INANIMATE OBJECTS AS CHARGES
Under this heading so many and such various objects are included
that we cannot attempt to mention one half of the items in this
miscellaneous collection. First come crowns, mitres, croziers (a
crozier is borne by an Irish family of that name), swords, maces,
etc., all of which represent estate and dignity. Then come books,
billets, pens (one Cowpen bears three pens), single letters of the
alphabet, notably Y and T (three T's are borne by the Tofte family),
musical instruments--_i.e._, violin, organ-pipes, harp, etc. (the harp
appears in the arms of one Harpham).
Musical instruments signified that their bearers were "men of a
well-composed and tempered judgment"; whilst the Book symbolized
primarily the Word of Life; the pen, the wisdom of the learned;
and the single letters stood for the thoughts of absent or silent
scholars.
In the Conroy arms, the field is charged with "an ancient book,
open, indexed, edged or." This charge represents the honourable and
hereditary office of Leanachie bard and herald to the O'Connors, Kings
of Connaught. The motto under the coat of arms signifies that "history
once written in this book cannot be destroyed by time." It was the
privilege of the ancient bard of the tribe "to stand alone with the
new-made King upon the sacred mount of Carn Fraoich and there to
deliver into his hands the white wand or sceptre of royalty."
Mechanical objects follow next--ploughs, harrows (the Harrows bear
three harrows), scythes, spades, cartwheels (the latter occur in the
arms of Carter and Cartwright). These are all typical of husbandry,
and suggest agricultural industry on the part of the original bearers.
Chaucer's son-in-law, Sir Payne Roet--derived doubtless, from the
French _rouet_, a wheel--bore three wheels on his shield, and in
blazoning this coat of arms (Fig. 52), Guillim quotes Pliny's fable
of the Roman farmer who was accused to the authorities of being
a magician, because his fields were fruitful, whilst those of his
neighbour were barren.
[Illustration: FIG. 52.]
"Wait," said the farmer, "and I will show you my conjuring tools;" and
therewith he produced his plough and a cartwheel. From this anecdote
we gather that Sir Payne Roet must have been distinguished as an
agriculturist.
Then come the implements for making clothes as well as some items
of dress. Wool-cards are borne by the Cardingtons; shuttles by the
Shuttleworths; Sir John Maunsel bears three maunches (sleeves); the
Bartlelots, gloves; the Hose family bear stockings; the Arthurs of
Ireland three boots, blazoned as "three Irish brogues"; the Huths have
a hat (_hut_ being the German for hat).
One family of Palmers charges their shield with three palmer's staves;
another has a pilgrim's scrip. The Spences bear three penny-pieces,
this latter charge symbolizing commerce.
Workman's tools--pickaxes, hammers, levels, squares, hatchets, nails,
plummets, etc.--had all great heraldic significance. The pickaxe
was to remind its bearer "whence he was digged"; the level that his
actions must be justified by the rule of reason and justice; the
square taught the cultivation of an even judgment; the nails, fixity
of purpose; the plummet, prudence in fathoming the problems of life.
The objects wrought by these tools follow. First, come works of
masonry.
One Oldcastle bears a "tower triple-towered"; Sir Edward Mansel, a
tower with a scaling ladder against it; whilst three castles occur in
the arms of the Scarborough family. The heralds, be it noted, made a
great distinction between a tower and a castle, when charging either
upon a shield. For, whereas a tower must never occupy the whole of the
field, a castle "extendeth itself all over the shield from one side
to the other." Three arches are borne by the Archers; the Trowbridges
bear a bridge.
Keys occur fairly often, being borne either singly or in threes. The
Bells very properly bear bells, and these latter we also find in the
Dobell coat of arms, which affords an excellent example of canting
heraldry (Fig. 53). One, Stratford, bears three trestles meant to
imply their bearer's love of hospitality.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.]
Amongst other inanimate charges are flesh-pots, bellows, lamps. The
Lamplaws bear three lamps; cups are borne by Bowles, Warcupp, and
Butler; dishes are borne by the Standish family (a boar's head in
a golden dish was a rather favourite charge), as were also clocks,
watches, dials, etc.
Next we find ships and all things pertaining to them.
The Earl of Caithness bears a ship; the Cavells bear three sails; the
Chappels have an anchor. Three anchors are a fairly common charge.
Objects connected with hunting, hawking, and fishing come next. The
Hatheways bear a hunter's horn; the Langhornes three bugles; the
Plankes, three hawk-bells, whilst a lure with a line and ring, "all
a falconer's decoy," are borne by one, Lie, "a suitable name, seeing
that a falconer is ever used to deceive." Three mascles, representing
the meshes of a net, are borne by the Belgraves, whilst a net
enclosing three sturgeons is introduced into the Sturgeons' coat
of arms, and is blazoned as a "fret." The Medvilles bear three
fishing-hooks.
Now we come to objects associated with games--chessmen, dice, balls,
etc. One of Charles V.'s generals bore as his arms a ball with two
balloons, with the motto, "The harder I am struck, the higher I
mount."
Then we have military weapons and implements, cannon, battering-rams,
swords, lances, as well as banners, drums, trumpets, clarions, etc.
Guillim blazons the Earl of Cumberland's arms as "three murthering
shots." One Bowman bears three bows, whilst arrows[1] and swords are
of constant occurrence, the latter borne either singly or crossed
salter-wise.
[Footnote 1: An arrow has its peculiar terms of blazon. It
is _armed_ of its head, _flighted_ of its feathers, whilst a
bundle of arrows is a _sheaf_. An arrow with a blunt head is
known in heraldry as a "bird-bolt."]
On the Earl of Lindsey's shield there are three battering-rams in the
first and fourth quarters, and a shattered "castle triple-towered"
is represented in the second and third quarters. The origin of this
unusual coat of arms is historical. One Robert Bertie, afterwards
created Earl of Lindsey, was serving in the army, which, during Queen
Elizabeth's reign, laid siege to Cadiz under the Earl of Essex's
command. When the English troops made a furious onslaught on the gates
of the city, every inhabitant within its walls strove to drive back
the enemy, the old women flinging down heavy stones from the ramparts.
One of these missiles felled young Bertie to the ground, so that when,
after the taking of Cadiz, the youth was knighted for his gallant
conduct that day, the newly made knight exclaimed: "The squire was
knocked down by an old woman with a stone, but the general bade him
arise a knight."
All kinds of escutcheons were also charged upon a shield, as well as
helmets and gauntlets. Trophies and tokens of martial victory also
occur in heraldry, such as chaplets, torses--the wreath surrounding
the helmet--along with the more melancholy charges--fetters, shackles,
chains, denoting the subjection and captivity of the vanquished.
Bridles, bits, buckles, and stirrups are of frequent occurrence in
heraldry. Lord Stanhope bears three stirrups, buckles, and straps,
whilst spurs are borne very appropriately by the Knights.
Before closing this chapter we must mention that besides the charges
emblazoned on the shield, which we have been considering at some
length, a coat of arms has certain accessory ornaments. These are
known as the crest, helmet, mantling, supporters--we have spoken of
the latter elsewhere--scrolls,[2] and mottoes. The crest,[3] which is
the only part of armorial bearings which is in constant use, is the
device placed above an escutcheon, and originally worn upon a helmet,
but it now occurs on a coronet, wreath, or cap.
[Footnote 2: The ribbon bearing the motto is called
heraldically "escroll"--scroll.]
[Footnote 3: "Crest" is obviously derived from _crista_,
a bird's comb or crest. Its heraldic term is "cognizance,"
because the crest worn upon his helmet served to insure
recognition of a leader by his followers on the battle-field.]
As regards the representing of helmets in armorial bearings,
the following rules must be noted: A king's helmet must be gold,
six-barred, full face, and open; a duke's helmet is steel with five
gold bars, and set slightly in profile; baronets and knights have also
steel helmets with no bars--these must be drawn full faced with visor
raised; steel helmets are also used by esquires, visor down, with
gold ornaments and represented in profile. Full-faced helmets denote
authority, side-faced ones symbolize attention and obedience towards
superiors.
Mantling or lambrequin is the term used for the mantle or a piece of
scarf-like drapery, attached to the helmet and showing jagged and torn
edges to suggest the cuts received in battle. Generally, however,
we find the mantling in heraldry takes the shape of graceful flowing
outlines.
In the motto we have, no doubt, the survival of the war-cries; many
(besides expressing the name of the bearer or some allusion to the
charges on the coat of arms)[4] contain very interesting historical
references--viz., the "Grip Fast" of the Earl of Rothes recalls how
his ancestor rescued the good Queen Margaret from the river, where she
and her palfrey were drowning, and exhorted her to "grip fast" to his
belt.
[Footnote 4: As, for instance, "Fare fac," the Fairfax motto,
or the Weare's motto, "Sumus"--we are--whilst the motto of
the Clerks of Penicuik, "Free for a blast," alludes to their
crest, a man blowing a horn. This refers to the odd condition
under which the Barony of Penicuik is held--viz., that the
proprietor must sit on a piece of rock called the Buckstone,
and wind three blasts of a horn whenever the sovereign shall
come to hunt on the Borough Muir, near Edinburgh.]
The motto is generally placed beneath the escutcheon, but we sometimes
find it above the crest.