Plate III.
Fig. 164.Fig. 164.—Crucifix.
Fig. 164.—Crucifix.
Fig. 165.Fig. 165.—Cross couped.
Fig. 165.—Cross couped.
Fig. 166.Fig. 166.—Cross botonny.
Fig. 166.—Cross botonny.
Fig. 167.Fig. 167.—Cross flory.
Fig. 167.—Cross flory.
Fig. 168.Fig. 168.—Cross fleuretté.
Fig. 168.—Cross fleuretté.
Fig. 169.Fig. 169.—Cross moline.
Fig. 169.—Cross moline.
Fig. 170.Fig. 170.—Cross potent.
Fig. 170.—Cross potent.
Fig. 171.Fig. 171.—Cross patée (or formée).
Fig. 171.—Cross patée (or formée).
Fig. 172.Fig. 172.—Cross patonce.
Fig. 172.—Cross patonce.
Of other but much more uncommon varieties examples will be found of the cross parted and fretty (Fig. 174), of the cross patée quadrate (Fig. 175), of a cross pointed and voided in the arms of Dukinfield (quartered by Darbishire), and of a cross cleché voided and pometté as in the arms of Cawston. A cross quarter-pierced (Fig. 176) has the field visible at the centre. A cross tau or St. Anthony's Cross is shown in Fig. 177, the real Maltese Cross in Fig. 178, and the Patriarchal Cross in Fig. 179.
Whenever a cross or cross crosslet has the bottom arm elongated and pointed it is said to be "fitched" (Figs. 180 and 181), but when a point is added at the foote.g.of a cross patée, it is then termed "fitchée at the foot" (Fig. 182).
Fig. 173.Fig. 173.—Cross crosslet.
Fig. 173.—Cross crosslet.
Fig. 174.Fig. 174.—Cross parted and fretty.
Fig. 174.—Cross parted and fretty.
Fig. 175.Fig. 175.—Cross patée quadrate.
Fig. 175.—Cross patée quadrate.
Fig. 176.Fig. 176.—Cross quarter-pierced.
Fig. 176.—Cross quarter-pierced.
Fig. 177.Fig. 177.—Cross Tau.
Fig. 177.—Cross Tau.
Fig. 178.Fig. 178.—Maltese Cross.
Fig. 178.—Maltese Cross.
Fig. 179.Fig. 179.—Patriarchal Cross.
Fig. 179.—Patriarchal Cross.
Fig. 180.Fig. 180.—Cross crosslet fitched.
Fig. 180.—Cross crosslet fitched.
Fig. 181.Fig. 181.—Cross patée fitched.
Fig. 181.—Cross patée fitched.
Of the hundreds of other varieties it may confidently be said that a large proportion originated in misunderstandings of the crude drawings of early armorists, added to the varying and alternating descriptions applied at a more pliable and fluent period of heraldic blazon. A striking illustration of this will be found in the cross botonny, which is now, and has been for a long time past, regularised with us as a distinct variety ofconstant occurrence. From early illustrations there is now no doubt that this was the original form, or one of the earliest forms, of the cross crosslet. It is foolish to ignore these varieties, reducing all crosses to a few original forms, for they are now mostly stereotyped and accepted; but at the same time it is useless to attempt to learn them, for in a lifetime they will mostly be met with but once each or thereabouts. A field semé of cross crosslets (Fig. 183) is termed crusilly.
Fig. 182.Fig. 182.—Cross patée fitched at foot.
Fig. 182.—Cross patée fitched at foot.
Fig. 183.Fig. 183.—Crusilly.
Fig. 183.—Crusilly.
Fig. 184.Fig. 184.—Saltire.
Fig. 184.—Saltire.
Fig. 185.Fig. 185.—Saltire engrailed.
Fig. 185.—Saltire engrailed.
Fig. 186.Fig. 186.—Saltire invecked.
Fig. 186.—Saltire invecked.
Fig. 187.Fig. 187.—Saltire embattled.
Fig. 187.—Saltire embattled.
The saltire or saltier (Fig. 184) is more frequently to be met with in Scottish than in English heraldry. This is not surprising, inasmuch as the saltire is known as the Cross of St. Andrew, the Patron Saint of Scotland. Its form is too well known to need description. It is of course subject to the usual partition lines (Figs. 185-192).
When a saltire is charged the charges are usually placed conformably therewith.
The field of a coat of arms is often per saltire.
When one saltire couped is the principal charge it will usually befound that it is couped conformably to the outline of the shield; but if the couped saltire be one of a number or a subsidiary charge it will be found couped by horizontal lines, or by lines at right angles. The saltire has not developed into so many varieties of form as the cross, and (e.g.) a saltire botonny is assumed to be a cross botonny placed saltireways, but a saltire parted and fretty is to be met with (Fig. 193).
The chief (Fig. 194), which is a broad band across the top of the shield containing (theoretically, but not in fact) the uppermost third of the area of the field, is a very favourite ordinary. It is of course subject to the variations of the usual partition lines (Figs. 195-203). It is usually drawn to contain about one-fifth of the area of the field, though in cases where it is used for a landscape augmentation it will usually be found of a rather greater area.
Fig. 188.Fig. 188.—Saltire indented.
Fig. 188.—Saltire indented.
Fig. 189.Fig. 189.—Saltire wavy.
Fig. 189.—Saltire wavy.
Fig. 190.Fig. 190.—Saltire nebuly.
Fig. 190.—Saltire nebuly.
Fig. 191.Fig. 191.—Saltire raguly.
Fig. 191.—Saltire raguly.
Fig. 192.Fig. 192.—Saltire dovetailed.
Fig. 192.—Saltire dovetailed.
Fig. 193.Fig. 193.—Saltire parted and fretty.
Fig. 193.—Saltire parted and fretty.
The chief especially lent itself to the purposes of honourable augmentation, and is constantly found so employed. As such it will be referred to in the chapter upon augmentations, but a chief of this character may perhaps be here referred to with advantage, as this willindicate the greater area often given to it under these conditions, as in the arms of Ross-of-Bladensburg (Plate II.).
Knights of the old Order of St. John of Jerusalem and also of the modern Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England display above their personal arms a chief of the order, but this will be dealt with more fully in the chapter relating to the insignia of knighthood.
Fig. 194.Fig. 194.—Chief.
Fig. 194.—Chief.
Fig. 195.Fig. 195.—Chief engrailed.
Fig. 195.—Chief engrailed.
Fig. 196.Fig. 196.—Chief invecked.
Fig. 196.—Chief invecked.
Fig. 197.Fig. 197.—Chief embattled.
Fig. 197.—Chief embattled.
Fig. 198.Fig. 198.—Chief indented.
Fig. 198.—Chief indented.
Fig. 199.Fig. 199.—Chief dancetté.
Fig. 199.—Chief dancetté.
Fig. 200.Fig. 200.—Chief wavy.
Fig. 200.—Chief wavy.
Fig. 201.Fig. 201.—Chief nebuly.
Fig. 201.—Chief nebuly.
Fig. 202.Fig. 202.—Chief raguly.
Fig. 202.—Chief raguly.
Save in exceptional circumstances, the chief is never debruised or surmounted by any ordinary.
The chief is ordinarily superimposed over the tressure and over the bordure, partly defacing them by the elimination of the upperpart thereof. This happens with the bordure when it is a part of the original coat of arms. If, however, the chief were in existence at an earlier period and the bordure is added later as a mark of difference, the bordure surrounds the chief. On the other hand, if a bordure exists, even as a mark of difference, and a chief of augmentation issubsequentlyadded, or a canton for distinction, the chief or the canton in these cases would surmount the bordure.
Similarly a bend when added later as a mark of difference surmounts the chief. Such a case is very unusual, as the use of the bend for differencing has long been obsolete.
Fig. 203.Fig. 203.—Chief dovetailed.
Fig. 203.—Chief dovetailed.
Fig. 204.Fig. 204.—Arms of Peter de Dreux, Earl of Richmond (c.1230): Chequy or and azure, a quarter ermine. (From his seal.)
Fig. 204.—Arms of Peter de Dreux, Earl of Richmond (c.1230): Chequy or and azure, a quarter ermine. (From his seal.)
Fig. 205.Fig. 205.—Arms of De Vere, Earls of Oxford: Quarterly gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent.
Fig. 205.—Arms of De Vere, Earls of Oxford: Quarterly gules and or, in the first quarter a mullet argent.
A chief is never couped or cottised, and it has no diminutive in British armory.
The quarter is not often met with in English armory, the best-known instance being the well-known coat of Shirley, Earl Ferrers, viz: Paly of six or and azure, a quarter ermine. The arms of the Earls of Richmond (Fig. 204) supply another instance. Of course as a division of the field under the blazon of "quarterly" (e.g.or and azure) it is constantly to be met with, but a single quarter is rare.
Originally a single quarter was drawn to contain the full fourth part of the shield, but with the more modern tendency to reduce the size of all charges, its area has been somewhat diminished. Whilst a quarter will only be found within a plain partition line, a field divided quarterly (occasionally, but I think hardly so correctly, termed "per cross") is not so limited. Examples of quarterly fields will be found in the historic shield of De Vere (Fig. 205) and De Mandeville. An irregular partition line is often introduced in a new grant to conjoin quarteringsborne without authority into one single coat. The diminutive of the quarter is the canton (Fig. 206), and the diminutive of that the chequer of a chequy field (Fig. 207).
Fig. 206.Fig. 206.—Canton.
Fig. 206.—Canton.
The canton is supposed to occupy one-third of the chief, and that being supposed to occupy one-third of the field, a simple arithmetical sum gives us one-ninth of the field as the theoretical area of the canton. Curiously enough, the canton to a certain extent gives us a confirmation of these ancient proportions, inasmuch as all ancient drawings containing both a fess and a canton depict these conjoined. This will be seen in the Garter plate of Earl Rivers. In modern days, however, it is very seldom that the canton will be depicted of such a size, though in cases where, as in the arms of Boothby, it forms the only charge, it is even nowadays drawn to closely approximate to its theoretical area of one-ninth of the field. It may be remarked here perhaps that, owing to the fact that there are but few instances in which the quarter or the canton have been used as the sole or principal charge, a coat of arms in which these are employed would be granted with fewer of the modern bedevilments than would a coat with a chevron for example. I know of no instance in modern times in which a quarter, when figuring as a charge, or a canton have been subject to the usual lines of partition.
The canton (with the single exception of the bordure, when used as a mark of cadency or distinction) is superimposedoverevery other charge or ordinary, no matter what this may be. Theoretically the canton is supposed to be always a later addition to the coat, and even though a charge may be altogether hidden or "absconded" by the canton, the charge is always presumed to be there, and is mentioned in the blazon.
Fig. 207.Fig. 207.—Chequy.
Fig. 207.—Chequy.
Both a cross and a saltire are sometimes described as "cantonned" by such-and-such charges, when they are placed in the blank spaces left by these ordinaries. In addition, the spaces left by a cross (but not by a saltire) are frequently spoken ofe.g.as the dexter chief canton or the sinister base canton.
The canton is frequently used to carry an augmentation, and these cantons of augmentation will be referred to under that heading, though it may be here stated that a "canton of England" is a canton gules, charged with three lions passant guardant or, as in the arms of Lane (Plate II.).
The canton, unless it isan original charge, need not conform to the rule forbidding colour on colour, or metal on metal; otherwise the canton of Ulster would often be an impossibility.
The canton, with rare exceptions, is always placed in the dexter chief corner. The canton of augmentation in the arms of Clerke, Bart.—"Argent, on a bend gules, between three pellets as many swans of the field; on a sinister canton azure, a demi-ram salient of the first, and in chief two fleurs-de-lis or, debruised by a baton"—is, however, a sinister one, as is the canton upon the arms of Charlton. In this latter case the sinister canton is used to signify illegitimacy. This will be more fully dealt with in the chapter upon marks of illegitimacy.
A curious use of the canton for the purposes of marshalling occurs in the case of a woman who, being an heiress herself, has a daughter or daughters only, whilst her husband has sons and heirs by another marriage. In such an event, the daughter being heir (or in the case of daughters these being coheirs) of the mother, but not heir of the father, cannot transmit as quarterings the arms of the father whom she does not represent, whilst she ought to transmit the arms of the mother whom she does represent. The husband of the daughter, therefore, places upon an escutcheon of pretence the arms of her mother, with those of her father on a canton thereupon. The children of the marriage quarter this combined coat, the arms of the father always remaining upon a canton. This will be more fully dealt with under the subject of marshalling.
The canton has yet another use as a "mark of distinction." When, under a Royal Licence, the name and arms of a family are assumed where there is no blood descent from the family, the arms have some mark of distinction added. This is usually a plain canton. This point will be treated more fully under "Marks of Cadency."
Woodward mentions three instances in which the lower edge of the canton is "indented," one taken from the Calais Roll, viz. the arms of Sir William de la Zouche—"Gules, bezantée, a canton indented at the bottom"—and adds that the canton has been sometimes thought to indicate the square banner of a knight-baronet, and he suggests that the lower edge being indented may give some weight to the idea. As the canton does not appear to have either previously or subsequently formed any part of the arms of Zouche, it is possible that in this instance somesuch meaning may have been intended, but it can have no such application generally.
The "Canton of Ulster"—i.e."Argent, a sinister hand couped at the wrist gules"—is the badge of a baronet of England, Ireland, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom. This badge may be borne upon a canton, dexter or sinister, or upon an inescutcheon, at the pleasure of the wearer. There is some little authority and more precedent for similarly treating the badge of a Nova Scotian Baronet, but as such Baronetsweartheir badges it is more usually depicted below the shield, depending by the orange tawny ribbon of their order.
Fig. 208.Fig. 208.—Gyronny.
Fig. 208.—Gyronny.
As a charge, the gyron (sometimes termed an esquire) is very seldom found, but as a subdivision of the field, a coat "gyronny" (Fig. 208) is constantly met with, all arms for the name of Campbell being gyronny. Save in rare cases, a field gyronny is divided quarterly and then per saltire, making eight divisions, but it may be gyronny of six, ten, twelve, or more pieces, though such cases are seldom met with and always need to be specified. The arms of Campbell of Succoth are gyronny of eightengrailed, a most unusual circumstance. I know of no other instance of the use of lines of partition in a gyronny field. The arms of Lanyon afford an example of the gyron as a charge, as does also the well-known shield of Mortimer (Fig. 209).
Fig. 209.Fig. 209.—The arms of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (d.1398): Quarterly, 1 and 4, azure, three bars or (sometimes but not so correctly quoted barry of six), on a chief of the first two pallets between two base esquires of the second, over all an inescutcheon argent (for Mortimer); 2 and 3, or, a cross gules (for Ulster). (From his seal.)
Fig. 209.—The arms of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (d.1398): Quarterly, 1 and 4, azure, three bars or (sometimes but not so correctly quoted barry of six), on a chief of the first two pallets between two base esquires of the second, over all an inescutcheon argent (for Mortimer); 2 and 3, or, a cross gules (for Ulster). (From his seal.)
The inescutcheon is a shield appearing as a charge upon the coat of arms. Certain writers state that it is termed an inescutcheon if only one appears as the charge, but that when more than one is present they are merely termed escutcheons. This is an unnecessary refinement not officially recognised or adhered to, though unconsciously one often is led to make this distinction, which seems to spring naturally to one's mind.
When one inescutcheon appears, it is sometimes difficult to tell whether to blazon the arms as charged with a bordure or an inescutcheon. Some coats of arms, for example the arms of Molesworth, will always remain more or less a matter of uncertainty.
But as a matter of fact a bordure should not be wide enough to fill up the field left by an inescutcheon, nor an inescutcheon large enough to occupy the field left by a bordure.
The inescutcheon in German armory (or, as they term it, the heart escutcheon), when superimposed upon other quarterings, is usually the paternal or most important coat of arms. The same method of marshalling has sometimes been adopted in Scotland, and the arms of Hay are an instance. It usually in British heraldry is used to carry the arms of an heiress wife, but both these points will be dealt with later under the subject of marshalling. The inescutcheon, no matter what its position, should never be termed an escutcheon of pretence if it forms a charge upon the original arms. A curious instance of the use of an inescutcheon will be found in the arms of Gordon-Cumming (Plate III.).
When an inescutcheon appears on a shield it should conform in its outline to the shape of the shield upon which it is placed.
The bordure (Fig. 210) occurs both as a charge and as a mark of difference. As may be presumed from its likeness to our word border, the bordure is simply a border round the shield. Except in modern grants in which the bordure forms a part of the original design of the arms, there can be very little doubt that the bordure has always been a mark of difference to indicate either cadency or bastardy, but its stereotyped continuance without further alteration in so many coats of arms in which it originally was introduced as a difference, and also its appearance in new grants, leave one no alternative but to treat of it in the ordinary way as a charge, leaving the consideration of it as a mark of difference to a future chapter.
There is no stereotyped or official size for the bordure, the width of which has at all times varied, though it will almost invariably be found that a Scottish bordure is depicted rather wider than is an English one; and naturally a bordure which is charged is a little wider than an entirely plain one. The bordure of course is subject toall the lines of partition (Figs. 211-218). Bordures may also be per fesse, per pale (Fig. 219), quarterly (Fig. 220), gyronny (Fig. 221), or tierced in pairle (Fig. 222), &c.
Fig. 210.Fig. 210.—Bordure.
Fig. 210.—Bordure.
Fig. 211.Fig. 211.—Bordure engrailed.
Fig. 211.—Bordure engrailed.
Fig. 212.Fig. 212.—Bordure invecked.
Fig. 212.—Bordure invecked.
Fig. 213.Fig. 213.—Bordure embattled.
Fig. 213.—Bordure embattled.
Fig. 214.Fig. 214.—Bordure indented.
Fig. 214.—Bordure indented.
Fig. 215.Fig. 215.—Bordure wavy.
Fig. 215.—Bordure wavy.
Fig. 216.Fig. 216.—Bordure nebuly.
Fig. 216.—Bordure nebuly.
Fig. 217.Fig. 217.—Bordure dovetailed.
Fig. 217.—Bordure dovetailed.
Fig. 218.Fig. 218.—Bordure potenté.
Fig. 218.—Bordure potenté.
Fig. 219.Fig. 219.—Bordure per pale.
Fig. 219.—Bordure per pale.
The bordure has long since ceased to be a mark of cadency in England, but as a mark of distinction the bordure wavy (Fig. 215) is still used to indicate bastardy. A bordure of England was granted by Royal warrant as an augmentation to H.M. Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, on the occasion of her marriage. The use of the bordure is, however, the recognised method of differencing in Scotland, but it is curious that with the Scots the bordure wavy is in no way a mark of illegitimacy. The Scottish bordure for indicating this fact isthe bordure compony (Fig. 223), which has been used occasionally for the same purpose in England, but the bordures added to indicate cadency and the various marks to indicate illegitimacy will be discussed in later chapters. The difference should here be observed between the bordure compony (Fig. 223), which means illegitimacy; the bordure counter compony (Fig. 224), which may or may not have that meaning; and the bordure chequy (Fig. 225), which certainly has no relation to bastardy. In the two former the panes run with the shield, in the latter the chequers do not. Whilst the bordure as a mark of cadency or illegitimacy surrounds the whole shield, being superimposed upon even the chief and canton, a bordure when merely a charge gives way to both.
Fig. 220.Fig. 220.—Bordure quarterly.
Fig. 220.—Bordure quarterly.
Fig. 221.Fig. 221.—Bordure gyronny.
Fig. 221.—Bordure gyronny.
Fig. 222.Fig. 222.—Bordure tierced in pairle.
Fig. 222.—Bordure tierced in pairle.
Fig. 223.Fig. 223.—Bordure compony.
Fig. 223.—Bordure compony.
Fig. 224.Fig. 224.—Bordure counter compony.
Fig. 224.—Bordure counter compony.
Fig. 225.Fig. 225.—Bordure chequy.
Fig. 225.—Bordure chequy.
A certain rule regarding the bordure is the sole remaining instance in modern heraldry of the formerly recognised practice of conjoining two coats of arms (which it might be necessary to marshal together) by "dimidiation" instead of using our present-day method of impalement. To dimidiate two coats of arms, the dexter half of one shield was conjoined to the sinister half of the other. The objections to such a practice, however, soon made themselves apparent (e.g.a dimidiated chevron was scarcely distinguishable from a bend), and the "dimidiation" of arms was quickly abandoned in favour of"impalement," in which the entire designs of both coats of arms are depicted. But in impaling a coat of arms which is surrounded by a bordure, the bordure is not continued down the centre between the two coats, but stops short top and bottom at the palar line. The same rule, by the way, applies to the tressure, but not to the orle. The curious fact, however, remains that this rule as to the dimidiation of the bordure in cases of impalement is often found to have been ignored in ancient seals and other examples. The charges upon the bordure are often three, but more usually eight in number, in the latter case being arranged three along the top of the shield, one at the base point, and two on either side. The number should, however, always be specified, unless (as in a bordure bezantée, &c.) it is immaterial; in which case the number eight must beexceededin emblazoning the shield. The rule as to colour upon colour does not hold and seems often to be ignored in the cases of bordures, noticeably when these occur as marks of Scottish cadency.
The orle (Fig. 226), or, as it was originally termed in ancient British rolls of arms, "un faux ecusson," is a narrow bordure following the exact outline of the shield, but within it, showing the field (for at least the width usually occupied by a bordure) between the outer edge of the orle and the edge of the escutcheon. An orle is about half the width of a bordure, rather less than more, but the proportion is never very exactly maintained. The difference may be noted between this figure and the next (Fig. 227), which shows an inescutcheon within a bordure.
Fig. 226.Fig. 226.—Orle.
Fig. 226.—Orle.
Fig. 227.Fig. 227.—An inescutcheon within a bordure.
Fig. 227.—An inescutcheon within a bordure.
Though both forms are very seldom so met with, an orle may be subject to the usual lines of partition, and may also be charged. Examples of both these variations are met with in the arms of Yeatman-Biggs, and the arms of Gladstone afford an instance of an orle "flory." The arms of Knox, Earl of Ranfurly, are: Gules, a falcon volant or, within an orle wavy on the outer and engrailed on the inner edge argent.
When a series of charges are placed round the edges of theescutcheon (theoreticallyin the position occupied by the orle, but as a matter of actual fact usually more in the position occupied by the bordure), they are said to be "in orle," which is the correct term, but they will often be found blazoned "an orle of (e.g.) martlets or mounds."
The tressure is really an orle gemel,i.e.an orle divided into two narrow ones set closely together, the one inside the other. It is, however, usually depicted a trifle nearer the edge of the escutcheon than the orle is generally placed.
The tressure cannot be borne singly, as it would then be an orle, but plain tressures under the name of "concentric orles" will be found mentioned in Papworth. In that Ordinary eight instances are given of arms containing more than a single orle, though the eight instances are plainly varieties of only four coats. Two concentric orles would certainly be a tressure, save that perhaps they would be drawn of rather too great a width for the term "tressure" to be properly applied to them.
Fig. 228.Fig. 228.—Tressure flory and counter-flory.
Fig. 228.—Tressure flory and counter-flory.
If these instances be disregarded, and I am inclined to doubt them as genuine coats, there certainly is no example of a plain tressure in British heraldry, and one's attention must be directed to the tressure flory and counterflory (Fig. 228), so general in Scottish heraldry.
Originating entirely in the Royal escutcheon, one cannot do better than reproduce the remarks of Lyon King of Arms upon the subject from his work "Heraldry in relation to Scottish History and Art":—
"William the Lion has popularly got the credit of being the first to introduce heraldic bearings into Scotland, and to have assumed the lion as his personal cognisance. The latter statement may or may not be true, but we have no trace of hereditary arms in Scotland so early as his reign (1165-1214). Certainly the lion does not appear on his seal, but it does on that of his son and successor Alexander II., with apparent remains of the double tressure flory counterflory, a device which is clearly seen on the seals of Alexander III. (1249-1285). We are unable to say what the reason was for the adoption of such a distinctive coat; of course, if you turn to the older writers you will find all sorts of fables on the subject. Even the sober and sensible Nisbet states that 'the lion has been carried on the armorial ensign ofScotland since the first founding of the monarchy by King Fergus I.'—a very mythical personage, who is said to have flourished about 300B.C., though he is careful to say that he does not believe arms are as old as that period. He says, however, that it is 'without doubt' that Charlemagne entered into an alliance with Achaius, King of Scotland, and for the services of the Scots the French king added to the Scottish lion the double tressure fleur-de-lisée to show that the former had defended the French lilies, and that therefore the latter would surround the lion and be a defence to him."
All this is very pretty, but it is not history. Chalmers remarks in his "Caledonia" that the lion may possibly have been derived from the arms of the old Earls of Northumberland and Huntingdon, from whom some of the Scottish kings were descended; and he mentions an old roll of arms preserved by Leland,[10]which is certainly not later than 1272, in which the arms of Scotland are blazoned as:Or, a lion gules within a bordure or fleuretté gules, which we may reasonably interpret as an early indication of what may be considered as a foreign rendering of the double tressure. Sylvanus Morgan, one of the very maddest of the seventeenth-century heraldic writers, says that the tressure was added to the shield of Scotland, in testimony of a league between Scotland and France, by Charles V.; but that king did not ascend the throne of France till 1364, at which time we have clear proof that the tressure was a firmly established part of the Scottish arms. One of the earliest instances of anything approaching the tressure in the Scottish arms which I have met with is in an armorial of Matthew Paris, which is now in the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum, and at one time belonged to St. Alban's Monastery. Here the arms of the King of Scotland are given as: "Or, a lion rampant flory gules in a bordure of the same." The drawing represents a lion within a bordure, the latter being pierced by ten fleurs-de-lis, their heads all looking inwards, the other end not being free, but attached to the inner margin of the shield. This, you will observe, is very like the arms I mentioned as described by Chalmers, and it may possibly be the same volume which may have been acquired by Sir Robert Cotton. In 1471 there was a curious attempt of the Scottish Parliament to displace the tressure. An Act was passed in that year, for some hitherto unexplained reason, by which it was ordained "that in tyme to cum thar suld be na double tresor about his (the king's) armys, but that he suld ber hale armys of the lyoun without ony mair." Seeing that at the time of this enactment the Scottish kings had borne the tressure for upwards of 220 years, it is difficult to understand the cause of this procedure. Like many other Acts, however, it never seems to havebeen carried into effect; at least I am not aware of even a solitary instance of the Scottish arms without the tressure either at or after this period.
There are other two representations of the Scottish arms in foreign armorials, to which I may briefly allude. One is in theArmorial de Gelre, a beautiful MS. in the Royal Library at Brussels, the Scottish shields in which have been figured by Mr. Stodart in his book on Scottish arms, and, more accurately, by Sir Archibald Dunbar in a paper read to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1890. The armorial is believed to be the work of Claes Heynen, Gelre Herald to the Duke of Gueldres between 1334 and 1372, with later additions by another hand. The coat assigned in it to the King of Scotland is the lion and double tressure; the lion is uncrowned, and is armed and langued azure; above the shield is a helmet argent adorned behind with a short capelin or plain mantling, on which is emblazoned the saltire and chief of the Bruces, from which we may gather that the arms of David II. are here represented; the lining is blue, which is unusual, as mantlings are usually lined or doubled with a metal, if not with ermine. The helmet is surmounted by an Imperial crown, with a dark green bonnet spotted with red.[11]On the crown there is the crest of a lion sejant guardant gules, imperially crowned or, holding in his paw a sword upright; the tail is coué or placed between the hind-legs of the lion, but it then rises up and flourishes high above his back in a sufficiently defiant fashion. This shows that the Scottish arms were well known on the Continent of Europe nearly a hundred years before the date of the Grunenberg MS., while Virgil de Solis (c. 1555) gives a sufficiently accurate representation of the Royal shield, though the fleur-de-lis all project outwards as in the case of Grunenberg; he gives the crest as a lion rampant holding a sword in bend over his shoulder. Another ancient representation of the Scottish arms occurs in a MS. treatise on heraldry of the sixteenth century, containing the coats of some foreign sovereigns and other personages, bound up with a Scottish armorial, probably by David Lindsay, Lyon in 1568.
The tressure, like the bordure, in the case of an impalement stops at the line of impalement, as will be seen by a reference to the arms of Queen Anne after the union of the crowns of England and Scotland.
It is now held, both in England and Scotland, that the tressure flory and counterflory is, as a part of the Royal Arms, protected, and cannot be granted to any person without the express licence of theSovereign. This, however, does not interfere with the matriculation or exemplification of it in the case of existing arms in which it occurs.
Many Scottish families bear or claim to bear the Royal tressure by reason of female descent from the Royal House, but it would seem much more probable that in most if not in all cases where it is so borne by right its origin is due rather to a gift by way of augmentation than to any supposed right of inheritance. The apparently conflicting statements of origin are not really antagonistic, inasmuch as it will be seen from many analogous English instances (e.g.Mowbray, Manners, and Seymour) that near relationship is often the only reason to account for the grant of a Royal augmentation. As an ordinary augmentation of honour it has been frequently granted.
The towns of Aberdeen and Perth obtained early the right of honouring their arms with the addition of the Royal tressure. It appears on the still existing matrix of the burgh seal of Aberdeen, which was engraved in 1430.
James V. in 1542 granted a warrant to Lyon to surround the arms of John Scot, of Thirlestane, with the Royal tressure, in respect of his ready services at Soutra Edge with three score and ten lances on horseback, when other nobles refused to follow their Sovereign. The grant was put on record by the grantee's descendant, Patrick, LordNapier, and is the tressured coat borne in the second and third quarters of theNapierarms.
When the Royal tressure is granted to the bearer of a quartered coat it is usually placed upon a bordure surrounding the quartered shield, as in the case of the arms of the Marquess ofQueensberry, to whom, in 1682, the Royal tressure was granted upon abordure or. A like arrangement is borne by the Earls ofEglinton, occurring as far back as a seal of EarlHugh, appended to a charter of 1598.
The Royal tressure had at least twice been granted as an augmentation to the arms of foreigners. James V. granted it to NicolasCanivetof Dieppe, secretary toJohn, Duke ofAlbany(Reg. Mag. Sig., xxiv. 263, Oct. 24, 1529). James VI. gave it to SirJacob Van Eiden, a Dutchman on whom he conferred the honour of knighthood.
On 12th March 1762, a Royal Warrant was granted directing Lyon to add a "double tressure counterflowered as in the Royal arms of Scotland" to the arms ofArchibald, ViscountPrimrose. Here the tressure wasgules, as in the Royal arms, although the field on which it was placed wasvert. In a later record of the arms ofArchibald, Earl ofRosebery, in 1823, this heraldic anomaly was brought to an end, and the blazon of the arms of Primrose is now: "Vert, three primroses within a double tressure flory counterflory or." (See Stodart, "Scottish Arms," vol. i. pp. 262, 263, where mention is also made of an olderuse of the Royal tressure or, by "Archbald Primroseof Dalmenie, Knight and baronet, be his majestyCharlesii. create,Vert, three primroses within a double tressure flowered counter-flowered or.") Another well-known Scottish instance in which the tressure occurs will be found in the arms of the Marquess of Ailsa (Fig. 229).
Two instances are known in which the decoration of the tressure has differed from the usual conventional fleurs-de-lis. The tressure granted to Charles, Earl of Aboyne, has crescents without and demi-fleurs-de-lis within, and the tressure round the Gordon arms in the case of the Earls of Aberdeen is of thistles, roses, and fleurs-de-lis alternately.
The tressure gives way to the chief and canton, but all other ordinaries are enclosed by the tressure, as will be seen from the arms of Lord Ailsa.