PEERAGE DIGNITIES:-- The Dignity of Earl-- Of Baron-- The
Parliament of 1295-- Landed Qualifications-- Creation of the Title
Duke of Cornwall-- The Title of Marquis-- The Premier Baron of
England-- The Peerage of Scotland-- Scottish Remainders-- Daughter
Inherits in her own Right-- Determination of an Abeyance-- The
Right to Create Peers of Ireland-- Rights and Privileges of a
Peeress-- The Daughters of Peers-- Anomalies of the English Scale
of Precedence 327
GENERAL INDEX 335
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
NO. PAGE
1. Arms of St. George }
2. Arms of St. Edward } ix
3. Arms of St. Edmund }
4. Arms of Sir Walter Scott, of Abbotsford 1
5. Lance Flag, Bayeux Tapestry 6
6. Lance Flag, Bayeux Tapestry 6
7. Ancient Shield, from a Greek Vase 8
8. Ancient Shield, from a Greek Vase 8
9. Ancient Shield, from a Greek Vase 8
10. Ancient Shield, from a Greek Vase 8
11. Seal of Walter Innes 11
12. Seal of William Innes 11
13. Banner of Templars 14
14. Banner of Leicester 14
15. Shield of Brittany 14
16. Shield of Waldegrave 14
17. Shield of Fitz Warine 14
18. Shield of Whitworth 14
19. The Escarbuncle 15
20. Shield of Montacute 17
20A. Shield of Montacute 70
21. The Planta Genista 17
22. Arms assigned to William I. 18, 259
23. Arms assigned to the Saxon Princes 18
24. Shield of Prince John of Eltham 26
25. Badge of Richard II., Westminster Hall 27
26. Badge of Richard II., Westminster Hall 27
27. The Points of an Heraldic Shield 33
28. Shield divided per Pale 33
29. Shield divided per Fesse 33
30. Shield divided Quarterly 33
31. Shield divided per Bend 33
32. Shield divided per Bend Sinister 33
33. Shield divided per Saltire 33
34. Shield divided per Chevron 33
35. Shield divided per Tierce 33
36. Shield Quarterly of Eight 34
37. Compound Quartering 34
38. Border and Dividing Lines 35
39. Bowed Shield 36
40. Heraldic Shield 36
41. Heraldic Shield 36
42. Heraldic Shield 36
43. Heraldic Shield 37
44. Heraldic Shield 37
45. Modern Shield 37
46. Cartouche 37
47. Lozenge 37
48. Arms of Provence 38
49. Shield Couché 38
50. Symbolisation of Or 40
51. Symbolisation of Argent 40
52. Symbolisation of Azure 40
53. Symbolisation of Gules 40
54. Symbolisation of Sable 40
55. Symbolisation of Vert 40
56. Symbolisation of Purpure 40
57, 57A. Ermine 41, 42
58. Ermines 41
59. Erminois 41
60. Pean 41
61. Vair 41
62. Vair 41
63. Counter Vair 41
64. Potent 41
65. Counter Potent 41
66. Componée 43
67. Counter Componée 43
68. Arms of Earl de Warrenne 45
69. Arms of Jerusalem 44
70. Arms of Fenwick 44
71. A Chief 50
72. Arms of Le Botiler 50
73. Arms of De Brus 50
74. Arms of De Clintone 50
75. Arms of De Clintone 50
76. Arms of De Clifford 50
77. Arms of De Pateshulle 50
78. Arms of Le Vavasour 50
79. Arms of De Hemenhale 51
80. Arms of De Dageworthe 51
81. Arms of De Harecourt 51
82. Arms of Wake 51
83. Arms of De Huntercumbe 52
84. Arms of De la Mere 52
85. Arms of Fitzalan of Bedale 53
86. Arms of De Valence 53
87. Arms of Erskine 53
88. Arms of Grandison 53
89. Cross Fimbriated 54
90. Cross Pointed 54
91. Greek Cross 55
92. Latin Cross 55
93. Tau Cross 55
94. Cross Quadrate 55
95. Cross Patriarchal 55
96. Cross Lourchée 55
97. Arms of De Molines 56
98. Arms of Bishop Anthony Bec 56
99. Arms of William de Vesci 56
100. Cross Fleurie 56
101. Cross Fleurettée 56
102. Cross Pommee 56
103. Cross Botonee 57
104. Cross Crosslet 57
105. Cross Clechée 57
106. Cross Patee 57
107. Cross Maltese 57
108. Cross Potent 57
109. Cross Avellane 57
110. Cross Botonée Fitchée 57
111. Arms of Le Scrope 58
112. Arms of De Radclyffe 58
113. Arms of Le Boteler 58
114. Arms of De Bohun, Earl of Hereford 59
115. Arms of De Bohun (differenced) 59
116. Arms of De Montford 60
117. Arms of De Bray 60
118. Paly Bendy 60
119. Barry Bendy 60
120. Arms of St. Andrew 60
121. Arms of De Neville 60
122. Arms of De Neville 60
123. Arms of De Stafford 61
124. Arms of De Clare 61
125. Early Shield of De Clare 62
126. Arms of De Chandos 62
127. Arms of De Prian 62
128. Arms of De Passett 62
129. Arms of De Kyrkeby 65
130. Arms of Blundell 65
131. Arms of De Mortimer 66
132. Arms of Darcy 66
133. Arms of De Wyllers 66
134. Arms of De Balliol 66
135. Single Tressure Flory 67
136. Tressure Flory Counterflory 67
137. Double Tressure Flory 67
138. Arms of Scotland 67, 260
139. Arms of De Waltone 68
140. Arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall 68
141. Flanche 69
142. Flasques 69
143. Mascle 69
144. Rustre 69
145. Arms of De Burgh, Earl of Kent 69
146. Arms of Deincourt 70
147. Arms of Campbell 70
148. A Frette 71
149. Arms of De Etchingham 71
150. Trellis Clouée 71
151. Bezant 72
152. Torteau 72
153. Fountain 72
154. Annulet 72
155. Shield of Douglas 74
156. Shield of Douglas 74
157. Shield of Douglas 74
158. Shield of Isle of Man 74
159. Shield of St. Alban's Abbey 75
160. Early Martlet 77
161. Martlet 77
162. Banner of De Barre 77
163. Dolphin 78
164. Arms of De Lucy 78
165. Escallop 78
166. A, B, C, Crescent, Increscent, Decrescent 80
167. At Gaze 81
168. Tripping 81
169. At Speed 81
170. Stag's Head Cabossed 85
171. Lion Rampant 85
172. Lion Rampant Guardant 85
173. Lion Passant 85
174. Lion Passant Guardant 85
175. Lion Statant 85
176. Lion Statant Guardant 85
177. Lion Couchant 86
178. Lion Sejant 86
179. Lion Dormant 86
180. Lion Salient 86
181. Lion Double queued 86
182. Lion Coward 86
183. Lion's Head 87
184. Lion's Face 87
185. Lion's Jambe 87
186. Demi Lion Rampant 87
187. Arms of England 87, 259
188. Arms of Richard I. 88
189. Arms of Prince John 88
190. Arms of Richard I. 88
191. Arms of Le Strange 89
192. Arms of Giffard 89
193. Arms of Mowbray 89
194. Arms of De Lacy 89
195. Arms of De Segrave 89
196. Arms of De Percy 90
197. Arms of De Longespée 90
198. Crest of Black Prince 91
199. Crest &c., Richard II. 91
200. Eagle Shield in Westminster Abbey 93
201. Imperial Eagle 93
202. Royal Eagle 93
203. Arms of Earl of Cornwall 94
204. Seal of Euphemia Leslie 94
205. Shield of Piers Gaveston 95
206. Arms of Montacute and Monthermer 95
207. A Vol 96
209. Arms of De la Mere 96
210. Shield at St. Albans 97
211. Austrian Eagle 97
212. German Imperial Eagle 98
213. German Eagle, wings erect 98
214. French Imperial Eagle 99
215. Badge of Ulster 101
216. Breys 104
217. Baron's Coronet 104
218. Water Bouget 106
219. Bourohier Knot 106
220. Bowen Knot 107
221. Caltrap 107
222. Castle 108
223. Celestial Crown 108
224. Chapeau of Estate 108
225. Arms of Saxony 108
226. Chess Rook 109
227. Cinquefoil 109
228. Clarions 109
229. Cockatrice 110
230. Collar of York 110
231. Collar of Lancaster 110
232. Crest Coronet 113
233. Crest Wreaths 113
234. Crown of H.M. The King 115, 266
235. Dacre Knot and Badges 115
236. Dragon 117
237. Duke's Coronet 117
238. Earl's Coronet 118
239. Eastern Crown 118
240. Electoral Bonnet 119
241. Arms of Byron 119
242. Estoile 120
243. Fer-de-Moline 121
244. Fermails 121
245. Fetter lock 122
246. Fleur de lys 122
247. Arms of France Ancient 122
248. Arms of France Modern 122
249. Arms of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster 123
250. Arms of Margaret, Queen of Edward I. 122
251. Seal of Margaret, Queen of Edward I. 123
252. Shield of Edward III., A.D. 1340 124, 260
253. Shield of Henry IV., about 1405 124, 260
254, 255. Fylfots 125
256. Shield of R. de Gorges 127
257. Hawk's Lure 128
258. Hawk's Bells and Jesses 128
259. Helm of the Sovereign 129
260. Helm of Princes and Nobles 129
261. Helm of Baronets and Knights 129
262. Helm of Esquires and Gentlemen 129
263. Helm of Esquires and Gentlemen 129
264. Heneage Knot 130
265. Arms of the Heralds College 130
266. Arms of Lyon Office 131
267. Jessant de lys 133
268, 269. Heraldic Keys 133
270. Hastings Badge 133
271, 272, 273. Labels 134
274. Lacy Knot 134
275. Lymphad 136
276. Arms of Hastings 136
277. Coronet of Marquess 137
278. Mullet 139
279. Mullet Pierced 139
280. Mural Crown 140
281. Naval Crown 140
282. Pourdon 141
283. Panache Crest of Edward Courtenay 142
284. Panache Crest of William le Latimer 142
285. Panache Crest of Edmund Mortimer 142
286. Pennon of D'Aubernoun 143
287. Pheon 143
288. Portcullis 143
289. Coronet of Prince of Wales 145
290. Coronet of King's Daughters and Younger Sons 145
291. Coronet of King's Grandchildren 145
292. Coronet of King's Cousins 145
293. Quatrefoil 146
294. The Ragged Staff Badge 146
295. Rebus of Abbot Kirton 148
296. Rebus of Bishop Peckyngton 148
297. Rebus of Sir John Peche 148
298, 299. Heraldic Roses 149
300. Rose en Soleil 149
301. Crest of Hamilton 150
302. Sixfoil 152
303. Arms of Shakespeare 151
304. Stafford Knot 152
305. Staple Padge 152
306. Arms of City of London 153
307. Tabard 154
308. Badge of James I. 154
309. Trefoil Slipped 155
310. Trumpet 155
311. Viscount's Coronet 156
312. Shield at St. Michael's Church, St. Albans 157
313. Wake Knot 157
314. Catherine Wheel 157
315. Wyvern 157
316. Seal of Margaret, Queen of Edward I. 160
317. Seal of Margaret Lady De Ros 161
318. Seal of Joan, Countess of Surrey 162
319. Seal of Mary, Countess of Pembroke 164
320. Seal of Matilda of Lancaster 164
321. Seal of Oliver de Bohun 165
322. Shield of Earl John de Dreux 165
323. Shield of Castile and Leon 166
324. Shield of Henry, Earl of Northumberland 167
325. Shield of Mayor of Winchelsea 168
326. Shield of De Valence and Claremont Nesle 168
327. Shield of Camoys and Mortimer 169
328. Shield of D'Aubigny and Scotland 170
329. Shield of Earl Richard Beauchamp 171
330. Four Diagrams illustrative of Marshalling 171-2
331-335. Diagrams illustrative of Marshalling 172
336. Shield of Eldest Sons of Edward I. and II. 178
337. Shield of Black Prince 178
338. Label of Lancaster 179
339. Label of Brittany 179
340. Label of York 179
341. Label of Clarence 180
342. Label of Henry and John of Lancaster 180
343. Label of Thomas of Lancaster 180
344. Shield of Holland, of Kent 181
345. Shield of Henry of Lancaster 182
346. Shield of Beauchamp of Elmely 183
347. Shield of Beauchamp at Carlaverock 183
348. Shield of Beauchamp of Warwick 184
349. Shield of Beauchamp of Bletshoe 184
350. Shield of Bishop Grandison 185
351. Seal of Bishop Le Despencer 185
352. Shield of Sir Fulk Fitz Warin 186
353. Shield of Thomas le Scrope 186
354. Crescent, for Difference 186
355. Mullet, for Difference 186
356. Shield of Lord Latimer 187
357. Shield of Neville 187
358. Shield of Sir Wm. de Brewys 187
359. Shield of Henry, Earl of Worcester 189
360. Shield of Beaufort, before 1397 189
361. Shield of Beaufort, after 1397 189
362. Shield of Charles, Earl of Worcester 190
363. Shield of Sir Roger de Clarendon 190
364. Arms of Radulphus de Arundel 190
365. Seal of William Fraser 193
366. Shield of Earl of Chester 195
367. Shield of Fitz Ralph 196
368. Shield of De Luterell 197
369. Shield of De Wadsley 197
370. Shield of De Wortley 198
371. Shield of De Mounteney 198
372. Shield of De Mounteney 198
373. Shield in St. Alban's Abbey 203
374. Shield of Howard, after Flodden 205
374A. Howard Augmentation 205
375. Fan-Crest, Richard I. 209
376. Fan-Crest, Henry de Perci 209
377. Fan-Crest, Henry de Laci 209
378. Seal of Alexander de Balliol 210
379. Helm, &c., Thomas, Earl of Lancaster 211
380. Helm, &c., Geoffrey Luterell 212
381. Seal, Sir Robert de Marny 212
382. Seal, William de Wyndesor 214
383. Crest, Sir R. Grey, K.G. 215
384. Helm, &c., Richard II. 216
385. Helm, &c., Sir Hugh Hastings 217
386. Crest-Wreath, Sir William Vernon 217
387. Crest-Wreath, Sir Robert Harcourt 217
388. Crest-Wreath, Effigy at Tewkesbury 217
389. Basinet and Crest-Wreath, Sir H. Stafford 218
390. Seal, Earl Robert Bruce 225
391. Seal, Sir Walter Hungerford 225
392. Seal, Sir Robert de Hungerford 226
393. Badge, Tau and Bell 227
394. Ostrich Feather Badge 231
395, 396. Three Ostrich Feathers, Peterborough 231
397. Ostrich Feather Badge, Ludlow 232
398. Ostrich Feather Badge, Deanery, Peterborough 232
399. Ostrich Feather Badge, St. Alban's Abbey 232
400. Ostrich Feather Badge, Exeter Cathedral 232
401. Shield "for Peace" of Black Prince 234
402. Ostrich Feather Badge, Seal of Henry IV. 235
403. Ostrich Feather Badge, Seal of Thomas,
Duke of Gloster 235
404. Ostrich Feather Badge, Garter Plate
of John Beaufort 235
405. Seal of Devorguilla Crawford 239
406. Seal of Margaret, Lady Hungerford 240
407. Seal of Earl Edmund de Mortimer 242
408. Seal of Robert Graham 243
409. Seal of Sir Wm. Lindsay 243
410. Seal of Sir John Drummond 244
411. Pennon 247
412. Pennon of Percy 247
413. Banners and Pennons 248
414. Seal of Earl John Holland 249
415. Standard of Sir H. de Stafford, K.G. 251
416. The Royal Standard 252
417. The First Union Jack 253
418. Banner of St. George 253
419. Banner of St. Andrew 253
420. The Second Union Jack 254
421. The Banner of St. Patrick 254
422. Red Ensign 255
423. Royal Arms of Stuart Sovereigns 261
424. Arms of Nassau 261
425. Diagram of Arms of William III. and Mary 261
426. Diagram of Arms of William III. alone 261
427. Diagram of Arms of Anne 262
428. Arms of Hanover 262
429, 430. Diagrams of Royal Arms 262, 263
431. Crest of England 264
432. Signet Ring of Queen Mary Stuart 265
433. Insignia of the Order of the Garter 277
434. "Lesser George" of the Garter 279
435. Jewel of the Thistle 281
436. Badge of St. Patrick 281
437. Badge of the Bath, Naval and Military 284
438. Badge of the Bath, Diplomatic and Civil 285
439. Badge of the Star of India 288
440. Victoria Cross 293
441. The Albert Medal 293
442. Seal of Lord Bardolf 318
443. Seal of William Mure 319
444. Seal of Thomas Monypeny 319
445. Seal of Richard Stuart 319
446. Seal of Earl Thomas de Beauchamp _Frontispiece_
447. Counter-Seal of the same 320
448. Seal of Earl Richard de Beauchamp _Frontispiece_
449. Seal of Sir Walter Scott, A.D. 1529 326
450. Insignia of the Order of the Thistle 280
451. Insignia of the Order of St. Patrick 282
452. Collar and Military Badge, Order of the Bath 283
453. Star of Knight Grand Cross (Civil) 285
454. Star of Knight Commander (Military) 285
455. Order of Merit 286
456. Collar and Insignia of Exalted Order
of the Star of India 287
457. Star and Collar of the Order
of St. Michael and St. George 289
458. Eminent Order of the Indian Empire 290
459. Badge of same 291
460. G.C.V.O. Star 291
461. K.C.V.O. Star 291
462. G.C.V.O. Badge 291
463. K.C.V.O. Badge 291
464. Distinguished Service Older 292
465. Imperial Service Order 292
NOTE.-- _Several illustrations used herewith in connection with the new
Orders created of recent date are inserted by arrangement with the
Editor of Debrett's "Peerage."_
ENGLISH HERALDRY
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
_Early Popularity of Heraldry in England-- Origin of English Heraldry;
Definition; Characteristics; Developments; Early Uses; not connected
with Earlier Systems-- Ancient Heraldry-- Past and Present Treatment
of the Subject._
"What! Is it possible? not know the figures of Heraldry!
Of what could your father be thinking?"
--ROB ROY.
[Illustration: No. 4.]
The sentiment unquestionably was his own which Sir Walter Scott made
delightful Di Vernon express when, with indignant surprise, she asked
Frank Osbaldistone of what his father could have been thinking, that he
had been permitted to grow up without any knowledge of Heraldry. Sir
Walter was right in his estimate of the high value of Heraldry as an
element of education: and, in professing herself a votaress of the
Herald's "gentle science," it was quite right in Di Vernon to suggest to
other ladies that it would be well for them if Heraldry should find
favour in their eyes also. The age of Rob Roy, however, was far from
being in harmony with heraldic associations: nor was the author of
"Waverley" himself permitted to accomplish more, than to lead the way to
that revival of a popular sympathy with every expression of early Art,
which now forms one of the most remarkable characteristics of our own
era.
In the olden time, in England, the love of Heraldry, which was prevalent
amongst all classes, was based upon an intelligent appreciation of its
worthiness. A part of the feudal system of the Middle Ages, and at once
derived from the prevailing form of thought and feeling, and imparting
to it a brilliant colouring peculiar to itself, Heraldry exercised a
powerful influence upon the manners and habits of the people amongst
whom it was in use. By our early ancestors, accordingly, as Mr. Montagu
has so happily written, "little given to study of any kind, a knowledge
of Heraldry was considered indispensable:" to them it was the "outward
sign of the spirit of chivalry, the index, also, to a lengthened
chronicle of doughty deeds." And this Heraldry grew up, spontaneously
and naturally, out of the circumstances and requirements of those times.
It came into existence, because it was needed for practical use; it was
accepted and cherished, because it did much more than fulfil its avowed
purpose. At first, simply useful to distinguish particular individuals,
especially in war and at the tournament, English Heraldry soon became
popular; and then, with no less rapidity, it rose to high honour and
dignity.
From the circumstance that it first found its special use in direct
connection with military equipments, knightly exercises, and the _mêlée_
of actual battle, mediæval Heraldry has also been entitled ARMORY. Men
wore the ensigns of Heraldry about their persons, embroidered upon the
garments that partially covered their armour,--and so they called them
_Coats-of-Arms_: they bore these same ensigns on their shields,--and
they called them _Shields-of-Arms_: and in their Armorial Banners and
Pennons they again displayed the very same insignia, floating in the
wind high above their heads, from the shafts of their lances.
The Heraldry or Armory of England, an honourable and honoured member of
the illustrious family of mediæval European Heraldry, may be defined as
a symbolical and pictorial language, in which figures, devices, and
colours are employed instead of letters. Each heraldic composition has
its own definite and complete significance, conveyed through its direct
connection with some particular individual, family, dignity, or office.
Every such heraldic composition, also, is a true legal possession, held
and maintained by an express right and title: and it is hereditary, like
other real property, in accordance with certain laws and precedents of
inheritance. But in this respect heraldic insignia are singular and
unlike other property, inasmuch as it is a general rule that they cannot
be alienated, exchanged, or transferred otherwise than by inheritance or
other lawful succession. Exceptions to this rule, when they are observed
occasionally to have occurred, show clearly their own exceptional
character, and consequently they confirm the true authority of the rule
itself. It will be understood, as a necessary quality of its hereditary
nature, that the significance of an heraldic composition, while
"definite and complete" in itself, admits of augmentation and expansion
through its association with successive generations. Thus, the Royal
Shield of EDWARD III. is "complete" as the heraldic symbol of that great
monarch, and of the realm under his rule: and yet this same shield,
equally "complete" (with one simple modification) as the heraldic symbol
of each successive Sovereign till the death of ELIZABETH, has its
significance infinitely augmented and expanded through its hereditary
association with all the Sovereigns of the Houses of Plantagenet and
Tudor.
Until the concluding quarter of the twelfth century, the traces of the
existence of Heraldry are faint and few in number. Early in the
thirteenth century the new science began to establish itself firmly
amongst our ancestors of that age; and it is certain that, as soon as
its character and capabilities were in any degree understood aright, it
grew speedily into favour; so that in the reign of HENRY III. (A.D.
1216-1272) Heraldry in England had confirmed its own claims to be
regarded as a Science, by being in possession of a system, and a
classification of its own.
The Crusades, those extraordinary confederacies without a parallel in
the history of civilised nations, were themselves so thoroughly a matter
of religious chivalry, that it was only an inevitable result of their
existence that they should give a powerful impulse to the establishment
and development of Heraldry in its early days.
But Heraldry, from the time of its first appearance in England, was
found to be valuable for other uses besides those which so intimately
connected it with both real and imitative warfare, with the fierce
life-and-death conflict of the battle-field, and with the scarcely less
perilous struggle for honour and renown in the lists. Very soon after
the Norman Conquest, in consequence of their presence being required to
give validity to every species of legal document, SEALS became
instruments of the greatest importance; and it was soon obvious that
heraldic insignia, with a representation of the knightly shield upon
which they were displayed, were exactly suited to satisfy every
requirement of the seal-engraver. By such means Heraldry became
interwoven as well with the peaceful concerns of everyday life, as with
the display of martial splendour and the turmoil of war.
Many attempts have been made to set aside the opinion that the Heraldry
of the Middle Ages in England was a fresh creation, a production of
indigenous growth: and great is the ingenuity that has been brought into
action to carry back the Heraldry of our own country from the
commencement of the thirteenth century through the previous elementary
stages of its existence, in order to trace its direct lineal descent
from certain decorative and symbolical devices that were in use at much
earlier periods. The careful and diligent researches, however, of the
most learned Heralds have at present led them almost unanimously to
reject all such theories as these, as speculative and uncertain. At the
same time, it is an indisputable fact that, in all ages of the world,
and amongst all races of men, some form of symbolical expression has
been both in use and in favour. And it is equally true that this
symbolism, whatever it may have been, has generally been found in some
way associated with a military life and with the act of warfare.
Soldiers, and particularly those in high command, have always delighted
to adorn their shields with devices that sometimes were significant of
their own condition or exploits, or sometimes had reference to their
country, or even to their families; and, in like manner, it has been a
universal custom to display similar devices and figures in military
standards of all kinds. At the time of the Conquest, as is shown in the
famous Bayeux Tapestry of the Conqueror's Consort, the shields and
standards of both Normans and Anglo-Saxons were painted, and perhaps the
latter were embroidered, with various figures and devices; but certainly
without any heraldic significance or any personal associations being
indicated by these figures and devices, which bear a general resemblance
to the insignia of the Legions and Cohorts of Imperial Rome. Figures
Nos. 5 and 6 give representations of the standards that are introduced
into the Bayeux Tapestry. The same species of decoration, consisting
chiefly of painted patterns, with discs, stars, crescents, and some
other figures, continued in use in our own country until superseded by a
true Heraldry; and may also be assumed to have prevailed in England in
much earlier times.
[Illustration: Nos. 5 and 6.--Lance Flags--Bayeux Tapestry.]
In still more remote ages a more decided heraldic system was displayed
upon signets, coins, shields, and standards. In this ancient Heraldry,
if so it may be termed, occasionally the important and characteristic
quality of hereditary association in certain devices is apparent. Thus,
Virgil (Æneid, vii. 657) assigns to Aventinus "_insigne paternum_" upon
his shield--his hereditary device, derived by him from his father. But
these devices generally appear to have their significance in a greater
or a less degree restricted, amongst the ancients, to certain particular
incidents; consequently in all these examples there is nothing to show
that the man who bore one device at one time, did not bear another
device at another time.[1] For example, Æschylus, the Greek tragedian
(B.C. 600), has recorded that Capaneus, when attacking the city of
Thebes, bore on his shield the figure of a warrior carrying a lighted
torch, with the motto, "I will fire the city!" But, on another occasion,
we have reason to believe that the same Capaneus bore quite a different
device, applicable to that other occasion; and this deprives these
ancient devices, heraldic as they are in their general character, of
that special personal association which true Heraldry requires and,
indeed, implies. The beautiful painted vases, the works of Greek
artists, that are discovered in such extraordinary numbers and in
perfect preservation in some parts of Italy, constantly give most
striking representations of the shields of ancient Greek warriors and
other personages, with what appear heraldic devices displayed upon them.
These shields illustrate, in a remarkable manner, both the appropriate
significance of particular devices, and the usage then prevalent for a
variety of devices to be borne on different occasions by the same
individual. Shields upon vases in the collections in the Museum of the
Louvre at Paris, and in the British Museum, where they are easy of
access, contain a great variety of devices. The examples, Nos. 7, 8, 9,
and 10, are from our own National Collections. No. 7, the shield black,
the border and the pegasus red; No. 8, the shield black, and the two
dolphins white; No. 9, the shield black, with a border adorned with red
discs, the serpent white; No. 10, the shield black, with purple border,
the three human legs conjoined white. The shields, Nos. 9 and 10, are
both borne by the goddess +ATHÊNÊ+ (Minerva); and the remarkable device
displayed on No. 10 is also found on the coins of ancient Sicily. Other
similar shields display lions, horses, dogs, wild boars, fish, birds,
clusters of leaves, chariots and chariot-wheels, votive tripods,
serpents, scorpions, with many others, including occasional examples
of human figures. In another collection I have seen an anchor and an
Amazon's bow. A device differing from that in No. 10 only in having the
conjoined limbs in armour, will be found in our own English Heraldry to
be the armorial ensign of the Isle of Man.
[Footnote 1: In his "Hand-book of Engraved Gems," Mr. King maintains
that "the devices on the signets of the ancients were both
hereditary and unalterable, like our armorial bearings;" but, at the
same time, he admits that the "armorial bearings," which appear "on
the shields of the Grecian heroes in the most ancient pictures
extant, the Vase-paintings," "seem to have been assumed at the
caprice of the individual, like the knight's _cognisances_ at
tournaments in the days of chivalry, and not to have been
hereditary." --"Hand-book," page 216. Almost immediately, however,
Mr. King adds, that traditions exist which represent the mythic
heroes bearing "engraved on their signets the same devices that
decorated their shields." It would seem that the argument from such
traditions would rather indicate the signet-devices to have been
arbitrary, than the shield-devices to have been unalterable. While I
readily admit the very interesting devices of antiquity to possess
decided heraldic attributes, I cannot consider Mr. King to have
shown that, as a general rule, they were held by the ancients
themselves to have been either "unalterable" or "hereditary."
Possibly, further light may be thrown upon the hereditary quality of
ancient Heraldry: but, I certainly do not expect to see any evidence
adduced, which would establish a line of descent connecting the
Mediæval Heraldry of England with any heraldic system of classic
antiquity.]
[Illustration: Nos. 7-10.--Ancient Shields from Greek Vases.]
This Heraldry of Antiquity is to be regarded as the predecessor, and not
as the ancestor of the Heraldry of England. There may be much that is
common to both; but, there is nothing to show the later system to have
been a lineal descendant from the earlier. It would seem much more
likely that Heraldry, when it had been evolved, adopted ready made the
emblems of an older civilisation for its own purpose, often
appropriating at the same time the symbolism attaching to the emblems.
The Heraldry, therefore, that has flourished, declined, and now is in
the act of reviving in our own country in almost the full vigour of its
best days, I shall treat as an independent science, proceeding from a
single source, and from thence flowing onwards with varied fortunes,
side by side with the chequered chronicles of England. In the course of
its progress from the palmy days of EDWARD III., it has had to
encounter, in a degree without precedent or parallel, that most painful
and mischievous of trials--the excessive admiration of injudicious
friends. Hence, Heraldry was brought into disrepute, and even into
contempt, by the very persons who loved it with a genuine but a most
unwise love. In process of time, no nonsense appeared too extravagant,
and no fable too wild, to be engrafted upon the grave dignity of the
Herald's early science. Better times at length have succeeded. Heraldry
now has friends and admirers, zealous as of old, whose zeal is guided
aright by a sound judgment in alliance with a pure taste. Very much
already has been accomplished to sweep away the amazing mass of
absurdities and errors which had overwhelmed our English Heraldry, by
such men as Nicholas, Nichols, Courthope, Seton, Planché, Walford,
Montagu, and Lower: and the good work goes on and prospers, with the
most cheering assurances of complete and triumphant success.
CHAPTER II
EARLY HERALDIC AUTHORITIES
_Seals: Monumental Effigies, &c.: Rolls of Arms, Official Heraldic
Records, &c.-- Earliest Heraldic Shields and Banners-- Allusive
Quality of Early Armory-- Attributed Arms._
"Let us begin at the beginning."
--PURSUIVANT OF ARMS.
At the head of the earliest existing authorities in English Heraldry are
SEALS. To the fortunate circumstance of the legal importance attached to
them we are indebted for the preservation of these equally interesting
and valuable relics, in great variety and in very considerable numbers.
The heraldic evidence of Seals is necessarily of the highest order. They
are original works, possessing contemporaneous authority. Produced with
peculiar care and approved by their first possessors, their original
authenticity is confirmed by their continued use through successive
generations.
Having been in use before the introduction and adoption of Heraldry in
England, Seals enable us to compare the devices that preceded true
Heraldry with the earliest that are truly heraldic: and thus they show
that, in many instances, regular coats-of-arms were derived in their
hereditary bearings from similar devices that had been adopted in the
same families before the heraldic era. For example: the Seal of John
Mundegumri, about A.D. 1175, bears a _single fleur-de-lys_, not placed
upon a shield; and, accordingly, here is seen the origin of the _three
golden fleurs-de-lys_, borne afterwards upon a blue shield by the
descendants of this John, the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglintoun. Again:
the Seal of Walter Innes, A.D. 1431, displays the shield of arms of his
house--_three blue mullets_ (stars generally of five rays) on a field of
silver, No. 11; and these mullets may be traced to the _single star_,
that appears on the Seal of William Innes, or De Ynays, No. 12, appended
to his deed of homage to Edward I., in the year 1295. I have selected
these examples from the "Catalogue of Scottish Seals," published by Mr.
Laing, of Edinburgh, that I may be enabled here to refer in the highest
terms of admiring commendation to that most excellent work. It is
greatly to be desired that a corresponding publication should treat,
with equal ability, of the Seals of England which, from the dawn of
Heraldry, continue their admirable examples and illustrations throughout
its career.
[Illustration: No. 11.--Seal of Walter Innes.]
[Illustration: No. 12.--Seal of Wm. Innes.]
Monumental Effigies, Sepulchral Memorials, early Buildings, and early
Stained Glass, frequently are rich in authoritative examples of "the
figures of Heraldry." In addition to the various forms and combinations
of heraldic composition, these works illustrate the early style of
drawing in favour with Heralds during the great eras of mediæval Art,
and they have preserved to us most useful and suggestive representations
of various devices in their proper heraldic aspect. In many instances
the Heraldry of early Monuments and Architecture possesses a peculiar
value, arising from the circumstance of the shields of arms and other
insignia having been sculptured in low relief or outlined in incised
lines, and consequently these devices and compositions retain their
original forms: and, in like manner, the original colouring of the
Heraldry of Stained Glass remains safe from restoration or destruction,
in consequence of the impossibility of re-painting it.
The early written Literature of English Heraldry is calculated to throw
but little light upon either its true character or its history. In
addition, however, to the various and numerous official documents of the
Heralds' College, several examples of one particular class of heraldic
record have been preserved, the value of which cannot be too highly
estimated. These are ROLLS OF ARMS--long, narrow strips of parchment, on
which are written lists of the names and titles of certain personages,
with full descriptions of their armorial insignia. The circumstances
under which these Rolls were prepared are obviously not identical and
for the most part unknown: but, the exact accuracy of their statements
has been established beyond all question by careful and repeated
comparison with Seals and other Monuments, and also with Documents which
give only an indirect and yet not the less conclusive corroboration to
the records of the Rolls of Arms themselves. The earliest of these Rolls
at present known date about A.D. 1240 to 1245; and since in these
earliest Rolls a very decided technical language is uniformly adopted,
and the descriptions are all given in palpable accordance with fixed
rules which must then have been well understood, we infer that by the
end of the first half of the thirteenth century there was in existence a
system for the regulation of such matters. Heraldry was perhaps
recognised as a Science, with fixed terms and rules for describing
heraldic devices and figures, and established laws to direct the
granting, the assuming, and the bearing of arms.
The most interesting of these early heraldic Rolls records, in a
metrical form, and in Norman-French, the siege and capture of the
fortress of Carlaverock, on the Scottish border, by EDWARD I., in the
year 1300. In addition to very curious descriptions of the muster of the
Royal troops at Carlisle, their march northwards, and the incidents of
the siege (which last have a strange resemblance to what Homer has
recorded of incidents that took place during the siege of Troy), this
Roll gives some graphic personal sketches of the princes, nobles,
bannerets, and knights, whose banners and shields of arms are set forth
in it with minute exactness. This Roll, as well as several others, has
been published, with translations and very valuable notes.
In the Manuscript Collections of the British Museum also, and of other
Libraries both public and private, and in the County Histories, and
other works of a cognate character, there are many documents which
contain various important records and illustrations of early English
Heraldry.
In any references to authorities, that it may appear desirable for me to
make in the course of this and the following chapters, I must be as
concise as possible. A direct reference to Seals, Effigies, &c., will be
necessary in each case: but, in referring to Rolls of Arms, it will be
sufficient to denote the period of the authority in general terms.
Accordingly, I shall refer, not to each particular Roll, but
collectively to those of each of the following reigns--HENRY III.,
EDWARD I., EDWARD II., EDWARD III., and RICHARD II.; and these
references will severally be made thus,--(H. 3), (E. 1), (E. 2), (E. 3),
and (R. 2).
Amongst the earliest Shields and Banners of Arms, all of them remarkable
for their simplicity, many are found to be without any device whatever,
their distinction consisting simply in some peculiarity in the
colouring. Such examples may be considered to have been derived from
pre-heraldic times, and transmitted, without any change or addition, to
later periods. The renowned Banner of the Knights Templars, by them
called _Beauseant_, No. 13, is black above and white below, which is
said to have denoted that, while fierce to their foes, they were
gracious to their friends. An ancient Banner of the Earl of Leicester
(H. 3) is white and red, the division being made by a vertical indented
line; No. 14. This design, however, was not the coat of arms of the
earl. The Shield of the ducal House of Brittany, closely connected with
the Royal Family of England, is simply of the fur ermine; No. 15. The
Shield of Waldegrave is silver and red, as in No. 16: and that of Fitz
Warine (H. 3), also of silver and red, is treated as in No. 17.
[Illustration: No. 13.--Banner of Templars.]
[Illustration: No. 14.--Banner of Leicester.]
[Illustration: No. 15.--Brittany.]
[Illustration: No. 16.--Waldegrave.]
[Illustration: No. 17.--Fitz Warine.]
[Illustration: No. 18.--Shield at Whitworth.]
Some of the earliest of the simple devices of true Heraldry were
evidently adopted from the _structural formation_ (or from a _structural
strengthening_) of the Shields, on which they were displayed. Thus,
a raised border, and bands of metal variously disposed in order to
impart additional strength to a shield, with distinct colouring, would
produce a series of heraldic compositions. A good example occurs in the
shield of an early Effigy at Whitworth, Durham, No. 18, in which the
heads of the rivets or screws employed to fix the border on the shield,
appear to have been made to assume the character of heraldic additions
to the simple border and horizontal bands. Other primary devices of the
same simple order, which in like manner may have had a structural
origin, I shall consider in detail in subsequent chapters. (See
particularly Chapter VI.)
The central boss, at once an appropriate ornament of an early shield,
and an important addition to its defensive qualities, when extended in
the form of decorative metal-work, would readily suggest a variety of
heraldic figures, and amongst others several beautiful modifications of
a simple cruciform device which it might be made to assume. The figure
called an escarbuncle, No. 19, is simply a shield-boss developed into
decorative structural metal-work. This figure appears in the Temple
Church, London, upon the shield of an Effigy, which Mr. J. Gough Nichols
has shown to have been incorrectly attributed to Geoffrey de Mandeville,
Earl of Essex.
[Illustration: No. 19.--The Escarbuncle.]
The greater number of the earliest devices that appear in English
Heraldry were adopted for the express purpose of their having some
_allusive association_, through a similarity of sound in their own names
or descriptions with the names and titles or the territories of certain
persons, dignities, and places. In exact accordance with the principles
and aim of primitive mediæval Heraldry, and in perfect harmony with the
sentiments and requirements of the age in which it grew up into a
science, devices of this kind addressed themselves in very plain and
expressive language to the men of their own era. In them they saw the
kind of symbolical writing that they could remember, as well as
understand. They also evidently liked the quaint style of suggestiveness
that was a characteristic of these allusive devices: and, it is more
than probable that there frequently lurked in them a humorous
significance, which by no means tended to detract from their popularity.
Devices of this same order have never ceased to be in favour with
Heralds and lovers of Heraldry. They were used in the sixteenth century
at least as commonly as in the thirteenth; but, as would be expected, in
the later period they often became complicated, far-fetched, and
extravagant.
This allusive quality, distinguished in English Heraldry as "_canting_,"
has commonly been misunderstood, and therefore incorrectly estimated, by
modern writers, who have supposed it to be a fantastic conceit of the
Heralds of a degenerate age. By writers such as these, accordingly, all
"_canting arms_" (by French Heralds called "_armes parlantes_") have
been absurdly assigned to a separate class, in their estimation having
an inferior heraldic grade.
The prevalence of the allusive quality in early arms may be assumed to
have been even more general than is now apparent, since so many of the
original echoes and allusions have become obscured or altogether lost in
the lapse of time, and through the changes that have taken place since
the accession of HENRY III. in the French language and in our own also.
The use of the Latin language, again, in the Middle Ages led, at later
periods, to translations of names; French names, too, were translated in
the same manner into English equivalents: and, at other times, the sound
of a Latin or a French (Anglo-Norman) name was transferred to an English
representative having a somewhat similar sound, without the slightest
reference to the original signification. Who, for example, in the name
of MONTAGU now recognises instinctively the original allusion to a
_mountain_ with its _sharply_ peaked crests, and so discerns the
probable allusive origin of the _sharp_ triple points of the devices on
the old Montacute shield, No. 20? It is easy to see how much must have
been unconsciously done, by such changes in names and their
associations, to obliterate what once was clear, significant, and
expressive. I must be content here to give, simply by way of explanatory
illustration, a very few examples of allusive arms; and, in so doing, it
may be well for me to observe that the early Heralds of our country
always employed the French language as it was spoken in their own times
in England as well as in France. In the time of HENRY III., G. de Lucy
has for his arms _three lucies_--fish now known as pike: Robert Quency
has a _quintefueil_--a flower of five leaves: Thos. Corbett has _two
corbeaux_--ravens: A. de Swyneburne has "_trois testes de
senglier_"--three heads of the wild boar, or _swine_: (E. 2), Sir R. de
Eschales has _six escallops_--_shells_: Sir G. de Trompintoun, of
Trumpington, near Cambridge, has _two trompes_--trumpets: Sir J. Bordoun
has _three bourdons_--pilgrim's staves: Sir G. Rossel has _three roses_:
and Sir O. Heron has the same number of _herons_. So also, for the
Spanish provinces Castile and Leon, a _castle_ and a _lion_: for
Falconer, a _falcon_: Butler, _cups_: Forester, _bugle-horns_: Arundel,
_hirondelles_--swallows: Wingfield, _wings_: Shelley, _shells_: Pigot,
_pick-axes_: Leveson, _leaves_: and Martel, _martels_--hammers. The
_Broom-plant_ with its seed-pods, in Latin _Planta genista_, No. 21,
gave its name to the PLANTAGENET Dynasty. I shall hereafter add several
other curious examples of devices of this class, when treating of
_Badges_, _Rebuses_, and _Mottoes_.
[Illustration: No. 20.--Shield of Montacute.]
[Illustration: No. 21.--Planta Genista.]
[Illustration: No. 22.--WILLIAM I.]
[Illustration: No. 23.--Saxon Princes.]
There is one class of early arms, which it is important that students of
Armory should observe with especial care, lest they be led by them into
unexpected errors. These are arms that were invented _after_ Heraldry
had been established, and then were assigned to personages of historical
eminence who had lived and died _before_ the true heraldic era. In the
days in which every person of prominence bore heraldic arms, and when
Heraldry had attained to high renown, it was natural enough to consider
that suitable armorial devices and compositions should be assigned to
the men of mark in earlier ages, both to distinguish them in accordance
with the usage then prevalent, and to treat their memory with becoming
honour. Such arms were also in a sense necessary to their descendants
for the purposes of quartering. No proof can be shown that the arms said
to have been borne by WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR are not of this order--made
for him, that is, and attributed to him in after times, but of which he
himself had no knowledge. These arms, No. 22, differ from the true Royal
Insignia of England only in there being _two_, instead of _three_, lions
displayed upon the shield. The arms of EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, No. 2, were
certainly devised long after his death, and they appear to have been
suggested to the heralds of HENRY III. by one of the Confessor's coins:
the shield is blue, and the cross and five birds (martlets) are gold. In
like manner, the arms attributed to the earlier Saxon Sovereigns of
England, No. 23, a gold cross upon blue, are really not earlier than the
thirteenth century. The arms, No. 2, having been assigned to ST. EDWARD,
a patron saint of mediæval England, were long regarded with peculiar
reverence. I have placed them, drawn from a fine shield of the
thirteenth century in Westminster Abbey, to take a part in forming a
group at the head of my Preface, with the shields of the two other
saintly Patrons of "old England," ST. GEORGE and ST. EDMUND, No. 1 and
No. 3--a red cross on a silver shield, and three golden crowns upon a
shield of blue.
CHAPTER III
_The English Heraldry that is now in existence-- First Debasement
of Heraldry-- Later Debasement-- Revival of English Heraldry--
Heraldic Art._
"Sans changer."
--MOTTO OF STANLEY.
English Heraldry, as it exists amongst us in our own times, is the very
same Heraldry that flourished under the kindly influences of the
greatest of the Plantagenets, though perhaps modified in some details by
changed circumstances. It is not of a new, but of the old, Heraldry of
England that I am setting forth the elements. Our Heraldry has had to
pass from good days to bad ones: and, having gone through the worst of
bad days, the circle at length has revolved, so that we are witnessing
the happy change of a vigorous heraldic revival. Heraldry already enjoys
a very great popularity; and, without a doubt, it will become still more
popular, in the degree that it is better and more generally understood.
For its complete ultimate success, the present revival of true English
Heraldry must mainly depend upon the manner in which we apply the
lessons that may be learned by us, no less from the warnings of the
recent evil days of the science, than from the example of the brilliant
ones that preceded them long ago. Nor should we deal faithfully with our
revived Heraldry, were we not to form a just estimate of whatever was
imperfect in the best era of its early history, in order to apply to
present improvement the lessons that thus also may be learned. It must
be admitted that the Heralds and Heraldic writers of the 17th century,
following the footsteps of some of their immediate predecessors, led the
way towards the thorough debasement of their own science. Their example
was not without effect upon those who followed them--men quite equal to
the perpetration of whatever had not been already done to bring Heraldry
into contempt. This was accomplished first, by gravely discoursing, in
early heraldic language, upon the imaginary Heraldry of the patriarchal
and antediluvian worthies: making a true coat of arms of Joseph's "coat
of many colours," giving armorial ensigns to David and Gideon, to Samson
and Joshua, to "that worthy gentilman Japheth," to Jubal and Tubal-Cain,
and crowning the whole by declaring that our common progenitor, Adam,
bore on his own red shield Eve's shield of silver, after the mediæval
fashion that would denote his wife to have been an heiress!
Then there set in a flood of allegorical and fantastic absurdities, by
which the fair domain of Heraldry was absolutely overwhelmed. Wild and
strange speculations, in a truly vain philosophy, interwoven with
distorted images of both the myths and the veritable records of classic
antiquity, were either deduced from armorial blazonry, or set forth as
the sources from whence it was developed. Fables and anecdotes, having
reference to less remote eras, were produced in great variety and in
copious abundance. The presence in blazon of animated beings of
whatsoever kinds, whether real or fabulous, led to rambling
disquisitions in the most ludicrously _un_natural of imaginary Natural
History. From every variety also of inanimate figure and device, the
simplest no less than the more elaborate, after the same fashion some
"moral" was sought to be extracted. The technical language, too, of the
early Heralds, had its expressive simplicity travestied by a complicated
jargon, replete with marvellous assertions, absurd doctrines, covert
allusions devoid of consistent significance, quaint and yet trivial
conceits, and bombastic rhapsodies. Even the nomenclature of the
Tinctures was not exempt from a characteristic course of "treatment,"
two distinctive additional sets of titles for gold, silver, blue, red,
&c., having been devised and substituted for those in general use (see
Chapter V.); of these the one set was derived from the names of the
_Planets_, and employed to emblazon the insignia of Sovereign Princes;
and the other set, derived from the names of _Jewels_, was applied to
the arms of Nobles. In the midst of all the rubbish, however, which they
thus delighted to accumulate, there may generally be discovered in the
works of writers of this class, here and there, references to earlier
usages and illustrations of original principles which, in the extreme
dearth of genuine early heraldic literature, are both interesting and of
real value. Nor are these writings without their value, estimated from
another point of view, as contemporaneous and unconscious commentaries
upon the history of their own times. It must be added that, in more than
a few instances, beneath the surface there lurks a vein of both
political and personal allusion, of which the point and bearing now are
altogether lost, or at the most are only open to conjecture and surmise.
And, again, even in their most extravagant and frivolous lucubrations,
the heraldic writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are not
without touches of humour; as when Gerard Legh (A.D. 1562), discoursing
of "beastes," remarks of the "Ramme" that in "aucthoritye he is a Duke,
for hee hath the leadyng of multitudes and flockes of his own kynde;"
and of the ass, "I could write much of this beaste, but that it might be
thought it were to mine own glorie."
The adoption of additional quarterings for the purpose of display, and
the introduction of more complicated compositions in the time of
HENRY VIII., were speedily followed by the substitution of pictorial
representations, often of a most frivolous and inconsistent character,
and many of them altogether unintelligible without written explanations,
instead of the simple, dignified, and expressive insignia of true
Heraldry. For example, in the year 1760, a grant of arms was made to a
Lincolnshire family named Tetlow, which, with thirteen other figures,
includes the representation of a book duly clasped and ornamented,
having on it a silver penny; while above the book rests a dove, holding
in its beak a crow-quill! This was to commemorate one of the family
having, with a crow-quill, actually achieved the exploit of writing the
Lord's Prayer within the compass of a silver penny. Amongst the most
objectionable of the arms of this class are those which were granted to
distinguished naval and military officers--arms, that certainly ought to
have conferred fresh honour on illustrious names, instead of inflicting
dishonour upon Heraldry itself. Battles by sea and land, landscapes and
sea views and fortified cities, flags of all kinds, with medals and
ribbons, all of them intermixed with devices not quite so unheraldic,
abound in these extravagant compositions. The arms of Lord Nelson, and
still more recently those of General Lord Gough, may be specified as
flagrant examples of this degenerate pictorial Heraldry. The Duke of
Wellington happily escaped a similar infliction. It would be but too
easy to enumerate other equally inconsistent and unheraldic
compositions: but, I must be content to refer only to the armorial
shield granted to the great astronomer, Sir John Herschel, on which is
displayed his forty-foot reflecting telescope, with all its apparatus!
These, and all such violations of heraldic truth and consistency, though
in some instances they are of very recent date, are now to be assigned
to a closed chapter in the history of English Heraldry. But in
considering them it must not be forgotten that this kind of grant was
not confined to this country, but flourished to a still greater extent
abroad.
In our present revival of English Heraldry, it is essential that we
impress upon our minds a correct conception of the twofold character of
all Heraldry--that it is a _Science_, and also that it is an _Art_. We
have to vindicate the reputation of our Heraldry, as well in the one
capacity as in the other. Of very noble heraldic Art we happily possess
original examples in great numbers, which have been bequeathed to us, as
a precious inheritance, from "the brave days of old." The style of Art
that we see exemplified in these early authorities we may accept almost
unreservedly as our own style; and we must aspire to sympathise heartily
with their genuine heraldic feeling. In our representation, also, of
almost all inanimate and natural objects in our own armorial
compositions, as a general rule, we may trust confidently to the same
good guidance. The early method of representation, indeed, must form the
basis of our system of treatment; and, we may faithfully adhere to this
rule, and yet occasionally we may find it to be desirable that the form
and the accessories of some devices should be adapted to modern
associations. In truth, it is not by merely copying the works of even
the greatest of the early heraldic artists, that we are to become
masters in heraldic Art. When the copies are good, copying is always
valuable, as a branch of study; but, if it be our highest and only aim
to reproduce the expressions of other men's thoughts, then copying is
worse than worthless. What we have to do is to express our heraldic Art
in the spirit of the early Heralds, to keep it in harmony with what, in
the best of the early days, they would have accepted as the highest
heraldic Art, and at the same time to show that our heraldic Art in very
truth is our own.
[Illustration: No. 24.--Prince JOHN OF ELTHAM, A.D. 1336.]
[Illustration: Nos. 25, 26.--Badge of RICHARD II., Westminster Hall.]
The treatment of animate creatures in Heraldry requires a certain kind,
and also a certain degree, of conventionalism. Here, as before, in the
early Heralds we have excellent masters; but, here we must follow their
teaching with more of reserve, and with cautious steps. We recognise the
happy consistency of the conventionalism which they displayed in their
representation of animate creatures, without any purpose to adopt it in
the same degree with them. Had the early Heralds been more familiar with
the living presence of the various creatures that they summoned to enter
into their service, without a doubt they would have represented them
with a much closer conformity to Nature. We must apply our better
knowledge, as we may feel confident the early Heralds would have applied
a similar knowledge had they been able to have acquired it. Heraldic
animals of every kind--lions, eagles, dolphins, and all others--must be
so far subjected to a conventional treatment, that they will not exhibit
a _strictly_ natural appearance: and, on the other hand, being carefully
preserved from all exaggerated conventionalisms, they must approach as
near to Nature as a definite conventional rendering of natural truth
will admit. The lions of the early Heralds, spirited beasts always,
generally show a decided disposition to exhibit their heraldic
sympathies in excess. They have in them rather too much that is heraldic
conventionalism, and not quite enough that is natural lion. And, with
the first symptoms of decline in heraldic Art, the treatment of lions
showed signs of a tendency to carry conventionalism to the utmost
extravagance. The same remarks are applicable to eagles. It must be
added, however, that truly admirable examples of heraldic animals
occasionally may be found as late even as the commencement of the
sixteenth century, as in the chantry of Abbot Ramryge, in the Abbey
Church at St. Alban's, and in King's College Chapel at Cambridge. It
must be our care to blend together the true attributes of the living
lion and eagle, and those also of other living creatures, with the
traditional peculiarities of their heraldic representatives. And we must
extend the corresponding application of the same principles of treatment
to imaginary beings and heraldic monsters, as they occur in our
Heraldry. The shield, No. 24, of Prince JOHN OF ELTHAM, younger brother
of EDWARD III., finely sculptured with his effigy in alabaster, in
Westminster Abbey (A.D. 1336), and in perfect preservation, gives us
characteristic examples of lions of the best heraldic era, their frames,
attenuated as they are, being perfect types of fierce elasticity. With
this shield may be grouped others, having admirably suggestive examples
of heraldic lions of a somewhat later date, which are preserved upon the
monuments of EDWARD III. and the BLACK PRINCE, severally at Westminster
and Canterbury. I shall refer to these fine shields again, and to other
admirable examples with them, hereafter (Chapter IX.). The
conventionalism in all these examples, however felicitous the manner in
which it is treated in them, is very decidedly exaggerated. These
examples, and others such as these, are not the less valuable to us
because their teaching includes an illustration of the excesses that we
must always be careful to avoid. I may here observe, that on the subject
of armorial Art I leave my examples (all of them selected from the most
characteristic authorities, and engraved with scrupulous fidelity) for
the most part to convey their own lessons and suggestions: my own
suggestion to students being that, in such living creatures as they may
represent in their compositions, while they are careful to preserve
heraldic consistency and to express heraldic feeling, they exhibit
beauty of form coupled with freedom of action and an appropriate
expression. "Freedom of action" I intend to imply more than such skilful
drawing, as will impart to any particular creature the idea of free
movement of frame and limb: it refers also to repeated representations
of the same creature, under the same heraldic conditions of motive and
attitude. And, here "freedom of action" implies those slight, yet
significant, modifications of minor details which, without in the least
degree affecting armorial truth, prevent even the semblance of
monotonous reiteration. Thus, at Beverley, in the Percy Shrine in the
Minster, upon a shield of England the three lions are all heraldically
the same; but, there is nothing of sameness in them nevertheless,
because in each one there is some little variety in the turn of the
head, or in the placing of the paws, or in the sweep of the tail. And
again, in Westminster Hall, the favourite badge of Richard II., a white
hart, chained, and in an attitude of rest, is repeated as many as
eighty-three times; and all are equally consistent with heraldic truth
and accuracy, without any one of them being an exact counterpart of any
other. In Nos. 25 and 26 two examples are shown from this remarkable
series of representations of this beautiful badge, each one different
from the other, and yet both really the same.
CHAPTER IV
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
SECTION I
_The Language of Heraldry-- The Nomenclature-- Style and Forms of
Expression-- Blazon-- The Shield: its Parts, Points, Divisions,
Dividing Lines, Varieties of Form, and Heraldic Treatment._
"The shield hangs down on every breast."
--LORD OF THE ISLES.
THE LANGUAGE OF HERALDRY.--The original language of English Heraldry was
the Norman-French, which may also be designated Anglo-Norman, habitually
spoken at the Court of England in the early heraldic era. After a while,
a mixed language succeeded, compounded of English and the original
Norman-French; and this mixed language still continues in use.
NOMENCLATURE.--Like its language, the Nomenclature of English Heraldry
is of a mixed character, in part technical and peculiar to itself, and
in part the same that is in common use. Thus, many of the figures and
devices of Heraldry have their peculiar heraldic names and titles, while
still more bear their ordinary designations. Descriptive terms, whether
expressed in English or in French (Anglo-Norman), are generally employed
with a special heraldic intention and significance. In the earliest Roll
of Arms known to be now in existence, which was compiled (as appears
from internal evidence) between the years 1240 and 1245, the
Nomenclature is the same that is found in Rolls and other heraldic
documents of a later date. This fact of the existence of a definite
Nomenclature at that time, proves that before the middle of the
thirteenth century the Heraldry of England was subject to a systematic
course of treatment, and had become established and recognised as a
distinct and independent Science.
STYLE AND FORMS OF EXPRESSION.--With the Nomenclature, a settled Style
and certain fixed technical Forms of Expression were introduced and
accepted in the thirteenth century; and, since that period, the Style
and Forms of Expression have undergone only such comparatively slight
modifications as tended to render them both more complete and more
consistent. As it was at the first, it still is the essence of heraldic
language to be concise yet complete, expressive, and also abounding in
suggestions. Not a syllable is expressed that is not absolutely
necessary; not a syllable omitted, the absence of which might possibly
lead to any doubt or uncertainty. In the more matured style, the
repetition of any important word in the same sentence is scrupulously
avoided; and, where it would be required, another form of expression is
substituted in its stead. Much meaning also is left to be implied and
understood, through inference, either based upon certain accepted rules
and established heraldic usages for the arrangement of the words and
clauses of a sentence, or derived from the natural qualities and
characteristic conditions of certain figures and devices: but, nothing
is ever left to be inferred when an uncertain inference might possibly
be adopted, or that can be understood clearly and with certainty only by
means of an explicit statement. Superfluous words and particles of all
kinds are altogether omitted. Descriptive epithets follow the nouns to
which they refer: as, a _red cross_ is styled a _cross gules_. The
general rules, by which the arrangement of the words in heraldic
descriptive sentences is determined, will be found in the last
subdivision of this chapter. Examples of heraldic Language,
Nomenclature, Style and Forms of Expression, will be given in abundance
throughout the following chapters and sections of this treatise. With
these examples students will do well to familiarise themselves: then,
let them prepare additional examples for that "practice," which (as
Parker's "Glossary of Heraldry" says, p. 60) "alone will make perfect,"
by writing down correct descriptions of heraldic compositions from the
compositions themselves; after which process they may advantageously
reverse the order of their study, and make drawings of these same (or,
if they prefer it, of some other) heraldic compositions from their own
written descriptions of them.
When any heraldic description of a figure, device, or composition has
been completed, a statement is made to signify the person, family,
community, or realm whose armorial ensign it may be. This is done by
simply writing the appropriate name, after the last word of the
description; or, by prefixing the word "for" before the name when it is
placed in the same position. Thus, a description of the three lions of
England is to be followed by the word--"ENGLAND"; or, by the
formula--"for ENGLAND." If preferred, with equal consistency the
arrangement may be reversed, and the Name, with or without the prefix
"for," may precede the description: thus--"ENGLAND," or "For ENGLAND,"
three lions, &c. It is to be borne in remembrance, that armorial ensigns
are personal inheritances, and--with the exception of Sovereign
Princes--by comparison but very rarely relate to _Titles_ and
_Dignities_.
BLAZON, BLAZONING, BLAZONRY.--When a knight entered the lists at a
tournament, his presence was announced by sound of trumpet or horn,
after which the officers of arms, the official Heralds, declared his
armorial insignia--they "blazoned" his Arms. This term, "to blazon,"
derived from the German word "_blasen_," signifying "to blow a blast on
a horn" (or, as one eminent German Herald prefers, from the old German
word "_blaze_" or "_blasse_," "a mark" or "sign"), in Heraldry really
denotes either to _describe_ any armorial figure, device, or composition
in correct heraldic language; or to _represent_ such figure, device, or
composition accurately in form, position, arrangement, and colouring.
But, as a matter of practical usage, pictorial representation is usually
allied to the word "emblazon." The word "blazon" also, as a noun, may be
employed with a general and comprehensive signification to denote
"Heraldry."
THE SHIELD:--ITS PARTS, POINTS, AND DIVISIONS.--Their Shield, which the
knights of the Middle Ages derived from the military usage of antiquity,
and which contributed in so important a degree to their own defensive
equipment, was considered by those armour-clad warriors to be peculiarly
qualified to display their heraldic blazonry. And, in later times, when
armour had ceased to be worn, and when shields no longer were actually
used, a Shield continued to be regarded as the most appropriate vehicle
for the same display. The Shield, then, which with its armorial devices
constitutes a _Shield of Arms_, always is considered to display its
blazonry upon its face or external surface. This blazoned surface of his
shield the bearer, when holding it before his person, presents (or would
present, were he so to hold it) towards those who confront him. The
right and the left sides of the person of the bearer of a Shield,
consequently, are _covered_ by the right and left (in heraldic language,
the _dexter_ and _sinister_) sides of his shield: and so, from this it
follows that the dexter and sinister sides of a Shield of Arms are
severally _opposite_ to the left and the right hands of all observers.
The Parts and Points of an heraldic Shield, which is also entitled an
"_Escutcheon_," are thus distinguished:--
[Illustration: No. 27.]
No. 27. A, _The chief_:
B, _The Base_:
C, _The Dexter Side_:
D, _The Sinister Side_:
E, _The Dexter Chief_:
F, _The Sinister Chief_:
G, _The Middle Chief_:
H, _The Dexter Base_:
I, _The Sinister Base_:
K, _The Middle Base_:[2]
L, _The Honour Point_:
M, _The Fesse Point_.
[Footnote 2: This term is very seldom if ever used.]
In blazoning the Divisions of a Shield, the term "_Per_," signifying "in
the direction of," is employed sometimes alone, and sometimes (having
the same signification) preceded by the word "parted" or "party." The
primary Divisions of a Shield are indicated in the following diagrams,
Nos. 28-35:--
[Illustration: Nos. 28-30, 31-33, 34-35.]
No. 28. _Per Pale_, or _Parted per Pale_, or _Party per Pale_.
No. 29. _Per Fesse_, or _Parted per Fesse_.
No. 30. (Nos. 28 and 29 together) _Per Cross_, or _Quarterly_ (the
latter is the more usual term).
No. 31. _Per Bend._ No. 32. _Per Bend Sinister._
No. 33. (Nos. 31 and 32 together) _Per Saltire._
No. 34. _Per Chevron._
No. 35. Tierced in pale (divided into three equal divisions by two
vertical lines), a form seldom met with in English Heraldry. Technically
this in English Heraldry is simply the representation of a pale. (See
No. 87.)
To these divisions should strictly be added the further division
_gyronny_ (No. 147); but neither the term _per_ nor _parted per_ is
ever employed in this connection. As will be seen, it is a combination
of the forms shown in Nos. 30 and 33.
A Shield may be further divided and subdivided, thus:--
[Illustration: No. 36.]
[Illustration: No. 37.]
It may be divided into any number of _Quarterings_ by lines drawn _per
pale_ and _per fesse_, cutting each other, as in No. 36, which Shield is
_quarterly of eight_: in like manner the _Quarterings_ of any Shield,
whatever their number (which need not be an even number), are blazoned
as, _quarterly of twelve, &c._ This, to whatever extent the dividing of
the Shield may be carried, is _simple Quartering_. Again: a quartered
Shield may have one or more of its primary quarters, or every one of
them, _quartered_: this, which is the subdivision of a part, _the
quartering of quarters_, is _compound Quartering_: for example, in No.
37, the Shield is first divided into the _four primary quarters_,
severally marked A, B, C, D; then, so far as the quarters A, B, D are
concerned, the "simple quartering" is subjected to the process of
"compound quartering," and quarters A, D are _quarters quarterly_, and B
is _a quarter quarterly of six_, while C remains unaffected by the
secondary process. The terms "_quarterly quartering_" and "_quarterly
quartered_" are used to signify such secondary quartering as is
exemplified in A, B, D of No. 37. The four primary quarters (A, B, C,
D of No. 37) are distinguished as _Grand Quarters_: consequently, the
quarter B of this example is the _second grand quarter, quarterly of
six_. This term "Grand Quarter" may be employed to distinguish any
primary quarter when any quarter in the Shield is "quarterly quartered."
DIVIDING and BORDER LINES, in addition to simple right lines and curves,
assume the forms that are represented in the next diagram, No. 38:--
[Illustration: No. 38.]
No. 38. A. _Indented_
B. _Dancetté_
C. _Wavy_ or _Undée_ (2 varieties)
D. _Engrailed_
E. _Invected_ or _Invecked_
F. _Embattled_
G. _Raguly_
H. _Nebuly_ (2 varieties)
I. _Dovetailed_
Two others, less frequently met with, however, are _rayonné_ and
_flory-counter-flory_.
[Illustration: No. 39.]
[Illustration: No. 40.]
[Illustration: No. 41.]
[Illustration: No. 42.]
[Illustration: No. 43.]
[Illustration: No. 44.]
[Illustration: No. 45.]
[Illustration: No. 46.]
[Illustration: No. 47.]
THE SHIELD: ITS VARIETIES OF FORM.--The front face of an heraldic Shield
is generally flat; but sometimes the curved edges are made to appear as
if they had been slightly rounded off. Some early Shields are
represented as _bowed_--hollowed, that is, in order to cover more
closely the person of the bearer, and consequently having a convex
external contour, as in No. 39. In early examples of bowed Shields the
whole of the armorial blazonry is sometimes displayed on the face of
that portion of the Shield which is shown. A _ridge_, dividing them in
pale, but not necessarily in any way acting as an heraldic dividing
line, appears in many Shields, and particularly in those of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The large elongated Shields that have
been entitled "kite-shaped," and which were in use in the days of
RICHARD I. and amongst the Barons of Magna Charta, were superseded by
the smaller "heater-shaped" Shield as early as the reign of HENRY III.
The most beautiful forms of this Shield are represented in Nos. 40, 41,
and 42: of these, No. 40 has its curves described about the sides of an
inverted equilateral triangle, and then they are prolonged by vertical
lines towards the chief: in Nos. 41, 42, the sides curve from the chief
to the base. The forms of Shields admit of various slight modifications,
to adjust them to varying conditions. Towards the close of the
fourteenth century the form of the Shield is found to undergo some
singular changes: and, at later periods, changes in form of this kind
became generally prevalent. Nos. 43, 44, exemplify such changes as
these: they also show the curved notch that was cut in the dexter chief
of the Shields of the same periods, to permit the lance to pass through
it as the Shield hung down on the breast: a Shield so pierced is said to
be _à bouche_. The Surface of the Shield, No. 43, which is in the
Episcopal palace at Exeter, is wrought into a series of shallow hollows,
which curve gracefully from the central ridge, some to the dexter, and
others to the sinister. Such a Shield as this may be consistently used
in our own Heraldry: but, since now we do not associate lances laid in
rest with our heraldic Shields, it appears desirable that we should not
draw our Shields _à bouche_. In recent Heraldry the Shield has commonly
been made to appear such an unsightly and un-heraldic deformity as is
represented in No. 45. Instead of a true heraldic Shield also, a rounded
oval with a convex surface, called a _cartouche_, or _cartouche shield_,
No. 46, is occasionally used for the display of armorial blazonry; or a
circle is substituted for such an oval. These cartouches probably owe
their origin to the usage of placing a Garter of the Order about a
Shield (prevalent in the fifteenth century), and to a subsequent period,
when we find the omission of the exact outline of the actual Shield. But
their frequent appearance in Ecclesiastical Heraldry suggests that
perhaps they were deliberately preferred to the purely military shield.
A _Lozenge_, No. 47, takes the place of a Shield to bear the arms of
Ladies, with the exception of the Sovereign; this very inconvenient
substitute for the heraldic Shield was introduced early in the
fourteenth century.
THE SHIELD: ITS HERALDIC TREATMENT.--When a Shield is represented as
standing erect, it is not necessary to specify that fact, since such a
position may be assumed for a Shield unless another be set forth in
blazoning. Shields are sometimes made to appear suspended by the
_guige_, or shield-belt (which was worn by Knights to sustain and secure
their Shields to their persons); in some Seals and generally in
architectural compositions, Shields-of-Arms appear suspended, erect,
from their guiges; at Westminster some of the earliest Shields are thus
suspended, with a very happy effect, from two points of suspension, the
guige passing over sculptured heads, as in No. 48, the Arms of Provence,
borne by ALIANORE of Provence, Queen of HENRY III.--the _shield_ is
_gold_, and on it are blazoned _four red pallets_. In Seals, the
suspended Shield is generally represented hanging by the sinister-chief
angle, as in No. 49; and it hangs thus diagonally from below the helm.
A Shield thus placed is said to be "_couché_." This arrangement is also
frequently adopted, when a Shield or an Achievement of arms is not
placed upon a Seal; but in any case the position has no importance
except as a matter of artistic treatment.
[Illustration: No. 48.--Arms of Provence, Westminster Abbey.]
[Illustration: No. 49.--Shield Couché.]
The entire surface of every Shield is termed the "_Field_." The same
term is also applied to _every plain surface_. A Shield is said to be
"borne" by the personage to whom it belongs: and, in its turn, the
Shield "bears" whatever figures and devices may be displayed upon it;
whence, all these figures and devices are entitled "_Bearings_" or
"_Armorial Bearings_." All figures and devices are also styled
"_Charges_"; and they are said to be "_charged_" upon a Shield, Banner,
or Surcoat, or upon one another. In blazoning, the field of the Shield
is always first noticed and described: next follow the charges that rest
upon the field of the Shield itself; then descriptions are given of the
secondary bearings that are charged upon others of greater importance.
As a general rule, of several charges which all alike rest immediately
upon the field of the Shield, the most important is the first to be
blazoned; so that the arrangement of blazoning is determined by the
comparative dignity of the bearings, as well as by the degree in which
charges are nearer to the field and further from beholders. In some
cases, however, a bearing charged upon the field of a Shield and many
times repeated on a small scale, is blazoned (for the sake of simplicity
and clearness of expression) next to the field of the Shield
itself:--thus, if a lion be charged on the field of a Shield, and a
considerable number of crosses surround the lion, and, like him, are
placed on the field of the Shield also--the field of the Shield is
blazoned first, the crosses second, and the lion third; and, if a
crescent (or other bearing) be charged upon the lion's shoulder, it is
the last in the blazon. In quartered Shields the blazoning commences
afresh with each quartering. In blazoning armorial banners and
horse-trappings, the latter often gorgeously enriched with heraldic
blazonry, the dexter side of a flag is always next to the staff, and the
head of a horse is supposed always to be looking towards the dexter.
CHAPTER V
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
SECTION II
_The Tinctures' Metals-- Colours-- Furs-- Varied Fields-- Law of
Tinctures-- Counterchanging-- Diaper-- Disposition-- Blazoning in
Tinctures._
"All the devices blazoned on the Shield
In their own tinct"
--ELAINE.
In English Heraldry the TINCTURES comprise _Two Metals_, _Five Colours_,
and _Eight Furs_. They are symbolised or indicated by dots and lines--a
very convenient system, said to have been introduced, about the year
1630, by an Italian named Silvestre de Petrasancta. Some such
symbolisation, however, may occasionally be found in anticipation of
Petrasancta. The system now in use was not generally adopted till the
commencement of the eighteenth century. This system is never officially
employed in a matter of record, and is now being discarded by many
artists. The Metals, Colours, and Furs are named, their names are
abbreviated, and they are severally indicated, as follows:--
[Illustration: No. 50.]
[Illustration: No. 51.]
[Illustration: No. 52.]
[Illustration: No. 53.]
[Illustration: No. 54.]
[Illustration: No. 55.]
[Illustration: No. 56.]
TWO METALS.
TITLES ABBREVIATIONS SYMBOLISATION.
1. Gold _Or_ Or No. 50.
2. Silver _Argent_ Arg. No. 51.
FIVE COLOURS
TITLES ABBREVIATIONS SYMBOLISATION.
1. Blue _Azure_ _Az._ No. 52.
2. Red _Gules_ _Gu._ No. 53.
3. Black _Sable_ _Sa._ No. 54.
4. Green _Vert_ _Vert_ No. 55.
5. Purple _Purpure_ _Purp._ No. 56
(In French Heraldry, _Green_ is _Sinople_.)
[Illustration: No. 57.]
[Illustration: No. 58.]
[Illustration: No. 59.]
[Illustration: No. 60.]
[Illustration: No. 61.]
[Illustration: No. 62.]
[Illustration: No. 63.]
[Illustration: No. 64.]
[Illustration: No. 65.]
EIGHT FURS (not abbreviated).
TITLES
1. _Ermine_,--black spots on white No. 57.
2. _Ermines_,--white spots on black No. 58.
3. _Erminois_,--black spots on gold No. 59.
4. _Pean_,--gold spots on black No. 60.
5. _Vair_,--alternate divisions of blue and white, Nos. 61, 62.
6. _Counter Vair_ (note difference of arrangement) No. 63.
7. _Potent_ (note different shape of divisions) No. 64.
8. _Counter Potent_ No. 65.
Two other Colours, or tints of Colour, are sometimes heard of--_Tenne_,
a tawny or orange colour, indicated by vertical lines crossing those of
_Purpure_: and _Murrey_ or _Sanguine_, a dark crimson red, indicated by
diagonal lines from both dexter and sinister, crossing each other. These
two are sometimes termed stains, but their real usage was in liveries.
The Furs, Nos. 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, and 65, are of comparatively rare
occurrence, and do not appear in the best ages of Heraldry. _Vair_ and
_Ermine_ are common. A good early form of _Vair_ is shown in No. 62: and
in No. 57A, I give a fine example of the treatment of _Ermine_, from the
monument of EDWARD III.
[Illustration: No. 57A.]
In order to avoid repeating or referring to the word "_Or_," the word
"_Gold_" is sometimes used. The Furs, Nos. 61, 62, 63, 64, and 65, are
always _argent_ and _azure_, unless some other metal and colour be named
in the blazoning. Animated beings and all objects, that in Heraldry are
represented in their natural aspect and colouring, are blazoned
"_proper_" abbreviated _ppr._ Heraldic charges and compositions, when
sketched in outline with pen and ink or with pencil, and with the
colours _written_ thereon, are said to be "_tricked_," or "_in trick_."
VARIED FIELDS.--It is not necessary that the Field of a Shield, or of
any Bearing, should be of any one uniform tincture: but varied surfaces
are usually tinctured of some one metal and some one colour alternating;
and the patterns or devices thus produced are generally derived (the
Furs, Nos. 61-65, which are good examples of varied surfaces, being the
exceptions) from the forms of the original simple charges that are
distinguished as _Ordinaries_ and _Subordinaries._ And these varied
surfaces or fields are always _flat_; the whole of their devices or
patterns are _level_, their metal and colour lying in the same plane. It
is evident that, in representing any examples of this class, no shading
is to be introduced to denote relief.
[Illustration: No. 66.]
[Illustration: No. 67.]
Should the field of any charge be divided into a single row of small
squares, alternately, _e.g._ of a metal and a colour, as No. 66, it is
_Componée_ or _Compony_ (sometimes written _gobony_): if into two such
rows, as in No. 67, it is _Counter Compony_: but, if the field of a
Shield, or the surface of any charge be divided into three, or more than
three, such rows, it is _Chequée_ or _Checky_; thus, the Arms of the
Earl de WARENNE are _Chequée or and az._, No. 68 (H. 3 and E. 2).
THE LAW OF TINCTURES.--Every charge is supposed to rest upon the field
of a Shield, or on the surface of some charge. It is a strict rule, that
a charge of a metal must rest upon a field that is of a colour or fur;
or, contrariwise, that a charge of a colour must rest on a field that is
of a metal or fur,--that is, that _metal be not on metal, nor colour on
colour_. This rule is modified in the case of _varied fields_, upon
which may be charged a bearing of either a metal or a colour: also,
a partial relaxation of the rule is conceded when one bearing is charged
upon another, should the conditions of any particular case require such
a concession. This rule does not apply to bordures, nor very stringently
to augmentations or crests, and it is not so rigidly enforced in Foreign
as in British Heraldry. There are, of course, a few exceptions, but they
are not numerous, the one usually instanced as an intentional violation
being the _silver_ armorial Shield of the CRUSADER KINGS of JERUSALEM,
No. 69, upon which _five golden crosses_ are charged; the motive in this
remarkable exception to an established rule being said to be to cause
this Shield to be unlike that of any other potentate. What may be termed
the accessories of a charge are not included in this law of tinctures:
thus, a silver lion having a red tongue may be charged on a blue shield,
and the red tongue may rest on the blue field of the Shield.
[Illustration: No. 69.--Arms of Jerusalem.]
[Illustration: No. 70.--Arms of Fenwick.]
COUNTERCHANGING is dividing the field of a Shield in such a manner that
it is, _e.g._ in part of a metal and in part of a colour, and then
arranging the charges in such a manner that they shall be reciprocally
of the same colour and metal: thus, the shield of John Fenwick, No. 70
(R. 2) is,--_per-fesse gu. and arg., six martlets, three, two, one,
counterchanged_; that is, the field is red in chief and silver in base,
and the birds or parts of the birds on the red field are silver, and
those on the silver field are red.
DIAPERING.--This term denotes a system of decorating plain surfaces in
various ways, which was in great favour with the early heraldic artists.
In the use of Diaper, which is often desirable when artistic reasons
suggest its suitability, care must be taken that the decorative designs
and patterns do not in any way admit of their being mistaken for
charges. This diaper may be executed in low relief, subordinated to the
relief of the charges; and it is not required to yield any obedience to
the law of tinctures. In the Shield, No. 68 (the original, a very noble
shield, is at Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk), which is simply _chequée_,
the Diapering may be alternately azure and or on the squares that are
alternately or and azure; or the Diaper may be dark blue, or sable, or
argent on the azure squares, and on the golden ones whatever the artist
might consider would be most effective; but the Diaper, in this and in
all other examples, must always be subordinate to the area and tincture
of the field. The finest known early example of heraldic Diaper in
enamel, is the Shield of WILLIAM DE VALENCE, Earl of PEMBROKE, in
Westminster Abbey, A.D. 1296. Very beautiful early examples of Diapering
have been preserved in relics of heraldic stained glass.
[Illustration: No. 68.--Shield of Arms of Earl de Warrenne,
Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk.]
DISPOSITION: BLAZONING.--By _Disposition_ is understood the placing and
arranging of charges. A single important charge, which has not a fixed
position of its own, is placed in the centre of any composition: and
minor charges are arranged in their most natural and consistent order
and positions, any deviation from which must be specified. A single
charge, many times repeated, and small in size, whether with or without
any special orderly disposition, is said to be _Semée_--strewn, that is,
or scattered over the field, as seed is sown by the hand; or, if the
charges are very small or very numerous, the term _poudrée_ or
_powdered_ has sometimes been used. The expression--"_three, two, one_,"
signifies that a charge is repeated six times, the Disposition being
three in a horizontal row towards the chief of the Shield, then two in a
similar row in the centre, and one in base. In the same manner, the
expressions--"_four, four, one_," "_four, three, two, one_," "_three and
one_," &c., are used as occasion may require. For other dispositions of
charges other appropriate terms will present themselves to our notice,
growing out of our subject as it advances.
Should a _Tincture_ or a _Number_ occur a second time in blazoning a
single composition, it must be indicated, not by repeating the word
already used, but by reference to it. Thus, if the tincture of the field
should occur a second time, reference is made to it in the formula--"_of
the field_:" or, perhaps more frequently--"_of the first_;" or, if the
tincture that is named second in order in the blazoning be repeated, it
is indicated by the expression--"_of the second_;" and so on. Again:
should there be three fleurs de lys and also three crescents in one and
the same composition, having specified the "three fleurs de lys," the
number of the crescents would be set forth in the words--"_as many_
crescents:" providing nothing else has in the wording of the blazon
intervened in such a way as to cause uncertainty by the use of the term;
and so, in like manner, with any other numbers of these or of any other
charges.
In descriptive Blazoning, Epithets, which follow their own Nouns,
precede the Tinctures that are associated with those nouns: thus,
a black rampant lion having golden claws is blazoned,--_a lion rampt.
sa., armed or_. In written and printed blazoning, the arrangement of the
words and the placing the stops are alike matters of supreme importance.
The sentences are to be short. A comma is to mark the end of each
complete minor clause or division of a sentence: a colon, each more
important clause. A point or period is to follow every abbreviated word,
to mark the fact of the abbreviation, but without affecting the
additional presence of a comma (as in the blazoning, "_a lion rampant
sa._,") or of a colon, as the case may be; but a second period is
unnecessary. It is a very common error to overload heraldic blazoning
with commas which, instead of aiding to simplify the sentences, obscure
the meaning and perplex the reader. It is always correct to
write--"_three lion's heads_," "_six pilgrim's staves_," &c.: and always
incorrect to write--"_three lions' heads_," "_six pilgrims' staves_,"
&c.; but it is a point printers have an apparently invincible objection
to accept.
EMBLAZONING IN TINCTURES.--On this head I must be content to offer to
students only a few brief practical observations. The metal _Gold_ may
be rendered with gold prepared in small saucers, or (most
advantageously) in minute slabs; this preparation is applied, like a
common water-colour, by moistening the gold with water; and it is
desirable previously to have washed the paper, card (or vellum) with
diluted white of egg. Gold leaf may also be used, but the process is
tedious, and requires both skill and experience to ensure complete
success. Yellow paint, again, may be used to represent the metal, the
best colours being _cadmium yellow_, or "_aureolin_" (Winsor and Newton)
mixed with _Chinese white_. For shading, _carmine_, or _crimson lake_,
mixed with gum. For _Silver_, _aluminium_ may be used with excellent
effect; or _Chinese white_; or the paper may be left white: for shading,
_grey_ (_blue_ and _Indian ink_ mixed) and gum. The Aluminium is
prepared, like the gold, in minute slabs: it may be obtained, of great
excellence, from Messrs. Winsor & Newton, by whom also a very pure
preparation of gold is sold; but both the gold and the aluminium slabs
are sold by all good artists' colourmen. These Metals may be diapered,
as well as burnished, with an agate-burnisher.
For _Azure_:--_French blue_, freely mixed with _Chinese white_ and a
very little gum, the colour to be laid on thick: shade with _Prussian
blue_ mixed with a larger proportion of gum. For _Gules_:--_Orange
vermilion_ either pure, or mixed with a very little _cadmium yellow_ or
_Chinese white_, and still less gum: (never use a brilliant but most
treacherous preparation known as "pure scarlet:") shade with _carmine_
or _crimson lake_, and gum. For _Vert_:--_emerald green_, with _Chinese
white_ and a little gum: shade with dark green, made from mixing
_aureolin_ (or _gamboge_) with _Prussian blue_ and gum. For
_Purpure_:--mix _carmine_ and _French blue_, with a little gum: shade
with a darker tint of the same. For _Sable_:--Very dark _grey_, made by
mixing a little _Chinese white_ and gum with black: shade with black and
more gum.
When the Metals are rendered by gold and aluminium, it is desirable that
these tinctures should be applied, and that the diapering and burnishing
of the Metals should also be completed with the burnisher, before the
adjoining colours are laid on. The burnishing may be executed in two or
three hours after the Metals have been applied to the paper; and the
paper should be placed upon a piece of glass during the processes of
burnishing and diapering.
CHAPTER VI
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
SECTION III
_The Ordinaries:-- The Chief; Fesse; Bar; Pale; Cross, its heraldic
varieties; Bend; Saltire; Chevron; and Pile._
"Marks of Hereditary Honour, given or authorised by some supreme
Power."
--SCIENCE OF HERALDRY.
THE ORDINARIES.--The simple Charges of early Heraldry, which always have
been held in the highest esteem and which are most familiar, are:--The
_Chief_, the _Fesse_, the _Bar_, the _Pale_, the _Cross_, the _Bend_,
the _Saltire_, the _Chevron_, and the _Pile_. They may be considered to
have been derived from various means that were adopted to strengthen
Shields for use in combat, the _Cross_ always being in great favour from
having a definite symbolism of its own. These Ordinaries may be formed
by any of the Border Lines, No. 38. Occasionally they are borne alone;
but more generally they are associated with other bearings, or they have
various figures and devices charged upon themselves. In some cases,
presently to be specified, more than one Ordinary may appear in a single
composition. The _Bar_, the _Pale_, the _Bend_, and the _Chevron_ have
_Diminutives_. The _Cross_ has many _Varieties_.
THE CHIEF (H. 3), bounded by a horizontal line, contains the uppermost
third (or, in practice, somewhat less than the third, of the field of a
Shield, as in No. 71. The Shield of LE BOTILER, No. 72, is--_Or, a chief
indented az._ (H. 3). A Chief may be borne with any other Ordinary
except the Fesse; it may also be charged with any other figures or
devices:--thus, for Sire BERNARD DE BRUS, No. 73,--_Az., a chief and a
saltire or_: for Sire JOHAN DE CLINTONE, No. 74,--_Arg., on a chief az.
two fleurs de lys or_: and for Sire JOHAN DE CLINTONE de Madestoke, No.
75,--_Arg., on a chief az. two mullets or_ (all E. 2). When any charge
is set in the uppermost third of a Shield, or when several charges are
disposed in a horizontal row across the uppermost part of a Shield, they
all are said to be "_in Chief_."
[Illustration: No. 71.]
[Illustration: No. 72.--Le Botiler.]
[Illustration: No. 73.--De Brus.]
[Illustration: No. 74.]
[Illustration: No. 75.--De Clintone.]
[Illustration: No. 76.--De Clifford]
[Illustration: No. 77.--De Pateshulle.]
[Illustration: No. 78.--Le Vavasour.]
THE FESSE (H. 3), which crosses the centre of a Shield horizontally,
when charged occupies about one-third (or rather less than one-third) of
the field; but when without charges, it is usually drawn somewhat
narrower. The Shield of Lord CLIFFORD is,--_Chequée or and az., a fesse
gu._, No. 76. For ROBT. LE FITZ-WATER,--_Or, a fesse between two
chevrons gu._: for JOHN DE PATESHULLE, No. 77,--_Arg., a fesse sa.,
between three crescents gu._ (all H.3): for WILLIAM LE VAVASOUR, No.
78,--_Or, a fesse dancette sa._: for DE HEMENHALE, No. 79,--_Or, on a
fesse between two chevrons gu., three escallops arg._: and for DE
DAGEWORTHE, No. 80,--_Erm., a fesse gu. bezantée_ (all E. 2). When they
are disposed in a horizontal row across the centre of a Shield, Charges
are "_in fesse_."
[Illustration: No. 79.--De Hemenhale.]
[Illustration: No. 80.--De Dageworthe.]
[Illustration: No. 81.--De Harecourt.]
[Illustration: No. 82.--Wake.]
[Illustration: No. 83.--De Huntercumbe.]
[Illustration: No. 84.--De la Mere.]
THE BAR (H. 3), which may be placed horizontally in any part of the
field except in fesse or at the chief of the Shield, is about one-fifth
of the field (or sometimes less) in depth. A single bar very rarely
occurs in blazon. Examples:--_Or, two bars gu._,--for DE HARECOURT, No.
81: _Az., two bars dancettée or_,--for DE RIVERES: _Or, two bars gu., in
chief three torteaux_,--for WAKE, No. 82. The Diminutive of the Bar is
the _Barrulet_, one-half of its width. When they are disposed in
couples, Barrulets are _Bars Gemelles_, these not being so deep as the
barrulet: thus, No. 83,--for DE HUNTERCUMBE,--_Erm., two bars gemelles
gu._ (H. 3). A Fesse or Bar, when placed between two similar figures
narrower than barrulets, is said to be _cotised_ by them; or, to be
"doubly cotised," when placed between two bars gemelles: thus, for DE LA
MERE, No. 84,--_Or, a fesse doubly cotised_ (or, _between two bars
gemelles_) _az._ (E. 2). An _even_ number of bars alternately of a metal
(or a fur) and a colour form the varied field which is to be blazoned
"_barry_," the number of the bars in every case to be specified--as,
"_barry of six_," "_barry of eight_," &c. If the number of bars exceeds
_eight_ (some writers say _ten_), it is "_barrulée_" or "_barruly_"; and
in this case it is not necessary that the number of the bars should be
specified, the word _barrulée_ being used alone, or the expression
"_barrulée sans nombre_" to denote a considerable number, but not a
fixed number of bars--the number, however, always to be _even_. But this
is a modern refinement of blazon to which little if any attention was
paid in early days. It is to be observed that while the bars, whatever
their number, if they are blazoned as bars, are to be treated as if they
were executed in relief upon the field of a Shield, a Shield that is
barry or barrulée has its field formed by bars which are all in the same
plane. Examples:--_Barry of six or and gu._, for FITZ ALAN of Bedale,
No. 85: _Barry of six arg. and az._, for DE GREY: _Barry of eight or and
az._,--for DE PENBRUGGE (all H. 3): _Barrulée arg. and az., an orle of
martlets gu._,--for DE VALENCE, Earl of PEMBROKE, No. 86; in this
example _ten_ bars are represented, but in the noble enamelled shield of
the first De Valence (A.D. 1296) preserved in Westminster Abbey, the
bars are _twenty-eight_ in number. Charges, not "in fesse" or "in
chief," that are disposed horizontally across the field are
"_bar-wise_."
[Illustration: No. 85.--Fitzalan of Bedale.]
[Illustration: No. 86.--De Valence.]
[Illustration: No. 87.--Erskine.]
[Illustration: No. 88.--Grandison.]
THE PALE.--Like the Fesse, this Ordinary occupies rather less than a
central third of the field, but it is _vertical_ in its position instead
of horizontal. No. 87, for ERSKINE, is--_Arg., a pale sa._ Its
Diminutives, the _Pallet_ and the _Endorse_, severally one-half and
one-fourth of its width, may be placed vertically in any part of the
field. A Pale between two Endorses is "_endorsed_" but the term
_cotised_ is also employed with this meaning. An _even_ number of
Pallets of a metal (or a fur) and a colour set alternately, form the
varied field to be blazoned "_paly_," the number of the Pallets (which
lie all in the same plane) always to be specified: thus--_Paly of six
arg. and az., on a bend gu. three eaglets displayed or_, for GRANDISON,
No. 88 (H. 3) Charges that are disposed one above another in a vertical
row are "in pale." This is the arrangement of the three golden lions of
England.
The CROSS (H. 3), formed from a combination of a Fesse with a Pale, in
its simplest form is set erect in the centre of the field, and it
extends to the border-lines of the Shield. If at any time it may be
necessary or apparently desirable specially to set forth in the
blazoning of a Shield, that a Cross charged upon it does thus extend to
the border-lines, such a Cross is blazoned as a "_Cross throughout_."
No. 1, _Arg., a Cross gu._, the armorial ensign of ST. GEORGE, the
special Patron Saint of England, may be blazoned as "_A Cross of St.
George_." Of this Cross, the great symbol of the Christian Faith,
Spenser says--
"And on his brest a bloodie Cross he bore,
The deare remembrance of his dying Lord....
Upon his Shield the like was also scored."
_Faerie Queen_, I. i. 2.
[Illustration: No. 89.--Cross fimbriated.]
[Illustration: No. 90.--Cross pointed.]
A Cross having a narrow border lying in the same plane with itself, is
"fimbriated," such a border being a "_fimbriation_": thus, No. 89, _Az.,
a cross gu., fimbriated arg._, represents the Cross of St. George in our
National "Union Jack." A Cross having its four extremities cut off
square, so that it does not extend in any direction to the border-lines
of the shield, is "_couped_" or "_humettée_". If the extremities of a
Cross are cut off to points, it is "_pointed_," as in No. 90. If its
central area is entirely removed, so that but little more than its
outlines remain, it is "_voided_," or (H. 3) "_a false Cross_" ("faux
croix"): when its four limbs are _equal_ in length, it is a "_Greek
Cross_," as No. 91: when the limbs are _unequal_, the lower limb or
shaft being longer than the other three, as in No. 92, it is a "_Latin
Cross_" or a "long cross": but neither of these two last terms are used
regarding the plain cross throughout, notwithstanding that differences
in the shape of the shield may materially alter the proportion of the
limbs. If a cross be formed of a shaft and two horizontal limbs only
(like the letter T), as in No. 93, it is a "_Tau Cross_," or "_Cross
Tau_": if it is pierced at the intersection of the limbs, and the entire
central area be voided, it is said to be "_pierced quarterly_." A Latin
Cross on steps, is "_on Degrees_," and it is distinguished as a "Calvary
Cross." Charges having a cruciform arrangement are "_in Cross_."
[Illustration: No. 91.]
[Illustration: No. 92.]
[Illustration: No. 93.]
[Illustration: No. 94.--Quadrate.]
[Illustration: No. 95.--Patriarchal.]
[Illustration: No. 96.--Fourchée.]
[Illustration: No. 97.--Cross Moline: Arms of De Molines.]
[Illustration: No. 98.--Cross Recercelée: Arms of Bishop Anthony Bec.]
[Illustration: No. 99.--Cross Patonce: Arms of William de Vesci.]
[Illustration: No. 100.--Fleurie.]
[Illustration: No. 101.--Fleurettée.]
[Illustration: No. 102.--Pommée.]
The CROSS:--its HERALDIC VARIETIES. The Cross-symbol appears in English
Heraldry under very many varieties and modifications of form and
condition, some of them of great beauty. The following engraved
representations of the various examples are so explicit, that
descriptions of them are unnecessary. The Cross _Quadrate_, No. 94. The
Cross _Patriarchal_, No. 95. The Cross _Fourchée_, No. 96. The Cross
_Moline_, represented charged upon the Shield attributed to the SAXON
KINGS OF ENGLAND, No. 23: this same shield--_Az., a Cross moline or_, is
borne by DE MOLINES or MOLYNEUX, No. 97. The Cross _Cercelée_ or
_Recercelée_ (H. 3),--_Gu., a Cross recercelée erm._, No. 98, for
ANTHONY BEC, Bishop of DURHAM. The Cross _Patonce_ (H. 3),--_Gu.,
a Cross patonce arg._, No. 99, from the Seal of WM. DE VESCI, A.D. 1220.
The Cross _Fleury_, No. 100, should be compared carefully with Nos. 97
and 99, the Crosses _Moline_ and _Patonce_. The Cross _Fleurettée_, No.
101. The Cross _Pommée_, No. 102. The Cross _Botonée_ or _Treflée_, No.
103. The Cross _Crosslet_, or _Crosslet crossed_, No. 104. The term
"_Crosslet_" is strictly applicable to any Cross on a very small scale:
but it is usually applied to denote a Cross that is crossed as in No.
104. Small Crosses Botonée are occasionally used as these
"Crosses-Crosslets,"--as at Warwick in the arms of the BEAUCHAMPS, the
Earls of WARWICK. Crosslets are frequently blazoned _semée_ over the
field of a Shield, in which case the special term _crusilly_ is often
used; and, in smaller numbers, they also are favourite Charges. No. 105
is the Cross _Clechée_ or _Urdée_.
[Illustration: No. 103.--Botonée.]
[Illustration: No. 104.--Crosslet.]
[Illustration: No. 105.--Clechée.]
[Illustration: No. 106.--Patée.]
[Illustration: No. 107.--Maltese.]
[Illustration: No. 108.--Potent.]
[Illustration: No. 109.--Avellane.]
[Illustration: No. 110.--Botonée Fitchée.]
The Cross _Patée_ or _Formée_ is represented in No. 106. No. 107 is the
"_Cross of eight Points_," or the _Maltese_ Cross: this example is drawn
from the portrait of PHILLIPPE DE VILLIERS DE L'ISLE-ADAM, elected
forty-third Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, A.D.
1521; this picture is in the possession of the Earl of Clarendon, K.G.
The Cross _Potent_, No. 108. The Cross _Avellane_, No. 109. The
_Crossed-Crosslet_, and the Crosses _Patée_, _Botonée_, and _Potent_,
are also drawn having their shaft elongated and _pointed at the base_:
in this form they are severally blazoned as a "_Crossed-Crosslet
Fitchée_" (or _fitched_), a "_Cross Patée Fitchée_," &c.,--a Cross, that
is, "_fixable_" in the ground; No. 110 is an example of a Cross _Botonée
Fitchée_. Several of these varieties of the heraldic Cross occur but
rarely; and there are other somewhat fanciful varieties so little in
use, as to render any description of them unnecessary. The student of
mediæval monumental antiquities will not fail to observe a certain
degree of resemblance between some of the Crosses of Heraldry, and those
that are incised and sculptured on sepulchral slabs.
[Illustration: No. 111.--Le Scrope.]
[Illustration: No. 112.--De Radclyffe.]
[Illustration: No. 113.--Le Boteler.]
[Illustration: No. 114.--Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford.]
[Illustration: No. 115.--Sir Gilbert de Bohun.]
The BEND (H. 3) resembles both the Fesse and the Pale in every
condition, except that it crosses the field _diagonally_ from the dexter
chief to the sinister base. No. 111, the Shield of SCROPE, is--_Az.,
a bend or_. A celebrated contest for the right to bear this simple
Shield took place, A.D. 1385-1390, between Sir RICHARD LE SCROPE and Sir
ROBERT GROSVENOR, which was decided in favour of the former. No. 112,
for RADCLYFFE, is--_Arg., a bend engrailed sa._ Two uncharged Bends may
appear in one composition: thus, for LE BOTELER--_Arg., two bends az._,
No. 113; and for FRERE--_Gu., two bends or_ (both H. 3). The Diminutives
of the Bend are the _Bendlet_ and the _Cotise_, the one containing
one-half and the other one-fourth of its area. A Cotise is sometimes
borne singly, when it is a _Riband_. A bendlet _couped_ is a baton.
A Bend between two Cotises is _cotised_: thus, No. 114, for DE
BOHUN,--_Az., a Bend arg., cotised or, between six lioncels rampt.
gold_; this Shield is engraved from the Seal of HUMPHREY DE BOHUN,
fourth Earl of HEREFORD (A.D. 1298-1322); in it the cotised Bend is very
narrow, evidently to give more space for the lioncels. Charges displayed
on a Bend _slope with it_--that is, they would be erect, were the Bend
to be set vertically and to become a Pale: thus, another DE BOHUN, Sir
Gilbert (H. 3), distinguishes his Shield by tincturing his Bend _or_,
and charging upon it _three escallops gules_, as in No. 115. In No. 88,
the eaglets also exemplify the disposition of charges upon a Bend.
Charges set diagonally on the field of a Shield, in the position in
which a bend would occupy, are said to be "_in bend_" and are arranged
in the same manner: but it would be quite possible to have three or more
charges each disposed bendwise; but yet, nevertheless, when taken
together occupying the position of a fesse and therefore described also
as in fesse. This distinction between charges bendwise (or bendways) and
charges in bend should be carefully noted. A field divided into an
_even_ number of parts by lines drawn _bendwise_, is "_bendy_," the
number of the divisions to be specified: as a matter of course, a field
thus "bendy" becomes a "varied field," in which all the divisions lie in
the same plane: thus, No. 116, for DE MONTFORD (H. 3 and E. 2)--_Bendy
of ten or and az._ Bendlets are in relief, as in No. 117, for DE
BRAY--_Vairée, three Bendlets gu._ If a field be divided by lines drawn
bendwise, and also by others drawn either vertically or horizontally, it
is "_paly bendy_," as No. 118, or "_barry bendy_," as No. 119. These two
forms, which, however, are very rarely met with, should be carefully
distinguished from a field lozengy. A Bend issuing from the sinister
chief is a _Bend Sinister_.
[Illustration: No. 116.--De Montford.]
[Illustration: No. 117.--De Bray.]
[Illustration: No. 118.--Paly Bendy.]
[Illustration: No. 119.--Barry Bendy.]
[Illustration: No. 120.--St. Andrew.]
[Illustration: No. 122.--De Neville.]
[Illustration: No. 121.--De Neville.]
The SALTIRE (H. 3), a combination of a Bend with a Bend Sinister, may
also be regarded as a _Diagonal Cross_. Thus, the Crosses of St. ANDREW
of SCOTLAND, and of St. PATRICK of IRELAND are Saltires--the former, No.
120--_Az., a Saltire arg._: the latter--_Arg., a Saltire gu._ The arms
of the great family of NEVILLE reverse those of St. PATRICK, and
are--_Gu., a Saltire arg._, No. 121: so Drayton has recorded that
"Upon his surcoat valiant NEVILLE bore
A silver Saltire upon martial red."
_Barons' War_, i. 22.
Charges set on a Saltire _slope with its limbs_ (all, however, pointing
to the chief), _the central charge being erect_; and the disposition of
charges set "_in saltire_" is the same: a single charge set on a Saltire
is blazoned erect on the central point of the Ordinary, as in No. 122,
another Shield of NEVILLE, in which the "Silver Saltire" is charged with
a _rose gules_. A Saltire may be borne with a Chief, as in No. 73.
[Illustration: No. 123.--De Stafford.]
[Illustration: No. 124.--Shield of De Clare.]
The CHEVRON (H. 3), in form and proportions is rather more than the
lower half of a Saltire. The Diminutive is a _Chevronel_, containing
half a Chevron, or perhaps less: thus, for DE STAFFORD (E. 2),--_Or,
a Chevron gu._, No. 123: for the great family of DE CLARE, from whom so
many other families derived their Chevrons and Chevronels--_Or, three
Chevronels gules_, No. 124 (H. 3). Two Chevrons may be borne in one
composition: or they may appear with a Fesse, as in No. 79: or with a
Chief, as (H. 3), for DE CROMBE--_Erm., a Chevron gu., and on a Chief of
the last three escallops or_; for ST. QUINTIN (H. 3)--_Or, three
Chevronels gu., a Chief vair_. A field _Chevronée_ is of rare
occurrence: the three Chevronels of DE CLARE, however, No. 124, appear
to have been derived from a field _Chevronée_: certainly, on his seal,
"Strongbow" has the Chevronée Shield, No. 125, about A.D. 1175. Charges
set on a Chevron, or disposed "_in Chevron_," are always placed erect.
[Illustration: No. 125.--Early shield of De Clare.]
[Illustration: No. 126.--De Chandos.]
[Illustration: No. 127.--De Brian.]
[Illustration: No. 128.--De Bassett.]
The PILE (H. 3), resembling a wedge in form, is borne both single and in
small groups. Unless some other disposition on the field be specified,
this Ordinary issues from the chief of the Shield. Examples: _Or, a Pile
gu., between six and charged with three estoiles_ (or _mullets_)
_counter-changed_,--for ROBERT DE CHANDOS, No. 126: _Or, three Piles
az._, No. 127,--for Sir GUY DE BRIAN; _Or, three Piles gu., a canton
erm._, No. 128,--for DE BASSETT (all H. 3): and (E. 2), _Arg., a Pile
engrailed sa._--for Sir ROB. DE FORNEUS. In early emblazonments three
piles appear almost uniformly to be depicted with the points converging.
But a distinction is now made, and when the piles are intended to
converge, as in No. 128, they are termed "_in point_."
The probable structural origin of these Ordinaries is sufficiently
apparent to render any further comment on that interesting circumstance
superfluous.
CHAPTER VII
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
SECTION IV
_The Subordinaries:-- The Canton or Quarter: The Inescutcheon: The
Orle: The Tressure: The Bordure: Flanches: The Lozenge, Mascle, and
Rustre: The Fusil: The Billet: The Gyron: The Frette-- The Roundles._
"The second in a line of stars."
--IDYLLS OF THE KING.
THE SUBORDINARIES. This title has been assigned, but without any
decisive authority, to another group of devices, second in rank to the
Ordinaries. Very few writers agree as to which are ordinaries and which
subordinaries; nor does there seem any reason why any distinction
between them should exist. Nor, indeed, save that all are exclusively
heraldic, why some of them should be regarded as anything more than
ordinary charges. These Subordinaries are the _Canton_, the _Quarter_,
the _Inescutcheon_, the _Orle_, the _Tressure_, the _Bordure_,
_Flanches_, the _Lozenge_, _Mascle_ and _Rustre_, the _Fusil_, the
_Billet_, the _Gyron_, and the _Frette_. The Canton, by the early
Heralds commonly styled the "Quarter," sometimes has been grouped with
the Ordinaries. And it must here be observed that the Lozenge, Fusil,
Billet, Gyron, and Frette were not used as single charges by the early
Heralds; but by them the fields of Shields were divided _lozengy_ and
_gyronny_, or they were _semée of Billets_, or covered over with
_Frette_-work, from which the single charges evidently were afterwards
obtained.
The CANTON (H. 3), sometimes blazoned as a QUARTER, cut off by two
lines, the one drawn in pale and the other bar-wise, or in fesse, is
either the first quarter of the field of a Shield, or about
three-fourths of that quarter, but smaller if not charged. The confusion
between the canton and the quarter is due to the fact that ancient arms
in which the charge is now, and has been for centuries past, stereotyped
as a canton and drawn to occupy one-ninth of the Shield, were uniformly
drawn and blazoned in early times with the charge as a quarter. But
there is a marked distinction now made between the canton and the
quarter. A _Canton ermine_ is of frequent occurrence, as in No. 128; but
it is generally borne charged, and it always overlies the charges of the
field of the Shield, as No. 129, for DE KYRKEBY (R. 2)--_Arg., two bars
gu.; on a canton of the last a cross moline or_; and, for BLUNDELL
(H. 3)--_Az., billettée, on a canton or a raven ppr._, No. 130.
[Illustration: No. 129.--De Kyrkeby.]
[Illustration: No. 130.--Blundell.]
The INESCUTCHEON (H. 3) is a Shield borne as a charge, and superimposed
upon another Shield larger than itself. When one Inescutcheon is borne,
it is usually placed on the fesse-point; but several Inescutcheons may
appear in one composition. The well-known Shield of the MORTIMERS
supplies a good example, No. 131 (H. 3)--_Barry of six or and az., an
inescutcheon arg.; on a chief gold, gyroned of the second, two pallets
of the same_: for DARCY--_Arg., an inescutcheon sa., within an orle of
roses gu._, No. 132 (E. 2): _Arg., three inescutcheons gu._, for DE
WYLLERS (E. 2), No. 133. This is also the well-known Scottish coat of
Hay.
[Illustration: No. 132.--Darcy.]
[Illustration: No. 131.--De Mortimer.]
[Illustration: No. 133.--De Wyllers.]
The ORLE (H. 3), blazoned by early Heralds as a "_false escutcheon_"
("_faux escocheon_"), or as an "_inescutcheon voided_," is the border of
a Shield or Escutcheon--a Shield, that is, voided of the central area of
its field, and, like an Inescutcheon, charged on a Shield. The arms of
BALLIOL, No. 134, are--_Gu., an Orle arg._ (H. 3). These arms are
blazoned on many Scottish Seals of the greatest interest, and on the
Seals of Balliol College, Oxford. Small charges are frequently disposed
about the border of a Shield "_in Orle_," as in Nos. 86 and 132.
[Illustration: No. 134.--De Balliol.]
[Illustration: No. 135.--Single Tressure Flory.]
[Illustration: No. 137.--Double Tressure flory counterflory.]
[Illustration: No. 136.--Single Tressure flory counterflory.]
[Illustration: No. 138.--Scotland.]
The TRESSURE (H. 3) may be regarded as a variety of the Orle; indeed, in
its simplest form it is a very narrow Orle, which is generally set round
with fleurs de lys. A Tressure thus enriched is represented in No. 135:
in this example all the heads of the fleurs de lys point externally, and
all their stalks internally, and this accordingly is blazoned as a
"_Tressure flory_." In No. 136, which, like No. 135, is a single
Tressure, the fleurs de lys are so disposed that the heads and stalks of
the flowers point alternately in contrary directions: this is blazoned
as a "_Tressure flory counterflory_." From this last example the
Tressure that is so well known in the blazonry of the Royal Shield of
SCOTLAND differs, in being "_double_." This, the double Tressure of
Scotland, is a combination of two such single Tressures as No. 136, and
it is produced from them in the manner following:--From one such single
Tressure, as No. 136, all the alternate heads and stalks of the fleurs
de lys that point internally are cut away and removed; then a second
similar Tressure, of rather smaller size, is denuded of all its external
adornment, and in that condition it is placed within the former
Tressure, leaving a narrow interval between the two. Each component half
of this "double Tressure flory counterflory," accordingly, has its own
independent series of demi-fleurs de lys, the stalks and heads of the
flowers alternating, and the one alternate series pointing externally,
while the other points internally. When in combination, these two series
of demi-fleurs de lys must be so arranged that the heads of the flowers
in one series correspond with their stalks in the other, as in No. 137.
I am thus particular in describing the process of producing the Royal
Tressure, because it is frequently to be seen incorrectly drawn. No.
138, the Royal Shield of SCOTLAND, now displayed in the second quarter
of the Royal Arms of the UNITED KINGDOM, is thus blazoned--_Or, a lion
rampt. within a double Tressure flory counterflory, gu._ It will be
observed that a narrow strip of the golden field of this Shield
intervenes between the two Tressures. There are many fine examples of
this Shield in Scottish Seals; in the Garter-plate, also, of JAMES V. of
Scotland, K.G., at Windsor; and on the Monuments in Westminster Abbey to
MARY Queen of SCOTS (A.D. 1604), and to the Countess of LENNOX, the
mother of Lord DARNLEY (A.D. 1577). Mr. Seton ("Scottish Heraldry," p.
447) states that the Tressure may be borne "triple"; and, after
specifying the Scottish families upon whose Shields the same honourable
bearing is blazoned, he adds:--"In the coat of the Marquess of HUNTLY,
the Tressure is flowered with fleurs de lys within, and adorned with
_crescents_ without; while in that of the Earl of ABERDEEN it is
flowered and counter-flowered with _thistles_, _roses_, and fleurs de
lys alternately."
[Illustration: No. 139.--De Waltone.]
[Illustration: No. 140.--Richard, Earl of Cornwall.]
The BORDURE (H. 3), as its name implies, forms a border to a Shield: it
is borne both plain and charged. Thus, for DE WALTONE (E. 2)--_Arg.,
a cross patée sa., within a Bordure indented gu._, No. 139: for RICHARD,
Earl of CORNWALL, second son of King JOHN (H. 3),--_Arg., a lion rampt.
gu., crowned or, within a Bordure sa. bezantée_, No. 140. The Bordure,
and its important services in Heraldry, will be more fully considered
hereafter. (See Chapters XII. and XIII.)
FLANCHES are always borne in pairs; but they are not of very early date,
nor do they often appear in blazon. _Flanches_ are formed by two curved
lines issuing from the chief, one on each side of the Shield: they are
shown, shaded for azure, in No. 141; and in No. 142 are their
Diminutives, _Flasques_ or _Voiders_, shaded for gules. But these
diminutives are hardly ever met with. There is a close resemblance
between these charges and a peculiar dress worn by Ladies of rank in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; but it is not easy to determine
whether the dress suggested the Flanches on the Shield, or was derived
from them. One thing, however, is certain--the dress must have possessed
very decided good qualities, since it continued in favour for more than
two centuries. It is remarkable that many of the ancient Greek Shields
have pierced Flanches.
[Illustration: No. 141.--Flanches.]
[Illustration: No. 142.--Flasques.]
[Illustration: No. 143.--Mascle.]
[Illustration: No. 144.--Rustre.]
[Illustration: No. 145.--De Burgh, Earl of Kent.]
The LOZENGE (E. 2), MASCLE (H. 3), and RUSTRE. The _Lozenge_ is a
diamond-shaped figure, or a parallelogram set diagonally. The _Mascle_
is a _Lozenge voided of the field_, No. 143; and the _Rustre_, No. 144,
is a _Lozenge pierced with a circular opening_. In the early days of
Heraldry the Lozenge and the Mascle were evidently held to be identical.
The Shield of the famous HUBERT DE BURGH, Earl of KENT, in the early
Rolls is blazoned as "_masculée_": but his Seal proves it to have been,
as in No. 145, _lozengy vair and gu._ The Lozenge, it will be
remembered, is always set erect upon the field of a Shield.
The FUSIL is an _elongated Lozenge_. The Arms of MONTACUTE or MONTAGU
(see No. 20) are--_Arg., three Fusils conjoined in fesse gu._, No. 20:
the Arms of PERCY are--_Az., five fusils conjoined in fesse or._
[Illustration: No. 20.--Montacute.]
[Illustration: No. 146.--Deincourt.]
The BILLET (H. 3) is a small elongated rectangular figure. Thus, for
DEINCOURT, No. 146--_Az., billettée, a fesse dancette or._ The early
Heralds blazoned a "Fesse Dancette" as simply a "_Dancette_" or
"_Danse_." See also No. 130.
[Illustration: No. 147.--Campbell.]
The GYRON, a triangular figure, not known in English blazon as a
separate charge (except perhaps in the one case of the arms of
Mortimer), gives its title to the _gyronny field_, which is more
commonly found in the Heraldry of the North than of the South. The field
gyronny generally, and more particularly in Scotland, is divided into
_eight pieces_: but the divisions are sometimes six, ten, twelve, or
even sixteen in number. A Roll of the time of HENRY III. has, for WARIN
DE BASINGBORNE--"_Gerony d'or et d'azur_." The Arms of CAMPBELL
are--_Gyronny or and sa._, No. 147.[3] Here, where there are eight
pieces of divisions, it is not necessary to specify the number; but if
they were either more or less than eight the blazon would be--_gyronny
of six, of ten, &c._
[Footnote 3: In the illustration the colours are unfortunately
reversed.]
The FRETTE, in more recent Heraldry, has generally superseded the
original _field fretty_. This interlaced design, whether borne as a
distinct figure, as No. 148, or repeated over the field of a Shield, as
in No. 149, differs from a field lozengy or gyronny, in being a bearing
charged _upon_ the field of a Shield, and not a form of varied surface:
No. 149, for DE ETCHINGHAM (E. 2), is--_Az., fretty arg._ An early
variety or modification of Frette is the _Trellis_ or _Treille_, in
which the pieces do not interlace, but all those in bend lie over all
those in bend sinister, and they are fastened at the crossings with
nails--"_clouée_," as in No. 150. RICHARD DE TRUSSELL or TRESSELL (H. 3)
bears--_Arg., a trellis gu., clouée or_.
[Illustration: No. 148.--A Frette.]
[Illustration: No. 149.--De Etchingham.]
[Illustration: No. 150.--Trellis Clouée.]
The ROUNDLES, or ROUNDLETS. These simple figures, in constant use in
every age of Heraldry, are divided into two groups, which correspond
with the division of the Tinctures into "Metals" and "Colours."
The first group contains the two Roundles of the _Metals_, which are
_flat discs_: 1, The _Bezant_, or golden Roundle, No. 151, which has
apparently derived its name from the Byzantine coins with which the
Crusaders, when in the East, would have been familiar. 2, The Silver
Roundle, or _Plate_, is from the Spanish "Plata"--_silver_. When Bezants
or Plates appear in considerable numbers, the field on which they are
charged is said to be "_bezantée_" or "_platée_." See No. 140.
The second group contains the five Roundles of the _Colours_, which are
_globular_, and are usually shaded accordingly. The _Torteau_, No. 152,
in the plural _Torteaux_, is gules: the _Hurt_ is azure: the _Pellet_ or
_Ogress_ is sable: the _Pomme_ is vert: and the _Golpe_ is purpure.
These distinctive titles, which are more calculated to perplex the
student than to simplify his study, are of comparatively recent origin,
the early Heralds having used the terms "_Bezant_," "_Plate_," and
"_Torteau_," with the general designations "_Roundle_" and "_Pellet_,"
adding the tinctures for the others. Examples:--_Az., bezantée_, for WM.
DE LA ZOUCHE: _Or, on a fesse gu. three plates_, for ROGER DE
HUNTINGFIELD: _Arg., ten torteaux, four, three, two, one_, for ALEX.
GIFFARD (all H. 3). See also Nos. 80, 82.
[Illustration: No. 151.--Bezant.]