Allusive Arms—Armes Parlantes.
(Arms of the Family of Dobell.)
“Non verbis sedrebusloquimur.”
AllusiveArms are of two kinds: first, those which contain charges that relate to the character, office, or history of the original bearer; and, secondly, those which convey a direct pun upon his name. Of the former description are the covered cups in the arms of Butler, and the bugle-horns in those of Forester.[152]Several examples of thisspecies of bearings are given in the ninth chapter of this volume under the title of ‘Historical Arms.’ At present, I shall confine myself to the second class, which are called, in Latin blazon, Arma Cantantia, in French, Armes Parlantes, and in English,Canting Arms. Of this kind we have examples in the arms of Camel, a camel; Colt, 3 colts; Blackmore, 3 Moor’s heads, &c.
Dallaway, Porny, and other modern writers condemn this species of bearings, as of recent origin, and unworthy of a place amongst the classical devices of antient heraldry. Porny places them in the category of Assumptive Arms—“such as are taken up by the caprice or fancy of upstarts, though of never so mean extraction.” This notion, with whomsoever it originated, is decidedly erroneous, for such charges are found not only in the arms of distinguished nobles and knights in the very earliest days of hereditary armory, but occur also in those of several of the sovereign states of Europe. According to some authors the LIS in the royal arms of France are a play upon the name of Louis, antiently speltLoys. The arms of Spain exhibit, quarterly, a castle and a lion—a pun upon the names of the united provinces of Castile and Leon; and after the conquest of Granada by Ferdinand and Isabella, apomegranatewas added in the base of the escocheon. As to canting charges in the arms of subjects, we may observe that, in the earliest Roll of Arms extant, that of the time of Henry III,[153]at least nine such occur. To prove this assertion, as well as to give the reader a sample of antient blazon, I shall quote them:
Reinold de Moun—de goules ov ungmanched’argent.Nicholas de Moeles—d’argent a deux barres de goules, a troismoletsen le cheif goules.Geoffrey de Lucy—de goules a troisluciesd’or.Roger de Merley—barree d’argent et de goulz, a la bordur d’azure, etmerlotsd’or en le bordur.Hugh de Ferrers—Vairre, de argent et d’azur.Robert Quency—de Goules ungquintefueilde hermyne.Thomas Corbett—d’or deuxcorbeauxnoir.Adam de Swyneburne—de goules a trois testes deSenglierd’argent.Odinel Heron—d’azur a troisheronsd’argent.
Reinold de Moun—de goules ov ungmanched’argent.
Nicholas de Moeles—d’argent a deux barres de goules, a troismoletsen le cheif goules.
Geoffrey de Lucy—de goules a troisluciesd’or.
Roger de Merley—barree d’argent et de goulz, a la bordur d’azure, etmerlotsd’or en le bordur.
Hugh de Ferrers—Vairre, de argent et d’azur.
Robert Quency—de Goules ungquintefueilde hermyne.
Thomas Corbett—d’or deuxcorbeauxnoir.
Adam de Swyneburne—de goules a trois testes deSenglierd’argent.
Odinel Heron—d’azur a troisheronsd’argent.
In another Roll, made temp. Edw. II., armes parlantes are still more abundant.
Sire Peres Corbeht—de or, a ijcorbilsde sable.Sire Robert de Eschales—de goules, a vjeschalopsde argent.
Sire Peres Corbeht—de or, a ijcorbilsde sable.
Sire Robert de Eschales—de goules, a vjeschalopsde argent.
Suthsex and Suthreye:
Sire Johan Heringaud—de azure, crusule de or a vjharengs(herrings) de or.
Sire Johan Heringaud—de azure, crusule de or a vjharengs(herrings) de or.
Kent:
Sire Robert de Sevens, de azure, a iijvansde or.Sire Aumori de Lucy, de azure, crusule de or, a iijlucysde or.
Sire Robert de Sevens, de azure, a iijvansde or.
Sire Aumori de Lucy, de azure, crusule de or, a iijlucysde or.
Barkschire:
Sire Adam Martel, de sable, a iijmartelsde argent.Sire William Videlou, de argent, a iij testes delou, de goules.
Sire Adam Martel, de sable, a iijmartelsde argent.
Sire William Videlou, de argent, a iij testes delou, de goules.
Bokinghamschire:
Sire Rauf de Cheyndut, de azure, a uncheynede or, a un label de goules.Sire Johanle Lou, de argent a ij barres de goules, en le chef iij testes deloude goules.
Sire Rauf de Cheyndut, de azure, a uncheynede or, a un label de goules.
Sire Johanle Lou, de argent a ij barres de goules, en le chef iij testes deloude goules.
Estsex:
Sire Johan Passeleu, bende de or e de azure, a un quarter de argent, e unlupardpass-aunt de goules.Sire Johan Heroun, de azure a iijherounsde argent.
Sire Johan Passeleu, bende de or e de azure, a un quarter de argent, e unlupardpass-aunt de goules.
Sire Johan Heroun, de azure a iijherounsde argent.
Suthfolk:
Sire Guy Ferre, de goules, a unfer-de-molin de argent, e un bastoun de azure.Sire Richarde de Cokfeld, de azure, a une croix e iijcoksde or.Sire Huge de Morieus, de azure, a iij foiles demouresde or.
Sire Guy Ferre, de goules, a unfer-de-molin de argent, e un bastoun de azure.
Sire Richarde de Cokfeld, de azure, a une croix e iijcoksde or.
Sire Huge de Morieus, de azure, a iij foiles demouresde or.
Northfolk:
Sire —— Mounpynzon, de argent, a un lion de sable, a unpinzon[154]de or en le espandle.
Sire —— Mounpynzon, de argent, a un lion de sable, a unpinzon[154]de or en le espandle.
Cauntebrugescire:
Sire Giles de Trompintoun, de azure, crusule de or, a ijtrompesde or.
Sire Giles de Trompintoun, de azure, crusule de or, a ijtrompesde or.
Derby et Notingham:
Sire Johan le Fauconer, de argent a iijfaucounsde goules.Sire Johan Bordoun, de goules a iijbordonsde argent.
Sire Johan le Fauconer, de argent a iijfaucounsde goules.
Sire Johan Bordoun, de goules a iijbordonsde argent.
Huntingdonschire:
Sire Johan de Swyneford, d’argent a iij testes decenglersde goulys.
Sire Johan de Swyneford, d’argent a iij testes decenglersde goulys.
Norehaunton et Rotelonde:
Sire Geffrey Rossel, de or, a un cheveron azure, e iij roses de goules.
Sire Geffrey Rossel, de or, a un cheveron azure, e iij roses de goules.
Leycestreschire:
Sire William Bernak, de argent, a une fesse and iijbernaksde sable.
Sire William Bernak, de argent, a une fesse and iijbernaksde sable.
Herefordeschire:
Sire Peres Corbet, de or a uncorbynde sable.Sire Thomas Corbet, de or a iijcorbynsde sable.
Sire Peres Corbet, de or a uncorbynde sable.
Sire Thomas Corbet, de or a iijcorbynsde sable.
Schropschire:
Sire Walter Hakelut, de goules, a iijhackesdaneys de or, et un daunce de argent.
Sire Walter Hakelut, de goules, a iijhackesdaneys de or, et un daunce de argent.
Northumberland and Comberland:
Sire Odynel Heron, de argent a iij herons de azure.Sire Johan Malebis, de argent, a iij testes debisde goules.
Sire Odynel Heron, de argent a iij herons de azure.
Sire Johan Malebis, de argent, a iij testes debisde goules.
In addition to these, I may adduce the following very antient families, whose arms are not traceable to any grant, but have been borne immemorially as antient arms. The Pelhams bear threepelicans, and their crest is apeacock. The puns in both instances, it must be confessed, are very poor; still, few will doubt that puns were intended. The Arundels bear six swallows, in Frenchhirondelles. The Barons D’Aquila, temp. Henry III, boreeagles; the Bourgchiers, water-bowgets; the Heringauds,herrings; Lupus, Earl of Chester, awolf’shead; Shouldham, Abbot of St. Saviour’s,shovellers; the Bacons, aboar; the Wingfelds,wings; the Rokewoods, chess-rooks; the Pigots,pick-axes; the Boleynes,bulls’heads; the Shelleys,shells; and an infinity of others.
Dame Julyan Berners was no stranger to such arms, for she distinctly mentions the coat of Peter de Roches, bishop of Winchester, who “baar iij rochys (roaches) after his awne naam.” The cross-corded, borne by theroperwho became a “nobull man,” spoken of by that lady, belongs to the other class of allusive arms, as conveying a hint at his former menial occupation.
That this kind of charges became too common in the early part of the seventeenth century, Dallaway is, perhaps, correct in affirming; but those were punning days, and quaint conceits often took the place of true wit. Camden, the correctness of whose heraldric taste none will presume to question, did not holdarma cantantiain so contemptible a light as some of his successors in office have done; for among the arms granted by him, a list of which is given by Morgan,[155]the following, among others, occur:
Dobellof Falmer, co. Sussex, Sable, adoepassant between threebellsargent.[156]Bullockof London. Bulls’ heads.Fosterof London. Bugle-horns.Hampsonof Kent. Hemp-breaks.Fisherof Staffordshire. A Kingfisher.Conieof Huntingdonshire. Coneys.Crowch.[157]Crosses formée.Langhorn.Bugle-horns.Cannonof Pembrokeshire. Crest. A cannon.Treherne.Three herns.Crossof Lincolnshire. A cross-crosslet.Knightley.A lance.[158]
Dobellof Falmer, co. Sussex, Sable, adoepassant between threebellsargent.[156]
Bullockof London. Bulls’ heads.
Fosterof London. Bugle-horns.
Hampsonof Kent. Hemp-breaks.
Fisherof Staffordshire. A Kingfisher.
Conieof Huntingdonshire. Coneys.
Crowch.[157]Crosses formée.
Langhorn.Bugle-horns.
Cannonof Pembrokeshire. Crest. A cannon.
Treherne.Three herns.
Crossof Lincolnshire. A cross-crosslet.
Knightley.A lance.[158]
There was a kind of Rebus much in vogue in the fourteenth and following centuries, which, although not regulated by the laws of blazon, possessed somewhat of the heraldric character.Many persons, even those of antient family, who bore regular coats of arms, adopted various figures for the purpose of expressing their names pictorially; for instance, one John Eagleshead gave as his seal aneagle’s head, surrounded by the motto,
“HOC AQUILÆ CAPUT EST, SIGNUMQUE FIGURA JOHANNIS.”
The Abbot of Ramsay bore, in the same way,a ram in the sea, with an appropriate legend. One Harebottle expressed his name by ahareupon abottle; while Islip, abbot of Westminster, represented his by a man slipping out of a tree, and supposed to exclaim, “I slip!” These “painted poesies,” as Camden styles them, occur chiefly in painted glass windows, in decorated Gothic architecture, and in the title-pages of early printed books.[159]
One of the most singular rebuses I have seen occurs in a window in the chapel at Lullingstone, co. Kent, the seat of Sir P. H. Dyke, Bart. It is that of Sir John Peché. In this instance the arms of the personage are surrounded by a wreath, composed of two branches of a peach tree bearing fruit, every peach being marked with an Old Englishe; Peach-é. It is curious that this device proves the true pronunciation of the name, which was formerly supposed to be Peche.
The common rebus, although it did not come into general use until after the introduction of regular heraldry, may boast of a much higher antiquity, for such devices occur as the representatives of names of no less eminence than thoseof Cicero and Cæsar; not to mention those of celebrated sculptors and mint-masters, who, in the palmiest days of Rome, frequently marked the productions of their genius with a rebus. Taking into consideration the great antiquity of these “name-devices,” and their early introduction into the armorial shield, I cannot see any good reason for the strong prejudices which have existed against them in modern times. To me, indeed, they appear not only ‘allowable’ but ‘commendable’ armory; for arms, like names, are signs of personality, and therefore those which ‘speak to the eye’ most intelligibly are preferable to those charges which have in themselves no meaning.[160]
There can be no doubt but that, from the mutations our language has experienced within the last six centuries, many of the allusions contained in coats of arms are greatly obscured, while others are totally lost. The arms of the family of Eschales, now written Scales, exhibit eschalops (escallops), and those of Sykes, fountains—asyke, in the northern dialects, signifying a spring, or rather that kind of well, which was formerly sunk within the precincts of a camp.
In order to show how numerous allusive arms are in English armory, I will here give a list of those occurring in the Baronetage as it stood in 1836,[161]omitting, for the sake of brevity, the details of the blazon.
Bacon.(Crest.) A boar.Shelley.Three whelk-shells.Burdettof Bramcote. Six birds (martlets).Foulis.Three leaves (feuilles, Fr.)Palmer.(Crest.) A demi panther, holding a palm-branch. Motto: “Palma virtuti.”Rivers.Two bars dancetté. Query: if these were not originallywavy, to representrivers?Mansell.Three maunches.Hazlerigg.Three hazel-leaves.Goring.Three annulets (rings!)Wolseley.(Crest.) A wolf’s head.Burgoyne.Threebirds(martlets), and three talbots (canes).Hampson.Three hemp-breaks.Swinburne.(Crest.) A demi boar.Ashburnham.(Crest.) An ash tree.Brooke.(Crest.) ABrock(O. E. for badger).Burdettof Burthwaite. Three birds (martlets).Head.Three unicorns’ heads.Oxenden.Three oxen.Parkerof London. A stag’s head.Ramsden.Three ram’s heads.Colt.Three colts.Warrender.(Crest.) A rabbit.Featherstonhaugh.Three feathers.Sheffield.Three garbs (sheaves).Cunliffe.Three conies.Wolff.(Crest.) A wolf.Bernard-Morland.Quarters a bear.Coote.Three cootes.Heron.Three herons.Sykes.Three fountains (sykes, videp. 126).Fletcher.Four arrow-heads.Beevor.(Crest.) A beaver.Hunter-Blair.Three hunting horns.Miller.A cross moline.Call.Three trumpets.Gould.Or, a griffin segreant.Baring.A bear’s head.Lamb.Three lambs.Boughey-Fletcher.Four arrows.Trowbridge.An antient bridge.Milnes.Three windmill-sails.Ball.A hand-grenade.Baynes.Cross bones.Metcalfe.Three calves.Kay.(Crest.) A griffin’s head holding a key.Lethbridge.A bridge.Hartwell.A hart.Shelley.Three whelk shells, as before.Lockhart.A heart within a fetter-lock.Fraser.Three cinquefoils, or rather strawberry-leaves (Fr.fraises).Corbet.A corby or raven.Woodof Gatton. A tree.Baird.A boar.Cockerell.Two cocks.Fletcherof Carrow. Four arrow-heads.Sheaffe.Three garbs (sheaves).Anderson.A saltier or St. Andrew’s cross.Broke.(Crest.) A brock or badger.Wylie.A [wily] fox.Griffies-Williams.Four griffins.Waller.Three walnut leaves. (Crest.) A walnut tree.Oakes.Three oak branches.Trotter.(Crest.) A horse!Brookeof Colebrook. A brock again.Dalrymple-Horn(Elphinstone). Three bugle-horns.Key.Three keys.Foster(Antiently written Forester). Three bugle-horns.Holyoake-Goodricke.(Crest.) An oak tree with a scroll containing the words “Sacra Quercus.”Paulett.Three swords. The sword was the distinctive mark of St. Paul.Roe.(Crest.) A roebuck.
Bacon.(Crest.) A boar.
Shelley.Three whelk-shells.
Burdettof Bramcote. Six birds (martlets).
Foulis.Three leaves (feuilles, Fr.)
Palmer.(Crest.) A demi panther, holding a palm-branch. Motto: “Palma virtuti.”
Rivers.Two bars dancetté. Query: if these were not originallywavy, to representrivers?
Mansell.Three maunches.
Hazlerigg.Three hazel-leaves.
Goring.Three annulets (rings!)
Wolseley.(Crest.) A wolf’s head.
Burgoyne.Threebirds(martlets), and three talbots (canes).
Hampson.Three hemp-breaks.
Swinburne.(Crest.) A demi boar.
Ashburnham.(Crest.) An ash tree.
Brooke.(Crest.) ABrock(O. E. for badger).
Burdettof Burthwaite. Three birds (martlets).
Head.Three unicorns’ heads.
Oxenden.Three oxen.
Parkerof London. A stag’s head.
Ramsden.Three ram’s heads.
Colt.Three colts.
Warrender.(Crest.) A rabbit.
Featherstonhaugh.Three feathers.
Sheffield.Three garbs (sheaves).
Cunliffe.Three conies.
Wolff.(Crest.) A wolf.
Bernard-Morland.Quarters a bear.
Coote.Three cootes.
Heron.Three herons.
Sykes.Three fountains (sykes, videp. 126).
Fletcher.Four arrow-heads.
Beevor.(Crest.) A beaver.
Hunter-Blair.Three hunting horns.
Miller.A cross moline.
Call.Three trumpets.
Gould.Or, a griffin segreant.
Baring.A bear’s head.
Lamb.Three lambs.
Boughey-Fletcher.Four arrows.
Trowbridge.An antient bridge.
Milnes.Three windmill-sails.
Ball.A hand-grenade.
Baynes.Cross bones.
Metcalfe.Three calves.
Kay.(Crest.) A griffin’s head holding a key.
Lethbridge.A bridge.
Hartwell.A hart.
Shelley.Three whelk shells, as before.
Lockhart.A heart within a fetter-lock.
Fraser.Three cinquefoils, or rather strawberry-leaves (Fr.fraises).
Corbet.A corby or raven.
Woodof Gatton. A tree.
Baird.A boar.
Cockerell.Two cocks.
Fletcherof Carrow. Four arrow-heads.
Sheaffe.Three garbs (sheaves).
Anderson.A saltier or St. Andrew’s cross.
Broke.(Crest.) A brock or badger.
Wylie.A [wily] fox.
Griffies-Williams.Four griffins.
Waller.Three walnut leaves. (Crest.) A walnut tree.
Oakes.Three oak branches.
Trotter.(Crest.) A horse!
Brookeof Colebrook. A brock again.
Dalrymple-Horn(Elphinstone). Three bugle-horns.
Key.Three keys.
Foster(Antiently written Forester). Three bugle-horns.
Holyoake-Goodricke.(Crest.) An oak tree with a scroll containing the words “Sacra Quercus.”
Paulett.Three swords. The sword was the distinctive mark of St. Paul.
Roe.(Crest.) A roebuck.
A more thorough acquaintance with English archaisms and provincialisms would probably enable one to detect numerous other bearings corresponding with the surnames of the bearers; but these seventy examples, cited from one branch of our lesser nobility only, are fully sufficient to prove that there is nothing mean or disgraceful in canting or allusive arms.
It would be a matter of little difficulty to fill fifty pages with arms of this description, but a few more, and those of the most remarkable, may be given. The family ofStillbear guttée d’eau, drops of water;STILLA, Lat. a drop;Drope, Lord Mayor of London, also bore guttée; andHarbottlebore three drops or.Vere, Earl of Oxford, gave a boar, in LatinVERRES.
Clear,Bright,Day, andSt. Clerebear a ‘sun in splendour;’ the same luminary is also given by Dysonand Pearson; while Delalunabears a crescent, andSterling stars.
The crest ofHolden-Rose, as given in Baker’s Northamptonshire, may be briefly described as a handHOLDING A ROSE!
Harrison bears a hedgehog, in Frenchherisson; Pascall, a paschal-lamb; and Keats three cats!
Andbears gules a Roman&argent!
Brand, Lord Dacre, bears twobrands, or antient swords,in saltire; Hose, threelegscouped at the thigh; and Pickering, apikebetween threeannulets.
“Le même usage (says Salverte) a été alternativement cause et effet.” We have already seen that multitudes of armorial ensigns have been borrowed from the bearers’ names—it is asserted by several authors that, in many cases,surnames were borrowed from arms. Salverte[162]thinks that many of the chiefs who were engaged in the Crusades assumed and handed down to their posterity names allusive to the charges of their banners. He also notices, from the history of Poland, the fact that there were in that country, in the twelfth century, two families called respectivelyRoseandGriffon, and he thinks “we may with probability suppose, that both took from their arms those names, which no longer subsist, because hereditary surnames were not yet established in Poland.” In Sweden, again, according to this learned writer, there isproofthat the nobles followed such a practice. “One who bore in his arms the head of an ox assumed the name ofOxenstiern(front de bœuf;) and another took the name ofSparr, on account of the cheveron which formed the principal feature of his coat.”
“A particular instance of the armorial ensign being metonymically put for the bearer of it, occurs in the history of the Troubadours, the first of whom was called the Dauphin, or knight of the Dolphin, because he bore this figure on his shield. In the person of one of his successors, the name Dauphin became a title of sovereign dignity. Many other surnames were in this manner taken from arms, as may be inferred from the ordinary phraseology of romance,where many of the warriors are styled knights of the lion, of the eagle, of the rose, &c., according to the armorial figures they bore on their shields.”[163]At tournaments the combatants usually bore the title of Knights of the Swan, Dragon, Star, or whatever charge was most conspicuous in their arms.[164]
The arms of Trusbut are three water-bowgets, ‘Très boutz.’ Mr. Montagu thinks the name was taken from the bearings.[165]
The royal line of Plantagenet derived their appellation from thePlanta genesta, their very antient badge.
There is certainly some probability that a few of our English surnames, particularly those derived from the animal kingdom, come immediately from an heraldrical source; though it would be a matter of great difficulty positively to ascertain whether the names or the arms were adopted first.
Without attempting to decide, therefore, which had the earliest existence, I shall annex certain surnames of an heraldrical character, which have found their way into our family nomenclature, and give the more prominent features of the blazon borne with those names, leaving it to the reader to form his own conclusions:
1.Cross.Many families of this name bear crosses and crosslets.2.Saltirebears billets and a bordure, but not the ordinary so called.3.Cheveronbears two cheverons.4.Canton.Several families are so designated, but not one of them bears the canton of heraldry.5.Billet.The same remark applies.6.Gore.In various coats, crosslets, lions and bars, but not onegore, the only hint at the name beingbulls’ headsin two or three coats.7.Pile.A cross and four nails.8.Mascle.Some families ofMascallbear barry of eight, others fleur-de-lis and a bordure, and the family ofMascule, a fesse.9.Roundle.Roundelldoes not bear this charge.10.Barry.Of the many families of this name some bear barry, bars and barulets; andBarrbears (int. al.) abar.11.Paly.Two families bear bends; but not onepaly.12.Delves.The family of Delves bear these in several arrangements.
1.Cross.Many families of this name bear crosses and crosslets.
2.Saltirebears billets and a bordure, but not the ordinary so called.
3.Cheveronbears two cheverons.
4.Canton.Several families are so designated, but not one of them bears the canton of heraldry.
5.Billet.The same remark applies.
6.Gore.In various coats, crosslets, lions and bars, but not onegore, the only hint at the name beingbulls’ headsin two or three coats.
7.Pile.A cross and four nails.
8.Mascle.Some families ofMascallbear barry of eight, others fleur-de-lis and a bordure, and the family ofMascule, a fesse.
9.Roundle.Roundelldoes not bear this charge.
10.Barry.Of the many families of this name some bear barry, bars and barulets; andBarrbears (int. al.) abar.
11.Paly.Two families bear bends; but not onepaly.
12.Delves.The family of Delves bear these in several arrangements.
Pale,Fesse,Chief,Bend,Quarter, and an infinity of the names of charges, do not occur as English surnames.
Of the etymology of the somewhat common nameCrown-in-shield, I am entirely ignorant; nor do I find any arms assigned to it.
(Rebus of De Aquila.)
Crests, Supporters, Badges, etc.
Hithertoour attention has been principally directed to the escocheon and its charges. It now remains to treat of those heraldric ornaments which surround the shield, as crests, helmets, wreaths, mantlings, supporters, scrolls, mottoes, and badges: and first, of crests, and their accompaniments.
Every one must have remarked that when the heraldric insignia of a family are represented in full, the shield or escocheon is surmounted with a helmet, the antient covering for the warrior’s head. These helmets are drawn according to certain fixed rules. Although their general shapes are as various and fanciful as those of shields, their positions, &c. are regulated by the rank of the bearers: for instance, thesovereign’s helmet is of gold, full faced, and open, with six bars; that of dukes is of steel, placed a little in profile, and defended with five gold bars; that of baronets and knights is of steel, full-faced, the visor up, and without bars; and that of esquires and gentlemen is also of steel with the visor down, ornamented with gold, and placed in profile. According to some authors, the helmets of bastards should be turned to the sinister or left side, to denote their illegitimacy.[166]
Upon the top of the helmet is thewreath, which was originally a kind of chaplet surrounding the warrior’s head. It was composed of two bands, or skeins of silk twisted together and tinctured of the principal metal and colour of the arms. The wreath is used in the majority of bearings, but occasionally a ducal coronet or a chapeau occurs instead.[167]From this ornament, whether wreath, chapeau, or coronet, rises theCrest.
The word crest appears to be derived from the Latincrista, the comb or tuft which grows upon the heads of many species of birds. The idea, as well as the name, was doubtless borrowed from this source. The crest was sometimes called aCOGNIZANCEfrom cognosco, because by its means the wearer wasknownor distinguished on the field of battle.
Crests were originally worn by military commanders upon the apices of their helmets as the proud distinction of their rank; and, by adding to their apparent stature, served to give them a formidable aspect. They also enabled their soldiers to rally round their persons, and to follow theirmovements in the confusion of the battle. The tall plumes of birds, human heads, and figures of animals in a rampant posture, seem to have been among the earliest devices made use of.
The antiquity of crests for the uses above referred to, is far greater than that of the introduction of heraldry. The helmets of the divinities and heroes of the classical era are thus decorated. The owl on that of Minerva may be cited as an example. Jupiter Ammon is represented as having borne, as a crest, a ram’s head, which Alexander the Great adopted in token of his pretended descent from that deity. The use of crests by antient warriors is alluded to by Phædrus in his fable of the battle of the mice and weasels, where the generals of the former party are represented as wearing horns fastened to their heads:
“Ut conspicuum in prælioHaberent signum quod sequerentur milites.”Fab. LIII.
In heraldry, the adoption of crests is modern compared with that of coat-armour,[168]and many families at the present time have no crests. This is easily accounted for. We have seen that they were at first used exclusively by commanders. In time, however, the spirit of imitation led persons of inferior rank to assume those of their feudal superiors; and hence far less regularity is found in the heraldry of creststhan in that of coat-armour. In many cases crests have been borrowed from one or other of the charges of the shield: hence if the coat contain a lion rampant, the crest is frequently a demi, or half lion, or a lion’s head; and should three or six eagles occupy the shield, another eagle often serves as a crest.
With respect to the material of which the actual crests were composed, some assert that it was leather, or pasteboard stiffened and varnished, to preserve it from the wet; but the few that I have had an opportunity of inspecting are composed of more substantial materials. Thus the crest of one of the Echingham family, ‘a demi-lion rampant,’ on a helmet preserved in Echingham church, co. Sussex, is of wood, and that of a knight of the Pelham family in Laughton church, in the same county, ‘a peacock in his pride,’ is of iron.
The crests engraved at the head of this chapter have been selected on account of their singularity.[169]
The flourished ornament behind the crest, and which is often made to encompass the entire armorial insignia, was originally either a mantle of estate, worn when the warrior was not actually engaged in battle, and tinctured of the metal and colour of his arms,[170]or from thelambrequin, a small piece of cloth or silk employed to protect the helmet from rain, as well as to prevent the polished steel from dazzling the eyes of the spectator. The jags and flourishes areconjectured to represent the cuts which a valiant knight would receive in battle; and hence the extravagant fashion of painting these mantlings was probably intended as a compliment to the prowess of the bearer.
Supportersare those figures which stand on each side of the escocheon, and appear to support, or hold it up. In Latin blazon they are termed Talamones and Atlantes, and in Frenchsupportsortenans. As crests are more recent than coat-armour, so supporters are of later date than crests.
Menestrier, the great classic of French heraldric literature, deduces the origin of supporters from the antient tournaments, at which it was customary for the knights who engaged in those chivalrous exercises to have shields of their arms adorned with helmets, mantlings, wreaths, crests, and other ornamental appendages suspended near the lists. These were guarded by pages and armour-bearers fantastically attired as Saracens, Moors, Giants, and Mermaids, or disguised with skins to resemble lions, bears, and other animals. The figures adopted in this kind of masquerade became afterwards the supporters of the family achievement.
As I have not had the good fortune to read Menestrier’s work, and only know it through quotations, I am unable to ascertain by what arguments and proofs his hypothesis is strengthened; but I may be allowed to express my doubts as to this picturesque origin of supporters. The account of it given by Anstis, in his Aspilogia, appears to me to be far more probable:
“As to supporters, they were (I take it)the invention of the graver, who, in cutting, on seals, shields of arms, which were in a triangular form and placed on a circle, finding a vacant place at each side and also at the top of the shield,thought it an ornament to fill up the spaces with vine branches, garbs, trees, flowers, plants, ears of corn, feathers, fretwork, lions, wiverns, or some other animals, according to their fancy.[171]
“If supporters had been esteemed formerly (as at this time) the marks and ensigns of nobility, there could be no doubt but there would have been then, as now, particular supporters appropriated to each nobleman, exclusive of all others; whereas, in the seals of noblemen affixed to a paper wrote to the Pope, in the year 1300, the shields of arms of twenty-seven of them are in the same manner supported (if that term may be used) on each side by a wivern, and seven of the others by lions; that of John de Hastings hath the same wivern on each side of his shield of arms, and also on the space over it; in the manner as is the lion in the seals of Hache, Beauchamp, and De Malolacu. The seals of Despencer, Basset, and Baddlesmere, pendent to the same instrument, have each two wiverns, or dragons, for supporters; and that of Gilbert de Clare, three lions, placed in the form above mentioned. The promiscuous usage of wiverns to fill the blank in the seals is obvious to all who are concerned in these matters.
“But what is a stronger argument is, that the same sort of supporters as those here mentioned is placed in the seals of divers persons whose families were never advanced to the peerage, and who, not styling themselves knights, doubtless were not bannerets; persons of which degree (if I mistake not) now claim supporters during their lives, as well as knights of the Garter, and some great officers of state.Instances of this kind are often met with; nay, the engraver hath frequently indulged his fancy so far as to insert figures which do not seem proper, according to the present notion of supporters to arms; as two swords on each side the arms of Sir John de Harcla; and St. George fighting with the Dragon on one side, and the Virgin with Our Saviour in her arms on the other side, of a seal affixed to a deed executed by Lord Ferrers, whose arms, on the impress of a seal pendent to a deed, dated 17th May, 9oHenry VI, have not any supporters. This, as well as many other omissions of supporters, by many noblemen, in their old seals, seems likely to imply that they were not the right of the nobility exclusive of others.
“When supporters were first assumed, if there were two on one seal, they were generally the same; but sometimes there was only one, and sometimes three, as may be seen on various seals.
“The manner of placing these supporters was also very different; as sometimes, when the shield lay on the side, the supporters have been placed so as to seem to be supporting the crest, as appears in the seal of the Earl of Arundel, in which seal there is not any coronet. Some were placed all standing one way; and, if but one, it was placed sometimes on one side of the shield of arms, and sometimes on the other: sometimes, again, it was placed at the bottom, and the arms set on it; and sometimes behind, with the arms against it, and the head above the shield, and in a helmet, as in the seal of William, Lord Fitz-Hugh, 12th Henry VI.”
From a MS. of Wingfeld, York Herald, deposited in the College of Arms, it appears that many families below the rank of nobility antiently used supporters, and it is asserted that the descendants of persons who used them have a right to perpetuate them, however they were acquired. Manyexamples are cited of commoners having used supporters from an early period: some in virtue of high offices, as those of Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports; Comptrollers of the Household, &c.; others without any such qualification, as, for instance, the Coverts of Sussex, the St. Legers of Kent, the Carews of Surrey, the Savages of Cheshire, the Pastons of Norfolk, &c. In the hall at Firle Place, co. Sussex, are the arms of Sir John Gage, Comptroller of the Household to Queen Mary, supported by two greyhounds. The descendants of that gentleman, long afterwards elevated to the peerage by the title of Viscount Gage, continue to use the same supporters. A few other instances of such resumption occur.
By a singular anomaly the Baronets of Nova Scotia are allowed by their patents of creation to carry supporters, while the English Baronets, their superiors both in dignity and antiquity, have not that privilege. Some of these, however, as well as distinguished naval and military commanders, have, at various times, received the royal license to use them.
I have attempted, in vain, to collect an authentic list of the supporters of the royal arms of England from the time of Edward III, when, according to some authors, they were first assumed. There are discrepances in the authorities which are not easily accounted for. They are seldom agreed upon those of any early sovereign. For example, Berry gives Richard II a lion and a hart; Fosbroke says,two angels, and makes him the first king who adopted supporters. Henry IV, according to Nisbet, had two angels; Dallaway says, a lion and an antelope; and Sandford, a swan and an antelope! To Henry V, Nisbet assigns two antelopes, while Willement, out of Broke, gives him the lion and antelope. The probability is that all parties are right, each having reference to a particular instance in which the respective supporters are employed. One thing is certain, that while the colours andcharges of the shield have remained unchanged from a very early date, the supporters have experienced many vicissitudes. Edward IV changed his supporters at least three times; and until the reign of James I, when the lion and unicorn became stationary, the royal supporters do not seem to have been regarded as part of thehereditaryensigns of the kingdom.[172]
I shall only add on this subject some extraordinary fashions in the use of supporters. I am inclined to think that these adjuncts to arms originated, partly, in the corbels of Gothic architecture, on which shields are frequently supported in the hands of angels.[173]Numerous instances of this kind occur in antient churches and halls built in the decorated style. Sometimes these angels are vested in terrene habiliments, as in the annexed cut, from a drawing of a sculptured stone among the ruins of Robertsbridge Abbey.
Shields of arms are sometimes supported by a single animal, as in the case of the arms of Prussia, where an eagle with two heads performs that duty. Several instances of arms borne upon the breast of an eagle are found in English heraldry: the following occur to my recollection, namely, those ofRichard Earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III,[174]those of the Lathams of Latham, in the fourteenth century,[175]and those of John le Bray, on his seal attached to a deed dated 1327.[176]A curious instance of this kind of supporter occurs in the arms of the lord of the manor of Stoke-Lyne, co. Oxon. The figure employed in this case is neither angel nor eagle, but a hawk. When Charles I held his parliament at Oxford, the then lord of Stoke-Lyne having rendered him an important service, the king offered him the honour of knighthood, which he gratefully declined, and merely requested the royal permission to place the arms of his family upon the breast of a hawk. This being granted, the lords of the manor have ever since employed a hawk displayed as their supporter.[177]
There is another species of supporter, the use of which seems to have been almost restricted to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and which is seldom noticed in our books of heraldry. The arms are represented upon a banner, the staff of which is supported by an animal in a rampant, or, more usually, in a sejant, posture. The arms of Sir Roger Fynes, Treasurer of the Household to Henry VI, are thus represented over the great gate of Hurstmonceux castle, built by him. The supporter is thealaunt, or wolf-dog,[178]and the scroll round the pole seems to have contained a motto, which is now illegible.
Some very singular supporters occur in French heraldry. Under theancien régimethe arms of most of the great officers of state were supported by ensigns emblematical of their various duties; for example—