MANTLINGS
Origin of Mantlings; Simple early forms; Colours of
Mantlings; Medieval usage as to colours of Mantlings.
In actual use the helm seems often to have been covered behind by a
hanging scarf or cloth of some kind, perhaps to temper the heat of the
sun, like a modern puggaree. Heraldically this is represented by what is
now called the mantling.
At first this was a simple affair, worn puggaree-wise, but by degrees it
was enlarged in representations until it extended on either side beyond
the helm, and was disposed in graceful twists and folds with dagged
edges, which have been supposed to represent the cuts it was liable to
receive during fighting (figs. 70, 71).
[Illustration: FIG. 70. Seal of William lord Hastings, _c._ 1461.]
The usual colour for the mantling, for a long time, has been red, and
its lining of ermine or white fur, but there is ample precedence for a
difference of treatment, as may be seen in that rich collection of
ancient heraldic art, the stall-plates at Windsor.
The earliest surviving plate, that of Ralph lord Bassett (K.G. 1368-90),
has a short black mantling, to match the boar's head that forms his
crest (fig. 72). A large group of plates set up in 1421 exhibits a
considerable variety. Thus the plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt has a
red mantling powdered with gold lozenges, a treatment suggested by two
bands of red similarly decorated which encircle the bush of feathers
forming his crest (fig. 73). The mantling of William lord Latimer is of
red and silver stripes, and that of John lord Beaumont, like the field
of his shield, is, together with the cap of estate, of blue powdered
with gold fleurs-de-lis. Sir Walter Pavely has also a blue mantling.
[Illustration: FIG. 71. Seal of William de la Pole earl of Suffolk,
1415.]
[Illustration: FIG. 72. Stall-plate of Ralph lord Basset, showing simple
form of mantling.]
[Illustration: FIG. 73. Stall-plate of Sir Sanchet Dabrichecourt, _c._
1421.]
Sir William FitzWaryn's mantling is quarterly per fesse indented of red
and ermine, like his shield of arms. The Captal de Buch, Raynald lord
Cobham, Hugh lord Burnell (fig. 77), Hugh lord Bourchier (pl. XVI), and
Sir Thomas Banastre have black mantlings, and John lord Bourchier and
William lord Willoughby d'Eresby (pl. XV) white mantlings lined with
red. Sir Miles Stapleton and the Soudan de la Trau have black mantlings
lined with red. Several early mantlings, too, are formed entirely of
silver feathers, with red, black, or other linings. These usually
accompany a feathered crest, like Sir William Arundel's griffin (fig.
74), or the earl of Warwick's swan (fig. 75), or Sir Thomas Erpingham's
bush of feathers. Another curious variation, which is found on four
early plates, has the colour of the mantling different on the two sides
of the helm, such as red on one side, and blue or black on the other. In
about a dozen plates between 1450 and 1470 the red, and in one case the
blue, ground of a mantling is relieved by a trailing pattern in gold,
sometimes in lines only, but more usually as leafwork or flowers. In the
plate of Walter lord Hungerford (el. 1421) the mantling on his
banner-like plate is barred with red and ermine (see fig. 136), in
allusion to the arms of his lordship of Hussey. Lastly, in the plate of
Richard lord Rivers (el. 1450) the mantling is red, sown with gold
trefoils, and lined with white, with gold tassels at the ends (fig. 76).
This is derived from the crest, which is the upper part of a man
brandishing a scimitar, and clad in a red tunic with standing collar
and large hanging sleeves, also sown with trefoils. The sleeves are
cleverly arranged in the plate, as if forming part of the mantling, and
are similarly dagged and lined and tasselled. On the stall-plate (_c._
1483) of Francis viscount Lovel the mantling is of purple sown with gold
hanging locks.
[Illustration: FIG. 75. Stall-plate of Richard Beauchamp earl of
Warwick, after 1423.]
[Illustration: FIG. 76. Stall-plate of Richard Wydville lord Rivers,
_c._ 1450.]