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.

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 2 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 3 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 4 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 5 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 6 also be assumed to have prevailed in England in much earlier times.

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 7 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 8 purple border, the three human legs conjoined white. The shields, Nos. 9 and 10, are both borne by the goddess ΑΘΗΝΗ (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.

No. 7	No. 8
No. 9	No. 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 9 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.

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.

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 11 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.

No. 11.— Seal of Walter Innes.	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 12 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 13 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 14 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.

No. 15.— Brittany.	No. 16.— Waldegrave.	No. 17.— Fitz Warine.

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 15 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.

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. 16 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 17 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.

There is one class of early arms, which it is important 18 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 19 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.

No. 22.— William I.	No. 23.— Saxon Princes.

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 21 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 unnatural 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 22 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 23 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 24 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.

No. 24.— Prince John of Eltham, A.D. 1336.

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 25 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. 26 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 27 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 28 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.

No. 25.	No. 26.
Badge of Richard II., Westminster Hall.

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 30 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 31 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 32 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, 33 which is also entitled an “Escutcheon,” are thus distinguished:—

A, The chief E, The Dexter Chief C, The Dexter Side H, The Dexter Base G, The Middle Chief L, The Honour Point M, The Fesse Point		F, The Sinister Chief D, The Sinister Side I, The Sinister Base K, The Middle Base2 B, The Base
	No. 27.

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:—

No. 28.	No. 29.	No. 30.

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.	No. 32.	No. 33.

No. 31. Per Bend.

No. 32. Per Bend Sinister.

No. 33. (Nos. 31 and 32 together) Per Saltire.

No. 34.	No. 35.

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:—

No. 36.	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, 35 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:—

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.

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 36 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.

No. 40.	No. 41.	No. 42.

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 37 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.

No. 43.	No. 44.

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 38 the exception of the Sovereign; this very inconvenient substitute for the heraldic Shield was introduced early in the fourteenth century.

No. 46.	No. 45.	No. 47.

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.

No. 48.— Arms of Provence, Westminster Abbey.	No. 49.— Shield Couché.

The entire surface of every Shield is termed the “Field.” 39 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.

2. This term is very seldom if ever used.

CHAPTER V
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
Section II

The Tinctures’ Metals— Colours— Furs— Varied Fields— Law of Tinctures— Counterchanging— Diaper— Disposition— Blazoning in Tinctures.

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:—

Two Metals

No. 50.		No. 51.

Five Colours

(In French Heraldry, Green is Sinople.)

No. 52.	No. 53.	No. 54.	No. 55.	No. 56.

Eight Furs (not abbreviated).

No. 57.	No. 59.	No. 60.
No. 58.

No. 61.	No. 62.	No. 63.

No. 64.	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.

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 43 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.

No. 66.	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).

No. 68.— Shield of Arms of Earl de Warrenne, Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk.

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 44 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.

No. 69.— Arms of Jerusalem.	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 45 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.

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 46 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 47 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: 48 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 50 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.”

No. 72.— Le Botiler.	No. 73.— De Brus.

No. 74.	No. 75.— De Clintone.

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 51 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.”

No. 76.— De Clifford.	No. 77.— De Pateshulle.	No. 78.— Le Vavasour.

No. 79.— De Hemenhale.	No. 80.— De Dageworthe.

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, 52 No. 83,—for De Huntercumbe,—Erm., two bars gemelles gu. (H. 3).

No. 81.— De Harecourt.	No. 82.— Wake.	No. 83.— De Huntercumbe.

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 53 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.”

No. 84.— De la Mere.	No. 85.— Fitzalan of Bedale.	No. 86.— De Valence.

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. 54 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.

No. 87.— Erskine.	No. 88.— Grandison.

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—

No. 89.— Cross fimbriated.	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. 55 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.”

No. 91.	No. 92.	No. 93.
No. 94.— Quadrate.	No. 95.— Patriarchal.	No. 96.— Fourchée.

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 56 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 57 also are favourite Charges. No. 105 is the Cross Clechée or Urdée.

No. 97.— Cross Moline: Arms of De Molines.	No. 98.— Cross Recercelée: Arms of Bishop Anthony Bec.	No. 99.— Cross Patonce: Arms of William de Vesci.

No. 100.— Fleurie.	No. 101.— Fleurettée.	No. 102.— Pommée.

No. 103.— Botonée.	No. 104.— Crosslet.	No. 105.— Clechée.

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 58 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.

No. 106.— Patée.	No. 107.— Maltese.	No. 108.— Potent.

No. 109.— Avellane.	No. 110.— Botonée Fitchée.

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).

No. 111.— Le Scrope.	No. 112.— De Radclyffe.	No. 113.— Le Boteler.

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 59 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.

No. 114.— Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford.	No. 115.— Sir Gilbert de Bohun.

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 60 “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.

No. 116.— De Montford.	No. 117.— De Bray.

No. 118.— Paly Bendy.	No. 119.— Barry Bendy.

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

No. 120.— St. Andrew.	No. 122.— De Neville.	No. 121.— De Neville.

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.

No. 123.— De Stafford.	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 62 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.

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. 63 But a distinction is now made, and when the piles are intended to converge, as in No. 128, they are termed “in point.”

No. 126.— De Chandos.	No. 127.— De Brian.	No. 128.— De Bassett.

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, 65 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.

No. 129.— De Kyrkeby.	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): 66 Arg., three inescutcheons gu., for De Wyllers (E. 2), No. 133. This is also the well-known Scottish coat of Hay.

No. 132.— Darcy.	No. 131.— De Mortimer.	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.

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 67 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.

No. 135.— Single Tressure Flory.	No. 137.— Double Tressure flory counterflory.	No. 136.— Single Tressure flory counterflory.

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 68 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.”

No. 138.— Scotland.

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.)

No. 139.— De Waltone.	No. 140.— Richard, Earl of Cornwall.

Flanches are always borne in pairs; but they are not of very early date, nor do they often appear in blazon. 69 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.

No. 141.— Flanches.	No. 142.— Flasques.

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 70 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.

No. 143.— Mascle.	No. 145.— De Burgh, Earl of Kent.	No. 144.— Rustre.

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.

No. 20.— Montacute.	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.

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 71 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.

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.

No. 148.— A Frette.
No. 150.— Trellis Clouée.	No. 149.— De Etchingham.

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 72 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.

A circular figure or Roundle that is barry wavy arg. and az., is blazoned as a “Fountain,” No. 153. Examples:—Arg., three fountains, for Welles: Arg., a Chevron sable between three fountains, borne by a family named Sykes, their name being an ancient term signifying a well or fountain. An Annulet, or a plain ring, No. 154, was sometimes blazoned as a “false Roundle”—a Roundle, that is, pierced, and having its central area removed.

CHAPTER VIII
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
Section V

Miscellaneous Charges:— Human Beings— Animals— Birds— Fish— Reptiles and Insects— Imaginary Beings— Natural Objects— Various Artificial Figures and Devices— Appropriate Descriptive Epithets.

“The Formes of pure celestiall bodies mixt with grosse terrestrials; earthly animals with watery; sauage beasts with tame; fowles of prey with home-bred; these again with riuer fowles; reptiles with things gressible; aery insecta with earthly; also things naturall with artificiall.” —Guillim’s “Display of Heraldry,” A.D. 1611.

Thus, in his own quaint fashion, the enthusiastic old Herald of the seventeenth century indicates the number and variety of the Charges, which in process of time had been introduced into Armory even before his era. In earlier days the Charges of Heraldry were much less varied, comparatively few in their numbers, and generally of a simple character. It will readily be understood, however, that fresh figures and devices would continually appear in blazon; and also that these, in their turn, would lead the way for the introduction of further varieties and new modifications.

Human Beings are of very rare occurrence, except as Supporters. Parts of the human frame constantly appear, but they are more generally borne as Crests upon helms than as charges on shields. “Moor’s heads” or “Saracen’s heads” appear in some coats, with arms, hands and legs: and a human heart is well known as a charge in the coat of 74 the famous house of Douglas, where it was placed to commemorate the duty entrusted by Robert Bruce to the “good Sir James Douglas,” that he should bear with him the heart of his Sovereign and friend to the Holy Land, and bury it there. Sir James fell, fighting with the Moors of Spain, A.D. 1330. This Shield of Douglas is a characteristic example of the gradual development of armorial composition. About A.D. 1290, the Seal of William, Lord Douglas, displays his Shield, No. 155, bearing—Arg., on a chief az. three mullets of the field. Next, upon the field of the Shield of William, Lord Douglas, A.D. 1333, there appears, in addition, a human heart gules, as in No. 156. And, finally, the heart is ensigned with a royal crown, as in No. 157, this form appearing as early as 1387.

No. 155.— Shield of Douglas.	No. 156.— Shield of Douglas.	No. 157.— Shield of Douglas.

The Shield of the ancient kingdom of the Isle of Man, No. 158, still continues to be the heraldic ensign of that island: it is—Gu., three human legs in armour ppr., conjoined in the fesse-point at the upper part of the thighs, and flexed in triangle. This true curiosity of Heraldry leads Mr. Planché to remark, that “the arms of Man are legs” (“Pursuivant of Arms,” p. 112). The Shield represented in No. 158 is drawn from an original example of the age of Edward I. in the Heralds’ College. At later periods, the armour of the conjoined limbs is represented 75 in conformity with the usages then prevalent, and golden spurs are added. The ancient symbol of the island of Sicily, in which the limbs are without either armour or clothing, has been represented in No. 10: this device also appears in ancient examples with a human head at the junction of the limbs. Three human arms, united in the same manner, are borne on the shield of the mediæval family of Tremaine.

No. 159.— Shield of St. Alban’s Abbey (partly restored).

Human figures, winged and vested, and designed to represent Angels, are occasionally introduced in English Heraldry, their office generally being to act as “Supporters” to armorial Shields. Fine examples, in admirable preservation, may be seen boldly sculptured in the noble timber-roof of Westminster Hall; also in panels over the principal entrance to the Hall, and in various parts of the Abbey of Westminster. In the grand Abbey Church of St. Alban at St. Alban’s, numerous other examples of great excellence yet remain, the works of Abbot John de Wheathamstede, about A.D. 1440. In No. 159 I give a representation of the Shield of Arms of the Abbey of St. Alban—Az., a 76 saltire or, supported by Angels, and the Shield ensigned by the Mitre of Abbot Thomas De la Mere, as it is represented in his noble Brass in the Abbey Church. The Shield and the Angel Figures are the work of Abbot John. The Heads of the Figures, which are destroyed in the original, are restored from stained glass of the same period in the Abbey Church. Figures of Angels holding Shields of Arms—each figure having a shield in front of its breast, are frequently sculptured as corbels in Gothic churches.

In the earliest Rolls of Arms, the Lion is the only animal that is found in blazon, with the sole addition of Boar’s heads. Deer, dogs, bulls, calves, rams, and a few other animals subsequently appear to share heraldic service and honours with the king of beasts. In modern Armory, however, almost every living creature has been required to discharge such duties as Heralds have been pleased to assign to them. The Lion of Heraldry I leave to be considered, with the Eagle, in the next Chapter. In comparatively early blazon, the Bear is borne by Fitz Urse: the Calf, by Calveley and De Vele: the Ram, by Ramsey and Ramryge: the Lamb, by Lambert and Lambton: the Otter (loutre, in French), by Luttrel: the Hedgehog (Fr., herrison), by De Heriz, afterwards Harris: and so also, in like manner, some other animals appear as armes parlantes (see p. 16).

With the lordly Eagle a few other Birds are associated in early Heraldry: and, after a while, others join them, including the Falcon, Ostrich, Swan, Peacock or Pawne, and the Pelican borne both as a symbol of sacred significance, and also by the Pelhams from being allusive to their name. Cocks, with the same allusive motive, were borne by Cockayne: Parrots, blazoned as “Popinjays,” appear as early as Henry III.: and in a Roll of Edward II., the Sire Mounpynzon has a Lion charged on the shoulder with a Chaffinch—in French a Pinson. The favourite bird, however, 77 of the early Heralds is the Martlet, the heraldic Martin, a near relative of the Swallow or Hirondelle. The Martlet is practically always represented in profile, at rest, and with its wings closed. The few exceptions are modern. In some early examples the feet are shown, as in No. 160: but, in the Shield of Earl Wm. de Valence in Westminster Abbey, A.D. 1296, the Martlet appears feetless, as in No. 161; and at a later period this mode of representation was generally adopted. French Heralds deprive their Martlets of beak as well as feet.

“As the symbol of a name,” writes Mr. Moule, “almost all Fish have been used in Heraldry; and in many instances Fish have been assumed in Arms in reference to the produce of the estate, giving to the quaint device a twofold interest” (“Heraldry of Fish,” p 13). The earliest examples are the Barbel, the Dolphin, the Luce (or Pike), the Herring, and the Roach. In conjunction with fish we may perhaps consider the Escallop which, as a charge, belongs to the earliest period of Heraldry. The Barbel, so named from the barbs attached to its mouth to assist it in its search for food, was introduced into English Heraldry by John, Count De Barre, whose elder brother married Alianore, eldest daughter of Edward I. At Carlaverock he displayed, as the chronicler has recorded, “a blue banner, crusilly, with two Barbels of gold, and a red border en-grailed,” 78 No. 162. The Dolphin, borne by Giles de Fishbourne (H. 3), and afterwards introduced into several English Shields, is best known as the armorial ensign of the Dauphin, the eldest son and heir apparent of the Kings of France, who bore, marshalled with the arms of France—Or, a Dolphin az. This title of “Dauphin” was first assumed by Charles V., who succeeded to the Crown of France in 1364. In No. 8 I have shown after what manner the Dolphin was represented by an ancient Greek Artist: in the Middle Ages the heraldic Dolphin appeared as in No. 163. Geffrey de Lucy (H. 3) bears—Gu., three Lucies or. On his marriage with the heiress of Anthony, Lord Lucy, in 1369, Henry, fourth Lord Percy of Alnwick, quartered these three fish, with his own lion (blue on a golden field) and his fusils (gold on a blue field), upon the well-known Shield of the Earls of Northumberland (Chapter XI).

No. 163.— Dolphin.	No. 164.— De Lucy.	No. 165.— Escallop.

Another Carlaverock Banneret, Robert de Scales, whom the chronicler declares to have been both “handsome and amiable” as well as gallant in action, had “six escallops of silver on a red banner.” This beautiful charge of the escallop, happy in its association with the pilgrims of the olden time, and always held in high esteem by Heralds, is generally drawn as in No. 165.

Reptiles and Insects occur but rarely in English Heraldry. Bees, Flies, Butterflies, and Snails are sometimes found, but they have no place in the earliest Rolls of Arms. Bees, as might be expected, appear in the Arms of Beeston. Azure, three Butterflies, are the Arms of Muschamp, and they are carved twice in the vaulting of the cloisters at Canterbury. Upon a monumental brass in the Church of Wheathampstead, in Hertfordshire, the Shield of Hugo Bostock (about A.D. 1435) bears,—Arg., three Bats, their wings displayed, sa.

Imaginary and Fabulous Beings, some of them the creations of heraldic fancy when in a strangely eccentric mood, frequently appear as Supporters; and, in some cases, they take a part in the blazonry of Shields, or they are borne independently as Badges. A very brief description (all that is necessary) of the greater number of these monsters of unnatural history will be given in the “Glossary of heraldic terms,” in Chapter X.; consequently, it is enough here merely to refer to them as having a place in blazon. The Griffin or Gryphon, the most worthy of the group, is comparatively common. The Dragon and the Wivern or Wyvern, both of them winged monsters, differ in this respect, that the former has four legs, while the latter has two only. In early blazon this distinction was not always observed. The Cockatrice, always having two legs, is a Wyvern with a cock’s head.

Natural Objects of all kinds are blazoned as Charges of Heraldry, and they will be found described and illustrated in their proper places in Chapter X. They include the Sun, the Moon, the Stars; also such terrestrial objects as Trees, Flowers, Fruits, Sheaves and Ears of Corn, Leaves, Chaplets, &c. And with these Charges I may group the always beautiful Fleur de Lys, and the Trefoil, Quatrefoil, Cinquefoil, and Sixfoil.

Of the various Artificial Figures and Devices that 80 Heralds have charged upon Shields of Arms, it will be unnecessary for me to give detailed descriptions, except when either the heraldic name may require explanation, or some special circumstances connected with any particular figure or device may impart to it peculiar claims for attention. Again I refer to the “Glossary” for notices and examples of all Charges of this class—Annulets, Buckles, Castles, Crowns, Cups, Horseshoes, Keys, Knots, Sickles, Stirrups, Trumpets, and many others.

A.—Crescent	B.—Increscent No. 166	C.—Decrescent

In blazoning Charges of various classes, Heralds employ appropriate Epithets and descriptive Terms, of which the following are characteristic examples:—The Sun is “in splendour.” The Moon, when full, is “in her complement”: she is a “Crescent” when she appears in No. 166, A: she is “Increscent” when as in No. 166, B: and she is “Decrescent” when as in No. 166, C. Animals and Birds of prey are said to be “armed” of their talons, teeth, and claws. All horned animals, also, except Stags and Antelopes, are “armed” of their horns; and a Cock is “armed” of his spurs; whilst Griffins and birds of prey are “armed” of their beaks and claws (i.e. the part of the leg which is unfeathered). Animals are “hoofed” or “unguled” of their hoofs; and “langued” of their tongues. Fierce animals are “vorant” of their prey, when represented in the act of devouring it. Deer, when reposing, are “lodged” Nos. 25 and 26: when standing, and looking out from the Shield, No. 167, “at gaze”: when in easy motion, they are termed “trippant,” or sometimes the word “tripping” is substituted, No. 168: and when in 81 rapid motion, they are “courant,” “at speed,” or sometimes described as “in full course,” No. 169. The male Stag is sometimes termed a “Hart,” and the female a “Hind.” There is really a distinction between the Buck and the Stag, but it is very usually disregarded in Heraldry. The antlers of the Hart are “Attires,” their branches are “Tynes”; and they are said to be “attired” of their antlers. A Stag’s head full-faced, but without the neck, as No. 170, is “cabossed” or “caboshed.”

No. 167.— At Gaze.	No. 169.— At Speed.

No. 168.— Tripping.	No. 170.— Stag’s Head Cabossed.

Eagles and Hawks with expanded wings, as in No. 206, are “displayed.” Expanded wings may be “elevated,” or, if drooping, “inverted” or “in lure.” Birds about to take wing are “rising”; when in flight, they are “volant”; when at rest, they are “close.” A Bird “trusses” its prey. A Peacock having its tail expanded is “in its pride”; and this same expression is applied to the Turkey. A Pelican, when feeding its young, is said to be “in her piety,” but may be merely “vulning herself” if the young are not represented. A Swan, when blazoned “proper,” is white with red legs and black beak.

Fish, represented swimming in fesse, are “naiant”; if they are in pale, they are “hauriant,” No. 164; but if their heads are to the base, the term “urinant” is said to apply, but I cannot say I have so far come across an authenticated instance of the use of this word; if their bodies are bent, as the Dolphin is generally represented, they are “embowed,” No. 163. Fish, also, are said to be “finned” of their fins. Insects are “volant.” Reptiles are “gliding”; or, if they are twined into knots, “nowed.” Trees of mature growth are “accrued”; when with leaves, “in foliage” (but these two terms are so seldom used that they may be entirely disregarded); with fruit or seeds, “fructed” or “seeded”; if without leaves, “blasted”; and if their roots are exposed, “eradicated.” Branches or leaves torn off are “slipped.”

The terms which denote the attitudes of Lions, all of them described in the next chapter, are equally applicable to other animals. Some other descriptive terms, not noticed here, will be found in the “Glossary” in Chapter X.

CHAPTER IX
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
Section VI

The Lion and the Eagle in Heraldry

“The Lion and a King of Beasts.” —Shakespeare, Richard II.

“The Eagle, ennobled by Nature in as high a degree of nobility as the chiefest of the terrestrial animals, is the most honourable bearing of Birds.” —Gwillim (Edition of 1724).

The regal dignity of the Lion amongst the creatures that are quadrupeds, like himself, would naturally secure for him a position of corresponding eminence in Heraldry. From the dawn of the heraldic era, accordingly, the Lion is blazoned on the Shields of Sovereigns, Princes, and Nobles. The tressured Lion has been already noticed upon the Royal Shield of Scotland, No. 138; and a crowned Lion has also appeared in the same attitude, borne by an English Prince, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, No. 140. From the time that they first possessed any true armorial insignia, the Sovereigns of the Realm of England have borne Lions upon their Royal Shield. A Lion was the Ensign of the Native Princes of Wales, as he was of the Kings of Leon, of Norway, and of Denmark, and of the Counts of Holland, Hainault, Eu, &c. And, in like manner, the Lion was in high favour with the most noble and powerful Barons of England—the Mowbrays, Bohuns, Longespees, Fitz-Alans, Lacies, Percies, Segraves, and such as they.

It was a necessary consequence of his great popularity 84 that the Lion of Heraldry should be blazoned in various attitudes, and also variously tinctured, otherwise it would not be possible duly to distinguish the Lions of different Shields. Heralds of all countries appear readily to have permitted their Lions to lay aside their natural tawny hue, and in its stead to assume the heraldic or, argent, azure, gules, and sable; but Continental Heralds were not generally disposed to recognise in their Lions any other attitude than the one which they held to be consistent with their Lion character, instincts, and habits—erect, that is, with one hind paw only on the ground, looking forward towards their prey, so as to show but one eye, and evidently in the act of preparing to spring. This undoubtedly most characteristic attitude is rampant, No. 171: and only when he was in this rampant attitude did the early Heralds consider any Lion to be a Lion, and blazon him by his true name. A Lion walking and looking about him, the early Heralds held to be acting the part of a leopard: consequently, when he was in any such attitude, they blazoned him as “a leopard.” The animal bearing that name bore it simply as an heraldic title, which distinguished a Lion in a particular attitude. These heraldic “leopards” were drawn in every respect as other heraldic “lions,” without spots or any leopardish distinction whatever. This explains the usage, retained till late in the fourteenth century, which assigned to the Lions of the Royal Shield of England the name of “leopards.” They were so called, not by the enemies of England for derision and insult, as some persons, in their ignorance of early Heraldry, have been pleased both to imagine and to assert; but the English Kings and Princes, who well knew their “Lions” to be Lions, in blazon styled them “leopards,” because they also knew that Lions in the attitude of their “Lions” were heraldic “leopards.” When at length the necessity of varying the attitude of their Lions was admitted by all Heralds, in consequence of the greatly increased numbers 85 of the bearers of Lions, some strict adherents to the original distinctive nomenclature blazoned any Lion that was not rampant by the compound term of a “lion-leopard,” or a “lion-leopardé.” But that controversy has long been at rest.

The following terms are now in use to denote the various attitudes of the Lion in Heraldry:—

Rampant: erect, one hind paw on the ground, the other three paws elevated, the animal looking forward and having his tail elevated, No. 171. Rampant Guardant: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 172. Rampant Reguardant: as before, but looking backwards.

Passant: walking, three paws on the ground, the dexter fore-paw being elevated, looking forward, the tail displayed over the back, No. 173. Passant Guardant: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 174. Passant Reguardant: as before, but looking backwards.

No. 171.— Rampant.	No. 172.— Rampant Guardant.	No. 173.— Passant.

Statant: standing, his four paws on the ground, and looking before him, No. 175. Statant Guardant: as before, but looking out from the Shield, No. 176: in this example the Lion has his tail extended, but this would be 86 specified in the blazon, as it is an unusual position. In like manner, if the tail of a Lion in any other attitude be extended, there must be a statement to that effect.

No. 174.— Passant Guardant.	No. 175.— Statant.	No. 176.— Statant Guardant.

Sejant: sitting down with his head elevated, No. 178. If he looks out from the Shield, the word Guardant is to be added. A Scottish Lion sejant usually has his fore paws raised in the air, and in English terms of blazon would be described as “Sejant erect” or “Sejant rampant.”

Couchant: is at rest, the fore legs stretched on the ground, as No. 177.

Dormant: asleep, head resting on fore paws, No. 179.

No. 177.— Couchant.	No. 178.— Sejant.	No. 179.— Dormant.

Salient: in the act of springing, the hind paws on the ground, both the fore paws elevated, No. 180.

Queue fourchée: having a forked tail.

Double-queued: two tails, as No. 181, which is a lion rampant double-queued.

Coward: passant reguardant, his tail between his legs, No. 182.

No. 180.— Salient.	No. 181.— Double-queued.	No. 182.— Coward.

Two Lions rampant, when face to face, are Counter rampant, or Combatant: when back to back, they are Addorsed: when passant or salient in contrary directions, they are Counter passant or Counter salient.

Lions, whatever their tincture, except it be red, or they are charged on a field of that tincture, are armed and langued gules; but azure in the case of either of these exceptions, unless the contrary be specified in the blazon. When several Lions appear in one composition, or when they are drawn to a comparatively very small scale, they are sometimes blazoned as “Lioncels.” This term “Lioncel,” it must be added, when used alone, denotes a small Lion rampant.

No. 183.— Lion’s Head.	No. 184.— Lion’s Face.	No. 185.— Lion’s Jambe.

A Lion’s head is a Charge: it may be erased, as in No. 183; or cut off smooth, when it is couped. A Lion’s face also is a Charge, No. 184; so is his jambe or paw, No. 185. A demi-lion rampant is the upper half of his body and the extremity of his tufted tail, as in No. 186.

No. 186.— Demi-Lion Rampant.	No. 187.— England.

The Lions of England are golden Lions leopardé, three in number, placed one above the other on a red Shield. They are blazoned—Gu., three Lions pass. guard., in pale, or, No. 187.

A Lion in this attitude, of this tincture, and on a field gules, may be blazoned as a “Lion of England.” These 88 three Lions first appear upon the second Great Seal of Richard I., A.D. 1194, on the Shield of the King, No. 188. An earlier Seal, used by Prince John before his brother’s accession, has a Shield charged with two Lions only, and they are passant, No. 189. The first Great Seal of the lion-hearted King has a Shield, bowed in its contour, and charged with a single Lion rampant facing to the sinister, or counter-rampant, No. 190; and it has been conjectured that, were the whole face of this Shield visible, a second Lion rampant facing to the dexter would appear, thus charging the Shield with two Lions combattant; this, however, is a conjecture which is not supported by the authority of many Shields of the same form. A red Shield charged with two golden Lions passant guardant in pale (No. 22), and therefore closely resembling No. 189, as I have already shown, has been assigned to William I., and his two sons and his grandson, William II., Henry I., and Stephen. The Shield bearing the three Lions, No. 187, has been assigned to Henry II., but it first makes its appearance on the Great Seal of his son. The probability is that up to this period the device was simply a lion, indeterminate in position or numbers. This same Shield has continued, from the time of Richard I., to display the Royal Arms of the Realm of England: how, in the course of ages, these Arms become grouped with other insignia, I shall presently have to show.

No. 188. Richard I.— 2nd Gt. Seal.	No. 189. Prince John.— Seal.	No. 190. Richard I.— 1st Gt. Seal.

The Lion passant is carefully distinguished in the earliest Rolls as a different Charge from the Lion passant guardant. Thus (H. 3), for Hamon le Strange—Gu., two Lions passant arg., No. 191; and for John Giffard—Gu., three Lions pass. arg., No. 192: for Sir Nicholas Carew (E. 2),—Or, three Lions pass. sa.

No. 191.— Le Strange.	No. 192.— Giffard.	No. 193.— Mowbray.

From the numerous early Shields which bear Lions rampant, I select the following examples, associated with names illustrious in English History. For Roger de Mowbray (H. 3)—Gu., a Lion rampt. arg., No. 193: this Coat is quartered by the present Lord Mowbray, Segrave and Stourton. For Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel—Gu., a Lion rampt. or (H. 3), No. 193. For De Laci, Earl of Lincoln—Or, a Lion rampt. purpure (E. 2), No. 194. For Sir John de Segrave (E. 2)—Sa., a Lion rampt. arg., crowned or, No. 195. For Percy, Earl of Northumberland—Or, a Lion rampt. az., No 196: this Shield is drawn from the fine counter-seal of Sir Henry de Percy, first Lord of Alnwick, who died A.D. 1315.

No. 194.— De Lacy.	No. 195.— De Segrave.

Two Shields of the De Bohuns, Nos. 114, 115, already described, exemplify the display of Lioncels as heraldic 90 charges. An earlier Shield, charged with six Lioncels, but without any Ordinary, was borne by Fair Rosamond’s son, William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury, A.D. 1226: it is boldly sculptured with his noble effigy in Salisbury Cathedral, and it also appears upon his Seal—Az., six Lioncels or, No. 197. The Roll of Edward II., confirmed by his Seal, gives for Sir Wm. de Leybourne the same composition, with a difference in the tincturing—Az., six Lioncels arg. Other members of the same family change these tinctures for gules and or, gules and argent, and or and sable (E. 2). Examples of Shields which bear Lions or Lioncels with various other charges will be described and illustrated in succeeding chapters.

No. 196.— De Percy.	No. 197.— Longespée.

Lions also fulfil important duties of high honour in English Heraldry as Crests and Supporters, and also as Badges. From the time of Edward III. a Crowned Lion, at the first standing on a Cap of Estate, and afterwards upon the Crown, has been the Royal Crest of England; a Lion also has always been the Royal Crest of Scotland (see Chapter XVIII.). The Princes of the Royal Houses of England, in like manner, have always borne the Royal Lion distinguished by some “Mark of Cadency” (see 91 198 is the Lion Crest of the Black Prince, from his Monument at Canterbury, the Lion differenced with the Prince’s silver label. The Lion also appears as the Crest of many noble and distinguished families, as the De Bohuns, the Percies, and the Howards. The Lion Crest of Richard II., sculptured statant guardant upon his helm, with a chapeau and mantling, and with the Badge of two Ostrich feathers, in Westminster Hall, is without any crown: No. 199.

No. 198.— Crest of Black Prince.	No. 199.— Crest of Richard II.

As a Royal Supporter of the Arms of England, the Lion appears in company with some other creature from the time of Henry VI., Edward IV. sometimes having his Shield supported by two Lions. On the accession of James I. of Great Britain, the Royal Lion Supporter formed that alliance with the Unicorn of Scotland which still continues, and will continue, it is to be hoped, throughout all time. Lions, as I shall point out more in detail in Chapter XVI., were frequently introduced into the composition of Seals before true heraldic Supporters were in use. In more recent Heraldry the Lion is a favourite Supporter: he now appears supporting the Shields of the Dukes of Norfolk, Argyll, Atholl, Bedford, Grafton, Northumberland, Portland, and Wellington; also, with many others, those of the Marquesses 92 of Bath, Exeter, Headfort, and Salisbury; of the Earls of Albemarle, Brownlow, Carlisle, Carnarvon, Cork, Essex, and Hardwick; of the Viscount Hardinge; and of the Barons Arundel, Camoys, Dunboyne, Monson, Mowbray, Petre, and Southampton. As a Supporter the Lion is represented rampant, rampant reguardant, and sejant rampant. Lions also, and Demi-Lions, are frequently borne as modern Crests.

In our own treatment of the Lions of Heraldry, whatever their attitude or tincture, whatever also the position they may occupy or the heraldic duty they may discharge, we are always to draw and to blazon them as true heraldic Lions, while, at the same time, in their expression and general characteristics they are to be genuine Lions.

No. 200.— In Westminster Abbey.

In becoming fellowship with the Lion, the Eagle appears in the earliest English Rolls and examples of Arms. The Royal bird, however, does not occur in English blazon so frequently as the Lion; and his appearance often denotes an alliance with German Princes. A Roll of Arms (printed in “Archæologia,” XXX.) of the year 1275 commences with the Shields of the “Emperor of Germany,” and of the “King of Germany,” which are severally blazoned as,—“Or, an Eagle displayed having two heads sa.,” and, “Or, an Eagle displayed sable.” In York Cathedral, in stained glass, there are Shields with both the double-headed and the single-headed Eagles, all of them German, which may be considered to have been executed before the year 1310. In the north choir-aisle at Westminster, the Shield (now mutilated) of the Emperor Frederick II. is boldly sculptured by an heraldic artist of the time of our Henry III., No. 200; here the Eagle had one head only. The German Emperors naturally adopted the Eagle for their heraldic Ensign, in support of their claim to be successors to the Roman Cæsars; and the Russian Czars, with the same motive, have also assumed the same 93 ensign. The Eagle having two heads, which severally look to the dexter and the sinister, as in No. 201, typified a rule that claimed to extend over both the Eastern and the Western Empires; as the Eagle with a single head, No. 202, might be considered to have a less comprehensive signification. The Eagles of the Princes of Germany are frequently to be found, blazoned for them, in England.

No. 201.— Imperial Eagle.	No. 202.— Royal Eagle.

Richard, the second son of King John, in the year 1256 was elected King of Germany (he is generally styled “King of the Romans”), when he bore the Eagle of the Empire: but the only Seals of this Prince that are known to exist in England display the Shield of his English Earldom 94 of Cornwall, No. 140. His Son Edmund, who succeeded to his father’s Earldom, on his Seals has represented an Eagle bearing in its beak his Shield of Cornwall, as in No. 203: this is a peculiarly interesting example of an heraldic usage of striking significance, and it also illustrates the early existence of the sentiment which at a later period led to the adoption of “Supporters” to Shields of Arms. In the early Heraldry of Scotland, a single displayed Eagle is occasionally found supporting an armorial Shield; as in the Seals of Alexander Steward, Earl of Menteith, A.D. 1296, and William, Earl of Douglas and Mar, A.D. 1378 (Seton’s “Scottish Heraldry,” Plates VIII. and XII.): sometimes also, as Mr. Seton has observed, “the Eagle’s breast is charged with more than one Shield, as in the case of the Seals of Margaret Stewart, Countess of Angus (1366), and Euphemia Leslie, Countess of Ross (1381), on both of which three escutcheons make their appearance” (“Scottish Heraldry,” p. 268, and Plate XII., No. 5): in No. 204 I give a woodcut of this interesting composition; the Shields are, to the dexter, Leslie—Arg., on a bend az., three buckles or; in the centre, the Arms of the Earl of Ross—Gu., three 95 Lions rampant arg., within a tressure; and, to the sinister, Cummin—Az., three garbs or. The Imperial Eagle is sometimes represented crowned; the heads also in some examples are encircled with a nimbus or glory, as in No. 212. I must add that in the Heraldry of the English Peerage the Imperial Eagle still supports the Shields of some few Peers of different ranks; as, for example, that of Baron Methuen.

No. 203.— Cornwall.	No. 204.— Seal of Euphemia Leslie.

Piers Gaveston, who was created Earl of Cornwall by Edward II., bore—Vert, six Eaglets or, No. 205, (E. 2 and York stained glass): on his Seal, however, the number of the Eaglets is reduced to three. Another early example is the Shield of that gallant and persevering knight, Ralph de Monthermer—Or, an Eagle displayed vert, No. 206, who became Earl of Gloucester in right of his wife, Joan, daughter of Edward I., and widow of Gilbert de Clare, the “Red Earl”; this green Eagle of Monthermer long held a place of high distinction in the mediæval Heraldry of England, marshalled on the Shields of the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick; in which, as in the example, No. 206, the Eagle of Monthermer is quartered with the coat of Montacute, No. 20 (page 17). The 96 Eagle of early Heraldry was sometimes blazoned as an “Erne,”4 and sometimes as an “Alerion,” William d’Ernford (H. 3) bears—Sa., an Erne displayed arg.: and, at the same period Wm. de Ernfield bears a pair of Erne’s or Eagle’s Wings, called a “Vol,” No. 207. From Shields of the fourteenth century which bear Eagles, and are blazoned in the Roll of Edward II., I select the following small group as good examples:—Sir Wm. de Mongomerie—Or, an Eagle displayed az.: Sir Nicholas de Etone—Gu., a Chevron between three Eaglets arg.: Sir John de Charlestone—Arg., on a Chevron vert three Eaglets or: Sir Philip de Verley—Or, a Bend gu., between six Eaglets sa.: Sir John de la Mere—Arg., on a Bend az. three Eaglets or, No. 209: a Shield bearing a Bend charged with three Eagles, but with different tinctures, No. 88, I have shown to have been the Arms of the Grandisons.

No. 205.— Shield of Piers Gaveston.	No. 206.— Montacute and Monthermer.

Eagles, under their name of “Alerions” (which early Heralds represented without feet and beaks), are blazoned in the same disposition as in No. 209, in the Arms of the Duchy of Lorraine,—Or, on a Bend gu. three alerions arg.: and this device the Dukes of Lorraine are said to have borne in commemoration of an exploit of their famous ancestor, Godfrey de Bologne, who is also said, when “shooting against David’s tower in Jerusalem,” to have “broched upon his arrow three footless birds called alerions.” “It is impossible,” remarks Mr. Planché upon this legend, “now to ascertain who broached this wonderful 97 story; but it is perfectly evident that the narrator was the party who drew the long bow, and not the noble Godfrey.” Mr. Planché adds, that the Alerions of Lorraine may indicate an alliance with the Imperial House; and he directs attention to “a similarity in sound between ‘Alerion’ and ‘Lorraine,’” and also to a singular Anagram produced by the letters ALERION and LORAINE, which are the same (“Pursuivant of Arms,” p. 87). The Arms of Lorraine are still borne by the Emperor of Austria: and in England they were quartered by Queen Margaret of Anjou.

No. 207.— A Vol.	No. 209.— De la Mere.

The Roll of Edward II. gives also for Sir Hugh de Bilbesworth these arms—Az., three Eagles displayed or. A similar Shield, the tinctures changed to—Arg., three Eagles displayed gu., armed or, was borne by Robert de Eglesfield, Confessor to Philippa of Hainault, Queen of Edward III., who in the year 1340 founded Queen’s College, Oxford: this Shield of the Founder is borne by the College. One of the Shields in the Chantry of Abbot Ramryge in St. Albans Abbey Church bears the same charges—three eagles displayed, No. 210: the drawing of the 98 eagle in this Shield is remarkable, and the form of the Shield itself is singularly characteristic of the close of the fifteenth century. Another Shield in the same monument bears a single Eagle, drawn in the same manner, and sculptured with extraordinary spirit.

No. 210.— Shield at St. Albans.

The German Heralds, and also their brethren of France, delight in exaggerations of what I may distinguish as the Westminster Eagle, No. 200. The Austrian Eagle, besides having both its heads crowned, has a large Imperial Crown placed between and above the two heads, as in No. 211. The Imperial Eagle (Holy Roman Empire) sometimes has a nimbus or glory about each head, which dignified accessory is represented by a circular line, as in No. 212. In some examples of Eagles, as well in our own Heraldry as in that of continental countries, the wings are represented as erect (the more usual form in England), and having the tips of all the principal feathers pointing upwards, as in No. 213. The Eagle borne as the Ensign of Imperial France was represented grasping a thunderbolt, in an attitude of vigilance, having its wings displayed, but with the tips of the feathers drooping, as they would be in the living bird; No. 214.

No. 211.— The Austrian Eagle.

No. 212.— Imperial Eagle, with Nimbus.	No. 213.— Eagle “displayed,” with Wings erect.

Edward III., as a Second Crest, bore an Eagle. An Eagle also was borne for his Crest, as the imperial bird was displayed upon his Shield (No. 206), by Earl Ralph 99 de Monthermer. In the more recent Heraldry of England, the Eagle is a Supporter to the Shields of the Earls of Clarendon, Coventry, and Malmesbury; the Viscounts Bolingbroke and St. Vincent; and the Barons Heytesbury, Radstock, Wynford, and others. Eagles also and Demi-Eagles are borne as Crests in the English Heraldry of our own day.

No. 214.— French Imperial Eagle.

In drawing our heraldic Eagles, we can scarcely improve upon some of the examples in which early English Heralds expressed their ideas of the king of birds.

4. Query if this is not really a herne or heron.—A. C. F.-D.

CHAPTER X
THE GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY
Section VII

Glossary of Titles, Names, and Terms

“The several denominations given to these tokens of honour ... with the terms of art given to them.” —Randle Home: “Academy of Armoury,” A.D. 1688.

In this Glossary, which obviously must be as concise as possible, I shall include no word that is ordinarily well understood, unless some special signification should be attached to it when it is in use in armorial blazon.

Abased. Said of a charge when placed lower than its customary position.

Abatement. A supposed sign of degradation. (See Chapter XII.)

Accollée. Placed side by side.

Accosted. Side by side.

Achievement, or Achievement of Arms. Any complete heraldic composition.

Addorsed. Back to back.

Affrontée. So placed as to show the full face or front.

Alerion. A name sometimes given by early Heralds to the heraldic Eagle, which, when blazoned under this title, was also sometimes drawn without legs or beak. (See p. 97.)

Ambulant. In the act of walking.

Annulet. A plain ring; sometimes blazoned as a “false roundle”: in modern English cadency, the difference of the fifth son or brother: No. 154.

101

Annulettée. Ending in Annulets.

Antelope. Depicted by early Heralds in a conventional manner, but now generally rendered more naturally, the earlier type being termed the heraldic antelope.

Anthony, St. His cross is in the form of the letter T, No. 93.

Antique Crown. See Eastern Crown.

No. 215.
Badge of Ulster.

Appaumée. Said of a hand, when open, erect, and showing the palm: No. 215.

Arched. Bent, or bowed.

Archbishop. A prelate of the highest order in the English Church; his heraldic insignia are his Mitre, Crozier, and Pall. Next to the Royal Family, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the first subject in the realm; he is styled “Most Reverend Father in God,” “by Divine Providence,” and “Your Grace.” The Archbishop of York is third in rank (the Lord Chancellor being second), and his style is the same, except that he is Archbishop “by Divine permission.” Archbishops impale their own arms with those of their see, the latter being marshalled to the dexter.

Argent. The metal silver.

Arm. A human arm. When a charge, crest, or badge, it must be blazoned with full particulars as to position, clothing, &c. If couped between the elbow and the wrist, it is a cubit arm.

Armed. A term applied to animals and birds of prey, to denote their natural weapons of offence and defence: thus, a Lion is said to be “armed of his claws and teeth”; a Bull, to be “armed of his horns”; an Eagle, “of its beak and talons.”

Armory. Heraldry. Also, a List of Names and Titles, with their respective Arms.

Arms, Armorial Bearings. Heraldic compositions, and the Figures and Devices which form them. (See Chapter I.)

102

Arms of Community. Borne by Corporate and other Bodies and Communities, as cities, colleges, &c.

Arms of Dominion. Borne by Sovereign Princes, being also the Sovereign arms of the realms over which they rule.

Arms of Office. Borne, with the personal arms, to denote official rank.

Armes Parlantes. Such as are allusive to the Name, Title, Office, or Property of those who bear them: thus, Leaves for Leveson, a Castle for Castile, a Cup for Butler, Fish for those who derive revenues from Fisheries, &c. The more usual term is, however, “canting arms” (See Rebus: also page 15.)

Arrow. Is barbed of its head, and flighted of its feathers; a bundle of arrows is a sheaf; with a blunt head, it is a bird-bolt.

At Gaze. A term applied to animals of the chase, to denote their standing still, and looking straight forward: No. 167.

Attires, Attired. The antlers of a Buck, Stag, or Hart: having antlers. A Reindeer is represented in Heraldry with double attires, one pair erect, and the other drooping forward.

Augmentation. An honourable addition to a Coat of Arms, specially granted with a peculiar significance: thus, the “Union” Device of the British Empire, blazoned on an inescutcheon, is the “Augmentation” specially granted to the great Duke of Wellington, to be borne on the honour point of his paternal shield.

Augmented. Having an “Augmentation.”

Avellane. A variety of the heraldic Cross: No. 109.

Azure. The colour blue (indicated by horizontal lines): No. 52.

Badge. A figure or device, distinct from a crest, and capable of being borne without any background or other accessory. Badges are, however, often depicted upon a standard or roundle of the livery colour or colours. 103 Badges were depicted as a sign of ownership upon property; were worn by servants and retainers, who mustered under the standards on which badges were represented. (See Chapter XV.)

Banded. Encircled with a band.

Banner. A flag, charged with the coat of arms of the owner, displayed over its entire surface. (See Chapter XVII.)

Banneret. A Knight who had been advanced by the King to that higher military rank which entitled him to display a banner.

Bar. One of the Ordinaries: Nos. 81, 82.

Bars Gemelles. Barrulets borne in pairs: Nos. 83, 84.

Barbed. Pointed, as an arrow. The term is also applied to the small green leaves between the petals of heraldic roses. (See Rose.)

Barbel. A Fish borne as an allusive device by the family of De Barre: No. 162.

Barded. Having horse-trappings.

Bardings. Horse-trappings, often enriched with armorial blazonry. On the Great Seal of Edward I. the Bardings of the King’s charger for the first time appear adorned with the Royal arms. On both sides of the horse, the head is supposed to be to the dexter. An example is represented in the Seal of Alexander de Balliol, in Chapter XIV.

Barnacles, Breys. An instrument used in breaking horses. A rebus of Sir Reginald Bray, architect of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and repeatedly represented there: No. 216.

No. 216.— Breys.	No. 217.— Circlet of a Baron’s Coronet.

Baron. The lowest rank in the British Peerage. A Baron is “Right Honourable,” and is styled “My Lord.” His coronet, first granted by Charles II., has on a golden circlet six large pearls, of which four appear in representations, as in No. 217. An Irish Baron has no coronet. All a Baron’s children are “Honourable.”

104

Baron. A purely heraldic term signifying a husband, a wife in Heraldry being femme.

Baroness. A lady in whom a Barony is vested by inheritance in her own right; also, the wife of a Baron. In either case she is “Right Honourable”; is styled “My Lady,” and her coronet is the same as that of a Baron.

Baronet. An hereditary rank, lower than the peerage, instituted in 1612 by James I., who fixed the precedence of Baronets before all Knights, those of the Order of the Garter alone excepted. As originally created, all Baronets were “of Ulster,” or “of Nova Scotia”; afterwards all new creations were “of Great Britain”; now all are “of the United Kingdom.” The “Badge of Ulster,” generally borne as an augmentation upon a canton or small inescutcheon, is—Arg., a sinister hand, couped at the wrist and appaumée, gu.,—No. 215. The arms of Nova Scotia, which may be (but seldom are) similarly borne on a canton or inescutcheon, are—Arg., on a saltire az., the Royal arms of Scotland. (See No. 138.) By letters patent of James I., the wives of Baronets have the titles of “Lady, Madam, or Dame,” at their pleasure prefixed to their names.

Barrulet. The diminutive of a Bar.

Barrulée, Barruly. Barry of ten or more pieces.

Barry. Divided into an even number of Bars, which all lie in the same plane: Nos. 85, 86.

Barry Bendy. Having the field divided by lines drawn bar-wise, which are crossed by others drawn bend-wise: No. 119.

Bar-wise. Disposed after the manner of a Bar,—crossing 105 the field, that is, horizontally. The term fessways is more usually employed.

Base. The lowest extremity: No. 27, B.

Basilisk. A cockatrice having its tail ending in a dragon’s head.

Basinet. A helm fitting close to the head.

Baton. A diminutive of the bend, couped at its extremities.

Battled, or Embattled. Having battlements, or bordered, as No. 38, F.

Beacon, or Fire Beacon. An iron case of burning combustibles set on a pole, against which a ladder is placed.

Beaked. Applied to birds, not of prey.

Bearer. An old Scottish term for a Supporter.

Bearing, Bearings. Armorial insignia, borne on shields.

Bell. Drawn, and generally blazoned as a church-bell, unless specified to be a hawk’s-bell.

Belled. Having bells attached.

Bend. One of the Ordinaries: Nos. 111-115.

Bendlet. The diminutive of a bend: No. 117.

Bend-wise, or In Bend. Placed in the position of or arranged in the direction of a bend.

Bendy. Parted bend-wise into an even number of divisions: No. 116.

Besant. A golden “Roundle” or disc, flat like a coin: No. 151, and No. 140.

Billet. An oblong figure of any tincture: Billetée—strewn with “Billets”: Nos. 130, 146.

Bird. Many Birds appear in blazon, and they are represented both in heraldic tinctures and “proper”—in their natural aspect. (See Chapters VIII. and IX.)

Bird-bolt. An arrow with a blunt head.

Bishop. The Bishops are “by Divine permission,” and are styled “Right Reverend Father in God,” and “My Lord Bishop.” The Bishops of England and Wales are not Peers but are all “spiritual lords” of Parliament, some 106 of the junior Bishops, however, having no seats. The Suffragan Bishops are merely assistant Bishops, and are not Lords of Parliament. The heraldic insignia of Bishops consist of a mitre and pastoral staff; they impale their official and personal arms, as do the Archbishops; and, like them also, they bear no crests, but they ensign their shields with a mitre.

Blasted. Leafless, withered.

Blazon. Heraldry: Armorial Compositions. “To blazon” is to describe or to represent any armorial Figure, Device, or Composition in an heraldic manner. Blazoning—Describing in heraldic language: also, representing in an heraldic manner. Blazonry—the representation of any heraldic Figure, Device, or Composition. But the distinction is in practice usually made to employ the word “emblazon” in cases of representation.

Boar. In Heraldry occasionally termed Sanglier.

Bordure. A Subordinary: Nos. 139, 140. Also, an important “Difference.” (See Chapters XII. and XIII.)

Botoneé, Botoneé Fitcheé. Varieties of the heraldic Cross: Nos. 103, 110. This Cross is also termed Trefleé.

Bouget, or Water Bouget. A charge, representing the vessels used by the Crusaders for carrying water. The word is an early form of Bucket. Fine early examples occur in the Temple Church, at Beverley Minster, and in a monument at Blyborough, Lincolnshire: No. 218.

No. 218.— Water Bouget.	No. 219.— Bourchier Knot.

Bourchier Knot. The badge of the Bourchier family represented in No. 219.

Bourdon. A palmer’s or pilgrim’s staff. (See Pilgrim’s Staff.)

107

Bow. The archer’s weapon, in all its varieties of form, is a charge.

Bowed. Having a convex contour.

No. 220.
Bowen Knot.

Bowen Knot. No. 220.

Braced. Interlaced.

Breys. Barnacles, q.v.

Brisure, or Brizure. Any difference or mark of cadency.

Buckle. See Fermaile.

Burgonet. A helm worn in the sixteenth century.

Cabossed, or Caboshed. The head of a stag, or other horned animal, represented full-faced, so as to show the face only: No. 170. In the case of a lion or leopard when the head is so represented it is termed the face.

Cadency, Marks of. Figures and devices, introduced into armorial compositions, in order to distinguish the different members and branches of the same family. (See Difference, and Chapter XII.)

Cadet. A junior member or branch of a family.

No. 221.
Caltrap.

Caltrap. An implement formerly strewn on the ground in war to maim horses: No. 221.

Canting Heraldry. Refer to Armes Parlantes.

Canton. One of the Subordinaries: Nos. 129, 130.

Cantoned. Placed in the quarters of a shield.

Carbuncle. The same as Escarbuncle.

Cartouche. No. 46.

Castle. Generally represented with two or three turrets, as in the shield of Queen Alianore, of Castile: No. 222. Refer to Tower.

Celestial Crown. No. 223.

No. 222.— Castle.	No. 223.— Celestial Crown.	No. 224.— Chapeau.

108

Centaur. Also blazoned as a sagittary, and supposed to have been a badge of King Stephen.

Cerceleé, or Recerceleé. A descriptive term to denote a variety of the heraldic Cross: No. 98.

Chapeau. Also entitled a cap of dignity, of maintenance, or of estate. An early symbol of high dignity, and in England of right of Peerage. In addition it is now more frequently met with supporting certain crests: No. 224.

Chaplet. A garland or entwined wreath of leaves and flowers, or of flowers alone. A chaplet of rue, sometimes called a crancelin, is blazoned bend-wise in the shield of Saxony—Barry of ten or and sa., over all a chaplet of rue vert: No. 225. (See Crancelin.)

No. 225.— Arms of Saxony.

Charge. Any heraldic figure or device. Charged—placed on a shield, banner, &c., as any heraldic figure or device may be.

Chequeé, Chequy, Checky. Divided into three, or into more 109 than three, contiguous rows of small squares, alternately of a metal (or fur) and a colour: No 68.

No. 226.
Chess Rook.

Chess rook. A piece used in the game of Chess: borne by Rokewood and others: No. 226.

Chevron. One of the Ordinaries: Nos. 123, 125.

Chevronel. A diminutive of the Chevron: No. 124.

Chevroneé, Chevrony. A field composed of a number of pieces divided and disposed per Chevron: No. 124A.

Chief. One of the Ordinaries: Nos. 71-75. In Chief—placed in the upper part of the shield, or arranged in a horizontal row across the upper part of the field.

Cinque-foil. A flower or leaf of five foils: No. 227.

Civic Crown. A wreath of oak-leaves and acorns.

No. 227.— Cinque foil.	No. 228.— Clarions.

Clarenceux. See Herald.

Clarion. An ancient musical instrument, a badge, apparently, of the De Clares. By some this charge is supposed to represent a lance-rest, and is sometimes so blazoned: No. 228, which shows two varieties of form.

Clecheé. A variety of the heraldic Cross: No. 105.

Close. With closed wings.

Closet. A Diminutive of the Bar, one half its width.

Cloueé. Fastened with Nails, and showing the Nail-heads: No. 150.

Coat Armour. True armorial or heraldic bearings, duly granted or inherited, and rightly borne: so entitled, from having been depicted by warriors of the Middle Ages upon their surcoats, worn by them over their armour.

Coat of Arms. A complete armorial composition, properly what would be charged upon a Shield or Banner, but often used as an alternative for Achievement, q.v.

110

No. 229.
Cockatrice.

Cockatrice. A fabulous creature, represented in No. 229.

Collar. One of the insignia of Orders of Knighthood, worn about the neck. Also any ornament or distinction worn in the same manner. Knights occasionally wore collars charged with their own badge. In addition to their badges of the Red and White Rose, examples exist showing that adherents of the rival houses of York and Lancaster sometimes wore collars, the former formed of alternate Suns and Roses, No. 230; and the latter, of the letter S continually repeated, No. 231. No certain origin has been discovered for the Lancastrian “Collar of S.,” but it has been suggested that it represents the word SOVERAYGNE, the motto of Henry IV. No. 230 is from the Brass to Henry Bourchier, K.G., Earl of Essex, at Little Easton, Suffolk, A.D. 1483; and No. 231 from the Brass to Lord Camoys, K.G., at Trotton, Sussex, A.D. 1424.

No. 230.— A Collar of York.	No. 231.— A Collar of Lancaster.

College of Arms, or Heralds’ College. (See Herald.)

Colour. See Chapter V., page 41. The term “Colours” is applied to Flags, particularly to those of infantry regiments, and to such as are displayed at sea. (See Chapter XVII.)

Combatant. Two lions, or other animals of prey, rampant and face to face.

Compartment. In Scottish Heraldry, “a kind of carved 111 panel, of no fixed form, placed below the escutcheon, bearing the supporters, and usually inscribed with a motto or the name and designation of the owner.”—Seton. Other objects placed below the shield are met with under this description.

Componée, Compony, or Gobony. A single row of small squares alternately of two tinctures or furs: No. 66. (See Counter Componée.)

Complement, In her. Applied to the moon when full.

Compound Quartering. The quartering of a quarter, or division of a quartered Coat-of-Arms. (See page 34.)

Compound Arms. Arms formed from the combination of the bearings of two or more distinct coats, to produce a single compound coat.

Conjoined in Lure. Two wings united, their tips in base.

Contoise. A flowing scarf, worn attached to the helm before 1350. Two examples occur in effigies in Exeter Cathedral, and another in Westminster Abbey.

Contournée. Facing to the sinister.

Cornish Chough. A bird like a crow, black, with red beak and legs.

Coronet. An ensign of rank worn upon the head, in use in England from about the middle of the fourteenth century, but without any distinctive tokens of gradations of rank until a later period. In modern times English Coronets have enclosed a velvet cap with a bullion tassel. This cap originated in the cap of estate worn by Peers. (See Prince, Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, and Baron.)

Cotise. A diminutive of the Bend or other Ordinary, being one-fourth of their width. Cotised. When a Bend or Chevron is placed between two Cotises, or when a Fesse or Bar is placed between two Barrulets. Nos. 114, 115.

Couchant. In repose. No. 177.

Couchée. Said of a Shield when suspended from the sinister 112 extremity of the chief, or when placed as if it were so suspended. No. 49.

Count, Countess. Count, in Latin “Comes,” the same as Earl. Countess, the wife of an Earl: she is “Right Honourable,” and styled “My Lady”: her coronet is the same as that of an Earl.

Counter. Reversed or opposite.

Counter-changing. See page 44, and Nos. 70, 126.

Counter Componée. Double Componée, or two conjoined rows of alternately tinctured squares. No. 67.

Counter-Embattled. A term in use for a fesse, bar, or chevron when embattled on both edges.

Counter-seal. Early seals were generally impressed on both sides; and the seals thus were produced from two dies or matrices. The two sides were severally called the seal and the counter-seal, the latter being termed the reverse of the compound composition. Every such double impression constituted a single seal. Both seal and counter-seal were sometimes used alone; and the counter-seal was regarded as a private seal, or secretum.

Couped. Cut off smoothly—the reverse of “erased.”

Couple-close. Half a chevronel.

Courant. Running.

Courtesy, Titles of. Nominal degrees of rank, conceded to, and borne by, the Eldest Sons of Dukes, Marquesses, and Earls, and other titles used by their younger children and all children of Viscounts and Barons.

Coward, Cowed. A term applied to an animal with its tail between its legs. No. 182.

Crampet. The decorated end of a sword-scabbard.

Crancelin. From the German kranzlein, “a small garland,” applied to the chaplet that crosses the shield of Saxony, No. 225: this charge is also blazoned as a bend treflée vert, a bend archée coronettée, or a coronet extended in bend: it is said to be an augmentation conferred, with the 113 Dukedom of Saxony, on Bernhard of Ascania, by the Emperor Barbarossa. The Emperor took from his head his own chaplet of rue, and threw it across the shield of Duke Bernhard. This story is probably untrue.

Crenellated. Embattled.

Crescent. No. 166. In modern English cadency, the difference of the second son, or house.

Cresset. A beacon.

Crest. A figure or device originally worn upon a helm, and now generally represented above a Shield of arms. Crests at first were ensigns of high honour, and their use was restricted to a few persons of eminence: they were attached by a wreath, or torse, or by a coronet, to the helm or basinet; and sometimes a crest stood upon a cap of estate. Crests are still represented standing upon either a wreath, or a cap, or issuing from a coronet: but in our own Heraldry a crest-coronet must always be carefully distinguished from those coronets that are insignia of princely and noble rank. Crests are not borne by ladies, a reigning Sovereign only excepted. (See Panache, Rebus, and Chapter XIV.)

Crest-Coronet. A coronet from which issues, or which supports, a crest. No. 232.

No. 232.— Crest Coronet.	No. 233.— Crest-Wreath.

Crest-Wreath, or Torse. In the Middle Ages, of rich materials and costly workmanship; now represented as being formed of two rolls of silk of the principal metal and colour in the arms, which are twisted to show 114 the metal and colour alternately. The earliest examples are about A.D. 1375. No. 233 shows three varieties of representation. (See Chapter XIV.)

Crined. Having a mane or hair.

Cross. One of the Ordinaries. Nos. 90-110.

No. 234.— Crown
of H.M. The King.

Crown. The ensign of Royal and Imperial dignity; in Heraldry borne as a charge, and also used to denote the rank of a Sovereign Prince. The Crown that is generally borne as a charge is represented without arches, and resembling No. 232. Certain other crowns, each distinguished by an appropriate title, are also sometimes borne on shields, or introduced as heraldic accessories. (See Celestial, Eastern or Radiated, Mural, Naval, and Vallary Crowns.) The different forms assumed at different periods by the Royal Crown of England are faithfully exemplified in the seals and the coinage of the successive Sovereigns, and several fine examples are preserved in the Royal effigies. The adornment of the regal circlet was arbitrary before the fifteenth century; still, it always was enriched with gems and surmounted by golden foliage. Henry V. first arched his crown; and by Henry VI. the circlet was first heightened with alternate crosses-patée and fleurs de lys. This arrangement has since been retained, the subsequent alterations being restricted to changes in the number and in the contour of the arches. The crown of His Majesty the King has the circlet heightened with four crosses and as many fleurs de lys; from the crosses rise the arches, which are surmounted by a mound and a cross-patée. No. 234. This, the heraldic crown, is not an exact reproduction of the actual crown of the King.

Crozier. Strictly, the cross-staff of an archbishop; distinguished by its form from the pastoral-staff with a crook-head, of bishops; but the term is loosely and very 115 generally applied also to the crook-headed pastoral-staff.

Crusilee, Crusily. Having the field semée of crosses-crosslets, or of other small crosses, their peculiar form (when not crosslets) being specified.

Cubit arm. A human arm couped between the elbow and the wrist.

Cup, Covered Cup. A vessel formed like a chalice, and having a raised cover; borne by the Botilers, Butlers, &c.

Cushion, Pillow, Oreiller. Unless described of another form, square or oblong, and with a tassel at each corner.

No. 235.— Dacre
Knot and Badges.

Dacre Knot. No. 235. (See Knot.)

Dancetté. No. 38B. In early blazon, a fesse dancetté is styled simply “a dancette” or “a danse.” Nos. 78, 146; and No. 20A, page 70.

Debruised. When an ordinary surmounts an animal or another charge.

Decrescent. A half-moon having its horns to the sinister. No. 166C.

Deer. In general practice very little if any differentiation is made between the Stag, the Buck, and the Hart; 116 the female is a Hind, and of course is without attires. (See Chapter VIII.)

Degrees. A term applied to the steps upon which a Cross Calvary is represented.

Demembered, Dismembered. Cut into pieces, but without any alteration in the form of the original figure.

Demi. The half. The upper, front, or dexter half, unless the contrary be specified. No. 186.

Depressed. Surmounted.

Dexter. The right side. No. 27C.

Diaper, Diapering. Surface decoration. No. 68.

Difference, Differencing. An addition to, or some change in, a Coat-of-Arms, introduced for the purpose of distinguishing Coats which in their primary qualities are the same. (See Chapters XII. and XIII.)

Dimidiated. Cut in halves per pale, and one half removed: No. 250. (See Chapter XI.)

Disclosed. With expanded wings, in the case of birds that are not birds of prey. The contrary to Close.

Displayed. Birds of prey with expanded wings. No. 200.

Disposed, Disposition. Arranged, arrangement.

Dividing Lines. No. 38: also Nos. 27-37.

Dolphin. A favourite fish with Heralds. The heraldic Dolphin of antiquity is exemplified in No. 8; that of the Middle Ages in No. 163.

Dormant. Asleep, as in No. 179.

Double-queued. Having two tails. No. 181.

Doubling. The lining of a Mantle or Mantling.

Dove-tail. No. 381.

Dragon. A winged monster having four legs. No. 236.

No. 236.— Dragon.	No. 237.— Circlet of a Duke’s Coronet.

Duke. The highest rank and title in the British Peerage; first introduced by Edward III. in the year 1337, when he created the Black Prince the first English Duke (in Latin, “Dux”). A Duke is “Most Noble”; he is styled “My Lord Duke,” and “Your Grace”; and all 117 his younger sons are “Lords,” and all his daughters “Ladies,” with the prefix “Right Honourable.” His eldest son bears, by courtesy, his father’s “second title”; and, accordingly, he generally bears the title of Marquess. Whatever his title, however, the rank of the eldest son of a Duke is always the same, and it assigns to him precedence between Marquesses and Earls. The Coronet of a Duke, arbitrary in its adornment until the sixteenth century was far advanced, is now a circlet, heightened with eight conventional strawberry-leaves, of which in representations three and two half-leaves are shown; No. 237. It encloses a velvet cap. The present ducal coronet is represented in the portrait of Ludovick Stuart, K.G., Duke of Richmond and Lennox, who died in 1624; the picture, the property of the Crown, is at Hampton Court.

Ducal Coronet. A term commonly, but not very accurately, applied to a Crest Coronet. No. 232.

Duchess. The wife of a Duke. She is “Most Noble,” and is styled “Your Grace.” Her coronet is the same as that of a Duke.

Eagle. See Chapter IX., page 92.

Eaglet. An Eagle on a small scale.

Earl. In Latin, “Comes”; in French, “Comte” or “Count.” Before 1337, the highest, and now the third degree of rank and dignity in the British 118 Peerage. An Earl is “Right Honourable”; he is styled “My Lord”; his eldest son bears his father’s “second title,” generally that of Viscount; his other sons are styled “Honourable,” but all his daughters are “Ladies.” The circlet of an Earl’s Coronet has eight lofty rays of gold rising from the circlet, each of which supports a large pearl, while between each pair of these rays there is a golden strawberry-leaf. In representations five of the rays and pearls are shown; No. 238. Elevated clusters of pearls appear in an Earl’s coronet—that of Thomas Fitz Alan, Earl of Arundel—as early as 1445; but the present form of the coronet may be assigned to the second half of the following century.

No. 238.— Circlet of an Earl’s Coronet.	No. 239.— Eastern Crown.

Eastern, Radiated, or Antique Crown. No. 239.

No. 240.
Electoral Bonnet.

Electoral Bonnet. A cap of crimson velvet guarded with ermine, borne, in the Royal Arms, over the inescutcheon of the arms of Hanover from 1801 till 1816. No. 240.

Embattled, and Counter-Embattled. A term applied to a fess or bar when so depicted both above and below.

Embowed. Bent. An arm embowed has the elbow to the dexter, unless blazoned to the contrary.

Embrued. Stained with blood.

Endorse. A diminutive of the pale.

Enfiled. Pierced, e.g. with a sword, or surrounded, e.g. with a coronet.

Engrailed. The border-line, No. 38D.

Enhanced. Raised towards the chief. Thus the arms of Byron, No. 241, are—Arg., three bendlets enhanced gu.

No. 241.— Shield of Byron.

119

Ensigned. Adorned; having some ensign of honour placed above—as a coronet above a shield.

Entire. Said of a charge when it is necessary to express that it extends to the border lines of a shield, coat, or banner; also of a shield, coat, or banner of arms, when borne without any difference or mark of cadency.

Entoire, Entoyre. A bordure charged with a series of inanimate figures or devices, as crosslets, roundles, &c.; to a similar bordure of living figures the term Enaluron is applied. These are not terms ordinarily in use.

Enveloped, Environed. Surrounded.

Equipped. Fully armed, caparisoned, or provided.

Eradicated. Torn up by the roots.

Erased. Torn off with a ragged edge; the contrary to Couped.

Ermine, Ermines, Erminois. Nos. 57-60 and 57A. The animal, the ermine, sometimes appears in blazon, and an ermine spot is borne as a charge.

Erne. An eagle. (See p. 96.)

Escarbuncle. No. 19.

Escroll. A ribbon charged with a motto; also a ribbon, coiled at its extremities, borne as a charge.

Escutcheon. An heraldic shield: Nos. 39-40: also No. 27. An Escutcheon, when borne as a charge, is usually blazoned as an “Inescutcheon”: thus, the Arms of Hay are,—Arg., three inescutcheons gu.: see also Nos. 131, 133.

120

Escutcheon of Pretence. A shield charged upon the centre of the field of another shield of larger size, and bearing a distinct Coat-of-Arms.

Escallop, or Escallop-Shell. A beautiful and favourite charge; No. 165.

Esquire. A rank below that of Knight. Besides those Esquires who are personal attendants of Knights of Orders of Knighthood at their installations, this title is held by most attendants on the person of the Sovereign, and all persons holding or having held the Sovereign’s commission in which they are so styled.

No. 242.
Estoile.

Estate. Dignity and rank.

Estoile. A star with wavy rays or points, which are six, eight, or sometimes even more in number: No. 242. (See Mullet.)

False. Said of any charge when its central area is removed—thus, an Annulet is a “false roundle.”

Fan, or Winnowing Fan, or Vane. The well-known implement of husbandry of that name, borne by the Kentish Family of De Sevans or Septvans—Az., three fans or (E. 2). This shield appears in the Brass to Sir R. de Sevans, A.D. 1305, at Chartham, in Kent, and in the cloisters at Canterbury.

Fan Crest. An early form of decoration for the knightly helm, exemplified in the 2nd Great Seal of Richard I., and in many other Seals, until about A.D. 1350. (See Chapter XIV.)

Feathers. Generally those of the Ostrich, sometimes of the swan, the turkey, and a few other birds, borne generally as Crests and Badges, both singly and in plumes or groups. (See Ostrich Feather, Panache, and Chapter XIV.)

Femme. The Wife, as distinguished from the “Baron,” the Husband.

Fer-de-Moline, or Mill-rind. The iron affixed to the centre 121 of a mill-stone; No. 243: a modification of the Cross-moline; No. 97.

Fermail (plural Fermaux). A buckle: No. 244. Several varieties of form appear in blazon, it being usual to specify them as round, oval, square, or lozenge-shaped. They are always blazoned as buckles.

No. 243.— Fer-de-Moline.	No. 244.— Fermails.	No. 245.— Fetter-lock.

Fess, or Fesse. One of the Ordinaries: Nos. 76-80. Fesse-wise, In Fesse. Disposed in a horizontal line, side by side, across the centre of the field, and over the Fesse-Point of a shield: No. 27, M.

Fetter-lock. A shackle and padlock—a Yorkist Badge: No. 245; is from the Brass to Sir S. de Felbrigge, K.G., at Felbrigg, Norfolk, A.D. 1414; this, however, being a very unusual shape.

Field. The entire surface of a Shield or Banner, or of an Ordinary.

File. A Label, from the Latin filum, a narrow ribbon.

Fillet. A diminutive of a Chief.

Fimbriated. Bordered—the border (which is narrow) lying in the same plane with the object bordered: No. 89.

Fish. Numerous Fish appear in blazon, and generally in their proper tinctures. They are borne as allusive charges, and also as types of some connection between those persons who bear them and the sea or lakes or rivers. Mr. Moule has published an admirable volume on the “Heraldry of Fish,” beautifully illustrated with examples drawn by his daughter. (See p. 77.)

Fitchée. Pointed at the base, as in No. 110.

122

Flanches, Flasques. Subordinaries: Nos. 141, 142.

No. 246.
Fleur de lys.

Fleur de lys. The beautiful heraldic device so long identified with the history of France: No. 246 (from the monument of Edward III.?). The fleur de lys, derived, it would seem, from the flower of a lily resembling the iris, was adopted by Louis VII. (A.D. 1137-1180) as his royal ensign, and in due time it was regularly charged upon a true Shield of Arms. Originally the Royal Shield of France was—Az., semée of fleurs de lys, or; the fleurs de lys scattered freely over the field, and the Shield itself having the appearance of having been cut out of a larger object, over the whole surface of which the flowers had been semée. This Shield of France is distinguished as “France Ancient”: No. 247. About A.D. 1365, Charles V. of France reduced the number of the fleurs de lys to three; 123 and this Shield is now known as “France Modern”: No. 248.

No. 247.— France Ancient.	No. 248.— France Modern.

In the year 1275, Edmund, first Earl of Lancaster, the second son of Henry III., married Blanche of Artois, when he differenced his shield of England with a label of France—a blue label charged on each point with three golden fleurs de lys. No. 249, thus, for the first time did the armorial insignia of England and France appear together upon the same Shield. In 1299 Edward I. married his second Queen, Margaret of France, and then this royal lady placed on one of her Seals a Shield of England and France dimidiated: No. 250. On another of her Seals, a very noble example of the Seal-engraver’s art, Queen Margaret displayed the Shield of King Edward I., her husband, surrounded, 124 on the field of the Seal, with her father’s fleurs de lys: No. 251. On the Seals of Isabelle of France, Queen of Edward II., the same dimidiated shield, and another shield quartering the arms of England with France Ancient and two other French coats (Navarre and Champagne) appear. Then Prince John of Eltham charged a “bordure of France” upon his shield, No. 24; thus applying the suggestion of the Seal of Queen Margaret, No. 251, in such a manner as was consistent with the advanced condition of heraldic art.

No. 249.— Edmund, Earl of Lancaster.	No. 250.— Margaret, Queen of Edward I.

No. 251.— Seal of Margaret, second Queen of Edward I.

On his accession in 1327, Edward III. placed a fleur de lys on each side of the Shield of England upon his Great Seal: and in 1340, when he claimed the crown of France, Edward quartered France Ancient with his lions of England: No. 252. Shortly after his accession, perhaps in 1405, in order to conform to the altered blazonry of the French sovereigns, Henry IV. quartered France Modern on his shield: No. 253. The position of the three fleurs de lys was more than once changed in the Royal Shield of England (as I shall hereafter show more particularly) after the accession of the Stuarts; and they were not finally removed till the first year of the nineteenth century. The fleur de lys is also borne on many English Shields, disposed in various ways. In modern 125 cadency the fleur de lys is the difference of the sixth son, or house.

No. 252.— Shield of Edward III., A.D. 1340.	No. 253.— Shield of Henry IV., about A.D. 1405.

Fleurettée, Florettée. Terminating in, or bordered with, fleurs de lys; also, semée de lys.

Fleurie, or Fleury. Ending as No. 100; also, semée de lys.

Flexed. Bowed, bent.

Flighted. Feathered, as arrows are.

Fly. The length, and also the side of a flag farthest from the staff.

Foliated. Crisped, or formed like a leaf.

Fountain. No. 153.

Fourchée, Queue Fourchée. A term applied to a lion with a forked tail.

Fret, or Frette. A subordinary: No. 148. Frettée, Fretty: covered with fretwork: No. 149.

Fructed. Bearing fruit or seeds.

Furs. See p. 41: Nos. 57-65.

Fusil. An elongated Lozenge: No. 20A, p. 70. Fusillée, or Fusilly. A field entirely composed of Fusils, all lying in the same plane.

Fylfot. A peculiar cruciform figure, supposed to have a mystic signification, found in military and ecclesiastical decorations in England, and on Eastern coins, &c.: Nos. 254, 255; the latter example is from the monument of Bishop Bronscombe, in Exeter Cathedral.

No. 254.	No. 255.
Fylfot.

Gad, Gadlyng. A spike, knob, or other figure, projecting from the knuckles of gauntlets.

Galley. An ancient ship. (See Lymphad.)

Garb. A sheaf of wheat; if of any other grain, this to be specified.

Garnished. Adorned in a becoming manner.

Garter, Order of the. See Chapter XIX.

126

Garter King-of-Arms. The chief of the official Heralds of England, and officer of arms of the Order of the Garter. (See Herald.)

Gemelles. See Bars Gemelles.

Gem-Ring. A ring for the finger, set with a jewel.

Genet. A spotted animal, somewhat like a marten: a badge of Queen Joanna of Navarre.

George, Saint. The Patron Saint of England. The circumstances which led to his association with England are unknown. His Shield of arms, a red cross on a silver field, first appears in English Heraldry in the fourteenth century: No. 1.

George, The. A mounted figure of the Saint in the act of piercing the dragon with his lance, and worn as a pendant to the collar of the Order of the Garter; added to the insignia of the Order, with the Collar, by Henry VII. The Lesser George has the same group on an enamelled field, and surrounded by the Garter of the Order, the whole forming a “jewel,” generally oval in shape: it was introduced by Henry VIII., and is now worn pendent from the dark-blue ribbon of the Order, the ribbon passing over the left shoulder and the jewel hanging on the right side of the wearer. Originally, this “Lesser George” was worn from either a gold chain or a black ribbon: by Queen Elizabeth the colour of the ribbon was changed to sky-blue, and it assumed its present darker hue in the reign of Charles II.

Gerattyng. Differencing by the introduction of small charges. It is an early term, now obsolete.

Gimmel-ring. Two annulets, interlaced.

Girt, Girdled. Encircled, or bound round.

Gonfannon. A long flag, pointed or swallow-tailed at the fly, and displayed from a transverse bar attached to a staff.

127

Gorged. Encircled round the throat.

Gouttée, Guttée. Sprinkled over with drops either of gold—gouttée d’or; of silver—d’eau; of blue—de larmes (tears); of red—de sang (blood); or of black—de poix (pitch).

Grand Quarters. The four primary divisions of a Shield, when it is divided quarterly: Nos. 30, 36, 37. The term “Grand Quarter” may be used to signify a primary quarter or division of a quartered Shield or Coat, and to distinguish such a quarter when it is quartered.

Grieces. Steps.

Guardant. Looking out from the field: Nos. 172, 174, 176, 187.

Guige. A Shield-belt, worn over the right shoulder, and frequently represented in heraldic compositions as if sustaining a Shield of arms: Nos. 48, 49.

Gules. Red: No. 53.

Gurges, or Gorges. A charge formed of a spiral line of blue on a white field, and supposed to represent a whirlpool: borne (H. 3) by R. de Gorges: No. 256.

No. 256.— Shield of R. de Gorges.

Gyron. A Subordinary. Gyronny. A field divided into Gyrons: No. 147. (See page 70.)

Habited. Clothed.

Hames, Heames. Parts of horses’ harness.

Hammer, or Martel. Represented in blazon much in the same shape as the implement in common use (H. 3).

Harp. A device and badge of Ireland. The Irish Harp of gold with silver strings on a blue field forms the third quarter of the Royal Arms.

Hart. A stag, with attires; the female is a Hind: page 81.

128

Hastilude. A tournament.

Hatchment. An achievement of arms in a lozenge-shaped frame, placed upon the front (generally over the principal entrance) of the residence of a person lately deceased. In the case of the decease of an unmarried person, or of a widower or widow, the whole of the field of the hatchment is painted black; but in the case of a married person, that part only of the field is black which adjoins the side of the achievement occupied by the armorial insignia of the individual deceased. Thus, if a husband be deceased, the dexter half of the field of the hatchment is black, and the sinister white; and so, in like manner, if the wife be deceased, the sinister is black and the dexter white.

Hauriant. A fish in pale, its head in chief.

Hawk’s bells, jesses, and lure. A falconer’s decoy, formed of feathers with their tips in base, and joined by a cord and ring, No. 257; also bells with straps to be attached to hawks, No. 258.

No. 257.— Hawk’s Lure.	No. 258.— Hawk’s Bells and Jesses.

Heightened. Raised; placed above or higher.

Heights. Applied to plumes of feathers which are arranged in rows or sets, one rising above another. See Panache.

Helm, Helmet. Now placed as an accessory above a Shield of arms, and bearing its Crest after the fashion in which, in the Middle Ages, both Helm and Crest were actually 129 worn in tournaments. A modern usage distinguishes Helms as follows:—The Sovereign—Helm of gold, with six bars, set affrontée, No. 259; Noblemen—Helm of silver, garnished with gold, set in profile, and showing five bars, No. 260; Baronets and Knights—of steel with silver ornaments, without bars, the vizor raised, set affrontée, No. 261; Esquires and Gentlemen—of steel, the vizor closed, and set in profile, Nos. 262, 263. The Helms that appear on early Seals and in other heraldic compositions till about A.D. 1600, are all set in profile, and the shield generally hangs from them couchée, as in No. 49. In these early compositions, the shield is small in proportion to the helm and its accessories.

	Helms of
No. 259.— the Sovereign.		No. 260.— Nobles.
No. 261.	No. 252.	No. 263.
Baronets and Knights.	Esquires and Gentlemen.

130

Hemp-brake, Hackle. An instrument having saw-teeth, used for bruising hemp.

Heneage Knot. No. 264.

No. 264.— Heneage Knot.	No. 265.— Arms of the Heralds’ College.

Herald. An officer of arms. The Heralds of England were incorporated by Richard III.; and from Queen Mary, in 1555, they received a grant of Derby House, on the site of which, between St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Thames, stands their present official residence, Heralds’ College, or the College of Arms. The college now consists of three Kings-of-Arms—Garter, Clarenceux, and Norroy; six Heralds, who have precedence by seniority of appointment—Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Windsor, York, and Somerset; and four Pursuivants—Rouge Dragon, Portcullis, Rouge Croix, and Bluemantle. The official habit is a Tabard, emblazoned with the Royal Arms, and the Kings and Heralds wear a Collar of SS. The Kings have a Crown, formed of a golden circlet, from which rise sixteen oak-leaves, nine of which appear in representations; and the circlet itself is charged with the words, Miserere mei Deus secundum magnam misericordiam tuam (“Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great loving-kindness”).

The supreme head of the English Heralds, under the 131 Sovereign, is the Earl Marshal, an office hereditary in the family of the Duke of Norfolk. The Arms of the College are—Arg., a cross gu., between four doves their dexter wings expanded and inverted az.: No. 265; Crest—From a crest-coronet or, a dove rising az.; Supporters—Two lions ramp. guard. arg., ducally gorged or. Each of the Kings has his own official arms, which he impales with his paternal coat on the dexter side of the shield. The Arms of Garter are—Arg., a cross gu.; on a chief az., a ducal coronet encircled with a Garter of the Order, between a lion of England and a fleur de lys, all or. Clarenceux and Norroy have the same shield, but the former has a lion of England only, crowned, on a chief gules; and the latter, on a chief per pale az. and gu., has a similar lion between a fleur de lys and a key, all of gold.

There is also another King styled “Bath,” who is specially attached to the Order of the Bath; he is not a member of the College.

No. 266.— Arms
of Lyon Office.

“Lyon King-of-Arms” is the chief Herald of Scotland; and the establishment over which he presides is styled the “Lyon Office.” The Arms of the Office are—Arg., a lion sejant erect and affronté gu., holding in his dexter paw a thistle slipped vert, and in the sinister an escutcheon of the second; on a chief az., a saltire of the first: No. 266.

Ireland is the heraldic province of “Ulster King-of-Arms.” His official armorial ensigns differ from those of Garter only in the charges of the chief, which are a lion of England between a golden harp and a portcullis.

Herison. A hedgehog.

Hill, Hillock. A mound of earth.

132

Hirondelle. A swallow.

Hoist. The depth of a flag from chief to base. See Fly.

Honour Point. No. 27, L.

Humettée. Cut short at the extremities.

Hurst. A clump of trees.

Hurt. A blue roundle.

Illegitimacy. See Chapter XII.

Imbrued, or Embrued. Stained with blood.

Impaled. Conjoined per pale.

Impalement. The uniting of two (or more) distinct coats per pale, to form a single achievement.

Imperially Crowned. Ensigned with the Crown of England.

Incensed, Inflamed. On fire; having fire issuing forth.

Increscent. No. 166, B. See Decrescent.

Indented. No. 38, A.

Inescutcheon. An heraldic Shield borne as a charge. This term is sometimes used to denote an Escutcheon of Pretence.

In bend. Disposed in the position of a bend; In Chevron, In Chief, In Cross, In Fesse, &c. Disposed after the manner of a chevron, or in the chief of the shield, or in the form of a cross, &c.

In Foliage. Bearing leaves.

In Lure. Wings conjoined in the form of a hawk’s lure.

In her piety. A term applied to a pelican feeding her young.

In Pretence. A term applied to a single inescutcheon placed upon and in the centre of a larger escutcheon.

In Pride. Having the tail displayed, as a peacock’s.

In Quadrangle. When four charges are so disposed that one is in each quarter of the shield.

In Splendour. The sun irradiated.

Irradiated. Surrounded by rays of light.

Issuant. Proceeding from, or out of.

Jambe, Gambe. The leg of a lion, or other beast of prey: No. 185.

133

Jelloped. Having wattles and a comb, as a cock.

Jesses. Straps for hawk’s bells.

Jessant. Shooting forth. Jessant de lys.—A combination of a leopard’s face and a fleur-de-lys: No. 267.

Joust. A tournament.

Jupon. A short, sleeveless surcoat, worn over armour from about 1340 to about 1405. It is often charged with armorial insignia, and thus is a true “coat of arms.”

No. 267. Jessant de lys.			No. 270. Hastings Badge.
	No. 268, 269.— Heraldic Keys.

Key. When represented in early blazon, Keys have always elegant forms. No. 268 is from Peterborough Cathedral, and No. 269 from Exeter.

King-of-Arms. See Herald.

Knighthood, Orders of: Knights. See Chapter XVI.

Knot. An intertwined cord, borne as a badge. The varieties of this device are—The Bourchier, No. 219; the Bowen, No. 220; the Harington (the same as a Frette), No. 148; the Heneage, No. 264; the Lacy, No. 274; the Stafford, No. 304; and the Wake and Ormond, No. 313. Cords were sometimes intertwined about other figures and devices, and so formed what may be regarded as Compound Badges, which significantly declared the union of two houses: thus, the knot of Edward Lord Hastings unites the Hungerford sickle with the Peverel garbe: 134 No. 270; and the Dacre knot is entwined about the Dacre escallop and the famous “ragged staff” of Beauchamp and Neville: No. 235.

Labels.— No. 271.	No. 272.	No. 273.

Label, or File. A narrow ribbon placed across the field of a shield near the chief, and having three, five, or sometimes other numbers of points depending from it, its object being to mark Cadency. In the early Labels the number of the points was arbitrary, the usual numbers being five and three; and, subsequently, three points were almost universally used; the object always was to render the Label conspicuous. In blazon a Label is supposed to have three points; but, if more, the number is to be specified; thus, No. 271 is simply “a Label,” but No. 272 is “a Label of five points.” Labels appear early in the thirteenth century, and in the next century they are in constant use. Various charges may be placed on the “points” of Labels to extend their capacity for “differencing.” Since the time of Edward the Black Prince the Label of the Prince of Wales has been plain silver. The Label is almost exclusively (now without any exception) used in Royal Cadency; but, in modern Heraldry, in the case of all other persons it is the peculiar mark of the eldest son. The Label is also found as a charge. It has become a usage in the degenerate days of Heraldry to represent the Label as in No. 273, instead of the earlier and far preferable forms of Nos. 271, 272.

No. 274.
Lacy Knot.

Lacy Knot. No. 274.

135

Lambrequin. A mantling.

Langued. A term which refers to the tincture of an animal’s tongue.

Leaves. Their peculiarities are to be blazoned, as laurel leaves, oak leaves, &c.

Leopard, Leopardé. See page 84.

Letters of the Alphabet sometimes are Charges. Thus, the Arms of the Deanery of Canterbury are—Az., on a cross arg., the letter “x” surmounted by the letter “i” sable: the “x” is on the cross at the intersection of its limbs, and the “i” is above it.

Line, or Border Line. No. 38.

Lined. Having a cord attached: also, having a lining.

Lion. See page 83.

Lioncel. A lion drawn to a small scale, and generally rampant, Nos. 114, 115, 197.

Livery Colours. Of the Plantagenets, as one family, white and scarlet; of the house of York, blue and murrey; of the house of Lancaster, white and blue; of the house of Tudor, white and green. The present Royal Livery is scarlet and gold. In the Middle Ages, all great families had their own livery colours, which had no necessary relation to the tinctures of the shield.

Lodged. A term denoting animals of the chase when at rest or in repose, Nos. 25, 26.

Lozenge. A square figure set diagonally, No. 47 (also see page 69). The armorial insignia of unmarried ladies and widows, with the sole exception of a Sovereign, are blazoned on a Lozenge instead of an Escutcheon.

Lozengy. A field divided lozengewise: No. 145.

No. 275.
Lymphad.

Luce, or Lucy. The fish now called pike. See page 77 and No. 164.

Lure. See In Lure.

Lymphad. An ancient galley, No. 275. It was the feudal ensign of the Scottish lordship of Lorn, and as such quartered by the Duke of Argyll.

136

Maintenance, Cap of. See Chapeau.

No. 276.— Arms
of Hastings.

Manche, Maunche. A lady’s sleeve with a long pendent lappet, worn in the time of Henry I., and borne as an armorial charge by the families of Hastings, Conyers, and some others. Hastings (H. 3)—Or, a manche gu.: No. 276.

Mantle. A flowing robe worn over the armour, or over their ordinary costume, by personages of distinction of both sexes: the mantles of ladies were commonly decorated with armorial blazonry.

Mantling, or Lambrequin. A small mantle of some rich materials, attached to the knightly basinet or helm, and worn hanging down. It is usually represented with jagged edges, to represent the cuts to which it would be exposed in actual battle: No. 199. (See Panache.) Mantlings blazoned with achievements of arms are sometimes adjusted in folds to form a background to the composition, and they are also occasionally differenced with various charges.

No. 277.— Circlet
of the Coronet
of a Marquess.

Marquess, Marquis. The second order of the British Peerage, in rank next to that of Duke. This rank and title were introduced into England in 1387, by Richard II., who then created his favourite, Robert De Vere, Marquess of Dublin. The next creation was by Henry VI. 137 A Marquess is “Most Honourable”; he is styled “My Lord Marquess”: all his younger sons are “Lords,” and his daughters “Ladies”; his eldest son bears his father’s “second title.” The Coronet, apparently contemporary in its present form with that of Dukes, has its golden circlet heightened with four strawberry leaves and as many pearls, arranged alternately: in representations two of the pearls, and one leaf and two half-leaves are shown, No. 277. The wife of a Marquess is a “Marchioness”; her style corresponds with that of her husband, and her coronet is the same.

Marshalling. The disposition of more than one distinct coat of arms upon a shield, so forming a single composition; or the aggroupment of two or more distinct shields, so as to form a single composition; also the association of such accessories as the helm, mantling, crest, &c., and of knightly and other insignia with a shield of arms, thus again forming a single heraldic composition. See Chapter XI.

Martel. A hammer.

Martlet. The heraldic Martin, usually represented without feet: Nos. 160, 161, and 70 and 86.

Mascle. Lozenge voided: No. 143. Masculée. A field divided mascle-wise.

Masoned. Representing brickwork.

Membered. To denote the legs of a bird.

Merchant’s mark. A device, adopted as early as 1400 by merchants, as a substitute for heraldic ensigns which were not conceded to them. Such marks are the predecessors of the Trade-brands and Marks of after times.

Mermaid, Merman, or Triton. The well-known fabulous creatures of the sea, borne occasionally as charges, but 138 more frequently as supporters, badges, or crests. A mermaid was the device of Sir William de Brivere, who died in 1226, and it is the badge of the Berkeleys.

Metal. The Tinctures Or and Argent: Nos. 50, 51.

Mill-rind. See Fer-de-Moline.

Mitre. The ensign of archiepiscopal and episcopal rank, placed above the arms of prelates of the Church of England, sometimes borne as a charge, and adopted by the Berkeleys as their crest. The contour of the mitre has varied considerably at different periods, the early examples being low and concave in their sides, the later lofty and convex. See No. 159.

Moline. A cross terminating like a Fer-de-moline, No. 97. In modern cadency it is the difference of the eighth son.

Moon. No. 166, page 80.

Motto. A word, or very short sentence, placed generally below a shield but sometimes above a crest, an idea perhaps derived from the “war-cries” of early times. A motto may be emblematical, or it may have some allusion to the person bearing it, or to his name and armorial insignia; or it may be the epigrammatic expression of some sentiment in special favour with the bearer of it. As a matter of course, allusive mottoes, like allusive arms, afford curious examples of mediæval puns. I give a few characteristic examples:—“Vero nil verius” (nothing truer than truth, or, no greater verity than in Vere)—Vere; “Fare, fac” (Speak—act; that is, a word and blow)—Fairfax; “Cave” (beware)—Cave; “Cavendo tutus” (safe, by caution, or by Cavendish)—Cavendish; “Set on,” says Seton; “Fight on,” quoth Fitton; “Festina lente” (On slow—push forward, but be cautious, that is), adds Onslow. Again: Jefferay says, “Je feray ce que je diray” (I shall be true to my word); Scudamore—Scutum amoris divini (the shield of Divine love); says James—“J’aime jamais” (I love ever); 139 says Estwick—“Est hic” (he is here); and Pole—“Pollet virtus” (valour prevails); and Tev—“Tais en temps” (be silent in time). The crest of Charteris, an arm with the hand grasping a sword, has over it—“This our charter is.” In his arms the Marquess Cholmondeley bears two helmets, and his motto is—“Cassis tutissima virtus” (valour is the safest helm); the crest of the Martins of Dorsetshire was an ape, with the significant motto—“He who looks at Martin’s ape, Martin’s ape shall look at him!” The motto of Perceval is—“Perse valens” (strong in himself); but, “Do no yll,” quoth Doyle. Some “lippes,” as Camden remarks, have a taste for “this kind of lettuce.”

Mound. A globe, encircled and arched over with rich bands, and surmounted by a cross-patée, the whole an ensign of the royal estate. A mound or orb forms part of the regalia, and the same form appears upon the intersecting arches of the crown of the Sovereign; and it also surmounts the single arch of the coronet of the Prince of Wales: Nos. 234, 289.

Mount. A green hill.

Mullet. A star, generally of five, but sometimes of six or more points (if more than five the number to be specified), always formed by right lines, as No. 278. A mullet is sometimes “pierced,” as in No. 279, when the tincture of the field is generally apparent through the circular aperture. In modern cadency an unpierced mullet is the difference of the third son. See Estoile.

No. 278.— Mullet.	No. 279.— Mullet, pierced.

Mural Crown. Represents masonry, and is embattled: No. 280.

140

Naiant. Swimming in fesse. See Hauriant.

No. 280.— Mural Crown.	No. 281.— Naval Crown.

Naissant. Equivalent to Issuant, but applied only to living creatures.

Naval Crown. Has its circlet heightened with figures of the stern and the hoisted sail of a ship alternating: No. 281.

Nebulée, or Nebuly. No. 38, H.

Nimbus. A glory about the head of a figure of a sainted personage: sometimes used to denote sanctity in a symbolical device.

Norroy. See Herald.

Nova Scotia, Badge of. See Baronet.

Nowed. Coiled in a knot, as a snake.

Ogress. A Pellet, or black roundle.

Opinicus. A fabulous heraldic monster, a dragon before, and a lion behind with a camel’s tail.

Oppressed. An alternative for Debruised.

Or. The metal gold: No. 50.

Ordinary. An early principal charge of a simple character. See Chapter VI., and Nos. 71-128: see also page 14.

Ordinary of arms. A list of armorial bearings, classified or arranged alphabetically, with the names of the bearers. See Armory.

Oreiller. A cushion or pillow, generally with tassels.

Orle. A Subordinary formed of a border of a Shield, which is charged upon another and a larger shield, as in No. 134. In Orle. Arranged after the manner of an Orle, forming a border to a Shield, as in No. 86.

141

Ostrich feathers. A Royal Badge: also a Device in a few instances charged by Royal and some other personages on an Armorial Shield. See Chapter XV.

Over all, or Sur tout. To denote some one charge being placed over all others.

Overt. With expanded wings.

Pale. One of the Ordinaries: No. 87. Pale-wise, or In Pale. Disposed after the manner of a Pale—that is, set vertically, or arranged vertically one above another, as are the Lions of England in No. 187, page 87.

Pall, Pallium. A vestment peculiar to Archbishops of the Roman Church: in Heraldry, as a charge, half only of the pall is shown, when it resembles the letter Y; it is borne in the arms of the Sees of Canterbury, Armagh, and Dublin.

No. 282.
Bourdon.

Pallet. Half a Pale.

Palmer’s Staff, Pilgrim’s staff, or Bourdon. No. 282. John Bourdon (H. 3) bears—Arg., three palmer’s staves gu.

Paly. Divided per pale into an even number of parts, which all lie in the same plane, as in No. 88. Paly Bendy. Divided evenly pale-wise, and also bend-wise, No. 118.

Panache. A plume of feathers, generally of the ostrich, set upright and born as a crest. A panache sometimes consists of a single row of feathers; but more generally it has two or more rows or “heights” of feathers, rising one above the other. In the greater number of examples the tips of the feathers are erect; in others they wave, or slightly bend over. A panache may be charged with some device or figure, “for difference,” as by the Tyndalls, with an ermine circlet, a martlet, and a fleur de lys. In Nos. 283, 285, from the seals of Edward Courtenay, and Edmund Mortimer (A.D. 1400 and 1372) the “heights” both expand and 142 rise in a curved pyramidal form. No. 284, from the seal of William le Latimer (A.D. 1372), shows a remarkable variety of both panache and mantling. Waving plumes formed of distinct feathers first appear near the end of the fifteenth century, and are prevalent during the sixteenth century.

No. 283.— Edward Courtenay.	Panache Crests: No. 284.— William le Latimer.	No. 285.— Edmund Mortimer.

Party, Parted. Divided.

Passant. Walking and looking forward: No. 173. Passant Guardant. Walking and looking out from the shield, No. 174. Passant Reguardant. Walking and looking back. Passant Repassant, or Passant and Counter Passant. Walking in opposite directions.

Pastoral Staff. The official staff of a bishop or abbot, having a crooked head, and so distinguished from an archbishop’s crozier.

Patée, or Formée. Patonce. Patriarchal.

Varieties of the heraldic Cross, Nos. 106, 99, and 95.

Pean. The Fur, No. 60.

Peer. That general title, expressing their equality as members 143 of a distinct “order” in the realm, which is applied to Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Peerage. The hereditament of a Peer: also rank of a Peer; a list of the Peers.

Pegasus. A horse with wings—a classic as well as an heraldic imaginary creature.

Pelican. Blazoned “in her piety,” when feeding her young with her own blood.

Pellet. A black roundle.

Pendent. Hanging.

Pennon. An armorial lance flag, pointed or swallow-tailed at the fly. No. 286 is from the Brass to Sir John d’Aubernoun, A.D. 1279; the arms are—Az., a chevron or.

Per. By means of, or after the manner of.

No. 286.— A Pennon.	No. 287.— A Pheon.

Pheon. A pointed arrow-head, borne with the point in base, unless the contrary is specified, No. 287.

Phœnix. A fabulous eagle, always represented as issuant from flames.

Pile. One of the Ordinaries, in form like a wedge, Nos. 126, 127, 128. In Pile. Arranged after the form of a pile.

Planta Genista. The broom plant badge of the Plantagenets, No. 21.

Plate. A silver roundle.

144

Plenitude. The moon when full. See No. 166.

Plume. See Panache.

Points of Shield. No. 27. In Point is the same as In Pile.

Pomme. A green roundle.

Popinjay. A parrot (H. 3).

No. 288.
A Portcullis.

Port. A gateway, as the entrance to a castle: No. 222.

Portcullis. A defence for a gateway, No. 288: the badge of the Houses of Beaufort and Tudor, borne by the former with the significant motto, “Altera securitas” (additional security).

Potent. A variety of the heraldic cross, No. 108; also a Fur, No. 64.

Powdered, Poudrée. The same as Semée.

Preying. When an animal devours its prey. See Trussing.

Prince, Princess. In this country the rank and title of the members of the Royal Family. Their style is “Your Royal Highness.” The Coronet of the Prince of Wales differs from the crown of the King, only in having a single arch instead of two intersecting arches: No. 289. The coronets of the Princes and Princesses, the sons and daughters of the King, are the same as the coronet of the Prince of Wales, but without any arch: No. 290. The coronets of the Princes and Princesses, the grandchildren of the Sovereign, differ in having the circlet heightened with two crosses patée, as many strawberry leaves, and four fleurs-de-lys, No. 291. Other Royal coronets have the circlet heightened with four crosses patée, and as many strawberry leaves. No. 292. For the arms of their Royal Highnesses, see Chapter XVIII.

Circlets of Royal Coronets:
No. 289.— Prince of Wales.	No. 290.— King’s Daughters and Younger Sons.
No. 291.— King’s Grandchildren.	No. 292.— Royal Dukes.

Purfled. Lined and bordered or garnished.

Purpure. A colour: No. 56.

Pursuivant. A Herald of the lowest rank. In the Middle Ages, these officers were attached to the households of personages of high rank, and bore titles generally taken from the armorial insignia of their lords.

145

Quadrate. A form of cross: No. 94.

Quarter. The first (from the dexter chief) of the divisions of a shield that is parted per cross, as in No. 30; also any other division of a shield, to be specified in blazoning. See No. 36, and Canton.

Quartering. Marshalling two or more coats of arms in the different quarters of the same shield. When two coats are thus quartered, the one in the first quarter is repeated in the fourth, and the one in the second in the third; when three are quartered, the first quartering is repeated in the fourth quarter. Any required number of coats may be quartered on the same principle. This same term is also applied to denote the dividing a shield “quarterly,” as in No. 30, or into more than four divisions, as in No. 36.

Quarterly. A shield divided into four divisions, as in No. 30: each division to contain a complete coat of arms, or a distinct heraldic device or composition. Should the shield be divided into more than four sections, the number is to be specified: thus, No. 36 is “quarterly of eight,” &c. See Nos. 252, 253.

No. 293.
Quatrefoil.

146

Quarterly Quartering and Quartered. The quartering of a “quarter” of a shield that is divided “quarterly”; also distinguished as “Compound Quartering.” See page 34.

Quatrefoil. A flower or figure having four foils or conjoined leaves, No. 293. In modern cadency a Double Quatrefoil is the difference of the ninth son.

Queue Fourchée. Having a forked tail; No. 181.

Quilled. Used to blazon the quills of feathers: thus, a blue feather having its quill golden is blazoned—A feather az., quilled or.

No. 294.
The Ragged
Staff Badge.

Radiant. Encircled with rays.

Rayonée. Formed of Rays.

Ragulée, Raguly. Serrated, as No. 38, G. A “ragged staff,” No. 294, is a part of a stem from which the branches have been cut off roughly. This “ragged staff,” or “staff ragulée,” is the famous badge of the Beauchamps, and, derived from them, of the Nevilles. No. 294 is from the monument of the great Earl, Richard de Beauchamp, K.G., who died in 1439, at Warwick.

Rampant, Rampant Guardant and Reguardant. Nos. 171, 172; when reguardant, the animal looks backward.

No. 295.— Rebus of Abbot Kirton.	No. 296.— Rebus of Bishop Beckyngton.

Rebus. An allusive charge or device. A cask, or tun, to represent the final syllable “ton” of many surnames, is frequently found. I give a few examples of several varieties of Rebus:—John Oxney, Canterbury—An 147 eagle (the emblem of St. John the Evangelist, to denote “John”) standing on an ox, charged on its side with the letters NE. John Wheathamstede, St. Albans—An eagle and an Agnus Dei (the emblems of St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist, to denote “John”), and clusters of ears of wheat. John Ramryge, St. Albans—A ram, gorged with a collar inscribed with the letters RYGE. Woodstock—The stump or stock of a tree. Abbot Islip, Westminster—A man falling from a tree, exclaiming, “I slip!” and a human eye, and a slip (small branch of a tree). Walter Lyhart, Norwich—A hart (stag) lying down in water. An owl, with the letters DOM on a scroll in its beak, for Bishop Oldham, at Exeter. A church (“kirk”) on a tun, with a pastoral staff and the initial R, for Abbot Robert Kirton, No. 295; and a bird on a tun, and a tree growing out of a tun, for Burton and Ashton, all at Peterborough. At Wells, with an initial T, a fire-beacon planted in a tun, for Bishop Thomas Beckyngton, No. 296; and at Lullinstone, Kent, in stained glass, the shield of Sir John Peché, A.D. 1522—Az., a lion rampt. queue fourchée erm., crowned or—is encircled by peach-branches fructed and in foliage, each peach being charged with the letter É, No. 297; the crest-wreath also is formed of a similar peach-branch.

No. 297.— Arms and Rebus of Sir John Peché.

Recercelée. A variety of the heraldic cross: No. 98.

Reflexed, Reflected. Curved and carried backwards.

Reguardant. Looking backwards: see No. 182.

Rein-deer. Heraldically drawn with double antlers, one pair erect, the other drooping.

Respecting. Face to face—applied to creatures not of a fierce nature.

Rest. See Clarion, No. 228.

Ribbon, Riband. A diminutive of a Bend.

Rising, Roussant. About to fly.

148

Rompu. Broken.

Rose. Represented in blazon as in Nos. 298, 299, and without leaves. The five small projecting leaves of the calyx, that radiate about the flower itself, are styled barbs, and when they are blazoned “proper” these 149 barbs are green, as the “seeds” in the centre of the flower are golden. Both the “red rose” of Lancaster and the “white rose” of York, but more especially the latter, are at times surrounded with rays, and each is termed a “rose-en-soleil,” No. 300. The rose, the emblem of England, is generally drawn like the natural flower; or with natural stem, branches, leaves, and buds, but with heraldic rose-flowers. In modern cadency the heraldic rose is the difference of the seventh son.

Nos. 298, 299.—Heraldic Roses.		No. 300.— Rose en Soleil.

Roundle. See page 72.

Rustre. A mascle pierced with a circular opening: No. 144.

Sable. The colour black: No. 54.

Sagittary. The fabulous centaur, half man and half horse.

Salamander. An imaginary being, supposed to live in flames of fire; it is represented sometimes as a kind of lizard, and at other times (as in the crest of Earl Douglas, A.D. 1483) as a quadruped somewhat like a dog, breathing flames.

Salient. Leaping or bounding.

Saltire. An ordinary, in form a diagonal cross: Nos. 120, 121, 122. Saltire-wise, or in saltire. Arranged after the form of a saltire.

Sanglier. A wild boar.

Sans. Without. “Sans nombre,” without any number fixed or specified.

Savage-man, or Wood-man. A wild man, naked except large wreaths of leaves about his head and loins, and carrying a club.

150

No. 301.— Crest
of Hamilton.

Saw, or Frame-saw. Borne as the crest of Hamilton, Duke of Hamilton, which is thus blazoned—Out of a ducal crest-coronet or, an oak-tree fructed and penetrated transversely in the main stem by a frame-saw ppr., the frame gold; above the crest the motto, “Through!” This device is said to commemorate the escape into Scotland, in 1323, of Sir Gilbert Hamilton, a reputed ancestor of the present ducal house. At the court of Edward II. Sir Gilbert had unadvisedly expressed admiration for Robert Bruce, on which John le Despencer struck him. Despencer fell in single combat the next day, and Hamilton fled, hotly pursued, northward. Near the border the fugitive and a faithful esquire joined some wood-cutters, assumed their dress, and commenced working with them on an oak, when the pursuers passed by. Hamilton, saw in hand, observed his esquire anxiously watching their enemies as they passed, and at once recalled his attention to his woodman’s duties by the word, “Through!”—thus, at the same time, appearing to consider the cutting down the oak to be far more important than the presence of the strangers. So they passed by, and Hamilton followed in safety. This crest does not appear in the Hamilton seals till long after the days of Bruce and his admirer, Sir Gilbert: No. 301.

Scarpe, Escarpe. A diminutive of a Bend sinister.

Scintillant. Emitting sparks.

Seax. A Saxon sword.

Seeded. Having seeds or seed-vessels, as in the centre of an heraldic rose. See Nos. 298-300.

Segreant. A term applied to a griffin when rampant.

Sejant. Sitting.

Semée. Sown broadcast or scattered, without any fixed 151 number, over the field; parts of the charge thus semée appearing at the border-lines of the composition. See Nos. 247, 250, 252.

Shake-fork. Resembles the letter Y, but does not extend to the margin of the shield, and is pointed at its extremities.

Shamrock. A trefoil plant or leaf, the badge of Ireland.

Shield, or Escutcheon. The Shield of Heraldry is fully described at page 32. See also Nos. 27, 39-49.

Ship. Sometimes blazoned as a modern vessel, but sometimes also as an ancient galley. See Lymphad.

Shoveller. A species of duck.

Simple Quartering. Dividing a shield quarterly, with the quartering of any of the quarters. See Quartering.

No. 302.
Sixfoil.

Sinister. The left side. No. 27.

Sinople. The colour vert in French Heraldry.

Sixfoil. A flower of six leaves: No. 302.

Slipped. Having a stalk, as a leaf or branch: No. 309.

Spear. The spear or lance is not of common occurrence in blazon; but it appears, with heraldic propriety, in the arms granted in 1596 to the father of the great poet, who bore—Or, on a bend sa. a spear gold, the head arg.—the arms of Shakespeare, No. 303. (In the woodcut the bend is accidentally shaded for gules, instead of sable.)

No. 303.— Arms of Shakespeare.

Spur. Not common as an heraldic charge. Before about 1320 the spur had a single point, and was known as the “pryck-spur”; about that time appeared a “rouelle-spur” of simple form; in the middle of the fifteenth century spurs of extravagant length were introduced.

SS., Collar of. See Collar, and No. 231.

Stafford-knot. No. 304.

Stall-plate. A plate bearing the arms of a knight and placed 152 in his stall. The stall-plates of the Knights of the Garter and the Bath are severally placed in the Chapels of St. George and of Henry VII., at Windsor and Westminster. The earliest plates now in existence at Windsor, though many of them bear arms of an earlier date, were executed about 1430.

No. 304.— Stafford Knot.	No. 305.— Stapleton Badge.

Standard. A long narrow flag, introduced for the purpose of heraldic display, in the time of Edward III., but not in general use till a later period. Standards generally had the Cross of St. George next the staff, to which succeeded the badge or badges and the motto of the owner. See Chapter XVII.

Staple. Borne by Stapleton: No. 305 represents a badge formed of two staples.

Statant. Standing.

Star. See Estoile and Mullet; also a knightly decoration.

Stirrup. Borne, with appropriate straps and buckles, by Scudamore, Giffard, and a few others.

Stock. The stump of a tree.

Stringed. As a harp or a bugle-horn; or, suspended by, or fastened with, a string.

Sun. When represented shining and surrounded with rays, he has a representation of a human face upon his disc, and is blazoned “In splendour.” Sunbeams, or Rays, are borne in blazon, and form an early charge. See Collar.

Supporter. A figure of whatsoever kind that stands by a Shield of arms, as if supporting or guarding it. Single Supporters occasionally appear, but the general usage is to have a pair of Supporters—one on each side of the 153 supported Shield. They came gradually into use in the course of the fourteenth century, but were not regularly established as accessories of Shields till about 1425, or rather later. At first they were generally alike, being then duplicate representations of the badge, but subsequently the more prevalent custom was that the two Supporters should differ, as in the case of the Royal Supporters, the Lion and the Unicorn, famous in History as in Heraldry. See Bearer, Tenant, and also Chapter XVI.

Surcoat. Any garment worn over armour; but especially the long flowing garment worn by knights over their armour until about 1325, when its form was modified by cutting it short in front, and it was distinguished as a Cyclas. See Jupon.

Surmounted. Placed over another.

Swan. When blazoned “proper,” white with black beak and red legs. It is the badge of the Bohuns, and of their descendants the Lancastrian Plantagenets, the Staffords, and some others. This Swan has his neck encircled with a coronet, from which a chain generally passes over his back. By Henry V., the Swan badge of his mother, Mary de Bohun, was borne with the wings expanded.

Sword. When borne as a charge, straight in the blade, pointed, and with a cross-guard. All the appointments of the weapon are to be blazoned. It appears, as a spiritual emblem, in several episcopal coats of arms; in the arms of the City of London, No. 306, the first quarter of a Shield of St. George (arg., a cross gu.) is charged with a sword erect gules, the emblem of St. Paul, the special patron of the English metropolitan city. The sword is also borne in blazon in its military capacity.

No. 306.— Arms of City of London.

154

Tabard. A short garment with sleeves, worn in the Tudor era. It has the arms blazoned on the sleeves as well as on the front and back: No. 307, the Tabard of William Fynderne, Esquire, from his brass, A.D. 1444, at Childrey in Berkshire: the arms are—Arg., a chevron between three crosses patée sable, the ordinary being charged with an annulet of the field “for Difference.” A similar garment is the official habit of heralds.

No. 307.— Tabard; A.D. 1444.

Tau, Tau-Cross. A cross formed like the letter T, so called in Greek, No. 93; borne as a charge in the arms of Drury, Tawke, and some others: this charge is also called the Cross of St. Anthony: it is sometimes borne on a badge, as in the Bishop’s Palace at Exeter. See Chapter XV.

Templars, Knights. See Chapter XIX.

Tenent, Tenant. Used by French Heralds to distinguish human figures from animals, as supporters.

Tennée, or Tawney. A deep orange-colour; in use in the Middle Ages as a livery-colour.

No. 308.— Badge
of James I.

Thistle. The national Badge of Scotland, represented after its national aspect, and tinctured proper. James I. of Great Britain, to symbolise the union of the two realms of England and Scotland, compounded a Badge from the Rose of one realm, and the Thistle of the other, united by impalement under a single crown: No. 308. The impaled rose and thistle is borne by the Earl of Kinnoull, repeated eight times upon a bordure.

Timbre. In the early Heraldry of England, this term denotes 155 the true heraldic crest: but, in the modern Heraldry of France, the “timbre” is the Helm in an armorial achievement. Timbred. Ensigned with a Helm; or, if referring to an early English achievement, with a Crest. It is a term very seldom met with in use.

Tiercée. In tierce, Per tierce. Divided into three equal parts.

Tinctures. The two metals and the five colours of Heraldry: Nos. 50-56. See page 40. It was one of the puerile extravagancies of the Heralds of degenerate days to distinguish the Tinctures by the names of the Planets in blazoning the arms of Sovereign Princes, and by the names of Gems in blazoning the arms of Nobles.

Torse. A crest-wreath.

Torteau, plural torteaux. A red spherical Roundle: No. 152.

Tower, Turret. A small castle. Towered. Surmounted by towers, as No. 222, which is a “Castle triple towered.”

No. 309.
Trefoil
Slipped.

Transposed. Reversed.

Trefoil. A leaf of three conjoined foils, generally borne “slipped,” as in No. 309.

Treflée, or Botonée. A variety of the cross: No. 103. Treflée also implies semée of trefoils.

Treille, Trellis. See page 71, and No. 150.

Tressure. A subordinary. See pages 66, 67; and Nos. 135-8.

Tricked. Sketched in outline.

Trippant, or Tripping. In easy motion, as a stag. See page 81; and No. 168.

Triton. See Mermaid.

Trivet. A circular or triangular iron frame, with three feet, borne by the family of Tryvett.

No. 310.
Trumpet.

Trogodice. An animal like a reindeer.

Trumpet. In blazon usually a long straight tube, expanding at its extremity: No. 310, from the brass to Sir R. de Trumpington, at Trumpingdon, near Cambridge; A.D. 1272.

Trussed. With closed wings. Trussing. Devouring—applied to birds of prey.

156

Tudor Rose. An heraldic rose, quarterly gu. and arg.; or a white heraldic rose, charged upon a red one.

Tun. A cask; the rebus of the final syllable TON in many surnames. See Rebus.

Tynes. Branches of a stag’s antlers. See Attires.

Ulster. See Baronet and Herald.

Undy, Undée. Wavy: No. 38, C.

Unguled. Hoofed.

Unicorn. A well-known fabulous animal, famous as the sinister supporter of the Royal Shield of England.

Union Jack. The National Ensign of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, fully described in Chapter XVII. It is borne on an inescutcheon upon the arms of the Duke of Wellington as an augmentation.

Uriant. A term said to be applied to a fish when it swims in a vertical position, head downwards. The reverse of Hauriant, q.v.

Vair. A Fur: Nos. 61, 62, 63.

Vane. See Fan.

Vert. In French Heraldry, Sinople. The colour green: No. 55.

Vervels, Varvals. Small rings.

Vested. Clothed.

No. 311.— Circlet of a Viscount’s Coronet.

Viscount. The fourth degree of rank and dignity in the British Peerage, in Latin Vice-Comes, introduced by Henry VI., A.D. 1440. Vice-comes is also the Latin word for the office of Sheriff. A Viscount is “Right Honourable,” and is styled “My Lord.” All his sons and daughters are “Honourable.” His Coronet, granted by James I., has a row of sixteen pearls, of comparatively small size set on the circlet; in representations nine are shown: No. 311. The wife of a Viscount is a Viscountess, who has the same rank, style, and coronet as her husband.

157

No. 312.
Shield at St. Michael’s Church, St. Alban’s.

Vivre. An early term, fallen into general disuse; but apparently denoting a Barrulet or Cotise Dancettée; as in No. 312, at St. Michael’s Church, St. Albans.

Voided. Having the central area removed.

Voiders. Diminutives of Flanches.

Volant. Flying. Vorant. Devouring.

Vol. Two bird’s wings conjoined, having the appearance of an eagle displayed without its body: No. 207.

Vulned. Wounded.

Wake Knot. No. 313.

Walled. Made to represent brick or stone-work. The term masoned is, however, usually employed.

No. 313.— Wake Knot.	No. 314.— Catherine Wheel.	No. 315.— Wyvern.

Water Bouget. No. 218.

Wattled. Having a comb and gills, as a cock.

Wavy, Undée. No. 38, C.

Wheat-sheaf. See Garb.

Wheel, Catherine Wheel. Has curved spikes projecting from its rim: No. 314: from a shield upon a boss, about A.D. 1400, in the south choir-aisle of the church of Great Yarmouth.

Wreath, Crest-Wreath. See Crest-Wreath, and No. 233; also Chapter XIV.

Wreathed. Adorned with a wreath, chaplet, or garland; or twisted into the form of a wreath, &c.

Wyvern, Wivern. A fabulous creature, being a species of dragon with two legs: No. 315.