THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES V %i)t Heraltir|) of jFtsfn i.ondon: printed by samurl hk.nti.kv, BANOOH llol'SK, SIIOK l.ANK. eralbrp of Jistfn NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL FAMILIES BEARING FISH IN THEIR ARMS. BY THOMAS MOULE. I nest Mia gratia parvis." ILLUSTRATED RY ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. LONDON: JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW M.DCCC.XLIT. ^; v Library > ' PREFACE. Tibi res antiquse laudis et artis Agraredior. Virgil. The prevailing desire for information on heraldry does not appear to have been encouraged by the pro- duction of books in proportion to the interest the subject excites, as, amidst the vast range of modern publications very few indeed arc found to relate to heraldry. A sufficient reason may perhaps be found in the fear of encountering its boundlessness without the probability of incurring a serious charge of prolixity, by venturing to grasp at once the Avhole of this extensive subject ; an- other more obvious cause preventing the attempt from being rashly made, is the number of engravings required for its support and illustration, few publishers being will- ing to risk the great expense attending this very neces- sary part of the undertaking. It is not to be denied, that the research which unfolds the progress of heraldry in the days of chivalric enterprise, and supplies the means of tracing its history through the different periods of time, would prove a most attractive and entertaining employment of leisure ; but the knowledge of its origin, and of the importance it began to acquire at an early epoch, its improvement, and its perfection, with all the 3100323 VI PREFACE. circumstances to which heraldry owes its power of pleas- ing, is only to be found in books very rarely met with in modern libraries. The present attempt was suggested by the author's de- sire to compress the opinions advanced into a reasonable compass, and bring within a single volume the various illustrations required.* Great facility has been afforded for its prosecution by the liberality of the publisher, and by the additional satisfaction of having all the drawings with which the work is embellished, made upon the wood under the author's own inspection, by his daugh- ter, Sophia Barbara Moule, an advantage which will be best appreciated by those who know the great difficulty of obtaining heraldic drawings correctly executed, in which the beauty, in a great measure, depends on the character of the different periods of art. In the limited view of heraldry here taken, calculated rather to excite than gratify curiosity, it has not been considered merely with reference to the contents of the shield, or the simple coats of arms, as found on the ban- ners of the Paladins of Europe.f The custom of mar- shalling, in which the arms are blended by family alli- ances, has been the means of affording some illustrations. The modes of representing heraldry on the baronial and municipal seals, exhibiting no want of invention, and differing from the arrangement on the ancient standards, * In France, where Heraldry meets with great encouragement, two volumes have appeared on the fleur-de-lis alone, by M. Rev, in 1837. t Those Rolls of Arms which have been printed, forming the best source of information on English Heraldry, arc enumerated in the Rev. J. A. Montagu's excellent "Guide to the Study of Heraldry ;" and since that elegant publication appeared, a MS. collection of the arms and quartcrings of the Council of the Marchers, chiefly of the time of Elizabeth, has been printed, by the Hon. R. H. Clivc, among the " Documents connected with the History of Ludlow," 1841. PREFACE. Vii are here shown. The lordly cognizance and the house- hold badge have both been noticed ; these were in con- stant use from the time of King Richard II. to that of King Henry VII, when the number of the retainers in- dicated the greatness of the family. The most magnificent display of heraldry was afforded by the splendid ceremonial of the tournament, Where throngs of knights and harons hold In weeds of peace high triumphs hold. The irregular luxuriance of these o-onreous assemblages gave rise to the tenans, and supporters of arms, addi- tional appendages of rank requisite to be known ; almost equal splendour was shown in the rich ecclesiastial em- bellishments used by the higher orders of prelates, and not less interesting is the monkish rebus, rendered vene- rable by antiquity. Another description of illustration is derived from coins and tokens, the devices on which have an interest in connexion with the subject. The badges of tenure, the badges of trade, and of merchants enriched by com- merce, the marks of printers, and even the signs of inns, have been found entitled to inquiry. The examples afforded by this variety of representation furnish models which may prove useful to the artist who wishes to cul- tivate, successfully, heraldic embellishments. In a pro- fessional point of view, the utility of heraldry will be readily admitted ; its devices form evidence, in many cases, connected with property and honours, and fre- quently identify or separate persons of the same name when other means fail — a difficulty constantly occurring. Its use also, without overrating its claims, soon becomes apparent to all who wish to attain any proficiency in Mil PREFACE. history, where its importance in fixing in the memory the series and connexion of events proves its value. The painter will do well to seek the assistance of he- raldry in his representations of historical subjects ; he who feels its introduction as an accessary to pictorial effect, need not be told, that chronological accuracy in armorial design is equally requisite with fidelity of costume or the correct portraiture of the persons re- presented. To the architect heraldry affords an un- limited extent of enrichment in exterior sculpture ; and the judgment of C.Barry, R. A., the architect of the House of Lords, has admitted it, as an important feature, in the principal facade of that splendid edifice. The introduction of arms in windows and pavements also renders it necessary that the architect should be acquainted, not only with the rules, but with the pecu- liar character of the heraldry of different periods. To the naturalist it is not entirely without interest : the late illustrious Cuvier added a knowledge of heraldry to his other pursuits ; and the patient investigation of the swan-marks of antiquity by Mr. Yarrell, in his " History of British Birds," shows considerable attention to the subject: some of these marks, as the key, the crozier, and the arrow, on the swans of the Lord Chamberlain, the Abbot of Swinstead, and of Eton College, bear a close affinity to the devices of heraldry. It has been the custom, from the time that heraldry was first reduced to system, to arrange the variety of armorial bearings under the natural and artificial fijrures of which they arc composed; the division of natural his- tory relating to fish forms but a very small part of the principal books in use whenever heraldry is required. PREFACE. IX Guillim, in his celebrated Display, devotes one chapter* to skinned and scaled fish, and in anotherf he treats of crusted and shelled fish. Nisbet, the herald of Scot- land, also, in his System,! describes the heraldry of fish in general ; but both writers are necessarily very brief. This part of the subject appeared capable of sustaining a more minute inquiry, without descending into tedious- ness ; there is found to be no want of distinguished names to give attraction to the particular branch the author has chosen, in which he has endeavoured to explain the prin- ciples of early heraldry, which is shown to have been rather territorial than personal. A greater number of the various species of fish have been enumerated ; the dolphin, the herring, and the fish of the sea, have afforded several engravings, but the salmon and trout, with the pike, barbel, and roach, and the other fish of the rivers, present the widest field for inquiry ; where the illustra- tions selected for this work are professedly taken from old examples, the copy has been rigidly followed, and in the original designs the peculiar characters of the differ- ent fish are given with the same attempt at accuracy which the ancient heralds would have practised with the same opportunities : this feature will not be overlooked by the angler, the naturalist, or the antiquary. Although military service was the principal tenure by which lands were anciently held, yet the different modes of taking fish by the spear, the net, or the hook, are shown to have been indicated in the armorial ensigns of the lords of manors deriving revenue from the produce of the fishery. The boats employed in the same service, which were * Chapter xxii. of his third section. t Chapter xxiii. + Chapter \i. of the second part. X PREFACE. at the command of the sovereign in time of war, and formed the original Navy of Britain, distinguish the en- signs of the maritime lords, and the corporate bodies to whom the jurisdiction of the ports was entrusted. Heraldry partaking largely of allegory, it became ne- cessary to allude to the mythological and religious em- blems consisting of fish, as well as to notice the many compound animals, the fanciful creations of the classical poets ; these conceptions, which excite so much inquiry, rendered it more difficult to do justice within a small space to a subject which appeared to merit farther in- vestigation. March, 1842. ILLUSTRATIONS.* Page 1. Vignette, containing the arms of Rosengrun, Dornheim, and Hanf- stengel, described at page 129 . . . . .1 2. Announcement of a Mermaid ..... 3 3. Pisces, from the Zodiac of Denderah . . . . .4 4. Pisces, from MS. in British Museum .... 5 5. Pisces, from Pavement in Canterbury Cathedral . . .6 6. Anns of Pfreimbt ...... 7 7. Medal of Vitellius . . . . . . .7 8. Dolphins, from the Loggie of the Vatican. ... 8 9. Amphitrite, from an antique gem . . . . .9 10. Arms of Admiral Lord Havvke ..... 10 11. Oporinus's Mark . . . . . . .11 12. Vesica Piscis, on a paving-tile at Exeter .... 12 13. Example of fish hauriant . . . . . .13 14. Ditto naiant ....... 13 15. Syracusan Coin , . . . . . .15 16. Medal of Brutus . . . . . . .16 17. Ditto, Vespasian . . . . . . .17 18. Byzantine Coin . . . . . . .17 19. Courtcnay Standard in the time of Henry VIII. . . .18 20. Arms of Courtcnay Bishop of Winchester ... 19 21. Aldus's Mark . . . . . . .20 22. Pickering's Mark, including the Arms of Walton and Cotton . 21 23. Banner of Dauphine ...... 22 24. Anns of the Dauphin . . . . . .23 25. Arms of Franklin ...... 25 26. Arms and Crest of Sir Thomas Frankland, Bart. . . .26 27. Anns of Dolfin of Venice ..... 27 28. Ditto ........ 28 29. Crest of Lord Godolphin ...... 29 30. Anns and Crest of Monypenny , . . . .30 31. Anns and Crest of Sir John Leman .... 32 32. Arms of Vandeput . . . . . .33 33. Anns of Bishop Fyshar, from the Parliament Roll . . 34 * There being so few opportunities for the exercise of female talent, it becomes a plea- sure to mention that the engravings in this work were, with two or three exceptions, executed by Marv and Elizabeth Clint ; a satisfactory proof of their rising ability. XII ILLUSTRATIONS. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 40. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 02. 03. 04. 05. 66. 07. 08. 0!). 70. 71. 72. 7i). so. Page Arm* of Fleet . . . . . . .35 Seal of the Dean of Booking . . . . .36 Anns of Fryer . . . . . . .37 Anns of Bishop James, from stained glass at Oxford . . 39 Arms and Crest of Fitz James . . . . .40 Ancient carved Oak Panel ..... 42 Anns of the Watermen's Company, with Supporters . . 43 Anns and Supporters of Sir William Burnabv ... 44 Dolphins at sea . . . . . . .45 Anns of Whalley Ahbey ...... 46 Arms of Whalley . . . . . . .47 Anns of Vaughan ...... 48 Harpoon, from Rondelet . . . , . .48 Arms of Lucy ....... 50 Arms of the Duke of Northumberland, K. G. . . .51 Anns and Quarterings of the Earl of Sussex, from glass at Newhall 53 Arms of Calder Abbey . . . . . .54 Vane at Charlecote . . . . . .55 Anns of Lucy, from stained glass at Charlecote . . .56 Stained glass at Kingsdown Church .... 57 Arms of Brougham, from stained glass at St. Saviour's Church . 58 Arms of Fontenay de Luc ..... 59 Arms of Geddes . . . . . . .60 Anns of Gcdney . . . . . . .61 William Pickering's Mark . . . . . .02 Arms and Crest of Gascoigne ..... 03 Anns of Fishacre . . . . . . .65 Arms of Bishop Robinson ..... 06 Anns of Garmston . . . . . . .67 Banner of John de Bar ...... 68 Seal of the Earl of Warren and Surrey . . . .09 Seal of his Countess, Joan of Bar .... 70 Anns and Mantle of Lorraine . . . . .72 Stafford Badge ....... 73 Anns of Count Graville, K.G. . . . . .74 nns of Colston ....... 75 rms of Riviere . . . . . . .70 nns and Crest of Karpfen ..... 77 nns of De Blocg . . . . . . .78 lie Mahi of Mogul ...... 79 nns of Viscount Lake . . . . . .80 indu Fish and Lotus ...... 80 nns of Gobyon . . . . . . .81 v)\\^ of the Ear] of Lanesborough .... 82 rms of Goujon . . . . . . .83 nns of ( hioltzbacli ...... 85 nns of Tcuchc . . . . . . .87 ILLUSTRATIONS. Xlll Pago 81. Arms and Crest of Sir Fisher Tench, Bart. . . .88 82. Anns of Breame ...... 89 83. Arms of Abbot de la Mare . . . , .90 84. Arms of Chohb ....... 91 85. Seal of Thomas Lord de la Roche ..... 93 SO. Murder of St. Thomas a Becket, from Abp. Arundel's seal . 94 87. Arms of Tropenell, impaling Roche, from Chalfield Church . 95 88. Arms of Roche ....... 96 89. Arms of Huyshe . . . . . . .97 90. Crest of Beckford ...... 98 91. Arms of Picton ....... 99 92. Crest of Fisher of Stafford ..... 100 93. Arms of Durneford . . . . . . .101 94. Arms of Chabot, Count of Xewblanch, K.G. . . . 102 95. Crest of Gumey ....... 104 96. Arms of Tubbe, from stained glass at St. Neot's Church . 105 97. Arms of Raoul . . . . . . 106 98. Crest of Edridgc . . . . . .107 99. Arms of Graded ........ 110 100. Arms of Von Praromon ..... Ill 101. Arms of Gloucester ...... 112 102. Seal of Kingston . . . . . .113 103. Seal of Lostwithiel . . . . . .114 104. Seal of Coleraine ...... 115 105. Arms of the Earl O'Neill . . . . . .116 106. Anns of Ord . . . . . . .117 107. Arms and Crest of Lord Bolton ..... 117 108. Arms and Crest of Sea . . . . . .118 109. Arms of Way . . . . . . .119 110. Arms and Crest of the Princes of Salm . . . .120 111. Arms and Crest of Knight of Gloucester .... 122 112. Arms of Sambrooke . . . . . .123 113. Anns of Sevington ...... 124 114. Arms of the See of Glasgow ..... 126 115. Device of the Fish and the Ring ..... 127 116. Anns and Crest of Die Prov von Findelstein . . . 128 ] 17. Anns id' Glynn ....... 130 118. Crest of Von Ehnet ...... 131 119. The Pheon . . . . . . .131 12n. Seal of the town of Stafford ..... 133 121. The Hungerford Horn . . . . .134 122. Crest of Penrose ...... 135 123. Arms and Crest of Troutbeck ..... 136 124. Knights mounted; with their armorial tabards and housing's, from a MS. temp. Henry VI. . . . . . . 137 125. Anns of Everhard Duke of Wirtemberg, from his monument at Tubingen . . , . ... . 139 XIV ILLUSTRATIONS. 126. Banner of Pfirdt, from the Triumph of Maximilian 127. Crest of Jane .... 128. Arms of lloten . 129. Arms of Medville . 130. Arms of Smelt . 131. Arms of Cardinal Bentivenga 132. Arms of Umhrell 133. Arms of Proude 134. Seal of the Borough of Yarmouth 135. Seal of Yarmouth Priory 136. Southwold Token 137. Arms of Hcringham 138. Arms of Archbishop Herring 139. Arms and Crest of Harene 140. Arms of Cobb . 141. Arms of Harrington, from a print by Elstrackc 142. Arms of Militon 143. Seal of Truro 144. Looe Token 145. Arms of Bishop Sprat, from Westminster Abbey 146. Arms of Sartine 147. Arms of Mackerell . 148. Crest of Haddock 149. Arms of the Abbey of Petershausen 150. Crest of Von Eytzing . 151. Arms of Beck 152. Capital in Canterbury Cathedral 153. Arms of the Saltfishmongers . 154. Arms of the Stockfishmongers . 155. Arms of the Fishmongers' Company 156. Arms of Iceland 157. Highland Fishing-boat, from a sculpture in Iona 158. Seal of Campbell of Craiginch 159. Seal of the Barons of Dover 160. Arms of Habgood 161. Seal of Wexford 162. Anns of Hackct 163. Arms of Whiting . 164. Arms of Caldwell 165. Arms of Bishop Cheney ](!(!. Arms of Soles . 1(>7. Arms and Crest of Turhutt 168. Crest of Lawrence 169. Crest of Britwcsill . 170. Arms of Bukens 171. Arms of Fisher of Scotland 172. Arms and Crest of Butts Page 140 141 143 144 145 146 147 148 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 158 159 160 161 161 162 163 165 166 167 168 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 178 180 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 19(1 191 192 193 ILLUSTRATIONS. XV Page 173. Anns of Ellis of Trevearc ..... 195 174. Crest of Sir John Styell . . . . .190 175. Arms of Cardinal Guzman ..... 197 176. Badge of Lord Williams of Thame . . . .198 177. Anns of Foleborne ...... 198 178. Arms of Stratele . . . . . . .199 179. Anns of Conghurst ...... 200 1 80. Arms of the town of Lynn ...... 201 181. Arms of Radford ...... 202 182. Anns of Sturgeon . . . . . . .204 183. Arms of Gesse ....... 205 184. Arms and Crest of Sir Robert Harland, Bart. . . .206 185. Anns of Tucker ...... 208 186. Anns of Usedom . . . . . . .209 187. Anns of Ley Earl of Marlborough .... 210 188. Crest of Die Rietter . . . . . .213 189. Seal of Sir William Briwere ..... 214 190. Badge of Sir John Wallop, K. G. ..... 215 191. Arms of Prestwich . . . . . .216 192. Arms and Crest of Die Erstenberger . . . .217 193. Arms of Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King of Anns . . . 218 1 94. Banner of Lord Scales ...... 220 195. Badge of Goldingham ...... 221 196. Saint James, from the banner in the Royal Armoury at Madrid . 222 197. Badge of the Order of Saint James .... 223 198. Arms of Lord Dacre . . . . . .224 199. Arms and Crest of Von Strachwitz .... 226 200. Anns of Shelley . . . . . . .227 201. Arms and Crest of Von Melem ..... 228 202. Anns of Bishop Attwater, from the Parliament Roll . . 230 203. Arms of Bridger ...... 231 204. Arms of Alstanton ....... 232 205. Vignette, containing the arms of Bawde,* and Jugerde,t and the crest of the Counts Von Windischgratz + . . . 233 * Mentioned at page 175. f Page 1.0.9. J Page l]l). Cfje Heraltirp of fi$>* HERALDRY, in its general application, is the symbol of a name ; and amies parlantes, the admiration of the heralds, and of general use throughout Europe, were undoubtedly the earliest devices ; none are more ancient than the well-known ensigns of Castile and Leon. The banner of the feudal lord sometimes bore the particular produce of the domain, as the pomegranate, which gave at once the name and arms to the kingdom of Granada. The mode of tenure was shown by the cups adopted by the Butlers of Senlis in France, and allusions were made in the arms of the nobility to other sources of their power and jurisdiction ; the ancient Counts of Wernigerode, Master Fishers of the empire of Germany, bore a fish as an ensign of dignity.* These marks of honour, admirably adapted to the different branches of the feudal system, include many forms then familiar which have now become obsolete ; but these specimens of he- raldry, even in its state of rudeness, are not undeserving of in- vestigation, as reflecting the manners of the times in which they were composed. * Nisbet's Heraldry. B I THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The language used in English heraldry is derived from and partakes much of the old French, the same language which generally prevailed in the court, the camp, and the convent during the dynasty of the Norman Kings of England, and even down to the reign of Edward III. Without the aid of a glossary, in explanation of many terms now disused, the whole import of the subject can hardly be comprehended. Distinguished names, also, naturally give rise to historical associations ; and the in- terest which the allusion is capable of inspiring must conse- quently be proportionate to the previous knowledge possessed of more than the leading points of early history. In the primitive ages learning was not easy of acquisition, and natural history was almost unknown : from works constructed upon the models of Pliny, Dioscorides, and Aristotle, the know- ledge of fish to be obtained is perfectly valueless to the enquirer of the present day. The Roman author enumerates one hundred and seventy-six kinds of fish, but it is now well known that there are not less than two hundred and sixty species of British fish alone ; of these, one cabinet, that of Mr. Yarrell, a persever- ing naturalist, contains upAvards of one hundred and sixty dis- tinct specimens. Such has been the rapid advance of inform- ation in recent times, that in his work on the subject he has been enabled to describe a greater number by one-fourth than had yet appeared in any British catalogue of fishes. It is understood that nearly three-fourths of the earth's surface is covered with water, and that the Pacific ocean alone is greater than the whole dry land of the globe put together. In the British Museum are now preserved nearly one thousand five hundred different species of fish ; and in the Museum at Paris, which is considered to be extremely rich in specimens of the finny tribe, there are not less than five thousand, a number annually increased by discovery from the vast resources now at the command of science. Heralds are not inattentive to natural history, the whole range of which is employed by them ; but they use the variety of sub- jects afforded by that delightful study with reference only to their own particular pursuit, and not always without indulging in fables. Heraldry also partakes of much, in common with poetry, which delights in fiction, and both are found important assistants in the representation of early manners. By this constant refer- ence to antiquity are the heralds guided in their appropriation THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 3 of the different species of the animal kingdom, which is pro- ductive of an arrangement of subjects widely differing from that of the scientific naturalist, whose theory and classification is purposely intended for practical use, and for the immediate benefit of mankind. Few points of natural history were formerly less known than fish ; the dolphin and the whale, belonging in modern science to a class which is yet but imperfectly investigated, were fishes to the earlier naturalists. The seal, or sea-calf of heraldry, was also considered a fish, and permitted by the monkish rules to be eaten on fish-days. The otter, it is true, had a like dis- tinction, which is noticed by Isaak Walton. The tritons and mermaids of classical mythology were purely emblematical ; but, upon not improbable grounds, have been derived from the amphibious habits of the seal. The last mermaid that engaged the attention of the naturalists is now known to have been skil- fully manufactured by a Chinese from the upper parts of a monkey and the tail of a salmon, for the purpose of deception. This singular creature was brought to Batavia from some of the neighbouring islands in a perfect state of preservation. The lower part of the body, enveloped in its scaly covering, was lost in the natural form of a fish ; but its appearance was little cal- culated to realize the fanciful idea of an animal famed for its personal beauty. Bishop Cosin\s account of a whale, also, stated to have been taken on the coast of Durham in the reign of Charles II, an ingenious fiction, tor a time deceived the zoologists of the present day. a -1 4 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Deeply occupied in the advancement of his favourite science, the enlightened naturalist has not often either time or patience to investigate the quaint devices of antiquity, or to trace the heraldic badge to its origin, which invariably attract the notice of the poet and the consideration of the antiquary : to them the heraldry of early ages is a subject of inexhaustible interest. The earliest known device of fish, the Zodiacal sign, is em- blematical of the fishery of the Nile, commencing in the month of February, about the time when the sun enters Pisces, which is the best season for fishing, according to Pliny ; and of the great abundance and delicacy of the fish in Egypt all authors ancient and modern are agreed. Modern travellers relate that the walls of the temple of Den- derah are literally covered with magnificent sculpture and paint- ing. The figures representing the Zodiac are on the ceiling of the portico, and are engraved in the great work on Egypt pub- lished by order of the French government. The signs of the Zodiac were frequently sculptured on the exterior of ancient churches, presenting a sort of rural calendar for the labours of the field each month in the year, which was of practical use When in the Zodiac the fish wheel round, Thoy loose the floods and irrigate the ground. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 5 111 his directions to the husbandman for the month of February, old Tusser says, To the coast, man, ride, Lent stuff to provide ; with another couplet in encouragement of the fisherman, The land doth will, the sea doth wish, Spare sometimes flesh, and feed off fish. The Zodiacal signs also appear as an ornament on antique vases, coins, pavements, &c. ; and are painted in bright colours on the inside of several mummy cases now in the British Mu- seum. A manuscript in the Cottonian Library* shows the sign Pisces having a connecting line from the tail of each fish. The most interesting portions of the sculpture on the porch of the Virgin, in the cathedral of Notre Dame at Paris, are the compartments representing the signs of the Zodiac, and the labours of the different months, all which were originally painted and gilt. Another curious Zodiac on the porch of the church of Saint Nicholas, at Civray, in Poitou, is engraved in Willemiifs " Monumens Frainjais.'" The Anglo-Norman doorway of Saint Margaret's church in Walmgate, York, is enriched with four mouldings, one of which is sculptured with the signs of the Zo- diac alternately with the agricultural labours of the months. They are also carved on one of the porches of Merton College, Oxford ; and the sign Pisces appears on the western doorway of IfhVy church, one of the most beautiful specimens of Anglo- Norman architecture in the kingdom. * MS. Tib. B. 5. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. At the east end of the cathedral of Canterbury, in a chapel near Becketfs crown, are considerable remains of a pavement executed in an early stage of art ; the large stones, rudely inlaid, bear figures of the Zodiacal signs in circular compart- ments. That of the sign Pisces is here shown. This pavement attracts the notice of the curious as the only indication of the once magnificent shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket, and was probably designed and executed in the reign of Edward I. during the prelacy of Archbishop Peckham, when many costly additions were made to this Cathedral under the direction of Henry Eastry, one of the Priors distinguished for his taste and liberality, and who is recorded to have enriched the choir with carvings. The revenues of the convent and church were then very considerable, and were increased by treasures which flowed in at the celebration of the festival of Saint Thomas, an anniversary of the highest splendour, and to which we arc indebted for one of the earliest poems in the English language, " The Canterbury Tales " of Chaucer. A solitary modern instance of the application of these em- blems is at Penrhyn Castle, the seat of the late G. H. Dawkins Pennant, Esq., a mansion on the site of a palace of one of the Princes of Wales, erected in a castellated style of architecture, near Bangor. Two large and beautiful windows in the great hall contain the signs of the Zodiac, with representations of the labours of the corresponding months, all of the richest colours, painted by Willemcnt in 1835. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 7 One of the signs, Sagittarius, assumed as the heraldic ensign of King Stephen, is said to be in allusion to the Zodiacal position of the sun at the time he ascended the throne of England. A similar reference to the month of February may have influenced the assumption of arms resembling the sign Pisces, borne by the town of Pfreimbt in Germany. They are here copied from Sibmacher's " Wapenbuch," 1605 ; the fish and rays are white, in an azure field, with stars of gold. The sign Pisces, according to some of the French heralds, is composed of dolphins, which Venus placed in the Zodiac ; a dolphin is sculptured at her feet, in the most celebrated statue of this goddess at Florence, to indicate her origin from the sea : but the favourite of Venus, amongst fish, was the minnow, one of the most beautiful in its form and marks. The dolphin, in the mythology, Mas sacred to Apollo, and is represented on a tripod in the reverse of a medal struck in the reign of Vitellius.* * Ant. Augustini Numism. Rom. 1654. 8 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. As an emblem of the sea, the dolphins appear in brilliant colours in the Rose de Mer, or large western window of Amiens cathedral. The sixteen compartments into which this circular window is divided, are filled with stained glass, representing dolphins and sea-shells of several kinds, together with the rebus and arms of Nicholas de Coquerel, one of the canons of Amiens, who died in 1465. The dolphin is also introduced in the ara- besque ornaments of the beautiful stained glass windows of Mou- lins cathedral. In allegory, the dolphin was often employed as an emblem of the sea : it is rudely sculptured on several of the Etruscan sar- cophagi forming part of the collection of antiques in the British Museum, and is found painted as an ornament in many apart- ments of the houses at Pompeii, with little resemblance to the dolphin of natural history. The same disregard of its true form is exhibited by the earlier painters, particularly in the celebrated Loggie of Raphael. The walls of the Vatican, painted by him, are designed upon the model of classical decorations which he had discovered in the baths of Titus, where the dolphins had been introduced, with propriety, as a marine emblem. Without ascribing to heraldry any positive connection with classical allegory, it yet appears requisite to notice the badges of antiquity as the probable prototype of many existing bearings in coat armour. This view of the subject has not been entirely overlooked. " A discourse of the origin of heraldry, demonstrat- ing upon what rational foundation the science is established,"" was published in 1672 by Thomas Philipot, a poet and anti- quary, the son of Somerset Herald. This work refers chiefly to antique coins and medals, and the symbols impressed upon them. It is of little use to the heraldic enquirer, as the author has omitted all allusion to the history of the middle ages, with which his subject was so closely connected. A few instances are here given of the dolphin employed as a poetical representation of the sea, to show the reason of its frequent heraldic application in the same manner. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 9 To obtain favour of Amphitrite, who had made a vow of eternal celibacy, Neptune assumed the form of a dolphin ; and the nymph, as emblematical of her passion for the sea, is always represented in a car drawn by dolphins, as in the beautiful antique cornelian formerly in the Earl of ClanbrassiFs cabinet, and etched by Worlidge, in his Collection of Gems, in 1768. The ocean was a deity, whose protection was invoked by the Romans on the occasion of any voyage : he is represented seated on waves with grapes in his hair and dolphins in his beard. By the goddess Tethys, whose name is familiar as a poetical expres- sion for the sea, he was the father of the Oceanides, who ruled the tempest. To his son Proteus, Oceanus confided the care of the fish, or, as Virgil says, translated by Dryden, "to keep bis scaly flocks.'' 1 High o'er the main in watery pomp he rides, His azure car and finny coursers guides. Neptune himself, with his classical attributes, or, as the heralds describe the figure, proper, was made the subject of a grant of arms, for eminent services at sea, to Admiral Lord Hawke of Towton, whose signal victory over the French fleet under Ad- miral Conflans, in November 1751), was obtained during one of the most violent storms ever witnessed by the oldest seaman. 10 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. By the gallant commander's intrepid conduct a long prepared invasion of the enemy was broken and dispelled, in a manner that brought forcibly to mind the design and fate of the Spanish Armada ; the defeat of which was, at that time, the safety of England, and the lasting renown of the English navy.* An instance of Neptune employed in heraldry had been pre- viously given in the crest of the family of Monypenny, with the motto " Imperat a^quor," he governs the sea ; in allusion probably to their estate on the coast of Fifeshire. An engraving of this device will be found in a subsequent page. The dolphin of the ancients is more particularly famed in the story of Arion, the celebrated musician of Lesbos, the melodious sweetness of whose lyre attracted a number of dolphins round his ship ; and when afterwards he threw himself into the sea, in fear of his life, one of them carried him safely on his back to shore. * The arms of Lord Ilawke of Towton in Yorkshire, are, argent, a chevron erminois between three boatswains whistles erect, proper. Crest, on a wreath a hawk rising proper, charged on the breast with a fleur-de-lis. Supporters, on the dexter side Neptune crowned, standing upon a dolphin, and bearing in his right hand the trident, all propel'; on the sinister a sea-horse holding an union flag in his dexter paw, proper. Motto, Strike. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 11 A cinque cento version of this classical fable, encircled with the heroic motto, " Invia virtuti nulla est via, 11 implying that valour and virtue surmount everything-, was adopted in 1560 as a mark by Oporinus, one of the famous German printers. In this device, one amongst a number of grotesque and extra- ordinary ornaments of the early press, A fiddler on a fish through waves advanced ; He twang'd his catgut, and the dolphin danced. John Herbst of Basle, better known by the name of Oporinus, was highly esteemed in his profession ; he printed none but the best manuscripts, and published no book which he had not him- self corrected. Having joined in partnership with llobert Win- ter, they both, agreeably to the practice of the learned men of that period, adopted classical names ; Herbst assuming that of Oporinus, a Greek word signifying autumn ; and Winter, for the same reason, took that of Chimerinus, apparently to humour the lines of Martial's epigram : Si daret Autumnus raihi nonien, Oporinus esseni. Horrida si Brumae sidcra, Chimerinus. — Ep. ix. 12 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. There are very few fishes named in the sacred Scriptures, the most interesting portion of ancient literature ; Dag, the Hebrew for fish, appears to be a general name of aquatic animals. As the Greek word for fish, Ictis, contained initials emblematical of Christ, a fish was a very favourite symbol of the early Chris- tians ; and the vesica piscis, a rough outline of a fish, formed of two curves meeting in a point at their extremities, was made to enclose the holy symbol . This image was sculptured upon tombs and sepulchral urns, as well as upon seals and rings, and its form is shown on part of a pavement found near the conduit in South Street, Exeter, in September 1833. The same figure is also upon one of the tiles preserved at Caen in Normandy : both have been engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine. The Virgin in a canopy, or Vesica piscis round which the four Evangelists are disposed, is not uncommon in the old churches. It is mentioned in Mr. Hope's " Historical Essay on Architecture," at Ravenna, where the fish also appears on the ancient convex marble ambones, or pulpits, which have been in- serted in the walls of the modern cathedral. On the origin of tliis custom the curious may consult Encyclop6die Methodique Antiq. torn. iii. Of all classes of natural history, that of fishes is the most diffi- cult to divide into orders, as remarked by Cuvier, who devoted his life to the study of the science. There is, indeed, nothing more remarkable than tin; infinite variety and singularity of the figures and shapes of fishes : their forms are considered to be more extraordinary than those of any other department of the animal kingdom. The attention of heralds was directed merely to the chief characteristic features of animals, and the most generous and THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 13 noblest qualities belonging to the- species are usually described. Beasts of savage nature are represented in fierce agency : the lion rampant is a lion prepared for action ; the boar is shown with tusks, and the stag with his proper attire ; the horse is represented in full speed, or courant ; the greyhound coursing, and the deer tripping ; but the wolf is described as passant, agreeably to his natural disposition, moving step by step. As the symbol of a name, 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. They are borne upright and extended, and when feeding are termed devouring ; Allume, when their eyes are bright, and Pame, when their mouths are open. All the terms used in describing their positions are old French. Hauriant, a word now obsolete, means fish raised upright, in which manner, with their heads above water, fish refresh them- selves by sucking in the air ; Naiant, from the same ancient source, denotes the swimming position. The arrangement of subjects having but very slight reference to the classification of the naturalist, is adopted to explain the heraldic application of the several species offish. 14 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. I.— The DOLPHIN and the WHALE. H._The PIKE, LUCE, or GED, and FLYING-FISH. III.— The BARBEL, CARP, GUDGEON, TENCH, BREAM, ROACH, DACE, CHUB, MINNOW, and LOACH. IV.— The CHABOT, GURNARD, MULLET, and PERCH. V._ The SALMON, TROUT, SMELT, and GRAYLING, with their enemy the OTTER. VI.— The HERRING, PILCHARD, and SPRAT. VII.— The MACKAREL. VIII.— The HADDOCK, COD, HAKE, LING, WHITING, and BURBOT. IX.— The SOLE, TURBOT, PLAICE, and FLOUNDER. X.— The EEL, CONGER, and LAMPREY. XL— The STURGEON. XII.— The DOG-FISH, SEA LIONS, and other monsters. XIII.— The SEAL, MERMAID, and TRITON. XIV.— SHELLFISH. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 15 tEJje 13olp6itt an& tfie S^fiale* The dolphin by heralds is considered the chief of fish, as the lion is of beasts and the eagle of birds; so distinguished pro- bably from the beauty of its form, and from its being found more frequently depicted in heraldic bearings than any other particu- lar species : this arises from the dolphin being used as a general type offish, as in the arms of the Fishmongers 1 Company, in which it is conspicuous, and also from its being sometimes as- sumed in relation to naval affairs. The heraldic representations of the dolphin are supposed to be little consonant with truth ; but an apologist is found in one of the most able and accomplished naturalists of the present day. Mr. Bell, in his History of the Cetacea, gives a descrip- tion of its form and colour, which is blackish on the back, greyish on the sides, and glittering white beneath. After the fullest particulars of its organization, he says, " It requires some stretch of the imagination to identify the blunt round-headed creature, with its curved back and spiny fins, as it is pictured, with the straight sharp-beaked animal," of which a true repre- sentation is prefixed to his account. But even here, the learned author continues, " there are exceptions to this general censure, and there is no difficulty in at once recognising the common dolphin in the animal which is represented on the reverse of a Syracusan coin in the British Museum, of which this engraving is an accurate copy. 11 * Bull's British Quadrupeds, p. 4G5. 16 THE TIEKALDRY OF FTSH. Tlie naturalist very properly disregards those peculiarities of outward form, the tins and the tail, so necessary to the dolphin as an inhabitant of the sea ; and, upon a firm principle of or- ganization, both the dolphin and the whale, fishes in heraldry, now form under the head of Cetacea a peculiar class of mam- malia, Ray and Pennant being the last naturalists who admitted them as fish. Some difference has been attempted to be made between the dolphin of natural history and the dolphin of poetry, or that which is depicted in heraldry ; but there is no satisfactory reason to doubt that one and the same animal or fish is intended. In the tropical regions numbers will follow and surround a ship with the most eager delight, and hence has arisen their reputed attachment to mankind. They are described by mariners as glistening most beautifully in the sun, and displaying the most extraordinary agility ; their gambols being accompanied by jets of water from their nostrils, and their brilliant coats sparkling and flashing in the sun quite splendidly.* The dolphin is found on the shores of Great Britain, and occasionally in the rivers Ribble and Severn. It was employed on the early Greek coins of Sicily as an emblem of the sea ; and was subsequently used on the money of the Roman consul, Cains Marius, the son of a peasant of Arpinum, as a rebus on his name. A dolphin surmounting an anchor, represented on one of the medals struck during the consulate of Lucius Junius Brutus, was intended to denote the dominion of the republic of Rome in the Mediterranean. f * See Captain Basil Hall's Fragments of Voyages. t Ant. Augustini Numism. Regum. Imp. Horn. 1054, tab. 5. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 17 Imperial Rome affords an instance of nearly the same device, on a medal of Vespasian ; a dolphin entwining 1 an anchor was used to indicate the Emperor's naval superiority. The birth of Vespasian was not noble, and it was in his advanced age that he was raised to the throne of the Caesars. In Parading " Heroical Devises," the dolphin and anchor is attributed to Vespasian, with the motto " Festina lente," afterwards used by the Shrop- shire family of Onslow, as a play upon their name. Byzantium, from its advantageous position, appeared to have been formed for the centre and capital of a great monarchy ; the Propontis being renowned for an inexhaustible store of the most exquisite fish, that were taken in their stated seasons without skill and almost without labour, and the profits of this fishery con- stituted the principal revenue of the city. The device on the more ancient coins is a dolphin entwined on the trident, or sceptre of Neptune.* A dolphin, one of the ensigns of the Greek empire, is borne by the Courtenay family as representatives of a branch of that illus- trious house, which once bore the title of Augustus, and sustained the honours of the purple as Emperors of Constantinople. * Gibbon's Rome, and Ball's Antiquities of Constantinople. 18 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The Lords of Courtenay in Gatinois, vassals of the crown of France, were amongst the heroes of the first crusade : a daughter of Reginald Courtenay formed an alliance with the Sang Royal. Peter Courtenay, their son, became Emperor of Constantinople in 1217; and his two sons, Robert and Baldwin, successively enjoyed the same dignity. Reginald, Lord of Okehampton, descended from the Courte- nays of France, was the patriarch of the Courtenays, Earls of Devonshire, who contracted alliances with the noblest families : their arms, denoting affinity with Godfrey of Bouillon, and the old Counts of Boulogne, or, three torteauxes, with a label azure, are heraldic-ally described in the contemporary poem of the Siege of Carlaverock. The name of Courtenay is found conspicuous in the original list of the Knights of the Garter ; and in the wars of the Plantagenets the family were adherents of the house of Lancaster. One of the daughters of King Edward IV. married William Earl of Devonshire ; and their son, Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, a favourite of King Henry the Eighth, broke a lance with the French monarch on the field of the cloth of gold. Sir William Courtenay of Povvderham Castle, a lineal de- scendant of Hugh, the first Earl of Devonshire, in the same reign bore on his emblazoned standard dolphins, the device of dominion, in reference to " the purple of three Emperors.'" ■" i i " '■""■" "■ r : The standard, four yards in length, differed from a banner in form : the latter, nearly square, contained the arms, and in this form the royal standard at Windsor Castle is now made ; but the ancient standard of a knight, long and narrow, and split at THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 19 the end, bore the cross of Saint George, and was also charged with his badge or crest, and motto, bnt not with the arms.* This noble and illustrious family also attained the highest honour in the church. William Courtenay, the son of Hugh Earl of Devonshire, by Margaret Bohun, daughter of the Earl of Hereford, became successively Bishop of Hereford and London, and in 1881 Archbishop of Canterbury. The college he founded at Maidstone is a proof of his munificent spirit. Another learned and accomplished prelate, Peter Courtenay, son of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham, by Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Hun- gerford, was Bishop of Exeter in 1478, and Bishop of Winchester in 1487. His arms, environed by the dolphins of Constantinople, are represented on a compartment of one of the chimney-pieces in the episcopal palace at Exeter. This piece of sculpture appears not to have been executed until after the bishop's removal to Winchester, as it bears the arms of that sec, a sword between two keys, the united emblems of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, commemorative of the dedication of Winchester Cathedral. The knowledge of the history of the house of Courtenay has been rendered more familiar than that of any other noble family * Excerpta Ilistoriea, 1831, a work of much information respecting the progress of the arts, including heraldry, and whatever presents characteristic features of former ages. c2 20 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. by the eloquent narrative of Gibbon. The present nobleman is the tenth Earl of Devon ; but the title was dormant from the year 1556 till 1831, when it was adjudged by the House of Lords to William Viscount Courtenay, cousin of the present Earl of Devon, to whom his lordship succeeded in 1885.* As a well-known symbol of the principal seat of the Greek empire, the dolphin was adopted as a device by the celebrated Aldus, the best but not the earliest printer of Greek, whose works are known to every scholar : as an original benefactor to the literature of the age in which he lived, he stood high ; and as an editor he was considered of the first rank. The state of the manuscripts he prepared for the press required the assistance of the most learned amongst his contemporaries. By his son and grandson the business of a printer was continued till the death of the latter in ] 597 ; and with him ended the glory of the Aldine press, established in the fifteenth century, the productions of which are of the highest value both for accuracy and beauty. The classical and tasteful device of Aldus, a dolphin entwined on an anchor, was adopted by Mr. Pickering for his Aldine edition of the British Poets ; with an eye probably to this pro- phetic distich, Would you still be safely landed On the Aldine anchor ride : Never yet was vessel stranded With the dolphin by its side.+ Mr. Pickering's device is also shown in an ornamental com- * Report of Proceedings on the Claim to the Earldom, with notes and an appendix, by Sir Harris Nicolas, 1832. + Gentleman's Magazine for 183G. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 21 partment between the mark of honest Izaak Walton and the arms of his friend and contemporary Charles Cotton, of Beresford in Staffordshire, both distinguished names in piscatory annals. This is affixed to his very splendid edition of Walton and Cotton's Complete Angler, an indispensable manual, embellished with illustrations by those eminent artists Stothard and Inskipp. The mark of Walton in this design appears on the dexter shield, between the arms of his two wives Fludd and Kenn ; and the arms of Cotton on the sinister shield, between those of his wives Hutchinson and Russell. Ornaments of this description con- tribute greatly to the beauty of a book, and the complete device must be acknowledged to exhibit much spirit and heraldic taste in the composition. Heraldry, it may be remarked, is essentially of military ori- gin ; and the ensign under which the feudal vassals assembled round their lord became the distinctive mark of hereditary sove- reignty and honour : thus the well-known devices, the wivern of Milan, the black cross of Genoa, and the lion of St. Mark at Venice, were borne by the Banner'd host, Tinder spread ensigns marching. At the very dawn of heraldry the vassals of Dauphine rallied under a dolphin, a mark easily descried and one that all under- stood : the form was of course derived from the classical repre- sentations, and adopted as symbolical of the name of the pro- vince. A golden dolphin in an azure field was borne by Andrew the Dauphin, Count of Viennois, contemporary with King Henry III. of England, and patriarch of the Dauphins descended from 22 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. tlie houses of Burgundy and La Tour. It was also boruo by the Dauphins, as they were subsequently styled, Lords of Auvenme. Humbert, Dauphin of Viennois, oppressed by continual war with his neighbour, Amadeus VI. Count of Savoy, known as the Green Earl, granted his seignory to Philip of Valois, King of France, in the year 1349 ; stipulating that the King's son should be styled eldest son of France and Dauphin of Viennois, and always bear the arms of this extensive province. The Emperor Charles IV. in 1379 visited Charles, the first who assumed the title of Dauphin ; and, waving all pretensions to the fief, constituted him perpetual Vicar of the Empire in the Dauphinate. In England the word dolphin was used for the French name of Dauphin, as in the old play of " King John, 11 who, it may be remarked, died more than a hundred years before the title was in existence, " Lewis the Dolphin and the heire of France." Shakspeare 1 s subsequent introduction of the Dauphin in the time of King John is amply atoned by his transcendent genius ; but in the recent pictorial edition of his plays, the readers are presented with a portrait of the Dauphin taken from the Arclneologia ! a less pardonable error either of the editor or the antiquary. After her marriage at Notre Dame in 1558, Mary Queen of Scots saluted the Dauphin as King of Scotland ; and their mar- riage was declared by the titles also of " Dolphin and Dolphiness of France. 11 A rare gold coin bears the arms of the Dauphin impaled with the royal arms of Scotland.* * The coin, in the collection of Dr. William Hunter, was engraved in 179B. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 23 The arms of the Dauphin, son of Louis XIV, the most dis- tinguished person who bore the title, are under his portrait by H. Rigaud, which is engraved by Drevet, and are placed on a car- touche shield environed by the collars of the orders of St. Mi- chael and the Holy Ghost, and surmounted by the Dauphin's coronet, the bows of which are formed by dolphins. The frontispiece prefixed to the Delphin Classics shows Arion in the act of springing out of the ship, with a dolphin ready to receive him ; and bears the motto used by the Dauphin of France, trahitvr . dvlcedine . cantvs . alluding to the reputed fondness of the dolphin for music. The suggestion of a series of the classics " In usum Delphini,"" made by the Prince's governor, the Duke de Montausier, was carried into execution by his preceptors, IFuet and Uossuet ; and the device of Arion was not unaptly adopted, the name of Dauphin signifying equally the Prince and the fish. Arioifs preservation was a favourite subject in the spectacles exhibited upon the water in the days of Queen Elizabeth : during the visit to Kenilworth, Arion rode upon the back of a dolphin twenty-four feet in length, which contained in its body 24 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. a rude kind of harmonicon. In one of the plays of later date,* a cook, boasting of his skill in allegorical embellishment, says, " For fish I '11 make you a standing lake of white broth, And pikes shall come ploughing up the plums before them, Arion on a dolphin playing Lachrymse." An allusion to this classical subject is again made by the same dramatists,"|" " May 't rain above all almanacks, till The carriers sail, and the King's fishmonger Rides, like Arion, upon a trout to London." Azure, a man riding on a dolphin and playing on a harp, the arms of Walterton, or Walterstown, of Scotland, shows the same subject treated heraldically. The Dolphin inn, a large house formerly on the eastern side of Bishopsgate street, was enriched on its front with fleurs-de-lis and dolphins ; and is said, in some descriptions of London, to have been a residence of the Dauphin of France. More pro- bably it was prepared for some of the French ambassadors to England, in compliment to whom the Dolphin inn at South- ampton, one of the largest in the kingdom, might also have derived its sign. When signs were of general use, the dolphin was by no means uncommon : the Spectator, projected by Addison, was published daily in 1711 at the Dolphin in Little Britain, then the shop of the learned bookseller Samuel Buckley, editor of Thuanus, and of the first daily newspaper, the " Daily Courant," in 1709, and who also published Sir Richard Steeled " Crisis," with other political works, in his zeal for the Hanover succession, for which he was eminently distinguished. The dolphin is conspicuous in the arms borne by families of the name of Franklin, as well as the fleur-de-lis in those of the name of France. Argent, a clump of trees proper ; in the centre of the branches a fleur-de-lis or ^ on a chief wavy azure, three fleurs-de-lis of the third, are borne by the family of France of Bostock, on the banks of the river Dane in Cheshire ; a grant of arms evidently intended to typify both the names of person and estate. Vert, a saltier argent ; on a chief or, three fleurs-de-lis azure, are the arms of the family of France of North Britain. " The " Bloody Brother," by Beaumont and Fletcher. I' Weber's edition, vol. ii. p. 55. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 25 The recorded miracle of the transmission of the lis from heaven to Clovis the first Christian King- of France, may be traced to Louis VII.'s reception of a consecrated flower from Pope Alex- ander III. This King 1 , who is sometimes called Ludovicus Floras, bore on his signet a fleur-de-lis, but probably assumed it in allusion to his name, then usually spelt Loys ; one of the earliest instances of the punning device, and whence France was poetically termed IS Empire des Lis. The Franklin is finely drawn by Chaucer as hospitable and not unaccomplished : the name implies a freeholder of consider- able property ; and Waterhouse, an heraldic author, says, " There are many now grown into families called Franklin, who are men in the county of Middlesex and other parts." * Argent, on a bend azure three dolphins of the field ; crest, a dolphin embowed proper, pierced through the sides with two fishing spears in saltier or, were the armorial ensigns of William Franklin. Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1 6*13, and of Sir Richard Franklin of More Park in the same county, created Baronet by Kiny Charles II. in 1G60. Dolphins are also borne in the arms of the family of Franklin of Maverns in Bedfordshire, one of whom was Sheriff of the county in 1600. In the church of Bolnhurst, among other memorials of this family, is a. monument to Sir John Franklin, one of the Masters in Chancery, who died in 1707. They after- wards resided at Great Barford, and one of the branches of the family at Pavenham, both in the same county. Argent, on a bend between two lions" heads erased gules, a dolphin naiant between as many birds close or: crest, a dolphin's * Commentary on Fortescue, 1663. 26 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. head erect argent; between two branches vert, are the armorial bearings of another family of Franklin of Rainham in Norfolk. The ancestral family of the celebrated American philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, were, it is well known, industrious smiths at Ecton in Northamptonshire, which village his father Josias left for America in the year 1682. Azure, a dolphin naiant or ; on a chief of the second, three saltiers gules : crest, an anchor erect sable, entwined by a dol- phin argent, are the armorial ensigns of the Frankland family, originally of Hertfordshire, but which was afterwards seated at Thirsk in Yorkshire. William Frankland, Esq. of Thirkleby, was the father of Sir Henry Frankland, whose son William was created Baronet by King Charles II. in 1660. Sir Thomas Frankland, Postmaster-Creneral in the reign of Queen Anne, is thus mentioned in Mackay's " Characters of the Courtiers :" " He is chief of a very good family in Yorkshire, with a very good estate ; his being my Lord Fauconberg's nephew, and marrying a grand-daughter of Oliver Cromwell, first recommended him to King William, who at the Revolution made him Commissioner of the Excise, and in some years after Governor of the Post-office. By abundance of application he understands that office better than any man in England ; and, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 27 notwithstanding we had no intercourse with France last war, he improved that revenue to ten thousand pounds a year more than it was in the most flourishing- years." The lineal descendant of this family, Sir Robert Frankland Russell, Baronet, of Thirklehy in Yorkshire, acrmired Chequers in Buckinghamshire, as repre- sentative of the Russells of Chippenham in Cambridgeshire, who were allied to the Protectoral house of Cromwell by frequent intermarriages. At Chequers the dolphin of the Franklands is introduced in the armorial enrichments of modern additions from designs by Mr. E. B. Lamb, architect. Azure, a bend or, between two dolphins embowed argent, are the arms of a family of French of Essex ; but the noble family of Ffrench, who have resided at Castle French in the county of Galway in Ireland for many generations, bear the dolphin only as a crest. The arms, azure, three fleurs-de-lis or, with a dolphin em- bowed as a crest, were borne by Peter P. Metge, Esq. of Ath- lumney in the county of Meath, who was related to John Metge, Esq. formerly M.P. for Dundalk, and Deputy Auditor-General in the Irish Treasury. Simplicity is one of the principal characteristics of heraldry, and a dolphin is frequently borne in reference to the name. The English family claim Venetian origin, and in a list of the nobility of Venice the arms of Dolfm are found : per pale, azure and argent, a dolphin naiant or. The Venetian nobility, among the most authentic in Europe, were once so jealous of their Libro d'Oro, the celebrated book of genealogy, that a proposal to open it during the Candian war, and admit twenty new members, Avas indignantly spurned by Michielli, one of the Elettorali, a descendant of one of the twelve original families, who exclaimed " Vender i figli, ma non mat 28 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. vender la nobilita?" that he would sell his children, but never his nobility. Some families of Brescia, Treviso, and other places, were how- ever subsequently inscribed in the Libro d'Oro, whose only claim to the honour was the zeal with which they prostrated their country at the feet of the republic. It is this historical truth which gives force to the poet's rebuke — Thy oligarchy's Book of Gold Shut against humble virtue's name, But opened wide for slaves who sold Their native land to thee and shame. Mooiie. Iii the same list of the nobility of Venice* are the arms of another family of Dolfin, azure, three dolphins naiant or; the same arms were also borne by the English family of Dolphin. Vert, three dolphins naiant in pale or, are the family arms of Dolphinley ; and, sable, a dolphin hauriant or, those of Dolfin- ton. A dolphin naiant proper, is borne as a crest by the family of Browne of Dolphinton in Lanarkshire, in allusion to the name of their estate. As a crest, a dolphin embowed was borne by the Earl of Godolphin, K. G. a nobleman of distinguished abilities, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Anne. His immediate progenitors were distinguished in the cabinet and the field, and for their loyalty during the civil war: he himself sat in the first parlia- ment after the Restoration as M.P. for Helston in Cornwall, whence he rose rapidly into political consequence. The manor of Godolphin, or Godolian, near Helston, was held by a family * Ak.ma Gentilicia, sive Insignia vera Nobiliii omnium magnificentissime Civitatis Venetiaruni vivcntium, Anno Domini 15G] ; a curious manuscript in the library of Woburn Abbev. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 29 of the same name even before the Conquest, and which originally bore for arms, argent, three dolphins embowed sable. John Godolphin was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1 504* ; and at Pengersick Castle, a seat of the Militon family, erected in the reign of Henry VIII, is a chamber painted with proverbs, one of which is a comparison of an affectionate sovereign to a dolphin, indicating the kindness received from the house of Godolphin, whence the Lord of Pengersick married his lady.* On the death of Francis Lord Godolphin, the last male heir of this noble race, in 1758, the estates descended to the Duke of Leeds, grandson of the first Earl of Godolphin. The ancient family device, a dolphin embowed sable, finned or, is now borne as a crest by Francis Godolphin Osborne, created Lord Godol- phin in 1832, the son of Francis Duke of Leeds, by Baroness Conyers, and brother to the present Duke. A dolphin, as a marine emblem, is borne as a charge in the arms of some families, typical of certain jurisdiction over part of the sea or harbours held under the sovereign. A dolphin naiant azui-e, is the crest of the Marquess of Ailsa, a title derived from an island on the coast of Ayrshire. The noble family of Ken- nedy possessed large estates in Carrick as early as the reign of Edward III, and the title of Earl of Cassilis in 150.9. At the tournament held at Eglintoun Castle in 1839, the Earl of Cassilis bore his family cognisance on his helmet and housings, and when armed for the tilt was distinguished as the Knight of the Dolphin. * Lysons's Cornwall, from Lelaiid's Itineiary, vol. iii. so THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Argent, a dolphin embowed azure, are the arms of the family of Monypenny, who quarter the arms of Oathcart, and bear for a crest, Neptune bestriding a dolphin on the waves, with his trident in his hand, and holding the reins : over the crest the motto, Imperat sequor. David Monypenny had a grant of Pitmilly, King's Barns, on the coast of Fifeshire, from the Prior of St. Andrews, who was contemporary with Henry III. King of England. Sir William Monypenny was created a Baron by King James II. in 1450 ; but his son Alexander was the last who held the title. A considerable branch of this family is now seated at Holvenden in the Weald of Kent ; and Captain Thomas Crybbon Monypenny is M.P. for Rye. Corporations of those towns which have arisen into importance, and where a successful fishery is established, bear a dolphin on their common seal. At Brighton, now the first of fashionable watering-places, the mackarel season is still of great interest, and a fish-market is held on the beach. The Steyne, a spacious lawn and promenade, was the spot formerly used by the fishermen for drying their nets. The common seal of the town bears two dolphins embowed within a shield. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 31 The trade of Poole, a sea-port of Dorsetshire, consists chiefly in the Newfoundland fishery. The arms of the corporation were probably assumed in reference to the Court of Admiralty, held there for a particular jurisdiction : barry wavy gules and or, a dolphin embowed argent ; in chief, three escallops of the second : the crest, a mermaid holding in her right hand an anchor cabled, and in her left a mound, the emblem of sovereignty. A dolphin also forms a charge in the arms of the town of Dun- kirk, on the North Sea, a place of considerable trade in fish ; and in the arms of Otranto, a port on the Adriatic, in the dominions of the King of Naples. Arms were assumed at an early period by the merchants of the city of London. King Charles V. allowed arms to the burgesses of Paris in 1371 ; but the helmet was for some time afterwards reserved as a distinction of the gentry of France. The members of the Fishmongers'' Company seem to have assumed the dolphin in their arms as an emblem of trade ; but the cod, hake, and ling were the stockfish for which the great demand existed, and were the principal source of their wealth and renown. Sir William Askham, Lord Mayor of London in 1404, bore gules, a fess or, between three dolphins embowed argent. Sir John Rainwell, citizen and fishmonger, Lord Mayor in 142G, bore for arms, a chevron between three dolphins em- bowed. Sir William llennington, citizen and fishmonger, the son of Robert Rennington of Boston in Lincolnshire, and Lord Mayor in 1500, bore, gyronny of eight, ermine and azure, a dolphin embowed gules. Sir William Holleys, Lord Mayor in 1539, bore, sable, on a bend argent, between a talbot courant in chief, and a dolphin em- bowed in base of the second, three torteauxcs. Other branches of the Holleys family have the bend charged with roses or an- nulets gules. Sir Thomas Curteis, citizen and fishmonger, son of John Curteis of Enfield in Middlesex, and Lord Mayor in 1557, bore, barry wavy argent and sable, a chevron or, between three be- zants ; on a chief of the third, two dolphins addorsed between as many anchors azure. Sir John Cootes, son of Thomas Cootes of Bierton in Bucking- hamshire, Lord Mayor in 1 542, bore, per pale or and azure, two 32 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. dolphins liauriant, addorsed and counterchanged ; on a chief sahle, a covered cup or, between two dovecotes argent. Azure, a fess between three dolphins embowed argent ; crest, a lemon-tree ; were the armorial ensigns of Sir John Leman, a native of Beccles in Suffolk, where he founded a free school. He was Lord Mayor in 1616, and on his death in 1632 was buried in St. Michael's church, Crooked Lane. This church, which was demolished in 1831 to form a better approach to London Bridge, had been rebuilt by John Lovken, a stockfish- monger, four times Lord Mayor of London in the reign of Richard II. Sir William Walworth, another renowned fish- monger, was also a liberal benefactor to this church. In Fishmongers 1 Hall, among the archives is a roll represent- ing a grand pageant, which was prepared at the charge of that company to grace the inauguration of Alderman John Leman to the dignity of Lord Mayor. In this procession-roll is represented I. The fishing buss. 2. The crowned dolphin. 3. The King of the Moors. 4. A lemon-tree, the Lord Mayor's peculiar badge ; and 5. The bower of Sir William Walworth. A description of this pageant, entitled " Ohiwsanaleia, the golden fishing, or Honours of Fishmongers," &c. was written by Anthony Munday, and has been printed. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 33 Alderman Leinan's estates, situated in Goodman's Fields, and in the counties of Hereford, Huntingdon, and Cambridge, de- scended to liis nephew William Leman Esq. of Northaw in Hertfordshire, whose son William was created a Baronet by King Charles II. in 1664. He was Sheriff of the county in 1676; and at his death in 1701 was succeeded by his grandson Sir William Leman, the last Baronet, who died in 1741. Sir John Leman, who died at Wakefield in 1839, assumed the title, but failed in establishing his claim to the estate. The late Rev. Thomas Leman, of Bath, was of the same family, and in one of his manuscripts he has given a genealogical account of its several branches. His fondness for the name was shown in his own house, where one of the rooms was painted with a view of Lake Leman. This gentleman was best known by his careful investigation of the early roads and earth- works of Great Britain, the details of which, with his topographical collections, were left at his death in 1826 to the Bath Institution, of which he was one of the founders. Or, three dolphins hauriant azure, are the arms of the family of Vandeput, formerly merchants of London, descended from Henry Vandeput of Antwerp, who in 1568 came to England in consequence of the persecution of the Duke of Alva. A monument in memory of several members of this family was erected in the church of St. Margaret Pattens, by Sir Peter Vandeput, in 1686. His son Peter was created a Baronet by King George I. in 1723, and was father of Sir George Van- deput, Bart, who contested the city of Westminster in 1748 : he died in 1784; and another distinguished member of this family, Admiral Sir George Vandeput, died in 1790. The dolphin, the general emblem of fish, is used in heraldry as 34 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. a play upon the names of Fisher and Fish. Azure, a fess wavy or, between two crescents in chief and a dolphin in base argent, were the arms of the late John Fish, Esq. of Kempton Park, Middlesex. Gules, a dolphin or, and chief ermine, are the arms of the family of Fisher of Witlingham in Norfolk ; that of Fisher of Kent bears for arms, per fess gules and argent, in chief a dolphin of the second. Another family of Fisher of Warwickshire bears, gules, a fess vaire, between two falcons volant in chief, and a dolphin embowed in base, within a border engrailed argent. Azure, a dolphin embowed between three ears of wheat or, were the personal arms of John Fyshar, Bishop of Rochester, who was the son of a merchant of Beverley in Yorkshire. This prelate's arms are sometimes found quartered with an- other coat relative to fishing; argent, three eel-spears erect sable, on a chief azure, a lion passant guardant or:* but the above example is copied from a fac-simile of the Parliament Roll of 1515, pub- lished by Mr. Willement,-f- in which the arms are impaled with * Roll of Parliament, 8th of Henry VIII. in the College of Arms. + The original is in Mr. Willement's possession ; and is valuable as affording evidence of armorial bearings, and as a specimen of heraldic drawing at the beginning of the six- teenth century. A Procession Roll, in the time of Henry VIII. before the dissolution of religious houses, is described in the Gentleman's Magazine for \7!)o as about a foot wide and twenty feet long, containing figures of all the Lords of Parliament on horseback, coloured. This roll in 1774 was in the possession of the Rev. J. Allen, Rector of Tarporley. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 35 those of his see. Rochester Cathedral is dedicated to St. An- drew, and the hearing- has reference to the instrument of his martyrdom. Bishop Fyshar, a zealous champion of the church of Rome, was beheaded in 1535 : his death was not improbably hastened by his accepting the title of Cardinal, when the King- enraged said, " Let the Pope send him a hat when he will ; Mother of God, he shall wear it on his shoulders ! ,1 As con- fessor to Margaret Countess of Richmond, Bishop Fyshar was mainly instrumental in the foundation of St. John's and Christ's Colleges at Cambridge. The rapidity of fish, which is remarkable, may have suggested the adoption of the dolphins in the arms of Fleet, granted in 1691 : azure, on a bend wavy or, between two dolphins em- bowed argent, three escallops gules. The form of the generality of fish is particularly calculated for swift and easy motion ; and they never seem exhausted by fatigue, or to require repose. It has been remarked, in opposition to the curved form of the dolphin, that it is not only the straightest fish that swims, but also the swiftest, and that for this last property it is indebted to the first. Sir John Fleet was Lord Mayor in 1692 ; and on his feast-day their Majesties dined at Guildhall. A drawing of the procession on this occasion is preserved in the Pepysian library at Magdalen College, Cambridge ; and the description of the pageant, entitled " The Triumphs of London, " was printed by Elkanah Settle, the last of the City Poets. Azure, three fishes naiant in pale argent, within a border ermine, are the arms of the family of Southflete. D 2 36 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Party per pale gules and sable, six dolphins naiant argent, are the arms assigned to Bartholomew Iscan, Bishop of Exeter, one of the luminaries of the English Church ; with the motto, Nil amatum, nisi cognitum. He died in 1184, and was buried in his own cathedral, where amongst the archives his official seal is yet preserved. The authority for this very early instance of bearing arms is weak,* and it is known that arms are sometimes attributed to ancestors which were in reality first adopted by descendants. The original arms of the most ancient families can rarely now be ascertained before the commencement of the thirteenth century. The seal of the Dean of Bocking, in the reign of Elizabeth, furnishes an example of the heraldic dolphin ; but the decanal seals, important ecclesiastical instruments, are not inscribed with the names of the deans but the office, which, with few excep- tions, was temporary. The seal of the Deanery of Hingham in Norfolk bears the emblem of the patron saint of the parish church, St. Andrew's cross raguly ; the seal of the Deanery of Sunning in Berkshire bears the royal arms in the time of Edward VI. ; that of the Dean of Bocking in Essex, is charged with a shield bearing a cross between four dolphins naiant, and inscribed sigillvm . de- cani . DECANATVS . DE . HOCKING . IN . COM . ESSEX . 1596. It is eil- oraved one half the length of the original. As the Cathedral Dean had authority over ten prebendaries, so had the Rural Dean over ten incumbents or parishes, under a commission from the Bishop of the diocese ; but the particular jurisdiction of the rural deaneries has been amply illustrated in the " Horse Deeaniccc Rurales, 11 by the Rev. W. Dansey, a work abounding in solid ecclesiastical and antiquarian learning. Iwuike'b Ilibtoiy of Exeter. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 37 Fryer, an ancient family of Clare in Essex, bore for arms, sable, a chevron between three dolphins embowed argent ; possi- bly in reference to the fry or swarm of fishes. The sounds and seas, each creek and bay With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals Offish, that with their fins and shining scales Glide under the green wave. Francis Fryer of London had a grant of the same arms, with a canton ermine, in 1572. His descendant, Sir John Fryer, who had been created a Baronet by King George I. in 1714, was Lord Mayor in 1721 : the title is now extinct, but the arms are borne as a quartering by the family of Iremonger of Wher- well in Hampshire. Sable, on a chevron between three dolphins argent, three castles triple-towered of the field, were the arms granted in 1602 by Camden as Clarencieux, to John Frear of London, M.D. Sable, a chevron or, between three dolphins embowed argent, were the arms of Edmund Leversege of Vallis House, Frome, in Somersetshire, in the reign of Edward IV. The heiress of the family married Lionel Seaman, Esq.; and in 1706 the estate 38 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. passed to the Seamans, and the arms were afterwards quartered by their descendants. Gules, a chevron between three dolphins embowed proper, were the arms of the family of Blenerhasset, anciently seated at a manor of that name on the banks of the Ellen, near Maryport in Cumberland, and afterwards at Flimby Hall in the same county. Branches of this family are settled in various parts of England and in Ireland : the Norfolk branch bears the name of Bleverhasset ; and in Frense church, amongst other monuments of the family, is an engraved brass of Sir Thomas Bleverhasset, who died in 1531, represented in a tabard of his arms quartering those of the families of Lowdham, Orton, and Keldon.* AzAire, a chevron between three dolphins hauriant argent, w r ere the arms of Sir George Wynne of Lees Wood in Flint- shire, created a Baronet by King George II. 9th August 1731. His crest was a dolphin embowed argent. In consequence of the assumed fondness of the dolphin for the society of man, it appears to have been adopted in the arms of the family of James, the several branches of which bear the dolphin as a principal charge on the shield, and generally with the punning motto, J'ayme a jamais, I love everlastingly. Sable, a dolphin naiant between three cross crosslets or, were the arms confirmed by Camden to the family of James of Barrow Court in Somersetshire, who also bore a dolphin for a crest. The arms of Dr. William James, Bishop of Durham, here given from a compartment of a large window of the library of University College, Oxford, were executed by Mr. Willement, and exhibit the excellence of the glass stainer, not only in the brilliancy of the colours, but in the facility with which that artist adapts his designs to the period intended to be illustrated. When painted glass is introduced, its effect is made to ap- proach nearer to the ancient specimens by no attempt to con- ceal the leads. The more ambitious but less effective system now generally followed, arises out of a mistaken notion of the native beauty and of the real capabilities of the art. There is science as well as art in the arrangement of a painted window ; and the science and the art are equally separate from other pro- vinces of the artist's dominion. -f- * Engraved in Cotman's Sepulchral Brasses, 1819. t This view of the subject is taken by the Rev. G. A. Poole on the Structure .and Decoration of Churches, lfi-H. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 39 Dr. James was the son of John James of Little On in Stafford- shire, and was a student of Ohristchurch : he was elected Master of University College in 1572, and Bishop of Durham in 1606; a see which derived privileges from the grant to St. Cuthhert, the Apostle of the North, hy Egfrid King of Northumberland. In right of this see the Bishop, a Count Palatine, held the Earl- dom of Sadberg, and, in consequence of this combination of the ecclesiastical and military state, a sword was presented to the Bishop at his first entrance to the county by one of his vassals, who held their lands by military tenure. This peculiarity in the see of Durham occasioned the armorial bearings to be surmounted by a plumed mitre : sometimes a helmet was placed under the mitre, as on the seal of Bishop Hatfield, in the reign of Edward III., the same ecclesiastic who is represented in West's picture of the battle of Nevile's Cross, where the Bishop defeated the Scots. Bishops in earlier times often appeared in the field of battle : Odo, the martial Bishop of Bayeux, was with his bro- ther, William the Conqueror, at the battle of Hastings. 40 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The arms of the see of Durham, azure, a cross or, between four lions rampant argent, are those of King Oswald, the original founder of the bishopric, and in whose memory they have been retained. They are impaled with gules, a dolphin embowed argent, between three cross crosslets or, the paternal arms of Bishop James. Azure, a dolphin embowed argent, are the arms of the family of James of Wyke House near Gillingham in Dorsetshire. Sir Walter James of Langley in Berkshire, created a Baronet by King George III. in 17.91, bore for arms, gules, a dolphin naiant or, with the motto, J'ayme a jamais. His family, lineally descended from that of Head, on succeeding to this estate, took the name of James. Quarterly, vert and gules, a cross argent, charged with a ship in full sail proper, between four anchors erect azure ; in the first and fourth quarters a dolphin naiant of the third, between three cross crosslets or ; in the second and third a lion passant guard- ant of the last, between three trefoils slipped argent, are the arms of Sir John Kingston James of Killiney in Ireland, who was created a Baronet in 1823. ft . ft Azure, a dolphin embowed argent, finned or, between three mullets or, are the arms of the family of Fitz-James of Dorset- shire and Somersetshire ; with a singular crest, which is here copied from a book of armorial drawings in the reign of Elizabeth. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 41 The same arms were borne by Dr. Richard Fitz-James, the son of John Fitz-James of Redlynch in Somersetshire, by Alice Newburgh heiress of the Barony of Poinz. He was Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and successively Bishop of Rochester, Chichester, and London. Ant. Wood says he died in a good old age in 1522, "after good deeds had trod on his heels even to Heaven's gates. 1 "' His arms, impaled with those of the see of Rochester, are sculptured on the inner gatehouse of Merton College ; as Bishop of London, his arms, within an enriched border of vine leaves, are in one of the windows of Fulham Palace: and in the Parliament Roll of 1515,* the arms are quartered with those of Draycot, with a remark that " the Bishop of London claimeth to have precedence in sitting before all other bishops of the province of Canterbury, as Chancellor episcopal." Sable, a dolphin embowed devouring a fish proper, were the arms of Symonds of Norfolk ; the crest of the Ormsby branch is a dolphin embowed, and over it the motto, Rectus in Curvo. A portrait of Richard Gwynne of Taliaris in Carmarthenshire, President of the Society of Sea Sergeants in 1747, bears their device of a dolphin ; it was painted by R. Taylor, and en- graved by Faber. Two dolphins hauriant, and entwined saltierwise or, finned azure, the crest of the family of Upton of Sussex, was granted in 1569. One of the names given by the French to the dolphin is derived from the great projection of its nose, whence it is termed Bee cPOie. A dolphin forms part of the arms of Beck, a family of foreign extraction. Sir Justus Beck, created a Baronet by King George I. in 1714, bore for arms, quarterly, 1st. or, a blackbird proper ; 2nd. and 3rd. sable, a mullet or ; 4th. azure, a dolphin hauriant or. In a stained glass window of the parlour at Newnham Paddox in Warwickshire, are portraits of several ancestors of the noble family of Fielding, descended from the house of Hapsburg. One of this genealogical series, the portrait of Dame Jellys Russeyl, lady of Sir Everard Fielding, who was created a Knight of the Bath at the marriage of Prince Arthur in 1501, presents an instance not very common of the armorial mantle worn by ladies of rank, and embroidered with her family insignia : * Noticed at page 34. 42 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. or, a dolphin naiant, and chief azure. In the same compart- ment of the window the knight is also shown.* The following specimen, taken from a carving on the oaken door of a cabinet, is in the possession of an heraldic collector. It is apparently of French workmanship about the time of Henry IV; and the arms are well arranged, and executed with much spirit. The only instance of fish being used as heraldic supporters is afforded by the dolphin, and the earliest example may be found in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The origin of figures placed on each side of the shield, which they seem to support, is derived from the custom at tournaments, or military sports, of the middle ages. The knights challengers hung their shields of arms on the barriers, or on trees near the appointed place of just- * Engraved in Dugdale's History of Warwickshire, and also in Nichols's History of Leicestershire. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 43 ing, to be watched by their henchmen or pages, disguised in the skins of lions, bears, &c. or attired as Saracens and wild men ; these gave notice who accepted the challenge by touching the shield. There are more ancient instances of figures standing and holding a banner of arms, which also probably originated in part of the pageantry of a tournament. The Watermen's Company of London, whose business it is to row their boats on the river Thames, may be supposed very ancient ; but it was not incorporated until the reign of Queen Mary in 1556. The lightermen, who are employed amongst the shipping, were afterwards united to the company. Their arms, barry wavy argent and azure, a boat or ; on a chief of the second, a pair of oars saltierways of the third, be- tween two cushions of the first, arc supported by two dolphins proper : the crest is a hand holding an oar ; and their motto is, Jussu superiorum, being ever at the command of their superiors. The portrait of one of the distinguished members of this com- pany, John Taylor the water poet, is in the picture gallery at Oxford : he had served at the taking of Cadiz under the Earl of Essex in 1596, and was waterman to King James I. He also called himself the King's water poet, and used as a motto, Tho' I deserve not, I desire The laurel wreath, the poet's hire. 44 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. One of his very numerous works is entitled, " The Dolphin's Danger and Deliverance ; a Sea-fight in the Gulph of Persia famously fought by the Dolphin of London against five of the Turks' 1 Men-of-war and a Sattie, Jan. 12, 1616." He wore the royal badge, and there is extant a whole-length portrait of him holding an oar. A silver oar is the badge of the maritime ju- risdiction of the Corporation of London, and is worn by the Water Bailiff as conservator of the rivers Thames and Medway. Two dolphins are the supporters of the arms of the ancient family of Trevelyan of Cornwall, by whom a dolphin was also used as a badge. The arms of Admiral Sir William Burnaby, Bart, of Brough- ton Hall in Oxfordshire, show the dolphins as supporters, in re- ference, probably, to his professional services by sea. Argent, two bars gules, in chief a lion passant guardant per pale of the second and vert : crest, out of a naval crown a demi- lion rampant guardant or ; in the dexter paw a flag gules : motto, Pro Rege. Sir William Burnaby, knighted in 1754, was Admiral and Commander-in-chief at Jamaica, and in the Gulf of Mexico assisted in settling the colony of Pensacola. He was Sheriff of THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 45 Oxfordshire in 1764, and was created a Baronet 31st October 1767. The arms of the Baron de Vauer, azure, a stag's head cabossed or, are supported by two dolphins, each being crested with three peacocks 1 feathers. The dolphin, from the variety and vividness of its tints, is called " The Peacock of the Sea." The dolphin, when sporting on the surface of the water, de- ceives the eye and appears curved, as it is always pourtrayed on ancient coins and in sculpture ; and from those acknowledged faulty representations the heralds adopted the curved form on shields of arms. The dolphin, also, is destitute of scales, like all the cetacea ; but these are shown in heraldic painting, to give better effect to its naturally beautiful colours. " And, as he darts, the waters blue Are streaked with gleams of many a hue, Green, orange, purple, gold." Lewis. THE WHALE. The natural history of the whale is a subject of difficult attain- ment to zoologists, and very little information is yet extant respecting that sea-beast Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest, that swim the ocean stream. Although the aquatic animals are not so varied in their species as the terrestrial, they surpass them in size, and their life is 4G THE HERALDRY OF FISH. longer than those of the earth or air. The elephant and ostrich are small In comparison with the whale, which is the largest fish the sea contains ; it lives as long as an oak, and no land animal's life can be compared to it.* The whale is not classed in natural history as a fish, from which species it differs in its entire or- ganization ; but the terms fish and fishery are yet constantly used to designate the whales taken. A late Garter King of Arms granted to John Enderby, Esq. an enterprising merchant of London, who extended the whale fishery in the Pacific Ocean, a crest, described as a whaling harpooner in the act of striking a fish, all in proper colours. A mast of a ship, with its rigging, in a whale's mouth, is borne as a crest by the family of Swallow. The term Fierte is used in French blazonry for the whale when its teeth, fins, and tail are depicted red. Azure, a whale argent fierte gules, are the arms of Wahlen, a German family. Gules, three whales hauriant or, in each mouth a crosier of the last, were the arms of Whalley Abbey, on the banks of the Oalder in Lancashire. This monastery was founded in the year 1309 by Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, for Cistercian monks, and, with the dis- trict of Blackburnshire, has received ample illustration from the pen of one of the vicars of Whalley, T. D. Whitaker, LL.D. Argent, three whales 1 heads erased sable, are the arms of the family of Whaley of Whaley Abbey, in the county of Wicklow ; a seat erected on the site of Ballykine Abbey, in the Barony of Arklow, said to have been originally founded by St. Palladius, the first bishop sent from Rome to Ireland. Argent, on a chevron between three whales' 1 heads erased sable, as many birds with wings expanded of the first, are the arms of the family of Whaley of Dalton in Yorkshire. * Sturm's Reflections. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 47 Almost all the early instances of bearing the whale in English heraldry are what are called canting arms, like that of Tranche- mer, party per fess gules, and wavy argent and azure, repre- senting the sea, with a knife or, plunged therein.* Modern authors on heraldry are accustomed to treat too slightingly this species of armorial hearing. Menestrier of Lyons, who wrote the first rational and intelligible treatise on blazonry, states truly that " Armes pai-kantes" 1 '' are as ancient as any other heraldic device. His " Methode de Blazon " was after his death published, with additions to the original work, in 1770. Argent, three whales' 1 heads erased sable, with a whale's head erased sable, for crest, are the armorial bearings of the family of Whalley of Lancashire and Nottinghamshire ; some branches of which bear the motto " Mirabile in Profundis,"" relative to the arms. Sir James Whalley Smythe Gardiner, Bart, of Roche Court in Hampshire, is a descendant of the Lancashire family of Whalley, which is ancient. Bernard Whalley rebuilt the church of Billesley, near Stratford on Avon in Warwickshire. Others of the name are recorded in the heraldic visitations of Notting- hamshire, and in Thoroton's History of that county, among which is the family of Colonel Edward Whalley, Lord Whalley, one of Oliver Cromwell's peers. The Rev. Peter Whalley was of an ancient Northamptonshire family ; and, as historian of that county, prepared for the press the manuscripts of John Bridges, Esq. of Barton Segrave, com- menced about 1719. * A very curious collection of Amies parlantes is given in Palliot's Sciences ties Armoires, page 64. 48 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Argent, a chevron between three whales'* heads erased sable, and crest a whale's head erect and erased sable, are borne by one of the branches of the Whalley family : another, ermine, on a bend sable three whales' heads erased or. Per chevron crenelle gules and azure, three whales 1 heads couped argent, are the arms of the family of Wallys or Waleys. Per pale azure and purpure, three whales'' heads erased or, each ingulphant of a spear-head argent, were the arms borne by Sir Hugh Vaughan of Littleton in Middlesex, in the reign of Henry VIII ; and were quartered with azure, a fess or, between three horses' 1 heads argent, bridled gules, within a border gobony ardent and vert. On his standard, which was borne in the field, and was striped gold and green, was a griffin passant double queued gules, fretty or, charged on the neck, breast, and wings with plates, holding in the dexter fore-claw a sword argent ; three whales 1 heads erased and erect or, each ingulphant of a spear-head argent ; and towards the extremity of the standard two similar whales'' heads.* " Some fish with harpoons, some with darts are struck, Some drawn with nets, some hang upon the hook." Excerpta Historica, page 170. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 49 II. C&e pfce, or Huce, atrt dflefng fisj)* The Pike of the fisherman, the tyrant of the river, is the Luce of heraldry ; a name derived from the old French language Lus, or from the Latin Lucius : as a charge, it was very early used by heralds as a pun upon the name of Lucy. Pope Lucius was in this manner characterized by a comparison to the fish, by Puttenham,* a poet who lived when quaintness was admired : Lucius est piscis, rex et tyrannus aquarum, A quo discordat Lucius iste parum. The play upon words was not confined to heraldry, but was used by the most eminent authors, and is to be found in the sermons of Bishop Andrews, and in the tragedies of Shakspeare. The immediate source of the heraldic conceit is ascribed to France, whence the armorial device, allusive to a name, is called a Rebus of Picardy. There is no earlier example of fish borne in English heraldry, than is afforded by the pike, in the arms of the family of Lucy, which was of Norman extraction, and formerly spelt Lucie. Richard de Lucie, who had defended the castle of Falaise against Geffrey of Anjou, was Lord of Diss in Norfolk ; he was also Sheriff of Essex in the reign of Henry II. and built the castle of Ongar, some remains of which are to be seen on an artificial hill, one of the leading peculiarities of a Norman for- tress. Sir Richard Lucy, Lord Chief Justice of England, founded Lesnes priory, near Erith in Kent; and, dying in 1179, was buried within its walls. Weever, an antiquary, who had seen his tomb in 1630, states that upon the belt of the figure of the knight, the fleur-de-lis, the rebus, or name-device of the Lucys, was sculp- tured in many places.^ The heraldic fleur-de-lis was here figuratively used for a pike or spear, to the head of which it bears some resemblance ; and this is more particularly shown in the arms of the family of * Arte of English Poesie, 1.589. t Funeral Monuments. E 50 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Cantelupe : gules, a fess vaire between three leopards' heads jessant fleurs-de-lis. The name seems to imply the dividing or cutting in pieces of the wolf, or other animal ; and in the arms the pike, or fleur-de-lis, is shown thrust through the principal cantle, the head of the animal, in the manner it would be carried in triumph after a successful chase. Nicholas Upton, who wrote in Latin upon heraldry, terms the fleur-de-lis, flos gladioli. The Boke of St. Alban's in these very arms blazons " three floures in manner of swerdis," considering the fleur-de-lis in this instance as no other than the ornamental head of a spear or pike. It is this spirit of allegory which pervades heraldry, and which formed the very essence of Oriental poetry, the source of the romantic fictions embodied in sculpture and painting. Godfrey, the son of Sir Richard Lucy the Chief Justice, was Bishop of Winchester, and rebuilt the east end of that cathe- dral, where, on his death in 1204, he was buried at the entrance of the Lady Chapel. Gules, three luces or, were the ancient arms of the baronial family of Lucy. These are found recorded in one of the most valuable of heraldic authorities, a roll of arms of the reign of Henry III. " Geffrey de Lucie, de goules, a trois lucies d''or. ,1 This roll, compiled between the years 1240 and 1245, was printed in 1829 by Sir Harris Nicolas from a copy which had been presented to the Heralds' 1 College by Sir William Dugdale. Sir Geffrey Lucy died in 1283 : his son and heir, also named Geffrey, was sum- moned to parliament in the reign of Edward I, and his descend- ants in hereditary succession have continued to enjoy the ho- nours of the peerage. A very ancient shield of the arms of Lucy, in which the fish are THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 51 white upon a red ground, yet remains within a quatrefoil in one of the windows of Selby Abbey church, which was formerly enriched with stained glass of tasteful execution. Sir Reginald Lucy, by his marriage with the heiress of Fitz- Duncan, acquired the Honour of Egremont in Cumberland ; his two daughters married brothers of the Multon family. In 1300 Sir Thomas Lucy, having taken the name of his maternal grandfather, held the Barony of Egremont ; and Thomas Lord Lucy, his grandson, held possession of Egremont Castle, the forest of Copeland, and the Honour of Cockermouth. Henry, first Earl of Northumberland, of the Percy family, married the heiress of Anthony Lord Lucy, who died in 1369 ; and, her large inheritance devolving upon the house of Percy, the arms of Lucy continue to be borne quarterly by his descendants with those of Percv. In a curious roll of arms in the heraldic library of the late Rev. Canon Newling, compiled during the lifetime of the Earl of Northumberland, towards the end of the reign of Richard II,* are the arms of " Le Contc de Northumberland S r de Lucy, 11 quarterly, first and fourth or, a lion rampant azure, Percy ; second and third gules, three luces hauriant, two and one, argent, Lucy. The present Duke of Northumberland, a Knight of the Garter, is Earl Percy and Lord Warkworth by creation, and by deseent is Lord Percy, Lucy, Poynings, Fitz-Payiie, Bryan, and La- timer. * Printed in 1834 by Mr. Willement. 52 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The original arms of the Percy family, azure, five fusils in fess or, are still retained ; but the lion rampant, now placed in the first quarter, is the armorial hearing of the ancient Dukes of Brabant. When Lady Agnes, the heiress of Percy, married Josceline of Louvaine, the brother of Alice queen of Henry I, he assumed the name of Percy, but retained the old arms of Brabant, which have been continued by his descendants. His Grace's full achievement, in stained glass, is in the window of University College library, at Oxford. Algernon Seymour, Duke of Somerset, having inherited part of the Percy estate from his mother, the heiress of the Earl of Northumberland, was created in 1749 Earl of Egremont and Lord Cockermouth, with remainder to Sir Charles Wyndham, Bart, who, upon the Duke's death in 1750, became Earl of Egre- mont, &c. George, the second Earl of that title, died in 1837, pos- sessed of the castles of Egremont and Cockermouth, the ancient estate of the Lucys : with the remains of these castles the anti- quary is well acquainted. Families descended from the house of Lucy did not fail to retain the arms of that ancient family amongst the quarterings, thus forming an heraldic as well as a genealogical record of their alliance. This practice of marshalling, or disposal of several arms in one shield, has been used ever since the reign of Edward III, a monarch who deemed it right to quarter the arms of France with those of England, in consequence of his hereditary claims to the sovereignty of that country. An instance is shown in the arms of Thomas Earl of Sussex, K.G. Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth, in stained glass at New Hall, in Essex, one of the few Tudor mansions which has escaped destruction. This nobleman of the Ratcliffe family, to use the words of a contem- porary, was " of very ancient and noble lyneage, honoured through many descents with the tytle of Fitz- Walters," and through the Fitz- Walters was descended from the family of Lucy. The eight quarterings borne by the Earl include the arms of the heiress whom his ancestor married, and those arms conveyed to her posterity by her heirship, arranged according to priority of descent. In this kind of heraldic display, very com- mon in the large halls of the nobility, the lead-work mingling with the brilliant colours of the arms produces a fine effect, such as few painters, perhaps with the exception of David Roberts, 11. A. have been able to imitate. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 53 Arms, 1, argent, a bend engrailed sable ; Ratcliffe. 2, or, a fess between two chevrons gules ; Fitz- Walter. These are a variation of the arms of the house of Clare, from whom the Fitz- Walters descended. 3, argent, a lion rampant sable, crowned or, within a border azure ; Burnell, of Acton Burnell in Shropshire. 4, or, a saltier engrailed sable ; Botetourt, of St. Briavels in Glouces- tershire. 5, gules, three luces hauriant argent ; Lucy. 6, ar- gent, three bars gules ; Multon of Egremont. 7, or, seme'e of fleurs-de-lis sable ; Mortimer, of Attleborough in Norfolk. 8, argent, an eagle sable, preying on an infant swaddled gules ; Cul- cheth, an ancient Lancashire family. The Ratcliffes were descended from William de Radclyffe, in the reign of Richard I, deriving his name from a cliff of red stone on his estate ; who, after his marriage with Cecilia de Kirkland, assumed her arms, argent, a bend engrailed sable.* Radcliff tower, referred to in the old ballad " The Lady Isabella's Tra- gedy," was founded by James de Radcliff in the reign of Henry VI. The arms of the Earl of Sussex with the same quarterings are sculptured on the monument of his countess in St. Paul's Chapel, Westminster Abbey ; and as founder of Sydney Sussex College, in Cambridge University, her arms were adopted by the Master and Fellows on their official seal. The arms of Lucy are also amongst the quarterings borne by Whitaker's History of Whalley, p. 401. 54 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. the family of Lowtlier, one of great antiquity in Westmoreland, the head of which is the Earl of Lonsdale, K.Gr. When arms were assumed by monastic institutions, they were generally those of the first founders or principal benefactors. The arms assigned to Calder Abbey in Cumberland are those of three great families who had contributed towards its aggrandise- ment. Argent, three escutcheons : 1, or, a fess between two chev- rons gules, for Fitz- Walter. 2, gules, three luces hauriant argent, for Lucy. 3, sable, a fret argent, for Fleming. The only remains of the former grandeur of this abbey, on the banks of the river Calder, are the tower of the conventual church and the tomb of Sir John le Fleming : the tower stands in a deep secluded valley, the sides of which are adorned with hanging woods. One of the most considerable branches of the Baronial house is that of the Lucys of Charlecote, in Warwickshire, where it has been seated ever since the reign of Richard I. From Sir Walter de Charlecote descended William, who assumed the name of Lucy from his maternal ancestor, and bore on his seal in the reign of Henry III. three luces hauriant. His descendant, Sir William Lucy, in the reign of Edward II. bore arms the same as now used by the family. In the roll of arms of that period* appears "Sire de Lucy, de goules, crusule de or, a iij lays de or. 11 Sir Thomas Lucy, knighted by Queen Elizabeth, rebuilt the manor house at Charlecote on the banks of the river Avon, which winds gracefully through the extensive park. This mansion, a Printed bv Sir Harris Nicolas in 1829. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 55 noble specimen of domestic architecture, derives interest from being the work of the reputed prosecutor of Sliakspeare, for which he not only took the liberty of lampooning - the Lord of the Manor in a ballad, but in some scenes of his dramas has intro- duced much punning about the luces in the arms. A prevailing feature of ancient architecture was the orna- mented vanes on standards surmounting the pinnacles of the gables ; on those at Oharlecote the arms of Lucy are fancifully disposed, the three luces being interlaced, between cross crosslets, and the outer edges pierced in the form of fleurs-de-lis. Hr M 1$ ^ The gilded vanes representing small banners bearing the family badge, when placed upon the chateau, were, according to French heralds, one of the distinguishing marks of nobility, and were termed banners, or panonceaux. In the arms of the family of Vieuxchastel of Brittany they are introduced and blazoned, azure, a chateau argent, girouette d'or. Sir Thomas Lucy of Oharlecote, in the reign of Elizabeth, married Constance the heiress of Sir Richard Kingsmill of High Clere in Hampshire ; and from their second son, Sir Richard Lucy, created a Baronet by King James in 161 7, descended the Lucys of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. 56 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. In the old stained glass windows of the hall at Charlecote is a series of arms in enriched compartments, All garlanded with carven imageries Of fruits and flowers and bunches of knot-grass, showing the various alliances of the Lucy family, with inscrip- tions beneath them.* In the old church of Charlecote is an interesting series of monuments to the memory of different members of the family ; and in the adjoining parish of Hampton Lucy, in which the church has been rebuilt, is an altar window, presented by the rector, the Rev. John Lucy, containing the principal events in the history of the apostle Peter, the patron saint of fishermen, * A description of the windows of the hall, library, and drawing-room, is printed in the Collectanea Topographica, li>37, p. .'54 (i, from which it appears that some compart- ments have been made to agree in style with the older glass, under the direction of Mr. Willement. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 57 as well as of the parish : below these subjects are the arms of the Lord of the Manor, and others of the Lucy family connected with the church, tastefully arranged from the designs of Mr. Willement. Amongst the principal ornaments of the ancient churches were the stained glass windows contributed by wealthy and pious benefactors ; the beautiful colours of the glass tempered the rays of the sun, and considerably improved the architectural effect of the structure. When the windows of churches were enlarged in their dimensions, they were able to contain richly-tinted glass, exhibiting the whole-length figures as well as the achievements of patrons and benefactors enshrined under elaborately ornamented canopies ; these combinations of ancient art " In mellow gloom the speaking frame arrayed ;" and historically traced the access of wealth and power to the church. More frequently the enrichment consisted simply of the armorial bearings with the monogram, or rebus on the name of the founder, as in a border of stained glass yet remaining in one of the windows of Kingsdown church, near Wrotham in Kent, to which the family of Lucy were benefactors, here given as a curious specimen of heraldic drawing ; the ground is red and the luce or pike white. Arms of patronage, of feudal origin, were borne in order to show the dependence of vassals on their particular Lords, as in Cheshire, where the ancient Earls bore garbs on their shield, the vavasours of that county also bore garbs. The ancient Earls of Warwick bore a field chequy, and many gentlemen of Warwickshire retained the same. From the similarity of the arms of Brougham to that of Lucy, it is not improbable that 58 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. they were assumed in consequence of a connexion with that great baronial family. Brougham, in Westmoreland, is situated on the banks of the Lowther, a celebrated trout stream, also famous for their mortal enemy the pike. This manor was held by Lords of the same name from the earliest periods, and the Brougham family have been latterly in entire possession of the estate. There was a marriage in this family with that of Richmond, heirs of the family of Vaux, of Catterlin in Cumberland, one of the branches of the baronial house of Vaux of Gillesland ; and the very first peerage conferred by King William IV. in 1830 was on their de- scendant, Henry Lord Brougham and Vaux, a nobleman equally distinguished by his literary and legal talents, and by his exer- tions as a statesman and orator : his achievement as Lord Chancellor is painted in Lincoln's Inn Hall. The arms of William Brougham, Esq. M.P. are here given from one of the windows of the new Lady Chapel at St. Saviour's, Southwark, in stained glass by Mr. J. II. Nixon, the successful artist in the competition for the painted windows of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey church. The restoration of the Lady Chapel, so highly creditable to all parties concerned, was commenced in 1832 as a Consistory Court for the Diocese of Winchester, and is erected in the early pointed style of architecture corresponding with the choir of the church, built in the thirteenth century. AH the details of the THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 59 former building have been copied with accuracy, exhibiting a specimen of flint work almost unique in a modern structure. In the long elegant triple lancet windows, the glazing is enclosed in frame work, designed by the architect G. Gwilt, F.S.A. in ac- cordance with existing examples of the same early period : here the aid of heraldry has been resorted to as an additional enrich- ment, and the arms of the principal supporters of the work have been executed in stained glass. The same punning propensity which induced the application of the pike to the name of Lucy in England prevailed in France. The family of Luc en Vivarets bore for arms, or, a bend azure, charged with two luces argent ; and the arms of the family of Fontenay de Luc, in Vendome, according to the same authority, are blazoned, azure, a luce or pike naiant argent, in chief an etoile or.* The etoile is a well-known symbol of the Epiphany ; and a fish was employed as a religious emblem by the first Christians. A single fish has been supposed to represent the employment of St. Peter ; but the fish, evidently intended for luces, in the ornamental pavement of the Chapterhouse at Westminster may possibly allude to the early tradition that St. Peter's church was first built by King Lucius. The ged and the pike are synonymous in North Britain, whence the Scottish family of Ged bear for arms, azure, three geds, or pikes, hauriant argent. To this play upon the name Sir Walter Scott alludes with much pleasantry in " Red Gaunt- let. 11 " The heralds, 11 he says, " who make graven images of Pulliot, Sciences des Armoires, p. 548. 60 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. fisli, fowls, and beasts, assigned the ged for their device and escutcheon, and hewed it over their chimneys, and placed above their tombs the fish called a jack, pike, or luce, and in our tongue a god. -11 Of this family was William Ged, an ingenious printer of Edinburgh, who employed the stereotype as early as the year 1725: his Memoirs, published by Nichols in 1781, including an account of his progress in the art, were reprinted at Newcastle in 1819. Geddes, a very ancient family of Tweeddale in North Britain, bears for arms, gules, an escutcheon between three luces' heads couped argent. James Geddes, of Rachan, a gentleman deeply versed in classical literature, and author of an Essay on the Composition of the Ancients, died in 1749. Horsey Mere, on the coast of Norfolk, is mentioned by Camden as the source of a common expression denoting the best fish of this species, Horsey pike, none like. Tin's lake is still remarkable for the quality as well as the quan- tity of its pike, which continue to haunt the long ranges of sedges and bulrushes on the banks ; but the pike in the rivers of Staffordshire are considered to be more beautifully marked than those taken elsewhere. Ramsey Mere, in Huntingdonshire, produces a variety of fish, of which pike, perch, eels, and bream are most abundant. This fishery was one of the earliest benefactions to the abbey of Ram- sey, and nut improbably the cause of its foundation by Ail win, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 01 at the intercession of St. Oswald, Archbishop of York, and Bishop of Worcester. A charter of the time of King Edward III. recites that Ail win, a kinsman of King Edgar, founded here a religious house at the instigation of his fisherman Vulsgeat, who, after an unsuccessful toil in Rames Mere, was warned by St. Benedict in a vision to catch a quantity of fish, called by the inhabitants of that part Hacaed, and then to found a monastery where his bull had torn up the ground, in token of which com- mission the fisherman's finger was bent. The church was finished in five years afterwards, and consecrated A.D. 974: among the grants of Ail win, which were many, were the island on which the abbey stood, and all his fishery at Well. Azure, two geds or luces in saltier argent, and for crest two luces as in the arms, are borne as an heraldic ensign by the family of Gedney of Hudderley, in Lincolnshire, with reference to the northern name of ged which is given to the pike. Gedney of Enderby, in the same county, bears argent, two luces in saltier azure. The arms of Gedney are among the quarterings of the family of Ashby in the window of the hall, and carved on the chimney-pieces of their ancient seat at Quenby in Leicester- shire. Gules, three luces naiant, within a border engrailed argent, are the arms of Pike of London. A family of the same name was seated at Pike's Ash, near Martock in Somersetshire, in the reign of Henry VIII. Pyke of Devonshire bears for arms, per pale argent and gules, on a chevron, between three trefoils slipped, a luce naiant, all counterchanged ; and, for crest, a luce naiant or. The arms of Picke have also an allusion to the name of the 62 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. fish, per chevron wavy argent and vert, in chief two luces chevron- wise, respecting each other, proper ; and in base a hind statant of the first. Piketon bears, argent, three luces naiant in pale gules ; and Pikeworth, azure, three luces naiant within a border engrailed argent. The play upon the name is more evident in the arms of the family of Pickering of Alconbury, in Huntingdonshire, gules, a luce naiant between three annulets argent ; and of the same punning quality is the ornamental device which is affixed to Mr. Montagu's " Guide to the Study of Heraldry," a most interesting introduction to the subject, published by William Pickering. So prevailing is the opinion of the inferiority of canting arms, that it is necessary to repeat that the parody or pun exists not only in the monkish rebus, " Like Prior J3olton with his bolt and tun," but that the noblest peers in the earliest times are found to have been equally characterized by simple objects depicted on their standards having reference to their high-sounding names. The broom plant was the well-known device of the Plantagenets. The Lords Comyn bore a garb or sheaf of cummin or barley : Corbet, a raven, corbeau. The Arundells were known by the swallows, hirondelles,* and Heriz by the herison or hedgehog. * The swallows borno by an ancestor of the family of Arundell, and which his descend- ants display to this day, arc mentioned by Guliclmus Brito, or William the Breton, author of a Latin poem on the exploits of Philip Augustus: Hirundelae velocior alite, quae dat Hoc agnomen ei, fert cujus in ajgide signum. This is one of the earliest specimens of what are called canting arms, or armos parlantes. Vide a notice of the rise and progress of English heraldry in the Pictorial History of England, 1837, vol. i. page fill. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 63 The ancient families of Brooke and Grey assumed the badger, an animal provincially known by the names of brock or gray, and with the fox equally regarded as an object of sport. " To hunt by day the fox, by night the gray." The mulberry, in the same spirit of parody, was the chosen device of the family of Mowbray, founders and benefactors of Byland Abbey in Yorkshire. Argent, on a pale sable a demi-luee or ; crest, out of a ducal coronet, a demi-luce or, are the armorial ensigns of the family of Gascoigne of Gawthorp, a place interesting to every lover of genius and of virtue ; for while the long series of the Lords of Harewood Castle produced nothing but ordinary knights and barons, who fought, and hunted, and died, Gawthorp was the patrimonial residence of Chief Justice Gascoigne, and the fa- vourite retreat of his illustrious descendant, Thomas Earl of Strafford.* Sir William Gascoigne, born at Gawthorp Hall, near Leeds * \Yhitakei\s History of Leeds, p. 1C5. 64 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. in Yorkshire, was Chief Justice of the King's Bench in the reign of Henry IV, and was celebrated no less for his abilities than his integrity. His monument, with his effigies and that of his lady, the heiress of Sir William Mowbray of Kirklington, is yet remaining in Harewood Church, which surpasses perhaps every parish church of the county of York in the number and perfect preservation of the tombs of its Lords. He was the ancestor of another Sir William Gascoigne of Gawthorp, in the reign of Henry VII, whose heiress married Thomas Wentworth, Esq. of Woodhouse, in Yorkshire, from whom descended the Earl of Strafford in the reign of Charles I, the second Earl of that title, the Marquess of Rockingham, the Earls Fitz William, and the Lord Stratford of Harmonds worth. Another descendant of the same family, Sir John Gascoigne of Partington near Wetherby, was created a Baronet by King Charles I. in 1635. This title became extinct in 1810; but the estates devolved to Richard Oliver, Esq. who subsequently as- sumed the name of Gascoigne. The present Marquess of Salisbury married the heiress of Bamber Gascoigne, Esq. of Barking in Essex, and of Childwall Hall in Lancashire, a descendant of this family through Sir Crispe Gascoigne, who was Lord Mayor in 1753. His lordship, after his marriage, used the name of Gascoigne before that of Cecil and all his titles of honour. George Gascoigne the poet, who served with honour in the Low Country wars, was of an Essex family. On his return he turned his attention to the study of letters, and is known by his " Princely Pleasures of Kenil worth, 11 a masque written for the amusement of Queen Elizabeth, whom he accompanied in her stately progress in the summer of 1575. Gascoigne Nightingale, Esq. of Enfield in Middlesex, 1749, changed his name from Gascoigne, pursuant to the will of Sir Robert Nightingale, Bart, of Newport Pond, in Essex, and bore the arms of Nightingale and Gascoigne quarterly.* The Norfolk family of Lilling bear for arms, gules, three luces naiant in pale, within a border argent. The family of Oyry bear, azure, three luces hauriant argent, between as many frets or ; and that of Ostoft, sable, three luces' 1 heads erased argent. Ermine, on a bend sable, three luces' heads erased argent, are * Warburton's Middlesex Illustrated, p. 104. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Go the arms of the family of Gillet, branches of which were seated at Broadfield in Norfolk, and at Ipswich in Suffolk. The head only of the fish was shown in the arms of Gillet, possibly as a play upon the name. The gills on each side of the head are remarkable in the structure of fish, as by them they perform their aquatic respiration. Water entering- at their mouth is forced out again at the opening of the gills, and thus maintains almost a constant stream through them similar to the current of air in the respiration of animals. Sable, three luces hauriant argent, are described as the arms of the family of Fishacre, seated at Combe Fishacre in the parish of Ipplepen, Devonshire, in the reign of Henry IT. Of this ancient house were several members of ecpiestrian rank. Sir Peter Fishacre, who is said to have founded Morleigh church near Totnes, is commemorated by a monument in the chancel. Richard Fishacre, another of this family, acquired reputation by his study of theology, and was the friend of Robert, brother of Roger Bacon, the wonder of his age : he died in 1248, and was buried at Oxford. Martin Fishacre was Sheriff of Devonshire in 1364. The crest of the family of Garling, a fish's head erased, per fess proper, is perhaps intended as a play upon the name, and should be the Garfish, or sea-pike, found upon the coasts of Europe. Le Centropome, the Brochet de Mer of Cuvier, which forms an article of consumption in South America, is a kind of perch, but is called a sea-pike : the sea-luce of heraldry is the hake, the Merlucius of the naturalist. 66 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE FLYING FISH. All fish which shine with brilliant colours, and the flying fish, to which air and water seem alike, are peculiar to the seas of the torrid zone. As typical of his own extraordinary elevation, Dr. Robinson, who became Bishop of Carlisle in the reign of Elizabeth, ap- pears to have assumed for his armorial distinction this remark- able fish, not painted according to its true form, but as it was then believed to be, a fish with wings. Azure, a flying fish in bend argent, on a chief of the second, a rose between two torteaux : these are impaled with the arms of his bishopric, argent, a cross sable, charged in the centre with a mitre or. Henry Robinson entered Queen's College, Oxford, in 1568 as a servitor. He was consecrated Bishop of Carlisle in 1598, and died in 1616. A brass plate bearing his portrait, with his arms and an inscription, was placed on the wall of the chancel in his own cathedral when he was buried, and another near the altar of Queen's College chapel. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 67 This beautiful fish, at the time of Sir Francis Drake's success- ful voyage of discovery, for which he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, was but little known. " Nothing," says his biogra- pher,* " surprised the crew more than the flying fish, which is nearly the same size with a herring, and has fins of the length of his whole body, by the help of which, when he is pursued by the bonito, and finds himself on the point of being taken, he springs up into the air, and flies forward as long as his wings continue wet ; when they become dry and stiff, he falls down into the water and dips them again for a second flight. This unhappy animal is not only pursued by fishes in his natural element, but attacked in the air by the don or sparkite, a bird that preys upon fish." Other early instances of this fish borne in heraldry are the Ger- man families of Von Boltzig of Brunswick, gules, a flying fish in bend argent, winged or ; and Senitz in Silesia, gules, a flying fish in bend argent.-f- Argent, three flying fishes naiant in pale azure, wings and fins gules, are the arms of the family of Bulamfeck. Vert, three flying fishes in pale argent, were the arms granted in 1758 to John Garmston, Esq. of Lincoln. Miss Stickney, in her very interesting Illustration of the Poetry of Life, found little to say on fish ; two kinds only, the flying fish and the dolphin, being familiar in the language of poetry, and conducive to its figurative charm. The former, in its transient and feeble flight, has been made the subject of some beautiful lines by Moore : while the dolphin, from the beauty of its form, and the gorgeous colours which are said to be produced by its last agonies, is celebrated in the poet's lay as an emblem of the glory which shines most conspicuously in the hour of death. * Doctor Johnson. t Sibraaclior. f 2 68 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. III. antr Uoutf). The Barrel is a large, strong, and very handsome river fish, so named from the barbs attached to its month, which enable it to search for food, that is obtained near the bottom and in the deepest parts of the stream. Their beauty and their abun- dance, particularly in the rivers Rhine, Elbe, and Weser, have caused these fish to be much used in foreign heraldry, in which they are always termed Bars, and are generally depicted em- bowed. As a rebus on the name of their fief, barbel were assumed as a distinctive mark on the military banners of the ancient Counts of Bar, a demesne westward of Lorraine, now included in the department of the Mouse ; their arms are, azure, semee of crosses, two barbel endorsed or. The same arms, but within a border as a mark of difference, are found amongst those of the English knights in " The Siege of Carlaverock," an heraldic poem composed at the time of the event, by Walter of Exeter, presenting one of the most faithful THE HERALDRY OF FISH. GO pictures of the manners of the age in which it was written, and containing minute details of the siege of a castle in Scotland by King Edward I. in July 1300. " John de Bar was likewise there, who in a blue banner crusilly bore two barbels of gold, with a red border engrailed." * This knight is supposed to have been one of the sons of Thibaut Count of Bar. As Henry Count of Bar, the eldest son, had a few years before married Eleanor the daughter of King Edward T. of England, it is highly probable that his brother John would be in the King's retinue ; and as his name in the poem follows that of John of Brittany, the King's nephew, and afterwards Earl of Richmond, it is likely that he was attached to the royal person in consequence of that alliance. In the church of Berwick St. John, in Wilt- shire, is a tomb with a figure of a knight in mail armour bearing a shield charged with the arms of Bar, and within a border ; possibly the very same person, but the conjecture is unsup- ported by any other evidence than is presented by the armorial bearings. *f" John Earl of Surrey, one of the most powerful barons of Eng- land, and who stood high in the favour of King Edward III, married Joan, daughter of Henry Count of Bar. His seal, impressed about 1310, bearing a shield chequy, the * Translated by Sir Harris Nicolas, anil printed in 182!]. t Nicolas's edition of the Siege of Carlaverock, page 171. The name of tins knight also occurs in the household roll of the Lord Edward, the King's son, among the Pell Records, printed by Fred. Devon, Esq. 1UJJ7. 70 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. arms of Warren, is ornamented on its sides with the barbel and cross crosslets of the house of Bar ; and also, in allusion to his descent from Hameline Plantagenet, the son of Geffrey Earl of Anjou, the shield is surmounted by the lion passant guar- dant of the house of Plantagenet.* The seal of Joan of Bar, the Countess of Warren and Sur- rey, shows, by the various arms upon it, her ancestral honours, the object of all armorial arrangement. The Countess was the daughter of Henry Count of Bar and Eleanor daughter of King Edward I. The Warren arms are placed in a lozenge in the centre of the seal, and between the arms of Bar. The arms of her mother, a princess of England, are in chief and in base ; and in the smaller compartments into which the surface of the seal is tastefully divided, are the arms of her grandmother, Castile and Leon alternately, in direct allusion to her Spanish descent. - !* This seal, impressed in red wax about 1 347, fully illustrates the method pursued by the heralds of dis- posing various arms, previously to the adoption of quarterings, or the arrangement of the whole in one shield according to modern practice, j The house of Bar merged into that of Lorraine in consequence * Watson's Earls of Warren. f Sandford's Royal Genealogy, p. 1 39. J On monuments erected before the reign of Edward III. separate coats of arms, denoting the honourable alliances of the family, are to be observed, as on the tombs of the Valences, Earls of Pembroke, in Westminster Abbey, which were erected before the practice of quartering arms was adopted. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 71 of the marriage of Eleanor, daughter of Henry Count of Bar, with Rudolph Duke of Lorraine, who was slain at the hattle of Crecy in 1346. Isabel, Duchess of Lorraine and Bar, daughter of Charles the Brave, the grandson of Rudolph, married Rene d 1 Anjou, King of Naples and Sicily, whose arms, quartering Bar, are described in a contemporary poem by his King of Arms, Croissant cVor, the name also of an order of knighthood peculiar to Naples. 23e trot's putSSans rouaumes sous tmivbrc cororme 3Portc en cfytl m Sts avnus, Xc noble Bow Iftene', Sfongrie, ct g>trile, SHeruSalem auSSt, 8tnsi cmc ootr pou$K$ en cet cSmt ici &njou ft J3ar en ptrtrg, tJutfjc^ tit granti venom, (£t un votal eScu Suv le tout o^vvagou.* Rene d'Anjou, King of Naples, Avas the father of Marga- ret, the queen of Henry VI. of England. Her arms in the windows of Ockwell House in Berkshire, with the motto, tumble ft lotall, are engraved in Lysons's Berkshire, and in Wil- lemenfs Regal Heraldry. The same, surrounded by a border vert, are the arms of Queen's College at Cambridge University, founded by the Queen. The house of Lorraine came from the same ancestors as the house of Hapsburg. Gerard, descended from the Landgraves of Alsace, was created Duke of Lorraine in 1048 by the Emperor Henry III. They bore for arms, quarterly, 1st, Hungary, as descendants of Charles Martel, the father of a line of kings, whose epithet of Martel, the hammer, was expressive of his weighty and irresistible strokes when opposed to the Saracens ; the 2nd quartering Naples ; 3rd, Jerusalem ; 4th, Arragon ; 5th, Anjou ; Gth, Uueldres ; 7th, Juliers ; and 8th, Bar ; the whole surmounted by the arms of Lorraine, or, on a bend gules, three alerions argent. The alerion, an eagle without beak or feet, was assumed as an anagram on the name of Lorraine. These arms are generally found surrounded by a mantle, bear- * The three grccit realms under a crowned crest, Noble King Rene bears as chief and best, Hungary, Sicily, and Jerusalem, And here you behold the royal stem, Anjou and Bar, duchies of great renown, And over all the shield of Arragon. 72 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. ing the same quarterings, one of the earliest instances of the use of the mantle in heraldry, which, according to Menestrier, was adopted about 1530. Stephen, son of Leopold, succeeded his father as Duke of Lor- raine in 1729. He ceded that duchy to Stanislaus, King of Poland, and became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1739. In right of his wife, Maria Theresa, he had the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, and in 1745 was elected Emperor of Germany. The arms of the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary consist of twenty-four quarterings, now belonging to the house of Aus- tria. One of the quarterings containing fish, gules, two barbel addorsed or, are the arms of Pfyrt in Suntgau, a fief which accrued to the Archduke Albert in 1324, in right of his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Ulric Count of Pfyrt : this was one of the six happy marriages of the house of Austria.* The arms are shown on a banner carried in the splendid representa- tion of Maximilian's Triumph by Hans Burgmair. Azure, two barbel addorsed, and between them a fleur-de-lis in chief, and another in base or, one of the heraldic badges of the Stafford family, appears to be composed from the charges in the arms of Anjou and those of Bar. The representative of a family assumes the right to use its badge, an appendage of rank, formerly worn by the retainers of eminent personages on a con- spicuous part of their dress. Anderson's Royal Genealogies, p. 406. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 73 The house of Stafford descends by ten different marriages from the royal blood of England and France ; and the badge, one of eighteen, is stained on marble, with the well-known Stafford knot repeated many times, on the monument of John Paul Howard, Earl of Stafford, who died in 1762, which is in St. Edmund's Chapel. Westminster Abbey. The knots of silk cord, heraldic ornaments of early use, are each distinguished by the names of families to which they indi- vidually belong, as the Stafford knot, the Bourchier knot, Wake's knot, and Dacre's knot. Azure, two barbel addorsed or, are the arms of the family of Montbeliard of Bar ; their descendants, De Montfaucon, who took the name of Montbeliard, bore for arms, gules, two barbel addorsed or.* Montfaucon de Dampierre, in Franehe Comte, bore gules, two barbel addorsed within a double tressure or. The family of the learned French antiquary, Bernard de Mont- faucon, was originally of Gascony, and descended from the Lords of Montfaucon le Vieux, first barons of the Comte de Comminges. Azure, two barbel addorsed between four roses or, were the heraldic distinction of the ancient Counts of Barby, on the Elbe, the last of whom died in 1659. These arms were afterwards quartered by the Electors of Saxony, the Grand Marshals of the Empire. Barby, after having formed part of Jerome Bonaparte's kingdom of Westphalia, was annexed to Prussia in 1815. * Palliot, Science des Armoirk's, page Id. 74 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The barbel appears to be a very common bearing in the heral- dry of the Continent. A few early instances only will be men- tioned where this fish has been adopted evidently as a play upon the name of the person. Azure, semee of cross crosslets fitchy, two barbel addorsed or, are the arms of the family of Bar de Buranlure ; that of Bartet de Bonneval bears, azure, three barbel in bend sinister or ; Bardin, azure, three barbel naiant in pale argent ; and Barfuse, gules, on a fess argent two barbel naiant azure. As an example of the term mal-ordonnes, or false disposition of the charges in the shield, when one figure is placed above two, contrary to the usual mode of two in chief and one in base, Palliot gives the arms of Barbeau in Burgundy ; party per fess argent and gules, three roses, mal-ordonnees of the last, in chief, and two barbel chevronwise or, in base. This fish is very rarely borne singly in armorial ensigns ; an instance is afforded in the arms of Marchin, a Flemish family, one of whom was in the service of King Charles II. during his Majesty's residence in Holland ; argent, a barbel gules. John Caspar Ferdinand de Marchin, Count of Graville, Mar- quis of Clairmont d'Antrague, Baron of Dunes, Marchin, Mezers, and Modane, Captain- General in the service of the King of Spain, and Lieutenant-General of the forces of King Charles II. of England, was elected Knight Companion of the Order of the Carter at Antwerp in 1658 : he was installed in 1661. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 7.: Gules, two barbel addorsed or, were the arms of Abel Francois Poisson, Marquis de Marigny, brother of the celebrated Madame Pompadour. Argent, two barbel respecting 1 each other, sable, are the arms of the family of Colston, a name sometimes spelt Coulston and Ooulson. The barbel in heraldry being - generally represented embowed, as well as the dolphin, in careless transcription is called a dolphin, as in the instance of the benevolent merchant of Bristol, Edward Colston, in respect to whom the Dolphin tavern in that city is said to owe its sign ; and tradition asserts that his crest was assumed from the circumstance of a dolphin having providentially forced itself into a hole and stopped the leak of one of his ships at sea. He is known to have been remarkably successful, having never insured a ship, and having lost but one. As a great benefactor of the city of Bristol, his portrait, by Richardson, is preserved in the Merchant Adven- turers 1 Hall ; and after his death in 1721, a monument, by Rys- brach, with an inscription enumerating his public charities, was erected in All Saints 1 Church in the same city. Argent, two barbel respecting each other, sable, conjoined with collars and chain pendent or, appear to have been the ori- ginal arms of the family of Colston, from which many branches have descended, bearing some variation in their armorial dis- tinctions. Argent, three barbel hauriant within a border sable, are the arms of one of the branches of this family : and argent, a chevron engrailed gules, between three barbel embowed sable ; crest, an eagle with wings endorsed or, preying on a barbel, are the arms of the family of Coulson of St. Ives in Huntingdonshire. John Charles Wallop, Earl of Portsmouth, in 1763 married Urania, daughter of Coulson Fellowes, Esq. of Hampstead in 76 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Middlesex. Their second son, the Hon. Newton Fellowes of Eggesford in Devonshire, on succeeding to the estates of his maternal uncle, assumed that name in 1794. The arms of Coulson, as borne by Sir John Fellowes, created Baronet by King George I. in 1719, are quarterly, 1st and 4th, azure, a fess dancettee ermine between three lions 1 heads erased or, murally crowned argent, for Fellowes ; 2nd and 3rd, argent, two barbel hauriant, respecting each other, sable, for Coulson. Entravaille is a French term applied to fish when interlaced in the bars or bendlets crossing the shield. Gules, two bars wavy azure, with two barbel addorsed or, entravailles in the bars, are the arms of the family of Riviere de St. Denis des Monts, in Normandy.* The general colour of the barbel is a greenish brown on the head and body, which on the sides becomes a yellowish green, and the fins are tinged with red. There is some difficulty in appropriating the different species of fish in heraldic bearings ; but in the following instances barbel appear to be intended, being a pun on the first syllable of the name of the family. Gules, a fess between three barbel naiant argent ; Barwais. Vert, three barbel hauriant argent ; Bardin. Azure, two barbel hauriant or ; Bare. Gules, three barbel within a border indented argent; Bernard of Essex. Azure, on a fess argent three barbel hauriant sable, within a border engrailed of the second ; Bar- nardes. Argent, on a bend sable, three barbel naiant or ; Bures. Dictionnaire Heraldique. Paris, 1774. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 77 THE CARP. There are no ancient instances of this fish in English heraldry, but it was certainly known here, and is mentioned in " The Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle,' 1 '' the very earliest essay upon this subject, supposed to have been written in the middle of the fifteenth century.* The golden carp were introduced about 1611 : the first of that species sent to France, is said to have been a present to Madame Pompadour. Carp are found in most of the rivers and lakes of Europe, more particularly in Prussia and the Austrian empire, where fresh-water fish are held in much higher estimation for the table than in this country. Azure, two carp addorsed argent, are the arms of the family of Karpfen of Swabia, agreeably to the pictorial manner in which the names of families were represented in their armorial ensigns. y Karpfen bears for crest, on a golden coronet, a carp erect argent, and supporting a buck's attire azure. Colombiere, who wrote on the origin of heraldry, when treating of the arms of Rohan, gules, nine macles or, first used about 1222, says, " Opinions vary about the origin of the macles ; some writers * Printed in 11527, by Pickering, from Wynkyn do Worde's Hoke of St. Alban's, 1496. t Sibmacher's Wapenbuch, 1605. 78 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. call them mascles, or mashes, and in old manuscripts these figures are blazoned like the meshes of a net : but having observed that whatever is remarkable in some countries, has been represented in arms, I am of opinion that the ancient Lords of Rohan, al- though descended from the Princes of Brittany, took the macles because in the duchy of Rohan there are flints which, being cut in two, this very figure appears on the insides, and also that the carp in the fish-ponds of the duchy have the same remarkable mark upon their scales, which, being peculiar to that part of the country, the Lords Rohan had reason to take those figures for their armorial distinction, giving them the name of macles or spots. Some of that house bear the motto, ' Sine macula macla, 1 a mascle without a spot. 11 * The carp is a very strong fish, beautiful in its form, and poeti- cally described as having " scales bedropt with gold. 11 In colour the head is darkest, the body a golden olive, and the belly a yellowish white. Gules, three carp naiant in pale argent, are the arms of the family of De Blocg.-f" There is a species of fish bearing a strong affinity to the carp of England, which is found in Bengal, Where, by a thousand rivers fed, Swift Ganges fills his spacious bed. This fish, the Cyprinus Rohita of the Indian zoologists, is used as a badge of dignity, under the name of Main Maratib, and, agreeably to eastern parade, is borne in ceremonials upon ele- phants before the officers of state. The image of the fish is made of copper gilt, and is partly enveloped in a mantle of green brocade. Mahi is a Persian word meaning a fish generally, and Mahi gir * Diet. Herald. 1725, page 232. t Palliot. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 79 is a fisherman ; but the particular species represented on the banners of the King of Oude is that of a true car]), the Cyprinus Rohita, considered as the most valuable fish which is found in the fresh-water rivers of the Gangetic provinces, and its beauty both in form and colour equals its value for the table.* The Mahi maratib, or dignity of the fish, is said to have originated with the Mogul dynasty founded by Zingis Khan, the conqueror of Asia, in 1206. The fish was selected as a badge from an Oriental legend recorded in the Koran, stating that Abraham, after sacrificing a goat instead of his son Isaac, threw the knife into the water, when it struck a fish. A fish is therefore the only animal eaten by Mahometans without pre- viously having its throat cut. This dignity or order was revived by one of the Emperors of Mogul, who was contemporary with Queen Elizabeth, and was at a recent period conferred upon General Gerard Lake, after his brilliant successes in the Mahratta war, during the administration of the Marquess Wellesley. When the General visited Shah Aulum at the palace of Delhi in September 1803, he received from the Emperor a Persian title, which may be translated " the Victorious in War, the Saviour of the State, and the Hero of the Land." The next year he was created Lord Lake by King George III, and in 1807 was advanced to the title of Viscount Lake of Delhi and Laswaree, with an augmen- tation to his paternal arms indicative of his Asiatic honours. * Hamilton's Fishes of the Ganges, 1 822. 80 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Sable, a bend between six cross crosslets fitchy argent, on a chief of the last the fish of Mogul, per pale or and vert, banded vert, and gules, surmounting the Goog and Ullum, honourable insignia, in saltier. The creed in India appears to consider a fish as the saviour of the world. " In the whole world of creation None were seen but these seven sagos, Menu, and the Fish. Years on years, and still unwearied drew that Fish the bark along, Till at length it came where reared Himavan its loftiest peak. There at length they came, and smiling thus the Fish addressed the Sage : ' Bind thou now thy stately vessel to the peak of Himavan. ' At the Fish's mandate, quickly to the peak of Himavan Bound the Sage his bark ; and even to this day that loftiest peak Bears the name of Naubandhana." * The fish, in the Hindu example here shown, are evidently carp, and are disposed with barbaric fancy in a manner not un- known to heraldry, a tricorporatcd fish meeting under one head, and one eye only seen ; the flower is intended for the celebrated Indian Lotus, the Nilumbium speciosum of the botanist. * Translation of Sanscrit poetry in the Quarterly Review, 10,3.'». THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 81 Azure, three fish conjoined in one head at the fess point, one tail in dexter chief, another in sinister chief, and the third in base, argent, are the arms of the Silesian family of Kreckwitz. Gules, three fish with one head argent, and disposed as the above, are the arms of Die Hiinder of Franconia. Gules, three fish, their heads meeting at the fess point argent, are the arms of Dornheim of Silesia.* Gules, three fish conjoined at their tails in triangle or, their heads sable, are the arms of Bernbach. THE GUDGEON. Gudgeons swim in shoals in the rivers Thames, Mersey, Colne, Kennet, and Avon : the only instances in which these fish are used in heraldry are in reference to the name, and that from the Latin Gobio, or the French Goujon. A Catalogue of the Nobility of England, compiled by Glover, Somerset Herald in the reign of Elizabeth, being the first printed, requires to be quoted with caution. The same may be said of many manuscript lists of early date, well known to the ad- mirers of heraldry by the name of Barons' 1 Books. In several of this latter class is to be found the name of William Gobyon, Earl of Southampton, whose heirs-general were married to Sir Stonor, and to Sir George Turpin, knights, in the time of Edward I. <5^~ U£ ^ swise argent are the arms of Gobyon. Sibmacher's Wapenbuch. 82 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Gobions, a manor at North Minis, in Hertfordshire, was held by a family of the same name as early as the reign of Stephen. Grobions, in the parish of Toppesfield in Essex, was named from a knightly family who had large possessions in other parts of that county. Sir Thomas Gobion was Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire in 1323; and John Gobion was in the list of the gentry of Essex in 1433.* The manor house of Black Notley is also called Gobions, from having been in possession of a family of that name at an early period. Argent, three gudgeons hauriant, within a border engrailed sa- ble, are the arms of the ancient family of Gobion, of Wareslcy in Huntingdonshire, on the borders of Cambridgeshire. These arms are borne as one of the quartering^ of the Earl of Lanes- borough, the lineal descendant of John Butler, and Isolda the daughter and heiress of William Gobion, seated at Waresley, in the reign of Edward III. Arms quarterly, 1st and 4th argent, three covered cups in bend between two bendlets engrailed sable ; for Butler : 2nd, argent, three gudgeons hauriant, within a border engrailed sable ; for Gobion : 3rd, per pale or and sable, a chevron between three escallops, all counterchanged ; for Brinsley of Nottinghamshire. Mary, the daughter and heiress of Gcrvase Brinsley in the reign of Charles I, married Sir Stephen Butler of Belturbet, in Ireland, the ancestor of the Earl of Lanesborough. * Fuller's Worthies, jwge 342. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 83 Argent, three gudgeons within a border sable, are the arms of the family of Gobaud. Azure, billetty two gudgeons addorsed or, are the arms of Gougeux, a family of Vendome, which as- sumed the surname of Rouville, that of an ancient house of Normandy.* Azure, two gudgeons in saltier argent, in base water, waved proper, are the arms of the French family of Goujon ; a name that ranks high in art. John Goujon was one of the most emi- nent sculptors of the reign of Francis I. ; his relievos have rarely been surpassed, and from the inimitable spirit and grace which pervade his works he is termed the Correggio of sculpture. Water, as shown in the arms of Goujon, is rarely introduced in English heraldry ; but an undulated line expressive of waves, and conveying the idea of water, is commonly used. Rivers that move In majesty, and the complaining brooks That make the meadows green, are equally depicted on the shields of feudal lords where pri- vilege or potency is necessary to be shown. Barry wavy argent and azure, are the arms of the family of Palliot, Science des Armoiriei 84 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Sandford, which derived the name from lands near a passage of the Isis in Oxfordshire, and whose possessions subsequently fall- ing to the Veres, these arms were quartered by the Earls of Oxford of that name, and by their representatives. Gules, two bars wavy or, are the arms of De la River, the name of a family which, as early as the reign of Edward I, was seated at Shefford, a passage of the Lambourn, one of the sources of the Kennet, and like that river abundant with trout, barbel, and pike. The family of Rivers of River Hill, in Hamp- shire, bore for arms, azure, two bars indented or, in chief three bezants with the motto, Secus Rivos aquarum. As a boundary, the river becomes of importance to an estate, and of this the heralds as well as the poets are not unmindful. Drayton notices The furious Teme, that on the Cambrian side, Doth Shropshire as a mcare from Hereford divide. Hotspur, it will be remembered, objects to the division of his country by the Trent, See how this river comes me crankling in, And cuts me from the best of all my land.* The passage of water has been so constant a source of dispute between states and inhabitants that the word river might thence have been the root of rivalry or contention of any kind.-f- Heralds refer the four silver stripes in the arms of Hungary to the principal rivers of the country, the Drave, the Nyss, the Save, and the Danube, all abounding with fish. The arms of Drummond, or, three bars wavy gules, show Hungarian de- scent, the family of the Viscount Strathallan deriving its origin from Maurice, an Hungarian who attended Edgar Athelirig and his sister Margaret, afterwards Queen of Scotland, to Dum- fermlin, and was by King Malcolm III. made Seneschal of Lennox. Water, having reference to some important boundary of the fief, appears to be indicated by the adoption of harry argent and azure, in the arms of the family of Grey, one of the most ancient, wide-spread, and illustrious in the English peerage, descended from that of De Croy, in Picardy, a name having the same deri- * Shakespeare, Henry IV. f Forsyth's Italy. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 8.5 vation as cray and creek, whence also cray fish, and crayer a small ship for ascending rivers. Some branches of this family have varied the arms, and others have an anchor for a device with the word " Fast ;' 1 hut the Earls of Stamford, the Earls of Wilton, and the Earl De Grey, who is descended from the Earls and Dukes of Kent, retain the original arms. A river is represented in foreign shields of arms, flowing as on the surface of the earth. Vert, three rivers fesswise, argent, are the arms of the German family of Gilse, of Hesse. Gules, a river in bend argent are the arms of Lauterbach of the same country.* Gules, in a river in bend argent, three fish azure, are the arms of the imperial town of Onoltzbach.-f- Gules, a river in fess argent, are the arms of the family of Von Buren of Saxony.! Argent on a pale wavy sable, three fish em- bowed or, are the arms of Swartzac in Switzerland. The local site of their original barony is indicated in the arms of the Lords Stourton ; sable, a bend or, between six fountains, allusive of the six springs from which the river Stour has its source near Stourton, on the borders of Wiltshire and Somerset- shire. In the chancel of that church are several monuments of the Stourton family, of which Sir John, the first peer, was created Lord Stourton by King Henry VI. in 1448. A similar origin is assigned for the arms of the family of Home of Nine- wells, a branch of that of Home of Tyningham in Haddington- shire ; vert, a lion rampant argent, within a border or, charged with nine fountains or wells. Palliot. f Sibmachcr. Ibid. 86 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Azure, three fountains, are the arms of the family of Wells of Hampshire. The arms of Twells, a play upon the name, vert, on a fess azure, between six wells proper, a bezant, are sculptured on the tombstone of Matthias Twells in St. Margaret^ Church, Lynn, of which place he was alderman, and who died in 1676. A curious ancient custom, illustrative of the importance of wells, is observed annually at Motcombe, Dorsetshire, where are four large wells, which supply the town of Shaftesbury with water. If a dance is not performed on the Sunday after Holy- rood day, and the bailiff of Gillingham have not his due, he stops the water of the wells of Enmore. Lord Wells used as a badge a bucket with the chains, in allusion to the name, as water bougets were used by the Bour- chiers, Earls of Eu as well as of Essex. The fountain of heraldry should be depicted by a circle, barry wavy argent and azure ; but some modern grants lose the an- tique character of the art, as in the arms blazoned, in a land- scape field a fountain, thereout issuing a palm tree, which were granted to the family of Franco of St. Katherine Coleman, Lon- don, 1760. A whirlpool, heraldically termed a gurges, represents the rapid motion of water in a circular direction, taking up all the field, as in the arms of the baronial family of Gorges, assumed in allu- sion to the name ; argent, a gurges azure. These are found among the quarterings borne by the noble family of Eussell, showing their descent from that of Gorges.* Longford Castle, in Wiltshire, presenting a singular specimen of architecture in its plan, was erected on the banks of the Avon by Sir Thomas Gorges in 1591; he died in 1610, and a monument to his memory is in Salisbury Cathedral. Sir Edward Gorges, in 1620, was created Lord Dundalk by King James I. The banks of rivers, and the heights which command them, almost exclusively monopolize the beauty and compose the cha- racteristic features of every country. Great cities are seldom placed but on a river ; the castle commanded the passes, and the abbey always depended on the contiguous stream. Argent, a fess wavy gules, cottised of the last, are the arms of the family of Waterford ; that of Brooksby bears, barry wavy argent, and sable, a canton gules. Brooksbank of Elland, in Yorkshire, bears * Wiffen's Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell, 1833. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 87 azure, two bars wavy argent, within a border or ; and, argent, a fess wavy azure, within a border sable, are the arms of Brook- bank. The arms of the French family of De Viviers exhibit an in- stance of the amies parlantes. Vivier is a fish-pond, and their arms are, argent, three fish-wells vert, filled with water azure. Gules, three fountains are the arms of Waterhouse of York- shire ; and, sable, three bars wavy, between as many swans argent, are the arms of Waters of Lenham in Kent. THE TENCH. The Tench, a beautiful fish, with small smooth scales tinged with golden colour, is rarely found in the rivers of England, but many of the ponds and ornamental waters in pleasure-grounds abound with tench. Bridges, in his History of Northampton- shire, says, " On Mr. Plowdens estate, who is lord of the manor of Aston, were two-and-fifty fish-ponds in the time of his an- cestor Francis Plowden, who used to boast that he had one weekly to drain throughout the year." Some still remain, and there are vestiges of others now disused. In no other instance but as allusive to the name, is this fish used in heraldry : among the old German families who bear fish is that of Von Tanques, whose arms are three tench. Or, three tench hauriant gules, are the arms of the French family of Tanche. Azure, three tench naiant in pale or, were the arms of Tenche, a Marshal in Flanders, according to Palliot.* * Science dcs Armoiries. 88 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The tench, used in English heraldry as a play upon the name, forms part of the crest of Sir Fisher Tench of Low Leyton, in Essex, descended from a family of Shropshire, and created Baronet by King George I. in 1715. After his death the title became extinct ; but his sister and heiress Elizabeth, married Francis Asty, Esq. of Black Notley, whose daughter and heiress Henrietta, became the wife of Christopher Wyvil in 1739, and at his death the estates fell to Sir Marmaduke Asty Wyvil, Bart. Arms, argent, on a chevron, between three lions' 1 heads erased gules, a cross crosslet or ; for Tench : quartering azure, a fess counter embattled between three dolphins embowed or ; for Fisher : crest, an arm vested gules, turned up argent, grasping a tench in the hand. Heraldry affords modes of illustration which are capable of infinite variety ; and by the French, our prototypes in the art, every incident, or singular tradition susceptible of poetical em- bellishment, or capable of picturesque representation, was adopted in their plan of armorial composition. The following instance may be taken as affording some idea of the extent to which their admiration of amies parlantes was carried. The word souci signifies equally marigold, and care or anxiety. Three marigolds are borne by the family of Lemaitre, azure, trois soucis tfor, arms assumed in allusion to the proverb, Si les valets out les peines, le maitre a les soucis, if the vassals have their la- bour, the lord has his anxiety. One of this ancient family, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 89 Giles Lemaitre, was premier president of the parliament of Paris in 1551. Punning in the spirit of the age was even introduced into epitaphs, as in the distich of Ariosto on the Marchese di Pescara, who commanded the armies of Charles V. in Italy : ■ Piscator maximus Hie ! Nunquid et hie pisces copit ? non : ergo quid ? Urbes. The Marchese was husband of the eminently gifted Vittoria Colonna, and died soon after he had won the memorable battle of Pavia where Francis I. was taken prisoner. THE BREAM. Bream are found in almost all the lakes and rivers of Europe as far northward as Norway. The rivers Trent and Medway are noted for this particular fish, which is very broad in its form, and has large scales. The sprightly Waller notices it as " A broad bream to please some curious taste." On the Continent this fish is in high request ; and " He that hath bream in his pond may bid his friend welcome," is a proverb quoted by Isaak Walton. A/Aire, three bream or, are the punning arms of Breame, an Essex family of some antiquity in that county. After the dissolution of the Cistercian Abbey at Stratford, King Henry VITT. granted the manor of East Ham, part of the monastical estate, to Richard Breame, Esq. who died in 1546, leaving a son Edward, whose heir, on his decease in 1558, was 90 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. his brother Arthur, whose son and successor, Giles Breame, Esq. on his death in 1621, left part of his estate for the foundation and endowment of almshouses and other charitable purposes. A monument to his memory is in the chancel of East Ham church. Gules, three bream hauriant argent, are the arms of De la Mare the name of an ancient family, which held Fisherton on the banks of the Avon in Wiltshire. Geffrey De la Mare, one of the early abbots of Peterborough, bore for arms, azure, three bream bendwise or. In Warburton's list of the arms of the gentry of Middlesex in 1749, are those of William Obreen, Esq. of Tottenham, of foreign extraction : per fess, azure and vert, in chief an armed knight on horseback in full career or, in base a fish naiant of the third, on waves of the first. The Somerset herald has not described the particular species of this fish, which doubtless was intended for a bream in allusion to the name. The Earl Mar- shal expressly commanded Warburton to prove satisfactorily the right of each person to the arms engraved on his map of Mid- dlesex, to the Garter King of Arms ; he then printed his autho- rities for all the arms, rather than submit entirely to the arbi- tration of one " so notoriously remarkable for knowing nothing at all of the matter." * This severe rebuke referred to Anstis, * Preface, page 2, of London and Middlesex Illustrated, by John Warburton, Somer- set Herald, F.R.S. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 91 the son of the celebrated Garter King of Arms mentioned by Prior. Coronets we owe to crowns And favour to a court's affection. By nature we are Adam's sons, And sons of Anstis by election. THE CHUB. Tins fish is very plentiful in the Wye, and the rivers of Wales, and The Chub, of all fish in the silver Trent, Invites the angler to the tournament, is a remark of Captain Richard Franck in his " Northern Me- moirs." It is also found in the Thames and many of the great rivers of England. The chub derives its name from its form, and is called a skelly in the North on account of its large scales. The scales of fish, composed of separate leaves placed above each other in successive layers, probably gave the idea of the scaled cuirass as defensive armour. Another name for the chub is chevin, derived from the French chef, the fish having a large head. Vert, three chub fish hauriant sable, are the arms of Chobb ; and, gules, on a chevron between three chub fish argent, three shovellers sable, on a chief dancette of the second three escallops of the first, are the arms of Chobbe, one of the quarterings borne by Lord Dormer of Wenge, and copied from a pedigree in his lordship's possession. The Dormer family, originally of Normandy, were seated at West Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, at a very early period. Geffrey Dormer, about 1440, married Eleanor, the daughter and 92 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. heiress of Thomas Chohbe. At the dissolution of the Abbey of St. Albans, the Dormers obtained the manor of Wenge or Wing, and held Ilmer, also in Buckinghamshire, by tenure of the ser- vice of Marshal of the King's Falcons ; whence are derived the supporters to their arms, two falcons ; and their crest, a hand gloved, bearing a falcon on the fist, in allusion to the office, formerly of considerable importance, when Barons of old, and Princes high Lov'd hawking as their lives. THE ROACH. Roach arc abundant in almost all the rivers of Europe. " Unwary roach the sandy bottoms choose," is expressive of the simplicity of this fish, which is termed the water-sheep. Swift says, If a gudgeon meet a roach He dare not venture to approach. This fish in old books of angling is named roche, and is of the highest antiquity as a charge in heraldry, where it is used by those families whose appellation De la Roche arose from their rocky territory. The phrase " sound as a roach, 11 is derived from familiarity with the legend of St. Roche, whose media- tion was implored by persons afflicted with the plague, and a be- lief which existed that the miraculous intercession of St. Roche could make all who solicited his aid as " sound " as himself. The Italian proverb, " E sano come il pesce," connecting the idea of health with a fish, has been translated "sound as a roach; 11 but the naturalist, who is acquainted with the particular species, will not admit the truth of the popular idea. Impressions of seals used during the lifetime of the persons to whom they belonged, are among the best authorities for armorial bearings ; these evidences deserve an attentive inspection, and supply an accurate test for determining the particular ensigns borne at a certain period, when appended to early deeds and (•barters of acknowledged authenticity. An instance of the he- raldic application of the roach is found on the seal used by Thomas Lord De La Roche, and affixed to the JJarons Letter to THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 93 Pope Boniface VIII. respecting tlie sovereignty of Scotland in the year 1301, one of the records preserved in the Chapter- house at Westminster.* . 2 Gules, three roach naiant in pale argent, are the arms of the family of De La Roche, who derived their name from an estate situated on the verge of St. Bride's Bay, on the coast of Pem- brokeshire. The remains of Roche Castle, founded by Adam De La Roche, about the year 1200, stand upon a very remark- able insulated rock of considerable height, and exhibit evidences of its former strength. Adam De La Roche, also founder of the Benedictine Priory of Pwll, near Milford Haven, was buried in the church of Llangwm, on the banks of the Cleddy, where his monument yet remains. The form of the shield, and the motto used upon seals, are both supposed to have depended upon the taste of the person to whom they belonged rather than upon any established principle. The motto used by the Roche family is one of those punning allusions to the name which at an early period were very com- mon, " Dieu est ma Roche ;" and the crest, having the same intent, is a rock. The usage of crests upon helmets in the cam}), may have been confined to persons of the highest rank ; but at a very early period it certainly was not unusual upon seals to place figures of animals on the top of the shield, in the manner of crests ; and supporters to the escutcheon were not * A document well known to the antiquary by the excellent commentary on the seals prefixed to it by Sir Harris Nicolas in the ArcliMologia, vol. xxi. 94 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. improbably introduced on the seals with the same intention, merely as an ornament, without being indicative of superior rank. The great possessions of the Lords of Roche Castle, in the county of Pembroke, fell at length to coheiresses. Ellen, the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas De La Roche, married Edmund Lord Ferrers of Chartley, in the reign of Henry VI, whose lineal representative is the Marquess Townshend, Elizabeth, the second daughter, married Sir George Longue- ville of Little Billing, in Northamptonshire, the ancestor of the Lords Grey De Ruthin and the Viscounts Longueville, whose representative is the Marchioness of Hastings, Lady Grey de Ru- thin by descent. The arms of Roche, formerly in one of the windows of St. David's Cathedral, are described by Browne Willis as those of an ancient and considerable family of Pem- brokeshire.* Sir John Dyve of Bromham, in Bedfordshire, the father of Sir Lewis Dyve, a distinguished royalist, was descended from the Lords De La Roche, through the family of Longueville : he died in 1608, and the arms upon his monument in Bromham church show his alliances by the quarterings, 1, Dyve; 2, Bray; 3, Quinton ; 4, Seywell ; 5, Longueville ; 6, Roche ; 7, Wylde ; 8, Ragon ; 9, Widvile ; 10, Hastings; 11, Apricc. The representation of the murder of St. Thomas a Becket, here copied from the official seal of Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Richard II, shows the knight about to slay the martyr, bearing a shield charged with three naiant fish, as borne by the Roche family.-f* The names of the four * Survey of the Cathedral of St. David's, 1715, p. ?>6. t The whole seal is engraved in the Archseologia, vol. xxvi. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 95 knights recorded in history as the murderers of Archbishop Becket, are Fitz-Urse, Tracy, Morvile, and Brito ; and al- though the subject has been often represented, no allusion to one of the Roche family as concerned in the Archbishop's death is known. The eccentric Sir Boyle Roche was a scion of a family of the name of Roche, Lords of Fermoy in Ireland, who were ennobled in the reign of Edward II. Gules, three roach naiant or, within a border engrailed ar- gent ; crest, on a rock a heron grasping a roach in its dexter claw, are the armorial ensigns of Sir David Roche of Carass, in the county of Limerick, and of Barnitick in the county of Clare, who was created Baronet 28 June 1838, one of the titles incident to the coronation of her present Majesty. Sable, three roach naiant in pale argent, are the arms of the family of De La Roche of Herefordshire. Azure, three roach naiant argent, within a border or, were the arms of Walter Roche of Bromham, in Wiltshire, whose daugh- ter Edith married Harry Tropenell of Chalfield : these are sculptured on the stone screen of the Tropenell chapel in the parish church. The arms of Tropenell, gules, a fess engrailed ermine, between three griffins'' heads erased argent, in several parts of the house at Chalfield, are accompanied by a yoke such as was used for oxen, the family badge, and the motto " Lejougtyra bellement, 11 which may be rendered, The yoke drew well, or, The yoke sat lightly, expressive either of the tenure under which the estate was held, or of the lord of the manor's devotion to agricultural pursuits. There are few more interesting examples of domestic 96 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. architecture in the kingdom than Chalfield House, which was built by Thomas Tropenell in the reign of Henry VI.* Sable, three roach naiant argent, are the arms of De Roche in Cornwall, a family which may be traced from the twelfth cen- tury, and who derived their name from the natural situation of their possessions at Roche, where a lofty group of craggy rocks, rising out of an open heath, forms a conspicuous and striking object to the surrounding country. Eva, the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard De Roche, married Sir Ralph Arundell, who was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1268, and was the ancestor of the Lords Arundell of Trerice, and the Lords Arundell of Wardour ; from him W. A. H. Arundell, Esq. of Lifton Park, Sheriff of Devonshire in 1841, is also descended. Another heiress of the family of De Roche married Sir William Blundell about 1357, who afterwards assumed the name and arms of Roche. His family continued in possession of the estate till the reign of Henry VIII, when it terminated in four co- heiresses, three of whom married into the families of Fortescue, Penkivil, and Boscawen. Roche, with its picturesque crags, is now the property of the Earl of Falmouth, who quarters the arms of Roche with those of Boscawen as typical of this descent. The family of Roach of Lezant, near Launceston, in Corn- wall, and of Wellcombe, in Devonshire, bears for arms, azure, three roach naiant in pale argent. Or, a bull passant gules, between three roach hauriant proper, a chief chequy or and azure, were the arms of Sir William Roche, son of John Roche of Wickersley, near Rothcrham in Yorkshire, and Lord Mayor of London in 1540. * An account of this ancient residence was printed by T. L. Walker in 1837, THE HERALDRY OF FTSH. 97 Argent, on a bond sable three roach of the field, are the arms of the family of Huyshe of Sand, in Devonshire ; and were as- sumed in the reign of Edward III. by Oliver Huyshe of Doni- ford, in Somersetshire, after his marriage with the daughter and heiress of Simon Roche. This family claim descent from the Wentworths of Booking, in Essex, who through the Spencers were descended from Joan of Acres, the daughter of King Edward I. Richard Huyshe, who lived in the reign of James I, and was distinguished for be- nevolence, founded the hospital at Taunton, which bears his arms on the porch. Alexander Huyshe, eminent in literature, assisted Bishop Walton in the publication of the celebrated Po- lyglott Bible in 1657. One of the circumstances incident to the revival of literature was the foundation of the Academy of Florence, which originated from a society fancifully termed " The Humides," each member being known in the community by the name of some particular fish, or by some appellation relative to water. Grazzini, a j)oet of some eminence, the projector of the society, called himself La Lasca, the roach ; other members were distinguished by the name of some piscatorial occupation. H 98 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. A swan, in pride, devouring a perch, is the crest of Sparke, a Cheshire family ; and a swan devouring a perch is also the crest borne by the family of Loch of Drylaw, in the county of Edin- burgh. The substitution of a roach would better agree with the natural character of the swan, whose food consists chiefly of the various grasses, with the seeds and roots of plants, growing on the margin of the water. A swan has been known to seize a roach, but the prickly fins of the perch might possibly prove its destruction. Gules, a chevron engrailed between three roach naiant argent, on a chief of the second, three herons sable, billed and membered gules, are the arms of the family of Hobbs of Middlesex, which bears for crest a demi heron volant sable, billed gules, holding in the bill a fish argent. Herons were royal game in the days of falconry. The bill is strong and very sharp, and when seeking its food on the banks of rivers this bird seizes the fish with great dexterity. The crest of the family of Beckford, a heron's head erased or, gorged with a collar flory gules, in the beak a fish argent, is one of those punning allusions to the name, Bee fort, shown to be frequent in heraldry. This family is believed to derive its name from the passage of a beck or stream dividing the counties of Worcester and Glou- cester near Tewkesbury. Horace William Bcckford succeeded as third Lord Rivers in 1828 ; the present peer, his son, has assumed the name of Pitt Rivers. A stork, with a fish in its bill, is the crest of the family of Bat- THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 99 tie of Wadsworth, near Halifax in Yorkshire. The stork, abun- dant in Holland and France, is not common in England. Dace and roach are very similar in appearance, but the former is comparatively more local than the roach. Dace do not occur in heraldry, yet being also known by the name of Dare, it is possible they may be typified in the arms of Dare of Norfolk ; sable, a chevron argent between three dolphins or, the general emblem of sea and river fish being here used. THE MINNOW. Most of the brooks and rivers of England produce minnows, beautiful little fish, swimming in shoals on the gravelly bottom of the stream : they are borne in arms by the family of Picton. Argent, three minnows, or pinks, in pale gules. It may be supposed when a number of fish appear as a charge, those of a small size are intended, as in the arms of Coupir : azure, a bend engrailed between six fishes hauriant argent. Minnows are so named in reference to their small size; and on account of the bright red colour that pervades the under parts of the fish, they are called pinks, a name by which the salmon of the first year are also known. The family of Fisher of Stafford, had a grant of arms in the reign of James I : or, a kingfisher proper ; the crest, a king- fisher with a fish in its beak. This splendid little bird, which is found in almost every part of the globe, sits near the margin of a streamlet on the watch for the minnow, or the smaller species of fish, fluttering its wings, and exposing its brilliant plumage to the sun ; or, hovering in the air, darts unerringly on the fish, and sometimes remains for a 2 100 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. several seconds under the water before it has gained the object of its pursuit. The quantity of minnows that a brood of young kingfishers will consume is quite extraordinary,* and this fish is, without doubt, intended in the crest of Fisher. It is to the brilliancy of its colours that this little bird is in- debted for the means of alluring its prey ; the fish, attracted by the brightness and splendour of its appearance, are detained whilst the wily bird darts upon them. From the similarity of the means used, it has been suggested that the mode of taking fish by torchlight may have originated from the practice of the kingfisher. Poets cherish the idea of perfect safety which the mariner attaches to the halcyon days : it is expressed in one of Cowpers similes : As calm as the flood When the peace-loving halcyon deposits her brood. When the kingfisher is engaged in hatching her young, the sea is believed to remain so calm that the sailor ventures his bark on the main with the happy certainty of not being exposed to a storm. Thus an interest is attached to Halcyons, of all the birds that haunt the main, Most lov'd and honor'd by the Nereid train. t THE LOACH. Tm.s fish, nearly the colour of the gndgeon, is wattled like the barbel, and is to be found in many rivulets; but the upper Avon, * Yarrell's History of British Birds. t Fawkes's Translation of Theocritus, seventh Idyl. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 101 which waters the plains of Wiltshire, is more celebrated for its loach than other streams. On the hanks of this river, a little below Amesbury, is Durneford ; and it appears most probable that the particular produce of the river was alluded to in the arms of Walter de Durneford, in the reign of Edward III, azure, three fish naiant in pale argent. A family of the name of Dernford bear, azure, two fish hauri- ant or ; and another Dernford, azure, three fish, the tails of two in chief, and the head of one in base or, all meeting in the centre of the shield or nombril point. The introduction of surnames into France and England was nearly coeval ; that is, about the tenth or eleventh century. The assumption was at first confined to the higher orders of society ; as a distinction It was not framed for village churls, But for high dames and mighty earls. The most customary source whence names were derived seems to have been from manors, the lords of which having originally inserted the preposition de between their christian name and local denomination, by degrees sunk it, thus forming the surnames of the present day. The prevalence of this class of names is accounted for from the vassals and dependants following the example of their lords, and styling themselves of the castle, town, or village wherein they resided. Thus arbitrarily assumed, surnames were changed and altered at the pleasure of the bearer ; and they can scarcely be said to have been permanently settled in this country until the era of the Reformation.* * Remarks on the Antiquity of Surnames, by J. II. Markland, Esq. F.S.A. in Arclue- ologia, vol. xviii. In the Roll of Battle Abbey, the addition to the christian name is used. 102 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. IV. €i)t ©fiafiot, <£urnarfcf, iWullet, anfc bereft* The Chabot of heraldry is a species of bullhead found in almost all the fresh-water streams of Europe from Italy to Sweden. The fish is remarkable for the large size of its head, and is also known by the name of the miller's thumb, which being used as the gauge of the produce of the mill and to test the quality of the flour, incessant action produces a form resembling the flattened head of this fish. The chabot is always borne in pale, the head being in chief, and the back of the fish shown. Or, three chabots gules, are the arms of the ancient house of Chabot. Philip Chabot, Count of Ncwblanch, and Lord Admiral of France, was elected a Knight of the Garter at Calais, where a chapter was held during a second interview between King Henry VIII. and Francis I. in 1532. Henry, accompanied by the Lady Anne Uoleyn, who had been created Marchioness of Pembroke, landed at Calais on the 11th of October, where he was honour- THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 103 ably received with a procession ; and on the 20th of the same month the two kings met in a valley near Sandyfield, between Calais and Boulogne. The ostensible design of this interview was to concert measures for a joint expedition against the Turks ; but the real intention was, by alarming the Pope and the Em- peror, to accelerate King Henry's divorce.* Philip, Count of Newblanch, was afterwards installed, 18 May 1533, by proxy, in the stall formerly occupied by Sir Henry Guldeford, whose collar was, by the King's command, given to the Earl of Suffolk, in exchange for that borrowed by the King from the Earl at Calais, which was delivered to Sir Philip Cha- bot, the Admiral of France. -f* Lady Isabella Charlotte Fitz-Gerald, the daughter of William Robert Duke of Leinster, married in 1809 Major-General Louis William Viscount de Chabot, K.C.H. the son of the Count de Jarnac, who bears the same arms : or, three chabots gules. Azure, three chabots or, scaled and shaded of the field, with a crescent in chief of the second, are the arms of the family of Chabot an Maine ; J and that of Rouxel of Britany bears, azure, three chabots argent. THE GURNARD. This fish, common on the English coast, is borne in heraldry by an ancient family of the name of Gornay : azure, a bend or, between three gurnards naiant argent. There are several species, grey, red, and the piper, which last is distinguished by the large size of the head, and on this account the species is named bull-head. The peculiar quaintness of heraldic composition is not in any instance more forcibly shown than in the arms of Gorney, where, in extension of the pun, a bull's head is used as a charge, in accordance with the common name of the gurnard. This figurative delineation of the name exhibits a whimsical turn of thought perfectly in unison with the literary habits of the Elizabethan period, where the conceit is often difficult to discover through the veil that is cast over it. * Original Letters, 1 824, vol. ii. p. 22. The notes by Sir Henry Ellis, as well as the Letter-, themselves, are found to throw new light on various passages of English history. t Austis's Register of the Order of the Garter. + Palliot. 104 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Although the heraldic devices are perfectly susceptible of alle- gorical illustration, yet, by too minute inquiry into the details, the deficiency of correct taste sometimes found, will dissolve the charm which captivates ; and it must be admitted that the more fanciful conceptions are not of a nature to be closely scrutinized. Some branches of the family of Gorney bear for arms, sable, three bulls' heads erased argent, a play upon the common name of the fish, which is varied in other branches of the same family, who bear, sable, a chevron between three bulls"' heads cabossed or, the heads in this instance being full-faced without any part of the neck being visible. Bull is commonly used to express the large comparative size of any species, as the bull-trout of Northumberland are said by Walton to be larger than any found in the southern parts of the kingdom. The family of Gurney of Norwich bears for arms, argent, a cross engrailed gules ; but their crest exhibits the usual play upon the name, a gurnard erect upon a chapeau. John Gurney of that city, in the reign of Charles II, was the intimate friend and supporter of George Fox, the founder of the society of Quakers. His descendant, Hudson Gurney, Esq. F.ll.S. Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries, is author of a poetical translation of Apuleius's Fable of Cupid and Psyche : his observations on the Bayeux Tapestry are also printed in the Archajologia. In Cornwall the gurnard is known as the tub fish, and is borne in heraldry by the family of Tubbe of Trengoffe, in the parish of Warleggan, near Bodmin : argent, a chevron sable, between three tub fish hauriant gules : crest, an otter passant, in his mouth a tub fish; granted in 1571. These arms are painted in one of the chambers of Court, a mansion at Lanreath, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 105 near Fowey, formerly the seat of the family of Grylls ; they are also displayed amongst the benefactors of St. Neot's church, celebrated for the profusion and beauty of its stained glass. The windows of this church underwent a complete restoration at the expence of the Rev. Gervase T. Grylls, of Helston, in 1829. One contains the history of St. Neot, the pious sacristan of Glas- tonbury Abbey, in twelve compartments ; perhaps the only in- stance of the legend of a local saint so represented, and one of the most splendid specimens of stained glass in the kingdom. The hermit's fish-pond, now remaining in the valley near his cell, afforded materials for one of the legendary tales represented in the window. In this pool there Avere three fishes, of which Neot had Divine permission to take one, and only one, every day, with an assurance that the supply should never be diminished. Being afflicted with a severe indisposition, his disciple Barms one day caught two fishes, and having boiled one and broiled the other, placed them before him : " What hast thou done V ex- claimed Neot ; " lo, the favour of God deserts us ; go instantly and restore these fishes to the water. ,, While Barius was absent Neot prostrated himself in earnest prayer, till he returned with the intelligence that the fishes were disporting in the pool. Barius again went and took only one fish, of which Neot had no sooner tasted, than he was restored to perfect health.* History of St. Moot's, in Huntingdonshire, by the Rev. G. C. Gorhain, p. 32. 106 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE MULLET. The Mullet of English heraldry is not the far-famed fish so called, but a bearing in form of the rowel of a spur, which is of very ancient and general adaptation.* In France, the red mullet, a fish which is common in the Mediterranean, formed a charge in the arms of the family of Roujou ; argent, a rouget, or red mullet, in pale. The arms of the family of Raoul, also an example of this fish, are, azure, a mullet, with four annulets, three in chief and one in base, argent. It is evident that the grey mullet is the fish intended to be represented in some British crests described as a hawk or eagle preying on a fish. The osprey, or sea-eagle, said to have been formerly trained for hawking fish, is termed the mullet hawk, and on this account the bird is represented with a grey mullet in its claw in Mr. YarrelFs History of British Birds. In the title-page of Mr. L. W. Dillwyns valuable contri- butions towards a History of Swansea, 1840, is an engraving of the ancient seal of the corporation, which is described as a castle double towered, on each tower a banner, above on a shield an eagle rising with a fish, the tail end in its mouth. It is, how- ever, suspected that the bird on the seal is not an osprey, but a swan, borne in allusion to the name of the town, Swansea, pun- ning heraldry being common on town seals and in the arms granted to corporate bodies. Sue the arms of Fitz-Jumc?, \>. 40, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 107 The crest of Moult, a fish naiant azure, spotted or, may be intended for the mullet, or perhaps the smolt, a young salmon. Crest, on a fish a sparrow-hawk, borne by Levesque, would have been better designated by the osprey. A hawk perching 1 on a fish is the crest of Grandford ; and that of Edridge is a hawk on its prey. The numerous species of the falcon tribe are found in almost every part of the world, from the frigid to the torrid zone. The larger birds feed on fish, and seldom devour the whole, but, like the lions, leave the fragments to other animals. The family of Hanbowe bears for crest an eagle with wings expanded and inverted, on a dolphin. The heraldic mullet has occasioned much disquisition on the origin of the word, supposed to be derived from molette, and French heralds admit six points to the star so denomi- nated. In the earliest rolls of arms it is called a mole, and a molet, whether pierced or not ; and in .some of the seals * at- tached to the Barons' 1 Letter, the bearing is represented with six points. On a seal of William Clinton Earl of Huntingdon in 1387, the mullet in the arms has the same number. A change in the form from six to five points seems to have taken place in England in the beginning of the fifteenth century ; and it is known that the spur-rowel, to which the mullet is compared, was never of five points before the time of King Charles I, nor indeed of six points before that of King Henry VI. Previously the spur was furnished with a rouelle, or little wheel, sometimes ser- rated ; facts which can be proved by reference to the collection * Seals attached to the letter from the Barons of England to Pope Boniface VIII. in the year 1301, engraved by order of the Society of Antiquaries in 1729. 108 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. of ancient armour at Goodrich Court, in Herefordshire, the seat of Sir Samuel Meyrick.* The Boke of St. Alban's-f- calls this bearing macula, whence it has been supposed to represent a meteor rather than a spur- rowel. Guillim gives another derivation, and says, " others think that heralds have borrowed this word mullet from a kind of fish so called, not that which is usually known by that name, but another, not unlike in shape to the figure used in armoury, found upon the sands at the ebbing of the sea, and called a five- finger, but anciently known by the name of mullet.'" The sea-star here alluded to, is mentioned in Bishop Sprat's History of the Royal Society. j It is said that the Admiralty Court laid a penalty on those engaged in the oyster fishery " who do not tread under their feet, or throw upon the shore, a fish called five-finger, resembling a spur-rowel, because that fish gets into the oyster when they gape and sucks them out. ,, Without admitting that the heraldic charge is derived from the starfish, which it appears once bore the name of mullet, it may not be improper to mention that its form is shown in the arms of the noble families of Douglas, Vere, St. John, Ash- burnham, Bonvile, Sutherland, and in the arms of the episcopal see of Bangor. A work on Starfishes was published by John Henry Link, F.R.S. a naturalist of Leipsic, in 1733 ; but this class of fish remained little known in England : recently a History of British Starfishes, by Mr. E. Forbes, has proved of extraordinary in- terest by his mode of treating the subject. In this valuable addition to Natural History, the figure of the Butthorn, of the genus Asterias, is found to resemble closely the mullet of English heraldry. * Plate LXXX. of the engraved illustrations published by J. Skelton in 1830. t Printed in 1486. J Printed in 1667. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 109 THE PERCH. The Perch, among fish, presents the greatest perfection of form : its colours are brilliant and striking, and it is second only to the pike in boldness and voracity. There is scarcely a river or lake of any extent in Great Britain where " the bright eyed perch with fins of Tyrian dye,' 1 '' is not abundant. In heraldry the perch very rarely is used. One of the families of the name of Oldfield bears three perches as an armorial distinction. The crest representing a swan devouring a perch has been shown to be contrary to the known habits of that bird : * heralds are generally careful enough to avoid an anomaly in their de- signs, but in transcribing the blazon from a painted shield the particular description offish might easily be mistaken. The best artists have not always been employed, but it is well known that, both in execution and design, considerable ability has been occasionally exerted in the composition of heraldic subjects. The arms, carved about the Elizabethan period, in one of the rooms of Eockingham Castle, in North- amptonshire, are perhaps the finest specimens extant of masterly skill in armorial embellishment. In ancient sculpture, accord- ing to the poets, the representation of fish was most perfect. Martial has paid an elegant little compliment to the chief of sculptors :— Mark Phidias' fish, group'd by yon stony brim, Add but a drop of water, and they swim. The river Yare, in Norfolk, abounds with the ruffe, a beau- tiful little fish, which is peculiar to it,*f- of the same class and closely allied to the perch. A fountain charged with a fish in the crest of Yarrell, is, on account of the name, presumed to be intended for a type of the Yare, and its peculiar produce, the ruffe. The credit of the discovery of the ruffe or pope, with which Cuvier commences his division of the " Percoid fishes, 11 is assigned to the learned Dr. Caius, or Kaye, physician to Queen Eliza- beth, who found it first in the river Yare, near Norwich. The colours of the ruffe are golden green, inclining to olive brown on the back, and silvery towards the belly. * Vide p. 98. + History of Yarmouth, 1770. 110 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. In form fish are the most varied beings in the creation ; and fancy can scarcely depict a shape to which a resemblance will not be found : they are of enormous bulk, or of the most graceful appearance, but among all, the characteristic shape of the fish may be traced. It is also remarked by naturalists that the bony structure of fish is best exhibited in the skeleton of the perch ; the characters of the different genera are in some measure taken from the form of the bones in the head, but the lowest rank in our systems is allotted to fish in the scale of vertebrated animals. In the vast range of heraldry the skeletons of fish are assumed as armorial bearings by families of Germany and Switzerland. Gules, two skeletons of fish, in saltier argent ; with the very appropriate crest, an otter sejant, are borne by the family of Gradel, of Borden, in Bavaria.* The Counts of Windischgratz, of the Bench of Franconia, quartered with their own paternal arms those of Gradner : gules, the back-bone of a fish in bend sinister or. The old nobility of Germany, constituting the Benches, or Colleges of the Counts, were petty sovereigns, had numerous vassals, and differed little from the ancient Barons of England. At an early period architects, as well as heralds, availed them- selves of the fish skeleton as an ornament : a kind of angular masonry, called herring-bone work, is one of the discriminat- ing features of a particular date. In the erection of Castleton, Colchester, Guildford, and other ancient castles, the Norman masons showed great ingenuity in laying their materials upon their edges in such a way as to offer combinations resembling Si1)machor 1 s Wapcnbnch, 1(505. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Ill the spinous bones of a fish, termed herring-bone work, like the opus reticulatum of the Romans, and the zigzag meshes of a fishing-net. In consequence of the productiveness of the Dutch fishery it is proverbially said that the city of Amsterdam is founded on herrin "-bones. Sable, a skeleton of a fish embowed argent, are the arms of Von Praromon, a Swiss family. There is something in the assumption of a skeleton for an ensign that suggests the idea of oppression to which the less powerful were subjected. In Swit- zerland every variety of feudal right was early found and long preserved : and it is the remark of an elegant historian, that although the affairs of the Swiss occupy a very small space in the great chart of European history, in some respects they are more interesting than the revolutions of mighty kingdoms.* At the beginning of the seventeenth century an instance of the spirit and temper with which feudal claims were pursued is found in France. Peter de Bourdeilles (better known by the name of Brantome, of which he was Abbot), Lord and Baron of Riche- mont, Chevalier, Gentleman of the Chamber to King Charles IX. and Henry III, and Chamberlain to the Duke of Alencon, hav- ing instituted a law-suit against a citizen for refusing to swear fealty and homage to him as seigneur ; and foreseeing that he could not live to the end of the suit, bequeathed his wrath by will to his heirs, ordering them to pursue " ce petit galant, sprung from a mean family, and whose grandfather had been a notary ;" thus overwhelming the citizen with his nobility, and leaving him to be dealt with by his successors. * Hallam's Middle Ages. \ 112 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. flT&e Salmon, €rout, Smelt, an& CKragltng, foftij tittv enemg tfie <&tttx* In no country of the world are the salmon fisheries so exten- sive, or their value of so much importance as in Great Britain. The fisheries in the rivers Severn and Wye are noticed in the Domesday Survey. In the Severn the salmon are of the finest quality ; the river from Shropshire proceeds in its course to Worcester, thence to Gloucester, below which the estuary as- sumes the name of the Bristol Channel. The earliest salmon that comes in season to London is brought from the Severn. Gules, three salmon hauriant argent, allusive to the produce of this river, are borne for arms by a family of the name of Gloucester. Another family of the name of Gloucester bears, azure, a fess argent, in chief two leopards 1 faces or, and in base a salmon hauriant of the second. The manor of Berkeley, one of the largest in the kingdom, includes the fishery of the Severn ; and the Lords Berkeley had the sole right of salmon fishing. A fishery of considerable extent belonged to the Abbot of St. Augustine's at Bristol, a monastery which was founded by the Lord of Berkeley in the reign of Stephen.* * Atkyns's History of Gloucestershire. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 113 The seal of the Lord of Berkeley, in the reign of Edward III, bears his arms with a merman and mermaid supporting the shield. On the monument, at Wooton-under-edge, of Thomas Lord Berkeley, who died in 1417, he is represented in armour, with a collar of mermaids, denoting his maritime jurisdiction.* The high value and importance of fisheries was acknowledged in the earliest periods : in Egypt, those of the river Nile were free to the public, but the fisheries on the canals connected with the Nile and the lake Mceris formed part of the hereditary domains of the crown. These fisheries, it appears, daily paid a large tribute to the royal treasury during the six months in which the water flowed through the canal into the lake ; and during the other six months a smaller sum, forming a branch of revenue appropriated to the queens of Egypt as pin-money. -f- Kingston-upon-Thames, a residence and place of coronation of several Anglo-Saxon monarchs of England, bears a type of pri- vilege of fishery upon the town seal. By charter of Philip and Mary, a fishing weir is held by the corporation of Kingston in consideration of repairing the bridge, which was formerly of wood, but has been lately rebuilt with stone, and the emblems of their privilege, three salmon, are sculptured over the centre arch. The river Eowey traverses some of the pleasant parts of Corn- wall, forming a valley above the town of Lostwithiel, in which the remains of Hestormel Castle are finely surrounded with wood. >; Engraved in Hollis's Monumental Effigies. t Athenaeum, 1837, on the arts of the Egyptians. 114 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The right of fishery in the Fowey belonged to the manor of the ancient Earls of Cornwall, whose seat was Restormel Castle, and whose stannary court for the tin mines was in the town. The seal of Lostwithiel, about the time of King Henry IV, shows the castle and the fish, indicative of the feudal rights of the earldom. In reference to the noted produce of the Tweed, the royal burgh of Peebles bears for arms, vert, three salmon counter naiant in pale argent, with the motto, Contra nando ineremen- tum, in allusion to the benefit derived to the town from the pro- gress of the salmon up the stream to deposit their spawn. Lanark, a royal burgh on the Clyde, one of the finest rivers of Scotland, bears two salmon naiant, with other charges, in the arms of the corporation. The principal salmon rivers in Scotland are, the Tay, the Don, the Spey, the Brora, and the Awe ; the quantity of fish killed is immense, no less than fifty thousand salmon are said to have been taken in the river Tay in the course of one year. A very productive salmon fishery at Helmsdale in Sutherlandshire, is one of the ancient privileges of that earldom ; and on the banks of this rapid stream are the remains of a tower built by Margaret Countess of Sutherland in the fifteenth century, one of those marks of regality of which time has left so few in Great Britain, even to the most powerful families. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 115 The Lords of the Isles, highland chieftains, descendants of Somerled, hear arms indicative of the produce of the hays and creeks in their domain : quarterly, 1st, argent, a lion rampant gules; 2nd, or, a hand in armour, holding a cross crosslet fitchy gules ; 3rd, or, a lymphad, or fishing vessel, with sails furled sahle ; 4th, vert, a salmon naiant argent. The ancient Lords of the Isles are now represented by the Lord Macdonald, whose chief seat is at Armidale in the Isle of Skye, one of the largest of the Hebrides, in which are several rivers containing abundance of salmon and trout. Most of the Irish rivers and lakes abound in salmon ; the royal piscary of Banne, in the comity of Londonderry, is re- markably productive. In the year 1776 the salmon fishery on the river Banne proved extraordinarily successful, the take of one net at one drag was in that season one thousand four hundred and fifty-two fish, the largest hawl on record.* The town seal of Coleraine, situated upon the eastern bank of the lower Banne, shows the fish as an object of importance. The famous salmon leap on the Banne, at Castle Roe mill, is a fall of about seven feet, but at low stream only five feet. The O'Neills, claiming descent from Milesius, are among the most ancient of the original families of Ireland. Conn O'Neill the chief, on disclaiming the title of Prince, and submitting to the English crown, was created Earl of Tyrone, at Greenwich, * Notes on Nets, a very curious and instructive work upon the subject, by the Hon. and Rev. Charles Bathurst, LL.D. i 2 116 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. by King Henry VIII, in 1543. His son, Matthew O'Neill, in the same year was created Lord Dungannon, a title derived from the name of the ancient castle and residence of the lords of Ulster, the most northerly division of Ireland. It stood on the banks of one of the tributaries to the Blackwater, a river of the county of Antrim, famed for its salmon equally with the Erne and the Banne : the latter river flows into Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland, and stored with salmon. On its banks is Shane's Castle, the seat of General Earl O'Neill, Vice-Admiral of the coast of Ulster. The arms of this family are, per fess wavy, the chief argent, charged with a sinister hand gules, the base water, therein a salmon naiant. The red hand of Ireland, the device of the ancient Lords of Ulster, was granted to baronets, on the institution of the order, as a symbol of the assistance afforded to King James in sub- duing the elan O'Neill, and in the reduction of that province. Gules, three salmon naiant or, are the arms of Sir Richard Keane, Baronet, of Cappoquin in the county of Waterford ; the same arms, surmounted by a chief, on which is a view of a for- tress, are borne by General the Bight Honourable Lord Keane of Ghusnu, in Affghanistan, G.C.B. and G.C.H. Ord is a name implying edge or border, of which the Ord of Caithness, on the border of Sutherlandshire, is a prominent in- stance. There are several manors called Ord on the banks of the Tweed, a boundary stream celebrated for salmon ; its pro- duce is typified in the arms of the Ord family of Northumber- land, from which are descended several considerable branches besides that of Ord of Fenham. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 117 Sable, throe salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Orel of Fishburn, in the bishopric of Durham, ancestors of the late Craven Ord, Esq. of Greenstead Hall in Essex, F.R.S. The same arms, sable, three salmon hauriant argent, are borne by Sir John Powlett Orde, Baronet : of this family was Thomas Orde, Esq. Secretary to the Treasury, who married Jane Mary, the daughter of Charles Duke of Bolton, and assumed the name of Powlett on succeeding to the ducal estate. In 1797 he was created Lord Bolton. The present nobleman bears the original arms of Powlett : sable, three swords in pile argent, hilted or, with the addition 118 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. of a canton to show liis paternal descent ; argent, charged with a shield sable, bearing a salmon hauriant. Crest, a falcon rising or, the breast and each wing charged with an estoile gules, and gorged with a ducal coronet azure, in the beak a salmon. The Seigneur Du Bartas, in his Commentary of the Week of Creation, notices the ascent of various fish to the rivers in spring.* So dainty salmons, clievins thunder-scar'd, Feast-famous sturgeons, lampreys spcckle-starr'd, In the spring season the rough seas forsake, And in the rivers thousand pleasures take. The arms of the family of Sea of Underdown, near Canter- bury, seem to be derived from the known habits of the salmon : argent, a salmon hauriant between two flanches azure, each charged with three bars wavy of the field. Crest, two lobsters 1 claws erect gules, each holding a fish argent. Salmon pass the summer in the sea, or near the mouth of an estuary, and in winter inhabit fresh water : many provincial couplets relate the time when the descent of the fish to the sea takes place ; late in June the fry are rarely observed in the rivers. The last spring-floods that happen in May, Carry the salmon fry down to the sea. Translated liv Sylvester. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 119 Iii the months of July and August these very fry, or smolts, come up as grilses to the same rivers which they left in May, and in this state they remain until December, when they revisit the sea, and upon their next return to the fresh waters they appear as perfect salmon. As the salmon ascend the rivers their progress forward is not easily stopped. These fish shoot up the rapids with the velocity of arrows, and make very wonderful efforts to surmount cascades and other impediments to their advance by leaping, frequently clearing an elevation of not less than ten feet, and having gained the water above pursue their course. It is this property of the salmon which is alluded to in the arms of the family of Way, a name implying passage, or power of progression, possessed in so remarkable a degree by the salmon, which frequent almost every sea, and traverse the whole length of the largest rivers. There are several profitable fisheries on the Rhine, which abounds with salmon ; one is near Basle in Switzerland, above four hundred miles from the sea, an extraordinary run for the fish, which must pass, in their passage from the North Sea, the cities of Levden, Utrecht, Cologne, Coblentz, Mayence, Worms, Manheim, Spire, and Strasburg. Azure, three salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Way, of Denham Place, in Buckinghamshire, a family which came originally from the banks of the Wey, a river of Dorsetshire, and acquired the manor of Denham by descent. On the monument at Acton, in Middlesex, of J. Raymond Way, Esq. who died in 1 804, the fish are sculptured on the shield as in the arms of Ord,* being a variation from the original coat. Gules, a chevron or, between three salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Way of Devonshire. * Vide page 1 1 7. 120 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The produce of the river has sometimes given name to the stream. Braddan, in the Isle of Man, is known as Kirk Salmon, being- situated on a river abounding with that fish two miles from Douglas, where it falls into the sea and forms the harbour, one of the best in the Irish Channel. In America the river Salmon is one of the branches of the Connecticut, the largest river in New England. Salm, the German word for salmon, is the name of several scignories of the empire on the borders of the river Salm, one of the tributaries of the Moselle. Salmon are here borne as terri- torial ensigns in reference to the name of the fief. Gules, semee of cross crosslets or, two salmon addorsed argent, are the arms, and two salmon addorsed, tails upward, argent, are borne as a crest by the Princes of Upper Salm, in Lorraine, descended from the Wildgraves and Khingraves of Daun and Kyrburg, feudal titles, which attest the antiquity of German families. The Wildgraves were Counts of the forest of Ardennes ; the Rhingraves were Counts of scignories on the banks of the Rhine, whose territories differing in extent, they equally, within their demesnes, exercised the rights of sovereignty. In reference to this feudal constitution of the empire, Charles V. remarked that in other dominions he was obeyed by subjects, but in Ger- THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 121 many lie commanded kings. A similar expression had been previously applied to Charles Martel, from whom the Carlovinian, or second race of kings of France, derive their descent. C'est co Martel, le Prince dc Francois, Non Roy de nom, mais le maister des Roys. The Princes of Salm are descended from Philip Otto, who was made a Prince of the Empire in 1623, and claim alliance with the royal family of England through the grand-daughter of Frederic, the Elector Palatine, and the Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I. The same arms and crest * are borne by the Counts of Lower Salm, or Salm Reifferschied, lineally descended from Loherus, Duke of the Moselle, and the Dukes of Limburg, whose ancient castle at Salm crowns the summit of a hill. In France salmon arc borne in heraldry as a play upon the personal designation. Sable, fretty argent, on a chief gules a salmon naiant or, are the arms of Salmon. Another French family of the same name bear, azure, a chevron or, between three salmon hauriant. The name of Salmon is not uncommon in England, and almost every one of that name, from early periods and entitled to bear arms, assumed the fish as a family device. John Salmon, Prior of Ely, afterwards Lord Chancellor to King Edward II. and Bishop of Norwich, built the episcopal palace about 1320, and also a chapel at the west end of the cathedral at Norwich. He died at Folkstone in 1325. Thomas Salmon, Abbot of Cerne in Dorsetshire, rebuilt the gatehouse of that abbey in 1509, which is enriched with his arms, the arms of the abbey, and with the royal badges of the house of Tudor. Sable, three salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Salmon of Finningley, in Nottinghamshire. The same arms are upon a monument in the church of Leigh in Essex, in memory of Ilobert Salmon, one of the Masters of the Trinity House, who died in 1G11 ; also on a mural tablet in the chancel of Wadhurst church in Sussex, in memory of the Rev. Wil- liam Salmon, who died in 1830. The family of Salmon of Willaston Hall, Nantwich, in Cheshire, bear the fish gold ; that of Salmon, in Yorkshire, bear the field red and the fish * Sibmacher's Wapenbuch, 1C05. 122 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. white : and other families of the same name bear only two fish hauriant. Thomas Salmon, M.A. Rector of Meppershall in Bedfordshire, was the father of Thomas, the author of an historical account of St. George and the Order of the Garter in 1704, and of Natha- niel Salmon, the historian of Hertfordshire. The family of Salmond retains the fish only in the crest, a salmon naiant or ; that of Salmine bears for arms, gules, two salmon hauriant addorsed argent. Azure, on a fess or, three roses gules between three salmon hauriant argent ; crest, an arm erect, vested bendy or and azure, holding in the hand a demi-fish azure, are the arms of the family of Knight of the city of Gloucester. Sable, a chevron ermine between three salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Cater of Kempston, in Bedford- shire, and that of Cater of Papworth Agnes, in Huntingdonshire. A Cater is a purveyor ; and, in allusion to the name, salmon were possibly chosen for arms, as forming an important part of a great entertainment. A Roman tessera, bearing two fish in saltier, an invitation ticket to a feast, is engraved in Montfaucon's Antiquities.* Salmon chines boiled, was one of the dishes in the first course, consisting offish, at Archbishop Nevile's dinner. * Vol. iii. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 12:3 One dish in each course was the standard ; and at a fish feast to knights, clerks, and esquires, during Lent, in the thirteenth century, the standard was half a salmon with the chine. Other dishes at the same feast were, a fresh conger, three fat pikes, five fat eels, and twenty-seven fat roaches, half a hundred lam- prouns, and oysters. Sometimes the standard was only an orna- ment ; St. George, the griffin, Sec. are named as standards ; and it may he remarked that the painted temples decorated with sweetmeats, which still make their appearance at city feasts, are the successors to the standard at the tables of our an- cestors.* Gules, two salmon hauriant argent, are the arms of the family of Sammes ; and azure, three salmon naiant in pale argent, are the arms of that of Sambrooke. Sir Jeremy Sambrooke having married Judith the sister of Sir Nicholas Vanacker, Baronet, of Erith in Kent, succeeded to the Baronetcy, according to the terms of the patent granted by King William III. in 1700. His son, Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, Bart, of Gobions, in Hertfordshire, died in 1754, when the title became extinct. Several monuments of this family are in the church of North Mims. The Earl of Lichfield bears the arms of Sambrooke, azure, three salmon naiant argent, quartered with those of Anson, argent, three bends gules, to show his descent from this family. Sambrooke Adams, Esq. of Sambrooke, in Shropshire, on the borders of Staffordshire, married Janette, sister of the distin- guished Admiral Lord Anson ; and on the death of his lordship's brother Thomas in 1770, their estate devolved to his nephew, * The daily expences of a person of rank in the thirteenth century, printed by the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. in the Retrospective Review. 124 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. George Anson, Esq. the father of Thomas Viscount Anson, whose son, Thomas William Viscount Anson, was created Earl of Lichfield in 1831. Argent, three fish naiant in pale sahle, are the arms of the family of Welsh ; and, gules, two fish in saltier argent, are the arms of the family of Sevington. These fish are prohahly in- tended for sewins, which are slightly dissimilar to salmon, and are abundant in the streams of the southern part of Wales, whence they are commonly termed Welsh salmon.* An offering of fish was claimed and allowed to the Abbot of St. Peter's Westminster, for several centuries, on the plea that St. Peter had granted the tithe of all salmon caught in the Thames at the time he consecrated the church. The extent of this claim over the river, made by the abbot on the part of the convent, was equal to that of the present jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, from Yantlet creek to Staines bridge ; and among many causes assigned for the scarcity of salmon in the Thames in more modern times, it was believed that the fishermen not having made their customary offering to St. Peter was the principal. -J- In the arms of the city of Glasgow, and in those of the ancient see, a salmon with a ring in its mouth is said to record a miracle of St. Kentigcrn, the founder of the see, and the first Bishop of Glasgow. On the reverse of Bishop Wishart^s seal in the reign of Edward II, this supposed allusion to the legendary story of St. Kentigern appears for the first time.| Some of the early Bishops of Glasgow displayed the figure of * Hansard's Trout and Salmon fishing in Wales, p. 1!!. + Rrayley's History of Westminster Abbey. J Ancient Burgh Records of Glasgow, 1832. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 125 a salmon, either on the sides of, or below the shield of arms on their seals, a circumstance which may be accounted for, with- out reference to a miracle, as depicting the produce of the Clyde. The revenue of the church of Glasgow at the Reformation, in- cluded one hundred and sixty-eight salmon, arising from the franchise or fishery in that river. John Cameron, Lord Privy Seal to King James I. of Scotland, and Bishop of Glasgow in 1426, bore on his episcopal seal the figure of St. Kentigern in a tabernacle, below which are his paternal arms, three bars, having a salmon with a ring in its mouth on either side of the shield, which is surmounted by the mitre. The ring is perhaps a type of the annular money current among the Britons. The diocese of Glasgow was erected into an Archbishopric in 1491, with Galloway, Argyll, and the Isles as suffragans. James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow and Abbot of Dumferm- line, the uncle of Cardinal Beaton, died Primate of Scotland in 1539. Many munificent marks of his public spirit and piety long resisted time, and remained after the cathedral ceremonies had been deserted for the plain offices of the kirk of Scotland. On the Avails of the Episcopal Palace, or Castle of Glasgow, were sculptured the arms of Beaton, azure, a fess between three mascles or, quartered with Balfour, argent, on a chevron sable an otter's head erased of the first, and below the shield a salmon with a ring in its mouth, as represented on the seals of his predecessors. Another Archbishop Beaton refounded the Scotch College at Paris in 1603, where, on a monument to his memory, are his arms, surmounted by the episcopal hat, and beneath the shield the fish and ring, the emblem of the see of Glasgow. In more recent times, Archbishop Cairncross, in 1684, bore the arms of the see impaled with his paternal coat. The anus of the city of Glasgow are those of the former see, argent, on a mount a tree with a bird on a branch to the dexter, and a bell pendent on the sinister side, the stem of the tree sur- mounted by a salmon in fess having in its mouth a gold ring. " The legend of the fish and the ring," says the Rev. Dr. Dibdin,* " is extant in well nigh every chap-book in Scotland ; old Spotswood is among the earliest historians who garnished up the dish from the Latin monastic legends, and Messrs. Smith, 8 In ;i note to his Northern Tour, p. 694. 126 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. M'Lellan, and Cleland, have not failed to quote his words. They report of St. Kentigern, that a lady of good place in the country having' lost her ring as she crossed the river Clyde, and her husband waxing jealous, as if she had bestowed the same on one of her lovers, she did mean herself unto Kentigern, entreating his help for the safety of her honour ; and that he, going to the river after he had used his devotion, willed one who was making to fish to bring the first that he caught, which was done. In the mouth of this fish he found the ring, and sending it to the lady, she was thereby freed of her husband's suspicion. The credit of this I believe" (continues the same author) "upon the reporters ; but, however it be, the see and city of Glasgow do both of them bear in their arms a fish with a ring in its mouth even to this day. 11 The classical tale of 1'olycrates, related by Herodotus a thou- sand years before the time of St. Kentigern, is perhaps the earliest version of the fish and the ring, which has been often repeated with variations. The ring, Herodotus says, was an emerald set in gold and beautifully engraved, the work of Theo- doras the Samian ; and this very ring, Pliny relates, was pre- served in the Temple of Concord at Home, to which it was given by the Emperor Augustus. The device of the fish and the ring THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 127 is engraved in M. Claude Paradin's Heroical Devices as an emblem of uninterrupted prosperity.* In the koran of Mahomet the legend of the ring and its re- covery by means of a fish is introduced. " Solomon entrusted his signet with one of his concubines, which the devil obtained from her, and sat on the throne in Solomon's shape. After forty days the devil departed, and threw the ring into the sea. The signet was swallowed by a fish, which being caught and given to Solomon, the ring was found in its belly, and thus he recovered his kingdom. 11 -f- The singular preservation of a citizen's ring is recorded at Newcastle-on-Tyne, which Avas found in the belly of a salmon caught in that river. | A well-known monument on the eastern wall of Stepney church bears a shield of arms § which is re- ferred to as commemorating a tradition, that the Lady Berry, in whose memory the monument was erected, was the heroine of " The cruel Knight, or fortunate Farmer's Daughter, 11 a once popular ballad, the scene of which lies in Yorkshire ; it describes a ring thrown into the river, and restored by means of a fish : but the ballad is certainly too old to refer to Lady Berry, who died in 1696. The monument remains, but so injured by the weather that the arms are no longer distinct. Gules, a salmon's head couped fesswise, with a ring in its mouth, between three cinquefoils argent, are the arms of the family of Hamilton of Haggs : crest, a salmon hauriant argent, with a ring in its mouth. Gules, three salmon hauriant, with a ring in each of their mouths argent, are the arms of the family of Sprottie. || * Svmbola Heroica, 1563, p. 50. t Sale's translation of the Koran, chapter xxxviii. p. 321. + Vox Piscis, 1627, p. 13. i Engraved in Salter's Angler's Guide. II Tht! Science of Herauldrie, by Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh, 1680 128 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. In Germany, where the traditions of the middle ages are more mingled with historical facts, and embellished in the rela- tion, than in any other country of Europe, it is not to he won- dered that the legend of the fish and the ring is found as an heraldic distinction. The Bavarian family of Die Proy von Findelstein hear for arms, gules, a cubit arm proceeding from clouds, and habited azure, grasping a fish in the hand, with a golden ring in its mouth ; and for crest, on a coronet a hand and fish as in the arms, beneath a tree.* The Germans, so tenacious of the customs of their ancestors, may have intended by the ring to refer to the first attempt at money : rings of gold and silver were formerly used, and are current even to this day amongst the natives of Guinea. In German heraldry, fish, as devices, are much more frequently found, and their positions in the shields are infinitely more varied, than in the armorial bearings of England. The arms on the engraved vignette at page 1 were selected from those of ancient families in the empire of Germany.-f* * Sibmachcr's Wapenbuch. t From Sibmachcr's Wapenbuch, 1G05, a curious collection, containing the arms of the empire, of the potentates of the German nation, with their quarterings, crests, and helmets ; also the arms of other states and places, in number upwards of three thou- sand. An edition of this work was printed at Nuremberg, by A. Wagcnman, in 1G30. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 129 The centre shield bears, or, on a bend azure, a salmon party per pale argent and gules ; the crest, a willow surmounted by a salmon in bend, as in the arms. These are the ensigns of the family of Die Rosengriin of Meissen, in Upper Saxony. The dexter shield of the vignette bears the arms of the family of Dornheim of Silesia, gules, three trout, their heads meeting in the centre of the escutcheon; the heraldic position of the trout, seemingly fanciful, is derived from the habits of fish, which are active and amusing. A naturalist, crossing a brook, saw at the bottom of the stream the resemblance of a flower, which consisted of a circular assemblage of minnows, their heads all meeting in a centre, and their tails diverging at equal distances, which being elevated above their heads, gave the fish the exact appearance of a flower half blown ; the object that attracted them all was a dead minnow, which they seemed to be devouring.* The other shield, azure, three barbel embowed with their heads to the centre argent, shows the arms of Von Hanfstengel of Meissen, on the banks of the Elbe, a river abounding with fish, and in all the features of natural beauty second only to the Rhine. The devices of early heraldry were necessarily chosen from objects familiar to the vassals of the fief ; and, in accounting for the adoption of implements in daily use, their importance must not be considered with regard to the present state of civilization. The earliest method of taking fish, that used by the Nimrods of Egypt, previously to the invention either of hooks or nets, Mas by spearing, -f* a mode still practised in Scotland, where many salmon are killed by torchlight, when they ascend to the stream heads. The leister, or spear with barbed points, is form- ed like a trident, or with a head resembling the pheon of heraldry, instruments which are borne in the arms of families holding a right of fishery in productive rivers. The animated scenes which occur in the north when persons are engaged in salmon-hunting, are described by Sir Walter Scott. J The hunters chase the fish at full gallop, and strike them with their barbed spears in the same manner as hunters spearing boars are represented in old tapestry. * Van-ell's History of British Fishes. + A sculptured stone, excavated at Chester in 173ft, and engraved in Lysons's his- tory of the county, as a Roman remain. shows a fisherman with his spear and basket. :!: Red Gauntlet. 130 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The salmon are so swift in their own element, that to pursue and strike them is the task of a good horseman, with a quick eye and determined hand, with full command hoth of horse and weapon. Le trident de Neptune Est le sceptre du monde, is a well-known expression of La Harpe to denote naval supe- riority : this sceptre, an ensign of sovereignty of greater anti- quity than the crown, is derived from the triple-toothed fishing- spear, assumed in heraldry as emblematical of the piscatorial jurisdiction, included in the privileges of a manor. Carew, the historian of Cornwall, notices this incident in the family of Glynn, whose seat is on the hanks of the river Fowey : — " Mas- ter Glynn, of Glynn ford, manifesteth by this compound name the antiquity of his descent, and the ordinary passage there over the Fowey. The store of salmon which this river affordeth caused his ancestor to take the fishing-spears for arms.' 1 * The elder line of the Glynns became extinct in the early part of the fourteenth century, when the heiress married Sir John Carminow, of Boconnoc ; but a branch, of which was John Glynn, Esq. Recorder of London, is now possessed of the seat of their ancestors. The family of Glynn of Helston bears for arms, argent, three salmon-spears sable. That of Shorley, or Chorley, bears, argent, three fisliing- spears gules. The Soap-makers 1 Company, incorporated in 1 638, bears for arms, azure, a dolphin naiant between three fisbing- spears or; and a spear civet, issuing out of water, and sustain- ing a dolphin, is the crest of the family of JJellismo. That Survey of Cornwall, 1G02. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 131 of Walley bears for arms, argent, three whale-spears, or har- poons, sable. In Germany, where feudalism still lingers, the heraldic indi- cation of piscatory rights is much used. Gules, a fishing-spear argent, the points upward, is the armorial distinction of the family of Von Der Gabel, of ancient Thnringia, a province watered by several productive rivers, the source of manorial revenue. Argent, a fishing-spear sable ; and crest, a salmon fixed on a spear, were borne by Baron Von Ebnet, of Suabia.* Another kind of fishing-spear, the pheon, is well known as the emblem of royalty, and, under the denomination of the broad R. the abbreviation of Rex or Regina, is the form which is struck by officers of the Grown, and particularly those belonging to the Custom House, when making a capture, to denote the regality or right of possession. It is the regal mark also used on all naval stores in the royal dock-yards, &c. The pheon, the barbed head of a spear, is not used under that name in French heraldry; at least, it is not mentioned by Palliot.-f" Neither does the pheon occur in the older rolls of English heraldry; but, as a charge, was borne, at a very early period, by the baronial family of Malpas, from which the noble * Sibmacher's Wapcnbuch, 1G05. f His " Perfect Science of Armory" professes? to give the armorial index of Lowan (idiot, an advocate of Durgundy, the most voluminous on the subject. K 2 132 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. house of Egerton is immediately descended, also by the family of Rawdon, ancestors of the Marquess of Hastings. Two pheons are shown on the seal of Sheffield ; and azure, a pheon argent, within a border or, charged with eight torteaux, are the arms of the family of Sharp of Yorkshire and Durham, punning, with some propriety, on its use in striking the fish. The pheon differs from the head of an arrow ; but in heraldry, and particularly in the arms of the different branches of the family of Kemys, it is used as the arrow-head. In the same manner the dart is often confounded in poetry with the arrow. Argent, three broad arrows, two and one, bendwise sable ; crest, a trout naiant, the arms of the family of Corbally of Ireland, seem to refer rather to the trout-spear than the arrow. Or, a pheon azure, is the armorial ensign of the noble fa- mily of Sidney, originally of the maritime county of Sussex. Sir Philip Sidney, eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney of Pens- hurst, K.G. was the most accomplished man of his age ; and his brother, Sir Robert Sidney, K.G. created Earl of Leicester by King James, was the patriarch of seven earls of this illustrious family, whose present representatives are, Sir John Shelley Sid- ney, Bart, the Lord De Lisle and Dudley, G.O.H. and the Lord Strangford, Gr.C.B. &c. Sable, a pheon argent, is borne by the family of Nicholls of Penrose, in Cornwall; and that of Nicholls of Middlesex bears sable, three pheons shafted rompe argent, the head of the spear being in this instance shown fixed to a light staff for use. Argent, a chevron between three pheons reversed, are the arms of the family of Sulyard of Haughley, in Suffolk, the point of the pheon being placed upwards, contrary to the usual mode of showing the weapon. Other means of taking salmon are referred to in blazonry : sable, three salmon hauriant argent, a chief or, are the arms of Kidson of Bishop's Wearmouth, in Durham, assumed jwssibly from the similarity of name to the kiddle, or weir, made on the river to catch the fish, and often corrupted to kittle : kettle-nets, used for the same purpose, might originate the phrase " a kettle of fish. 11 The arms of the family of Kydale, or Kendale, are, argent, a chevron between three dolphins naiant sable ; and the same are borne by the family of Kendall of Pelyn, in Cornwall. Ashmole says " Fish love not old kydles as they do the new. 11 * Thcatrum Chemicuin, I'i.VJ. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE TROUT. The trout, a delicate spotted fish, varying in its size, form, and colour, is found in almost every quarter of the globe. Trout caught in the river Colne, near LTxbriclge, are brought alive to the London market; but the largest trout in England are found in the river Hull, a branch of the Humber. On all streams famed for the production of trout the fisheries are guarded with pecu- liar care. The town of Stafford, the birth-place of that distinguished angler, Isaak Walton, is on the Sow, a river noted for the quality as well as the quantity of its trout and grayling. A charter from King John confirmed the privileges which had been held by this town from remote antiquity ; and the Corporation seal, showing the fish in the stream, with the castle on the bank, alludes to the right of fishing 1 in the Sow. It is here that this river receives the waters of the Penk, noticed by Drayton.* As Sow, which from her spring At Stafford meeteth Penk, which she along doth bring To Trent. The seal of the town of Newcastle, in the same county, situated on another branch of the river Trent, also bears an allusion to a franchise or right of fishery. It represents a castle, and beneath its walls a stream, in which are two fish; • Polvolhion. 134 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. upon the gatehouse stands the constable with his horn, and his lieutenant, bearing a partizan. In Berkshire an extensive fishery on the river Kennet is held by the burgesses of Hungerford. Their ancient horn of tenure bears the crescent and star, a badge of the Plantagenets, and the word $}uugcrfort(. Another horn, of the same size and shape, also preserved in the town-hall, is inscribed, $ohif a - gamr Ufa* gt»c- ante grant- tljc* rtall - fishing- to- hungcrfovtJ- tolmu* from- eltfm- Stub- to- ivi$ly Sttl* crccptwg-s'onv Scbcral- mil- potmU SMjos'ophat- Ultras'- constable- 1634. The river Kennet, rising on Marlborough Downs, and dividing Wiltshire from Berkshire, produces a variety of fish, but its trout have been long celebrated both for size and flavour. One fish, of the extraordinary weight of seventeen pounds, caught in the Kennet, was accepted by Queen Charlotte as a present from Lord Craven.* In Wordsworth's poems is a chivalrous legend of the horn of Egremont Castle : other horns of tenure are, the Pusey and Borstal horns, those of the forests of Savernake, Wirral, and Delamere, and Lyulplfs horn at York. Conway Castle, founded by King Edward I. beautifully situated on the estuary of a river abounding with excellent trout, is held of the Crown by Owen Holland at an annual rent, and a dish of fish to the Earl of Hertford as often as he passes through the town.-f* Peterchurch, in Herefordshire, is situated on the river Dore, a celebrated trout stream, and the figure of a large trout with a chain round its head is sculptured on the western wall of the nave of the church, but no tradition assigns the cause of its position in that place, and no grant of a fishery is recorded. Certain lands near Helston were held by the service of pro- viding a fishing-boat, with nets, for the King's use, in Loo-pool, when the sovereign should visit 1 lelston. This lake, the most considerable in Cornwall, is remarkable for a peculiar and excel- * Lysons's Berkshire, 1813. t Cough's Camden's Britiinnia, 1789. THE HERALDRY OF FTSTT. 135 lent species of trout. The manor of Truthall, on the borders of Loo-pool, in Sithncy parish, belonged to the Priory of St. John's. Bernard Penrose, the last prior, died in 1532. The family of Penrose of Sithney bore for arms, ermine, on a bend azure three roses or; the crest, a Loo trout. This family became extinct in the elder line by the death of John Penrose, Esq. in 1744. A branch, settled at Tregethon in the reign of Elizabeth, still remains. The Rev. Thomas Penrose, whose early poems were noticed in " The Pursuits of Literature," died in 1779, and was buried at Newbury. Francis Penrose, M.D. and John Penrose, M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Ox- ford, were also authors. The characteristic features of the country are the most usual source whence the names of places are derived; rivers and hills- retain their British names, and those of manors are almost always significant: the local name ofTrouts in Surrey, another in Corn- wall, and Trouts dale in Yorkshire, all indicate the prevalence of trout in their streams. There is no fish that deviates so much as the trout ; a variety is even met with in the same river ; the salmon-trout, the white- trout, and the sea-trout, all differ from the great grey-trout of the lakes. Like the salmon, they make up the stream in the season, when numbers enter the becks or burns that fall into the lakes of Cumberland. The trout is fond of those swift clear streams : where it is well known to anglers lie lifts his silver gills ahove the flood, And greedily sucks in th' unfaithful food. The Troutbeck of Westmorland, famous for the excellence and number of its trout, takes its rise on the fells, and rushes through a picturesque and wooded glen towards Windermere 1 , the largest of the English lakes : this stream gave name to a district whence sprang the ancient family of Troutbeck. Their arms, yet existing among those of numerous benefactors in the cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral in the reign of Henry TV, exhibit a tasteful method of disposing the fish as an heraldic 136 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. charge, azure, three trout fretted, tete a la qmue, argent; the crest, a head on a wreath of trout, is from a copy of Glover's Ordinary of Arms. In the Troutbeck Chapel of St. Mary's Church in Chester were formerly sumptuous monuments in memory of Sir William Troutbeck, who was slain at the battle of Blore-heath in 14o9, and of his son, Sir Adam Troutbeck, who died in 1512. The heiresses of this family married into the noblest houses of the kingdom. Margaret, heiress of Sir Adam Troutbeck of Mobber- ley, in Cheshire, in the reign of Henry VIII. married Sir John Talbot of Grafton, in Worcestershire, whose lineal descendant is the Earl of Shrewsbury. These arms are painted, with those of other alliances of this illustrious family, on the walls of the Talbot Gallery at Alton Towers, near Cheadle in Staffordshire. The same arms, illustrative of descent, arc quartered by the Marquess of Anglesey, K.G. and are included in the quarterings borne by Sir Ralph Coningsby of North Minis, in Hertfordshire, described by Peacham as a worthy gentleman, well deserving and beloved of his country.* The representative of this family was the late Earl of Essex, who inherited Hampton Court, in Herefordshire, the principal seat of the Coningsbys. The institutions of chivalry, of uncertain origin, can be traced to the eleventh century, and acquired full vigour during the crusades. With chivalry, the progress of which has been com- pared to a river, -f- originated those maxims and ceremonials which * Bookc of Blazoning Armes, 1(330. f Kurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance, 1762. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 137 were condensed into a code of laws for the tournament ; and gave importance to all distinctions of rank where the great utility of heraldry was acknowledged. The knights assumed the most costly apparel, wearing over their armour a tabard, with their arms embroidered on it in brilliant colours. The art of arming with despatch and caution, necessary for the protection of their persons, demanded much skill and ability. A beautiful illumination exists of Sir Geffrey Luttrell preparing for a tournament, in which a lady presents his tilting helmet, and another holds his emblazoned shield.* A scarcely less inter- esting document, and one of importance for the illustration of heraldry, is a Roll of the Kings, Bannerets, and Knights in the reign of Henry VI. -f* This manuscript commences with King William the Conqueror, who is represented landing from his ship, and is followed by all the Kings of England, down to Henry VI. ; the bannerets in their surcoats of arms, with their banners emblazoned, and the knights mounted on horses with caparisons bearing their arms, and engaged in apparent combat. r ~^/rcmcrtbe(o~- The arms of Troutbeck on the tabard of the knight and on the housings, here given from this curious manuscript, differ from * In the Luttrell Psalter, and engraved in Carter's Ancient Sculpture and Painting, and in the Vetusta Monumenta. f In the British Museum, Hail. MS. 420.5. 138 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. the usual method of bearing the fish. Those of Hamme, vert, two luces endorsed argent, are the arms of a Suffolk family, assumed from a reference to the Latin hamus, or the French hame^on, a fish-hook, punning upon the name. Amongst freshwater fish the trout is acknowledged to be preeminent in beauty ; and, as it is the object of the herald to show the finest species in his designs, when the particular fish are not described, trout are presumed to be intended. The family of Freshwater were formerly seated at Tollesbury, on the banks of the river Blaekwater in Essex ; in the church of which is a memorial brass of Thomas Freshwater, who died in 1517. The family afterwards resided at Heyb ridge, higher up on the same river, and bore for arms, azure, a fess ermine be- tween two fish argent ; crest, two fish in saltier argent, their tails in chief entiled with a coronet or. Azure, five fish hauriant or, three and two, are the arms of the family of Freshacre ; and, gules, three fish in pale between ten cross crosslets fitchy, are the arms of Ostreche of London. Azure, a trout in bend argent, speckled gules, between six mullets of the second, the arms of the French family of Orcival, are given by Palliot as an instance of the heraldic term mar- quetc, or speckled. Vert, three trout hauriant or, spotted gules, are the arms of the family of Dogge. That of Osborne of Lon- don bears, argent, on a bend sable, three trout or. Germany, watered by many noble rivers, produces abundance of trout in perfection : this fish is borne in the arms of several ancient princes of the Empire, and is also more used by families as an heraldic ensign than in England, where freshwater fish arc in less esteem. Two golden trout depicted on a red banner was the territorial ensign of the old Counts of Mumpelgard, or Montbeillard, in Burgundy. Henrica, their heiress, married Everhard Count of Wirtcmbcrg, in 1397, by which alliance this fief afterwards became annexed to his dominions. The Counts of Wirtcmberg, the comites or chosen friends of the Emperor, descended from Conrad, created by Henry IV. in 1110. Ulric, who added considerably to his domain, was made Standard-bearer of the Empire in 1336. The important seig- nories of Teck and Heidenheim were subsequently acquired by Count Everhard VI. founder of the University of Tubingen, who was created Duke of Wirtemberg and Teck by the Emperor Maximilian, at the celebrated Diet of Worms in 1495. The Duke's arms, environed by the collar of the Order of the THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 139 Golden Fleece, the most ancient collar of knighthood, are on his tomb in the cathedral of Tubingen.* Frederic, the Magnanimous, Duke of Wirtemberg, the patri- arch of the modern Stutgardian, Neustadian and Julian houses, received the Order of the Garter from King James in 1603. The ceremonial of his investment at Stutgard, by Robert Lord Spencer of Wormleighton, is detailed in Ashmole's History of the Order. In 1797 Prince Frederic William, son of the reigning Duke of Wirtemberg, married the Princess Royal of England, and succeeded to the dukedom in the same year. The Duke was elevated to the Electoral dignity in 1803, and finally proclaimed King of Wirtemberg 1 Jan. 1806. In the arms of the kingdom the trout are still borne, showing the territorial acquisition. * Quarterly, 1. Or, three attires of a stag fesswise and in pale sable, for Wirtemberg Duchy. 2. Bendy fusilly or and sable, for the seignory of Teck. 3. Azure, the Impe- rial banner fixed to its staff in bend, for the hereditary office of Standard-bearer. 4. Gules, two trout addorsed and in pale or, for Montbeillard. The crests are those of Wir- temberg and Teck : the first for the office of Great Huntsman of the Empire, a hunting- horn, with estrich feathers in the mouth, in allusion to the right of hawking. 140 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The arms of the seignory of Pfirdt,* one of the hereditary fiets of the house of Austria, are shown on a banner borne by a cavalier in the Triumph of the Emperor Maximilian. The whole procession, designed by Hans Burgmair, about 1512, is contained in one hundred and twenty-nine subjects, cut on wood by several engravers. The painter, with a richness of capacity and perfect knowledge of art, has shown every grade of rank in this magnificent cavalcade, which is composed of amulti- * Gulos, two trout addorscd or, and crest, a dcnii-woman between two trout erect, their tails upward. Tliese arms have been mentioned at page 12, but the fish are certainly trout, and the name of the lief is here spelt according to the German authority. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 141 tilde of figures in dresses of ceremony, groups of horses and men combined with masterly skill, each in proper action. The picto- rial effect of this grand work of art is greatly increased by the careful delineation of the armour and weapons, and not less by the attention paid to the endless variety of the heraldry on the tabards and banners of the different counts and officers of state. Pfirdt being one of those fiefs in which the Emperor made war, the cavalier bearing this banner is represented in armour designed after the ancient manner and crowned with a chaplet of honour. Amongst the heralds in the same procession is that of Pfirdt, in a tabard of arms, and bearing his baton. Heraldic composition in Germany was the employment of highly talented artists, and many other works of that country might be referred to as affording examples of superior taste. The Counts of Stolberg, in Sachsen, quartered with their own paternal arms those of the seignory of Wernigerode, which, with the castle, accrued to them in 1329 ; argent, two trout hauriant and respecting each other gules : arms which are reported to have been assumed in allusion to the hereditary office of Master Fishers of the Empire, held by the Counts of Wernigerode. Azure, a fish in fess argent, and a chief or, are borne by the French family of Vaillant. Of this name were, John Foi Vail- lant, the celebrated medallist, and his son, Sebastian Vaillant, the no less distinguished naturalist. As a crest, a trout naiant is borne by the family of Hoddy ; and a swan with wings en- dorsed or rousant, devouring a trout, is the crest of Jane, or Jeane. The arms of Oliver, or, a chevron azure between two hurts in chief, and a trout naiant in base, appear in one of the win- dows of Armagh Cathedral. Even the simplest means of taking fish are assumed as armo- rial bearings, either with a territorial allusion to the situation of the manor, or as a play upon the family name. 142 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Fishing is one of the employments depicted on the monuments of Egypt. The Nile, and the artificial lakes of that interesting country, afforded a supply, which has not failed in modern times ; the waters of Menzaleh abound in fish, and the Arabs say, that the varieties of fish in this lake exceed in number the days of the year : although this may be deemed an exaggeration, it is certain, that whatever be the number of their species, the fishes of this lake multiply infinitely. A kind of trout, still regarded as a delicacy in Egypt, was preserved in covered vessels, to save it from being injured by the heat of the sun : this is shown in a representation of a fisherman taking his store to market, engraved in Calliaud's " Researches on the Arts of Egypt:;* Angling, as a sport, was highly esteemed among the Romans, who had their fish-pools and preserves filled with choice fish ; and it is known that fishing was a favourite amusement of the Emperor Augustus. In the splendour of his appointments may have originated the expression of fishing with a golden hook, and the gorgeous colouring frequently given by poets to the employment of the angler. The pleasant'st angling is, to see the fish Cut with her golden oars the silver stream, And greedily devour the treacherous barb. A fisherman with his rod and line, in a boat, from an antique in the Maffei Collection at Verona, has been engraved, -f- and also a beautiful painting of Venus and Cupid angling, found in the house of the Tragic poet at Pompeii, j The sea-bream and the gilthead are the common fish of the Mediterranean, taken by anglers ; the last, called the dorado, was consecrated to Venus. A species of perch, § also common in that sea, is of a brilliant scarlet colour, but with a very strong spinal fin, and, from the resemblance of this spine to a razor, it is named le harbier. This fish is held sacred among the divers for marine productions, and when caught by a hook, it is instantly relieved by the rest of the shoal cutting the line of the angler with their sharp spines. Massaniello, the celebrated fisherman of Naples, whose resist- ance to the Spanish authority raised him to temporary distinc- tion, and has given him a place in history, was an angler by trade, and retailed his small fish in the market. : Copied in the Athenaeum for 1837. t Montfaueon's Antiquities. '.',. Sir William (jell's Pompeiana, vol. ii. § Serranus Anthias of Cuvier. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 143 Emblematically, fish represent silence and watchfulness. Mute as a fish, is proverbial ; and the practice of anglers involves a proportionate artifice, in allusion to which (iuillim, the herald, indulges a remark, that, " of this trade there are more in the world than will acknowledge themselves of the Company of Fishermen. 1 ' 1 In Germany, women in armorial bearings, are not uncommon, although rarely found in the heraldry of England or France. Azure, a woman, habited in the German fashion, holding two fish argent, are the arms of the family of Iloten, of Aubrach in Franconia. Manors situated on the banks of rivers, lakes, or trout-streams, affording fishing stations, command the finest scenery, combin- ing often the sublime, beautiful, and picturesque. The power of waters, says Wordsworth, over the minds of poets has been acknowledged from the earliest ages ; through the " Flu- mina amem sylvasque inglorius" of Virgil,* down to the sublime apostrophe to the great rivers of the earth by Armstrong, and the simple ejaculation of Burns. The Muse, nae poet ever fund her, Till by himsel' he learned to wander Adown some trotting burn's meander. M. Soumet, a modern French author, bears arms perfectly in unison with the poet's attachment to the trout stream. Azure, the lyre of Apollo or, on a chief gules a trout naiant. These, with the arms of his contemporaries, are in the stained glass windows of the Pavilion Saint James, erected by M.Beauchesne in the environs of Paris.*}" * Georgics, lib. ii. f See an interesting description of Le Memoir dc Beauc/iesne in La Presse, April Hill ; with the arms of contemporary poets. Sir Walter Scott, with the same feeling* enriched Abbotsford with the arms of his friends and companions. 144 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. A cubit arm holding a trout, is the crest of the family of Gibbens, assumed, perhaps, in reference to the French word gibier, game. The crest of the family of Peat is a hand holding a fish. Heraldry aimed chiefly at a simple illustration of the name of the family, or territorial possessions from which the names were derived. Fish-hooks, when borne in arms, probably allude to the chief employment on the estate, near one of those streams, the importance of which has been shown. The arms of the family of Bosdon are, argent, a fess between three fish-hooks sable. Argent, a fess sable, between three fish- hooks gules, are the arms of Penkerth, a family perhaps origi- nally of Penketh, on the banks of the Mersey of Lancashire. Sable, a chevron between three fish-hooks argent, are the arms of Medville, a name referring to a situation on water, either a river or a lake. The motto to the arms of Kilrenny, an ancient fishing town in Fifeshire, is indicative of the perseverance necessary to the fisherman. " Semper tibi pendeat hamus," let the hook always be hung out. A fish-hook was the cognizance of William Nevilc, Lord Fau- conberg, K.G. which is noticed in some contemporary political verses, " The Fisher has lost his angle hook," adverting to his capture by the French when sent ambassador to Normandy to treat for peace* By King Edward IV. this nobleman was created Earl of Kent, and made Lord Admiral of England. Azure, an angling-hook argent, are the punning arms of the German family of Angelloch, on the banks of the Rhine. Hooks, the well-known implements of angling, a later invention than the trout-spear, were originally of rude form, either of * Excerpta flistorica. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 145 bono or the hardest wood, exhibiting a striking contrast to the finely-tempered and polished Limerick hooks of the present day. The art of angling, now reduced to perfection, owes much to that amiable enthusiast, Izaak Walton, whose works have made many disciples besides the Walton and Cotton Club, instituted in 1817. Their badge, representing an angler with his attend- ant, and the motto, " Dum eapimus, capimur," is engraved in Mr. Jesse's " Angler's Rambles." The Walton Club of New- castle have assumed an heraldic device, the arms of that town, impaling argent, three trout naiant counter naiant. THE SMELT. The smelt is taken in abundance in the river Humber and on the coast of Lincolnshire, and is in great request from its delicate and peculiar flavour ; in colour, the back of the fish is pale green, and the lower part silvery white. Azure, a chevron between three smelts naiant argent, are the arms of the York- shire families of Smelt of Kirby Fleetham, near Catterick ; and of Beverley. Spiering, the Dutch name for smelt, nearly approaches that by which this little fish is distinguished in Scotland, the spar- ling, found in great plenty in the Frith of Forth and the river Tay. Or, three sparlings, or smelts, hauriant, are the arms of the family of Sparling of Felton Hall, in Shropshire. " West- ward for Smelts," is the title of a book of tales of different fish- women, as, " The Fish-wife's Tale of Brentford," &c. printed in 1G20. Few, if any, smelts are now found in the Thames. L 140 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE GRAYLING. The Grayling is a species of trout, but it is found that many rivers abounding with trout do not contain grayling". A certain peculiarity of its local distribution in England gave rise to a supposition that the grayling had been introduced by the monks, by whom it was held in esteem. Saint Ambrose named the grayling the flower of fish, from its pleasing colour and agreeable smell. This fish is presumed to be intended in the arms of Cardinal Bentivenga, in which the rose is also introduced and commented upon in these lines to his memory : Bentivenga sacra est hac purpura amictus ; in ivnda Ludcntem pi seem respiee et inde rosas. He was confessor to Pope Nicholas III. and died in 1289. His arms, azure, a fish naiant argent, on a chief or, a chevron sable between two roses,* were surmounted by the cardinal's hat, then a novelty, it having been first worn at the interview be- tween the Pope and Louis IX. of France, at Lyons in 1247. The supposition that most of the rivers which contain gray- ling flow near the remains of monasteries is incorrect; as this fish is not found in the rivers of Kent, Dorsetshire, Devon- * Ciaconius, Hist, of the Popes, 1G79. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 147 shire, or Cornwall, where conventual edifices were formerly nu- merous. One of the sources of the river Severn is named the Graylin. A hand holding a fish, the crest of the family of Grayley, or Grelley, of Lancashire, is doubtless a play upon the name ; also, the arms of the Kentish family of Graydon, argent, on a chevron azure, between three otters sable, each devouring a fish, as many otter-spears or ; the crest, a demi-otter devouring a fish : the motto, " Ad escam et usum," for food and use, alludes, seemingly, to the employment of the otter for the purpose of catching fish. In heraldry the grayling are termed umber-fish, from their French name ombre; and the punning arms of the family of Umbrell are argent, three umber-fish naiant. The general colour of this fish is a bright brown, beautifully varied with gold and green reflexions in different lights ; its name grayling is supposed to have reference to the gray lines along the body of the fish. THE OTTER. Guillim mentions a shield of arms in one of the windows of the hall of New Inn, London, argent, a beaver erect sable, armed gules, devouring a fish ; but, from the known habits of the beaver, it is presumed that an otter must have been in- tended. Beavers feed entirely on vegetables ; the otter, on the contrary, lives exclusively on fish, frequenting small streams and lakes, and in search of its prey swims and dives with peculiar ease and elegance : The amphibious monster ranges all the shores, Darts through the waves, and every haunt explores. l 2 148 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Three otters passant, in pale, each devouring a fish, the arms of the family of Proude of Canterbury, are sculptured on the arched ceiling of the beautiful cloisters of the cathedral in that city. The name of Proude may have the same origin with that of the Prud-homme, who among fishermen is chosen to preside over the community. From the French word loutre, an otter, this animal was assumed in the insignia of the family of Luttrell, argent, a fess between three otters sable, being the arms ; and an otter devour- ing a fish, the crest. They were seated at Irnham in Lincoln- shire, and Robert Luttrell of Irnham was summoned to Parlia- ment in the reign of Edward T. One of the branches inherited Dunster Castle, in Somersetshire, from the Mohuns ; and an- other obtained the castle and estate of Luttrells-town in Ireland, from which last branch were descended the Earls of Carhamp- ton. Otters are also borne in arms by the family of Hartopp, baronets. Sable, a chevron vaire, or and gules, between three otters passant or, are the arms of the family of Lotysham of Somerset- shire, which bears for crest an otter's head devouring a fish. The otter makes incredible havoc among fish, a main induce- ment to keep up the ancient sport of otter-hunting with hounds bred for the purpose : Would you preserve a numerous finny race, Let your fierce dogs the ravenous otter chase. In this sport the otter-spears are used ; and after the chase the animal is borne home in triumph. The crest of the family of Homfray of Wales near Rotherham in Yorkshire, is an otter passant, wounded in the shoulder ; and azure, a dexter hand THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 149 holding on the point of a sword, argent, an otter's head couped or, are the arms of the family of Fender. Ermine, a chevron between three otters' heads couped sable, a chief vert, are the arms of the northern family of Otterbourne ; a name derived from a stream near Hexham, one of the haunts of the otter, and rendered memorable as the scene of the battle of Chevy Chase. Argent, a chevron between three otters' heads erased sable, are the original arms of the family of Balfour of Scotland ; and a castle argent, having on the battlement a woman attired gules, holding an otter's head, is the crest of Balfour of Grange. Argent, three otters' heads erased gules, are the arms of Ful- larton of Ayrshire. In the beautiful stained glass windows of the old manor-house at Ockwells, near Bray, on the banks of the Thames, are the arms of the family of Norreys, with the supporters, two otters collared and chained, each devouring a fish. Tavo otters argent, were assumed for supporters of the arms of James Brydges, the princely Duke of Chandos. The Salters' Company, incorporated in the year 1530, obtained subsequently the addition to their arms of supporters, which are two otters sable bezanty, ducally collared and chained or. Two otters are also used as supporters to their arms by the Scottish family of Kinloch, with a mermaid for a crest.* The sea-dog of heraldry is no other than the male or dog otter, being a four-footed animal, but is drawn, according to heraldic fancy, with a broad fin continued down the back from the head to the tail ; the feet webbed, and its whole body, legs, and tail covered with scales. In the northern parts of the king- dom the otters frequent the sea, and are known to extend their rambles to a considerable distance from the shore. Three sea- dogs or marine otters are borne in the arms of Fennor of Sussex, and in the arms of Harry of Cornwall. Lord Stourton, whose title is derived from a manor watered by a stream abounding with trout, has for supporters to his arms two sea-dogs, or otters ; and a sea dog's head is the crest of the ancient family of Broughton. * Nisbot. 150 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. VI. * The royal burgh of Inverary, at the head of Loch Fyne, has a considerable herring fishery. It was incorporated by King Charles 1 ; and the arms of the town are, the waves of the loch, in which is suspended a sean with five herrings entangled in it, typical of its chief produce. The Royal Company of Fishing, established in Scotland by King Charles II, bore appropriately for arms, azure, two her- rings in saltier, surmounted by an imperial crown or, with the motto, " Messis ab alto, 11 Our harvest is from the deep. The great herring fishery in Scotland was, in reality, founded by the British * Engraved in Gardner's History of Dunwich, 1754. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 153 Fishery Society in 1786, for the express purpose of forming sta- tions in the highlands and islands of North Britain. The celebrated South Sea Company, established in 1711, for encouraging the fishery, bears for arms, azure, a globe, on which are depicted the Straits of Magellan and Cape Horn ; on a can- ton the arms of Great Britain ; in the sinister chief point two herrings in saltier, crowned or : and the crest, a ship in full sail ; supporters, on the dexter side, Britannia,* and on the sinister, a fisherman holding in his hand a string of fish. The colour and form of the herring are beautiful ; the back is blue, with green and other reflexions when viewed in different lights ; the side and belly of the fish are silvery white. As a charge in heraldry, the herring is borne in reference to the name by several families of antiquity. On the seal of John Heringot of Westwell, in Kent, in the reign of Henry III. is a shield with a border charged with six herrings ; azure, three herrings erect, between six cross crosslets fitchy or, the arms of Heringod of Elmstead, are sculptured on the ceiling of the cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral ;-f- azure, semee of cross crosslets, six herrings naiant in pale or, are the arms of Heringod of Icklesham, in Sussex, in the reign of Henry III. The German family of Heringh, on the banks of the Rhine, bear for arms, argent, three herrings in bend azure.J The arms of the ancient family of Heringham also show the herrings, as a play upon the name. Gules, three herrings hauriant argent, appear in stained glass amongst the quarterings in the arms of the first Earl of Bed- * The earliest representation of Britannia, as a tutelar goddess, is to be found upon a ni( dal of the Emperor Commodus. + Willcmcnt's Heraldic Notices. i Palliot, 154 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. ford, K.G. in the windows of the chapel at Chenies in Bucking- hamshire, showing his descent from Sir John Russell, Speaker of the House of Commons, the son of Sir John Russell of Kings- ton, in Dorsetshire, and Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Heringham of Chaldon, in the same county, the descendant of a family seated at Chaldon in the reign of John. Langton Hering and Heringston, also in Dorsetshire, seem to have de- rived the name from the same family. Gules, crusilly, three herrings hauriant argent, were the arms of Archbishop Herring. Thomas Herring, the son of the Rev. John Herring, Rector of Walsoken, in Norfolk, was horn in 1691 : as chaplain to the King he attended his Majesty George II. to Cambridge in 1728, having previously preached against " The Beggar's Opera." He was made Bishop of Bangor in 1737, and Archbishop of York in 1748: being one of the preachers of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, his arms, as Archbishop of York, are in one of the stained glass windows of their Hall. In 1747 he was created Archbishop of Canterbury ; and, residing chiefly at Croydon, his arms, impaling those of the archiepiscopal see, were placed in the Hall of that palace. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 155 Sable, three herrings hauriant argent, a chief or, were the arms of Sir Thomas Kytson, Sheriff of London in 1533, who held estates in the counties of Suffolk, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, and Nottingham. His daughter, Katherine, married Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton, in Warwickshire, one of the ancestors of the Earl Spencer ; and the arms of Kytson, typical of this descent, are quartered in the achievement of that noble family. Sir Thomas Gage, Baronet, of Hengrave, in Suffolk, is a repre- sentative, through the noble family of Darcy, of that of Kytson.* John Gage Rokewode, Esq. F.R.S., the historian of Hengrave, and son of Sir Thomas Gage, the sixth Baronet, has taken the name and arms of Rokewode. Vert, a herring hauriant argent, were the arms of Benjamin Harenc, Esq. of Foots Cray, Sheriff of Kent in 1777, and his crest, still playing upon the name, a heron, holding in the bill a herring". Argent, on a chevron engrailed between three wolves' 1 heads erased sable, a lozenge or, between two herrings of the first, are the arms of the family of Harries, of Loughton in Essex, and of Prickwell in Sussex. Azure, a cross flory between six herrings or, are the arms of the family of Heigham. * The arms and many seals of the family of Kytson are engraved in the History of Hengrave, 1822. 156 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Cob is a word of many meanings ; among others, that of her- ring. A young fish is called a herring cob : that this was the case appears from a passage in Jonson's comedy of " Every Man in his Humour,' 1 in which Cob, the water-bearer, punning on his own name, calls himself " the descendant of a king," the herring being known as the king of fish. His ancestor, he says, was " the first red-herring broiled in Adam and Eve's kitchen, and his Cob (that is, his son) was my great, great, mighty great, grandfather." The arms of the family of Cobb of Sandringham, on the coast of Norfolk, near Lynn, are sable, a chevron argent between three cob-fish naiant or, a chief of the last. A branch of this family was seated at Adderbury, in Oxfordshire, in the reign of Elizabeth, and in the chancel of that church is a monument to the memory of some of its members. Thomas Cobb, Esq. of Adderbury was created Baronet by King Charles II. in 1662. Sir George Cobb, Bart., who died in 1762, was the last of the family of Adderbury. Another family of Cobb, of Sbarnbrook, in Bedfordshire, bears gules, a chevron wavy between three cob-fish naiant argent, on a chief of the last two sea-cobs, or gulls, sable. The arms of the family of Cobb of Snettisham, in Norfolk, are party per chevron sable and argent, in chief two sea-cobs respecting each other, and in base a herring naiant or.* * Mackerell's History of Lynn. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 157 FISHING-NETS. The nets used in fishing and fowling very frequently formed part of the heraldic devices assumed as ensigns by the lords of manors in the early periods of history ; instances are given by Palliot * under the words Reseau, netting, and Rets, a net. Azure, a bend argent charged with a net gules, were the arms of Fouet, Seigneur of Domes and Raiz, the first President of the Chamber of Accounts at Dijon ; and azure, a net or, with a chief argent, charged with three escallops gules, were the an- cient arms of Vulcana of Naples. The ornamental reticulations which are found in shields of arms are heraldically termed fretty ; but, if the same is composed of separate pieces, frets ; and strewed over the shield, mascles : these are referred by our own writers on heraldry, Guillim and Nisbet, to the nets used by the fishermen, which probably sug- gested the Rete of the gladiators. It is well known to the classi- cal reader that in the contests of the Retiarii and Mirmillones, the first, with nets of cord, entangled their opponents, whose name of Mirmillones, derived from the Greek, arose from the fish crests by which they were originally distinguished. The importance of the various nets used in river and sea fish- ing, by which the different kinds of fish are procured with facility, was not overlooked ; the larger draught-nets were kept in the manor-house : a great sean and a less sean were deposited in one of the galleries at Skipton Castle. *f* The serfs employed as fishermen, were, in early times, conveyed to a purchaser along with the fishery when it was sold ; the most expert fishermen on our coasts were then unable to avail themselves of the riches by which they were surrounded. Le Fleming, an ancient Cumberland family, bears gules, a fret argent ; Vernon of Shipbrooke, in Cheshire, argent, a fret sable ; and gules, a fret or, is the armorial ensign of the Lords Audley, who use the motto " Je le tiens. 11 Azure, fretty argent, are the arms of the ancient family of Cave of Stanford, in Leicestershire, with the punning motto " Cave, 11 beware the net. These are now borne by the Baroness Brave, daughter of the late Sir Thomas Cave, Baronet, and lineal heiress of Lord Brave in the reign of Henry VIII. * " Science des Arnioirios." + Whitaker's History of Craven. 158 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Or, fretty azure, are the arms of the Lords Willoughby ; and argent, fretty sable, on a canton gules a chaplet or, those of the Lords of Irby, in Lincolnshire, now borne by the Lord Bos- ton. Or, fretty gules, a canton ermine, are the arms of the family of Noel, of which the Earl of Gainsborough and the Earl of Lovelace are representatives. The mascles of heraldry are formed precisely like the meshes of the nets of the fisherman, and were borne in the arms of the most ancient and noblest families. Argent, seven mascles con- joined azure, are the arms of the Lords of Braybrook, in North- amptonshire, from whom, through the family of Latimer, the Lords Braybrooke are descended. Gules, seven mascles conjoined or, are the arms of the families of Quincy and Ferrers : fishing with a golden net was one of the luxuries practised by the Emperor Nero.* Sable, a fret argent, is the armorial distinction of the ancient Lords of Harrington, a manor and sea-port on the coast of Cum- berland, where herrings are plentiful : the literal meaning of the name is herring enclosure. In the reign of Edward II. Sir John de Harrington was sum- moned to Parliament as a peer. The baronies of Harrington and Bonvile became united in the reign of Henry VI. and subse- quently passed to the family of the Lords Grey of Groby, whose representative, the Earl of Stamford, bears the arms of Harring- ton as one of his quarterings to show his lordship's title to the barony by descent. Sable, a fret or, the arms of the Lords Maltravers of Lytchet, in Dorsetshire, seem to have been assumed in direct allusion to * Suetonius. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 159 the name, the net being hard to penetrate. These arms are quartered with those of Howard by the Duke of Norfolk, K.Gr., Lord Maltravers by descent. The noble family of Netterville of Douth Castle, county of Meath in Ireland, bear, argent, a cross gules, fretty or, in allu- sion to the name. Nicholas Netterville was created Viscount Netterville of Douth by King James in 1622. Azure, fretty or, a canton of the last, are the arms, and a salmon naiant the crest, of the family of Willeigh, or Willeley. The sizes of fishing-nets are little known, those used in the river Severn are limited in length to seventy-five yards : * the large and strong nets used in the herring fishery form a kind of hedge in the sea a mile in length, and those used for mackerel extend two miles. "f* THE PILCHARD. The Pilchard is a fish resembling the herring, but is smaller and thicker ; its name is derived from Peltzer, a term by which it was known to the early naturalists. Mount's Bay, on the Cornish coast, is one of the chief stations of the pilchard fishery ; this beautiful bay receives its name from Saint Michael's Mount, a singular rock connected with the town of Marazion by a narrow causeway of pebbles.;}: Job Militon, Esq. Governor of Saint Michael's Mount in the reign of Henry VIII, built Pengersick Castle, on the banks of Mount's Bay. His arms were gules, a chevron or, between three pilchards * Nash's History of Worcestershire. f Notes on Nets, or the Quincunx, by the Hon. and Rev. C. Bathurst, LL.D. J Saint Michael is represented on the old seal of Ilelston holding a shield charged with the arms of England. 160 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. naiant argent. William Militon, Esq. of Pengersick, his son, and Sheriff of Cornwall, died in 1565, when the estate passed to his six sisters, his coheiresses. The same arms, a chevron be- tween three pilchards, are borne by the family of Millington of Devonshire. Argent, a chevron gules between two roses in chief, and a pil- chard naiant, are the arms of the ancient family of Roscarrock of Endellion, a port on the British Channel famed for its pilchard fishery. The annual fishery on the coast of Cornwall is of great importance, and a source of wealth to the whole county. The shoals of pilchards in the autumn are discerned many miles off by the singular appearance of a red line on the sea a mile long, and their progress has no parallel in the history of the finny tribe. They are first seen among the Scilly Islands, thirty miles from the Land's End ; and the shoals, dividing there, pass up the northern and southern channels into the creeks and harbours; and swimming near the surface on the coast, till they arrive at Bude Haven on the north, and off Plymouth on the south, they, without apparent cause, plunge into deep water, and are not discovered afterwards. The borough of Truro, incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in 1589, had formerly jurisdiction over Falmouth, a celebrated fishing station. The seal of the corporation, rudely designed, bears a fishing vessel, and in the waves beneath two pilchards, in allusion to the peculiar produce of Cornwall. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 161 Port Looe, at the month of the river of the same name, is one of the fishing stations whence both pilchards and oil are exported to various ports in the Mediterranean. The seal of the town represents a fishing vessel with three shields on its side, each charged with the arms of the family of Bodrugan, the ancient lords of the manor. A Looe token, struck in the reign of Charles II, during a scarcity of copper money, bears the type i:/w.aH 1 X\ .•:•. M O, of its chief produce, a pilchard, here familiarly termed a Looe trout. The seal of the town of Fowey, dated 1702, bears a shield charged with a fishing vessel, the pilchard fishery being of considerable importance at this port. THE SPRAT. The Sprat seems only to have been assumed in heraldry in reference to a name. Argent, a chevron sable, between three sprats naiant azure, are the arms of the family of Sprat of Dor- setshire. The Rev. Thomas Sprat, author of the History of the Royal Society, was, in the year 1 684, made Bishop of Rochester. M 162 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. His arms are sculptured on the monument, in Westminster Abbey church, erected to his memory and that of his son, the Rev. Thomas Sprat, Archdeacon of Rochester. Sable, a fess between six sprats hauriant or, are the arms of the family of Sprotton. Sprats, small sea fish, are found in abundance on the coast of Suffolk, where they are cured at Aldborough, in almost the same manner as the herrings at Yarmouth. In Scotland these fish are termed garvies, and are taken in the Forth throughout the whole of the year. Inch Garvie, or Sprat Island, is in the middle of the Frith, near Queen's Ferry. A garvie-fish naiant is the crest of a family of Fisher of Scot- land : and azure, three garvie-fish naiant in pale argent, within a border or ; crest, a hand holding a garvie-fish, are the armorial ensigns of the family of Garvine of Scotland. Or, on a bend azure, three sardines argent, are the arms of the family of Sartine of France ; a name derived from the sardine, or sprat, of the Mediterranean. Azure, a bend or, charged with three sardines sable, are the arms of the Neapolitan family of Quarracino.* The sardine is the same as the anchovy, a common fish on the coasts of Spain and France. Palliot. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 163 VII. The Mackerel, above all fish, exhibits the highest degree of elegance in form, and is well known by the brilliancy of its colours : the name is derived from its spotted body, macularius, and in most of the countries of Europe it is called by a term referring to its variegated appearance. These fish are only borne in heraldry in allusion to the name. Charlton Mackerel, in Somersetshire, obtained its designation at a very early period. Gules, three mackerel hauriant argent, are the arms of Mackerell of Norwich, of which family there are monuments in the church of Saint Stephen in that city. Benjamin Mackerell, an industrious antiquary of Norwich, printed a " History of King's Lynn, in Norfolk,' 1 in 1 7*38, and was the author of several heraldic collections, amongst which was " Insignia Armorum," a manuscript, with drawings of the arms of all the nobility of England, &c. in 1728.* Per fess azure and vert, three mackerel naiant in pale, are the arms of the family of Mackrill. Argent, on a chevron between three mackerel gules, a rose, with a chief chequy of the first and second, are the arms of Doc- tor Macbride, the learned Principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. The three mackerel, often used as a sign in fishing towns, probably indicate a house of entertainment kept by a fisherman. * H. Bohn's Catalogue, 1841. m 2 164 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The salmon at Flybridge on the Tweed, and the trout at Yewsley on the Colne, are signs which in like manner originated with brothers of the angle. These symbols are not entirely without interest to the poetical mind ; Swift acknowledges that, when travelling with the Lord Treasurer Harley, they Would gravely try to read the lines Writ underneath the country signs. An intelligent author, noticing the variety of signs in Germany, says that " nature, history, and imagination have alike been taxed to supply this gallery of emblems ; they are adapted to every fancy and to every age : besides lions and eagles, lambs and doves, the naturalist will find birds and beasts of every un- natural colour and form.'"* Many old signs of inns are heraldic, and, in the association with local and historical circumstances, these manorial cognizances attain a degree of interest. It re- quires but little knowledge of history to descry the white swan, the ancient badge of the Clares, at the inn of Clare, and the half- moon of the Percys at that of Petworth : the peacock of the Lords de Ros is a sign at Northampton, as well as the goat of the Russells at Woburn. A very common sign is made still more familiar by Shakspeare, as old Nevile's crest, The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff. Mackerel arc dispersed over the immense surface of the deep, and approach the shores in all directions, roving along the coast. At the various fishing towns of the kingdom immense shoals are collected and caught, and the mackerel season is one of great bustle and activity. As an article of food this fish must be eaten very fresh, and on that account is cried by the venders even in the public streets of the metropolis; the only remaining instance, it is believed, of the London Cries, which in the time of Queen Anne issued from a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, And throats of brass inspired with iron lungs ; cries which the gallant Will Honeycomb*!" preferred to the sounds of larks and nightingales, with all the music of the fields and woods. * Turnbull's Austria. t The Spectator. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 165 VTIT. 1f)t StaMocfc, ®oti, $afce, ftfaS* safiittng, antr Burfiot* Tins division of the heraldry appertaining to fish includes the most valuable sort as an article of commerce, and those which are universally known. Haddocks are found in shoals on the coasts of Great Britain, from the Land's End to the extreme North. Findhorn, on the Moray Frith, is particularly famed for its haddocks, which are landed at Leith, and brought to the Edinburgh market by the women of Fisher-row. A punning allusion to the name is found in the crest of the family of Had- dock of Lancashire, a dexter hand holding 1 a haddock. Captain William Haddock, avIio was honoured by a gold me- dal presented by the Parliament for his gallantry in the memo- rable action with the Dutch fleet in IGoo, was the grandfather of Admiral Nicholas Haddock. A popular idea assigns the dark marks on the shoulders of the haddock to the impression left by Saint Peter with his finger and thumb when he took the tribute money out of the fish's mouth at Capernaum;* but the haddock certainly does not now exist in the seas of the country where tin; miracle was performed, although it ranges over a considerable space both north and south. The Dory, called Saint Peter's fish in several countries of Europe, contends with the haddock the honour of bearing the marks of the Apostle's fingers, an impression transmitted to pos- terity as a perpetual memorial of the miracle ; the name of Dory is hence asserted to be derived from the French word adore, worshipped. The fishermen of the Adriatic call it il Janitore, " The Gospol of Saint Matthew, chap. xvii. 166 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. the gatekeeper, Saint Peter being well known as the bearer of the keys of Paradise. Saint Peter was the first of the followers of Christ to declare the glories of salvation, and his artless simplicity and humble character gave effect to his preaching on the minds of the earliest converts. As this saint is the especial patron of fishermen, and of fishmongers, the boat used for fishing in the Thames is called a Peter-boat ; and the keys, the emblem of Saint Peter, form part of the armorial ensigns of the Fishmongers' Company. Party per bend, azure and argent, a key and a fish counter- changed, are the arms of the mitred abbey of Petershausen on the banks of Lake Constance. The Pope is commonly represented in the character of Saint Peter, in the early periods of art, bearing in his hand the keys of heaven.* The power of the keys assumed by the Pope, and understood as the privilege of passing judgment on departed souls, is derived from the metaphorical expression of Christ re- corded in the Gospel. -j* The committal of the keys to Saint Peter forms the subject of one of the Cartoons by RafFaellc at Hampton Court palace, and is worked in tapestry on the walls of the Vatican, founded by Pope Nicholas V, who bore for his personal arms, gules, two crossed keys or. The keys of Saint Peter are also borne in the arms of the Archbishopric of York, in those of the Bishopric of Peterborough, by several of the English and Irish bishoprics, and by Saint Peter's College, Cambridge. ! Sometimes the Apostle is represented with two keys in his hand, and at others with ;i double key, surmounted by a cross. f Saint Matthew, chap. xvi. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 167 A haddock embowed, over an episcopal liat, is the crest of the German Baron von Eytzing.* The type of the connexion between the dignity of the Church and the humble employment of Saint Peter is not entirely dis- regarded by the sovereign pontiff: his signet, the fisherman's ring, Tanello del piscatore, represents Saint Peter drawing his nets ; and the celebrated Naviculo di Giotto, in mosaic, over the portal of Saint Peter's church at Rome, is designed from the same subject. The story of Tobias and the fish, from the Apocrypha, forms part of the heraldry of the Armenian family of Raphael. The arms borne by Alexander Raphael, Esq. Sheriff of London in 1834, are quarterly azure and argent, a cross moline or : "f" in the first quarter a sun in splendour ; in the second the Ark on Mount Ararat ; a city at its base, inscribed Naksivan ; \ in the third, the angel Raphael § and Tobias on the banks of the Tigris, thereon a fish ; and in the fourth quarter an anchor in bend, with the cable entwined or. These arms afford a striking ex- ample of the false taste often shown in modern heraldic com- position : here the very rudiments of the art, the principles which guided the older heralds, and the simplicity of existing models of early date, are all abandoned for the sake of extrava- gant novelty, showing more forcibly than any written satire the decline and corruption of heraldry. The departure from the true and authentic style of arms painting, equally conspicuous, is * Sibmacher. f The cross, a brilliant addition to the splendour of the shield, was made subject to an almost indescribable number of forms, as the chief emblem of Christianity. J "The word Naksivan is Armenian. Noah settled there when he left tlie Ark after the Deluge, and named it from nak, ship, and sivan, rest ; it is consequently the oldest city in the world." — Calmet. § " The name of Raphael, the angel who restored Tobit's sight by means of the fish, implies Divine remedy." — Cm. -MET. 168 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. justly censured by an eminent critic in heraldry.* The charac- teristics of a rude but contemporary era are violently destroyed, the vestiges of early art are confused and annihilated ; and who, the same author inquires, would wish to exchange for the more polished inventions of later times, devices which have been so long regarded with a kind of religious veneration ? Some herald painters were undoubtedly men of talent ; Smirke, Baker, and Catton became members of the Royal Academy. Baker, celebrated for painting flowers, enveloped the arms of the nobility in gorgeous wreaths ; Catton, who excelled in animals, painted the arms on the royal carriages in the early part of the reign of George the Third ; and Smirke, distinguished as an historical painter, enriched the panels of the Lord Mayor's state carriage. As an independent profession, herald painting hardly existed after the year 1790, when Strickland was employed by Hatchet, the principal coachmaker in Long-acre. COD. The Codfish generally live in the seas of cold climates, and by their abundance are important as objects of commerce ; they are taken all round the coast of Great Britain, and on the north and west of Scotland extensive fisheries are carried on, but the Dogger Bank cod are the most esteemed. Sable, a chevron between three codfish naiant argent, are borne as arms by the family of Codd ; and azure, three codfish naiant in pale argent, are the arms of the family of Beck. This fish has a lance-shaped body, covered with small scales; Heraldic Inquiries, by the Rev. James Dallaway, I7f'3. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 169 as it inhabits deep water, its capture is only attempted with the line and hook. Each fisher only takes one cod at a time, and will take from three hundred and fifty to four hundred in a day ; vessels of a hundred and fifty tons' 1 burthen trading to Newfoundland bring home upwards of thirty thousand fish, but, as Lent approaches, the ship will sometimes return with only half her cargo. Dried cod, the stockfish of the early ages, formed a very con- siderable portion of the food of the nation, both during Lent and on the frequent fast-days enjoined by religion. Besides the pure spiritual end, a second object, in civil respects, was probably in- tended, as by the institution of Lent the prosperity of fishermen was successfully advanced. The trade of preserving fish appears to have been, from the very earliest period, more dignified than that of catching them ; the curers and salters of fish are represented on the monuments of Egypt as superior in appearance to the fishermen of that country. The fish of Egypt, as shown in the paintings on the walls of the Theban palaces,* were divided lengthwise by a knife not unlike that now used for splitting the codfish at Newfoundland ; but their fish were cured with fossil salt, pro- cured from the African desert, sea-salt being deemed by the priests impure. Home salted and cured fish were in England considered as superior to foreign, and the latter were forbidden to be imported in the reign of Elizabeth. The fairs of Sturbridge, Ely, and St. Ives, noted for the provision offish, were then much used by the inhabitants of London. Dried fish has long been an article of British commerce, and is chiefly exported to Italy and Spain. One of the most curious productions of the early poetical lite- rature of Spain, collected by the industry of Sanchez, *f- is " The Battle of Mr. Carnal with Mrs. Lent, 1 '' written by Juan Ruiz, who flourished about the middle of the fourteenth century. In this poem, which is not without humour and sprightliness, the beasts and fish are arrayed in mortal combat, ending in the total dis- comfiture of the former : the fish and the holy cause obtain the victory, and Mr. Carnal is condemned to fast, unless in case of illness, upon one spare meal of fish a day. j Previously, the remembrance of the duty of fasting was en- forced by the means of rude sculptures and pictures, and these * CaillaiuTs Egypt. t Colcccion clc Poesias Castellanas, &c. Madrid, 1/90. + Article on Castilian Poetry in thu Retrospective Review, vol. vi. 170 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. necessary helps to popular devotion are also to be found in the enrichments of architecture. A grotesque figure with out- stretched arms, holding up the fish and the wassail bowl, may be considered as an appropriate type of the fasts and festivals of the Church in the eleventh century. This is shown on one of the capitals in the undercroft, or crypt, by no means the least interesting part of Canterbury Cathedral, the erection of which is attributed to Archbishop Lanfranc. It was from these rude attempts of art that the clergy derived the method of instruction in the due observance of church solemnities long before the invention of printing, and when manuscript books were not to be obtained but with diffi- culty and at great cost. It was the general demand for fish at stated seasons, when it formed the sole article of food, which contributed to the wealth and importance of the fish-merchants, who, as a guild, acquired consequence at a very early period in London. In the year 1 21)8, in honour of the return of King Edward I. from his vic- tory over the Scots, the citizens, every one according to their craft, proceeded through the city : the mystery of fishmongers on this occasion assumed the badges of their trade, and had four sturgeons, gilt, carried on horses ; then four salmon of silver on horses ; then forty-six armed knights, riding on horses like luces of the sea, followed by one in the character of Saint Magnus, with a thousand horsemen. To this saint the church in New Fish Street, or Fish-street Hill, was dedicated, and now bears on its front his statue : he was considered, probably, as the pa- tron of the fishmarket. Billings-gate, a port for shipping, was not distinguished as a fishmarket until Parliament, in 16'99, made it a free port for fish. The earliest charters extant in possession of the Fishmongers' 1 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 171 Company, by King Edward III, confirm the grants imme- morially made to them by his predecessors. In 1881, Sir Wil- liam Walworth, a renowned fishmonger, then Mayor of London, slew the insurgent Wat Tyler in Smithfield, in the presence of King Richard II. His dagger is carefully preserved among the archives of the company, and the event was formerly commemo- rated in the city pageants during the mayoralty of a fishmonger. In •' The Triumphs of London,"* performed at the cost of the Fishmongers, upon the inauguration of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor in 1700, a horseman in armour, with a dagger in his hand, represented Sir William Walworth ; the head of the rebel A Vat Tyler being borne aloft on a pike before him. This was again displayed in 1740, when another of the Fishmongers'' Company happened to be Lord Mayor. King Henry VI. united the Stockfishmongers and other branches of the trade, and incorporated the whole under the general name of the Fishmongers of London,*!* but they were again separated in the reign of Henry VII. j The arms of the Saltfishmongers were gules, three crossed keys saltierwise or, on a chief azure three dolphins embowed argent. Their arms appear in stained glass in the western side of the splendid windows of the north transept of Canterbury Cathedral, together with the arms of the City of London and those of Thomas Bernwell, citizen and fishmonger, who was Sheriff in 1435. § The Stockfishmongers bore for arms, azure, two sea luces in * Printed for R. Barnham, in Little Britain, 1/00. f Charter 11 Henry VI. J 21 Henry VII. i Willement's Heraldic Notices. 172 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. saltier, proper, with coronets over their months or : the fish here intended is the hake, the merlucius of the naturalist, common on the southern coast of England, large quantities of which are pre- served, both by salting and drying, for exportation, chiefly to Spain. The hake is described and figured by Rondelet of Mont- pelier, and was known to the older naturalists before him. These companies of merchants, amongst the most important of the city guilds, had no less than six Halls for the transaction of business, in regulating the fishery, and registering the men and erafts employed in it. Two Halls were situated in Old Fish Street, two in New Fish Street, near London liridge, and two in Thames Street. The two companies of Salt and Stockfish- mongers, both under the patronage of Saint Peter, were united in 1536, when they obtained a charter from King Henry VIII; but the company acts at present under the authority of a char- ter of incorporation, dated 2nd of King James I, to which the great seal of England is attached. This company formerly maintained three chaplains, and, be- sides being benefactors to the churches of Saint Peter, in West Cheap, and Saint Peter, in Cornhill, the southern aisle of Saint Michael's, Crooked Lane, was particularly distinguished as the Fishmongers 1 Chapel, or the Chapel of Saint Peter. The chap- lains assisted at all their funerals, and the superb ornamental pall used on these occasions is yet preserved.* It is made of a rich velvet with a broad fringe, and bears on its sides in embroidery the figure of Jesus Christ delivering the keys to Saint iVter, between the arms of the Fishmongers 1 Company as now It resembles that belonging to the Sadlcrs' Company, which is engraved in Mr. Shaw's " Decorations of the Middle Ages," loll. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 173 used ; at the ends is represented the Apostle Saint Peter in pon- tificalibus : this is called " Walworth's Pall, ,-! but is evidently of the time of Henry VIII, when the arms were granted. The insignia now borne, an amalgamation of the two arms formerly used, were confirmed to the company by Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms in 1575;* the grant of arms was araiii confirmed in the rear 1634. The present Hall of the Fishmongers"' Company was rebuilt in 1834; on the staircase is the statne of Walworth, by Peirce, and in one of the rooms are eight very curious and ancient pic- tures of fish, in all seasons, containing a hundred different sorts, but it is not known by whom painted. In the old Hall, de- stroyed by the fire of London, were arms in the windows of twenty-two Lord Mayors, of the Fishmongers 1 Company, from * Azure, three dolphins embowed in pale between two pair of sea luces saltierwise proper, crowned or ; on a chief gules, six keys, in three saltiers, ward ends upwards, of the second. Crest, two arms supporting an imperial crown. Supporters, a merman and mer- maid, the first armed, and the latter with a mirror in her left hand. Motto, " All wor- ship be to God only." 174 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. John Lovekin to Sir John Leman ; and twenty-eight Lord Mayors, fishmongers and stockfishmongers, are enumerated by Strype, from the year 1349 to 1716.* Part of the wealth of the company is devoted to charitable purposes, and, among others, to the support of Saint Peter's Hospital at Newington, in Surrey, founded in 1618. The fishermen were incorporated by King James II. in 1687, but they never arrived at the opulence and distinction of the fish-merchants. Fish afford an inexhaustible harvest, ripe for gathering at all seasons of the year, without the labour of tillage, without expence of seed or manure, and without the payment of rent and taxes ; yet Hard is the life the weary fisher finds, Who trusts his floating mansion to the winds, Whose daily food the fickle sea maintains, Unchanging labour and uncertain gains. Long before the discovery of Newfoundland a very consider- able fishery for cod was established off the Orkney and Shetland Islands, but the principal supply for the countries of Europe was obtained from Iceland and the coasts of Norway. Gules, a stockfish argent, crowned or, are the appropriate arms of Iceland. These arms are borne by the kings of Denmark in the royal achievement, illustrating in the simplest manner the source of a chief part of their revenue. All the seas of Denmark, of which the kings assume the sole dominion, are well stored with fish, and the regality is farmed : the predominance of dried fish in this country is noticed by the earliest voyagers, " Of Iseland to write is little nede, save of stockfish." -f- Gules, three fish without heads or, arms quartered by the * History of London. t Hakluyt's Principal Navigations &c. 1589. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 175 family of Bawde,* are presumed to be intended for stockfish, an article of commerce productive of great wealth. Fishing vessels form a charge in the heraldry of families de- rived from ancestors who were bound to perform service to the king on account of their maritime lordships, or in consequence of the insular position of their fiefs. Small undecked vessels, containing not more than two or three fishermen, were originally used on the north-western coasts of Great Britain : the fishermen were, however, skilful and dexterous in catching the different species of the finny tribe which abound in the lakes and rivulets of the Orkneys and the seas around. Azure, a ship at anchor, her oars in saltier, within a double tressure counterflory or, are the arms of the Sinclairs, ancient Earls of Orkney ; now borne by their descendant the Earl of Caithness, Lord Lieutenant of that county. The first Earl of Caithness, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, was the third Earl of Orkney, but surrendered that title to the crown when those islands devolved to King James III. on his marriage with Mar- garet of Denmark. Argent, a lymphad, or fishing galley, sable, with pennant gules, were the arms of the Mac Dougals, ancient Lords of Lorn, in Argyleshire, bounded by the sea : these arms are now quartered with those of Campbell by the Duke of Argyll, Marquess of Lorn, &c. and hereditary Sheriff of Argyleshire ; his grace being descended from Isabel, daughter and heiress of Lord Lorn, who married the first Earl of Argyll, and also inherited the estate of the Mac Dougals. The lymphad, or galley, which occurs so very frequently in Scottish heraldry, is the Highland fishing boat, one of which is represented on a sculptured fragment in Iona or Icolmkill, a celebrated island of the Hebrides. -f" The original is cut into the * Bedfordshire Pedigrees.— Lansd. MS. 864. t MacculloclTs Western Islands, 1819. 176 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. stone, nearly in the manner of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, and the same form was doubtless used by the ancient Greeks in the construction of those Sea- wandering barks that o'er the iEgcan sail, With pennants streaming to the northern gale. A seal of the family of Campbell of Craiginch, where the fish- ery is a source of considerable revenue, bears a shield gyronny of eight, hanging on the mast of a vessel.* A pair of oars in saltier is the crest of the Campbells of Skip- ness, in the district of Kintyre, assumed with reference to the situation of their domain on the sea coast; the remains of Skip- ncss Castle arc said to be of high antiquity. Argent, a ship with her sails furled sable, is the ensign of the Earldom of Arran, an island on the western coast of North Bri- tain, and is borne with the arms of his paternal house by the Duke of Hamilton, K.G., premier peer of Scotland. Azure, in the base waves vert, a ship in full course or, rigged gules, are the arms of the family of Craike, a name derived from Carack, a ship. It was from the nautilus, a shell-fish, and a re- presentative in miniature of a ship, that the primitive idea of navigation was acquired : man first Learnt of the little nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. The primeval boat may have been an excavated tree, but ves- * Nisbet's Heraldry. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 177 sels were soon afterwards formed of small planks : the rigging of boats on Egyptian monuments proves that they were in- tended for the river. Some of the boats of the Britons were sufficient for voyages from Orkney to Ireland ; in the western islands they were built of oak planks, and carried one mast and sail, with which the intrepid mariners boldly launched into the ocean, neither intimidated by danger nor subdued by difficulties. The mode practised by the bold navigators of the stormy northern ocean of steering their course, before the mariner's com- pass was in use, was exceedingly simple. Flok, a Norwegian, when sailing from Gardarsholme, in Shetland, to Iceland, took on board some crows ; and, after making part of his course, he threw up a crow, which seeing land astern, flew to it : keeping his course some time longer, the second crow sent out, seeing no land, returned to the vessel : the last crow thrown up, seeing land ahead, immediately flew for it ; and Flok, following his guide, fell in with the eastern part of the island.* The invention of the mariner's compass is ascribed to Flavio di Melfi, a Neapolitan, about the year 1302, and in commemoration of this discovery, the territory of Principato, where he was born, assumed the compass for an armorial distinction. The variation of the compass was unknown till Columbus, in his first voyage, observed that the needle declined from the meridian as he ad- vanced across the Atlantic ; the dip of the magnetic needle was discovered by Robert Norman in 1576. Even at the close of the fifteenth century England possessed no royal navy ; her fleets were hired of the Venetians, Genoese, and Hanse Towns, or provided by the merchants, and the Cinque Ports. No ship carried three masts before the year 1488, when the " Great Harry 11 was launched, and which appears to have been the first with that number. In 1515 the "Henri Grace de 01611" was built with port-holes ; previously ships had but one deck, and by the invention of ports the number of decks was increased to two, and even three. Queen Elizabeth, being aware how much the defence of her kingdom depended on its naval armaments, encouraged every attempt to increase its force and promote the arts of navigation and commerce. A ship under reef, drawn round the globe with a cable by a hand out of the clouds, and over it this motto, " Auxilio Di- * Macpherson's Annals of Commerce 1 805. 178 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. vino," is the crest of the family of Drake of Buckland, in Devon- shire, heirs and representatives of the celebrated circumnavigator, Sir Francis Drake, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth on board his own ship, the Golden Hind, at Deptford, 4 April 1581. The impressions of the seals belonging to the corporations of the Cinque Ports, and their dependencies, show the form of the earliest ship, the tenure by which their privileges were held. These were, Dover, Hastings, Romney, Sandwich, Feversham, Hythe, Pevensey, Rye, and Winchilsea. Upon the seal of the Barons of Dover is a faithful representation of the fishing vessel of the time of Edward I. The Barons of the Cinque Ports in the reign of Edward III. were bound to furnish the King with fifty-seven ships, when summoned, to go to war. Shoreham, at the mouth of the Adur, as well as Scaford and Tenterden, bears the fishing vessel, as an ensign, on the town seal. The same emblem of maritime im- portance is to be found on the early seals of the ports of Yar- mouth and Ipswich, of Newport and Newtown in the Isle of Wight, of Lymington, Lyme, and of Portsmouth. In Wales, the corporation seals of Haverford West and Beaumaris are also so distinguished. The mottos of some towns in Scotland are assumed with a similar view. Renfrew, the ancient inheritance of the royal THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 179 house of Stuart, and formerly of more consequence as a port, bears " Deus gubernat navem," God steers the vessel ; and the royal burgh of Montrose, one of the best harbours on the eastern coast, and which gives title to a dukedom, bears as a motto " Mare ditat, rosa decorat," the sea enriches and the rose adorns. Lordships, or fiefs, situated on the sea-coast possess various rights of anchorage, salvage, and fishing ; not only all kinds of ships and boats, but their several parts, are consequently found in the heraldry of lords of maritime manors. Shields of arms are charged with hulls, stems, sterns, and rudders, masts with their tops and tackling, sails, oars, cables, and anchors. It is of parts of a ship also that the naval crown is formed.* The buoy of a ship, blazoned or, is a cognizance of the Nevilles, in allusion to the office of Admiral, held by their ancestor under the Norman kings. The Earl of Abergavenny also quarters with his paternal arms, or, fretty gules, on a canton per pale ermine and of the first, a galley sable, for Neville the admiral ; the charges bearing allusion to the net and the fishing vessel, pressed into the king's service on occasion of war, A ship under full sail was the device of Andrea Doreo, Admi- ral of Spain, with the motto " Omnia fortuna? committo," I commit all to fortune. Gules, the hull of a ship, having only a mast without rigging or, were the arms of the Duke Albertus de Alasco, of Poland, with the motto, " Deus dabit vela," God will give sails. The stern of the Spanish line-of-battle ship " San Jose" was granted to Admiral Lord Nelson in 1801, after the victory of the Nile, as a crest, with a motto, said to have been chosen by the King himself, " Pal mam qui meruit feral," lot him who merits bear the palm. The stern of his own flag-ship, the Royal Sovereign, was, in like manner, granted as a crest to Admiral Lord Collingwood in 1807. Some British admirals have as- sumed the name of the ship in which they gained their renown, as a motto, when it happened to convey some other meaning, as, " Zealous," " Temerairc," " Superb," &c. A ship's mast, the top and sail down, was used as a cognizance by Rene d'Anjou, the father of Margaret, queen of Henry VI. A mainmast, the round-top set off with palisadoes or, and a lion issuant sable, is the crest of the family of Carew of Devonshire. * See page 44, a naval crown, part of the crest of Admiral Sir William Burnaby, Bart. 180 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. A rudder sable, the tiller and stays or, is the badge of the Lords Zouche The antique rudder upon which the goddess leans, and the prow of a ship that appears at her feet, distin- guish Britannia on the Roman medals ; after the Conquest the rudder from the sides of vessels was placed in the centre of the stern. Or, an anchor between three fish naiant azure, are the arms of the family of Habgood. The seal of the town of Cardigan, on the river Teivy, bears, a ship under sail, with the legend "Anchora spei Caeretic est in te, Domine," the anchor of Cardigan's hope is in thee, Lord. In the fishery of the Teivy the ancient coracle, a specimen of the original British navigation, continues to be used. The allegorical figures of Hope, each bearing an anchor, sup- porters to the arms of the Earl of Hopetoun, were probably assumed in allusion to the name of his family, together with the motto, " At spes non fracta," but hope is not lost. As Lord High-Admiral, in the reign of Henry VIII, the Earl of Southampton bore the anchor as a cognizance, and it still remains sculptured on the ceiling of the porch at Cowdray House in Sussex, built by him. In 1539 he received the Lady Anne of Cloves at Calais, on which occasion he wore, suspended to a golden chain, a whistle of gold set with precious stones, such as was then used by officers of the highest rank in communicating orders. The whistle is now only worn by the boatswain, but forms part of the arms granted to Admiral Lord Havvke.* New Hampshire, in the United States, has assumed for arms a ship upon the stocks. A similar device is borne by the town of Devonport, which originated in the foundation of a dockyard in the reign of William III, and was named by King George IV. in 1824. * Sec p;igo 1(1. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 181 There is a kind of aptitude in the names of ships, taken from the piscatory tribe which occupies the same region : the Levi- athan, the Grampus, the Shark, the Dolphin, the Pike, the Otter, and other inhabitants of the deep, as well as the Nautilus, swim the waters with their synonymous navigators. The first preachers of the Gospel were fishermen ; the original church represented, as nearly as might be, in its form the body of a ship, in allusion to that into which Jesus Christ entered ; which was always looked upon as a type of the church ; and as by the Apostolical constitutions the Church was to represent the ship of Saint Peter, the centre avenue formed the nave, and pre- serves the name. A sign ! Beneath the ship we stand ! The inverted vessel's arching side Forsaken, when the fisher-band Went forth to track a mightier tide.* In perfect accordance with this emblem of salvation, the seal of the priory of Saint Bartholomew, Smithfield, founded in 1102 by Habere, a minstrel and favourite of King Henry I, was de- signed to represent the church in a ship, floating on the waves : it is inscribed, " Credimus ante Deum, provide per Bartholo- meum." John de Passelaigue — literally, ship's wake — who was Bishop of Beller, in Burgundy, on the frontiers of Savoy, bore for arms, argent, a chevron gules, in chief two hearts charged with the name of Christ, and in base a ship sable, on waves vert, the sails gules, -f* Fish have often been made the vehicle of religious instruction; and for this purpose all the fine arts have been put in requisition. Amongst many pictures by the first masters, in which the finny tribe are introduced, that of Saint Anthony of Padua preaching to the fish, may be mentioned. This fine picture, by Salvator Rosa, is in the collection at Althorp House in Northampton- shire ; the sermon itself is given in Addison's Travels in Italy. On the conventual seal of Glastonbury Abbey are represented the figures of Saint Dunstan between Saint Patrick and Saint Benignus ; each has his emblem beneath his feet ; the last has a party of fish : perhaps, adds the historian of the abbey, he also preached to them, as Saint Anthony did. J * Ecclesia, a poem, by the Rev. R. S. Hawker, A.M. t Palliot. | Warner's History of Glastonbury Abbey, 1826. 182 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. A fish furnishing the University of Cambridge with a religious feast was the occasion of a tract, entitled " Vox Piscis, 11 or the Book-fish ; containing three treatises which were found in the belly of a codfish in Cambridge market, on Midsummer eve 1626.* This fish is said to have been taken in Lynn deeps, and, after finding a book within it, the fish was carried by the bedel to the vice-chancellor ; and coming as it did at the Commence- ment, the very time when good learning and good cheer were most expected, it was quaintly remarked, that this sea guest had brought his book and his carcass to furnish both. THE HAKE. Hakes are so abundant on the southern coast of England that as many as forty thousand are said to have been landed in one day on the shores of Mount's Bay in Cornwall. In Ireland hakes are taken nearly all round the island, and the fishery affords a principal source of employment in Wexford, the great fishing banks on the coast lying immediately off this county. The mayor's seal of the town of Wexford bears an heraldic illustration of the hake, its peculiar produce : on a fess wavy, between three dolphins embowed, three hakes naiant, with a coronet over each. Greatly out of season; cod gen particularly fine till May. ally comes into good season in October, and is THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 183 Gahvay Bay, on the western coast, is particularly distinguished as the Bay of Hakes, from the vast number of these fish which pursue the herrings into it. Gal way, an ancient town on the north-eastern side of this spacious hay, bears on its seal a fishing vessel, having a shield charged with the royal arms affixed to the mast, to denote the regality ; the fisheries affording an import- ant source of revenue. The inhabitants were formerly divided into thirteen tribes, each having exclusive commercial privileges, not entirely relinquished. Off the coast of Waterford, also, the hake is abundant, and it is said that a thousand fish have been taken with the line by six men in the course of a single night. The hake is frequently borne in heraldry in allusion to the name. Sable, seme of cross crosslets fitchy, three hakes hauri- ant argent, the arms of the family of Hacket of Niton, in the Isle of Wight, are quartered with the arms of Worsley and Pel- ham by the Earl of Yarborough. Agnes, daughter and heiress of John Hacket, Esq. of Niton, married John Lye, Esq. of Dorsetshire : their daughter and heiress, Anne, married Sir James Worsley, Constable of Oarisbrook Castle in the reign of Henry VIII.; by which match the manor of Apuldercomb, and other estates in the Isle of Wight, came into the possession of the Worsley family. Gules, three hakes luxuriant argent, are the arms of the ancient family of Hakehed of Ireland.* Another family of Hacket, also of Ireland, bears for arms, azure, three hakes hauriant argent ; and, vert, three hakes hau- riant argent, are the arms of the family of Doxey, some branches of which bear the fish in the arms or. Harl. MS. 5866. 184 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Argent, a chevron between three hakes hauriant gules, are the arms of the family of Hake of Devonshire ; a part of the country where the fish is abundant. Azure, a dolphin naiant between three cinquefoils argent, are the arms of Hagges of Scotland. THE WHITING. The Whiting is a delicate fish, well known, as it is caught in abundance all round the coast of Great Britain, and appears to be the same as the merlyng of antiquity. Merlyng fried, was among the dishes at the coronation of Katherine, queen of Henry V, which consisted entirely of fish. This fish is only borne in heraldry in reference to the name. A monument in the chancel of the church of Shillingford St. George, on the river Exe in Devonshire, to the memory of the Rev. John Whiting, who died in 1726, bears, three whitings naiant in pale. Another family of the name of Whiting bears for arms, argent, on a bend sable three whitings. Thomas Whiting was Chester Herald in the reign of Henry VIII, and probably bore the same punning allusion to his name for arms. There is extant a kind of literary bijou, a catalogue of Friends' 1 books, written by Quakers, published in 1708: this is much commended by Oldys, the bibliographer, who says, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 185 " Honest John Whiting has in this work borne away the gar- land, and left it a choice legacy to libraries, and as a looking- glass even to learned academies." Azure, three whitings hauriant argent, and crest, a whiting hauriant, are the armorial bearings of the family of Whittington. THE LING. This valuable species of sea-fish was an article of commercial importance in England as early as the reign of Edward III, when the price was regulated. The ports of Spain are the prin- cipal markets supplied with salted and dried ling. Argent, on a fess dancette azure, three lings' heads erased or, are the arms of the family of Caldwell of Staffordshire. Few other instances are probably to be found of the appli- cation of this fish as an heraldic bearing. THE BURBOT. The Bukijot is a species of ling, but lives in fresh water; it is found in the river Cam, as well as in several rivers of Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, and Durham. The Trent also produces the burbot. The habits of the burbot are not unlike those of the eel, and, from its lurking and hiding itself in holes like the rabbit, it is called the coney-fish, whence it was doubtless assumed, with the coney, in the arms of Bishop Cheney, as a pun on his name. These are here given impaled with those of the see of Gloucester, created by King Henry VTII. in the year 1542, who endowed 186 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. the bishopric with the revenues of the monastery, founded in honour of Saint Peter at Gloucester, the church of which he ordained should be for ever the cathedral of the see. The arms of the bishopric were composed from the emblem of the patron saint, azure, two keys in saltier or. Argent, on a chevron azure, a coney courant between two burbot or coney-fish hauriant of the field, on a chief chequy argent and azure, a rose gules, were the arms of Richard Cheney, Bishop of Gloucester, who died in 1578, and is buried in the cathedral. In the reign of Edward VI. Richard Cheney was Archdeacon of Hereford, but was deprived of his preferment in Queen Mary's time for upholding the opinions of Luther. After the accession of Elizabeth he was made a prebendary of Westminster, and in 1562 was consecrated Bishop of Gloucester, with liberty to hold the see of Bristol in commendam. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 187 IX. €f)t gole, tZurfiot, Paice, antr dploun&er* Thk Sole inhabits the sandy shores all round England, but those of the southern and western coasts are much larger and superior fish. From its delicate taste, the sole is termed " the partridge of the sea." Argent, a chevron gules between three soles hauriant, within a border engrailed sable, are the arms of the family of Soles of Brabane, in Cambridgeshire.* Vert, a chevron between three soles naiant or, are the arms of Soley of Shropshire. The heiress of a branch of this family married Randal Holme of Chester, deputy of Norroy King of Arms, and author of " The Academy of Armoury," 1 G88. The arms of Soley are sculptured on his monument in Saint Mary's Church, Chester, where he was interred in 1700. Per pale or and gules, a chevron counter-changed between three soles azure and argent, are the arms of the family of Soley of Worcester- shire. Gules, three soles naiant argent, are the arms of the family of De Soles. The whiff or carter of Cornwall is a species of sole, less esteemed : it keeps on sandy ground, at no great distance from land, and is caught as often as any of the salt-water flat-fish. Sable, a chevron ermine, between three carter-fish hauriant ar- gent, are the arms of the family of Carter of London, assumed evidently as a play upon the name. • Guillim. 188 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE TURBOT. The Turrot, one of the best, as well as one of the largest of the flat-fish, is found on all parts of the coast of Great Britain. On the shores of Yor-kshire and Durham a very considerable fish- ery for turbot is carried on by the fishermen of Scarborough and Hartlepool ; but preference is generally given to the Dutch, the finest of which are supposed to be taken on the Flemish banks. Azure, three turbots argent, finned or, are the arms of the ancient family of Turbutt of York. There is a monument in the church of Saint Michael Ouse Bridge for William Turbutt, who died in 1648; another William Turbutt was Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1710. These arms are found also on an engraved brassplate in Felis- kirk Church, near Thirsk ; which bears a Latin inscription in memory of William Turbutt of Mount Saint John, who died 13 April 1673. Mount Saint John is the site of a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, founded by Algernon Percy in the beginning of the reign of Henry I. Argent, three turbots naiant, are the arms of the family of Tar- THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 189 butt of Scotland ; and argent, three turbots fretted, are the arms of Tarbutt of Middlesex. A turbot naiant azure is the crest of the family of Ridley of Devonshire; and a demi-turbot erect, tail upwards, gules, is the crest of the family of Lawrence ; and was so borne by the late Sir Thomas Lawrence, President of the Royal Academy. Milton has a beautiful sonnet to " Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son. 1 '' The father was Henry Lawrence, President of the council of the Protector, created a peer in 1657. He was allied to Cromwell, and, after the death of Oliver, proclaimed Richard Cromwell his successor. He died in 1664, and was buried in the chapel of Saint Margaret at Stansted le Thele, in Hertfordshire, where his arms, a cross raguly, impaling those of Peyton, and the crest, a demi-turbot, are sculptured on his tomb. John Lawrence of Ramsey, in Huntingdonshire, in the reign of Henry VIII, was the ancestor of the family at Saint Ives, in the same county, of which Sir John Lawrence, the father of the President of the Council, was knighted at Windsor by King James I. previously to the coronation. It is from one of the younger sons of the President that the Lawrence family of Studley Park, and Hackfall in Yorkshire, are descended. The Lawrences of Ashton Hall, in Lancashire, are of very early origin. That estate has passed through heiresses from them to the Butlers of Raweliff; from the Butlers to the Rat- cliffs of Wimersley ; and from them to the Gerards of Bromley ; and Ashton Hall, through the heiress of the last Lord Gerard, descended to the Duke of Hamilton, K.G., who was created Duke of Brandon in 1711. Another branch of the Lawrence family was seated at Hert- ingfordbury in the reign of Henry VII, and became allied to the great and illustrious, to the ambitious Dudley, Duke of Nor- thumberland ; to the Earls of Warwick ; to Lord Guildford Dud- 190 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. ley; the brilliant Leicester; and to Sir Philip Sidney. Lord Heytesbury, as heir of the Vernons, is the representative of this branch of the Lawrence family.* One of the peculiar features of the old city of London was the number of houses enriched with plaster- work, skilfully modelled in imitation of foliage, fruit, heads of men, and animals, and most prominent heraldic insignia. A house of this description bore on its front the turbot crest and arms of Lawrence, dif- ferenced by a canton, and was the residence of Sir John Law- rence, Lord Mayor in 1665 : he was the grandson of a Fleming, who left the Netherlands in the reign of Elizabeth and settled in Great Saint Helen's, where Sir John built a mansion not un- worthy of the Doge of Genoa, " la superba. 1 ' The Genoese nobility do not disdain to follow mercantile pursuits, and derive a rich source of revenue from the exports of the city ; in early times, when a nobleman engaged in trade, his nobility was said to sleep. The Emperors of Germany allowed printers to bear coat armour in acknowledgment of the importance of the dis- covery : printing was then practised by many who were of noble family as well as by eminent ecclesiastics. The solidity of the anchor used by Aldus corresponds with prudence ; the dolphin was an ancient emblem of swiftness, and its meaning was, that to work successfully it was necessary to labour without relaxa- tion, to be deliberate in choice, and quick in execution. THE BRILL. The Brill, or brctt, a fish of the turbot kind, frequenting, like that fish, sandy bays, as well as deep water, is taken in abun- dance on the southern coast of England. Azure, three bretts naiant, are the arms of the family of Bretcock ; and the crest of the family of Britwesill is a brill naiant. Naturalists seem to be of opinion that the celebrated turbot of Ancona, the subject of Juvenal's satire, was a brill, the Rhombus * Gentleman's Magazine for 181.5 and 1829. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 191 vulgaris of Cuvier. The fish which desired to be caught for the Emperor's table was of unequalled size, and quite filled the fish- erman's net ; nets are certainly used at the beginning of the season, but in warm weather the fish make for deep water, when the fishermen have recourse to their many-hooked lines. THE PLAICE. These fish, commonly called Dutch plaice, are taken wherever lines or nets can be used on the English coast, but the Diamond ground, off the coast of Sussex, produces the fish most remarkable for purity of colour and for the brilliancy of their spots, which are of a bright orange red. English heraldry does not afford an instance of plaice, but Palliot gives an example in the arms of the Danish family of Bukens : azure, on a bend argent, three plaice of the field, in chief an escutcheon chevrony or and gules. " The best fish swim near the bottom 11 is an expression ap- plicable to the varieties of flat-fish ; and it is remarked by the naturalist that, as birds are seen to occupy very different situa- tions, some obtaining their food on the ground, others on trees, and not a few at various degrees of elevation in the air, so are fish destined to reside in different situations in the water. The flat-fish are, by their depressed form of body, admirably adapted to inhabit the lowest position, and where they occupy the least space among their kindred fish.* * Yarrell's British Fishes. 3 92 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. THE FLOUNDER. This fish is found near the mouths of large rivers and in the sea all round the coast of Great Britain ; it is termed flounder from its manner of swimming when close to the ground ; at Yar- mouth it is called a hutt, and in Scotland, a fluke, on account of its flattened form. Sable, a fluke argent, is the armorial dis- tinction of a family of the name of Fisher. Captain Franck gives a lively description of this fish in his rambling memoirs of angling, which are full of amusement to the traveller, the soldier, and the fisherman. By way of a gene- ral rule, he commences with — He that intends tlie flounder to surprise, Must rise betimes, and fish before sunrise. " The flounder is a fish that 's as bold as a buccaneer, of much more confidence than caution, and is so fond of a worm that he 1 11 go to the banquet though he die at the board. He is a resolute fish, and struggles stoutly for victory with the angler, and is more than ordinarily difficult to deal with, by reason of his build, which is altogether flat, as it were a level. The flounder delights, I must tell you, to dwell among stones ; be- sides, he \s a great admirer of deeps and ruinous decays, yet as fond as any fish of moderate streams ; and none beyond him, except the perch, that is more solicitous to rifle into ruins, inso- much that a man would fancy him an antiquary, considering he is so affected with reliques. , ' > * Under its name of butt the flounder appears in the heraldry of * Franck 's Northern Memoirs, 1694. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 193 the family of Butts of Dorking, in Surrey, which bears for arms, argent, a saltier gules, between four ermine spots, on a chief of the second, three buttfish hauriant of the first : crest, an arm couped at the elbow and erect, grasping a buttfish, or flounder. Argent on a bend sable, three fish of the field, are the arms of the family of Sankey of Cawdwells, a manor in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire. Sable, three fish in bend between two cottises argent, are the arms of the family of Sankey of Worcestershire. The particular species of fish is not de- scribed, but it is possible flounders are intended, from the known preference of the flat-fish to the sandy bottom of the water, and the slight play upon the name afforded by that circumstance. 194 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. X. GTfje <&el, (longer, antr Eampreg. The form of the " fine silver eel, ,, unlike that of many other fish, is well known ; but the whiteness of the belly is not the only mark to know the best fish, the colour of the back should be of a bright coppery hue. Eels inhabit almost all the rivers, lakes, and ponds in England, and are found in almost every part of the world. Being caught with the greatest ease, they were, in early times, more common as food than other descrip- tions of fish. Fisheries formed one of the most important sources of revenue in the Anglo-Norman period of history, and wherever the produce in kind is mentioned it seems to have consisted chiefly in eels, herrings, or salmon. The rent in eels appears to have been paid numerically, and sometimes it was paid by sticks, the eels being strung on tough willow twigs, every stick bearing twenty-five. The revenue produced by mills is variously stated, sometimes in money and in grain, but occasionally from the fish- ery in the mill-stream, consisting chiefly of eels.* Elmore, on the banks of the Severn, near Gloucester, received its name from the number of eels there taken. Gules, on a chief or, a dolphin azure, are the arms of the family of Elmore : the dolphin being used as the emblem of the fishery. The lords of manors in the Isle of Ely were entitled to more than a hundred thousand eels, so productive of this fish were the fens, which were formerly overflowed with water. Argent, a chevron engrailed gules, between three eels nowed, or twisted like a knot, are the arms of the family of Radley of Yarborough, which is situated on the banks of the Ankholme, a river celebrated for its production of eels in an old Lincolnshire proverb — Ankholme eel and Witham pike, In all the world there is ne sike. The eel occurs frequently in English heraldry in reference to a family name. Argent, three eels naiant in pale, are the arms of Ellis of Treveare, the most westerly part of Cornwall, an * Introduction to Domesday Book, by Sir Henry Ellis. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 195 ancient family, of which John Ellis, Esq. late M.P. for Newry, is a descendant. Argent, three eels embowed, in pale, sable, are the arms, and on an eel vert, an eagle displayed, is the crest, of the family of Eales. Argent, two eels hanriant confronts vert, between two etoiles gules, are the arms, and an eel naiant vert, is the crest, of the family of Arneel of Scotland. Five arrows or, entwined by an eel, are borne as a crest by the family of Elwes of Stoke, near Clare, on the banks of the Stour in Suffolk, of which Sir Gervase Elwes was created baronet in 1 660. A hand gauntleted, grasping an eel, is the crest of the family of Elleis of Southside, in Scotland, and of that of Ellice of Clothall, in Hertfordshire. An arm embowed vested azure, turned up argent, holding in the hand an eel, is the crest of the family of Enghanes. One of the branches of the house of Bretel, in France, bears for arms, or, a chevron gules, between three mullets azure, on a chief of the last an eel argent ; other branches bear on the chief a lamprey or a salmon.* Azure, a saltier between four eels naiant or, are the arms of the family of Fleury, of Ireland ; and, argent, three eels naiant in pale azure, are the arms of the family of Ducat, of Scotland. Or, a fess gules, between an eel naiant in chief azure, and a lion's head erased in base gules, are borne by the Scottish family of Cuthbertson, a variation seemingly from the arms of Cuthbert, or, a fess gules, in chief a serpent azure, the serpent here being assumed as an emblem of the name of Cuthbert, which implies one famed for knowledge : Quique gcrit certum Cuthbert do luce vocamen. A heron's head, with an eel in its bill, is the crest of the family * Palliot. o 2 196 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. of Mercer of Aldie, in Perthshire, and, with their motto, " Grit Poul, 11 is sculptured on the Castle of Aldie, erected in the six- teenth century. A demi-stork, wings expanded sable, the outside of the wings argent, holding in the bill an eel azure, was borne on a wreath argent and vert, by Sir John Styell in the reign of Henry VIII.* Two storks, with wings elevated, and an eel in the bill of each, are borne as supporters to the arms of the Right Hon. J. Hobart Caradoc, Lord Howden of Grimston in Yorkshire. In Boisseaus Heraldry "f several French families are men- tioned as bearing eels in their arms. Lauzon, azure, three eels in pale argent, Goulas, gules, three eels two and one argent, on a chief azure, a lion passant or ; and Buzannal, or, a chevron gules, in chief two Cornish choughs, and on a chief argent, an eel naiant. Anguillaria, an Italian family, noticed by Palliot, bears for arms, argent, two eels in saltier azure, within a border indented argent over gules. Examples of eels in Spanish heraldry are found in the arms borne by the great Houses of Guzman, Pacheco, and De Lara. The grandees of Castile, in the earliest age of heraldry, assumed the Pendon y Caldera, the banner and caldron, as well-known military badges; the banner as the rallying ensign of command, showing ability to raise troops, and the caldron, or camp-kettle, denoting power to feed them : these charges are common in the oldest heraldry of Spain. The French heralds, in their blazon- ing, term the caldron chaudiere, and the contents serpents; but, as the chaudiere implies cooking-pot, it is presumed they are intended for eels. The olla or pipkin of Spain, in which the national and savoury stew is concocted, is equivalent to the cal- dron of the Rico ffombre, or rich man. " Hurl. MS. 1632. t Promptuairc Armorial, 1(5.">7. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. is: Azure, two caldrons or, with eels issuing therefrom, within a border ermine, are the arms of the illustrious family of Guz- man, and were so borne by Cardinal Enrique de Guzman de Haro in 1627. X X X X X Argent, two caldrons or, harry indented gules, with six eels issuing therefrom, three on either side, are the arms of the family of Pacheco ; and, gules, two caldrons or, harry sable, with eight eels issuing therefrom, are the arms of De Lara. The very singular arms, resembling eels, of the ancient Abbey of Whitby, at the mouth of the river Esk in Yorkshire, refer to antediluvian remains, which are supposed to belong to the order of molluscous animals, termed by geologists Cephalopoda, animals in a chambered cell, curved like a coiled eel, and better known as Ammonites, from a fancied resemblance to the horns of Jupiter. The arms are blazoned, azure, three snakes encircled or, as now borne by the town of Whitby. A weir-basket filled with fish is depicted upon the seal, in the reign of Henry IV, of William Weare of Weare Gifford, on the river Torridge, in Devonshire. The punning motto of this family is " Sumus, 11 we are. Many eels are taken in weirs formed on the banks of rivers : in the Thames, the eel-pot or wicker basket is used in various parts ; being opposed to the stream, the eels are thus intercepted in 198 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. their progress, and become a source of revenue to the lords of manors possessing the several fisheries. An eel-pot, per pale argent and vert, the badge of Lord Wil- liams of Thame, Lord Chamberlain to Queen Mary, is now borne by the Earl of Abingdon, the representative of Henry Lord Norris, who married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of Lord Williams. A wivern, with wings endorsed gules, standing on a fishweir devouring a child, and pierced through the neck with an arrow, is the crest of the family of Venables, Barons of Kinderton in Cheshire, ancestors of the Lords Vernon of Kinderton. Per bend azure and vert, a fishweel or willow-basket, in bend or, are the arms of the family of Wheler ; and, argent, a chevron ermine, between three fishweels, their hoops upward vert, are the arms of the family of Wylley. Or, a chevron between three fishweels sable, are the arms of the ancient family of Foleborne. The fishweels or weirs are exceedingly picturesque features of scenery ; when the rivers arc high, the overfalls of the water form a cascade, but at all times they afford a variety to the view, breaking the line of the river and producing some slight water- fall. Fishguard, a town at the mouth of the Gvvain, in Pem- brokeshire, derives its name from the fishgarth or weir in the river, which is famed for its trout and salmon, as well as eels. An allusion to the dam or weir is doubtless intended by the THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 199 fish in the arms of the family of Dame, sable, three fish naiant in pale or; and perhaps also in those of the family of Twicket, argent, a fess between three fish hauriant gules : the name having reference to the small passage or wicket, in the weir. A fishweel or, is the crest of the family of Colland. Gules, an otter or, springing from a fishweel vert, are the arms of Jugerde de Beverlak.* Sable, a chevron between three eel-spears argent, are the arms of the family of Stratele or Strateley. Great numbers of eels are taken by means of these long- handled four-pronged spears, and nowhere is the practice of eel- spearing more common than at Streatley, on the banks of the Thames, whence the family probably derived their name. A pheon or, handled argent, entwined with an eel, is the crest of the family of Ewer of Luton, in Bedfordshire ; and an eel en- twined round a shafted pheon is the crest of the family of Granell. THE CONGER. The Conger, or sea-eel, formerly esteemed for the table, is found in deep hollows of the rocks on various parts of the west- ern coast of England : off the French coast are considerable conger banks, where prodigious quantities are still taken for maiqre days. In the time of King Henry III. Rochelle was celebrated for its conger eels. The old town seal of Congleton, in Cheshire, bears a tun floating on waves between two congers respecting each other, and upon the tun a lion statant ; a very indifferent play upon the name of the town. 200 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Gules, on a fess argent, between three congers'* or dragons' 1 heads erased or, as many trefoils slipped sable, are the arms of the family of Oongleton of Northamptonshire. Argent, a chev- ron between three demi-congers naiant gules, are the arms of the family of Shambrooke. Congers acquire a very large size, and are recorded by natu- ralists to have occasionally measured more than ten feet in length and eighteen inches in circumference, weighing from eighty to one hundred and thirty pounds. They are borne in arms by the family of Conghurst, azure, three congers hauriant argent. The head of this fish is more frequently found in heraldry. Sable, three congers' 1 heads erased and erect argent, are the arms of Hotoft, an ancient family of Nottinghamshire. Some branches of the family bear for crest, a conger's head erect and erased azure, gorged with a mural coronet or, with chain and ring of the last. Argent, a chevron between three congers' heads erased, are the arms of the family of Canbrook ; and, per chevron gules and or, three sea-dragons ducally crowned counterchanged, are the arms of the family of Easton of Devonshire. The conger is known to be so voracious as not to spare even those of its own species ; it has the power to crush with its jaws the strong shells of lobsters and other crustaceous fish. It pos- sesses great tenacity of life, together with great strength, and often proves a formidable antagonist to the fisherman, if assailed in its quarters among the rocks. These characteristics support the assumption that the conger is the prototype not only of the wivern, or sea-dragon of English heraldry, but of the poetical dragon, the dragon of the monkish legends, the representation of Evil, and the sorpent of the romances. It would not be difficult THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 201 to show that the dragon, a leading symbol of heraldry, has the same source as the Urgunda of the Mexicans, the great serpent on the Chinese banner, and the sea-snake of the Scandinavians. The destruction of dragons appears to have been one of the most common of all miracles in the earlier ages of the Church ; besides the well-known exploits of Saint George, Saint Michael, and Saint Margaret, ecclesiastical history abounds in similar legends. The simple explanation of these, lies in considering the various victories represented to have been gained over dragons, as so many conquests obtained by virtue over vice. Some of these miracles have another allegorical signification, and are sup- posed to be intended to typify the confining of rivers within their proper channels, or limiting the incursions of the sea. The emblem of St. Margaret, their patron saint, is borne in the arms of the corporation of the ancient borough of Lynn, in Norfolk. Azure, three congers'* or dragons' heads erased and erect, the jaws of each pierced with a cross crosslet fitchy or, were the arms of the priory founded by Bishop Herbert de Losing, in the time of William Rufus ; the same as now borne by the town of Lynn. Margaret the Virgin, the tutelary saint and especial patroness of Lynn, is represented on the corporation seal on a dragon, and wounding it with the cross : the inscription is, " svb . marga- RETA . TERITVR . DRACO . STAT . CRVCE . L^ETA." The Same Saillt, Sub- duing and trampling upon the dragon, is also represented on the conventual seals of West Acre Priory, Thetford, and Norwich Priories, and that of Saint Margaret at Hilburgh, all in the same countv. 202 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. The Order of the Dragon Overthrown, the knighthood of Hun- gary, was instituted by the Emperor Sigismund in 1418, for the purpose of engaging the Hungarian nobility in the defence of the frontiers of that country against the Turks. A dragon was an ancient ensign of this part of Germany, and, after Trajan's Dacian war, was substituted for the eagle of the Romans, and from them passed as a standard to several European nations. A dra- gon was depicted on the banners of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and was so borne by the Milesian kings of Ireland : during the Crusades it was considered as the symbol of the Bri- tish nation. From having been used by Cadwallo, and other potentates of Wales, it descended to King Henry VII, and by him the red dragon was assumed as one of the supporters of the royal arms of England ; and Rouge dragon pursuivant was created. Two dragons argent, were afterwards used by the city of London in the same manner, but charged on the wing with the cross of Saint George. THE LAMPREY. Azure, on a bend or, three lampreys of the field, are the arms of the family of Oastleton of Suffolk ; and, or, three lampreys, are the arms of the family of Lamprell. The proper colour of the body of the lamprey is olive brown, spotted on the back and sides with dark green. Sable, three lampreys in pale argent, are the arms of the family of Radford of Dawlish, in Devonshire. The lamprey is a fish common in some of the rivers on the southern coast of England, and particularly so in the Severn. At Worcester, where it is prepared in various ways for the table, THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 203 the lamprey is in high estimation ; and it has been a custom for the citizens of Gloucester annually to present the sovereign with a lamprey pie. The lamproun, which often occurs in old accounts of provisions, is supposed to he a different fish from the lamprey ; both are mentioned as provided for Archbishop War- ham's installation feast in 1503. The murtcna of the Romans, from the Mediterranean, generally translated lamprey, is also a different fish, more of the eel kind. The remora, or sucking-fish, common in the Mediterranean, was well known to the Romans, and is famed for its power over the vessel of the mariner : — The sucking-fish beneath, with secret chains Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains. It is mentioned as borne in arms on the authority of Peacliam.* That quaint writer says, " Of fishes you shall find in armes the whale, the dolphin, the salmon, the trout, barbel, turbot, her- ring, roach, remora, and escallop shells ; " and adds, that " you must be very heedful in the blazoning of fishes, by reason of the variety of their natures.' 1 '' The arms bearing the remora, alluded to by Peacham, are not known ; but as an emblem of prudence this fish is used in heraldry. The dexter supporter of the arms of the Earl Howe is described, in some authorities, as Prudence habited argent, mantled azure, holding a javelin entwined with a remora. It is a fish seldom exceeding a foot in length ; the tail and fins are comparatively very small. * On Blazoning Arms, in the Gentleman's Exercise, 1630. 204 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. XL The Sturgeon, a large sea fish, is occasionally caught on the eastern coast of England, and, when taken near land, is con- sidered a royal fish, and is sent to the king. Whatever fish the vulgar fry excell Belong to Csesar, wheresoe'er they swim, By their own worth confiscated to him. In the northern parts of Europe this fish is numerous. A great sturgeon fishery is at the mouth of the Wolga, in the Caspian Sea. They are caught in weirs, similar to those used in Scotland for salmon. Sturgeon are abundant in the Danube, and attain a large size ; but those taken in the Theiss, one of the branches of that river, are remarkable for fatness and delicate flavour. The flesh of this fish, when fresh, is very fine, and more like veal than even turtle. It is of the roe that the caviar, so much prized at Constantinople, is prepared. Azure, three sturgeons argent, fretty gules, are the arms of the family of Sturgney ; and, azure, three sturgeons naiant in pale or, over all fretty gules, are the arms of the family of Sturgeon of Whepstead, near Bury, in Suffolk, who bear for crest a stur- geon naiant or, fretty gules. On the monument of Sir John Spelman, 1545, in Narborough Church, Norfolk, are inlaid portraits, engraved on brass, of the knight and his lady : on the lady's mantle are the arms of Stur- geon, quartered with those of her own family, Frowick of Gun- nesbury, in Middlesex. She is represented kneeling at a prie- dieu, and over the figures is an engraving of the Resurrection.* * Engraved in Cotman's Sepulchral Brasses in Norfolk. 1819. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 205 XII. %f)t 13og=fi$i), £ea=iiong, an& otfjer JttcmgteriBu The Dog-fish is a kind of shark, found on the shores of Great Britain : of this species the white shark is the most terrific to mankind, being supposed to have a particular desire for human flesh. The gula of this fish is so wide that a man may be swal- lowed entire. A shark issuant regardant, swallowing a man, is the crest of the family of Yeates of Ireland. A shark's head regardant, and swallowing a negro, is the crest of the family of Molton. A very similar crest was granted to that of Garmston, mentioned at page 67. Sir Brook Watson, Alderman of Lon- don, created Baronet in 1803, lost his leg from the bite of a shark in the harbour of Havannah, and assumed for crest, a demi-triton, grasping a trident and repelling a shark in the act of seizing its prey. The incident is also commemorated in a pic- ture by Copley, at Christ's Hospital. Almost all the species of shark have received some name resembling hounds, as beagle, rough-hound, smooth-hound, spotted-dog, and dog-fish, from their habit of following their prey, or hunting in company or packs. Argent, three dog-fish in pale sable, are the arms of the family of Gesse. (Jules, a mallet dog-fish argent, are the arms of the family of Malvish ; * a demi dog-fish sable is the crest of the family of Meer of Dorsetshire. - Randle Holme. 206 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Unnatural animals appear in the heraldry of all nations. It is related that an Austrian nobleman asked an English ambassador at Vienna, whose arms presented a griffin, " in what forest that beast was met with ? " to which the ambassador readily answered, " the same in which the eagles with two heads are found." The monsters found in antique sculpture are generally com- binations of parts of known animals ; the sea-lions and sea- horses, originating in the superstition of mariners, are embel- lished by art and fable. The lion and the horse being well known and familiar animals, the creatures of the water obtained similar names, whenever a fancied resemblance would appear to warrant the application of them. Or, on a bend wavy, between two sea-lions sable, three bucks'' heads caboshed argent, and crest, a sea-lion supporting an anchor, are the insignia of Sir Robert Harland, Baronet, of Orwell Park in Suffolk, who is de- scended from a distinguished naval commander. A sea-lion sejant, is the crest of the Earl of Thanet, a title derived from the isle of Thanet, a district on the Kentish coast, where the inhabitants, partaking of the amphibious character of the sea-lion, live by sea and land, making the most of both ele- ments, as farmers and fishermen. The Earl of Thanet, by descent THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 207 from the Cliffords, is also lord of the honor of Skipton in Craven. Two sea-lions argent, guttee de l'armes, were assumed as sup- porters by the Viscount Falmouth, the title granted to the brave Admiral Boscawen for his important services in America. A tower in flames, on its side a sea-lion azure, its paws pressing against the tower, was granted as a crest to Sir John Thomas Duckworth, Bart, of Weare, in Devonshire. It was this gallant admiral who forced the passage of the Dardanelles in 1807. A sea-lion and anchor was granted as one of the supporters of the arms of Viscount Bridport, second admiral in command on the memorable 1st of June 1794. The lion, the king of beasts, is the type of bold and invincible courage ; and a fanciful animal, the marine lion, is assumed as the emblem of those qualities, so absolutely necessary to a naval commander : it is always represented in heraldry with the upper part of a lion and the tail of a fish. The sculptors of antiquity, as well as the poets, appear to have had great pleasure in con- verting lions into aquatic animals : at Rome lions spout water at several fountains, and on the channels of roofs they are made to fill an office by no means characteristic of the fiercest of beasts. Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum. The sea-horse, more common in heraldry than the sea-lion, is also of classical origin ; the horse was closely connected with the history of Neptune, and upon Roman festivals in honour of the ocean god, led horses, crowned with garlands, formed a prin- cipal part. Neptune is also represented flying over the surface of the sea in a chariot formed of a large shell, drawn by winged horses. The poets of the northern nations, who delighted in hierogly- phical personifications, sometimes term a ship the horse of the ocean, and the savage chief who pursues the flying damsel is said to traverse the waves on an enchanted steed in some of the older ballads and popular tales recited by the scalds. In this manner the classical fable of Andromeda and the sea-monster may be explained, by the probable fact of her being wooed by the captain of a ship, who attempted to carry her off, but was prevented by the interposition of a more favoured lover. Plutarch admits that the celebrated monster Chimara was derived from a captain of pirates, whose ship bore the figures of 208 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. a lion, a goat, and a dragon. Another explanation is, that it was a burning mountain of Lycia, the top of which was the resort of lions, the middle of goats, and the marshy ground at bottom abounding with serpents. Bellerophon, who first made his habitation on the mountain, is thus said to have conquered the Chimsera. King Philip II, after his marriage with Queen Mary of England, assumed as a device, Bellerophon fighting with the monster, inscribed " Hinc Vigilo,"" implying that he only wanted a favourable time to combat the heresy of this king- dom.* Sea-horses, as an emblem of naval dominion, are sculptured on the front of the Admiralty of England, and are often assumed as supporters to the arms of noblemen whose honours are derived from the distinguished success of their ancestors at sea : they form the supporters of the arms of the towns of Newcastle "f" and Cambridge, and of the Pewterers 1 Company in London. Azure, a chevron between three sea-horses or, are the arms of the ancient family of Tucker of Milton, in Kent. A sea-horse forms one of the charges in the arms of the un- rivalled David Garrick : he was the grandson of a merchant of France, who settled in England upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685. Both the sea-horse and dolphin were de- picted on the standard of Trevellian in the reign of Henry VIII; | and, argent, a sea-horse rampant, issuing from waves vert, are the arms of the family of Eckford of Scotland. As a crest, the sea-horse is borne by the noble families of Brudenel and Jenkinson, the Earls of Cardigan and Liverpool. In form the sea-horse of heraldry bears resemblance to the * Menestrier. t The arms of Newcastle arc among the embellishments of Mr. Martin's catalogue of privately printed books. } Coll. Topog. vol. iii. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 209 hippocampus brevirostris of Cuvier and the early naturalists ; two found on the Hampshire coast are engraved in Mr.YarrelPs His- tory of British Fishes. The griffin, half eagle half lion, of classical origin, is found upon many basso relievos at Rome : the iron griffins ornaments of the Strozzi Palace at Florence, wrought in the time of Lorenzo the Magnificent, are curious specimens of art, and still as sharp as when they came from Oaparra's smithy.* The sea-griffin, an imaginative instance of marine zoology, half eagle half fish, ap- pears in architectural sculpture on a capital of the Anglo-Norman Church of Iffley, in Oxfordshire, -f- and is also found in heraldry. Argent, a marine griffin sable, is the armorial ensign of the family of Mestich, in Silesia ; and a sea-griffin rampant, that of Use- dom, in Pomerania, an island at the mouth of the Oder, in the Baltic, belonging to the kingdom of Prussia. The unicorn is entirely fabulous, like the griffin and chimsera : the long twisted horn which is commonly seen is the weapon of defence of the sea-unicorn, a fish which possesses two horns, although they are seldom found perfect, being liable to be de- stroyed by accidents. The unicorn of heraldry is derived from the horse armed with a spiked ehanfron ; and it is this fictitious animal with a fish's tail which is intended in the Prussian arms, per fess argent and gules, a sea-unicorn counter-changed, borne by the family of Die Niemptscher ; and gules, a fish with the head of a stag or, is the ensign of the family of Die Pogorsker und Ruditzky, in Silesia.]: Capricorn, one of the zodiacal signs, having the head of a goat and the tail of a fish, is represented on the medals of Augustus, to signify, according to the medallists, his horoscope, from which the empire was predicted to him at Apollonia. * Forsyth. + Engraved in Britton's Architectural Antiquities, vol. v. \ Palliot. V 210 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. XIII. €#e £*al, Jftrnnaifc, antr Crttotu The seal is an amphibious animal, living 1 chiefly in the water, being provided with two broad fin-like feet for swimming*. Phoebe, or Fochia, a seaport of Ionia, received its name from the seals which abound in its vicinity. The rude state of sci- ence and the ignorance of the earlier naturalists have already been mentioned ; the seal was consequently assumed in heraldry as a fish, though not considered as such by modern zoologists. The seal frequents the mouth of the Tees, and commits havoc among the salmon ; it is also found in the river Severn ; a stuffed seal, long preserved in the hall of Berkeley Castle, was the hero of many traditional tales of captives devoured by it. Both seals and porpoises kept their place on the table as late as the begin- ning of the sixteenth century : there were twelve porpoises and seals brought for the feast when Archbishop Nevile was en- throned at York in 1465, and both are mentioned in the account of Archbishop Warham's feast in 1503. Parts of the seal are borne in the heraldry of some ancient families of Great Britain. Argent, a chevron between threo seals 1 heads couped sable, were the arms of James Lord Ley, a distin- guished lawyer, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, and Lord Treasurer of England, in the reign of James I, and who was created Earl of Marlborough by King Charles I. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 211 Or, a seal's foot erased and erect sable, are the arms of the family of Beringburgh ; and, argent, a chevron between three seals 1 feet erased and erect sable, are the arms of the town of Yarmouth.* Among the islands and on the shores of Scotland seals are plentiful. Broadford, in the Isle of Skye, is situated on the Streamlet of Seals. Two seals are the supporters of the arms of Sir Fitz Roy J. G. Maclean, Baronet, whose ancestor, Sir Lach- lan Maclean of Morvern, in the Isle of Mull, was so created by King Charles I. in 1632. Around Juan Fernandez are always seen thousands of seals, either sitting on the shores of the bays, or going and coming in the sea, round the island. It is the opinion of an eminent natu- ralist that the seal was the prototype of the mermaid and triton, the splendid fictions of the classical poets ; its round head and hand-like feet, he urges, might readily aid the imagination in forming a creature half human, half fish ; no egregious violation of verisimilitude is required, and the distortion of actual fact might arise from the result of fear, or, what is more probable, from the love of the marvellous, natural to superstition. -f- The relation of a being half fish and half human, is of the ear- liest authority ; Berosus J mentions a fish, Oannes, worshipped in Chaldea, which had the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man ; a compound deity, imagined, probably, in allu- sion to some stranger who had arrived in a ship, and had in- structed the people in the arts of civilization/"* In Canada the Nibanaba, half human half fish, s dwells ..in th,e waters of Lake Superior, according to the fanciful mythology of the Indians. The accounts of the appearance of mermaids are very nume- rous ; there is testimony enough to establish their former exist- ence in history, exhibiting instances of the credulity, not of the weak and illiterate, but of men of learning, the best instructed of any in the ages in which they lived. It is very rare that more than one mermaid is reported to have been seen at a time, but it appears that on the coast of Ceylon some fishermen, in the year 1560, brought up at one draught of the net no less than seven mermaids and mermen ; of which fact several Jesuits were witnesses. The physician to the Viceroy of Goa, who examined them with care, and dissected * Guillim. t Bell's British Quadrupeds. J Babylonian Antiquities. 212 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. them, asserted that, internally as well as externally, they were found conformable to human beings.* In the museum at Surgeons 1 Hall is preserved a fish, which is classed by the naturalists of the present day among the mam- malia, a species of that kind which gave rise to the fabulous stories of the mermaid : it is about eight feet in length, and bears resemblance to the seal. The fins terminate, internally, in a structure like the human hand; the breasts are very prominent, and their situation on the body has led, no doubt, to the popular belief: in other respects the face of the fish is far from looking like that of the human race, and the long hair of the mermaid is entirely wanting. It was brought from Bencoolen, in Sumatra, in December 1820.-f" A form enormous ! far unlike the race Of human birth, in stature or in face. Advocates for the existence of the mermaid are not wanting in modern times, and it has been found necessary to show tbat such a creature, as it is usually described, must be utterly de- fenceless in the wide ocean, and consequently the prey of the shark and every other sea-monster that approached, being with- out speed to fly or strength to resist. Mermaids could only exist in the sea, like other defenceless fish, by going in large shoals, and preserving their race from destruction by their num- bers ; but, if so, the disputed fact of their existence would long ago have been cleared up. - " Few eyes," says Sir Thomas Browne, j "have escaped the picture of a mermaid ; Horace's monster, with woman's head above and fishy extremities below, answers the shape of the ancient syrens that attempted upon Ulysses." The syrens were tbree in number, inhabiting an island off Cape Pelorus : § these nymphs, emblematical of the allurements of pleasure, are repre- sented as beautiful women to the waist, and otherwise formed like fish, deriving their name from the most obvious part of their character, singing ; their melodious voices charmed all who approached them, till Ulysses, shunning their enticement, passed the dangerous coast in safety, and the point where the syrens destroyed themselves was afterwards known in Sicily as Sirenis. The mermaid of French heraldry is called a syren. Azure, a * Hist, do la Compagnie de Jesus. t Gent's. Map;. May 1821. J Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors. § Now called the Earo di Messina, from the lighthouse on its summit. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 213 .syren with comb and glass argent, within a border indented gules, were the arms of the family of Poissonnier : the heiress of this house marrying into that of Berbissy, an ancient house of Dijon, the latter assumed the syren as a tenant, or supporter, to their own punning arms, a/.ure, a brebis or sheep argent, which ap- pear in the stained glass windows of the church of Notre Dame.* The mermaid of German heraldry is often represented with two fishy extremities ; gules, a mermaid affront ee, holding her two tails or, and crowned with the same, are the arms of Fenn- den of Augsburg. The noble family of Die Rietter of Nurem- berg- bears, per fess sable and or, a mermaid holding her two tails, vested gules, and crowned or ; the crest, a mermaid, the same as in the arms, on a coronet. -f- The Nereids attendant on the sea-gods were fifty in number, young and handsome women, who sat on dolphins 1 backs, and had the power to grant a prosperous voyage and favourable return. The mermaid is sometimes confounded with the nereid by the poets as well as painters.]: The invention of the mer- maid, — for it must be considered only as fiction — has been pro- bably owing to a desire of finding analogies and correspondences in the works of nature. As an architectural enrichment mermaids were a prevailing feature in the middle ages; one of the rudely-sculptured capitals in the church of Figeau in Languedoc is composed of mer- maids. § The ancient sculptors of England were not deficient in ingenuity, and among other fanciful productions the mermaid appears to have been a favourite subject. On one of the subsellia * Palliot. t Sibmacher. J This was the case in a beautiful picture of a mermaid by Henry Howard, R.A. in 1841, to illustrate a passage of Shakspeare. £ Engraved in the Voyage Pittoresquc. 214 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. in the stalls of Exeter Cathedral is a mermaid holding a fish in each hand ; and another grotesque carving, on the roof of Dul- verton Church in Somersetshire, represents a mermaid holding her fishlike tail in one hand and a fish in the other ; on her sides are two fish, one in an ascending and the other in a descending position.* A chasuble embroidered with mermaids, worn by a canon of Poictiers in 1350, is engraved on his monumental slab formerly in the Abbey of St. Genevieve.-f- One of the earliest instances in England . of the assumption of the mermaid in heraldry is found on the seal of Sir William Bri- were or Bruere. This William Briwere was in great favour with King Richard I, and equally a favourite with King John ; he reaped from the bounty of the two sovereigns a plentiful harvest of lucrative wardships and valuable grants : besides numerous in- ferior manors, he obtained the borouQ-hs of Brid57. + Stomacher's Wapcnhuch. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 227 don, Albemarle, and Bandon ; the Marquess Townshend, and Viscount Sidney: it is borne also by the Lords Dacre, Petre, Lvttelton, Auckland, Churchill, Lynedoch, and Lyndhurst ; and by the Baronet families of Tancred, Fludyer, Pollen, Wigram, Cotterell, Hudson, Hardy, Morshead, Graham, and Brooke of Great Oakley. The introduction of shells into military equipments is a custom brought from the East. Cowries, small shells covered with a coat of enamel, are employed in the caparisons of British hussar regiments ; the bridles of their horses are ornamented with strings*and tufts of them, in imitation of the " camels tufted o'er with Yemen's shells." Several sorts of wilks or whelks, turbinated shells, are found represented on the coins of ancient maritime cities, as Cuma and Tarentum ; this shell appears also on the Tyrian medals. The purpura buccinum, bearing resemblance to a horn, is known as the peculiar symbol of the city of Tyre, where it was used in the process of dyeing the beautiful sea purple long celebrated as the Tyrian dye, now superseded by the discovery of cochineal. In heraldry, this shell is borne as a play upon the family name. Sable, a fess engrailed between three wilks or, are the arms of Sir John Shelley, Baronet, of Maresfield in Sussex, the repre- sentative of one of the heiresses of the Barony of Sudeley. Of the same lineage was Sir Richard Shelley, Prior of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem, who. in 1561, was ambassador from the King of Spain to Venice and Persia. The same arms are also borne by Sir Timothy Shelley, Baronet, of Castle Goring in Sussex, father of the late Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poet. Gules, on a chevron between three wilks argent, as many demi-lions rampant sable, are the arms of the family of Wilkins 228 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. of Kent. Gules, a fess vaire between three wilks or, are the arms of that of Wilkinson, of Dorrington in Durham. The family of Wilkinson of Bishop's Wearmouth bears, gules, a chev- ron vaire, or and azure, between three wilks of the second. Sable, a chevron between three wilks argent, are the arms of the family of John, some branches of which bear a fess in the arms instead of the chevron. The lobster, the crab, and the crayfish are borne in heraldry. The lobster, as an enemy to serpents, was sometimes used as an emblem of temperance, and two lobsters fighting as an emblem of sedition. The union of a lobster with the human form, in the person of a sea-god, is found represented in the house of the Dioscuri at Pompeii.* Argent, a lobster gules, is the armorial ensign of the family of Von Melem of Frankfort ; the crest, two wings argent, each charo-ed with a lobster. The suits of armour, on the principle of the lobster's shell, consisting of lamina), being made with overlapping plates, which ' Engraved in Sir William Cell's Pompeiana, 1832. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 229 enabled the .steel to give way to every motion of the body, were called Ecrevisses, from their resemblance to the lobster, by the French knights of the reign of Henrv IV. when these suits were much used. The shells of fish are known to vary according to the rough- ness or smoothness of the sea they live in ; Juvenal's epicure ■ at first sight could tell A crab or lobster's country by its shell.* Gules, on a bend or, a lobster sable, is the arms of the Spanish family of Grilla. Another branch of the same noble family bears o-ules. on a bend or, three lobsters sable. -f* The history of the nobility of Spain is marked by a very curious but rare book, which neither princes nor priests have been able to suppress ; it bears the name of " El Tizon de Espafia? the brand of Spain, and its purpose is to trace the pedigrees of the grandees up to some infidel ancestor, either a Moor or a Jew, destroying by that means all claim to purity of descent, it being a severe reproach to the hidalgos, that some amongst their ancestors stood on their legs for baptism, ; ' Bautizado en pie" meaning one who had re- ceived adult baptism.:}; Argent, a lobster gules, was the armorial ensign of Cardinal Nicolas de Cusa, who was of German descent; he died in 14-64. Azure, a lobster in bend gules, are the arms of the family of Die Gergelase ; § and argent, two lobster's claws in saltier gules, those of the English family of Tregarthick. The crayfish, or river lobster, is found in great perfection in Hungary, where it attains considerable size, and is highly valued by the gourmands of Vienna ; it is asserted that, of all shellfish which industry brings from the bottom of the sea or the river, the crayfish is the most delicious. Barry wavy, argent and gules, three crayfish or, are the arms of the ancient family of Atwater. Dr. William Attwater was in 1499 Canon of Windsor and Registrar of the order of the Gar- ter; in 1502 he was Dean of the Chapel Royal; and in 1509 Dean of Salisbury. Cardinal Wolsey, who held him in great esteem, took his advice in all public business, and procured him to be his successor in the Bishopric of Lincoln. He was conse- crated on the 12th Nov. 1514, and dying at Wooburn Palace * Sat. iv. Dr. Badham's translation. \ Nobleza del Andaluzia, 1588. % Don Leucadio Doblado's Letters, bv J. Blanco White, l" - 2"2. § Sibmacher. 230 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. in 1520, was buried in his cathedral, under an intagliated slab with his portrait. The arms of Bishop A tt water, a variation from the original coat, were granted in 1509, by Thomas Wri- othesley, Garter King of Arms, and are here copied from the Parliament roll of 1515, the sixth year of the reign of King Henry VIII. Barry wavy, ermine and gules, on a chevron be- tween three crayfish or, a rose between two lilies gules, stalked vert, impaled with the arms of the see of Lincoln ; gules, tw r o lions passant guardant in pale or, on a chief azure, the Virgin Mary with a sceptre, holding the infant Jesus, all or. They are evidently composed of those of William the Conqueror, in whose reign the bishopric was established at Lincoln ; the arms having the Virgin Mary, to whom the cathedral is dedicated, in the chief, or placed above the insignia of the King. A crayfish vert, is the crest of the family of Dykes, of Dykes- licit 1 in Cumberland, now represented by Fretchville Lawson Mallantine Dykes, Esq. of Dovenby Hall, near Cockennouth, she- riff of the county. The crayfish is not uncommon in the heraldry of France. Or, three crayfish gules, are the arms of Thiard of Ihirgundy ; or, a chevron between three crayfish gules, are those of Aleschamps. A dexter is a term of blazonry for any inferior charge in anus placed on the dexter side of the principal ; of THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 231 this Palliot gives an instance in the arms of Platen of Saxony — azure, a crayfish in bend gules, having on the dexter side of the shirk! three etoiles argent. Prawns are assumed in the heraldry of the family of Atsea of Heme, in Kent, one of the heiresses of which married Edward Craford of Mongham : their arms are, harry wavy of six, or and gules, three prawns naiant in the first and of the second. The crab, the emblem of inconstancy, appears on a shield of Francis I, one of the finest specimens of art in the collection of armour at Goodrich Court ; and according to Sir Samuel Meyrick the crab was intended as an allusion to the advancing and retro- grade movements of the English army at Boulogne, under the celebrated Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, in 1523. The shield, the work of Negroli, a Milanese armourer, was presented by the Parisians to their gallant king after the retreat of the Duke. A golden crab, one of the cognizances of the Scrope family, was painted on the portrait of Henry Lord Scrope.* The crab also appears as a crest on the seals of several members of this noble family.*f" Argent, a chevron engrailed sable, between three crabs gules, are the arms of the family of Bridger of Warminghurst, in Sussex, the heiress of which married Sir George Shiffner, Baro- net, of Combe Place, invar Lewes. Azure, a chevron argent, between two fleurs-de-lis in chief and a crab in base or, are the arms of the family of Crab of Robs- law, in Scotland ; and argent, a chevron engrailed between three crabs gules, those of the family of Bythesea of Ightham, in Kent. * Willement's Heraldic Notices of Canterbury. l!i"J7. t Engraved in the Scrope and Grosvenor Roll, 1832 ; a document possessing the highest interest for the descendants of old English families. 232 THE HERALDRY OF FISH. Another family of Bythesea, formerly of Axbridge in Somerset- shire, now of Week House, near Trowbridge, hears for arms, argent, on a chevron engrailed sable, between three crabs, the claws towards the dexter gules, a Roman fasces erect, surmount- ing two swords in saltier, and encircled by a chaplet or. A crab erect or, is the crest of the Yorkshire family of Danby. The turtle, or sea-tortoise, is found in heraldry in some few in- stances. Argent, a chevron between three turtles gules, are the arms of the family of Ribb ; and vert, a turtle passant argent, is the ensign of that of Gouldie of Scotland. The assumption of starfish in heraldry has been already men- tioned in the attempt to assign the origin of the mullet, or five- finger.* One of this species, the sea-urchin, -f- common to the shores of Great Britain and Ireland, is borne in arms ; it va- ries in its form, being sometimes found almost spherical, and sometimes much depressed, which has led zoologists to sup- pose that several species are included under that name. It is usually of a reddish colour with white spines, which are, in some instances, tipped with purple. The sea-urchin lives in various depths of water, and usually congregates in greatest numbers on a clear sea bottom. Gules, three sea-urchins in pale argent, are the arms of the family of Alstowne ; and azure, three sea-urchins argent, those of Alstanton. With this the heraldry of fish is naturally concluded; the variety of examples it affords is by no means exhausted, but might readily have been carried to a much greater extent, and should the selection here made induce the reader to pursue the At page 1 07, ante. f Echinus sphaera, the sea-egg of the fisherman. THE HERALDRY OF FISH. 233 examination of the subject farther, he will soon find an abundant field for research. It is almost unnecessary to repeat, that in the earlier ages of heraldry, where its chief interest lies, only the best-known and simplest objects were employed as ensigns on the banner, like the horse-shoes of Ferrers, or the heames, the badge of the family of St. John ; that the zenith of heraldic splendour was at a period unenlightened by modern discoveries in natural history, and as nations became more civilized the importance of heraldry gradually lessened, excepting as a most interesting illustration of the manners of the times which produced and encouraged it, and of the state of the arts in which heraldry was constantly employed. It is pleasing to its admirers to reflect, that, however indifferent the presentagc may affect to be with regard to the heraldry of early days, few persons disdain the honourable distinction conferred by a grant of arms, one of the necessary consequences of an admission to gentility. The cele- brated Linnaeus is only one amongst many who acquired nobi- lity by literary and scientific pursuits. The peasant family of this universal naturalist derived its name from a remarkable lin- den tree, and it was not till after he had obtained eminence in the path he had himself chosen that he was enabled to purchase an estate, and assume the name of Von Linne, with a coat of arms expressive of the science he cultivated ; at the same time receiving from his sovereign the order of the polar star and a patent of nobility. After his death, in 1778, this great naturalist was commemorated by a monument in the cathedral of Upsal, the ancient seat of the Swedish government. INDEX. In describing tin- blazonry, tclwre the colour of the fish is not named, the proper or natural colour is intended. A. Abbot De la Mark, 90. Abbotsford, note, 143. Abergavenny, Earl of, 179. Abingdon, Earl of, 198. Acre, siege of, 224. Adderbury, monument at, 156. Adeliza, Queen, 223. Adoxter, an heraldic term, 230. Admiral, office of, 1 79. Admiralty, emblems at, 200. Aigue Mortes, 223. Ailsa, Marquess of, 29. Albemarle, Earl of, 227. Albertus de Alasco, arms, 179. Albini, William d\ 223. Aldborough sprats, 162. Aldie Castle, 196. Aldine edition of British Poets, 20. Aldus's mark, 20, 190. Alerions, 71. Aleschamps, arms, 230. Alexander III, Pope, 2.5. Allume, 13. Alstanton, arms, 232. Alstowne, ditto, 232. Althorp, picture at, 181. Alton Towers, 136. Altoting, shrine at, 216. Alva, Duke of, 33. Amiens, Rose de Mer, 8. Ammonites in arms, 197. Amphitrite, 9. Anchorage, 1 79. Anchovy, the, 162. Ancona, turbot of, 190. Andromeda, fable of, 207. Anello del piscatore, 167. Angelloch, arms, 144. Anglesey, Marquess of, 13(i. Angling, 142. Anglo-Saxon banner, 202. Anguillaria, arms, 196. Anjou, anus, 71. „ badge, 179. Ankholme eels, 1 94. Annular money, 125. Anson, arms, 123. Anstis, Garter, 90. Anthony of Padua, Saint, 181. Antique monsters in sculpture, 206. Apollo, 7. Archbishopric of Glasgow, 125. Argonauts, 218. Argyll, Duke of, 1 75. Arion, 1 1 , 23. Armagh Cathedral, glass in, 141. Amies parlantes, 47. Armorial mantle, 41. Arms of Fishmongers, 173. „ Merchants, 31. „ painting, 167. Arneel, arms and crest, 195. Arragon, arms, 71. Arran, Earldom of, 176. Arrangement of subjects, 14. Arundel, Archbishop, 94. „ Earl of, 223. Arundell device, 62. Lords, 96. Ashburnham, arms, 108. Aslibv family, 61. Ash ton Hall, 189. Askham, arms, 31. Asterias, 108. Aston, fishponds at, 87. Aton, 225. Atsea, arms, 231. Attwater, Bishop, 230. Atwater, arms, 229. Auckland, Lord, 227. Audley, Lords, 157. Augustus, Emperor, 142. „ medals of, 209. Austria, house of, 140. Auvergne, Lords of, 22. I?. Bailiff of Dumvich, seal, 152. Baker, R.A. 168. Balfour, aims, 1 25. „ ditto and crest, 149. Ballykine Abbey, 46. Bandera de Santiago, 222. Bandon, Earl of, 227. Bangor bishopric, arms, 108. 236 TNDEX. Banne fishery, 1 1 5. Banner of Bar, 68. „ and caldron, 1 96. „ of Dauphine, 22. „ of the Dragon, 202, „ ofPfirdt, 140. „ of Scales, 220. Bannerets, Roll of, 137. Bar, Counts of, 68. Bar de Buranlure, arms, 74. „ Joan of, seal, 70. Barbeau, arms, 74. Barbel, the, 68. Barbier, Le, 142. Barby, Counts of, 73. Bardin, arms, 74, 76. Bare, ditto, 76. Barfuse, ditto, 74. Barnardes, ditto, 76. Barons' Books, 81. „ of Cinque Ports, 1 50. „ of Dover, seal, 178. „ letter, 98, 220. Baronets' badge, 116. Barry in heraldry, 84. „ wavy, 83. Bartet, anus, 74. Bath Institution, MSS. at, 33. Bartholomew, St. priory of, 181 Barwais, arms, 76. Basford, ditto, 216. Battie, crest, 98. Baux, house of, 220. Bawde, family, 175.* Bay of Hakes, 183. Bayeux, Bishop of, 39. Beaton, Archbishop, arms, 125. Beaumaris, seal, 178. Beavers, 147. Bee d'oie, 41. Beccles, manor, 150. Beck, arms, 1 68. „ Sir Justus, 4 1 . Becket, St. Thomas a, 94. Beckford, crest, 98. Bedford, Duke of, 226. Karl of, 153. Beller, Bishop of, 181. Bellerophon, 208. Bellismo, crest, 130. Bencoolen, 212. Bengal fish, 78. Bcnignus, Saint, 181. Bentivenga, Cardinal, 146. Berbissy, arms, 213. Beringburgh, arms, 211. Berkeley Castle, seal at, 21(1. Lords of, 112. „ seal, 1 1 3. Hemard, arms, 76. IVnihach, ditto, 81. Bermvell, Thomas, 171. Berosus, 211. Berry, Lady, 127. Billingsgate, 170. Bishops of Glasgow, 124. Bishopsgatc-street, house in, 24. Black mermaid, a, 215. Blenerhasset, arms, 38. Bleverhasset, ditto, 38. Blundell, family, 96. Boats of the Britons, 177. Boatswain's whistle, 180. Bocking, seal of Dean of, 36. Bodrugan, family, 161. Boke of St. Albans, 50. Bolnhurst, monuments at, 25. Bolton, Lord, 117. „ rebus of, 62. Boltzig, arms, 67. Bones offish, 110. Bonham, crest, 216. Bonvile, amis, 108. „ barony, 158. Book-fish, the, 1 82. Boscawen, family, 96. Bosdon, arms, 144. Boston, Lord, 158. „ supporters, 217. Botetourt, arms, 53. Boulogne, Counts of, 18. Boundary rivers, 84. Bourchier, badge, 86. Bourdeilles, de, 111. Boyne, Viscount, 217. Brabant, Dukes of, arms, 52. Brand of Spain, 229. Brandon, Charles, 231. „ Duke of, 1 89. Brantome, 111. Braybrooke, Lords, 158. Braye, Baroness, 157. Bream, the, 89. Breame, arms, 89. Brescia, families of, 28. Bretcock, arms, 1 90. Bretel, house of, 195. Bridger, arms, 231. Bridport, Viscount, 207. Brighton, arms, 30. Brill, the, 1 90. Brinsley, arms, 82. Bristol, Bishop of, 186. „ monastery at, 1 1 2. Britannia, 1 53. „ emblem, 180. British fishery, 153. „ fishes, number of, 2. „ Museum, specimens of fish in, 2. Britwesill, crest, 190. Briwere, Lord, 214. Broad H, the, 131. Arms shown in vignette, p. 233. INDEX. 237 Broadford, N. B. 211. Broadhurst, crest, "21 6'. Broase, family, 214. Brooke, device, 63. „ of Great Oakley, family, 227. Brookbank, arms, 86. Brooksbank, ditto, 86. Brooksby, ditto, 86. Brougham, ditto, 58. Broughton, crest, 1-49. Browne, amis, 28. Brudenell, crest, 208. Bruere, Lord, 214. Brutus, medal of, 16. Bryan, Lord, 51. Brydges, Duke of Chandos, 149. Buckenham Priory, 223. Buckingham, Duke of, 225. Buckley, Samuel, his sign, 24. Bukens, amis, 191. Bulamfeck, arms, 67. Bull trout, the, 104. Bull-head, the, 1 03. Buoy of a ship, 179. Burbot, the, 185. Buren, arms, 85. Bures, ditto, 76. Burgesses of Paris, anus allowed to, 31. Burgmair, Hans, 140. Burgundy, cross of, 222. „ guidon, 216. Burnaby, arms, 44. Burnell, ditto, 53. Butler, ditto, 82. Butlers of Senlis, ditto, 1 . Butt-fish, the, 192. Butthorn, the, 108. Butts, arms and crest, 193. Buzannal, arms, 196'. Byland Abbey, 63. Byron, Admiral, 215. „ Lords, 214. Bythesea, arms, 231, 232. Byzantine coin, 17. C Cables, 179. Cadwallo, ensign of, 202. Caen, tiles at, 12. Cairncross, Archbishop, seal (if. 125. Caithness, Karl of, 1 75. Calder Abbey, arms, 54. Caldron, the, a Spanish ensign, 196. Caldwell, arms, 1 85. Caledon, Karl of, 217. Calendar, rural, 4. Cambridge, arms of Queen's College, 71. „ codfish at, 182. „ supporters of the anus, 208. St. Peter's College, 166. Cameron, Bishop, seal of, 125. Campbell, crest, 1 76. „ family, 1 75. „ families, 21 9. Campbell, seal, 1 76. Canbrook, anus, 200. Cantelupe, ditto, 50. Canterbury, Archbishop of, 19. „ Cathedral, capital at, 170. •>•> r, crypt at, 1 70. „ „ pavement at, 6. Caparra, 209. Capital at Canterbury, 170. Capricorn, 209. Car of Amphitrite, 9. Carack, a ship, 176. Caradoe, Lord Howden, 196'. Cardigan, Earls of, 208. seal of, 180. Cardinal's hat, 146. Carew, crest, 179. Carhampton, Earls of, 1 48. Carlaverock, siege of, 68, Carlisle, Bishop of, (>(>. „ Earl of, 224. Carp, the, 77. Carrick, 29. Carter, arms, 187. „ fish, the, 187. Carving, old, 42. Cassilis, Earl of, 29. Castile, grandees of, 196. „ and Leon, arms, 1, 70. Castle French, Ireland, 27. Castleton, arms, 202. Cater, ditto, 1 22. Cathcart, ditto, 30. Catton, R.A. 168. Cave, arms, 157. Cerne, abbot of, 121. Ceylon, mermaids at, 211. Cliabot, arms, 102. „ an Maine, ditto, 1 03. „ the, 102. Chalfield manor, 9r>. Chamberlain of England, 221. Champagne, guidon, 216. Chandos, Duke of. 119. Chaplains of the Fishmongers, 172. Chapter-house, Westminster, pavement, 59. Charlecote, 54. Charles II, King, 151. V. 222. „ Martel, 71. Charters of the Fishmongers, 1 70, 1 72. Chasuble, ornament, 214. Chaudiere, the, 196. Cheney, arms, 186. Chenies, glass at, 154. Chequers in Bucks, arms at, 27. Chester, Earls of, 57. „ monuments in St. Mary's Church 1 36'. Chevin, the. 91. Chinuera, the, 207. Chinese serpent, 201 . Chivalry, 136. Chobb, arms, 9 1 . 238 INDEX. Chobbe, amis, 91. Chorley, ditto, 130. Christ, symbol of, 12. Christ's Hospital, picture at, 205. Chrysanaleia, the golden fishing, 32. Chub, the, 91. Church, the, 181. Churchill, Lord, 227. Cinque Ports, seals of, 178. Civray, church of, 5. Clare, badge of, 1G4. „ house of, 53. Clarendon, Earl of, 226. Classification of the dolphin, 16. Clavering, house of, 225. Clavijo, battle of, 222. Clinton, arms, 107. Clovis, 25. Coli, meaning of, 156. Cobb, arms, 156. Cobtish, 156. Cockermouth, honor of, 51. „ Lord, 52. Cockle, the, 226. Codfish, the, 168. „ at Cambridge, 1 82. Codd, arms, 168. Coin of the Dauphin, 22. „ Marius, 16. „ Syracuse, 15. „ Byzantium, 17. „ Cuma, 227. „ Tarentum, 227. Colchester, corporation, 221. Coleraine, seal, 115. Colland, crest, 1.99. Collar of mermaids, 113. Collingwood, Lord, 179. Colston, arms, 75. Combat of fish, 1 6.9. Company, Fishmongers', 171. Compass, discovery of, 177. Compostella, city of. 222. Comvn, device, 62. Coney-fish, the, 1 85. Conger, the, 19.9. Conghurst, arms, 200. Congleton, ditto, 200. „ town seal, 199. Coningsby family, 136. Constantinople, Emperors of, 1 7. Conway Castle, 134. Conyers, Baroness, 29. Cootcs, arms, 31 . Copley, picture by, 205. Coquerel, Nicholas de, 8. Coracle, the, 180. Coibally, anus, 1 32. Corbet, device, (12. Cornwall, Earls of, 1 14. Coronation feast offish, 184. Coronet of the Dauphin, 23. Cotterell family. 227. Cotton, amis, 21. Coulson, arms, 75. Coupir, ditto, 99. Courage, emblem of, 207. Courtenay, arms, 19. „ family, 18. Cowdray, sculpture at, 180. Cowries, 227. Crab, the, 231. „ of Robslaw, arms, 231. Craford, family, 231. Craike, arms, 176. Crayer, 85. Crayfish, 85, 229. Crests upon seals, 93. Crown, the naval, 179. Crows used in navigation, 177. Croydon Palace, 154. Crusades, arms referring to, 224. Culcheth, amis, 53. Cuma, coins of, 227. Cumberland, forester of, 224. Curers of fish, 169. Curteis, arms, 31. Custom-house mark, 131. Cuthbert, amis, 195. Cuthbertson, ditto, 195. Cyprinus Rohita, 78. D. Dace, the, 99. Dacre, badge, 224. „ of Gillsland, K G., Lord, 224. „ Lord, 227. Dag, the Hebrew word, 12. Dagger of Walworth, 171. Dame, .amis, 199. Danby, crest, 232. D'Anjou, Rene, 71, 179. Darcy family, 1 o5. Dare, arms, 99. Dauphin, arms of the, 23. „ coin of, 22. Dauphine, banner, 21. De Bloeg, arms, 78. „ Burgh, 225. „ Crov, arms, 84. „ Cusa, Cardinal, 229. „ Eschales family, 220. „ Grey, Earl, 85. „ la Mare, amis, 90. „ la River, ditto, 84. „ l;t Roche, ditto, 93, 95. „ la Roche, Lord, 92. „ Lara, arms, 197. „ Lisle, Lord, 132. „ Montfaucon, 73. „ Roche, 96. „ Ros, badge of, 164. „ Soles, arms, 1 87. „ Viviers, ditto, 87. Dean of Rocking, 36. Deandon, Sir Hamelyn, 221. Deaneries, 36. Dolphin Classics, 23. IXDEX. 239 1 >enderah, Temple of, 4. Denmark, King of, 174. Der Gabel, arms, 131. Dernford, ditto, 101. Device of the Fish and the Ring, 127. Devonport, arms, 180. Devonshire, Earls of, 1!!. Diamond ground, the, 191. Dip of the needle, 177. Dishington, crest, 225. Dog-fish, the, 20.5. Dogge, arms, 138. Dogger-bank cod, 1G8. Dog-otter, 149. Doliin, arms, 27. Doltinton, ditto, 28. Dolphin, the. 1 5. „ family, 27. „ sign of, 24. Dolphinley, arms, 28. Dolphins painted by Raphael, 8. Dorade, the, 142. Doreo, device of, 179. Dormer, Lord, .91. Dornheim, arms, 129. Dory, the, 165. Douglas, arms, 108. Dover, seal of, 178. Doxev, arms, 183. Dragon, the. 200. „ overthrown, order, 202. Drake, crest, 178. Dravcot, 41. Dried fish, 169. Drummond, arms, 84. Du Bee, supporters, 216. Ducat, arms, 19.3. Ducie, Lord, 216. Duckworth, Sir J. T. 2(>7. Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 189. Dulverton church, 214. Dundalk, Lord, 86. Dungaimon, Lord, 116. Dunkeswell Abbey, 214. Dunkirk, arms, 31. Dunwich, 1,52. Durham, 15i>hop of, 38. Dumeford, arms, 101. Dutch plaice, 191. Dykes, arms, 230. Dyve, ditto, 94. Bales, arms and crest, 195. Karl, the ( ireen, 22. Early instances of arms. 36. East* Ham, 89. Easton, arms, 200. Lastly, Prior, 6. Ebnet, arms, 131. Kckford, ditto. 21)8. Ecrevisse, armour called, 229. Edgehill, battle of, 215. Edridge, crest, 107. Edward I, King, 225. „ II, Roll of Arms, 54. Eel, the, 194. „ pot, a badge, 198. „ spears, 34, 199. Egerton family, 132. Eglintoun Castle, tournament at, 29. Egremont, barony of, 51. Egypt, fisheries of, 113. Elettorali of Venice, 27. Elizabeth, Queen, 177. Elleis, crest, 195. Ellice, ditto, 195. Ellis, arms, 194. „ of Preston, 216. Elmore, arms, 194. Elwes, crest, 195. Emblem of fish, 33. Endellion, port of, 160. Enderby, crest, 46. Enghanes, crest, 195. Enmore, wells at, 86. Entravaille, 76. Erstenberger, amis, 217. Escallop, the, 220. Essex, Bourchier, Earls of, 86. „ Earl of, 136. Etruscan sarcophagi, 8. Eu, Earls of, 86. Eure, Lords, 225. „ of Axholme, 225. Ewer, crest, 199. Exeter, Bishop of, 19, 36, 214. „ Cathedral, 214. „ „ paving-tile at, 12. Eye, honor of, 221. Eytzing, crest, 167. Fairs noted for fish, 169. Falcons, 92. Falmouth, 160. Earl of, 96. Fast days, 1 69. Fauconberg, K.G., Lord, 144. February, 4. Feliskirk church, 188. Fellowes, arms, 76. Fender, ditto, 149. Fennden, ditto, 213. Fennor, ditto, 149. Fermoy, Lords of, 95. Ferrard, Viscount, 215. Ferrers, arms, 158, 233. „ of Chartley, 94. Feudal claims, 111. „ system in Germany, 120. Feversham, seal of, 178. Ffrench, crest, 27. Fielding family, 41. Fierte, 46. Figeau, 213. Fish and Ring, device of, 126. 240 INDEX. Fish, arms, 34. „ combat, 169. „ feast, 123, 184. „ hooks, 144. „ merchants, ] 70. „ number of, in British Museum, 2. „ ditto, at Paris, 2. „ of Mogul, 80. „ offering, 124. „ ponds, 87. Fishacre, arms, Go. Fisher, arms, 34, 88, 192. „ of Scotland, crest, 1 62. „ of Stafford, arms, 99. Fisheries of Egypt, 113. Fisherton, De la Mere, 90. Fishery of the Nile, 4. Fishguard, 198. Fishing, 142. „ nets, 157. „ Royal Company, 152. „ spear, 130. „ stations, 143. „ vessels, 175. Fishmongers' Company, 31 . 171—174. „ „ arms, 173. Fishweel, 198. Fitz Gerald, Lady Isabella, 103. „ James, arms, 40. ,, Piers, 225. „ Walter, arms, 53, 54. „ William family, C4. Five-finger, the, 108. Flat-fish, 191. Flavio di Melfi, 177. Fleet, arms, 35. Fleets hired, 1 77. Fleming, arms, 54, 157. Fleur-de-lis, 49. Fleury, amis, 1 95. Flok, the Norwegian, 177, Florence, academy of, 97. flounder, the, 192. Fludd, arms, 21. Fludver family, 227. Fluke, the, 192. Flying- fish, the, 66. lochia, -2\\). Foleborne, arms, 1 .98. Fontenay de Luc, arms, 59. Form of fish, 35. Fortescue family, 96. Fouet, amis, 157. Fountain in heraldry, 8(1. Fowey, seal of, 1 6 1 '. France, anus, 24. Fmnck's Northern Memoirs, 192. Francis I. shield of, 231. Franco, anus, 80. Frankland, ditto, 26. Franklin, ditto, 25, 2(i. Henjaniin, 26. Freare, arms, 37. French, arms, 27. Frense church, monument in, 38. Freshacre, anns, 138. Freshwater, ditto, 138. Fretty, 157. Friends' books, 184. Fro wick family, 204. Fry of fishes, 37. Fryer, arms, 37. Fullarton, arms, 149. Funeral pall, 172. Fyne, Loch, herrings, 152. Fyshar, arms, 34. O, Gabel, Von Der, arms, 131. Gage family, 155. Gainsborough, Earl of, 158. (.(alley, the Highland, 175. Galwav Bav, 183. „ " seal of, 183. Gardiner, arms, 47- Garfish, the, 65. Garling, crest, 65. Gannston, arms, 67. „ crest, 205. Garnyss, ditto, 216. Garrick, David, 208. Garvie fish, the, 1 62. Garvine, arms, 1 62. Gascoigne, ditto, 63, 64. Gawthorp, 63. Ged, aims, 59. „ the, 59. Geddes, arms, 60. Gedney, ditto, 61. Genoa, cross of, 21. Cienoese nobility, 190. Geoige, Saint, 201. Gerard, Lord, 189. Gergelase, arms, 229. German signs, 164. Gesse, arms, 205. Gibbons, crest, 144. Gillet, arms, ()."■>. Gilse, ditto, 85. Gilthead, the, 142. Giotto, mosaic by, 167. Glasgow, arms, 124. Glastonbury Abbey, seal of, 181. Glaucus, 218. Gloucester, arms, 112. Bishop of, 186. Glover's Catalogue of Nobility, 81 ( ilynn, arms, 130. Gobaud, ditto, 83. Gobion, ditto, 82. Gobvon, ditto, 81. Godfrey of Bouillon, 18. Godolphin, arms, 28, 29. Golden carj), 77. Goldingham, badge, 221. Goodman's Fields estate, 33. INDEX. 241 Goodrich Court, armour, 108, 231. ( forges, arms, 86. Gornay, ditto, 103. Gorney, ditto, 103. Gougeux, ditto, 83. Goujon, ditto, 83. Goulas, ditto, 196. Gouldie, ditto, 232. Gradel, ditto, 111. Gradner, ditto, 110. Graham family, 227. Granada, anus, 1. Grandford, crest, 107. Granell, ditto, 1.99. (jraville, arms, 74. Graydon, anus, 147. Grayley, ditto, 147. Grayling, the, 146. Grazzini, 97. Great Harry, the, 177. „ St. Helen's, house in, 190. Greek boats, 1 76. „ empire, 1 7, 20. Grellcy, crest, 147. Grey, arms, 84. „ de Ruthin, Lords, 94. „ device, G3. „ of Groby, Lords, 158. Grevstoke, badge, 224. Griffin, the, 209. Grilla, anus, 221). Grylls family, 111,). Gudgeon, the, 81. Guildford, Dudley, Lord. 189. Guilds, city, 1 72. Gurnard, the, 103. Gurncy family, 104. Guzman, Cardinal, 197- Gwyrme, Richard, portrait of, 41. H. Habgood, arms, 1 80. Ilacaed, fish so called, Gl. Hacket, arms, 183. Haddock, crest of, 1G5, the, LG5. Hagges, arms, 184. Hake, ditto, 1!!4. „ the, 172, 182. Hakehed, arms, 1 83. Hakes, Bay of, 188. Halcyon days, 100. Halls of the Fishmongers, 172. Hamilton, Duke of, 17G, 18.'). „ of I Jaggs, arms, 127. llanime, arms, 138. Hampton Lucy, church, 5G. Hanbowe, crest, 107. tlanfstengel, arms, 129. Hardy family. 227. Ilarene, arms, 1 55. Harland, Hart. Sir Robert, 20G. Harries, arms, 155. Harrington, Lords, 158. Harry, arms, 149. Hartopp family, 148. Hastings, crest, 21G. „ Marchioness of, 94. „ Marquess of, 1 32. „ seal of, 178. Hatfield, Bishop, 39. Hauriant, 13. Haverfordwest, seal of, 178. Hawke, Lord, 10. Hawking fish, 106. Head family, 40. Heard, Sir Isaac, 218. Heigham, arms, 155. Helmet, a distinction, 31. Helmsdale, 114. Helston, 134. „ seal of, 15.9. Hengravc, History of, 155. Henri Grace de Dieu, the, 177. Henry III, Roll of Arms, 50. „ VII, King, 202. „ VIII, Roll of Arms, 34, 230. Herald painters, 188. Heraldic dolphin, 15. „ signs, 164. Herbert, Bishop, 201. „ Lord, 215. Ilorbst, John, 11. Hereford, Bishop of, 19. 11 eringby College, 151. Heringflete Priory, 151. Heringh, arms, 153. Heringham, ditto, 153. Ileringod, ditto, 153. Heringot, seal, 153. lleriz, device, 62. Heron, the, 98, 155. Herring, Archbishop, arms, 154. „ cob, 1 56. „ the, 150. Herringbone work, 110. Hertford, Karl of, 134. Heytesbury, Lord, 190. Highland fishing-boat, 175. Hindu symbol, 80. Hingham deanery, 36. Hippocampus brevirostris, 209. llobbs, arms, .98. Hoddy, crest, 141. Holleys, amis, 31. Holme, Randal, 187. Homage, 111. Home of Ninewells, arms, 85. Homfray, crest, 148. Honours of Fishmongers, 82. Hood, Viscount, 21 7. Hooks, 144. Hope, allegorical figures of, 180. „ family, 180. Elopetoun, Fail of, 180. 1 forns of tenure, 1 84. Horse, the, 207. 242 INDEX. Horsey Mere, GO. Hotoft, amis, 200. Hounds, sharks named from, 205. Howard family, 159. Howden, Lord, 1 96. Howe, Earl, 203. Howth, Earl of, 217. Hudson family, 227. Hulls of ships, 179. Humides, the, 97. Hiinder, amis, 81. Hungary, ditto, 84. Ilungerford, horn, 134. Lord, 19. Huntingdon, Earl of, 107. Huntsman of the Empire, 139. Hutchinson, arms, 21. Huyshe, ditto, 97. Hythe, seal of, 178. I. Iceland, amis, 174. Ictis, the Greek word, 12. Iffley church, 5, 209. Ihner, manor, 92. Inch Garvie, 162. Inconstancy, emblem of, 231. Inskipp, 21. Invention of the compass, 177. Inverary, arms, 152. Iona, sculpture at, 175. Ipswich, seal of, 178. Irby, arms, 158. Iremonger family, 37. Isabel, Queen, 218. I scan, amis, 36. Isle of Ely, eels in, 194. Iver, in Bucks, 225. J. James, arms, 38 — 41). ,, Saint, 221. Jane, crest, 141. Jarnac, Count de, 103. Jeane, crest, 141. .Tenkinson, ditto, 208 Jersey, Earl of, 226. Joan of Acres, .97. „ Bar, seal of, 70. John, arms, 228. „ King, 150, 218. Johnson, crest, 216. Juan Fernandez, 21 I . Jugerdc, arms, 1 99.* K Karpfen, arms, 77. Katherine, Queen of Henrv V, li Keane, Lord, 116. Keldon, 38. Kcmys, arms, 1 32. Kendall, ditto, 132. Kenilworth, visit to, 23. Kenn, amis, 21. Kennedy family, 29. Kent, Dukes of, 85. „ Earl of, 144. Kentigern, Saint, 124. Kettle nets, 132. „ offish, 132. Keys of St. Peter, 166. Kiddle, or weir, 132. Kidley, arms, 189. Kidson, ditto, 132. Kilrenny, motto, 144. Kinderton, Barons of, 198. King John, play of, 22. „ of the Moors, 32. Kings, Boll of, 137. Kingsdown church, 57. Kingfisher, the, 99. Kingsmill, 55. Kingston, seal of, 113. Kinloch, supporters, 149. Kirk Salmon, 120. Kirkland, amis, 53. Knight of Gloucester, arms, 122. „ of the Dolphin, 29. Knights, Roll of, 137. Knots, 73. Koran, the, 127. Kreckwitz, arms, 81. Kydale, ditto, 132. Kytson, ditto, 1 55. La Lasca, 97. „ Mancha, 214. „ March, Count of, 218 „ Tour, house of, 22. Lady Chapel, St. Saviour's, 58. Lake, arms, 80. „ Lord, 79. „ Superior, 211. Lamprell, arms, 202. Lamprey, the, 202. Laniproim, the, 203. Lanark, arms, 1 14. Lanercost Priory, 224. Lancsborough, Earl of, 82. Langton Ilering, 154. Language of heraldry, 2. Lany, crest, 21 9. Lap]), arms 216 Latimer family, 158. „ Lord, 5 1 , Lauterbach, arms, 85. Lau/.on, ditto, 196. Lau/.un, crest, 216. Lawrence family, 189. Le Fleming, arms, 157. Leeds, Duke of, 29. Legend of St. James, 223. „ the ring, 125. Shown in vignette, p. 233. INDEX. 2rs Leicester, Earl* of, 132. ' Leigh, monument at, 121. Leinster, Duke of, 103. Leister, or spear, 129. Leniaitre, amis, Uii. Lcman, ditto, 32, 33. Lent, institution of, 169. Leon, arms of, 7, 11.5. Lordships, maritime, 179. Lorn, ancient lords of, 175. .. Marquess of, 17-5. Lorraine, arms, 7 1. Lostwithiel, seal of. 114. Lotus of India, 80. Lotvsham, arms, 148. Loiiis XI. 223. ., Saint. 223. Loutrc, the. 148. Louvaine, Josceline of, .52. Lovelace, Earl of, 1.58. Lovken, John, Lord Mayor, 32. Lowdham. 38. Lowestoft, 1.52. Lowther family. .5 t. Luc en Yivarets. arms. .59. Luce, the. 19. Lucv. arms, 50, .58, .5,5. Lucy family. 56. „ rebus of, 57. Ludlow Castle, 22.5. Lusignan, house of, 217. Luttrell, arms, 148. „ psalter, 137. Lyme, seal of, 178. Lymington, seal of, 178. Lymphad, the, 1 75. Lyndhurst, Lord, 227. Lynedoch, Lord, 227. Lynn, arms, 20 1 . „ town seal, 201. Lyttelton, Lord, 219. M. Mac Dougal, arms, 175. Macbride, ditto, 163. Macdonald, Lord, 115. Mackerel, sign, 163. the, 163. Mackerell, amis, 163. Mackrill, ditto, 163. Maclean, Sir Fitz Roy. J. G. 211. Macles, 77. Madrid, royal armoury, 222. Maffei Collection, 142. Magnus, Saint, 170. Mahi Maratib, 78. Maidstone, college at, 19. Mai Ordonnees, 74. Malet Barony. 221. Malpas. arms, 131. Maltravers, Lords, 158. . Malvish, arms, 205. Mantle, heraldic, 71. Marbury, crest, 215. Marchers of Wales, 225. Marchin, arms, 74. Margaret d'Anjou, 71. Saint, 201. Marignv, Marquis de. 75. Marigolds. 88. Mariner's compass, 177- Maritime manors, 179. Maiius, coin of. 16. Marlborough, Duke of, 226. „ ' Earl of. 210. Marquete, or speckled, 1 38. Marshal of the Falcons, 92. Mar-hailing arms, 52. Marston Moor, battle of, 215. Martel, Charles, 71, 121. Mary Queen of Scots, 22. Mascles, 158. Mason, crest, 21(5. Massaniello, 142. Massareene, Viscount. 215. Master Fishers of the Empire. 141 Ma>ts of >hips. 1 79. Maximilian, triumph of, 140. Medal of Brutus, 18. Vespasian, 1 7. 244 INDEX. Medal of Vitellius, 7. Medals of Tyre, 227. Mcdville, arms, 144. Meer, crest, 205. Melem, arms, 228. Mellusine, La, 217. Menestrier, 47. Menzaleh, Lake, 142. Mercer, crest, 195. Merchants, arms of, 31. Merlyng, the, 184. Mermaid, 113,211. „ manufactured, 3. „ sign, 218. Merman, the, 218. Morton College, porch, 5. „ gatehouse, 4 1 . Mestich, arms, 209. Metje, ditto, 27. Michael, Saint, 201, 223. Miehielli of Venice, 27. Milan, device, 21. Milesian kings, 202. Militon, arms, 159. family, 29. Miller's thumb, the, 102. Millington, arms, 160. Minnow, the, 7, 99, 129. Miracle of the Lis, 25. Mirmillones, the, 157. Moeris lake, 113. Mogid emperor, 79. „ insignia, 80. Mohun family, 214. Molton, crest, 205. Monsters, antique, 206. Montagu's Guide to Heraldry, 62. Montausier, Duke of, 23. Montbeillard, Counts of, 138, 139. Montbeliard, arms, 73. Montfaucon, ditto, 73. Montrose, Duke of, 226. „ motto of, 1 79. Monypenny, arms, 10, 30. Moore, crest, 216. Morshoad family, 227. Mortimer, arms, 53. Moselle, Duke of the, 121. Motcombe, custom at, 86. Mottisfont Abbey, 214. Motto of the Dauphin, 23. Mottos of admirals, 179. „ seaports, 1 78. „ upon seals, 93. Moult, crest, 107. Mount St. John, 188. Mount's Hay. 159. Mowbray, device, 63. Mullet hawk, 106. „ of heraldry, 1 07 „ the, 106. AlulUm, arms, 53. Milton family, 51 . Multons of Cockernioutli, 224. Mummy cases, painted, 5. Mumpelgard, Counts of, 138. Munday's Chrysanaleia, 32. Muraena, the, 203. Murder of Archbishop Becket, 94. Mute as a fish, 143. N. Naiant, 13. Names of ships, 181. Naples, anus, 71. „ supporters, 216. Narburgh church, 204. Nautilus, the, 1 76. Naval crown, 179. „ dominion, emblem of, 208. „ mark, 131. Nave of a church, 181. Naviculo di Giotto, 167. Navigation, primitive, 176. Negroli, shield by, 231. Nelson, Lord, 179. Neot, Saint, 105. Neptune, 10. Neptune's trident, 130. Nereids, the, 213. Nero, emperor, 158. Nets, 157. Nottorvillo, Viscount, 159. Nevile, Archbishop, 210, „ crest, 164. „ Lord Fauconberg, K.G. 144. Neville, cognizance, 1 79. New Hall, Essex, 52. „ Hampshire, arms, 180. „ Inn, arms at, 147. Newblanch, Count of, 102. Newcastle, town of, 208. „ tradition, 127. „ under- Lyne, seal, 133. Newfoundland fish, 169. Newington hospital, 174. Newman, crest, 216. Newnham Paddox, glass at, 41. Newport, Isle of Wight, seal, 178. Newstead Priory, 215. Newtown, Isle of Wight, seal, 178. Nibanaba, the, 21 1. Nicholas V, Pope, 166. Nicholls, arms, 132. Niemptscher, ditto, 209. Nightingale, Gaseoigne, 64. Nile, fishery, 4. Nobility of Genoa, 190. „ Spain, 229. Venice, 27. Noel, arms, 158, 215. Norfolk, Duke of, 159. Norreys, supporters, 149. Norris, Lord, 198. North Minis, monuments at, 123. Northumberland, Karl of, 51. Norwich, Bishop of, 121. Notre Dame, Paris, 5. INDEX. 24; Notre Dame, glass at, 213. Nottingham Castle, "21"). 0. Oannes, 211. Oar, silver, a badge, 44. ( (ars, in arms, 43, 179. Obreen, arms, 90. Oceanus, 9. Ockwell, glass at, 71, 149. Okehampton, Lord of, 1 ii. Oldfield, amis, 109. Oliver, ditto, 141. Ombre, the, 147. O'Neill, Earl, 110. „ family, 1 1.5. Onoltzbach, anns, 85. Onslow, motto, 17. Oporinus's mark, 1 1 . Orcival, arms, 138. Ord, ditto, 117- ., manors, 116. Orde, anns, 117. Origin of heraldry, !i. Orkney, Earls of, 175. Orton, arms, 38. Osborne, ditto, 1 38. family, 29. Osprey, the, 106. Ostoft, arms, 64. Ostreche, ditto, 138. Oswald, King, 4(1. Otranto. arms, 31 . Otter hunting, 148. „ the, 147. Otterbourne, arms, 1 49. Oude, King of, 79. Oxford, Earls of, 84. Oyry, arms, 64. Oyster dredge, a badge, 221 . „ of the East Indies, 22 ] Pacheco, arms, 197. Pacific Ocean, 2. Pageants, 32, 35, 179. Palatine, Count, 39. Pall, funeral, 172. Palmer, arms, 225. Palmers'' scrips, 224. Pame, 13. Panel, carved, 42. Panonceaux, 55. Paris, fish in the museum at, 2. Parliament, Roll of Henry VIII, 34, 230. Partridge of the sea, the, 187. Passelaiguo, amis, 181. Patronage, ditto of, 57. Pavement at Canterbury, 6. Westminster, 59. Pavilion St. James, 143. Peacock of the sea, 45. Pearl oyster, the. 221. Pearls in heraldry, 221. Peebles, arms, 114. Pelham family, 1 83. Pembroke, Earls of, note, 70. Pcngersick Castle, Cornwall, 29, 159. Penkerth, arms, 144. Penkivil family, 96. Penrhyn Castle, 6. Penrose, anus, 135. Perch, the, 109. Percy, arms, 52. „ badge, 164. „ house of, 51, 214. Percy's Cross, 224. Pescara, Marchese di, 89. Peter-boat, the, 166. „ Saint, 166. Peterborough, bishopric of, 166. Peterchurch, Herefordshire, 134. Petershausen Abbey, 166. Petre, Lord, 227. Pevensey, seal of, 178. Pewterers' Company, 208. Pfirdt, arms, 140. Pfreimbt, ditto, 7. Pheon, the, 131. Philip II, Kin?, 208. „ of Valois, 22. Philipot's Origin of Heraldry, 8, Phocae, 210. Picardy, rebus of, 49. Picke, amis, 6 1 . Pickering, ditto, 62. „ William, his mark, 21, 62. Picton, amis, 99. Pictures of fish, 173, 181. Pike, arms, 6 1 . „ the, 49. Piketon, amis, 62. Pilchard, the, 159. Pilgram, arms,. 225. Pilgrim, crest, 225. Pilgrim's staves, 225. Pink, the, 99. Pinna Marina, 221. Pisces, the zodiacal sign, 4. Plaice, the, 199. Plantagenet device, 62, 134. Plaster- work, 190. Platen, arms, 231. Pliny's Natural History, 2. Pogorsker, arms, 209. Pointz Barony, 41. Poisson, anus, 75. Poissonnier, ditto, 213. Pollen family, 227. Polycrates, 126. Pompeii, lobster at, 228 . „ picture at, 142. Poole, amis, 3 1 . Pope, Nicholas V, 166. „ or Ruffe, the, Id!). Portsmouth, Earl of, 75, 215. „ seal of, 178. 246 INDEX. Postmaster General, time of Queen Anne 26. Power of the keys, 166. Powlctt, arms, 117. Poynings, Lord, 51. Praromon, arms, 111. Prawns, 231. Preaching to fish, 181. Prestwieh, arms, 216. Primeval boat, 176. Principato, arms of, 177. Pringle, Sir John, 225. Printers, allowed anus, 190. Privy seal of St. Bartholomew, 101. Procession Roll, 32, 34, 35. Propontis, fish of, 17. Proteus, 9. Proude, arms, 148. Proverbs, painted, 29. Proy von Findelstein, arms, 128. Prudence, emblem of, 203. Prudhomme, the, 148. Purple dye, 227. Purpura Buccinum, 227. Pursuivant Rouge Dragon, 202. „ Scales, 220. Pwll Priory, 93. Pyke, amis, 61. Q. Quarracino, arms of, 162. Quartering, amis, 52. Queen's College, Cambridge, 7 1 . Quenby Hall, 61. Quincy, arms, 158. R. Radford, arms, 202. Radley, ditto, 194. Rainwell, ditto, 31. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 218, 226. Ramira, King of Leon, 222. Ramsey Abbey, 61. „ mere, 60. Raoul, arms, 106. Raphael, arms of, 167. Raphael's dolphins, 8. Rapid motion of fish, 35. Ratcliff, arms, 53. Ravenna, pulpits at, 12. Rawdon family, 132. Rebus of Lucy, 57. Picardy, 49. Red hand of Ireland, 116. Regal mark, 131. Remora, the, 203. Rene d'Anjou, arms, 71 . badge, 179. Renfrew, motto of, 1 79. Bennington, arms, 31 . Rcstormcl Castle, 1 1 3. Itetiarii, the, 157. Rhine, fishery, 119. Rhingrave, 120. Ribb, arms, 232. Richard II. Roll of Arms, 51. Riehemont, Baron of, 111. Richmond family, 58. Rietter, amis, 213. Ring, device of the fish and the, 126. „ money, 128. „ the fisherman's, 167. Rivers, amis, 84. „ Earl, 220. „ Lord, 98. Riviere, arms, 76. Roach of Lezant, ditto, 96. „ the, 92. Robert of Dunwich, seal, 152. Roberts, R.A. 52. Robinson, Bishop, arms, 66. Roche, Baronets, 95. „ Castle, 93. „ in Cornwall, 96. „ Lords of Fennoy, 95. „ of Bromham, 95. „ Saint, 92. „ seal of Lord de la, 92. „ Sir William, arms, 96. Rochelle, 199. Rochester, Bishop of, 34, 161. Rohan, arms, 77. Roll of Anns, Edward II, 54. „ Henry III, 50. Richard II, 51. Roll of Parliament, Henry VIII, 34, 230. Roman tessera, 1 22. Romieu, arms, 225. Romney, seal of, 178. Rose de Mer, Amiens, 8. Rosengriin, arms, 129. Roscarrock, ditto, 160. Roten, ditto, 143. Rouge Dragon, 202. Roujou, arms, 106. Rouville, ditto, 83. Ronxel, ditto, 103. Royal Company of Fishing, 1 52. „ Navy, 177. Rudders in arms, 179. Ruffe, the, 109. Ruiz, poem by, 169. Russell, anus, 21. „ crest, 164. „ family, 27, 86. „ Sir Robert Frankland, 27. Russeyl, arms, 41 . Rutherford, crest, 21 (i. Rye, seal of, 178. S. Sadbcrg, Earl of, 39. Sagittarius, 7- Sails of ships, 179. Saint Anthony of Padua, 181. „ David's' Cathedral, 94. „ Genevieve Abbey, 214. „ George, 201. „ John, arms, 1 08. „ badge, 233. „ Margaret, 201. „ Margaret's church, York, 5. INDEX. 247 Saint Mary's church, Chester, monuments in, 136. „ Michael, 201. „ Michael's Mount, 1.').'*. „ Neot, History of, 111."). „ Peter's fish, 165. „ „ grant, 124. „ „ History of, 56. „ „ keys, 166. „ Roche, 9-2. Salisbury, Marquis of, 64. Salm, Counts of, 121. „ Princes of, 120. „ river, 120. Salmine, arms, 122. Salmon, ditto, 121. „ hunting, 129. „ of France, anus, 121. „ river, 120. „ sign of the, 1 G4. „ spears, 130. „ the, 112. Salmond, arms, 122. Salters' Company, 149. „ offish, 1 69. Saltfishmongers, 171. Salvator Rosa, picture by, 181. Sambrooke, arms, 121!. Sammes, ditto, 123. Sandford, ditto, !!4. Sandwich, Earl of, 219. „ seal of, 178. Sankey, arms, 193. Sardine, the, 162. Sartine, arms, 162. Scales, Lord, 220. „ of carp, 78. „ of chub, 9 1 . „ Pursuivant, 220. Scotch college, monument at, 125. Scots, Queen of, 22. Scott of Harden, 217. Scriptures, fish named in the, 1 2. Scrope, cognizance, 231. Sculpture, early, 170, 213. Sea, arms, 1 1 8. „ bream, 1 42. „ cobs, 156. „ dog, 149. „ emblem of the, 8. „ griffin, 209. „ horse, 207. „ lion, 206. „ Serjeant's, device, 4 1 . „ snake, 201. „ star, 108. „ tortoise, 232. „ unicorn, 209. „ urchin, 232. Seal, the, 210. Seals — ■ Arundel, Archbishop. 94. Baronial, 92. Barons of Dover, 178. Booking, Dean of. 36. Seals — continual. Brighton, 30. Briwere, Lord, 214. Buckenham Priory, 223. Cairncross, Archbishop, 125. Cameron, Bishop, 125. Campbell, 1 70. Cardigan, 180. Cinque Ports, 1 78. Coleraine, 1 1 5. Congleton, 199. De la Roche, 93. Dover, 1 78'. Dumvich, Bailiff of, 152. Feversham, 1 78. Fowey, 161. Gal way, 183. Glasgow Bishops, 125 ( flastonbury Abbey. 181. Hastings, 178. Hatfield, Bishop, 39. HaverfordWest, 178. Helston, 159. Heringot, 153. Iiilburgh Priory, 201. Ilingham Deanerv, 36. llythe, 178. Ipswich, 178. Kingston, 1 1 3. Kytson, 155. Looe, 161. Lostwithiel, 1 1 4. Lucy, 54. Lyme, 178. Lymington, 178. Lynn, 201. Municipal, 178. Newcastle-under-Lyne, 1 33. Newport, Isle of Wight, 178. Newtown, ditto, 1 78. Norwich Priory, 201. Pevensey, 178. Portsmouth, 178. Romney, 178. Rye, 178. St. Bartholomew's Priory, 181 Sandwich, 1 78. Scales, Lord, 220. Scrope, 231. Seaford, 178. Sheffield, 132. Shoreham, 178. Stafford, 133. Sunning Deanery, 36. Surrey, Countess of, 70. „ " Karl of, 6' 9. Swansea, 106. Tenterden, 1 78. Thetford Priory, 201. Weare, 197. West A civ Priory, 201. Wexford, 182. Winchilsea, 178. Yarmouth, 150. „ Priorv, 151. 248 INDEX. Seaman family, 37. Sedition, emblem of, 228. Senitz, arms, 67. Sepham, crest, 217. Sermon to fish, 181. Serramis Anthias, 142. Settle's Triumphs of London, 35. Sevington, arms, 124. Shambrooke, ditto, 200. Shark, the, 205. Sharp, arms, 1 32, Sheffield, seal of, 1 32. Shell of St. James, 221. Shelley, arms, 227. Shellfish, 220. Sherwood Forest, Warden, 215. Shield, form of, 93. Shiffner, Sir George, 231. Ship and escallop, 223. „ of St. Peter, 181. Ships on seals, 178. „ names, 181. Shoreham, seal of, 178. Shrewsbury, Earl of, 136. Sidney, arms, 132. „ Sussex, college, 53. „ Viscount, 227. Sign of the Dolphin, 24. „ Mermaid, 218. Signs in Germany, 164. „ of inns, 164. „ the zodiac, 4. Sinclair, arms, 175. „ of Rosslyn, 217. Sirenis, 212. Sizes of nets, 159. Skerlington, crest, 215. Skeletons of fish, 110. Skipness Castle, 176. Skye, Isle of, 115. Smelt family, 1 45. „ the, 145. Smirke, R.A. 168. Smolt, the, 107. Soame, Sir Stephen, 221. Soapmakcrs' Company, 1 30. Sole, the, 187. Soles, arms, 187. Soley, ditto, 187. Solomon's ring, 127. Somerled, 1 1 5. Souci, or marigold, 88. Soumet, arms, 143. Sound as a roach, 92. South Sea Company, 1 53. Southampton, Dolphin inn, 24. Earl of, 81, 18(1. Southilete, arms, 3.5. South wold, token, 152. Sovereignty, emblem of, 31. Spain, Brand of, 229. Spanish heraldry, 196. „ poetry, 169. Sparke, crest, 98. Sparling family, 1 15. Sparling, the, 145. Speckled trout, 1 38. Spelman, Sir John, 204. Spencer, Earl, 155. Lord, 139. Spiering, the, 145. Sprat, arms, 161. „ Bishop of Rochester, 161 „ the, 161. Sprottie, arms, 127. Sprotton, ditto, 162. St. John, ditto, 108. „ badge, 233. Stafford, badge and knot, 72. „ seal of, 133. Stained glass — Amiens, 8. Armagh Cathedral, 141. Canterbury ditto, 171. Charlecote, 56. Chenies, 154. Fishmongers' 1 Hall, 173. Hampton Lucy, 5(j. Kingsdown, 57. Lincoln's Inn, 154. Moulins, 8. New Inn, London, 147. Newhall, 52. Newnham Paddox, 41. Notre Dame, 213. Ockwell House, 71, 149. Pavilion St. James, 144. Penrhvn Castle, 6. Qucnby Hall, 61. St. David's Cathedral, 94. St. Neot's, 105. St. Saviour's, 58. Selby Abbey Church, 51. University College, 38, 52. Stamford, Earls of, 85, 158. Standard at a feast, 123. „ bearer, 1 39. „ of Courtenav, 1 8. of Trevellian, 208. „ of Vaughan, 48. „ at Windsor Castle, 1 ! Starfish, the, 108. Steering, mode of, 177. Stephen, King, 7. Stepney, monument at, 127. Sterns of ships, 179. Stevne at Brighton, 30. Stockfish, 31, 174. Stockfishmongers, 171. Stolhcrg, Counts of, 141. Stonor, 81. Stork, the, 98. Stothard, R.A. 21. Stourton, arms, 85. Lord, 1 19. Strachwitz, amis, 226. Stratford, Earl of, 63. Strangford, Lord, 1 32. Strateiey, arms, 199. Stratford Abbey, 89. INDEX. 249 Strathallan, Viscount, 84. Streamlet of seals, 211. Strickland, the herald painter, 168. Strozzi Palace, 209. Stuart, royal house of, 179. Sturgeon, arms, 204. the, 204. Sturgney, arms, 204. Styell, crest, 190. Suckingfish, the, 203. Sudelev, barony of, 227. Suffolk, Duke of, 231. Sulyard, aims, 132. Sunning, deanery, 36. Supporters, heraldic, 42, 93. Surgeons' Hall, a fish at, 212. Surnames, 101. Surrey, Earl of, seal, G9. Sussex, Earl of, 52. Sutherland, arms, 108. „ Earldom, 114. Swallow, crest, 46. Swan, rousant, 141. „ the, 98. Swansea, seal, 106. Swartzac, arms, 85. Swiftest fish, the, 35. Sykes, Sir Tatton, 219. Symonds, aims, 41. Syracuse, coin of, 15. Syrens, the, 212. Tabard, 137. Talbot family, 136. Tanche, arms, 87. Tanques, ditto, 97. Tapestry of the Vatican, 166. Tarbutt", arms, 188, 189. Tarentum, coins of, 227. Taylor, the water poet, 43. Teck, amis, 1 39. Temperance, emblem of, 228. Tenant, a, 213. Tench, arms, 88. ,. the, 87. Tenterden, seal of, 178. Tenure, horns of, 134. Territorial names, 101. Tethvs, 9. Thanet, Earl of, 206. Thiard, arms, 230. Thome, crest, 217. Ticket to a feast, 122. Tile at Exeter, 12. Titus, baths of, 8. Tobias and the fish, 167. Tollesbury, monument at, 138. Torr Abbey, 214. Torralva, the shepherdess, 214. Tortoise, the sea, 232. Tournament at Eglintoun Castle, 29. the, 1 37. Townshend, [Marquis, 94, 227. Tranchemer, arms, 47. Treasurer, Lord, 210. Tregarthick, arms, 229. Trevellian, standard of, 268. Trevelyan, 44. Treviso, families of, 28. Trident of Neptune, 130. Tritons, 218. Triumph of Maximilian, 140. Triumphs of London, the, 35, 171. Tropenell, arms, 95. Trout, sign, 164. „ the, 133. Troutbeck, arms, 136. „ tabard, 137. „ Westmoreland, 135. Troutsdale, 135. Truro, seal of, 160. Truthall, 135. Tubfish, the, 104. Tubbe, arms, 104. Tubingen, monument at, 139. Tucker, arms, 208. Turbot of Ancona, 190. „ the, 188. Turbutt, arms, 188. Turpin, 81. Turtle, the, 232. Twells, arms, 86. Twickett, ditto, 199. Tyre, medals of, 227- Tyrian dye, 227. Tyrone, Earl of, 115. U. Ulster, Lords of, 116. Ulysses, 212. Umberfish, the, 147. Umbrell, arms, 148. Unicom, the, 209. Unnatural animals, 206. Upsal Cathedral, 233. Upton, crest, 41. „ Nicholas, 50. Urchin, the sea, 232. Urgunda, the, 201. Usedom, arms, 209. Vaillant, arms, 141. Valence, Earls of Pembroke, 70. Van Voorst, crest, 217. Vanacker, Sir Nicholas, 123. Vandeput family, 33. Vanes, 55. Vannelat, arms, 226. Vannet, the, 226. Variation of the compass, 177. Vatican, the, 1 06. Vauer, Baron, 45. Vaughan, anus, 48. Vaux, 5."., 224. Venables, crest, 198. Venetian nobility, 27. Venice, lion of, 21. < 250 INDEX. Venus, 7. „ Anadyomene, 216. „ fish consecrated to, 142. Vere, house of, 84, 108. Vernon, arms, 1,57. „ Lords, 1 98. Verona, antique at, 142. Vesci, 225. Vescv, 225. Vesica piscis, 12. Vespasian, medal of, 17. Viennois, Counts of, 21. Vieuxchastel, arms, 55. Vignette at page 1, explanation of, 128. Villiers, Sir Nicholas de, 224. Vitellius, medal of, 7. Vivier, 87. Vox piscis, 182. Vulcana, arms, 1 57. W. Wahlen, arms, 46. Wales, ensign of, 202. Walker, crest, 225. Walley, arms, 131. Wallop, Sir John, 215. Wallys, anus, 48. Walterton, ditto, 24. Walton and Cotton Club, 1 45. „ Club, Newcastle, 145. „ family, 215. Walton's mark, 21. Walworth, Sir William, 171. pall, 173. „ statue, 173. Warburton's Anus of Gentry, 90. Warham, Archbishop, 210. Wark worth, Lord, 51. Warren, Karl of, 69. „ Countess of, 70. Warwick, Lads of, 57, 189. Water ■ bailiff's badge, 44. „ in heraldry, 83. Waterford, arms, 86. „ hakes at, 183. Waterliouse, anus, 87. Watermen's Company, 43. Waters, arms, 87. Watson, Sir Brook, 205. Waves in heraldry, 83. Way, arms, 1 19. „ of Devonshire, arms, 119. Weare, seal of, 197. Weil's on rivers, 197. Wells, arms, 86. „ badge, 86. „ of Knmore, 86. Welsh, arms, 124. „ salmon, 124. Wengc, manor of, 92. Wentworth family, 64. Wernigerode, Counts of, 1, 141. Westminster, Abbot's claim, 124. „ Chapter-house, 59. Westward for smelts, 145. Wexford, seal of 182. Whale, the, 45. Whaley, arms, 46. Whalley Abbey, 46. „ family, 47. Wheler, arms, 198. Whelk, the, 227. Whiff, the, 187. Whirlpool in heraldry, 86. Whistle, a badge of office, 180. Whitby, town of, 197. Whiting, arms, 184. „ the, 184. Whittington, amis, 185. Wigram family, 227. Wildgrave, 120. Wilk, the, 227. Wilkins, anns, 227. Wilkinson, ditto, 228. Willeigh, ditto, 159. Willeley, ditto, 1 59. Williams, Lord, 198. Willoughby, Lords, 158. Wilton, Earls of, 85. Winchilsea, seal of, 178. Winchester, Bishop of, 19, 50. Windisehgratz, Counts of, 110. Windsor Castle, standard at, 18. Winter, Robert, 11. Wirtemberg, Counts of, 138. „ King of, 139. Wishart, Bishop, 1 24. Witton Castle, 225. Women in heraldry, 143. Woodvile, Lord Scales, 220. Wooler, pillar near, 224. Wooton-under-Kdge, monument at, 113. Worlidge's Gems, 9. Worsley family, 183. Wylley, arms, 198. Wynne, ditto, 38. Wyvil family, 88. Y. Yarborough, Earl of, 183. Yarmouth, arms, 152. „ priory seal, 151. „ town ditto, 150, 178. Yarrell, crest, 109. Yeates, ditto, 205. Yoke, a badge, 95. York, Archbishop of, arms, 154, 166. w porch of St.Margaret's Church, 5. Z. Zingis Khan, 79. Zodiac, 4. Zouche, Lord, ] 80. .ONDON : PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, BANGOR HOUSE, SHOE LANK. The. following Works, published by Mr. Van Voorst, are Portions of a Series illustrative of the NATURAL HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN. 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