FISH
Heraldry has a system of "natural" history all its very own, and included
in the comprehensive heraldic term of fish are dolphins, whales, and other
creatures. There are certain terms which apply to heraldic fish which
should be noted. A fish in a horizontal position is termed "naiant,"
whether it is in or upon water or merely depicted as a charge upon a
shield. A fish is termed "hauriant" if it is in a perpendicular position,
but though it will usually be represented with the head upwards in default
of any specific direction to the contrary, it by no means follows that this
is always the case, and it is more correct to state whether the head is
upwards or downwards, a practice which it is usually found will be
conformed to. When the charges upon a shield are simply blazoned as "fish,"
no particular care need be taken to represent any particular variety, but
on the other hand it is not in such cases usual to add any distinctive
signs by which a charge which is merely a fish might become identified as
any particular kind of fish.
The heraldic representations of the _Dolphin_ are strangely dissimilar from
the real creature, and also show amongst themselves a wide variety and
latitude. It is early found in heraldry, and no doubt its great importance
in that science is derived from its usage by the Dauphins of France.
Concerning its use by these Princes there are all sorts of curious legends
told, the most usual being that recited by Berry.
Woodward refers to this legend, but states that "in 1343 King Philip of
France _purchased_ the domains of Humbert III., Dauphin de Viennois," and
further remarks that the legend in question "seems to be without solid
foundation." But neither Woodward nor any other writer seems to have
previously suggested what is doubtless the true explanation, that the title
of Dauphin and the province of Viennois were a separate dignity of a
sovereign character, to which were attached certain territorial and
sovereign arms ["Or, a dolphin embowed azure, finned and langued gules"].
The assumption of these sovereign arms with the sovereignty and territory
to which they belonged, was as much a matter of course as the use of
separate arms for the Duchy of Lancaster {254} by his present Majesty King
Edward VII., or the use of separate arms for his Duchy of Cornwall by
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.
Berry is wrong in asserting that no other family were permitted to display
the dolphin in France, because a very similar coat (but with the dolphin
lifeless) to that of the Dauphin was quartered by the family of La Tour du
Pin, who claimed descent from the Dauphins d'Auvergne, another ancient
House which originally bore the sovereign title of Dauphin. A dolphin was
the charge upon the arms of the Grauff von Dälffin (Fig. 481).
[Illustration: FIG. 479.--Dolphin naiant.]
[Illustration: FIG. 480.--Dolphin hauriant.]
The dolphin upon this shield, as also that in the coat of the Dauphin of
France, is neither naiant nor hauriant, but is "embowed," that is, with the
tail curved towards the head. But the term "embowed" really signifies
nothing further than "bent" in some way, and as a dolphin is never
heraldically depicted straight, it is always understood to be and usually
is termed "embowed," though it will generally be "naiant embowed" (Fig.
479), or "hauriant embowed" (Fig. 480). The dolphin occurs in the arms of
many British families, _e.g._ in the arms of Ellis, Monypenny,
Loder-Symonds, Symonds-Taylor, Fletcher, and Stuart-French.
Woodward states that the dolphin is used as a supporter by the Trevelyans,
Burnabys, &c. In this statement he is clearly incorrect, for neither of
those families are entitled to or use supporters. But his statement
probably originates in the practice which in accordance with the debased
ideas of artistic decoration at one period added all sorts of fantastic
objects to the edges of a shield for purely decorative (!) purposes. The
only instance within my knowledge in which a dolphin figures as a heraldic
supporter will be found in the case of the arms of Waterford.
[Illustration: FIG. 481.--Arms of the Grauff von Dälffin lett och in
Dalffinat (Count von Dälffin), which also lies in Dauphiné (from
Grünenberg's "Book of Arms"): Argent, a dolphin azure within a bordure
compony of the first and second.]
_The Whale_ is seldom met with in British armory, one of its few
appearances being in the arms of Whalley, viz.: "Argent, three whales'
heads erased sable." {255}
The crest of an Irish family named Yeates is said to be: "A shark issuant
regardant swallowing a man all proper," and the same device is also
attributed to some number of other families.
Another curious piscine coat of arms is that borne, but still
unmatriculated, by the burgh of Inveraray, namely: "The field is the sea
proper, a net argent suspended to the base from the dexter chief and the
sinister fess points, and in chief two and in base three herrings entangled
in the net."
_Salmon_ are not infrequently met with, but they need no specific
description. They occur in the arms of Peebles,[20] a coat of arms which in
an alternative blazon introduces to one's notice the term "contra-naiant."
The explanation of the quaint and happy conceit of these arms and motto is
that for every fish which goes up the river to spawn two return to the sea.
A salmon on its back figures in the arms of the city of Glasgow, and also
in the arms of Lumsden and Finlay, whilst other instances of salmon occur
in the arms of Blackett-Ord, Sprot, and Winlaw.
_The Herring_ occurs in the arms of Maconochie, the _Roach_ in the arms of
Roche ["Gules, three roaches naiant within a bordure engrailed argent.
Crest: a rock, thereon a stork close, charged on the breast with a torteau,
and holding in his dexter claw a roach proper"], and _Trout_ in the arms of
Troutbeck ["Azure, three trout fretted tête à la queue argent"]. The same
arrangement of three fish occurs upon the seal of Anstruther Wester, but
this design unfortunately has never been matriculated as a coat of arms.
The arms of Iceland present a curious charge, which is included upon the
Royal shield of Denmark. The coat in question is: "Gules, a stockfish
argent, crowned with an open crown or." The stockfish is a dried and cured
cod, split open and with the head removed.
_A Pike_ or _Jack_ is more often termed a "lucy" in English heraldry and a
"ged" in Scottish. Under its various names it occurs in the arms of Lucy,
Lucas, Geddes, and Pyke.
_The Eel_ is sometimes met with, as in the arms of Ellis, and though, as
Woodward states, it is always given a wavy form, the term "ondoyant," which
he uses to express this, has, I believe, no place in an English armorist's
dictionary.
_The Lobster_ and _Crab_ are not unknown to English armory, being
respectively the crests of the families of Dykes and Bridger. The arms of
Bridger are: "Argent, a chevron engrailed sable, between three crabs
gules." Lobster claws are a charge upon the arms of Platt-Higgins. {256}
[Illustration: FIG. 482.--Whelk shell.]
The arms of Birt are given in Papworth as: "Azure, a birthfish proper," and
of Bersich as: "Argent, a perch azure." The arms of Cobbe (Bart., extinct)
are: "Per chevron gules and sable, in chief two swans respecting and in
base a herring cob naiant proper." The arms of Bishop Robinson of Carlisle
were: "Azure, a flying fish in bend argent, on a chief of the second, a
rose gules between two torteaux," and the crest of Sir Philip Oakley Fysh
is: "On a wreath of the colours, issuant from a wreath of red coral, a
cubit arm vested azure, cuffed argent, holding in the hand a flying fish
proper." The coat of arms of Colston of Essex is: "Azure, two barbels
hauriant respecting each other argent," and a barbel occurs in the crest of
Binney. "Vert, three sea-breams or hakes hauriant argent" is the coat of
arms attributed to a family of Dox or Doxey, and "Or, three chabots gules"
is that of a French family of the name of Chabot. "Barry wavy of six argent
and gules, three crevices (crayfish) two and one or" is the coat of
Atwater. Codfish occur in the arms of Beck, dogfish in the arms of Dodds
(which may, however, be merely the sea-dog of the Dodge achievement),
flounders or flukes in the arms of Arbutt, garvinfishes in the arms of
Garvey, and gudgeon in the arms of Gobion. Papworth also includes instances
of mackerel, prawns, shrimps, soles, sparlings, sturgeon, sea-urchins,
turbots, whales, and whelks. The whelk shell (Fig. 482) appears in the arms
of Storey and Wilkinson. {257}