thus. Portat arma palata
tortuosa acuto de nigro et argento. Gallice sic: Il port pale daunsete de
sable et dargent. Anglice sic: He berith pale crokyt and sharpe of sable
and syluer."
"Off armys the wich ar calde frectis (Frets) here now I will speke:
"A certain nobull baron that is to say the lorde awdeley of the reame of
England baar in his armys a frecte, the wich certain frectis in mony armys
of dyurse gentillmen ar founde, other while reede other while golde, and
other while blac oderwhile simple and oderwhile double otherwhile tripull
and other while it is multepliet ou' (over) all the sheld as here it
apperith, and ye most vnderstande on gret differans bytwix armys bendit
and theis armys the wich be made with the forsayd frettys, wherefore it is
to be markyt that in bendyt armys the colouris contenyt equally ar
dyuydit. Bot in this frectis the felde alwai abydys hool as here, and this
forsayd lorde Audeley beris thus in latyn. Portat arma frectata de auro in
campo rubreo. Et gallice sic. Il por de gowles vng frecte dor. Anglice
sic. He berith gowles and a frecte of golde."
[Sidenote: 1562]
The next author of any note on the subject of Heraldry is GERARD LEGH,
whose 'Accedens of Armorie' became, as Anthony a Wood phrases it, "the
pattern or platform of those who came after." This gentleman was son of
Henry Legh, of London, an illegitimate scion of a Cheshire family, who,
according to the proverb, were "as plenty as fleas." He was educated at
Oxford, and died in 1563, the year after the first appearance of his work.
The 'Accedens' obtained a degree of popularity not usual at that period,
and reached a fifth edition within half a century. It was the text-book
on the science until Guillim's 'Displaie' superseded it. The author, in
his preface, acknowledges the aid he had received from a work "on the
whole subject," by one Nicholas Warde, concerning whom nothing further is
known. He likewise acknowledges his obligations to eight other authors,
but somewhat singularly omits to mention the Boke of St. Albans, the
method of which he follows, and the very words of which he frequently
borrows. After the literary fashion of his times, his work is cast in the
form of a dialogue, the speakers being Gerard and Legh, his own christian
name and surname. The style is highly pedantic, yet withal sufficiently
amusing, and the illustrative woodcuts are executed with great spirit.
Specimens of his composition have already been cited.[288]
[Sidenote: 1572]
JOHN BOSSEWELL, gentleman, of whose personal history little or nothing is
known, next appears in the field of heraldric literature. His 'Workes of
Armorie, devyded into three bookes,' reached a second edition in 1597. His
design was an improvement upon the treatise of Legh, in which he partly
succeeded; but the admixture of the antient mythology, the moral virtues,
the marvellous attributes and fictitious anecdotes of animals, and other
foreign topics, with the more immediate subject of his work, renders it,
like that of his predecessor, almost unreadable, except to the initiated.
The following short extract will serve as a specimen of Bossewell's
lucubrations:
"=The field is of the Saphire, on a chiefe Pearle, a Musion....
Ermines. This beaste is called a Musion, for that he is enimie to Myse
and Rattes ... he is slye and wittie and ... seeth so sharpely that
he overcommeth darknes of the nighte by the shyninge lyghte of his
eyne. In shape of body he is like vnto a Leoparde, and hathe a great
mouth. He dothe delighte that he enioyeth his libertie; and in his
youthe he is swifte, plyante, and merye. He maketh a rufull noyse and
a gastefull when he profereth to fighte with an other. He is a cruell
beaste, when he is wilde, and falleth on his owne feete from moste
highe places: and vneth is hurte therewith. When he hathe a fayre
skinne, he is, as it were, prowde thereof, and then he goeth faste
aboute to be seene.="[289]
Need the reader be informed that this beast of the 'rufull noyse,' which
falleth from 'highe places on his _owne_ feete,' is the common house CAT?
An anonymous quarto, which reached a fourth edition, made its appearance
in 1573, bearing the modest title of 'A very proper Treatise, &c.' and it
shows the attention paid to heraldrical 'tricking and painting' in the
time of queen Elizabeth, when an art which is now limited to
herald-painters was deemed a fitting accomplishment for 'gentlemenne.'
Among a host of small works on subjects connected with heraldry which
appeared about this time, one may be mentioned as a great curiosity. This
is a funeral sermon on the death of Walter, earl of Essex, to which are
prefixed copies of verses on his lordship's pedigree in Latin, _Hebrew_,
Welsh, and French! The author of this tract was 'Richard Davis, Bishoppe
of Saint Davys.'
[Sidenote: 1586]
SIR JOHN FERNE, Knight, descended from a good family in Leicestershire,
and connected, on his mother's side, with the noble house of Sheffield, is
believed to have studied at Oxford, though he never graduated. Great part
of his life was spent as a member of the Inner Temple. King James gave him
the office of secretary and keeper of the signet for the northern parts,
then established at York. He died about 1610. Henry Ferne, his eighth son,
was the loyalist bishop of Chester, and a writer of some note.
His 'Blazon of Gentrie,' published in 1586, is divided into two parts,
'The Glorie of Generositie,' and 'Lacie's Nobilitie;' the former treating
of blazon, and the latter of the genealogy of the family of Lacy, with a
view to disprove the claim of affinity to it set up by Albertus a Lasco,
Count-Palatine of Syradia, which is very successfully refuted. Of this
learned work, which our author tells us is "compiled for the instruction
of all gentlemen, bearers of arms, whom and none else it concerneth,"
Peacham speaks as "indeed very rare, and sought after as a jewell."
Dallaway describes it as "a continued dialogue, alternately supported by
six interlocutors, who discuss the original principles of nobility and the
due gradations of the other ranks in society, adjust military
distinctions, describe orders of knighthood, and adduce proofs of certain
symbols and devices, concluding with high commendations of heraldic
investigation. To Ferne the rank of a classic in heraldry will not be
denied. His studies were directed to the investigation of the laws of
chivalry, and he has transfused into his work the spirit of the voluminous
codes now forgotten, which he delighted to consult. It may be considered
therefore as the most complete epitome of them now extant. But we must
allow that he writes more for the amusement of the learned than for the
instruction of novices, and that he deals much more in criticism than
rudiments."
The interlocutors are 'Paradinus, the herald; Torquatus, a knight;
Theologus, a deuine; Bartholus, a lawier; Berosus, an antiquary; and
Columell, a plowman,' who converses in the dialect of Somerset. "There is
somewhat of a dramatic spirit in this dialogue; the characters are
supported by sentiments appropriate to each, particularly the clown, who
speaks freely both the language and opinions of the yeomanry at that time;
nor are the strong prejudices of the knight and herald described with less
force."
As a copy of this "rare jewell" lies before me, I should certainly be to
blame if I did not present my reader with a specimen of its brilliancy.
The topic of discourse is the "blasing of armes."
"_Torq._ I pray you _pose_ me once again.
"_Parad._ Goe to then: you shall begin with a coate of easie charge to be
discried. Therefore, I pray you begin, and tell your soueraigne, what
coat-armour this knight beareth (for I tell you, it is the coate of a
knight), that your soueraine might know him by his signes of honour, sith
that perchaunce you know not his name.
"_Torq._ Me thinkes hee beareth Sable, a Musion[290] passaunt gardaunt Or,
oppressed with a frett gules, of eight parts, nayles d'argent.
[Illustration: _The cutter hath not done his duety._[291]
_Ignorance bringeth rash judgements of Armes, and signes honourable._]
"_Columel._ Iesa zir: call you this Armes? Now by my vaye, chad thought
Armes should not have been of zutche trifling thinges. Why, this is euen
the cat in the milke-house window. Full ill will her dayrie thriue, giffe
she put zutch a vermine beast in trust to keepe it.
"_Torq._ I am iust of thy minde: for thou hast reasoned as profoundly as
might be upon so bad a deuise.
"_Parad._ I perceaue (_Torq._) as clearkly as you seem to be in armory yet
are you far to seeke and must still be taught. This payssaunt's glosse is
euen comparable with your blazon: for bad is the best.
"_Torq._ I suppose my blazon cannot be amended.
[Sidenote: _The true blazon of the former coat._]
"_Parad._ Yes, it shall be amended, and your errour also corrected. Did
you euer see a fret thus formed before (I mean nayled?) To correct your
blazon, learne by this: Hee beareth Sable, a Musion, Or, oppressed with a
Troillis G. cloue dargent; for this, which you call a fret, is a lattice,
a thing well knowne to poore prisoners and distressed captiues, which are
forced to receaue their breath from heauen at such holes for want of more
pleasant windowes, &c."
[Sidenote: 1590.]
SIR WILLIAM SEGAR is, I believe, the first of our heralds who published on
the subject. His 'Book of Honor and Armes,' enlarged and republished in
1602, under the title of 'Honor Military and Ciuill,' relates as its
designation implies, not to the art of blazon, but to dignities. His zeal
for antiquity, like that of his contemporaries, outruns historical truth,
as a proof of which it may be mentioned that he deduces the origin of
knighthood from the fabulous Round Table of King Arthur. His work
possesses, however, great merit, and exhibits much learning and profound
research. Many of his unpublished MSS., genealogical and otherwise, are
still extant.
Segar, who was of Dutch extraction, was bred a scrivener, and obtained
his introduction to the College through the interest of Sir T. Heneage,
vice-chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth. Here, at length, his talents raised
him to the post of Garter, the _ne plus ultra_ of heraldic ambition. He
died in 1633.
[Sidenote: 1592.]
WILLIAM WYRLEY, author of 'The Trve Vse of Armorie,' is the next heraldric
author who had any official connexion with the College of Arms, in which
establishment he rose, however, no higher than the degree of a pursuivant.
He was a gentleman by birth, a native of Staffordshire, and died in 1618.
He did not confine his attention to heraldry, but studied antiquities at
large: his collections he bequeathed to the College. The 'Trve Vse,' his
only published work, is a scarce quarto of 162 pages, and is freer from
the irrelevant rubbish which blemishes most of the treatises of this
century than any one which preceded it, or any one which for a long time
subsequently issued from the press. Sir W. Dugdale makes great use of this
work in his 'Ancient Usage of bearing Arms,' 1681, and in return somewhat
ungratefully, robs Wyrley of the honour of its authorship, ascribing it,
upon hearsay evidence, to Sampson Erdeswicke, the historian of
Staffordshire.
We now come to a name which has shed more lustre upon the office of the
herald and the science of heraldry than any other our country has
produced--that of the justly-celebrated WILLIAM CAMDEN. Any biographical
notice, however brief, of so eminent a personage seems almost uncalled for
in these narrow pages. It will be sufficient, for the sake of uniformity,
merely to mention a few particulars respecting him. This laborious
antiquary and historian was born in London in 1551, and received his
education first at Christ's Hospital and St. Paul's School, and afterwards
at Oxford. He quitted the University in 1570, and made the tour of
England. At the early age of twenty-four he became second master of
Westminster School; and while performing the duties of that office devoted
his leisure to the study of British antiquities. Here, after ten years'
labour, he matured his great work, the 'Britannia,' which was first
published in 1586. Four years previously to its publication he visited
many of the eastern and northern counties, for the purpose of making a
personal investigation of their antiquities. The 'Britannia' immediately
brought him into notice, and he lived to enjoy the proud gratification of
seeing it in its sixth edition. It was written in elegant Latin, and in
that language passed through several of its earlier editions, the first
English version having been made, probably with the author's assistance,
by Dr. Philemon Holland, in 1610. This great national performance, which
Bishop Nicholson quaintly styles "the common sun whereat our modern
writers have all lighted their little torches," has been so highly
esteemed in all subsequent times, that it has been many times reprinted.
The last edition is the greatly enlarged one of Gough. In 1589 the bishop
of Salisbury presented him with a prebend in his cathedral, which he
retained till his death; and in 1597, the office of Clarenceux king of
arms becoming vacant, he was advanced to that dignity.
After his establishment in the College he published several emended
editions of The 'Britannia,' 'The Annals of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth,'
'An Account of the celebrated Persons interred in Westminster Abbey,' and
that very interesting little volume, 'Remaines concerning Britaine,'
which, as he tells us, was composed of the fragments of a projected work
of greater extent, which his want of leisure prevented his executing. All
these works, except the last, were written in Latin, a language for which
he had so great a predilection, that he even compiled pedigrees in it. As
an antiquary, Camden deserves the highest praise; as an historian, he is
charged with partiality towards the character of the virgin queen; and as
a herald, he was confessedly unequal to some of his contemporaries. In the
latter capacity he was much indebted to Francis Thynne, or Botteville,
Blanch Lion pursuivant, and afterwards Lancaster herald, of whom Anthony a
Wood gives a high character. Camden was concerned with that delightful old
chronicler, Holinshed, in the production of his famous work. He was mainly
instrumental in the formation of the original Society of Antiquaries,
whose discourses have been printed by Hearne. He was a great admirer of
the father of English poetry, and contributed many additions to Speght's
edition of his works. He left many unpublished MSS. amongst which was a
'Discourse of Armes,' addressed to Lord Burghley. The last years of his
life were spent in retirement at the village of Chislehurst, co. Kent,
where he died in 1623, in the 73d year of his age.
RALPH BROOKE, Rouge Croix pursuivant, and York herald, was contemporary
with Camden and his violent adversary. His skill as a herald has rarely
been questioned, but his whole career exhibits the character of a
petulant, envious, mean, and dishonest person. He pretended to be a
descendant of the antient family of Brooke of Cheshire; but it is
unfortunate for his pretensions that his father's name was not Brooke, but
_Brokesmouth_. He was bred to the trade of a painter-stainer, and became
free of that company in 1576. How he obtained his introduction to the
College does not appear, though it is certain that it would have been
better, both for himself and that body, had he never entered it. Noble
characterizes him as "so extremely worthless and perverse that his whole
mind seemed bent to malice and wickedness:" unawed by virtue or by
station, none were secure from his unmerited attacks. His enmity towards
Camden arose out of the circumstance of the antiquary's having been
appointed, on the demise of Richard Lee, to the office of Clarenceux, to
which, from a long connexion with the College, and greater professional
knowledge, he considered himself entitled; and it is but justice to admit
that he certainly had some ground for complaint, though the mode in which
he chose to give vent to his spleen cannot be defended. Camden's great
work, the 'Britannia,' had passed through several editions unimpeached as
to its general accuracy, when Brooke endeavoured to bring its
well-deserved popularity into contempt by a work entitled 'A Discoverie of
certaine Errours published in print in the much-commended Britannia,' a
production overflowing with personal invective. To this spiteful book
Camden replied in Latin, treating his opponent with the scorn he deserved,
exposing his illiteracy, and at the same time adroitly waiving such of the
charges as were really well founded. Never was reviewer more severely
reviewed. 'A second Discoverie of Errours' followed, and, as it remained
unanswered, Brooke might in some sort have claimed a triumph, particularly
as Camden, recognizing the maxim "Fas est ab hoste doceri," availed
himself, in the subsequent editions of the 'Britannia,' of his adversary's
corrections.
In 1619 Brooke published a 'Catalogue and Succession of Kings, Princes,
and Nobilitie since the Norman Conquest,' a work of considerable merit,
though it did not escape censure, for Vincent, Rouge Croix, an adherent of
Camden, in a 'Discovery of Errors,' printed three years afterwards,
controverted many of its statements. Brooke still continued his paltry and
litigious proceedings, and was twice suspended from his office; and it was
even attempted to expel him from the College.[292] He closed his
unenviable life in 1625, and was buried in the twin-towered church of
Reculver, co. Kent, where a mural monument informs us that
"quit of worldly miseries,
Ralph Brooke, Esq., late York herald, lies.
Fifteenth October he was last alive,
One thousand six hundred and twenty-five
Seaventy three years bore he fortune's harmes,
And forty-five an officer of armes," &c.
ROBERT GLOVER, Somerset, temp. Elizabeth, wrote a treatise entitled
'Nobilitas Politica vel Civilis,' which was posthumously published in
1608, the author having died in 1588. He was a most learned and
industrious herald, and his authority in genealogy and heraldry is much
relied on by the officers of arms of the present day. His MSS. are in the
library of the College.
In 1610 appeared 'The Catalogue of Honour, or Treasury of true Nobility
peculiar and proper to the Isle of Great Britaine,' by Thomas Milles, esq.
of Davington-hall, co. Kent. This large folio of eleven hundred pages is
professedly a compilation from the MSS. of Glover, to whom Mr. Milles was
nephew; and although reliance is not to be placed upon all its statements,
it constitutes a remarkable monument of the persevering labour and
research of that herald.
EDMUND BOLTON, a retainer of Villiers, duke of Buckingham, was author of
several works. His principal heraldric composition is a small volume
entitled the 'Elements of Armouries,' to which are prefixed commendatory
epistles by Segar and Camden, honourable testimonies of its merit. In his
remarks upon the lines of partition, &c. he displays more geometrical than
heraldric knowledge. His religious opinions are discovered by his wish for
a new crusade. His style is highly pedantic, and the reader would scarcely
thank me for a specimen.
JOHN GUILLIM (Rouge Dragon pursuivant in 1617, in which office he died in
1621,) was of Welsh extraction, and a native of Herefordshire. His
'Display of Heraldrie,' one of the most popular of heraldric treatises,
has passed through numerous editions. Anthony a Wood asserts that the real
author of it was John Barkham, rector of Bocking in Kent, who composed it
in the early part of his life, and afterwards thinking it somewhat
inconsistent with his profession to publish a work on arms, communicated
the manuscript to Guillim, who gave it to the world with his own name.
What authority Wood had for this assertion does not appear, but from the
erudition displayed in the work, it is evidently not the production of a
very young man; and besides this, in the dedication to the king, Guillim
himself does not hesitate to claim the merit of originality, for he says
"I am the first who brought a method into this heroic art." It is
remarkable that three of the most celebrated books on our science, namely
those of Dame J. Berners, William Wyrley, and John Guillim, should have
been ascribed to other parties than those under whose names they have gone
forth to the world. The highly complimentary verses prefixed to this
volume by Guillim's seniors in office can hardly be supposed to have been
written to sanction a fiction in allowing him the merit of another's
labours.[293] The eulogium of one G. Belcher not only commends the work in
the highest terms, but, after enumerating the several authors who had
written on the same subject, namely Wynkenthewordius,[294] Leghus,
Boswell, Fernus, and Wyrleius, adds
"At tu prae caeteris _Guillime_."
The 'Display' may fairly claim to be considered the first methodical and
intelligent view of heraldry published in England; and the addition of the
name of the family to every coat of arms cited as an example (which in all
earlier treatises is wanting) has conduced as much as its intrinsic merit
to give to Guillim's book the popularity it enjoys.[295]
HENRY PEACHAM (whose name is more familiar to the non-heraldric reader
than those of most other armorists of early date, in consequence of Dr.
Johnson, in his Dictionary, referring exclusively to him as an authority
for terms of blazonry,) wrote 'The Compleat Gentleman,' which professes to
treat of every necessary accomplishment befitting that character, and of
course, among other things, "of armorie or the blazon of armes." The 13th
chapter, devoted to this subject, is a compendious and scientific
production. 'The Compleat Gentleman' was one of the most popular books of
its time, and between 1622 and 1661 passed through six editions. In 1630
Peacham published another work called 'The Gentleman's Exercise, or an
exquisite practise as well for drawing all manner of beasts in their true
portraitures, as also the making of all kinds of colours to be used in
lymming, painting, tricking and blazon of coates and armes, with diuers
others most delightfull and pleasurable obseruations for all yong
Gentlemen and others.'
The two MARKHAMS, Gervase and Francis, were brothers, and flourished in
the early part of this century. The former republished the Boke of St.
Albans, under the title of 'The Gentleman's Academy;' and the latter wrote
a 'Booke of Honour,' one of the dullest of books upon a very dull subject.
The 'Titles of Honour' of the celebrated SELDEN demands for him a place
among heraldric authors.[296]
Hitherto, a review of our sixteenth and seventeenth century armorists
presents us with the names of men of erudition or of professional heralds,
but another class of authors now occasionally demands, each in his turn, a
passing remark. This is composed of the persons, who, possessed of few
qualifications beyond a knowledge of the technicalities of blazon and an
ardent zeal in the pursuit, have ventured to add to the already extensive
stock of heraldric lore. The earliest writer of the class alluded to is
JAMES YORKE, the Blacksmith of Lincoln, who in 1640 published 'The Union
of Honovr,' containing the arms, matches, and descents of the nobility
from the Conquest. Appended to it are the arms of the gentry of
Lincolnshire, and an account of all the battles fought by the English. It
is dedicated to Charles I; and there is also an epistle dedicatory to
Henry, son and heir of Thomas, earl of Arundel, earl-marshal, in which
Yorke very candidly avows his lack of erudition. "My education," says he,
"hath made me but just so much a Scholler as to feele and know my want of
learning." He hopes, however, that his noble patron will find the work
"decent." "I undertooke it not for vaine-glory, nor assume the credit of
mine authours to my selfe, onely am proud nature inclin'd me to so Noble a
study: _long was I forging and hammering it to this perfection_, and now
present it to your Lordship, as a _master-piece, not yet matched by any of
my trade_." In his address to the courteous reader he expresses his
apprehensions that "some will _smutch_ his labours with a scorne of his
profession." There was, however, little to fear on this head, for the book
is really a very '_decent_' production.
Fuller includes Yorke among the 'Worthies' of Lincolnshire, and gives the
following quaint account of him and his work:--"James Yorke, a blacksmith
of Lincoln, and an excellent workman in his profession, insomuch that if
Pegasus himself would wear shoes, this man alone is fit to make them,
contriving them so thin and light, as that they would be no burden to him.
But he is a servant as well of Apollo as Vulcan, turning his Stiddy into a
Study, having lately set forth a Book of Heraldry, called the _Union of
Honour, &c._ and although there be some mistakes (no hand so steady as
always _to hit the nail on the head_) yet it is of singular use, and
industriously performed, being set forth _anno_ 1640."
The plain common-sense of our unlettered blacksmith presents a singular
contrast to the inflated and bombastic style of EDWARD WATERHOUSE, a
gentleman, and a man of education, who, twenty years later, published 'A
Discourse and Defense of Armory.' Anthony a Wood speaks of this writer and
of his works in terms of the highest contempt, characterizing the former
as "a cock-brained man," and the latter as "rhapsodical, indigested and
whimsical." Dallaway says, "The most severe satyrist whose intention might
be to bring the study of heraldry into contempt could not have succeeded
better than this author, who strove to render it fashionable by connecting
it with the most crude conceits and endless absurdities." Waterhouse is
supposed to have contributed the principal portion of the two works
published under the name of SYLVANUS MORGAN, an arms-painter of London.
The character of this last-named author must have been already inferred
from the quotations I have made from his works. The ponderous volume,
entitled 'The Sphere of Gentry,' and its successor, 'Armilogia, or the
Language of Armes,' may be safely pronounced two of the most absurd
productions of the English press. That the former contains much useful
information is proved by the eagerness with which it is sought after in
the formation of an heraldrical library; but this is so overlaid with
crude, unconnected, and irrelevant jargon, that although I have had the
volume many times upon my table, I never could muster the patience to read
three consecutive pages of it. Of the 'Armilogia,' we are told on the
title-page that it is "_a work never yet extant_!" This volume has the
imprimatur of Sir E. Walker and Sir W. Dugdale, kings of arms; but,
singularly enough, the terms of the license are so disparaging that the
printer has very judiciously placed it on the last page; for had it been
on the first, no _judicious_ reader would have proceeded beyond it. "In
this book are such strange conceits and wild fancies, that I do not know
of what advantage the printing of it can be to any that soberly desires to
be instructed in the true knowledge of arms,"--is one of the severe things
said of it by Dugdale.
Morgan died in 1693, at the age of 73. He seems to have been countenanced
by the members of the College of Arms. Gibbon, Bluemantle, who knew him
well, describes him as "a witty man, full of fancy [too full], very
agreeable company ... and the prince of arms-painters."[297]
Almost equal to Camden, in a literary point of view, and perhaps his
superior in his qualifications as a herald, stands the name of SIR WILLIAM
DUGDALE. Independently of his great works, 'The Baronage of England,' and
the 'Monasticon,' his 'Antiquities of Warwickshire,' and 'History of St.
Paul's Cathedral,' would have served to hand down his name to posterity
among the literary worthies of his country. Sir William died in 1685, at
the age of 80 years, nearly thirty-two of which he was a member of the
College of Arms, having passed through all the gradations of office to the
post of Garter, king of arms. It would be supererogatory, even if I had
space, to give the simplest outline of his life, by no means an uneventful
one; as his memoirs have been often written, and are accessible to every
reader.
ELIAS ASHMOLE (1617-1692), the friend and son-in-law of Dugdale, was the
son of a tradesman of Litchfield. His talents, which were of the most
versatile order,[298] raised him into notice and procured him many offices
of honour and trust, among which was that of Windsor herald. This
situation he obtained at the restoration of Charles II, and resigned, from
motives of jealousy, in 1676. His great work is the 'History of the Order
of the Garter.' He was an eminent collector of rarities, and founded the
Museum at Oxford which bears his name.
FRANCIS SANDFORD, Esq., Lancaster, published, besides several other works
of great value, 'A Genealogical History of the Kings of England,' one of
the most lordly tomes that ever appeared in connexion with our subject. It
was originally published in 1677, and was reprinted in 1707. It is well
executed, and Charles II pronounced it "a very useful book." The fine
plates, by Hollar and others, of the royal arms, seals, and monuments,
with which it is embellished, give it charms to a larger circle than that
which includes the mere students of heraldry.
In 1688 appeared decidedly the most curious heraldric treatise ever
printed. I mean Randle Holme's 'Academie of Armory, or a Storehouse of
Armory and Blazon.' Mr. Moule characterizes it as "a most heterogeneous
and extraordinary composition, which may be well denominated a Pantalogia.
The author was not a learned man, nor has he adopted any systematic
arrangement of its multifarious contents, but he has contrived to amass in
this _storehouse_ a vast fund of curious information upon every branch of
human knowledge, such as is not to be found in any other work, and of a
nature peculiarly adapted to the illustration of the manners and customs
of our predecessors, from the highest rank to the lowest menial."
It is one of the scarcest of books, there being, according to Mr. Moule,
not more than fifty copies in the kingdom.
It will be interesting to the general reader to know that "Dr. Johnson
confessed, with much candour, that the Address to the Reader at the end of
this book suggested the idea of his own inimitable preface to his
Dictionary."[299]
The volume, a large folio, is illustrated by numerous plates of objects
borne as charges in arms, as well as many that never entered the field of
heraldry. "The author's object," says Mr. Ormerod, "appears to have been
the formation of a kind of encyclopaedia in an heraldic form."[300] To give
the merest outline of the subjects treated would occupy many pages;
suffice it to say that every imaginable created being, spiritual and
corporeal; every science and pseudo-science; every gradation of rank, from
the 'emperour' with the ceremonies of his coronation, to the butcher and
barber, with the implements of their trades; hunters' terms and the seven
deadly sins; palmistry and the seven cardinal virtues; grammar and
cockfighting; poverty and the sybils; an essay on time, and bricklayers'
tools; glass-painting and billiards; architecture and wrestling; languages
and surgery; tennis and theology, all find a place in this compendium, and
are all adorned with "very proper cuts," in copper.
I have had the good fortune to procure a copy of this amusing work. It
has, opposite the title, an engraving containing the external ornaments of
a coat of arms, the coat and crest being neatly inserted in pen-drawing.
Beneath is the following in letter-press, except the line in italics,
which is MS.:
"The Coat and Crest of
The ever Honoured and Highly Esteemed
_S{r}. James Poole of Poole, Baronett_:
To whom this First Volume of the Book Entituled
The Academy of Armory is most humbly Dedicated
and presented, from him who is devoted yours
RANDLE HOLME."
This was probably a compliment paid to every subscriber, and it displays,
as Mr. Moule observes, the finest illustration extant of the "oeconomy
of flattery."
The following extract will give an idea of a large proportion of the
contents of this famous 'Storehouse,' which, like many other storehouses,
holds much that is of very little value. Honest Randle blazons one of his
fictitious bearings for the purpose of introducing the names of the
implements and terms employed by that useful personage the barber.
"LVII. He beareth Argent a =Barber bare headed=, with a =pair of Cisers=
in his right hand, and a =Comb= in his left, =cloathed= in Russet, his
=Apron Cheque= of the first and Azure, &c.
"_Instruments of a Barber._
The instrument case, in which are placed these following things in
their several divisions:
The glass or seeing glass.
A set of horn combs, with teeth on one side, and wide.
A set of ivory combs with fine teeth, and toothed on both sides.
An ivory beard comb.
A four square bottle with a screw'd head for sweet water, or Benjamin
water, &c.
The like bottle with sweet powder in; but this is now not used.
A row of razors, &c. &c."
Then follow
"TERMS OR ART _used in Barbing and Shaving_ (!!!)
_Take the chair_, is for the person to be trimmed to sit down.
_Clear the neck_, is to unbutton and turn down the collar of the man's
neck.
_Cloath him_, is to put a trimming cloth before him, and to fasten it
about his neck.
_Powder the hair_, is to puff sweet powder into it.
_Walk your combs_, is to use two combs, in each hand one, and so comb
the hair with one after the other.
_Quever the combs_, is to use them as if they were scratting on each
side the temples.
_Curle up the hair_, is to rowle it about a pair of curling or beard
irons, and thrust it under the cap.
_Lather the face_, is to wash the beard with the suds which the ball
maketh by chaffing it in the warm water.
_Hand the razor_, set it in a right order between the thumb and
fingers.
_Shave the beard_, is to take off superfluous hairs.
_Hold him the glass_, to see his new made face, and to give the barber
instruction where it is amiss.
_Take off the linnens._
_Brush his cloaths._
_Present him with his hat_, and according to his hire, he makes a bow,
with your humble servant, Sir."[301].
But, although the 'Academy of Armory' abounds in passages equally useless
and totally irrelevant of the subject of arms, it must be acknowledged to
contain a great body of information which, at a time when Encyclopaedias
were unknown, must have been of considerable utility.[302]
ALEXANDER NISBET, Gent. appears at the beginning of the 18th century as an
heraldric writer. In 1702 he published 'An Essay on Additional Figures and
Marks of Cadency;' in 1718, 'An Essay on the Ancient and Modern Use of
Armories;' and in 1722, 'A System of Heraldry,' which are all
characterized by great intelligence and research. In the preface to his
'System' he tells us, in a style bordering upon the egotistical, yet in
perfect accordance with truth, "Though I have not been able to overtake
some things in the system of Heraldry as I first intended, yet I have
explained the true art of Blazon in a more ample, regular, and distinct
manner than anything I have ever yet seen on the subject."
Nisbet's illustrations are principally drawn from Scottish heraldry, and
he must be acknowledged to occupy a very high, if not the first, place
among his countrymen in this department of literature.
JOHN ANSTIS, a gentleman of fortune, was born at St. Neot's, co. Cornwall.
He sat for St. Germains in the first parliament of Queen Anne, and was
afterwards elected for Launceston. He was a strenuous Tory, and, being
attached to heraldrical pursuits, obtained a reversionary patent for the
office of Garter, king of arms. On the accession of George I, he was
imprisoned under the suspicion of a design to restore the Stuarts. At this
critical time the office of Garter becoming vacant, he petitioned for it
in 1717, and received his appointment the following year. He wrote many
works relating to heraldry, and edited 'The Register of the Garter,' with
an introduction and notes. "In him," says Noble, "were joined the learning
of Camden, and the industry, without the inaccuracy, of Dugdale; he was a
most indefatigable and able Herald, and though he lived to the age of
seventy-six, yet we wonder at the greatness of his productions."[303] He
died in 1744.
Glover, Brooke, Vincent, Dugdale, and others had long since paid much
attention to the genealogy of the noble families of this country, when
ARTHUR COLLINS, Esq. projected a more complete account of existing houses
in his afterwards celebrated 'Peerage.' This work, which first appeared in
1709 in a single octavo of 470 pages, was augmented in successive
editions, until the last, edited by Sir Egerton Brydges in 1812, reached
the goodly number of nine volumes. This work is too well known to require
the slightest eulogium. In 1720 he published the first edition of his
valuable 'Baronetage,' and subsequently one volume of a 'Baronage,' and
several independent family histories. Upon the whole, Collins was one of
the most laborious of writers; and none but those who have paid some
attention to the construction of genealogies can fully appreciate his
industry and research. Collins was born in 1682, and died in 1760.
The reigns of the first two Georges produced many other writers on
subjects connected with heraldry and titular honours, including (I) Kent
and Coats, and (II) Crawfurd on the 'Peerage of Scotland,' Wotton on the
'English Baronetage,' the learned Madox on 'Land-honours and Baronies,'
and the indefatigable _Mr. Salmon_. During the same period also appeared
innumerable volumes on the genealogies of our royal and noble families.
JOSEPH EDMONDSON, F.S.A. (author of 'Baronagium Genealogicum,' 1764, and
'A Complete Body of Heraldry,' 1780,) was of humble parentage. Becoming a
herald-painter, that pursuit led his naturally inquisitive genius to the
study of heraldry and family history, and the two works referred to are
sufficient monuments of his assiduity in both. His merits raised him to
the office of Mowbray Herald Extraordinary, but even after his appointment
to that honour, he continued his business as a coach-painter, thus uniting
the seemingly discordant avocations, science and trade. He died in 1786.
The 'Baronagium' consists of five folio volumes, and contains the
pedigrees of the peers, originally drawn up by Sir W. Segar, enlarged and
continued to 1764. The 'Complete Body' is in two volumes folio, and must
be regarded as the great standard work on the subject of English heraldry.
It contains numerous dissertations on the origin and history of the
science, on the great offices of state, on the heralds, on knighthood, on
the arms of corporate bodies, on blazon in all its departments, an
alphabet of 50,000 coats of arms, and various other interesting matters.
The celebrated Sir Joseph Ayloffe assisted the author in both these works.
Edmondson possessed what was somewhat rare in his day--_good taste_ on the
subject of blazon. He animadverts with becoming asperity on the ridiculous
landscape-painting which disfigures some modern arms and augmentations,
and justly remarks that the "several charges they contain, puts it out of
the power of a very good herald to draw new arms from their blazons." On
the subject of crests he adds, "Crests are objects intended to strike the
beholder at a distance," and then produces the instance of a crest lately
granted to the family of Titlow: "a book, on the book a silver penny! and
on the penny the Lord's Prayer!! and on the top of the book a dove,
holding in its beak a crow-quill pen!!!"[304]
FRANCIS GROSE, Esq., F.S.A., held the office of Richmond herald, but
resigned it in 1763 to become paymaster of the Hampshire militia. His
numerous antiquarian works are well known; but I am not aware that he
contributed anything towards the advancement of heraldric literature.
RALPH BIGLAND, Esq., Somerset, and at length Garter, published in 1764 a
very curious and useful book on Parochial Registers. He made large
collections for a History of Gloucestershire, which were posthumously
published by his son. He died in 1784.
The Rev. JAMES DALLAWAY, A.M. F.S.A., &c. obtained a well-deserved
celebrity as the author of 'Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of
Heraldry in England,' published in 1793. This learned and elegant work
traces the history of our science from its source in the feudal ages to
his own times; and has the merit of having made attractive to the general
reader a subject from which he had hitherto turned away in disgust. Moule
compares its style to that of Tacitus. A new edition, with additional
literary illustrations and more appropriate embellishments, appears to me
to be a desideratum.
The Rev. MARK NOBLE, F.S.A., rector of Barming, co. Kent, wrote, besides
several other works, 'Memoirs of the House of Cromwell,' and 'A History of
the College of Arms,' with lives of all the officers from Richard III to
the year 1805. The value of the latter production is generally
acknowledged, though Mr. Moule accuses the author of partiality in the
biographical department. To this work I am under great obligations,
particularly for many of the materials of Chapter XI of this volume.
THOMAS BRYDSON, F.S.A., Edinburgh, published in 1795 'A Summary View of
Heraldry, in reference to the usages of chivalry and the general economy
of the feudal system,'--an agreeable and intelligent work, which will be
read with much interest by those who study our science _historically_.
About the same time, a lady--for the first time I think since the days of
Dame Julyan Berners--makes her appearance in the field of heraldric
literature: 'Historical Anecdotes of Heraldry and Chivalry, by a Lady.'
This work, which was published at Worcester, is generally attributed to a
Mrs. Dobson, and abounds with curious information relative to the
acquisition of particular coats of arms.[305]
SIR EGERTON BRYDGES, Bart., wrote several works on the peerage,
particularly 'A Biographical Peerage of Great Britain,' and edited
Collins's voluminous and popular work.
The anonymous volume on the 'Historical and Allusive Arms' of British
Families, noticed at page 162, is ascribed to Colonel De la Motte. It
appeared in 1803.
The Rev. W. BETHAM, of Stonham-Aspall, Suffolk, published 'Genealogical
Tables' of the sovereigns of the world, and an elaborate 'Baronetage,' in
five volumes, 4to, (1805.) T. C. BANKS, Esq., between 1807 and 1816,
produced several works of great importance, particularly 'The Dormant and
Extinct Baronage of England,' an elaborate and spiritedly-written work. In
1809 appeared that most voluminous work, 'British Family Antiquity,' a
genealogical view of the titled classes of the United Kingdom, in nine
vols. 4to, by W. PLAYFAIR, Esq. JOSEPH HASLEWOOD, Esq., celebrated for his
vast bibliographical knowledge, reprinted in 1810 the treatises on
hawking, hunting, coat-armour, &c., known as the 'Boke of St. Albans,'
from the edition of W. de Worde, 1496. Mr. Haslewood's edition is printed
in black letter with fac-simile cuts, and is designated by Mr. Moule "one
of the choicest specimens of printing which have issued from the modern
press." Mr. W. BERRY, the compiler of several minor works, published in
1825, and following years, his 'Encyclopaedia Heraldica,' 4 vols. 4to,
including dictionaries of the technical terms of heraldry and of family
bearings. Of the latter there are 90,000 examples. Mr. Berry has
subsequently published a series of volumes containing tabular pedigrees of
the principal families (contributed in part by the resident gentry) of
Kent, Sussex, Hants, Surrey, Bucks, Berks, Essex, and Herts, under the
general title of 'County Genealogies.' Some severe criticisms on one of
the early volumes of this work, in the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' induced the
editor to commence proceedings in the Court of King's Bench against the
conductor of that periodical for a libel. In 1830 appeared another large
compilation, entitled Robson's 'British Herald.' It was published at
Sunderland, in three vols. 4to. It contains the arms of many of the gentry
of Scotland and the Northern Counties of England, which are not to be
found in any previous work. In 1822, THOMAS MOULE, Esq., published
'Bibliotheca Heraldica,' a catalogue of all the works that have appeared
on heraldry and kindred subjects in this country. To this highly useful
publication I am greatly indebted. In 1842 Mr. Moule published a beautiful
and interesting volume entitled 'The Heraldry of Fish,' containing notices
of all the charges "with fin or shell" which occur in the arms of English
families, with excellent illustrations on wood.
"Within the last twenty years," observes Mr. Montagu, "there have been
published some of the very best works that have ever appeared, connected
with the subject of heraldry, and its kindred science, genealogy." I much
regret my inability to do justice to living and to recently deceased
authors in this department of literary effort. In this book-teeming age it
would be laborious merely to name all the persons who have written on the
subject within the last few years. It will suffice for my purpose to
mention some of those who stand _prae caeteris_, either in the intrinsic
merit or the magnitude of their productions.
SIR HARRIS NICOLAS has rendered essential service to the heraldric student
by the publication of several rolls of arms of early date and
unquestionable authenticity; namely, those of temp. Henry III, Edw. I
(Carlaverok), Edw. II, and Edw. III; and a splendid 'History of the Orders
of Knighthood of the British Empire,' in four 4to volumes. The late G. F.
BELTZ, Esq., Lancaster Herald, a gentleman of extensive antiquarian
research, published an interesting work, entitled 'Memorials of the Order
of the Garter.'
THOMAS WILLEMENT, Esq. who combines with the research of the antiquary the
skill of the artist, has produced, 'Regal Heraldry,' 'Heraldic Notices of
Canterbury Cathedral,' and some additional rolls of arms, viz. temp. Rich.
II and Hen. VIII. Mr. MONTAGU'S 'Guide to the Study of Heraldry,' evinces
a profound knowledge of the subject, and is elegantly written.
In addition to these works of general reference, several volumes of great
local interest have appeared, particularly several county visitations;
among which may be noticed the Visitations of Durham, 1575 and 1615; the
former edited by N. J. Philipson, Esq., F.S.A., and the latter by Sir
Cuthbert Sharp and J. B. Taylor, Esq.; and Middlesex, 1663, printed at the
expense of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart. Sir Thomas has also printed, at his
own press at Middle Hill, those of Wiltshire, 1623; Somersetshire, 1623;
and Cambridgeshire, 1619.
In the genealogical department two classes of works of modern date possess
great value, namely, _County Histories_, such as Baker's Northamptonshire,
Surtees's Durham, Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire, and Ormerod's Cheshire;
and _Family Histories_, of which Rowland's History of the House of
Neville, and Shirley's 'Stemmata Shirleiana,' are splendid examples. Mr.
Drummond's 'Histories of Noble Families' bids fair to do honour to the
author, the subject, and the age. That the Messrs. Burke are indefatigable
in the heraldric field, their Existing and Extinct Peerages, Baronetages,
'History of the Landed Gentry,' 'General Armory,' &c. give ample proof. Of
other books of reference relating to the titled orders, the press is
annually pouring out a quantity which sufficiently proves the estimation
in which the aristocracy of this country is held. In fine, the
'Archaeologia,' the 'Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica,' and that
veteran periodical, the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' contain innumerable papers
of great interest and value to the student of genealogy.
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